Indigenous Youth Are Devastated. But Survival—And Resistance—Is a Legacy They Can Rely On.
As the dust settles on the 2024 presidential election and Donald Trump , a convicted felon, becomes president elect, Native Americans across Tribal nations and beyond share concerns about what a second term for the Republican president might look like.
Looking back to his first term as president, the Trump administration, together with Senate Republicans, attacked Native American people's rights of sovereignty, as well as existing protections over both land and people. The Trump administration's actions around Native American communities were wide-reaching, including failing to reestablish former President Barack Obama's White House Council on Native American Affairs during the first three years of his term; disestablishing the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and removing lands from its trust amid the COVID-19 pandemic onset; and despite the protests of the people of the Tohono O'odham Nation, destroying sacred and burial sites as law enforcement wielded tear gas and rubber bullets on peaceful protestors. The first Trump presidency saw a failure to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) which would have expanded Tribal jurisdiction over violent offenders on Tribal land, excluded many Tribal businesses from emergency coronavirus relief funds, and proposed cutting funding for the Bureau of Indian Education facilities as well as the Indian Health Service.
Through disappointment, voter suppression , and fear of potential future outcomes, Indigenous people throughout the country are sharing the ways they're doubling down on ancestral knowledge and community in the face of this stark reality.
Allie Redhorse Young, Diné activist, organizer and founder of Protect the Sacred
"At the polling location that we rode to on horseback in Kayenta, we were notified there was a bomb threat, and that people were being evacuated . There's this strong sentiment that there was fear of our vote and that our voices were being suppressed. And I think we know how powerful we are, and we know that we made the difference in 2020, and we know that's why this happened. Even though I'm disappointed, I am very proud of my people for showing up and making our voices heard. I do believe that over this next week we'll find out that we've shattered our record from the past and we came out and we voted in record numbers. I think there's concern, even though abortion protection passed in the state of Arizona, I've seen our young Native women post about the ongoing concern around our reproductive rights and also around education and health care for our Navajo people and tribal nations across the country; how this will impact the Department of the Interior, knowing that we're going to lose Deb Haaland as one of our strongest advocates at the Department of the Interior, what that means for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which holds the treaties with all the tribal nations across the country, how that will impact our health care because we receive free health care and free education through our treaties with the government.
"My advice to our Indigenous young people is to keep standing up, to keep fighting. We're not strangers to that, especially our tribal communities, where we come from as a people. We come from a legacy of survival and resilience. And I encourage our young people to continue that legacy, to carry it on and still remember our history, what our ancestors have fought for. And to continue standing up to protect our culture, our languages, our traditional way of life, our land. We've always fought to protect the sacred and we're going to continue to fight to protect the sacred."
Dr. Charlie Amáyá Scott, Diné scholar and content creator
"I believe a significant portion of us are worried about how this election will affect tribal sovereignty and our Native-to-Native relationship to the United States. The last time this man was elected, he revoked the reservation status of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and since his election, we've seen more challenges to the sovereignty and rights of Indigenous Peoples. My advice to my relatives is to hold your head high and remember how utterly brilliant, beautiful, and powerful you are. We've lost so much in this colonizing world, and yet we are still here...we are choosing to still be here because of how much we care. And when it comes to joy, Indigenous joy, that's something to admire and celebrate because being happy in an Empire that is dedicated to our demise...well that's pretty powerful. Be with your community, hug them and hold them with you. Cry together, laugh together, and take care of each other."
Dr. Twyla Baker, Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish college President
"Coming from one of the most marginalized populations in the U.S., it can rock one's foundations when a perceived threat suddenly becomes an immediate one. Essentially everything we care about or that matters to us is at risk, and the decades of work towards establishing and exercising Tribal rights and sovereignty faces an uncertain future. In the repeated crises we are living through in recent years, (and honestly, throughout my own youth and young adulthood), I've encouraged our young people to turn to their traditional teachings and lifeways for the wisdom, guidance, inspiration, and peace they seek to make it through. Road maps were crafted by the ones who came before us, and were brought forward and protected — at enormous cost to those who carried them — to be handed down to us in preparation for uncertain times. The impacts of colonization have caused enormous damage and harm, but we still return to those practices as we need, to find the peace and belonging we seek."
Allen Salway, Diné, Tohono O'odham, Oglala Lakota writer and content creator
"Upset, but not surprised—this sums up how NDN Country is feeling about the election results so far. There is an urgent, pressing concern for #FreePalestine, along with deep fears about the future of Native lands and sovereignty. The possibility of history repeating itself is all too real, recalling when, during the early days of COVID-19 Pandemic, the Trump administration moved to revoke the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's reservation status in Massachusetts, stripping 321 acres of land from federal trust. This action eliminated the tribe's ability to govern on their land—a move that has only been attempted once since the Termination Policy of the 1950s. Now, with the prospect of another Trump administration and a Republican hold [ potentially ] on both the House and Senate, Native communities are bracing for renewed threats to sovereignty. Trump has a history of challenging Native rights, even before taking office, particularly because of Native-owned casinos. The risks are high, and the urgency to act and build community as well as align our values is needed more than ever — especially outside of the two party system that is only benefiting billionaires and corporations.
"Our people have survived through resistance, not despair. While it's normal to feel the weight, remember we deserve more than what these leaders and country can offer. Our ancestors fought and dreamed for us to have true freedom, and though it may not come in my lifetime, I find purpose in working to give the next seven generations a better world. When you're ready, this is our time to build community. I know 'community' can feel like an overused buzz word, but it's real. Start small—talk to your neighbors, learn a trade, find ways to operate outside the dollar. Get involved in local gardens, mutual aid, show up where you're needed, and stay open to learning, unlearning. Seek out spaces centered around Black, Indigenous Queer and Femme led movements, because aligning yourself with these firm roots gives you the moral compass to guide your role in this work. This isn't just survival — it's setting the foundation for something lasting. Burn cedar. Talk with your ancestors. Drink water. Rest and gather strength for the real work we are being called to do. If you love someone — your people, your land — let that be your reason to fight and to never give up for a world we are all deserving of."
Devery Jacobs, Mohawk actor and director, from Canada
"Everyone I'm speaking to from all sides of the border feel devastated and helpless. This system feels broken, where human rights and tribal sovereignty can be up for debate. Hurt people hurt people, and the results of this election show me how many people are suffering. It's just disheartening that they have displaced their trust in the hands of a fascist. Haudenosaunee governance, which the U.S. based their democracy on , was never founded on votes. Our decisions were made over consensus, with everyone sitting together, hearing each other out and coming to an agreement — moving forward in a way that benefits everyone. Not the current, divisive, winner-takes-all binary. I sincerely hope the U.S. takes a hard look at its framework and finds a better path forward, one that doesn't come at the expense of female, trans and BIPOC lives. In the meantime, let's lean on each other, lean on community, grieve, and fight to protect the rights of our Indigenous and 2SLGBTQ+ kin."
