Krystle Silverfox's work, Apprehension, speaks to her mother's experience in the #60sScoop

 Krystle Silverfox uses beading to bring healing and care to mother's '60s Scoop story

Artist's series titled 'Apprehension' will comprise nearly 300 documents

Edzi'u Loverin · CBC News ·  October 20

Artist Krystle Silverfox redacts her mother's foster care documents by beading over the personal or traumatic information contained on each page. (Submitted by Krystle Silverfox)

Krystle Silverfox spends her days taping the back of 286 documents that record her mother's early life.

Silverfox, an east-Vancouver raised artist now based in Whitehorse, then redacts her mother's foster-care files by beading carefully over the personal or traumatic information contained on each page.

"I tape the back so that way it ... doesn't just rip apart easy," said Silverfox, a member of Selkirk First Nation in Yukon.

"I see beadwork as a way to convey care and, like, putting things together."

Silverfox's mother is a Sixties Scoop survivor, one of thousands of Indigenous children who were apprehended by child welfare authorities from the 1960s to the 1980s and placed with non-Indigenous families.

This document belongs to Krystle Silverfox's work, Apprehension, which speaks to her mother's experience in the Sixties Scoop. (Submitted by Matthew Hanick)

Her work is one of four artist's pieces to be highlighted by United Contemporary gallery in Toronto during the 27th Art Toronto fair, which runs Oct. 29 to Nov. 1.

It's called Apprehension, which Silverfox said not only represents the Sixties Scoop, but also speaks to how she felt while looking at documents that share her mother's experiences.

"I'm apprehensive reading these because it's such a difficult thing to go through," said Silverfox.

"But then as I'm doing the work to redact things, it feels a little bit more empowering or more, I guess, healing."

She said she's beaded 23 of the 286 documents so far.

'It's a little bit educational, but it's also something that honours ... an experience that so many people have,' says Krystle Silverfox. (Submitted by Matthew Hanick)

"Beading on paper, it's a little challenging," said Silverfox.

"Paper is very delicate, right? So it's easy to rip. So it does take a lot of care and time to make sure I'm doing things correctly."

'Like viewing the receipts'

This year's Art Toronto has more than 100 exhibitors, including galleries, project spaces, and cultural institutions from Canada and around the world. Nearly one third of participating galleries will show work from Indigenous artists.

Melanie Trojkovic, gallery director at United Contemporary, said five or six documents from Silverfox's Apprehension series will be on display at the gallery's booth.

"We wanted to really celebrate female identifying artists at this time, and all of them who look to, research, archive, and honour family histories, as well as generational trauma," said Trojkovic.

"I'm hoping that majority of people will be able to access this history through her beautiful work."

Trojkovic, who is originally from Australia, said that history made her emotional.

"Here in Canada, the Sixties Scoop specifically was something that I was learning through Krystle's work," said Trojkovic.

"It's like viewing the receipts.... It just brings home all these lives that were impacted by this institutionalized scoop and apprehension of Indigenous children."

• The Sixties Scoop

• Q&A

  Krystle Silverfox moved from B.C. to the Yukon — to a town so small it doesn't have an art supply store

That education is one part of what Silverfox was hoping to accomplish.

"Talking about what happened is really important not only for myself and other Indigenous people to relate to it, but also people who don't even know what the Sixties Scoop is," said Silverfox.

"It's a little bit educational, but it's also something that honours ... an experience that so many people have."

Silverfox said another work that contends with four fragments of a Hudson's Bay blanket will also be featured at United Contemporary's booth during Art Toronto.

"On the blanket there's beaded text, and the text is inspired from early treaties and the Indian Act," said Silverfox.

"[It's] about the connection, what it was supposed to mean to have these contracts between early settlers and Indigenous people."

