Two weeks ago today, the Supreme Court of Muscogee Nation affirmed the citizenship rights of freedmen descendants. After decades of disenfranchisement, freedmen descendants are now eligible for tribal citizenship. How did we get here? Here’s a little history lesson 🧵: In the early 1800s Muscogee, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole Nations adopted chattel slavery from the US South. Partially for this reason, our nations came to be called the loaded moniker “the Five Civilized Tribes.”

People are talking about genocide as if it is a rhetorical or moral debate. It is a legal term–a crime defined under international law. South Africa and nine other countries have charged Israel with the crime of genocide at the International Court of Justice...🧵 That body issued a preliminary finding it was plausible Israel committed genocide and ordered Israel to take measures to prevent genocide from happening–like stop blocking humanitarian aid. Israel ignored the order.

(1/6) Why the federal funding chaos disproportionately affects Native Americans: (2/6) The Trump layoffs, funding freezes and executive orders disproportionately affect tribes. Tribes rely on federal funding to administer healthcare, schools, food programs, police departments and more.

(1/x) So much of what is happening in our present stems from what we have not resolved in our past. (2/x) In our self-conception, America is a beacon of democracy for the rest of the world. Even when our founding sins are recognized, we like to believe things have gotten better. The story we tell ourselves is one of progress. In reality, our government committed genocide.

(1/x) I keep seeing ppl look abroad for political leaders to compare Trump with and find lessons from. All the ingredients of a Trump presidency are right here in the U.S. We need look no further than our own backyard. In 1828, President Andrew Jackson was elected on... (2/x) top of a wave of populism. In his campaign, he claimed the 1824 election, which he lost to John Quincy Adams, was stolen. Jackson’s signature policy was the removal of Indigenous nations from the territorial limits of the United States; a racist policy of ethnic cleansing.

There's no FDA approved treatment for Long Covid, but a proposed bill to fund research could close some crucial gaps. Long Covid is a hell I would not wish on anyone. For me, it was followed by the hell of trying to access care. motherjones.com/politics/2024/… When I initially got Long Covid, I was not able to work and barely left the house. I had been treated for migraines and concussion-like symptoms, but not Long Covid and decided I wanted to get into a specialty clinic. I had no idea how hard that would be.

After some cringe-worthy coverage from non-Native outlets, here is a run down of Native journalists covering last week’s #scotus oral arguments in Haaland v #Brackeen.

@jourdanbb & @Pdineclah covered protests outside #SCOTUS for @IndianCountry

indiancountrytoday.com/news/indigenou… And here is video of Wednesday’s rally at #scotus from @ndncollective.

ndncollective.org/video-ndn-coll…

During the #SCOTUS oral argument in #Brackeen several Justices seemed to think #ICWA takes Native children from foster parents they attached to & that’s bad.

So here’s a list of every time the foster parents in this case moved a foster kid or fought for a kid to be moved: We’ll start with the Brackeens.

The first child they ever fostered was not an ICWA case bc the kid was not Native. After 5 months, they asked CPS to take the child back bc the 3 yr old was “difficult” and “suffocating”.

Native leaders, advocates and citizens traveled from across the US to attend oral arguments in Brackeen. Samantha Maltais (Aquinnah Wampanoag) is a law student at Harvard who wanted to attend bc tribal sovereignty is one the line. Leaders from ICWA Law Center, White Earth and Casey Family Programs got in line at 5am this morning.

The story of YRJ—a little Navajo girl, being raised by the white couple suing to overturn ICWA—was shared by @JanHoffmanNYT for @nytimes, @NinaTotenberg for @NPR & Fox News this week. But their coverage left out some really important info. 🧵: The Brackeens say ICWA discriminated against them bc it wouldn’t let them adopt Native kids. But in 2019, a family court judge awarded them custody of YRJ over a blood relative. At the time, they weren’t fostering her. She was being raised by some one else.

This article is a great example on how the @nytimes coverage of Indigenous issues doesn’t meet the basic standards of journalism. This article grossly misrepresents what happened in the underlying custody cases and the people behind the lawsuit.

