Repressing the Indian

In this article we analyze and employ the term "repression" and how it is used as a political tool against current Indian identity.

Privilege is a perspective enjoyed by those who retain power, dominance, and socio-political, economic, pedagogical, and socio-religious control. Native tribes in the U.S. have a legacy of suppression and oppression by way of governmental dominance, colonialism, and assimilation policies. Often contextualized to reside in history books, this anthropological safe space for American pop culture psychology gives liberty to American privilege while disenfranchising Native Peoples.

A socio-political position of repression remains active in the U.S.

Repression:

1. In psychology:
   A defense mechanism in which the mind unconsciously pushes threatening or painful thoughts, memories, or desires out of conscious awareness. For example, a person may repress memories of a traumatic event.

2. In general or political contexts:
   The act of subduing someone or something by force. It can refer to the control or suppression of people, ideas, or actions — especially by a government or authority. For example, “political repression” refers to limiting freedoms through intimidation or violence.

These definitions frame American governmental policies to culturally, socio-politically, economically, educationally, and religiously limit, reduce, suppress, and eradicate tribal traditions, customs, cultures, knowledge, and expressions. Situating these actions as a repressive agenda underscores psychological warfare. An economically sound strategy, contemporary repressive warfare builds on the generations of physical, political, educational, religious, and psychological oppression.

To contest these policies, Native Peoples fight to retain self-determination and sovereignty, both are rights acknowledged, defined, and mandated in the U.S. Constitution. Yet, there are individuals and governing agencies that continue to unfold campaigns to further marginalize and silence contemporary Native identity. Decolonization, for Native tribes, must be exercised socio-politically, economically, pedagogically, and socio-religiously. This requires Native tribes to reassert their identity for self-determination and sovereignty. Working against ever-shifting policies, misrepresentations, and institutionalized stereotypes and racist ideology, Native Peoples must capture moments and issues established to minimize tribal identity and narrate these through a critical Native theoretical discourse.

It’s A Nation, Not A Hair Style: Misrepresenting Mohawk Identity

“Two Native American councils in Northern New York say an organization presenting itself as a governing body of the Akwesasne Mohawk people is not affiliated with them in any way” (WCAX News Team, cited in Native News Online, June 9).

[comment] It’s federally illegal to falsify an American Indian.

“Issues of Indigenous identity are complex. Hundreds of years of ongoing colonialism around the world have contributed to this complexity. However, such complexity does not mean that there are no ethical considerations in claiming Indigenous identity or relationships with particular Indigenous peoples. To falsely claim such belonging is Indigenous identity fraud” (NAISA, September 2015).

The “unique relationship” between the U.S. government and tribal nations makes the falsification of a federally recognized tribal nation against federal law. This is only one point along an extensive line of legislation, doctrines, and mandates from governments through the United Nations, which define and secure accurate identification of being a member of, lineage, and historical relationship with a tribe or tribal nation.

“Federally recognized tribes are sovereign nations that have exclusive rights to determine membership. Criteria vary; most tribes require documented lineage, historic rolls and/or blood quantum, a certain degree of Native American blood” (Cecily Hilleary, Voice of America, April 2022).

These are legislatively installed criteria that have been upheld since the 1880s in the U.S.

“Other factors are also important, such as a person’s knowledge of his or her tribe’s culture, knowledge system, history, language, religion, familial kinships and how strongly a person identifies himself or herself as American Indian or Alaska Native” (Cecily Hilleary, Voice of America, April 2022).

Based on this evidence and legal knowledge, the members of the Ierawhka Government posing as spokespeople for the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe and the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne are breaking federal law and are subject to legal punishment.

The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne states that this counterfeit group is “not associated with either council, despite presenting itself as legitimate tribal governance” (WCAX News Team, cited in Native News Online, June 9).

Such profiting on illegitimate Native identity is criminal on multiple levels. Adding insult to injury, the group claiming to be spokespeople and representatives of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe and the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne are “reportedly offering citizen adoption, passports and voter registration, among other services” (WCAX News Team, cited in Native News Online, June 9). Such actions are, presumably, being sold and taking place in naive non-Native communities to those who desire to stake claim to the perception of belonging to a deceased culture, an ancient time in American/Canadian history, and surviving an Indian image. Such pretendians (Jacqueline Keeler, 2021) continue to falsify and promote themselves on the ignorance of tribal identity and Native nations.

“Pretendians across the country have organized into phony tribes…to access benefits and rights set aside for Native Americans or other minorities” (WCAX News Team, cited in Native News Online, June 9).

Kim Tallbear (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate professor at the University of Alberta) and David Cornsilk (retired Cherokee Nation historian and genealogist) reference how damaging pretendians are to tribal culture, government, education, self-determination, and sovereignty (Cecily Hilleary, Voice of America, April 2022).

“Non-Indigenous people with non-Indigenous community standpoints who pose as Indigenous and who rise through the professional ranks falsely represent our voices,” TallBear said. “They theorize Indigenous peoplehood, sovereignty, and anticolonialism. They become thought leaders, institutional decision-makers, and policy advisers to governmental leaders with regulatory and economic power over our peoples and lands” (qtd in Voice of America, April 2022).

“Pretendians cut to the very trust we must have in academia, where much of what we know (about Native history and thought) originates,” said David Cornsilk. “If an institution is unwilling to vet their hires for authenticity, that speaks volumes about their scholarship” (qtd in Voice of America, April 2022).

The actions of the group misrepresenting the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe and the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne are working against the law in plain sight. So why has no arrest or detainment in this matter taken place? The point remains, is a civil agency more likely to provide services to a small inner-city (tribal) community, or focus their already stressed resources on areas where they feel a presence is better suited for a quick resolution.

Even this level of appropriating welfare services and equity to an insulated majority-minority culture for protection from the “darky” (Cecily Hilleary, Voice of America, April 2022), institutionalized and inter-personal racism is given carte blanche to grow.

Regardless of the good/bad intent of a racializing body, the American Indian identity continues to be subject to organizational stresses, pedagogical defeat, and physical torture, each in the name of colonization, dominance, political power, and socio-cultural leverage. Aiming at the provided legal literature, pretendians have tried to stake a claim in a fantasy world they promote through their actions.

“The U.S. government recognizes as American Indian/Alaska Native anyone who has blood degree from and is recognized as such by a federally recognized tribe or village as an enrolled tribal member. Further, it says “Indian” is not a racial designation but a political one” (Cecily Hilleary, Voice of America, April 2022).

America has taken a particular and distorted interest in its Indigenous nations. By way of creating a pretendian identity, American psychology continues to repress the damages it has done to tribal nations. Counterfeit and the tokenization of American Indian identity are completed to satisfy institutionalized racism and interpersonal racism equally. The matter discussed here is only one recent documentation where there are hundreds of similar, gross negligence, and racialized directives, all in the name of power, control, and dominance.

Richard Luis Ragudo Jr., Co-founder, Business and Marketing Specialist

Alan Lechusza Aquallo, Co-founder, Managing Editor

Indigenous Hip Hop Business Association.