#native-americans — Public Fediverse posts

Santa Barbara Independent: Yale, Harvard Return Ancestors and Artifacts to Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. “[Kathleen] Marshall was in Boston when they packed up the semi-truck with more than 2,000 remains and artifacts — filling it almost to the brim — and flew home to meet them at the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center on June 27. She tracked the truck on GPS for its […]

Santa Barbara Independent: Yale, Harvard Return Ancestors and Artifacts to Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians. “[Kathleen] Marshall was in Boston when they packed up the semi-truck with more than 2,000 remains and artifacts — filling it almost to the brim — and flew home to meet them at the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center on June 27. She tracked the truck on GPS for its […]

Trump shrinks protected lands in Utah — 3 million acres http://dlvr.it/TTX8Hs #donaldtrump #environment #nativeamericans

Trump shrinks protected lands in Utah — 3 million acres http://dlvr.it/TTX8Hs #donaldtrump #environment #nativeamericans

Trump dramatically cuts size of two national monuments held sacred by tribes
By Coral Murphy Marcos and agencies

Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah will lose ‘close to a million and a half acres each’ and open land to developers and oil industry

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/13/trump-cuts-national-monuments-utah

#Utah #WestCoast #USnews #DonaldTrump #NativeAmericans #Trumpadministration #TheGuardian #CoralMurphyMarcos #agencies

Trump dramatically cuts size of two national monuments held sacred by tribes https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/13/trump-cuts-national-monuments-utah #Utah #WestCoast #UsNews #DonaldTrump #NativeAmericans #TrumpAdministration

Trump dramatically cuts size of two national monuments held sacred by tribes https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/13/trump-cuts-national-monuments-utah #Utah #WestCoast #UsNews #DonaldTrump #NativeAmericans #TrumpAdministration

Bloque de cera de abeja del naufragio del Santo Cristo de Burgos en 1693 en la bahía de Nehalem, obsequiado por los clatsop a Lewis y Clark en el invierno de 1805-1806. 🏛️Museo Marítimo del Río Columbia 📷Jennifer Burns Bright #nativosamericanos #nativeamericans

Bloque de cera de abeja del naufragio del Santo Cristo de Burgos en 1693 en la bahía de Nehalem, obsequiado por los clatsop a Lewis y Clark en el invierno de 1805-1806. 🏛️Museo Marítimo del Río Columbia 📷Jennifer Burns Bright #nativosamericanos #nativeamericans

#PenobscotNation cultural building arson reward increased

By WABI News Desk
Published: Jul. 8, 2026 at 12:46 PM EDT

INDIAN ISLAND, Maine (WABI) - "The Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating an arson case on Indian Island.

The fire happened around 2 a.m., Wednesday on Wabanaki Way, officials said.

According to authorities, the fire caused significant damage to a cultural building, owned by Penobscot Nation.

Authorities also said no one was hurt.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Fire Marshal’s Office at 973-3700.

The Penobscot Nation Police Department announced Wednesday they were offering a $2,000 reward for finding the person responsible. Thursday afternoon, the State Fire Marshal’s Office said the reward had been raised to $3,000

The Penobscot Nation put out a letter on Facebook Wednesday afternoon.

Dear Tribal Citizens,

I hope this letter finds you well. As you are likely aware, there was a fire at the cultural building by the pavilion in the early morning hours today. It has been determined that this fire was set intentionally. This situation is not acceptable and extremely disheartening. We are working with multiple agencies to investigate this crime, and the Nation is offering a reward for any information leading to the apprehension of the people responsible.

Many people worked diligently to create this site to hold important cultural activities including honoring our people who have passed. This is not a place for campfires and partying, and this terrible act is a desecration of this area. We will work with our cultural leaders to restore this site.

I want to thank our CISM team and everyone who works to ensure our community is taken care of during these difficult times. We will use all available resources to address this situation, and I will provide further updates as more information is available.

Best to you all.

