This article investigates the entangled phenomena of Indigenous identity fraud, settler conspirituality, and epistemic simulation in contemporary Australia. Drawing on over one hundred scholarly, community, and policy sources, it explores how settler magical thinking and performative Indigeneity displace genuine Aboriginal governance.

Case studies including the GuriNgai group (granted recognition by local councils), Jake Cassar (who leveraged faux-environmental activism to oppose Aboriginal land councils), and Bronwyn Carlson (whose academic status shapes discourse on Indigeneity) illustrate how individuals without genealogical or community legitimacy gain institutional authority through aestheticised simulations of Aboriginality.

This paper traces the psychological, cultural, and political mechanisms that enable simulation and calls for the restoration of epistemic sovereignty through Aboriginal-led verification, community governance, and institutional reform. International comparisons to the Pretendian phenomenon in Canada and the United States highlight global settler patterns of cultural appropriation.

By distinguishing Blak Knowing from settler mimicry, the article calls for enforceable identity verification standards, institutional accountability, and the prioritisation of Aboriginal community governance in all cultural, academic, and policy engagements. We propose structural pathways toward accountability, cultural integrity, and the protection of Indigenous knowledge systems from epistemic violence and exploitation.