Steven Newcomb. Photo from Finding the Missing Link
Does voting in U.S. elections diminish Native sovereignty? Steven Newcomb (Shawnee / Lenape) of the Indigenous Law Institute looks at the issue from a historical and legal perspective:
The big push for “the Native vote” in U.S. elections strikes me as evidence of the success of the long range U.S. plan to brainwash Indian children with patriotism toward the United States so as to remove from our Native nations any national self-consciousness in relation to our own nations. Today, “the Native vote” in Indian Country is a direct consequence of psychological warfare having been waged against our ancestors when they were children in the U.S. boarding schools of domination. The original independence and political existence of our Native Nations is routinely ignored in favor of the demeaning terms “tribe” and “tribal”; our own people characterize us in a subordinating manner as a mere “ethnic group” of the United States; in keeping with Parker’s policy, the American flag is often treated as if it were the flag of our own Native nations. Native people voting in U.S. elections as “Americans” was predicted by Commissioner Morgan when he wrote: “The Indians are destined to become absorbed into the national life, not as Indians, but as Americans.” “The Native vote” creates the false impression that we have given our free consent to the U.S. system of domination that has been and is still being imposed on our Nations and Peoples.Get the Story:
Steven Newcomb: The Legacy: U.S. Boarding Schools of Domination & the Native Vote (Indian Country Today 4/25)
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