Dear Editor,
On Nov. 5, the course of history for the “United States of America” changed. The new Republican GOP leadership will quickly turn the federal government into no man’s land and replace the vacuum with Donald Trump loyalists who have two (online) manifestos that lead to the end of Democracy. Read them and learn your place. “Native Americans” have no place but are at the forefront in energy extraction.
In the last 60 days of Joe Biden’s presidency, these are things he can do while he is still POTUS:
1. Grant Clemency to Leonard Peltier immediately Commute death row federal prisoners to life sentences and avoid another Donald Trump execution spree. Address the need for protection of Native American prisoners’ religious and visitation rights.
2. The Press Act, House Resolution 4250 A Federal Shield Law that protects confidential sources in media reporting and personal devices from federal law enforcement. The House has already passed it. The Senate must pass this on a fast track. The Free Press Act maintains credibility with credible facts, free from government intrusion and censorship.
3. Women’s Rights POTUS must tend to the damages done by the MAGA Republican GOP mantra: “Your body, my choice!” The voices of women must echo loudly through the halls of Congress and the White House. The end of Roe v. Wade can happen to other “laws of the land.”
4. Heed U.S. Citizens Demands from the U.S. President Joe Biden a “Last 60 Days” be devoted to antifascist executive action including the immediate use of an unprecedented barrage of Executive Orders.
5. Grant temporary or protected status to some immigrants currently in the U.S. Protection from mass deportation underway which will include entire families. The American food chain is reliant on immigrant labor, expect food shortages without them.
6. Cut off all arms shipments Immediately and advance new genocide resolutions in the U.N. while demanding Russia and Israel engage the world-wide calls for cease fires and allow food, water, and medical supplies into the restricted Israeli military occupied region.
7. End ALL U.S. military-to-police equipment programs immediately and destroy stockpiles of matériel destined for the local police to be used on an unarmed U.S. Civilian Population.
8. POTUS must fill and confirm nine open Inspector General positions (Treasury, NSA, IRS, CIA ...)
9. Include the protection of National Monuments and public lands as a long-standing pristine treasure of the U.S. for future generations Federal laws that protect the natural resources include the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and others like the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, Native America Graves and Repatriation Act and all Treaties must be upheld.
10. Convene another national Summit of all “Native American” tribes to parallel their own plans to protect their Treaties (Education and Health Care), water, lands, resources, culture, voting rights, and women.
THE DANGERS OF A FASCIST DICTATORSHIPS
When the avowed extreme Fascist DonOLD Trump dismantles agencies (like the EPA, DOI, BIA, DACA or any institutionally secured set of goods), it’s very hard to put them together again, maybe even impossible, especially when it comes to the gains of “Native Americans” at the national level.
All 10 (and any number of actions like them) when enacted, would interfere with fascizing in the near American future and complicate the radical and vicious agenda and policies of Project 2025 and America First, both arms of the American Evangelical Christian Far-Right, the violent centerpiece of Christian Nationalism. This is MAGA: Many Abandoned God Almighty.
This commitment to the continued discourse of “human rights” as globally real and necessary -- will make it harder for a Fascist DonOLD Trump administration to continue unchecked and deepen the Joe Biden administration’s “end of the human rights era” for all federally recognized “Native America” tribes.
FROM THE “NATIVE AMERICAN” PERSPECTIVE
1. ALL Treaties between the U.S. Government and federally recognized sovereign tribes will be abrogated under the Donald Trump administration.
2. ALL reservation boundary lines will be dissolved for “National Security” energy reasons.
3. Federal funding to all “sovereign” tribes will be drastically reduced or outright halted ensuring a financial snare to run our tribal governments efficiently. The Navajo and Cherokee nations are the largest and will be the hit the hardest if not prepared for catastrophic changes (eg. Economy crash beyond 1929 Wall Street charts).
4. U.S. Laws (e.g.: Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, National Environmental Policy Act, American Indian Religious Freedom Act, etc.) will be weakened, amended, or stricken from the books and made favorable to (multi)national corporations to commence mineral extraction (gas, oil, coal, uranium, etc...) operations on our sacred tribal ancestral lands. The traditional Indigenous ways of life are now threatened.
5. ALL Tribal Court’s jurisdictional authority will be made null and void by the corrupted right-wing U.S. Supreme Court.
6. Federal departments such as the Interior Department will be reduced or cease to exist coupled with the the current Government-to-Government relationship tribes now take for granted and the Nation-Wide Donald Trump-promised Administrative Federal Purge will cut many ties outright.
7. Our federal and constitutional rights to challenge threats and defend our Indigenous rights and territory will be a crime as the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and other protections will cease to exist for ALL Americans following Jan. 20.
8. American history is being rewritten with Indigenous People (“Native Americans”) excluded, much like the historical deceptions of “Manifest Destiny” and the “Doctrine of Discovery.”
9. For the North American Indigenous Nations, there is no recourse but to protect what we have for the next seven generations, in our own ways that have defined us as the “First Americans.”
10. Don’t give up. Remember, change is brought about by one person: You. You can do something: Exercise your rights under the U.S. Constitution now. Learn about Project 2025 and the America First Agenda, the most hideous documents outlining the upcoming “American Carnage,” the proposed destruction of American Democracy promised by DonOLD Trump.
Historically speaking, 2024 current events dictate an Indigenous proactive stance and perspective to make sure we keep our focus on the next Seven Generations in the here and now. Share this with others far and wide. We have less than 60 days to stake out our claims.
Be clear. The Nov. 5 election has installed the vicious Republican GOP (Gang Of Putin) authoritarians Donald Trump and J.D. Vance. The Trump/Vance Cabinet is ultra-fascist. There are few alternatives for recourse now. Resist Now and Take Action. Our freedom and life depends on your resolve to confront this historic threat. It does. For ALL Americans.
Sincerely,
Mervyn Tilden
Gallup, N.M.