Kirk E. Francis, Chief"

https://www.wabi.tv/2026/07/08/penobscot-nation-cultural-building-fire-ruled-arson-investigators-say/

#MaineNews #HateCrime? #Wabanaki #CulturalPreservation #CulturalGenocide #NativeAmericans #NativeAmericanNews

#PenobscotNation cultural building arson reward increased

By WABI News Desk
Published: Jul. 8, 2026 at 12:46 PM EDT

INDIAN ISLAND, Maine (WABI) - "The Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating an arson case on Indian Island.

The fire happened around 2 a.m., Wednesday on Wabanaki Way, officials said.

According to authorities, the fire caused significant damage to a cultural building, owned by Penobscot Nation.

Authorities also said no one was hurt.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Fire Marshal’s Office at 973-3700.

The Penobscot Nation Police Department announced Wednesday they were offering a $2,000 reward for finding the person responsible. Thursday afternoon, the State Fire Marshal’s Office said the reward had been raised to $3,000

The Penobscot Nation put out a letter on Facebook Wednesday afternoon.

Dear Tribal Citizens,

I hope this letter finds you well. As you are likely aware, there was a fire at the cultural building by the pavilion in the early morning hours today. It has been determined that this fire was set intentionally. This situation is not acceptable and extremely disheartening. We are working with multiple agencies to investigate this crime, and the Nation is offering a reward for any information leading to the apprehension of the people responsible.

Many people worked diligently to create this site to hold important cultural activities including honoring our people who have passed. This is not a place for campfires and partying, and this terrible act is a desecration of this area. We will work with our cultural leaders to restore this site.

I want to thank our CISM team and everyone who works to ensure our community is taken care of during these difficult times. We will use all available resources to address this situation, and I will provide further updates as more information is available.

Best to you all.

Kirk E. Francis, Chief"

https://www.wabi.tv/2026/07/08/penobscot-nation-cultural-building-fire-ruled-arson-investigators-say/

#MaineNews #HateCrime? #Wabanaki #CulturalPreservation #CulturalGenocide #NativeAmericans #NativeAmericanNews

New York Times: Big Tech Is Now Targeting Native American Land for Massive Data Centers. This link goes to a gift article. “The dizzying expansion of data centers to power artificial intelligence has communities in Republican and Democratic states feeling blindsided as citizens and local governments are forced to grapple with noise, water and energy concerns. That division may be even more […]

New York Times: Big Tech Is Now Targeting Native American Land for Massive Data Centers. This link goes to a gift article. “The dizzying expansion of data centers to power artificial intelligence has communities in Republican and Democratic states feeling blindsided as citizens and local governments are forced to grapple with noise, water and energy concerns. That division may be even more […]

Little House on the Prairie: Netflix woke-ified Laura Ingalls Wilder’s story, for better and for worse.

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to…
#NewsBeep #News #Topstories #Books #Headlines #History #nativeamericans #Netflix #Politics #TopStories #TV
https://www.newsbeep.com/635666/

Little House on the Prairie: Netflix woke-ified Laura Ingalls Wilder’s story, for better and for worse.

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Entertainment #Books #history #NativeAmericans #Netflix #politics #TV
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/753356/

#ForcedRelocation is nothing new... The #USA is quite good at it... Unfortunately!

Mapping how the U.S. forcibly took #IndigenousLands

Not long after the #GreatAmericanExperiment began, the newly established nation set its sights west. Here's how a series of conflicts, forged treaties, and #ForcedMigration led to the loss of a majority of Indigenous lands.

By Erin Blakemore
Published July 8, 2026

"For the citizens of the newly established United States, the vast territory of North America (and the land of plenty it represented) seemed theirs for the taking. But these lands, some of the richest on Earth, had already been settled and stewarded for thousands of years by #IndigenousPeoples. Though their numbers had already dwindled due to new diseases and conflict with settlers, in 1776 approximately 250,000 #IndigenousPeople still lived within the territory delimited by the current borders of the U.S. The young nation, however, was intent on expansion—and set its sights on Indigenous land. Over the years, tribal interests and sovereignty would be trampled time and time again. Although land loss is the most visible consequence of dispossession, Indigenous customs, culture, and language (all firmly rooted in the land) were also under attack."