ICT News | October 23, 2026

 

Compensatory Payments for Historical Wrongs (Canada)

I think their land theft, killing sprees, oppression and Colonisation of all kinds prevent us from being ourselves. The societies we live in are geared to the requirements of the colonisers, not to the People.  Our lives are shaped by their rules, their attitude towards us – their contempt for us and their fear of our possible rebellion.  Their money will not change what they did, never... Not until the lands return to Native hands, and until then, we are still at war... WE STILL WAIT -Trace, blog editor

A different OPINION below :  

Over past 50 years--but primarily since 2017--Ottawa has paid out more than an estimated $110 billion to First Nations for lawsuit and class action settlements

VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 22, 2026 /CNW/ -- Since 1974, the federal government has given an estimated $113.2 billion (inflation-adjusted) to First Nations in Canada as pay outs for lawsuits and class action settlements, according to a new essay published by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

"Most Canadians are not aware of the enormous payments Ottawa has made to First Nations to settle legal claims and class action lawsuits," said Tom Flanagan, Fraser Institute senior fellow and co-author of Compensation for Past Treatment of Indigenous People.

The essay finds that between 1974/75 and 2025/26, Ottawa paid out $29.4 billion to First Nations to settle specific claims—essentially those cases where the court ruled the federal government had violated treaty rights or the Indian Act in the past.

Crucially, the number of claims settled and the value of the claims settled significantly increased starting in 2017/18, and it peaked in 2024/25 when 69 claims were settled for a total of $7.3 billion that year alone.

But specific claims are only one form of legal compensation for First Nations. Increasingly, class actions and other litigation based on claims of mistreatment of rights violations have been brought against the federal government, including for residential schools, the "sixties scoop," safe drinking water, and more.

Settling class action suits has cost Ottawa an estimated $83.2 billion since 2007.

"Because Ottawa's compensatory payments are for historical wrongs, the number of claims—and the amount taxpayers need to pay—should be going down, not up, but that is not the case," Flanagan said.

"The significant amount of money that the federal government has paid out, particularly in recent years, acts as an incentive to attract even more legal claims and class action lawsuits to be filed. This all begs the question of whether or not these efforts are improving the wellbeing of indigenous populations in Canada."

** 

The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Halifax, and Montreal, and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit  www.fraserinstitute.org

Red Lake failed its kids

Red Lake Nation Chairman Won’t Step Down Amid Child Welfare Deaths

by Elyse Wild    October 19, 2026  NATIVE NEWS ONLINE

Credit: (photo/redlakenation.org/

Overview:

A tribal chairman announces he will not resign as the tribe's child welfare department falls under scrutiny.

Red Lake Nation Tribal Chairman Darrell Seki Sr. has released a statement that he will not be stepping down amid revelations that a pattern of neglect within the tribe’s child welfare program led to the deaths of eight children.

The statement comes just days after the tribe said the Red Lake Nation Tribal Council asked Seki to step down after Bureau of Indian Affairs documents detailing the agency’s September takeover of its child welfare department—called Ombimindwaa Gidinawemaaganiaadog (Ombi)—were made public.

The 11-page document includes assertions that Ombi staff had failed to act in several cases where children were endangered and later died as a result.  Records state that tribal officials, including Seki and Ombi’s Executive Director Cheri Goodwin, have refused to work with federal authorities to protect the welfare of Red Lake Nation’s children.

On Friday, Oct. 16, the tribal council issued a statement that it had requested Seki to step down from his position within two weeks.

The statement read in part:

“He acknowledged that mistakes were made in how important information was not communicated to the Tribal Council, and agreed to step down. We recognize the difficulty of these circumstances and respect his decision to make this announcement on his own terms as we continue working together to move our Nation forward.

We recognize the seriousness of these circumstances, particularly the allegations that have surfaced, the ongoing reassumption, and most importantly, the tragic loss of children’s lives. Our hearts and deepest sympathies remain with the families and community members who have experienced unimaginable loss. We must never lose sight of the lives and families at the center of these matters.”

However, Seki says he will not be stepping down. His statement, posted on Facebook, reads as follows.

To the Red Lake Tribal Members:

I have informed the Red Lake Tribal Council, in writing, that I am not retiring or stepping down. I remain the duly elected Chairman of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, and I will continue to carry out the duties of this office that the people of Red Lake entrusted to me.

Our Nation is going through a difficult time and our members are looking for steady leadership; we owe you, our membership, a Council that stands united in purpose.

I look forward to continuing to work together for the good of the Red Lake Nation. We are strong, and we must stand as one.

— Darrell G. Seki, Sr. Tribal Chairman Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians

Seki was first elected in 2014. He was reelected to another four-year term in June.

