Indigenous Democrats

Jim Thorpe’s Legacy Lives On Through Dickinson’s New Center for Native Futures Just beyond the grounds of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Dickinson College's dedication of the Jim Thorpe Center for the Futures of Native Peoples marks a turning point in how the history of ...

Just beyond the grounds of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Dickinson College’s dedication of the Jim Thorpe Center for the Futures of Native Peoples marks a turning point in how the history of the land is remembered.

redpopnews.com/jim-thorpes-...

#redpopnews #indigisky

Graphic for Transgender Day of Remembrance featuring a lit candle with a blue flame on a dark background, with the event date November 20 displayed at the bottom.

Today, we mourn the transgender Americans whose lives were lost to anti-transgender violence.

Democrats believe every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and to live their life fully and honestly.

PRESS RELEASE: Ho-Chunk Nation citizen Rodney Rave announces bid for U.S. Congress “I’m not a career politician, I’m a builder,” said Rodney Rave in launching his campaign to represent Wisconsin’s 3rd District in the U.S. Congress.

"I’m not a career politician, I’m a builder": Rodney Rave, a citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation, is running for Congress! He is seeking to represent Wisconsin's 3rd District in the U.S. House of Representatives. #NativeVote #NativeCongress #Wisconsin indianz.com/News/2025/11...

Trump administration clearing the way for drilling around Chaco Canyon, N.M. Democrats say Some lawmakers and Native activists condemned the rollback of Biden-era protections in the so-called "buffer zone."

The Trump Administration is once again putting profits over people. He's ignoring communities that worked for decades to protect it. Chaco is not for sale, it's a living landscape, sacred to many and irreplacabe. www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_n...

GORSUCH, J., dissenting SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES QUENTIN VENENO, JR. v. UNITED STATES ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT No. 24–5191. Decided November 10, 2025 The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied. JUSTICE GORSUCH, with whom JUSTICE THOMAS joins, dissenting from the denial of certiorari. Petitioner asks us to grant review in this case to reconsider United States v. Kagama, 118 U. S. 375 (1886). Kagama helped usher into our case law the theory that the federal government enjoys “plenary power” over the internal affairs of Native American Tribes. It is a theory that should make this Court blush. Not only does that notion lack any foundation in the Constitution; its roots lie instead only in archaic prejudices. This Court is responsible for Kagama, and this Court holds the power to correct it. We should not shirk from the task. As “sovereign and independent states,” Native American Tribes have governed their internal affairs “from time immemorial.” Worcester v. Georgia, 6 Pet. 515, 559–561 (1832) (internal quotation marks omitted). Among the sovereign powers Tribes have always enjoyed is the power to redress crimes involving their own peoples. Reflecting as much, a great many Tribes today have courts, not wholly unlike those found in States and counties across the country, open to render justice when one tribal member commits an offense against another on tribal land.

Justice Gorsuch argues that the Supreme Court should overturn precedent that gives Congress near-absolute power over the internal affairs of tribes. Only Justice Thomas—who typically disagrees with Gorsuch on these issues—joins him. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...

Building Futures Rooted in Culture: 2025 Bush Prize Native Nations Honorees Announced The Bush Prize: Native Nations honors Native-led organizations shaping stronger futures for their communities through creative collaboration and care. They are not new to this work, but have been lead...

Each year, the Bush Prize: Native Nations honors organizations from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the 23 Native Nations that share those homelands. Meet this year's honorees!

redpopnews.com/building-fut...

#redpopnews #bushfoundation #indigisky

It’s time for Democrats to pick the fights that matter.

DNC Chair Ken Martin posing for a photo with DNC Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta. They are holding a sign that reads "VOTE YES RETAIN OUR JUDGES ELECTION DAY | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4"

Spoke with voters last night in Lancaster, PA, with my good friend and DNC Vice Chair @malcolmkenyatta.bsky.social.

We’ve got 5 days to go until Election Day! Vote for @retainwecht.bsky.social, @retaindonohue.bsky.social, and @retaindougherty.bsky.social.

MUNGIA, J. (concurring)—I concur with the majority’s opinion.1 And yet I dissent. Not from the majority’s opinion, but I dissent from the racism embedded in the federal case law that applies to this dispute. FEDERAL INDIAN LAW IS A PRODUCT OF THE RACIST BELIEFS ENDEMIC IN OUR SOCIETY AND OUR LEGAL SYSTEM While it is certainly necessary to follow federal case law on issues involving Native American tribes and their members, at the same time it is important to call out that the very foundations of those opinions were based on racism and white supremacy. By doing this, readers of our opinions will have no doubt that the current court disavows, and condemns, those racist sentiments, beliefs, and statements.

