Letter to the Editor: 575 Democracies: Tribal Sovereignty & Survival, Trump and The GOP

Only one of the two major political parties can ensure that Indian Tribes, as they now exist, will survive into the future: The Democratic Party.

Nov. 5, 2024, democracy is on the ballot. 575 democracies to be precise: One big sovereign democratic republic called the United States of America, and 574 small sovereign democratic nations called Federally Recognized Indian Tribes and Alaskan Native Villages. If voters make the wrong choice for U.S. President, the big one may fall and all 574 little ones won't be far behind.

Control of the U.S. Senate and House matters greatly to Indians, too. Congress establishes and with a single vote can extinguish reservation boundaries, thereby eliminating sovereignty, which means the end of tribes. Note to all my fellow Montana Indians, which constitute 6.5 percent of our state’s population: In this 2024 election cycle, control of the U.S. Senate probably hinges on Senator Jon Tester (D). He has always been our ally, which is why the vast majority of tribal members voted for him in 2018, giving him a 3.5 percent victory over the GOP candidate. We went to bed that election night with him losing, but the massive vote from our six east-of-the-Rockies remote reservations was among the last to be counted and put him over the top by the next day. We are one of only two or three states where the Native vote is known to tip elections for a federal office.

Tribal members are less than one percent of the U.S. population, often living in out of the way places. So most Americans know very little about Indian Tribes and tribal life. The first thing to know is that Indian Tribes exist because — and only because — of sovereignty. Sovereignty means we can self-govern, self-determine, and live together as a tribe, as a people separate, distinct, and autonomous from the outside world, preserving and living our cultures in whatever way we choose. Without sovereignty, U.S. Indigenous peoples would suffer the same fate as those in Mexico and much of the Americas: ancient blood scattered to the wind, no longer living together as tribes.

If the U.S. Congress were to extinguish our boundaries and therefore our sovereignty, effectively ending tribes, a presidential veto could save us, but treaties will not. This was proven in the federal Indian termination policy period from the mid-1940s to mid-1960s. Wikipedia has a good article: “Indian termination policy.”

You know those red MAGA hats you see around? Personally, I think the era the Americas were greatest was from about 15,000 B.C. through 1491 A.D., but the general consensus among MAGA folks seems to be that America was greatest from… wait for it… mid-1940s to mid-1960s. Not a great time for any people of color, though.

In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson proposed ending termination, as did subsequent presidents. But it took until 1988 for termination to officially end and for some — but, sadly, not all — tribes to later be reinstated, thus saving all surviving tribes from eventual, inevitable extinction.

Today, GOP policy is driven by Trump, whose attitude towards Indians and tribes is well known. For a refresher go to YouTube: "Trump 1993 Testifying in front of Native American Affairs Committee."

From Trump’s 1993 testimony to Congress: “They don’t look like Indians to me…  You're saying only Indians can have the reservations, only Indians can have the gaming. So why aren't you approving it for everybody? Why are you being discriminatory? Why is it that the Indians don't pay tax, but everybody else does? I do.” Fact check: 1. Indians do pay income taxes, like everybody else.

Does this sound like a person — and, now, a party — that wants Indian tribes to remain sovereign, to survive, to exist at all? So, cuzzins, which party, the Democrats or the Republicans, do you want deciding if tribes should survive?

Gregg Paisley // Blackfeet / Amskapi Piikani