This is Indian Country

10/25/2024

They say that smart people always say sorry, while the stupid ones just wait for the smart one to say sorry. Dr. Martin Luther King once said that "Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude." This apology from President Joe Biden isn't an occasional act, it is something that he has demonstrated every day of his administration, quite literally on day one of his administration when he kept a promise during the 2020 Primaries — made to my television crew with C-SPAN rolling live — with an Executive Order to halt Trump drilling leases in the Arctic Refuge, to protect what the Gwich'in Nation knows as the Sacred Place Where Life Begins.

"Generations of Native children stolen, taken away to places they didn't know, with people they'd never met, who spoke a language they had never heard," Mr. Biden said. "Native communities silenced. Their children's laughter and play were gone. Children who would arrive at schools, their clothes taken off, their hair that they were told was sacred, chopped off. Their names literally erased, replaced by a number or an English name.

"I say this with all sincerity — this, to me, is one of the most consequential things I've ever had the opportunity to do in my whole career as president of the United States."

A "sorry" won't heal the atrocities committed against Indigenous children and their families during a 150-year era of forced federal Indian boarding schools, just as the apology President Bill Clinton issued 30 years to Hawai'ian Natives for the U.S. overthrow on their monarchy 126 years ago But it's an attitude, as Dr. King said, and it's entirely consistent with President Biden's historic accomplishments in Indian Country during his time in office. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet member in our history, was brought to tears today. This means something. And Uncle Joe was right, it was long overdue.

President Biden in Arizona issued a formal presidential apology​ for the atrocities committed during a 150-year era of forced federal Indian boarding schools.

07/21/2024

THANK YOU, PRESIDENT BIDEN. One of the most selfless acts in the history of this country has just happened. We love ya, Uncle Joe. Go get 'em, Cuz Kamala... and Guv Gretchen. Prosecutor v Felon... Assassination Attempt v Assassination Attempt (a draw)... Women's Rights v Celebrity Misogyny and a National Ban... Girls v Boys... Calm v Chaos... Good Grown-Up Government v Dismantling the Administrative State... Honor v Dishonor... Ukraine Freedom v The Evil Empire... and now, the referendum on age that the Rs always wanted. Let's talk about it. Tonight, Vlad Putin sleeps less lightly. The Global Autocratic Death Cult has just seen its nightmare, honor and duty to country prevailing over kleptocracy... Truth v Russia’s Internet Research Agency. There's no way for their cybergoons to disinform on today's announcement. No troll farm can twist a story like this. (Read: https://www.propublica.org/article/infamous-russian-troll-farm-appears-to-be-source-of-anti-ukraine-propaganda)

And Joe's too old to move? What a clever move this was, even as he's battling Covid, to announce on the Sunday morning after the Republican National Convention. That stuff we just heard... uh... never mind. All those ads we just produced... That Let's Go Brandon thing...? Uh... where'd he go?? Did President Biden wait too long? Maybe, but this announcement suddenly seems pretty well-timed. I've said this for four years now, after spending time with the Old Man in Iowa when he was running fourth in the 2020 Primaries — don't underestimate this guy. Or his heart.

05/11/2024

THIS IS INDIAN COUNTRY, GUV. Wounded knee in 1890, Leonard Peltier and AIM in 1975, the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in 2016, Covid checkpoints during the pandemic... not where you want to accuse tribal leaders of colluding with Mexican drug cartels and the Biden administration to poison their people. That dog don't hunt around here. Now you're banned from 20% of South Dakota. And people are STILL talking about you pumping lead into puppies. That must suck.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is now banned from entering nearly 20% of her state after two more tribes banished her this week over comments she made earlier this year about tribal leaders benefitting from drug cartels.

04/28/2024

From building clam gardens along the shore to tilling vegetables in the desert, Native Americans have been working with the rhythms of the Earth for centuries.

04/25/2024

GRIZZLY MAN. Congrats again to our wonderful Board Member Scott Schuyler of the Upper Skagit for his great work re-wilding the North Cascades. Bring home the bears! Next, let's get that dammed Skagit River undammed. Protect what we have, restore what we've lost. This is Indian Country.

Grizzly bears will be brought to Washington from elsewhere over the next five to 10 summers. The goal is to eventually have 200 bears here.