Since the founding of our country, the federal government has characterized Native Americans as “savages”: They were “uncivilized.” They had little claim to the land upon which they lived. At times, the federal government attempted to eradicate Native Americans through genocidal policies. At other times, the federal government employed ethnic cleansing by forcibly removing children from their parents’ homes to strip them from their culture, their language, and their beings.2 Federal Indian case law arises from those racist underpinnings. The majority correctly cites to Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. (5 Pet.) 1, 8 L. Ed. 25 (1831), which is one of the foundational cases involving tribal sovereignty. That opinion is rife with racist attitudes toward Native Americans. Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for the majority, describes a tribe’s relationship to the federal government as one of “ward to his guardian.” Id. at 17. In effect, the opinion presents tribal members as children, and the federal government as the adult. That theme would follow in later opinions by the United States Supreme Court—as would the theme of white supremacy. Cherokee Nation began with the premise that Native American tribes, once strong and powerful, were no match for the white race and so found themselves “gradually sinking beneath our superior policy, our arts and our arms.” Id. at 15. The white man was considered the teacher, the Native Americans the pupils:

Meanwhile they are in a state of pupilage. Their relation to the United States resembles that of a ward to his guardian. Id. at 17. This characterization of superior to inferior, teacher to student, guardian to ward, was repeated in later United States Supreme Court opinions. In Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, 187 U.S. 553, 23 S. Ct. 216, 47 L. Ed. 299 (1903), often characterized as the “American Indian Dred Scott,” 3 the Court used that rationale to justify ruling that the United States could break its treaties with Native American tribes. These Indian tribes are the wards of the nation. They are communities dependent on the United States. Dependent largely for their daily food. Dependent for their political rights. . . . From their very weakness and helplessness . . . there arises the duty of protection, and with it the power. Id. at 567 (quoting United States v. Kagama, 118 U.S. 375, 383-84, 6 S. Ct. 1109, 30 L. Ed. 228 (1886)). Our court also carries the shame of denigrating Native Americans by using that same characterization: “The Indian was a child, and a dangerous child, of nature, to be both protected and restrained.” State v. Towessnute, 89 Wash. 478, 482, 154 P. 805 (1916), judgment vacated and opinion repudiated by 197 Wn.2d 574, 486 P.3d 111 (2020). 3 See A

Returning to Cherokee Nation, Justice William Johnson’s separate opinion was less tempered in how he considered the various Native American tribes: I cannot but think that there are strong reasons for doubting the applicability of the epithet state, to a people so low in the grade of organized society as our Indian tribes most generally are. Cherokee Nation, 30 U.S. at 21. Native Americans were not to be treated as “equals to equals” but, instead, the United States was the conqueror and Native Americans the conquered. Id. at 23. In discussing Native Americans, Justice Johnson employed another racist trope used by judges both before and after him: Native Americans were uncivilized savages. [W]e have extended to them the means and inducement to become agricultural and civilized. . . . Independently of the general influence of humanity, these people were restless, warlike, and signally cruel. . . . . But I think it very clear that the constitution neither speaks of them as states or foreign states, but as just what they were, Indian tribes . . . which the law of nations would regard as nothing more than wandering hordes, held together only by ties of blood and habit, and having neither laws or government, beyond what is required in a savage state. Id. at 23, 27-28. This same characterization was used by Justice Stanley Matthews in Ex parte KanGi-Shun-Ca (otherwise known as Crow Dog), 109 U.S. 556, 3 S. Ct. 396, 27 L. Ed. 1030 (1883). Justice Matthews described Native Americans as leading a savage life.

Washington Supreme Court Justice Mungia has an extraordinary opinion condemning "the underlying racism and prejudices that are woven into the very fabric" of SCOTUS opinions about Native people.

"We must clearly, loudly, and unequivocally state that was wrong.”
www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf...

Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Graham Greene (Oneida).

If elected, Chris, an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, would be one of a small handful of tribal members who serve as a county-level executive.

NEW: We're suing to challenge the unfair system for electing commissioners in Chouteau County, Montana.