According to the tribe’s constitution and bylaws, removing a Tribal Chairman requires a referendum of eligible tribal voters. The referendum can be triggered by a petition signed by 25% of tribal voters or an affirmative vote of eight members of the Tribal Council.

Related

BIA Reports: Feds Take Over Red Lake Nation’s Child Welfare Program After Deaths of Eight ChildrenOctober 14, 2026In "Health"

Red Lake Nation Responds to Federal Takeover of Child Welfare ServicesSeptember 18, 2026In "Sovereignty"

IMPORTANT READ:  Star Tribune: https://www.startribune.com/red-lake-child-welfare-deaths/601901151

Book highlighting missing and murdered Indigenous people in Montana wins award

by NBC Montana Staff , October 14, 2026 

A book featuring portraits of missing and murdered Indigenous people in Montana has won the 2026 High Plains International Book Award in the Art & Photography category. Photo: MAM press release

MISSOULA, Mont. — A book featuring portraits of missing and murdered Indigenous people in Montana has won the 2026 High Plains International Book Award in the Art & Photography category.

"Outrage: Missing and Murdered Indigenous People in Montana," published alongside a 2025 exhibition at the Missoula Art Museum, features portraits by Irish artist Brian Maguire.

Maguire began the project in 2020, working with Montana families to create portraits based on photographs of their loved ones. He produces two paintings of each person, giving one to the family and making the other available for public exhibition.

The High Plains International Book Awards recognize literary works reflecting life in the High Plains region.

MORE:  https://www.mtpr.org/montana-news/2026-10-19/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-people-book-wins-international-award?_amp=true 

I’m like the Indigenous Kool-Aid man

Howie Miller Turns Comedy into a Platform for Indigenous Representation

 

For comic Howie Miller, comedy is a way to confront racism, challenge stereotypes and make space for Indigenous people in an entertainment industry that has often reduced them to narrow roles.

October 18, 2026

By Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(ANNews) – For Howie Miller, comedy is more than a punchline. It is a way to confront racism, challenge stereotypes and make space for Indigenous people in an entertainment industry that has often reduced them to narrow roles.

The Edmonton comedian has spent decades turning personal experience into material while encouraging a new generation of Indigenous performers to step into the spotlight. His goal is not only to see more Indigenous comedians onstage, but to see Indigenous people represented across mainstream media as doctors, lawyers, scientists, astronauts and artists.

“We need our faces in mainstream media more and more, and not so much riding around on horses or drunk on a reservation,” Miller said. “We need to be doctors, lawyers, scientists, astronauts, everything, because that’s what we are.”

Miller is originally from Paul Band, west of Edmonton near Wabamun Lake, and was born and raised in the city.  Adopted during the Sixties Scoop, he reconnected with his Indigenous family in his early 20s.

His path to comedy began in high school, where he discovered a talent for mimicry, accents and performance. He started pursuing stand-up in his early 20s while raising a family and later expanded into corporate entertainment.

“It was really in high school where I sort of developed a sense of humor and the art of mimicry,” Miller said. “It was very easy for me to articulate in accents and mimic things, and I got a great amount of pleasure of that, and that got attention to me, positive attention.”

As he developed his career, supporting his family became a central motivation.

“And then it just sort of fell into, like, I really need to get good at this because I have a family to support,” he said.

Turning experience into material

Miller said his Indigenous identity opened doors early in his career at a time when few Indigenous performers were visible in Canadian comedy. “People might think it was hard for me because I was Indigenous. Actually, that opened a gateway for me,” he said.

He credited Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club with helping him gain experience, build an audience and establish his name. “So it was really helpful in my career at the beginning. And I got my name out there and it opened a lot of doors for me,” Miller said. “So as far as stand-up is concerned, it’s been a very positive road for me.”

His experiences have also included encounters with racism and prejudice in Alberta and British Columbia. Those experiences became part of his comedy, allowing him to address subjects that are often left unspoken.

“That was always the underlying tone of my sense of humor, was to bring to light the situations that Indigenous people face in this country: racism, ignorance, you know, prejudice, whatever you want to call it,” Miller said.

