A "Not My President" light display at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison. Photo: Joe Brusky
Indian Country better get used to a new era of federal-tribal relations under Republican President President Donald Trump. And André Cramblit, a citizen of the Karuk Tribe, doesn't think it's going to be pretty:
I watched as much of the Donald Trump inauguration coverage as I could bear. The dearth of diversity on the dais was marked. As the new administration settles into their new jobs and offices in Washington D.C., Indian country has some well-founded apprehensions. We’ve been Trumped. We have all heard the revised version of Trump’s oft-quoted slogan, “Make America White Again.” This is more than an amusing turn of phrase as we can see by the paucity of inclusion in the development of the new government order. The pale complexion of the XY-chromosome-dominated nominations to the cabinet and political appointee positions has many wary of what the future has in store. What this means for tribes is yet to be seen. Trump’s previous interactions with Natives gives one pause to ponder the possibilities. Among his earliest public stances on American Indians was through his opposition to tribal gaming operations as they cut into the potential profits of his own casino empire. In 1988, he filed a federal law suit in which he declared the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act “unconstitutional and discriminatory.” So much for his understanding of tribal sovereignty. Thankfully, in this case, he was the one who was Trumped by a proper interpretation of the law.Read More on the Story:
André Cramblit: The New Native American Landscape: Trumped Again? (Indian Country Today 2/18)
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