Like many of you, as Indigenous people and allies, we are feeling unsettled, uncertain, and concerned about the future of the United States and the world under another Trump administration. We know what he has promised to do, and we are worried about our families, our loved ones, and our communities of human and other-than-human kin. What will the impact of another four years under his administration be for those living in the U.S., for those affected by our powerful foreign policy influence, and for Mother Earth? We all saw the havoc caused under his first presidency in Native, Indigenous, and migrant communities and beyond, including:
- pulling out of the Paris Agreement, an international treaty that aims to limit global warming and help people adapt to climate change
- separating families at the border, with deportations and the denial of entry to asylum seekers
- attempting to dis-establish Tribal lands (Mashpee Wampanoag)
- pushing for oil drilling in the Arctic National Refuge
- attempting to dismantle Bears Ears National Monument
- greenlighting oil and gas pipelines across Native Treaty Lands
- threatening to cut federal assistance programs such as SNAP and funding for Native communities for education, law enforcement, natural resources management, and human services
- expediting environmental review processes and disregarding environmental degradation and climate change
- promoting voter suppression, and
- promoting hateful and destructive rhetoric and violence.
We are stunned and worried about the magnitude of chaos that could come out of the incoming administration and disturbed by the rhetoric that is already starting to spread.
Yet, we shall remain while politicians and empires come and go. Indigenous Peoples carry the knowledge systems of our ancestors on how to live sustainably in relationship with each other and Mother Earth…and how to survive catastrophe. Our lifeways and values, rooted in environmental stewardship, community, and mutual aid, hold solutions to the world’s biggest crises – climate change, ecocide, biodiversity collapse, social and economic inequity, and injustice. Indigenous Peoples make up about 6.2 percent of the world's population, yet the lands we are able to steward – despite political and illegal interference – contain a majority of the world's remaining biodiversity and a large portion of the world's remaining intact forests, along with other ecosystems. Despite political turmoil, we envision strong communities and sustainable networks of support that will make us all safer, because Indigenous lifeways and knowledge systems hold the antidotes to narcissism and greed, and are the foundations for collective liberation. Supporting the rights, resistance, and resilience of Indigenous Peoples is an investment in the future of humanity and all life on Mother Earth.
We call on our community and allies to hold strong in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples in the U.S. and around the world, as we reiterate our commitment to:
- Protecting our life-giving Mother Earth through Indigenous-led sustainable agriculture, forestry, environmental stewardship, and land defense
- Ensuring freedom of expression by Indigenous activists and organizers through legal accompaniment and grassroots communications initiatives
- Defending Indigenous human rights and environmental defenders, who carry the weight on behalf of us all
- Working to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Promoting Indigenous Peoples Principles and Protocols for a Just Transition to the so-called “Green Economy”
- Fortifying Indigenous languages, which hold ancestral wisdom necessary for our cultures to survive and for addressing this pivotal and devastating moment in history
- Shouting our support for Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ people, whose wisdom and ways of being in the world are critical to our communities’ diversity and strength
- Empowering Indigenous youth, who bring their cultural perspectives, creativity, and determination to forge a more just future, and
- Speaking out against inhumane immigration policies
There is so much work to do, and Indigenous Peoples continue to be at the forefront of the struggle on behalf of all people. We call on our community to continue to be courageous in the work we do, to care for ourselves and each other, to work collectively, and ground ourselves for what is coming, inspired by generations of resilient Indigenous Peoples. We’re in this together.
In solidarity,
Cultural Survival