04/12/2024

Under legislation passed through Congress on Thursday, land along the Ruston Way Waterfront will be added to the tribe’s reservation.

03/10/2024

PHASE TWO, U.S. v WASHINGTON. Fascinating piece today by the Times, on the climbing costs of righting a whole lotta wrongs. Something that would've never happened without the Boldt Decision, and most importantly, phase two of that decision, the "Culverts Case," argued and won for the tribes in the country's highest court by a great team of lawyers, including my late father-in-law, Prof. Bill Rodgers. But in response to the headline, no, the results aren't murky. We've seen what's happened here in Indian Country when we re-wild these river systems and watersheds. We bring back the salmon. And the lifeways not only of our First Nations, but the rest of us, too.

Washington, rushing to meet a court deadline in a tribal fishing rights lawsuit, spends billions on construction, but some of it may be useless for salmon today.

02/05/2024

HEY KRISTI NOEM, THIS IS INDIAN COUNTRY. The Oglala Sioux is a “sovereign nation,” under the protection of the United States, not South Dakota.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe barred South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) from the Pine Ridge Reservation after her speech about immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.

01/29/2024

The poet and literary scholar was honored for his 1968 debut novel, “House Made of Dawn,” which helped inspire a flowering of contemporary Native American literature.

01/25/2024

CONGRATS, PUYALLUP TRIBE! Great news today in Indian Country...

The Puyallup Tribe of Indians and a coalition of community groups appealed permits for the project to the state Shoreline Hearings Board.

01/24/2024

THANK YOU, REP. DEBRA LEKANOFF. So proud of your leadership on this issue, Rep. Lekanoff. And to have you continue to advise our nonprofit, which of course because it was co-founded by Billy Frank Jr. is focused on climate action, salmon habitat restoration and preserving the lifeways of the tribes of the Pacific Northwest. But we can't protect lifeways when so many Native lives are being lost to this poison.

Debra couldn't make our most recent THIS IS INDIAN COUNTRY Board Meeting, but she shared this with us as part of her service as one of our esteemed Advisory Board Members:

"Have a great meeting and please consider exploring a story that reflects the most challenging fight we have had to save lives... we fought for the salmon to sustain our way of life and that was a generation of Billy, Ron Allen, Kat Brigham, Stan Gobin, and Jimmy Wilson, so many others in that age group. We then had the fight to restore the salmon and that was Billy, Ron, Brian Cladoosby, Randy Kinely, Jim Peters David Hererra, Fawn Sharp, and now we are in the fight to save the lives of generations to catch the salmon and carry the salmon songs and culture forward against the opioid and fentanyl crisis. We have the highest statistics in lives lost to this crisis intertwined with Substance Abuse Disorder, Mental and Behavioral Health and Su***de and this is all tied to the impacts of historical trauma... we can't be there to catch the salmon, sing our songs of honor to the salmon, pray for the salmon, carry the salmon names in our bloodlines and pass on the history of the salmon if we are dying faster than we can save them. The salmon are in the same state as we are... that is a story to tell."

The Lummi Nation has called on Gov. Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency on fentanyl, but the governor's office hasn't identified how it would help.

01/21/2024

THE U.S. CAPITOL: THIS IS INDIAN COUNTRY. Although I have to say that in my time with Billy I rarely saw him sit still for any long period of time (!!), of course I am thrilled to see this statue project come to fruition. I am particularly happy to see his likeness replace that of the colonizing missionary Marcus Whitman. We all realize that Billy probably wouldn't have wanted all this money spent on him instead of restoring salmon habitat, he also realized the power of his celebrity to achieve the greater good.

CONGRATS to THIS IS INDIAN COUNTRY Advisory Board Member, State Representative Debra Lekanoff, for her vision and leadership. Billy in bronze in the U.S. Capitol. Wow. This is a healing. After the Trump insurrectionists stormed and desecrated this temple of democracy in the name of a modern-day Andrew Jackson, maybe my late friend, mentor and TV host will be witness to a great revival of dignity, grace and cooperative spirit to the People's House. Thank you, Billy Frank Jr.

Bronze rendering will honor Native American fishing rights activist