The following is an excerpt:

A message for your consideration to all my relations fighting to protect and strengthen Indian Country…

As I sat an ocean away reflecting on the possibilities of what should be the righteous arc of the moral universe’s long bend towards justice, the juxtaposition of the tranquil natural beauty and the violent colonizer-mindset comingled and embedded in the Italian cityscapes continued to unsettle me. This was my first time in the “Old World” and I was there at the Gonzaga School of Law 2024 Human Rights Conference: Cultural Heritage as a Human Right presenting on “The Story of Tribal Nation-U.S. Relations and Its Impact on Our Cultural Survival & Perseverance”. My presentation included a discussion on the foundations of U.S. federal Indian law and policy, including the impacts of U.S. colonization on our cultural heritage, and the current challenges and opportunities of our diplomatic relationship. What began as just another educational opportunity, albeit on the international stage, I have since realized it has changed me profoundly both personally and professionally. Cultural heritage is a fundamental human right and my experience here reinforces the need to relentlessly oppose cultural erasure at all costs, especially against the backdrop of this European hotspot of an oppressor, conqueror, colonizer, and human-rights-violator mindset…

Our Indian Country story includes colonization, tragedy, and suffering, culminating in attempted physical and cultural genocide inflicted by purposeful and cruel design. However, more importantly, ours is a story about our strength, perseverance, and power. Ours is a story, a lesson to be shared, to teach and enlighten cultures around the world, especially in a moment when the world is lost and people are searching for answers, purpose, and peace. I genuinely believe that the desire to protect one’s cultural heritage is a shared global concern and priority. If Indian Country properly recognizes and owns its story and related power, it can serve as a global example of how cultural heritage and traditions must be protected despite history. It can ensure that each culture’s legacy endures and thrives, despite the societal pressures of “progress” that are often ignorant to the pricelessness of cultural heritage…

However, the gift we have to offer ourselves and the world will never be realized should we continue to be held hostage to an oppressive structure that has conditioned us for centuries. We operate in a structure fashioned to diminish the inherent sovereign rights and authority we rightfully claim, sovereignty that predates the arrival of uninvited foreign invaders to our shores, and an unjust structure based on the accepted plenary authority of another sovereign rooted in a medieval Doctrine of Discovery still used today. Indian Country routinely talks honestly about the consequences and impact of what external forces have and continue to do to us, but it is time to speak with equal honestly about the unjust excuses and rationalizations we continue to accept and normalize; excuses and rationalizations that violate trust and treaty obligations and that stand in direct contrast to our inherent sovereign existence, all while knowing these violations are directly responsible for many of our circumstances today. We must stop blindly and ignorantly reinforcing systems placed upon us; systems of colonialism, termination, assimilation, paternalistic and capitalistic constructs and origins; systems designed to create dependency and to tear us apart. While we must understand these systems of colonization to navigate them, our pride should never be in mastering them, but rather in dismantling them. Now is not the time to be our own worst enemy or to be distracted while opposing forces attack us, both directly and in the shadows…

Without unity amongst ourselves, if we choose the path of self-destruction, we will only make the path easier for the United States to continue to break its promises and fail to live up to its trust and treaty obligations, and the human rights violations will continue…

If we choose to overcome the historical and modern efforts of internal and external erasure, we will become a global example of cultural preservation and human rights protection. As we traverse this current path together, we must never lose sight of who we are, we must never lose sight of the forest for the tree, we must never compromise our principles, we must unapologetically lead with our indigenous truths, and we must never forget about the journey that has led us to this moment. This must be our shared commitment and promise to one another, a promise that includes respectful discourse that will allow us to transcend our transgressions and disagreements. Let this moment be when Indian Country collectively achieves unfettered independence from the chains keeping us from reaching our greatest potential.

FULL ESSAY LINKED BELOW