“There’s a lot of it that we have to experience daily, and many people don’t know that, or they don’t realize it. So, if I can bring that to light in a humorous way, it’s sort of, you know, brushing off the dust off, because it’s something we don’t talk about.”

Comedy, he said, can make difficult realities easier for audiences to understand. “And I’m able to talk about it, and people can understand it,” Miller said.

Making room for the next generation

When Miller began performing, he said there were only a handful of Indigenous comedians and entertainers working across the country. Today, he sees Indigenous performers at comedy clubs and open mics in communities across Canada.

“When I started, there was probably only about four or five Indigenous entertainers or comedians in the entire country,” he said. “Now it’s such a pleasure to see so many faces.”

Miller said seeing Indigenous performers develop their own voices onstage fills him with pride. “It fills my heart with such joy,” he said.

He hopes his career has helped make the path easier for those performers, comparing himself to the Kool-Aid Man crashing through a wall and leaving an opening for others to follow.

“Not to say that I had anything to do with that, but, you know, I always tell people I’m like a Kool-Aid man.  I’m like the Indigenous Kool-Aid man. I crash through the wall, I make a big hole, and I want people to follow me,” Miller said.

“I want Indigenous people to follow me and, you know, just keep doing things. I can’t do this forever, and I’d like to continue and grow more. So it’s very positive.”

Miller has also performed with fellow Canadian comedian Howie Mandel during shows in the United States. “He’s a super nice guy. He’s super funny, and he’s treated me with the utmost respect, and it’s just wonderful doing those shows,” Miller said.

Another milestone came when Miller performed during commercial breaks at the Canadian Country Music Awards in Edmonton. The event was especially meaningful because Rexall Place was connected to his childhood memories of watching the Oilers.

“It was Edmonton. It’s my hometown, and I just felt, okay, I’ve made it,” he said. “I’m performing for, you know, 25,000 people here in a place that I grew up, and it was very heartwarming.”

Confidence as a starting point

For Indigenous performers hoping to enter comedy or other creative fields, Miller’s advice is to build confidence. “Confidence. Absolute 100% confidence. Confidence in yourself, confidence in what you’re saying,” he said. “You grow that confidence; it grows inside you. Once you have that confidence inside you, you can accomplish anything.”

Miller recognizes that confidence can be difficult to develop, particularly for Indigenous people affected by trauma and difficult upbringings. Still, he encourages emerging performers to trust themselves and their material.

“You just have to be confident in yourself, and that’s very hard sometimes for Indigenous people to be confident in themselves, given their upbringing, where they’re growing up,” he said. “You just have to be confident, self-confident, and confident in your material, and yeah, the sky’s the limit.”

For Miller, family remains an important source of pride beyond his career in comedy.

“I’m very proud of my four sons. They are in their careers. Some of them are in the entertainment or arts field. They are excelling, and they’re just amazing. The four sons are just, you know, they’re my four warriors. And I’m very happy and proud of them.”

Website: howiemiller.com⁠
Instagram: @howiemiller72⁠
X (Twitter): @HowieMiller⁠

 

Beyond Narratives of Loss

 

For Sharon Angnakak, understanding Inuit history requires more than revisiting what has already been written in the archives. It demands asking whose interpretation of that history has been preserved and whose knowledge may have been misunderstood along the way.

Angnakak — an Inuk from Iqaluit, Nunavut and an assistant professor in the U of M’s Indigenous studies department — researches Inuit history, Inuit philosophy, legal anthropology in the Arctic, cultural exchange between Arctic Indigenous peoples and the state and Arctic sovereignty from Inuit perspectives.  Her work examines the intersections of Inuit knowledge, religion, law, colonialism and political development.

READ:  https://themanitoban.com/2026/10/beyond-narratives-of-loss/53629/ 

12th Buffalo Treaty Anniversary Gathering 🦬 🦬 🦬 🦬

 🦬 The Buffalo Treaty is a living agreement that brings together Nations/Tribes in a shared commitment to the restoration of the buffalo and the renewal of relationships with land, culture, and one another.

        Thanks for being here! WOPILA!

BIA BACKLOG of Missing and Murdered

 

HUNTING and KILLING INDIANS since 1783?

