11 Ways Trump Dishonors Native Americans & How Natives Fight Back
On Presidents Day 2020, we reflect on where Native Americans stand after three years of a Trump presidency. Since taking office, the current administration has rolled back policies that protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples and has failed to respect and honor Tribal Nations and their sovereignty.
In order to support the struggle for Indigenous rights, we must take a stand against the administration’s blatant disregard and disrespect for Indigenous communities and learn about the ways in which we can support Indigenous Peoples when the government continually refuses to do so.
1. Proposing to Rollback the National Environmental Policy Act
In 2020, Trump’s administration introduced its proposal to roll back environmental law to be able to speed up energy and other projects. This proposal seeks to limit public reviews of projects and allow the project sponsors to participate in the drafting of the federal environmental impact statements. Lisa DeVille, a leader of the Fort Berthold Protectors of Water and Earth Rights, claimed “Any law that provides broad opportunities for public participation in government decisions that affect the environment and local communities shouldn’t be rolled back; rather, laws like the National Environmental Policy Act should be embraced and strengthened. The National Environmental Policy Act is one of the only avenues for tribal members to have any input on federal actions.” Read more.
2. Pushing for Arctic Refuge Drilling
The Trump administration has pushed to sell off the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling. The Gwich’in Steering Committee, along with a coalition of Indigenous rights organizations including Cultural Survival, have raised concerns about human rights violations against the Gwich’in Nation. The coastal plain is referred to as “The Sacred Place Where Life Begins,” by the Gwich’in people and is crucial to their food security and way of life. Drilling in this sensitive area would pose an existential threat to the Gwich’in Nation. In a letter to 11 major banks, 15 Democratic senators urged the banks not to fund drilling in the area. The letter states “Protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is not only intrinsically important, it is also critical in the broader context of wilderness protection, Indigenous rights, working to combat climate change, and preparing the U.S. economy to weather the growing impacts of the climate crisis.” Read more.
3. Promoting a Racist Zero Tolerance Immigration Policy
Since December 2018, at least five Maya children have died at the U.S.-Mexico border died under the custody of Customs and Border Protection, and one Maya young woman,Claudia Patricia Gómez González, was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent. Those responsible for these deaths continue to enjoy impunity under President Trump. The D.C.-based International Maya League staged a protest outside of the Department of Homeland Security in January. “As we have seen in the cases of our children, many of [those stopped by Border Patrol] couldn’t even understand what was happening, they couldn’t speak Spanish, [though many officials assume they can],” said Juanita Cabrera Lopez of the International Mayan League. Read more.
4. Building the Border Wall
In February 2020, crews began controlled blasting of Monument Hill in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument for the construction of the border wall between the US and Mexico. This area is the site of a sacred burial ground to the Tohono O’odham Nation. The sacred sites in the area date back 10,000 years, and human remains have already been uncovered in the construction area. According to the Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman, Ned Norris, the Federal agencies constructing the border wall “are in violation of their own policies since meaningful consultations have not been held with the Tohono O’odham Nation.” Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) stated “There has been no consultation with the nation. This administration is basically trampling on the tribe’s history - and to put it poignantly, its ancestry.” Read more.
5. Establishing a Limited Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives
In November 2019, Trump signed an executive order to establish a task force charged with enhancing the physical safety of Indigenous People. Attorney General William Barr recently visited Montana where he announced the government will commit $1.5 million to hire coordinators in the 11 states where the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous individuals is most prominent. Navajo Nation Vice President Myron Lizer said: “I commend President Trump and his administration for recognizing the traumatic epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous relatives.” Yet many have criticized the task force as ill-conceived and insufficient. Congresswoman Deb Haaland (D-NM), a member of the Pueblo of Laguna stated that “the DOJ’s plan reflects a lack of consultation with Tribes, which is a pattern of this Administration on all Indian Country issues”. Others have pointed out that the task force is comprised only of federal officials, co-opting and excluding the work of Native activists, and that the task force focuses on reservations while excluding those living in urban areas. Read more.
6. Failing to Legislate & Attacks on Land Trusts
In December 2019, Trump signed three bills directly relating to Native American issues into law, one in support of the Spokane Tribe, one reauthorizing funding for Native language initiatives, and one federally recognizing the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Montana. However, these are the only pro tribal bills signed into law so far this legislative session; and according to Indianz.com, historically about 20 tribal bills have been signed into law during any particular session of Congress, regardless of which parties are running the show in Washington. In the previous session, passage of bills in favor of Tribes was down by about 40% compared to previous years. Read more.
7. Slashing the Bears Ears Monument
Native Tribes have advocated and fought for the protection of Bears Ears for years. In 2016 it was named a national monument under the Obama administration. Less than a year later, Trump approved of reducing Bears Ears Monument by 85 percent and announced it will be opened for oil and gas bidding. At the same time, Trump also decreased the size of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Together, this was the largest rollback in the history of the United States of public lands protection. Read more.
8. Greenlighting Pipelines Across Native Treaty Lands
On February 7, 2017, Trump authorized the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed, ending the environmental impact assessment and the associated public comment period. These pipelines are a direct attack on tribal sovereignty, clean water, clean air, and sacred sites. But the groundswell of support shown at Standing Rock has provided a legacy of improved understanding and commitment to Indigenous sovereignty by many grassroots movements in the US and around the world.
On November 8, 2018, following a suit filed by the Indigenous Environmental Network and the North Coast Rivers Alliance, the Honorable Judge Morris overturned Trump’s executive order, blocking construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline on grounds that “President Trump violated federal environmental laws when his Administration claimed that the KXL Pipeline was consistent with the public interest.” Both organizations celebrated this ruling as a victory in favor of Indigenous and environmental rights.
Unfortunately, due to a loophole in the law, Trump was able to sidestep the ruling and sign a new order himself in March 2019 granting permission for the pipeline’s construction. The Oglala Sioux Tribe has plans to bring this to court once again in 2020.
9. Cutting Federal Programs
Trump has proposed the removal of several federal assistance programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Trump has proposed to replace SNAP, which provides monthly benefits to purchase food items, with a “food box” program. This program would “replace half the benefits people receive with boxed, nonperishable — i.e. not fresh — foods chosen by the government and not by the people eating them.” Decreased access to nutritious food poses a major burden on health and could lead to increased rates of Type 2 diabetes and obesity amongst Native communities reliant on SNAP. Read more
10. Promoting Voter Suppression
The U.S. government has systematically targeted Indian Country with voter suppression laws to discourage political participation. Strict voter ID laws that require voters to provide federal documentation with current addresses target Native communities as reservations often do not have residential addresses. Read more.
11. Encouraging Mocking of Native People and Use of Hateful Language
In early 2019, Indigenous Peoples mobilized a massive Indigenous Peoples March on Washington to demonstrate opposition to the current political climate. At the march, a group of high school students from Covington Catholic High School mocked a Native elder of the Omaha Tribe, Nathan Philips, who was partaking in the Indigenous Peoples March in DC. Trump defended the students’ actions and claiming that the disrespect felt by Philips was "Fake News." Read more.
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