As above, so below: Self reflection on a systemic scale.
There really is no protocol for it, things are going to get messy.
As I have talked about before, the there is a strong rise in awareness of Indigenous People, history and culture. Which is being met with a rise of hate and new brands of erasure. An information war is breaking out as interest in investigating Indian boarding school history and impact grows. In my life I have watched this history go from being treated as a conspiracy by the public, to seeing official reports recognizing the harm from the government themselves (under the Biden admin). In 2024 we saw a rapid fire string of official apologies made. All things I never expected to see in my lifetime.
But now we are seeing the snap back, the Trump administration has taken every opportunity to cut funding for the Indigenous community. For research, for healthcare, for culture preservation. We are somehow simultaneously insignificant and an enormous waste according to Trumps admin. Now the Interior department is seeking to dismiss the Indian boarding school lawsuit.
Over in Michigan, the investigative report that has been released has been causing some serious concerns with excessive redactions and tribal members describing the report as “incomplete”. Others have flagged issues with potentially unethical gathering of testimony from survivors. From what I can see there is a lot of internal finger pointing from the lawmakers, and in my opinion it looks like the republican lawmakers might be trying to muddy investigation attempts.
It is tough to grasp where we are politically right now, as so much changes so quickly while at the same time remaining painfully the same: Another war over oil. Another distraction from the Epstein files. Not enough from democratic leadership. More is happening than has ever been done before (insert literally any topic here) and yet, it’s still not enough.
Right now the only thing I can do is focus on the task at hand. Keep showing up in my immediate community and for the org I joined: Climate Defiance.
Climate action can’t be taking a backseat in the fight, as it has become clear that climate change devastation has absolutely become a tool of fascism. It has become the norm for nearly every storm to be a record breaking storm.
Alaska is still reeling from typhoon Halong.
Washington is still picking up the pieces after historic flooding last fall.
Appalachia is preparing to deal with more historic flooding.
California wildfires are redefining wildfire season and what insurers are willing to cover.
Fossil fuel interests continue to fund Trumps admin and benefit from Trumps moves to gut climate legislation and protections; while pushing aggressive data center buildouts. The EPA rescinded the endangerment finding. And last week the supreme court announced they are taking up big oils request to look at a Colorado climate lawsuit, presumably, in an attempt to squash the other state level climate lawsuits that are coming for Big oil from all directions. The assumption that I am making is that the oil companies are not confident they will win their cases in court, as they have already lost in the court of public opinion. SCOTUS has already rejected multiple similar requests from big oil, but the supreme court is undeniably influenced by big oil. Folks are estimating that the arguments will be heard as soon as October.
At the end of February SCOTUS heard arguments on Line 5 in Michigan. Michigan has been trying to shut the pipeline down for 5 years, and Enbridge has been a whiny little brat about it the entire time.
“Though the question before the Supreme Court is a procedural one — whether courts can excuse Enbridge from missing the deadline to request moving the case to federal court — the justices recognized that the decision could have far-reaching ripples, including for U.S.-Canada relations. (The Canadian government opposes the pipeline’s shutdown, as Line 5 provides half of the oil supply for Ontario and Quebec.)” - grist.org
We should be hearing a decision some time this summer, and we want the court to side with Michigan. The argument that ruling against Enbridge would impact Canada relations is fairly laughable, but how the court will rule on this is pretty cloudy.
The road ahead is going to be messy. But the battles are shaping up and lines are being drawn. Will midterm elections be enough to break through on a congressional level? Nothing is really safe to assume in this environment.
I have been deep in my own research within the Epstein files that have been made available. Many concerns are on my mind, for one: I wonder how many MMIW/MMIP cases could be solved in the complete files. I found more than one document that popped red flags for me and have passed them on to the Orgs I am in contact with.
I also wonder what nature and to what degree the fossil fuel interests may be involved; I know I am not the only one who has been thinking about these potential connections. I have been reading about what one group in Canada found in relation to LNG investments.
Again I do not have a clear call to action for folks, but I aim to have those for you soon. In the mean time I am catching up on beadwork orders and I am so grateful to everyone who has been supporting the work. Art has been the only thing keeping me grounded in the political turmoil.
art saves me too.
Those earrings are amazing