READ: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/99-01-02-11798 

 

The Declaration of Independence lists twenty-seven grievances

 

Jayne Quick-to-See Smith, "I See Red"

Robert J. Miller has posted “The Declaration of Independence: ‘Merciless Indian Savages’ . . . and More” on SSRN.

Here is the abstract:

The Declaration of Independence lists twenty-seven grievances that the American colonies and colonists had against King George III and England, and that they argued justified independence from England.  Almost everyone is familiar with the allegation in grievance twenty-seven that the King “has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages. .. [and the] destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.”  But in contrast to that well-known and express reference to Indian Peoples, only a few scholars have noted and very few people understand that grievances seven, twenty, and twenty-one in the Declaration also involve Indian Nations and Peoples and their lands and assets.  These three grievances involved England and the American colonies contesting sovereign, property, economic, and territorial rights over the Indian Nations and their lands under the international law of colonialism, better known as the Doctrine of Discovery.  This Essay addresses and explains these grievances.

Joey Clift's Not-so-Sacred Guide to Native America

 

Land Acknowledgements, Blood Quantum, and Flipping Off Mount Rushmore: Joey Clift's Not-so-Sacred Guide to Native America by Rebecca Nagle

Read on Substack

CHANGE IS COMING!? Or is it? (update)

Hey readers!

It's Trace, your editor.  I started this blog/website in 2010 to help adoptees like me navigate the waters and terrors of closed adoption, reunions and the genocidal Indian Adoption Projects.  There were so many stories of adoptees like me, I decided I'd share them here.  (Because of this blog, there is an anthology book series called Lost Children of the Indian Adoption Projects, five books - your voices, your stories.)

I had never made a blog before. It was all new to me.  (Yes, I worked as a journalist since 1996, but this was different.)

It made me happy to find out:  Together, WE are a voice, a history, a force.  We are not going anywhere!  We will speak our minds, help each other and share our stories!

Last night, this website hit 8 MILLION VIEWS! I thank each of you for being here and educating yourself and reading this information! WOW!

Now the bad news: Google who owns blogger is going to change soon. They are obviously policing blogs, as I had warned you. (My blog Puck and Otis disappeared then reappeared then was gone again then came back.)

right click to enlarge

 

On December 16, Blogger will change again.  I just read their 6-page policy statement. We are not violating any of their policies.  I am simply sharing information and giving you the news, the source, the newspaper, or whoever wrote it.  Or I wrote it...

I know they keep an eye on us.  But is it artificial intelligence monitoring us? WHY?

I wrote before this blog might disappear and that means I'd have to relocate it to wordpress or some other platform, if necessary.  I'll keep you informed and will work on that transition immediately.  I have backed up this content: over 3,000 posts!

If there are stories you want to save, or read again, print them out, please. Use the search bar to find topics you need to reread and save.  I know some of you are students, so please use the important resources up top on this blog.

😢SADLY this site may simply go poof.

I don't run ads or make money from this blog-website.  Other than book sales, which I really appreciate, books are the only income stream.  And it seems that people are not reading books.  THEY READ BLOGS like this one! 

So BIG THANKS to you! Thank you for coming here. I thank you for all your comments and emails. I thank you for reading my rants and learning about this history.  CHI MEGWETCH!

IMPORTANT:  How to reach me:

Trace Hentz

email: tracelara@pm.me

phone: 413-772-6996

If you need my address, email me or call. 

My door is open! Let me know what you need or if I can help!  LOVE TO YOU ALL XOX

 

UPDATE: I bought a domain name on wordpress: it will be the place to go if this blog disappears:

www.americanindianadoptees.blog 

(still setting it up) (I cannot move the posts there sadly.) Save that address.

 

 

ICT News October 16, 2026

 

PBS will celebrate Native American Heritage Month in NOVEMBER

 

Featured Programming Includes New Episodes of PATI JINICH EXPLORES PANAMERICANA, and New Documentaries COMING HOME: FROM SHADOWLAND TO SPIRITWORLD and MEDICINE BALL

ARLINGTON, VA; Oct. 15, 2026 – This November, PBS will celebrate Native American Heritage Month with programming that brings Indigenous voices, histories and experiences to audiences across the country. Featuring series, documentaries and digital-first content, the lineup explores the enduring impact of Native American communities while offering perspectives on identity, tradition and contemporary life. Programming will be available across PBS stations, PBS.org, the PBS app and PBS digital platforms.