Under the current at-large system, everyone in the county votes for all 3 commissioners, instead of voting by district. This leaves Native voters unable to elect a candidate of their choice.

I've been working on the mascot issue in various ways my entire life but more formally since around 2012. In massive numbers, Natives from citizens, organizations to entire tribal nations have organized and filed lawsuits, created policy changes on local and state levels to #ChangetheName.

Today marks six months since Trump took office. His “accomplishments”:

—Prices for household goods are skyrocketing
—Businesses have been forced to plan for recession
—300+ rural hospitals are at risk of shutting down
—22 million working families could lose some or all of their food benefits

The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe worked tirelessly to restore the river, removing a dam, and saw salmon and other life return.

This incident is heartbreaking and devastating.

DNC Chair Ken Martin standing outside of a house in Neptune Township, NJ, holding canvassing materials. He is wearing a blue button-down shirt and khakis.

There’s no such thing as an off-year. We have critical elections coming up across the country, and today I joined New Jersey Dems to knock on doors for @mikiesherrill.bsky.social and candidates across the ballot.

If you want to help make a difference in your community, text FIGHT to 43367.

Screenshot of Ann Coulter replying to a tweet with "We didn't kill enough Indians"

A little history lesson, in 1924 (the year we were granted US citizenship), there were roughly only 250K-300K Natives left in the US out of millions. Not surprising the US gov. and a lot of White folks don't believe they killed enough cuz WE ARE STILL HERE.

Our survival is their greatest failure.

Ann Coulter commenting that "We (meaning the U.S., presumably) did not kill enough Indians."

I rarely comment on these things, but these are unusual times. 249 years ago the Declaration called Natives "Merciless Indian Savages.," and the Constitution excluded us from protection while enabling our dispossession. We remember this history not to cause harm, but to grasp the consequences./1

The bill passed by Republicans in Congress is not good for Indian Country either.

I'm not fighting back to a draw. That’s not enough. I'm working for a future where billionaires pay their fair share and families can afford their lives.

We have 16 months to organize a grassroots movement that can flip the Senate. Let’s start today.

Stephanie Bice, Congressional District 5 Rep. just voted to cut Medicaid (that’s SoonerCare to you) and SNAP and food assistance programs that help feed hungry kids. 1 in 4 Oklahomans rely on SoonerCare and 1 in 6 rely on SNAP.

If elected, Chris, an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, would be one of a small handful of tribal members who serve as a county-level executive.

If you haven’t been tuning in.

Republicans in Congress are working RIGHT NOW to pass a Big BS Bill that will:

🔴End Healthcare for 14+ million
🔴Steal food from kids
🔴Explode student loan defaults
🔴Raise our energy bills by 30%

Oh and it also cut taxes for the richest Americans! That’s bullshit.

Help organize our communities.

In January — speaking to the entire nation at his Inauguration - Donald Trump proclaimed ‘We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.’ Today, against his own words, the president sent bombers into Iran. Americans overwhelmingly do not want to go to war. Americans do not want to risk the safety of our troops abroad. Americans do not want a president who bypasses our constitution and pulls us towards war without Congressional approval. Donald Trump needs to bring his case to Congress immediately.

DNC Chair Ken Martin's statement on Trump's unilateral act of war with Iran.

Congrats to my friend @shasti.bsky.social! Proud to have her join me as a Vice Chair of the DNC.

If you don’t know her yet, you should.

She worked for President Obama and later ran surrogate strategy for Bernie’s 2016 campaign.

Happy National Indigenous Peoples Day! I edited today's @thenarwhal.ca story, which comes from the Inuit community of Cambridge Bay. Fascinating science journalism and stunning visuals, but also — in the spirit of the day — a couple pics of some very cute Indigibabies enjoying a celebration. Enjoy!!

Graphic poster with a red and blue background featuring blurred star shapes and text that reads "Celebrating Juneteenth."

Today, Americans gather to commemorate Juneteenth, a day of celebration, remembrance and resolve.

As we honor this day, we also celebrate the Black community's profound contributions to the American story, and remain committed to fighting for equity and justice for all.

Notes on June 14 No Kings rallies In one of the biggest mass demonstrations in American history, millions of people demonstrated in small towns and big cities. Or did you not hear?

Saturday's No Kings rallies could ultimately be the second-biggest one-day demonstration in American history:

olympiajoe.substack.com/p/notes-on-j...