Steve Dragswolf 🪶

RE: https://mastodon.social/@jonesmurphy/116331824962541537

I wouldn’t say that most federally recognized Natives are white-passing but many are. Also, it’s far too derivative to say that most of these Natives are white supremacists. There are plenty of NDNs that are darker-skinned, myself included, along with the majority of my tribe. Mullin, for all his MAGA faults, has also worked with and for tribal issues alongside democrats. Regardless, many Natives in governmental positions fight for the gov instead of tribal nations, sadly.

Apr 1 at 11:20pmWeb
Show threadTrisha Lynn 🇵🇭 🇺🇸 🇨🇦5d ago
@dragswolf Would you say it's because of how the United States only partially recognizes the sovereignty of Natives? I would agree with you, though, that how a specific Native person in the U.S. government decides what to throw their advocacy behind depends a lot more on the specifics issue than whether it's purely a liberal, a progressive, or conservative stance.
Show threadSteve Dragswolf 🪶4d ago
@trishalynn I don’t really know. I would assume that since those Natives are seeking public office that they believe government works and will do what they can to prosper that at the expense of tribes if necessary. Pure tribal sovereignty and the American government don’t really work well together as it stands today, so one will win out and that will be where the Native politician mostly operates (whether in tribal politics or federal). That’s my hunch.
Show threadTrisha Lynn 🇵🇭 🇺🇸 🇨🇦3d ago
@dragswolf What do you think needs to happen in order for tribal sovereignty and a settler-based culture to be able to coexist peacefully from this point going forward?
Show threadSteve Dragswolf 🪶2d ago
@trishalynn Hard question to answer in a format like this. Ultimately, both sides want the same thing: complete freedom, i.e true sovereignty. During initial contact, tribes were engaged through treaties as sovereign nations. Now, tribes are wards of the state under far more control than states with no federal representation. If the American gov treated tribes as they did initially and stayed true to the treaties instead of breaking every single one, then that might allow for true coexistence.
Show threadTrisha Lynn 🇵🇭 🇺🇸 🇨🇦2d ago
@dragswolf Yeah, I was afraid that was the answer, too.
Show threadJones Murphy4d ago
@dragswolf I do know of Natives in South Dakota for example who are not white-passing and who are serious progressives. In my years living in Oklahoma, I did not meet any Native who wasn't a horrific white supremacist. Not one. Election outcomes in OK and SD strongly indicate there are a lot of Natives there and across the country who in fact identify as white supremacists. I'm black, originally from the Caribbean, and my DNA has more Native than Mullin, Stitt and a whole bunch of'em combined.
Show threadJones Murphy4d ago
@dragswolf Latinos have enormous Native ancestry. Yet Trump won Latinos too, because so many who are visibly Native also identify as white supremacists. Federally registered Natives, Latinos and many other groups of people of color vote more like whites than like blacks. This is shameful, degusting and is doing major harm to this country and to the world.
Show threadSteve Dragswolf 🪶4d ago
@jonesmurphy While your experience is true to you, it doesn’t offer a full picture. The assertion that most Natives don’t have much Indian blood and are white supremacists is objectively false due to the fact that the majority of the 560+ tribes operate off of blood quantum that requires a set amount, typically 1/4, of Indian blood to be federally recognized. Only the Cherokee, your experience, don’t do that. I’m 15/16ths my tribe. Most Indians know their blood quantum.
Show threadSteve Dragswolf 🪶4d ago
@jonesmurphy The percentage of Indians polled in a sel-identifying survey as voting for Trump is still small and doesn’t reveal that the majority are white supremacists. More are Democrats/liberal if political. Many don’t vote at all due to heavy distrust of the government and a large dislike of white people in general. I don’t agree with that side either. Anyway, I’m not your enemy and won’t dig further. I simply disagree with you.
Show threadJones Murphy4d ago
@dragswolf yes, we totally disagree. Trump won Latinos, the group with the majority of Native American ancestry in the US nowadays. Several tribes officially endorsed Trump and campaigned hard for him.
Show threadJones Murphy4d ago
@dragswolf it is true that my worst enemies are the Republicans. But I don't consider anyone an ally who denies the tremendous complicity of people of color in genocidal white supremacism. That goes back to the European onslaught on Africa, let alone the later invasion of the Americas. 25% of GOP voters are people of color. There's too much white supremacism among Democratic voters, but it's meaningfully less suicidal.