Read more:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/native-american-history-indigenous-lands

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/B2yzj

#NativeAmericans #NativeAmericanHistory #AmericanHistory #ForcedRelocation #TrailOfTears #Genocide #1830IndianRemovalAct #IndianRemovalAct #CulturalGenocide #StolenChildren #StolenLand #ForcedDisplacement #CorporateGreed #Capitalism

#ForcedRelocation is nothing new... The #USA is quite good at it... Unfortunately!

Mapping how the U.S. forcibly took #IndigenousLands

Not long after the #GreatAmericanExperiment began, the newly established nation set its sights west. Here's how a series of conflicts, forged treaties, and #ForcedMigration led to the loss of a majority of Indigenous lands.

By Erin Blakemore
Published July 8, 2026

"For the citizens of the newly established United States, the vast territory of North America (and the land of plenty it represented) seemed theirs for the taking. But these lands, some of the richest on Earth, had already been settled and stewarded for thousands of years by #IndigenousPeoples. Though their numbers had already dwindled due to new diseases and conflict with settlers, in 1776 approximately 250,000 #IndigenousPeople still lived within the territory delimited by the current borders of the U.S. The young nation, however, was intent on expansion—and set its sights on Indigenous land. Over the years, tribal interests and sovereignty would be trampled time and time again. Although land loss is the most visible consequence of dispossession, Indigenous customs, culture, and language (all firmly rooted in the land) were also under attack."

Read more:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/native-american-history-indigenous-lands

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/B2yzj

#NativeAmericans #NativeAmericanHistory #AmericanHistory #ForcedRelocation #TrailOfTears #Genocide #1830IndianRemovalAct #IndianRemovalAct #CulturalGenocide #StolenChildren #StolenLand #ForcedDisplacement #CorporateGreed #Capitalism

Collar de nutrias de río y garras de oso grizzly recibidos por Lewis y Clark como regalo diplomático de los nativos con los que tuvieron contacto. 🏛️Museo Peabody #nativosamericanos #nativeamericans

Collar de nutrias de río y garras de oso grizzly recibidos por Lewis y Clark como regalo diplomático de los nativos con los que tuvieron contacto. 🏛️Museo Peabody #nativosamericanos #nativeamericans

El cascabel de las serpientes solía darse a las mujeres durante el parto, como ocurrió a Sacajawea en el parto de su primogénito. Este collar de cuero curado con cascabeles de las serpientes de cascabel y semillas data del siglo XIX. 🏛️Museo de Historia de Missouri #nativosamericanos #nativeamericans

El cascabel de las serpientes solía darse a las mujeres durante el parto, como ocurrió a Sacajawea en el parto de su primogénito. Este collar de cuero curado con cascabeles de las serpientes de cascabel y semillas data del siglo XIX. 🏛️Museo de Historia de Missouri #nativosamericanos #nativeamericans

Review: Red

https://mangaispolitical.noblogs.org/post/2026/07/08/review-red/

Review: Red

https://mangaispolitical.noblogs.org/post/2026/07/08/review-red/

Tradwives and ‘anti-woke’ backlash: can Netflix reboot Little House on The Prairie for a new generation? https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jul/07/little-house-on-the-prairie-netflix-reboot-controversy #UsTelevision #Netflix #Television #TelevisionRadio #Culture #NativeAmericans #HistoryBooks #UsNews #Books

Tradwives and ‘anti-woke’ backlash: can Netflix reboot Little House on The Prairie for a new generation? https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jul/07/little-house-on-the-prairie-netflix-reboot-controversy #UsTelevision #Netflix #Television #TelevisionRadio #Culture #NativeAmericans #HistoryBooks #UsNews #Books

July 4th Message from Oso Blanco

Independence—But for Who

Good evening, beautiful people. This is Oso Blanco. Please let me tell you why I DESPISE the 4th of July. This is NO “Happy Birthday for America.” For us, this 4th of July madness is the American celebration of their 1776 celebration ON OUR LAND for the American’s freedom from the British Empire.

