Human rights group says activists targeting American Indians deserve hate label
Groups throughout the United States that favor stripping away tribal sovereignty from American Indians are practicing a brand of hate that deserves higher recognition, the Montana Human Rights Network says in a new briefing paper.
鈥淭oo many people consider the anti-American Indian movement to be just another mainstream conservative movement,鈥� Travis McAdam, the network鈥檚 research director, said in releasing the .
鈥淭he reality is that anti-American Indian groups belong on the right-wing fringe, which is exactly where their ideology originates,鈥� McAdam said. Such groups, he continued, 鈥渄eserve the hate group designation, because they seek to deny legally-established rights to American Indians by terminating tribal sovereignty.鈥�
The network鈥檚 briefing paper includes quotes from anti-American Indian activists spread by various antigovernment groups, including Oath Keepers, whose founder, Stewart Rhodes, lives in Montana.
In one example last year, an anti-American Indian activist advanced the baseless claim in an Oath Keepers video that the Muslim Brotherhood was not only eyeing 鈥渟anctuary cities,鈥� but the nation鈥檚 340 Indian reservations to set up Sharia Law.
While the anti-American Indian movement is national in scope, 鈥渋t tends to be felt on a more regional and local basis,鈥� McAdam told Hatewatch.
It is particularly prevalent in regions where American Indian Nations are based, especially when tribes are exercising their sovereignty. The research director said that can make the anti-American Indian movement 鈥渇eel less-pervasive than, say, the anti-government movement.鈥�
The Montana Human Rights Network has closely monitored the anti-American Indian movement for years. In 2000, the civil rights organization issued a that provided an in-depth analysis of the movement and its key activists pushing to eradicate American Indian sovereignty and treaty rights.
鈥淎nti-American Indian activists tend to come from the right wing of the political spectrum, which means they鈥檙e skeptical of the federal government on most issues,鈥� McAdam said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 common to find these activists promoting conspiracy theories and using talking points identical to those of the anti-government and white nationalist movements鈥� who frequently focus on dangers posed by the federal government, he said.
鈥淗owever, when American Indians are in the picture, if the choice is between a federal agency or an American Indian Nation, [anti-American Indian] activists break with their normal routine and sing the praises of the feds,鈥� McAdam said. 鈥淭his dynamic helps underscore the racism that is central to the anti-American Indian movement.鈥�
The network鈥檚 briefing report concludes by saying the聽movement 鈥渉arnesses the legacy of Manifest Destiny to push American Indians out of focus and into oblivion, as its logical conclusion is the termination of American Indian sovereignty.鈥�
Photo credit Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
