Yanenowi Logan (Seneca Nation), co-president of National Congress of American Indians Youth Commission, delivers youth perspective on State of Indian Nations.
February 13, 2024
“I stand before you today, with a profound sense of responsibility, and a deep commitment to shedding light on a critical and often overlooked matter, the state of indigenous youth. The young people of Indian country, have strong convictions and passionate voices, yet our messages are often ignored and diminished. The tapestry of Native American youth is open with both memory of our land and ancestors and the stark realities of contemporary life in America.
My duty as copresident of the national Congress of American Indian Youth Commission, and the youth leader is to ensure that our collective message is heard, our priorities array across the waters and land of Indian country. A few weeks ago, I returned from a study abroad program in Ecuador. A once peaceful country, strafed by narco-terrorism, and internal war. As my family anxiously worried and awaited the safe return of their young Onöndowa’ga:’ daughter, my worry was focused on the indigenous communities I was safely departing. Amid a national crisis, marked by drug exploitation seeping into their borders, these communities, scarred by negative media depictions of the country struggle to sustain the eco-tourism industry. Many communities have invested generations of land, labor, and financial resources, and eco-tourism as a critical part of their economy. This is just one challenge facing indigenous people around the world.
Native youth are committed to tackling the issues and challenges in Indian Country, but our conscience and concerns are not narrow. Our focus is expansive and global. Native youth care deeply, and give space and support the collective and mutual liberation of oppressed indigenous people worldwide. Our generation is devoting our time, attention, and resources to ending the genocide and Gaza, where the death toll has risen to 28,000 Palestinians, half of whom are youth. Beyond social media posts indigenous youth have facilitated community of solidarity. Organizing protests, fundraisers, hunger strikes, and healing circles for the cause.
As native and indigenous youth, we are told time and time again by our community and leaders, use your voice, use your platform, have convictions, and support important causes. Some might claim that youth don’t care that their phones and trivial pursuit consume them. But I’m here to tell you, we are not disaffected, indifferent or incapable. We cannot remain silent or pay no heat to the massacre and Gaza when our ancestors suffered a similar genocide. And weather experienced in our past we see the actual happening here, genocide is genocide, and it should always be condemned. We, indigenous youth are compelled to support this important cause by speaking out and calling attention to genocide, a shared horror that is a central part to our painful history.
In the Clinton/ Sullivan scorched earth campaign our villages and crops were burned. Women and children were killed, and the Haudenosaunee were removed from our ancestral homelands. And the Oka crisis of 1990 the Canadian government denied the Kanien’kehà:ka human rights and violence and ensued over 78 days. The Osage reign of terror continues today while they fight for mineral rights and the ongoing consequences of loss of land and hidden rights to non-natives. Tourism in Hawaii has displaced native Hawaiians and destroyed natural resources, contributing to the Maui wildfires that devastated the native communities. We are not just familiar with what we see unfolding in Gaza. The forced displacement, extraction of resources, demolition of culture, and demonization of our identities, and the raping and murdering of our people. It is a part of us. Historically through our ancestors and presently through our traumas, through stories of such atrocities.
The re-installation and prioritization of our cultural practices and resources are necessary you’re breaking down systems of oppression and exploitation. Youth recognize that. I am proud of my cousins, who have committed their lives to language on the Tonawanda, Seneca territory, and actively preserving oral traditions. Our youth are closing the generational gap from the time when people were shamed and abused for speaking their language in the Indian Residential Schools. We know the power of our language, because without it, we lose our climate solutions, our stories, and ourselves as Ongwehonweh. As a mark of respect to Black History Month, we revisit Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s sentiments recently posted by NCAI and the support of the relentless fight for shared justice and equality, transcending racial boundaries that continue to inspire much of modern day advocacy for native rights. As mentioned, NCAI remains dedicated to championing his dream of a more just equitable world. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminds us that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
While NCAI prioritizes issues at home, there remains a responsibility to oppose glaring injustices and human rights, violations. NCAI defends sovereignty and seeks to protect rights and advocate for the needs of tribal communities. The very mission of NCAI is to uphold and support indigenous peoples collectively. Let us move on from when it was easier to remain in echo-chambers, safe and comfortable confines, and become more aware of the issues beyond our backyard. Our Advocacy must go beyond Turtle Island even when our action become uncomfortable and hard to swallow. I’m not here to speak on issues we are all too familiar with, we all know the needs of the communities come from. And we are all aware of the solutions we need for a future our ancestors dreamed of. I’m here to challenge those of you who can relate to dig deep because that’s where the real solidarity work comes in. That’s what it means to be a good relative.
In compliance with the press release published by the Senate for Native American youth we ask Congress to pass legislation calling for a permanency cease-fire and an end to US military aid to Israel. This includes introducing or supporting legislation, such as house resolution 786, which cost for a cease-fire in Palestine. The restoration of clean and running water, fuel, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid to Gaza. The protection of doctors, nurses, medical staff, and Palestinian journalists. The protection of students advocating for liberation colleges and universities nationwide. From Indian country, our native youth demand tribal leaders call for a cease-fire through resolutions like that of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians.
Native organizations must withdraw from sponsorships and companies that are actively funding genocide. Indian country must give space for global issues of systemic oppression. Being indigenous to this land we are still healing from genocide that was inflicted on our more than 500 communities in countless ways, and justified by the church, divine power, law and policy. Through grief and trauma, we are abundantly mindful of our history and our ancestors sacrifices to hold onto land, culture, and our people. We know that the journey liberation is not easy or comfortable. The first step towards global liberation is to extend our allyship to be good relatives beyond Turtle Island. This we know, a bundle of arrows tied together, cannot be broken. Together, let us ignite a conversation that transcends rhetoric, and transforms into a meaningful action that uplift, empower, and amplify the voices of indigenous youth, domestically, and around the world.
Nya:wëh. Thank you.”