“Independence Day” for who, I ask? Not for Native people. This 4th of Juy marks the next 250 years of massive waves of genocide, land theft, extinction of may tribes, environmental destruction of the Earth—rivers, lakes, all waters air and soil.

The 4th marks unrestrained colonialism, and the oppression of Native spiritual lifeways, healing practices, and Native peoples’ freedom. So, in short, the 4th is the end of Native Nations’ freedom and safety from attack and destruction of our cultures and customs. There is NO WAY I can “celebrate” that stupid EVIL day in ’76. The positives do not outweigh the negatives. The negatives far. FAR outweigh the positives starting with the 4th of July 1776.

I love you, people. PLEASE STOP these RIDICULOUS holidays and what they really, REALLY represent. I love you.

Write to and Support Oso Blanco.

Byron Chubbuck #07909-051
USP Atwater
P.O. Box 019001
Atwater, CA 95301

Email: [email protected]

Source: https://www.abcf.net/blog/july-4th-message-from-oso-blanco/

🤡

"#Scandinavians in the upper Midwest, #AfricanAmericans clustered in the South and beyond, #MexicanAmericans in the Southwest, #Portuguese along the coast of New England, #Yemeni #immigrants and their descendants in Detroit, and #NativeAmericans living across a country that was once theirs.

“Much of what we see is a history of #immigration,” explain the authors, #AlbertSun, #JeffAdelson and #LarryBuchanan. The story accompanying the #map goes on to describe the ebbs and flows of the #migrant tide, including the surge at the turn of the 20th century and the current crackdown on #refugees, #asylumseekers and even naturalized citizens.

But zoom in on the map, and there’s a notable omission: #Jews. Hover over Manhattan, home to one of the largest #Jewish communities in the world, and you’ll find pockets where 20% or more of the residents are #Chinese, #PuertoRican, African American, #Dominican, #German and #Italian. Conspicuously, there is no heading for “Jewish.”

https://www.jta.org/2026/07/06/ideas/a-new-york-times-map-tells-americas-immigration-story-so-where-are-the-jews

🤡

"#Scandinavians in the upper Midwest, #AfricanAmericans clustered in the South and beyond, #MexicanAmericans in the Southwest, #Portuguese along the coast of New England, #Yemeni #immigrants and their descendants in Detroit, and #NativeAmericans living across a country that was once theirs.

“Much of what we see is a history of #immigration,” explain the authors, #AlbertSun, #JeffAdelson and #LarryBuchanan. The story accompanying the #map goes on to describe the ebbs and flows of the #migrant tide, including the surge at the turn of the 20th century and the current crackdown on #refugees, #asylumseekers and even naturalized citizens.

But zoom in on the map, and there’s a notable omission: #Jews. Hover over Manhattan, home to one of the largest #Jewish communities in the world, and you’ll find pockets where 20% or more of the residents are #Chinese, #PuertoRican, African American, #Dominican, #German and #Italian. Conspicuously, there is no heading for “Jewish.”

https://www.jta.org/2026/07/06/ideas/a-new-york-times-map-tells-americas-immigration-story-so-where-are-the-jews

One of the most endangered sea creatures of the Pacific Ocean is getting a leg up in the kelp forests of Washington’s San Juan Islands: a 24-armed sea star called the sunflower star.
https://www.kuow.org/stories/how-a-northwest-tribe-and-an-endangered-sea-creature-are-helping-each-other
#KUOW #News #Oceans #EndangeredSpecies #Environment #PugetSound #NativeAmericans

One of the most endangered sea creatures of the Pacific Ocean is getting a leg up in the kelp forests of Washington’s San Juan Islands: a 24-armed sea star called the sunflower star.
https://www.kuow.org/stories/how-a-northwest-tribe-and-an-endangered-sea-creature-are-helping-each-other
#KUOW #News #Oceans #EndangeredSpecies #Environment #PugetSound #NativeAmericans

#DehydratingFood: Beginner’s Guide

By Ashley Adamant, Apr 13, 2025

"Dehydrating food is one of the oldest methods of #FoodPreservation, and it works just as well now as it did back then! It’s incredibly easy to dehydrate food at home, either in a #FoodDehydrator or your home oven.