A new season of PATI JINICH EXPLORES PANAMERICANA premieres on October 26, highlighting the many Indigenous communities, traditions, and people that reside in the western states of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. James Beard Award-winning chef Pati Jinich journeys through these lands to experience their stories, traditions, and food, uncovering cultural connections that unite us all. Two new films from Native-led Vision Maker Media will debut as well: Premiering on November 2, COMING HOME: FROM SHADOWLAND TO SPIRITWORLD centers around a Kashia Pomo elder who guides seekers reclaiming homeland and a mysterious trip to Russia. And on November 9, MEDICINE BALL follows Native American college student-athletes as they examine basketball’s complicated history in Indigenous boarding schools and its transformation into a source of cultural resilience and pride.

Below is a list of Native American Heritage Month 2026 programming on PBS (check local listings), PBS.org and the PBS app.

PATI JINICH EXPLORES PANAMERICANA 
Premieres Monday, October 26,– November 9, 2026, 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org and PBS app
Pati Jinich continues her journey inspired by the Pan-American Highway through the Western United States from Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona to the Mexico border. From ranching towns to desert borderlands, she connects with people whose traditions and dreams reflect the many threads that make up this country. Through food, culture, and personal connection, Pati continues exploring everything that unites the Americas. 

COMING HOME: FROM SHADOWLAND TO SPIRITWORLD 
Premieres Monday, November 2, 10:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org and PBS app
After sacred land goes up for sale following 170 years of dispossession brought on by the California genocide of Native peoples, Kashia Pomo Tribal elder (Otis Parrish) mentors a pair of young Tribal members (Martina Morgan and Jerry Pinola) on a journey seeking coastal land return and self-recovery that inspires healing, spiritual revival, and a search for the truth about those Tribal members gone missing and murdered.

MEDICINE BALL
Premieres Monday, November 9, 10:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org and PBS app
Follow Native American college student-athletes at the University of Minnesota Morris as they explore the complex history of basketball in Indigenous boarding schools and its evolution into a symbol of cultural resilience.

Other programs available to stream include NATIVE AMERICA (seasons One and Two), and episodes from ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, FINDING YOUR ROOTS, INDEPENDENT LENS, NOVA and POV.  PBS KIDS will feature encore programming from ARTHUR, LET'S GO LUNA, XAVIER RIDDLE AND THE SECRETMUSEUM and MOLLY OF DENALI to celebrate Native American Heritage Month. 

“Native American Heritage Month is an important opportunity to elevate Indigenous voices and share stories that deepen our understanding of the people, histories and traditions that have shaped our country,” said Geoff Daniels, VP, Programming & Development, PBS. “Through stories of resilience, cultural preservation and contemporary life, this year’s programming reflects the richness and range of Native American experiences, both past and present.” 

We are naming the foundation this country was built on

 

What “Stolen Land” and Land Back Actually Mean

SOURCE: https://juliefrancella.substack.com/p/we-are-not-going-to-evict-you-what?r=cbskx&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer

---

A caller to our radio show was furious. He said he was sick and tired of Indigenous people saying we are living on stolen land.

I understand why that phrase makes people defensive. They hear it as a personal accusation. They think: I didn’t steal anything. I bought my home. My grandparents came here after all of that happened. What exactly do you want from me?

But that reaction often misses what Indigenous people are actually saying.

When we say “you are on stolen land,” we are not saying that every person alive today personally stole a home, or that we want to knock on people’s doors and force them out. We are naming the foundation this country was built on: Indigenous lands were taken through removal, violence, broken treaties, fraud, confinement, and laws written to make theft look legal.

That is history. But it’s also the present.

“Legal” does not mean just.

A lot of people assume that because land is owned legally today, the question is settled.

But legal systems can be built to make injustice look legitimate.

The United States did not simply expand into “empty land.” It removed Native nations from territories that invaders and governments wanted. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 created the legal machinery for pushing Indigenous people west of the Mississippi. The Cherokee removal in 1838–39—the Trail of Tears—was carried out by the U.S. government, and approximately 4,000 Cherokee people died during that forced displacement.

That is a documented policy of making Indigenous land available by removing Indigenous people.