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1589696707839029250

The placement didn’t “fall through”. The Brackeens brought a legal arsenal that you never seen in Family Court—the corporate law firm that represents Walmart, Amazon, and Chevron and the State AG of Texas. Only then, did the tribes agree to the adoption.

If you are still observing #ColumbusDay instead of #IndigenousPeoplesDay today here is your annual reminder of what you are celebrating...

CW: violence, sexual assault Christopher Columbus's army used Indigenous people as dog food. They were known to feed live babies to dogs in front of their horrified parents.

Feels like a good time to revisit the Doctrine of Discovery: the Christian legal theory with which Europeans gave themselves the right to colonize the globe.

It asserted that Christian Nations became the rightful owner of any land they found occupied by non-Christian people. It was really that straightforward: because Christian nation were seen as superior, they could claim whatever they wanted.

There is a shortage in the “domestic supply of infants” in the US.

For decades, the adoption industry has filled this gap disproportionately with children from communities of color—first through international adoption and now foster care. After Roe and the pill, the number of babies available for adoption in the US decreased dramatically. Adoption agencies solved this problem by going overseas.

But US demand started creating some unethical—and even illegal—adoption practices.

Tomorrow #SCOTUS will hear oral arguments in a case that could limit the scope of its 2020 #McGirt decision.

Using alarming facts & figures, #Oklahoma claims McGirt led to criminal justice chaos. But we looked into it, & their numbers don’t add up.

theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/… In its CERT petition in Castro, OK claimed up to 76,000 past convictions could be impacted according to district attorneys. The governor‘s office confirmed the estimate came from DAs. But when we contacted the DAs, they didn’t know what the governor was talking about.

In 2020, only 0.4% of funding by large U.S. foundations was directed to Native communities.

During this “season of giving”, please don’t forget to include Native orgs.

Here is a list of Indigenous-led foundations/ grant-making orgs that re-invest $$ into Native communities. .@ndncollective gives grants to Indigenous change makers, creatives and community self-determination projects.

@DecolonizWealth is transforming philanthropy to put more money and power into Indigenous and Black led organizations.

For #IndigenousPeoplesDay2021 here are some of my fav Native voices on here. Get Indigenous content more than 1 day a year by hitting that follow button!🧵:

@MelaninMvskoke @nickwestes @LucasBrownEyes @Ruth_HHopkins @Ruth4Nd @alisonaher @grahambrewer @Pdineclah @tanayawinder .@ChoctawFreedmen @jnoisecat @DinaGWhit @janaunplgd @sierraornelas @AzieDee @stacyleeds @MaggieBlackhawk @PepePierce @echohawkd3 @native4data @YazzieSays @kstsosie @DeondreSmiles @savannah_maher @TrippCrouse @LakotaMan1 @NickA_Martin @ABecenti @MsKellyMHayes @NatalieGDiaz

On this HISTORIC day it’s important to remember the history that got us here.

Originally the Bureau of Indian Affairs—the agency tasked with managing the US gov’s relationship w/ Indigenous Nations—was housed in the War Department. In 1849 it was transferred to the newly formed Department of the Interior. So diplomatic relations w/ Indigenous Nations went from being managed by the military to being managed alongside land, fish and animals.

If you are observing #ColumbusDay instead of #IndigenousPeoplesDay2020 here is a list of what you are celebrating...

1. Christopher Columbus's army used Indigenous people as dog food. They were known to feed live babies to dogs in front of their horrified parents.

CW: SA 2.) His "voyage" initiated the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade when he captured 1600 Taino people and shipped them to Spain for gold. Most died on the journey.

In less than 10 days the federal government is scheduled to execute the first Native American in modern history.

Against the wishes of his tribe AND in violation of federal law. When Congress passed the Federal Death Penalty Act (FDPA) in 1994 it included the “tribal option”, which gave tribes the authority to decide whether or not their citizens could be sentenced to death for crimes committed against other Indians.

"The federal government promised the Creek a reservation in perpetuity. Over time, Congress has diminished that reservation. It has sometimes restricted and other times expanded the Tribe’s authority. But Congress has never withdrawn the promised reservation.... As a result, many of the arguments before us today follow a sadly familiar pattern. Yes, promises were made, but the price of keeping them has become too great, so now we should just cast a blind eye. We reject that thinking...