Dehydrating For Food Preservation

From the #AncientEgyptians to #NativeAmericans, people have been dehydrating for centuries as a form of food preservation. For years dried food kept people fed through the cold winter months when food supplies were low or scarce. In fact, throughout history, dehydration always seems to experience a resurgence during times of food insecurity — WWI and WWII are just two recent examples.

Why is dehydration such a dependable form of food preservation? Dehydration preserves goods through the process of removing moisture from food. This effectively stops the formation of mold and spoiling, consequently preserving items for future use.

Although multiple forms of dehydration have been used throughout history, such as #SunDrying and #AirDrying, most modern individuals tend to opt for electric dehydration using a food dehydrator. These home food dehydrators apply low heat to food while circulating airflow to remove moisture from foods, making the process much easier than in the years of yore."

Learn more:
https://practicalselfreliance.com/dehydrating-food/

#SolarPunkSunday #DehydratingFoods #FoodPreservation #PreservingTheHarvest #AnimalProducts

#DehydratingFood: Beginner’s Guide

By Ashley Adamant, Apr 13, 2025

"Dehydrating food is one of the oldest methods of #FoodPreservation, and it works just as well now as it did back then! It’s incredibly easy to dehydrate food at home, either in a #FoodDehydrator or your home oven.

Dehydrating For Food Preservation

From the #AncientEgyptians to #NativeAmericans, people have been dehydrating for centuries as a form of food preservation. For years dried food kept people fed through the cold winter months when food supplies were low or scarce. In fact, throughout history, dehydration always seems to experience a resurgence during times of food insecurity — WWI and WWII are just two recent examples.

Why is dehydration such a dependable form of food preservation? Dehydration preserves goods through the process of removing moisture from food. This effectively stops the formation of mold and spoiling, consequently preserving items for future use.

Although multiple forms of dehydration have been used throughout history, such as #SunDrying and #AirDrying, most modern individuals tend to opt for electric dehydration using a food dehydrator. These home food dehydrators apply low heat to food while circulating airflow to remove moisture from foods, making the process much easier than in the years of yore."

Learn more:
https://practicalselfreliance.com/dehydrating-food/

#SolarPunkSunday #DehydratingFoods #FoodPreservation #PreservingTheHarvest #AnimalProducts

Shared by @phillycodehound

This video by PBS tells about the history and restoration of the Great Dismal Swamp in my home state of North Carolina, in the southeastern region of the United States.

#northcarolina #history #blackhistory #americanhistory
#BlackHistoryIsUSHistory
#ushistory #greatdismalswamp
#swamprestoration #peatlands
#slavery #indigenouspeoples
#nativeamericans #pbs #naturalcarbonoffset

https://youtu.be/t-J5QNauVIc

Shared by @phillycodehound

This video by PBS tells about the history and restoration of the Great Dismal Swamp in my home state of North Carolina, in the southeastern region of the United States.

#northcarolina #history #blackhistory #americanhistory
#BlackHistoryIsUSHistory
#ushistory #greatdismalswamp
#swamprestoration #peatlands
#slavery #indigenouspeoples
#nativeamericans #pbs #naturalcarbonoffset

https://youtu.be/t-J5QNauVIc

Dieser Film steht auch 35 Jahre später noch immer wie ein Monument über dem ganzen Genre des Westerns. Über drei Stunden, die 1990 gewirkt haben, wie ein Manifest der Entschleunigung gegen das zynische Actionkino der Reagan Ära. Und die sich zugleich wie eine große Geste der Wiedergutmachung angefühlt haben. Das Weltkino hat das als humanistische Sensation gefeiert. Sieben Oscars. Standing Ovations. Endlich Respekt für indigene Figuren im Mainstream. Doch Respekt ist leider nicht dasselbe wie eine Dekolonisierung des Blickes. (ARD, Wh.)

