For Indigenous Americans it is unthinkable, but true.
ICE officers are arresting and detaining Native Americans, not distinguishing them from Central and South American immigrants.
As a result, tribal nations across the U.S. are encouraging their citizens to always carry their tribal identification cards with them, not just in Minneapolis but around the country.
Since 1780, the U.S. has repeatedly promised in more than 370 treaties with various tribes to always protect the lives of Indigenous citizens. Therefore, this questioning and detaining people without regard to their legal status as U.S. citizens – the first U.S. citizens – is beyond the pale.
The situation is not limited to Minneapolis, where members of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe of Wisconsin, the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of South Dakota and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa of North Dakota have been detained.
In Redmond, Washington, Northern Exposure actor Elaine Miles (Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon) was detained by ICE and told her tribal ID looked “faked.” In the Southwest, members of the Navajo Nation have been arrested by ICE and detained in Arizona and New Mexico. Tribal members of the Standing Rock Sioux have also been detained by federal immigration officials.
Throughout Indian Country, tribal members are concerned their physical appearance will mean they, too, can be swept up, arrested and detained – plus possibly deported – as ICE continues its unprecedented sweep.
Tribal officials from many of the country’s 575 federally recognized tribes have condemned the actions. Still, the words are falling on deaf federal ears.
Tribal nations are quickly issuing new tribal citizenship cards to their members, especially to those who live away from the tribe’s lands. It is important to note the majority of Indigenous Americans now live away from their traditional areas, many in urban centers.
But just issuing the cards is proving to be not enough, as the Miles case shows. Tribal leaders are now also taking actions to ban ICE from entering tribal property. As independent sovereign nations, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly given the tribes the right to govern various aspects of tribal life, including jurisdictional matters.
On Jan. 14, the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians posted the following warning to the federal government:
“The Tribe wants to be clear: we do not support or cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Our priority is the safety, dignity, and protection of our tribal members. We are deeply concerned by reports coming out of Minnesota involving the detention of tribal members, as well as ICE actively being reported in areas near our community. As indigenous people to this land, our identity should never be questioned, challenged, or used as a reason for detention.”
In Idaho, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes told citizens to carry their cards plus carry a photo of the card on their phone “out of an abundance of caution.”
“Our presence on this land is enduring,” the Shoshone-Bannock statement reads. “The Fort Hall Indian Reservation is home to our people. The Fort Hall Business Council stands firmly with our tribal members and is committed to protecting their safety, rights, and sovereignty.”
Several other tribes are following suit; plus, notifying ICE their agents must have a search warrant signed by a judge to enter any tribal property.
The Ho-Chunk Nation, whose members primarily live in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri, is providing citizens with door signs with information that alerts officers of the state, tribal and federal citizenship of its residents and communicates that officers “may not enter the property without a valid warrant.” Other tribes may do likewise.
In addition, the Oklahoma Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes unanimously approved a resolution demanding government-to-government cooperation with ICE officials.
Overall, the situation is depressing for people with Indigenous ancestry, who – once again – are being made to feel less than full citizens when their only “crime” is that their ancestors were in this country prior to European settlement.
As ICE-arrested and detained Navajo citizen Peter Yazzie told ABC News: “It’s an ugly feeling. It makes you feel less human. To know that people see your features and think so little of you.”
While little can be done to stop the raids, ICE and law enforcement officials should at the very least understand Indigenous Americans are still here, still active members of society and deserve to not be stopped or arrested due to the color of their skin.
If the true goal of these actions is to reduce the immigrant population, why are they also arresting and detaining those whose ancestors were here first?
This story was originally produced by Idaho Capital Sun, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Florida Phoenix, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
