The Ho-Chunk Nation President, John Greendeer, isn’t being quiet about his alarm over President Donald Trump’s “onslaught of Executive Orders.” He said the orders don’t address any problems people are actually facing.
The Ho-Chunk Nation owns land in 14 counties in Wisconsin, with its headquarters in Black River Falls. It’s not the biggest tribe in the state, but the Nation is one of the larger employers, with a majority of workers being non-Native American.
One of President Trump’s orders would end birthright citizenship, a constitutional right for everyone born in the United States, upending more than a century of precedent. Last week, however, a federal judge temporarily blocked it after 22 states quickly mounted a legal challenge.
Native Americans were given US citizenship in 1924. The Justice Department has since said members of Indian tribes “are not constitutionally entitled to citizenship.”
Ho-Chunk Nation President Jon Greendeer posted a message this week laying out many of his concerns over Trump policies and shared fears.
Statement by Ho-Chunk Nation President Jon Greendeer
The incoming Trump Administration has released an onslaught of Executive Orders, many of which have been expected and have been a part of his campaign or residual promises from his first term of office. Not all action taken to date has been foretold in campaign promises and rhetoric. This leaves much to surprise and living in perpetual uncertainty is never a desire of any society regardless of party or faith.
The brash actions from the Oval Office to date are likely bringing a lot of excitement and elation to his extreme base but also bringing a wealth of anxiety and fear to a greater part of this country. We are not a nation of dissidents, criminals, and freeloaders. We work, we spend, and try to find these little parts that fulfill our spiritual livelihood when we can without harm or threat to others. Unfortunately, the narrative & profile of who Americans are has changed so greatly that we are now feeling the need to defend ourself from the ill-intended forces of our own government.
I cannot speak for all public officials who’ve been vested with the honor to take care of a greater community of citizens beyond a family and household but I will tell you this, the Ho-Chunk Nation has held ourselves as sovereign long before the government and the Constitution recognized it. This means something.
This means we are not a campus, a corporation, or an organization and will not be treated as such. Our sovereign recognition spans centuries from most early colonists to the most present day leaders in government from both sides of the aisle and that we cannot be packaged up and sent somewhere just because we don’t fit the President’s preference in what Americans should look and behave like.
I will not bend or bow, play political games, or accept any threat to any of our tribal members or their families in this ridiculous and irresponsible demonstration of petulant leadership. Demonizing human beings for the color of their skin, the people they love, the bodies they so choose to make decisions for, or the economic class to which they struggle to break free from represents something far from the public service embodied in any oath or promise to the people we serve.
As Ho-Chunk people, we are lauded for our ability to adapt socially, environmentally, culturally, and politically. Many of us have braced for impact but now can predict this is going to be a rough ride for the poor and underrepresented.
Regardless of the intermittent jaw dropping policy changes and the reshaping of our government perhaps undoing decades of collaborative quality work, I will work with my colleagues to build or strengthen alliances to maintain the quality of care and services to our members and their families. I hope not to believe we are the target of the President and the forces behind the MAGA front steering his decision making but if we are, we will hold our ground as we have long before this new fury against humankind came to be.
In the meantime, I will take on a task of assembling impact statements for the variety of programs and services that could be affected in the wake of these executive orders. This won’t be easy as many things are left to speculate or are still incredibly fast moving targets.
Stand up straight, chin up, find that light, and shoot for it. I’ll keep you posted as best I can. We got this!
— Jon Greendeer, President of the Ho-Chunk Nation