Dieser Film steht auch 35 Jahre später noch immer wie ein Monument über dem ganzen Genre des Westerns. Über drei Stunden, die 1990 gewirkt haben, wie ein Manifest der Entschleunigung gegen das zynische Actionkino der Reagan Ära. Und die sich zugleich wie eine große Geste der Wiedergutmachung angefühlt haben. Das Weltkino hat das als humanistische Sensation gefeiert. Sieben Oscars. Standing Ovations. Endlich Respekt für indigene Figuren im Mainstream. Doch Respekt ist leider nicht dasselbe wie eine Dekolonisierung des Blickes. (ARD, Wh.)

The Indian Wars Continue: 150 Years After Victory at Greasy Grass

Since the 1776 Declaration of Independence, the United States has only formally declared war eleven times across five conflicts, and yet it has been at war in hundreds of conflicts throughout most of its existence. To answer why the United States is locked into a state of perpetual war, we have to look to the violent seizure Indigenous land. Tracing this history back to the nation’s founding, as illuminated by the new First America podcast series, reveals how Native resistance has radically shaped U.S. history, laying the groundwork for its most violent conflicts and unchecked militarism.

This century-long campaign of rapid territorial expansion known as the Indian Wars—the nation’s original “forever wars”—forged the bloody blueprint for the United States’s most notorious and unpopular conflicts in modern history from Vietnam to President Trump’s most recent war on Iran. While critics argue that only Congress holds the power to declare war, centuries of executive military actions suggest otherwise. These initial expansionist campaigns set a precedent where presidents initiate wars. As the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, it’s necessary to examine how the Indian Wars continue to shape U.S. imperialism today.

Especially now, with the Trump administration desperately trying to eke out a victory and exit plan in Iran, is it worth understanding how he possesses the power to make war in the first place. The history of the Indian Wars is riddled with equally arrogant and dangerous characters.

Exactly 150 years ago today, the U.S. military suffered one of its most staggering defeats, amid nearly a century of undeclared wars fought against Indigenous nations. On June 25, as the nation prepared for its centennial, the flamboyant cavalry commander George Armstrong Custer hoped to gift the republic an early birthday present: the final defeat of Native resistance. A decisive victory over the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho alliance on the Northern Plains was meant to lock down the remaining frontier and conclusively win the nation’s longest conflict. The relentless, often genocidal warfare enabled the United States to seize more than a billion acres of Indigenous territory during the westward surge.

Instead of achieving victory, however, Custer suffered a humiliating rout at the Battle of Greasy Grass. Knocked from his horse by a Cheyenne woman, he lost 268 of his men and his own life. Yet, despite this tactical disaster, the broader genocidal campaign eventually secured the plunder of the gold-rich Black Hills. This sacred landscape, revered by more than 50 Indigenous nations, legally belonged to the Lakotas, whose treaty with the United States guaranteed them a “permanent home”including the mountains they call He Sapa.

A century later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the taking of He Sapa was illegal and unconstitutional. While the theft was unlawful, the wars set in motion to plunder Indigenous lands were not. In fact, Congress never formally declared war against Lakotas or any Indigenous nation during the Indian Wars, relying entirely on presidential war powers to field armies on the frontier. In the case of war with Lakotas, President Ulysses Grant sent Custer to force Lakotas back on their reservations and to safeguard illegal gold mining in the Black Hills. Even without declarations of war, however, the Senate ratified hundreds of treaties recognizing Indigenous sovereignty, promising peace, and oftentimes securing land cessions after violent conflicts; and Congress appropriated funds to raise the armies to fight Indigenous nations.

While it is clear to see how the United States failed to live up to its treaty obligations to Indigenous nations, often violating its own constitution as in the blatant theft of the Black Hills, the legality of the Indian Wars almost never come under question. In fact, for proponents of executive war powers, the opposite is true: The Indian Wars were lawful and provided the framework for further executive-led military actions. This perceived lawfulness of the Indian Wars has paved the way for centuries of U.S. imperialist wars.

As recently as 2018, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel—sometimes called the “Supreme Court of the executive branch”—argued that President Trump was authorized to bomb Syria “without prior congressional approval.” The opinion cited the fledgling country’s first war against Indigenous nations as a justification. Specifically, the Office weaponized George Washington’s 1790 offensive operations against the Northwest Indian Confederacy to establish the genesis of presidential war powers.

Ironically, that early Indigenous alliance—formed by Shawnee, Odawa, Haudenosaunee, Ojibwe, Miami, and Potawatomi forces—had organized in response the growing danger of U.S. encroachment further into the Ohio River Valley. While revered as a great general, George Washington’s war on the Confederacy led to a defeat worse than Custer’s. In 1791, Indigenous forces inflicted more than a thousand casualties at the Battle of Wabash, wiping out a quarter of the standing U.S. army in a single battle. It was the United States’s worst military defeat—ever.

The justification for the war was preemptive, Trump’s DOJ argued, and in “retaliation for Indian atrocities.” Like many of the founders, Washington saw Indigenous peoples as inherently savage and obstacles to western expansion. As part of a civilizing mission, the invasion of Indigenous lands was made to look like self-defense and resistance to it a criminal act. The reasoning recalls to the words of Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, describing “the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.” This initial framing designates Indigenous nations as traitorous and terroristic savages, their existence on the frontier posing an imminent threat and an obstacle to westward expansion. An enemy defined in such a manner required constant fighting to ensure the safety of invading settlers.

Although the context shifted over time, the framing of an “imminent threat” to justify unilateral action expanded to new theaters of war. Legal scholars like John C. Yoo have weaponized the Indian Wars to build a constitutional justification for expansive presidential war powers and the state’s use of torture during the U.S. War on Terror. Despite campaigning on ending those “forever wars,” Trump, like presidents Obama and Biden before him, has relied on the same post-9/11 legal frameworks to justify military actions without seeking congressional approval.

On the eve of its 250th birthday, the United States has not deviated from the path of endless war. Under the guise of neutralizing “imminent threats,” from Indigenous nations to modern challenges to U.S. hegemony, such as Iran, the U.S. executive has manufactured a legal loophole that has never been closed. Unless stopped, the current state of global U.S. military power will continue to fight the unacknowledged, unceasing, and undeclared Indian Wars.

Nick Estes is a Sicangu American community organizer, journalist, and historian at the University of Minnesota. He cofounded The Red Nation and Red Media.

Originally published in Red Scare.

The expansion of the United States in the mid-19th century had a catastrophic effect on the #NativeAmericans of the Great Plains.

⌛️ Last chance to read this article for free

https://buff.ly/pKnpErE

The expansion of the United States in the mid-19th century had a catastrophic effect on the #NativeAmericans of the Great Plains.

⌛️ Last chance to read this article for free

https://buff.ly/pKnpErE

“The last grievance in the Declaration of Independence is about 'merciless Indian savages' [...] According to our founders, in their own words, the thing that they were most angry about was Native people.”

Cherokee historian #RebeccaNagle talks about her new podcast series #FirstAmerica

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/30/rebecca_nagle_first_america

(v. https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/first-america)
#Indigenous #NativeAmericans #NativeAmericanHistory #UShistory #AmericanHistory #colonialViolence #decolonialStruggles #documentaries

“The last grievance in the Declaration of Independence is about 'merciless Indian savages' [...] According to our founders, in their own words, the thing that they were most angry about was Native people.”

Cherokee historian #RebeccaNagle talks about her new podcast series #FirstAmerica

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/6/30/rebecca_nagle_first_america

(v. https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/first-america)
#Indigenous #NativeAmericans #NativeAmericanHistory #UShistory #AmericanHistory #colonialViolence #decolonialStruggles #documentaries

El disco de Issaquena es una paleta de arenisca del 1250-1500 d.C. con dos serpientes de cascabel enroscadas representadas. Este se habría usado para machacar medicina o pigmentos. 🏛️Centro Arqueológico Montículos de Spiro #nativosamericanos #nativeamericans

El disco de Issaquena es una paleta de arenisca del 1250-1500 d.C. con dos serpientes de cascabel enroscadas representadas. Este se habría usado para machacar medicina o pigmentos. 🏛️Centro Arqueológico Montículos de Spiro #nativosamericanos #nativeamericans

Máscara de chamán de la cultura de Dorset (500 a.c.-1500 d.C.) del ártico norteamericano, anterior a los inuits, que cazaban mamíferos marinos a través de agujeros en el hielo. No usaban arcos, taladros de arco ni trineos de perro. Desaparecieron misteriosamente. 🏛️Museo de Historia Canadiense #nativosamericanos #nativeamericans

Máscara de chamán de la cultura de Dorset (500 a.c.-1500 d.C.) del ártico norteamericano, anterior a los inuits, que cazaban mamíferos marinos a través de agujeros en el hielo. No usaban arcos, taladros de arco ni trineos de perro. Desaparecieron misteriosamente. 🏛️Museo de Historia Canadiense #nativosamericanos #nativeamericans

Joe Black Fox - Sioux chief and performer with Buffalo Bill’s “Wild West Show.” - 1898
#NativeAmericans #JoeBlackFox

#BreakingNews! 🚨 #LandBack in #Maine!

Land returned to #MikmaqNation will double tribe’s territory

Nearly 3,400 acres have been returned to the Aroostook County-based tribe.

by Reuben M. Schafir, June 22, 2026

"The #Mikmaq Nation is expanding. The tribe on Friday obtained title to #MesgilgMaqamigew, a nearly 3,400-acre parcel near #BridgewaterME. The land return is so large it will more than double the tribe’s holdings.

" 'For decades the Mi’kmaq citizens have seen their traditional hunting and gathering grounds disappear to development or private ownership not allowing access,' Chief #SheilaMcCormack said in a news release. 'This property will give our people a place for outdoor recreation, a place to teach our children how to hunt and fish, and a place we can pass down the traditions of our ancestors before they are forgotten.'

"Of the four #Wabanaki tribes, the Mi’kmaq Nation received federal recognition last, in 1991. It and the #HoultonBand of #Maliseet Indians hold far less land in Maine than the #PassamaquoddyTribe and #PenobscotNation, which each have more than 150,000 acres.

"#TheConservationFund negotiated a below-market value sale and purchased the parcel last year from #forestry company #HCHayne, then held it on behalf of the tribe. The organization worked with an alliance of tribes known as the Wabanaki Commission on Land and Stewardship, and #FirstLight, a group of non-native, land-based organizations, to secure $1.9 million for project.

" 'Indigenous land return projects are a cornerstone of our conservation efforts,' Tom Duffus, Northeast representative for The Conservation Fund, said in a statement. 'I’m thrilled that this special place is once again managed by the Mi’kmaq Nation, whose citizens have stewarded this landscape since time immemorial.'

"Mesgilg Maqamigew means 'big land,' a name chosen in recognition of the significance to the tribe of a parcel so large, contiguous and lush with resources.

"The property contains #forests, #wetlands and more than three miles of #NorthWhitneyBrook, a stream with a thriving #BrookTrout population, according to Mi’kmaq Environmental Health Director Shannon Hill.

"The tribe has already located #fiddleheads there, and Hill said they plan to use the land for #hunting, #fishing, gathering and timber. Snowmobile and ATV trails are available for public use.

"#RichardSilliboy, a basket maker and former Mi’kmaq vice chief who sits on the commission, is hopeful the parcel has #BrownAsh for weaving — but expects, at least, 'some decent fishing.'

"#MesgilgMaqamigew is the sixth to be completed in a series of projects spearheaded by the commission that are collectively known as the tributary land returns. The tributary returns comprise 52,000 acres in 11 discrete projects involving all five tribal governments in Maine at an estimated cost of $52 million."

Read more:
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/06/22/land-returned-to-mikmaq-nation-will-double-tribes-territory/

Archived version:
https://archive.md/Bkbl0

#WabanakiAlliance #Dawnland #ProtectTheSacred #ProtectTheForest #LandConservation #NativeAmericanNews #IndigenousNews #MaineSettlementAct #NativeAmericans #Indigenous #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #LandStewardship #Stewardship #SolarPunkSunday