And removal was not the only strategy. The federal government also confined Native nations to reservations, violated treaties, and divided collectively held Indigenous lands through the allotment system. Under allotment, land deemed “surplus” was sold to non-Native settlers. Native landholdings dropped from 138 million acres in 1887 to 48 million acres by 1934.

So yes, someone can hold a valid deed today. That does not erase the chain of events that made the deed possible.

Not every Indigenous nation has the same history, and we should not flatten hundreds of nations into one story. As I always say, we are not a monolith.

But when Indigenous people call land “unceded,” they are making a specific point: the original Indigenous nation did not surrender, sell, or legally sign away that territory to the Crown (Canada) or the government (USA).

Much of British Columbia, Canada, is unceded territory.  About 95 percent of the province, including Vancouver, was never covered by treaties that transferred First Nations land to the Crown.  The City of Vancouver acknowledges that it is located on the unceded ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.

Ottawa, Canada is located on unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe territory.  Large areas of British Columbia, Quebec, eastern Ontario, and Atlantic Canada have unresolved or unceded Indigenous land questions.

Here in New York City, we are in Lenapehoking—the homeland of the Lenape people. That does not mean we can reduce a complex history to a slogan “You are on Stolen Land”.  It means we should know whose homeland this was and is, and understand that the Lenape did not disappear just because settlers drew new borders and wrote new property laws.  Pratt Institute in Brooklyn identifies its location as the traditional and unceded homeland of the Lenape.

So does the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Then there is the argument people make when they want the conversation to end quickly: But treaties were signed so the land issues were settled.

Yes, treaties were signed. But treaties were also broken, manipulated, ignored, and discarded when Indigenous land became profitable.

Look at the Black Hills.

The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 recognized the Black Hills as part of the Great Sioux Reservation. Then gold was found. The United States took the land anyway. In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government’s action amounted to a taking that required compensation.

Fort Laramie, Wyoming, painting by Alfred Jacob Miller.

The government took land in violation of its own agreement, and more than a century later, the country’s highest court recognized that the taking was unlawful. Stolen land!

Another thing people may not understand is that many Indigenous peoples hold a different worldview about money, ownership, and wealth.👇

‘Bringing Della Home’: Army Returns Children’s Remains to Tribes, Relatives

 Excerpt:

The remains of a dozen children who died at the notorious Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania more than 100 years ago were transported home to tribal lands this fall, following an arduous process with the U.S. Army, which owns the school’s ancient cemetery.

Among them was Della Atkins, whose remains were returned to the Shoshone Paiute Tribes 126 years after her death at Carlisle, one of the many abusive institutions that attempted to forcibly assimilate Indigenous children into white, Christian society.

“It hurts us knowing we couldn’t have Della come home alive,” the tribe said in a statement. “It’s a reminder of the trauma and dehumanization of the Boarding School Era and its wide implications to all of Indian Country.”

Atkins’ family expressed gratitude that their relative will finally rest among her family and homelands. Her repatriation is the tribe’s first such return from a boarding school cemetery.

“We never expected to be a part of such a movement but through it all, we realize that we all are tied into reconciliation and the healing of this great trauma. Bringing Della home is just the start for us here.”

— Della Atkins’ family

Photos of Alaska Native children before and after they were taken to Carlisle Industrial Boarding School in Pennsylvania. Among them was Tummassak, who entered the school on Nov. 14, 1897 and died there on April 8, 1900. Her remains were recently returned to her community. Archival images from the Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center and the Cumberland County Historical Society. Licensed under Creative Commons.

‘Bringing Della Home’: Army Returns Children’s Remains to Tribes, Relatives

https://imprintnews.org/indigenous-youth-and-families/bringing-della-home-army-returns-childrens-remains-to-tribes-relatives/277659?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Wed+Oct+14+2026&utm_campaign=More+Than+100+Years+Later+Remains+of+Indigenous+Children+who+Died+at+Infamous+Boarding+School+Go+Home 

What do you know about Columbus who sailed the ocean blue in 1492…?

The primary outcome of Columbus’s voyage to the new world was the enslavement of hundreds of thousands of Native Americans and the pilfering of 45,000 tons of gold and silver (valued at £10 trillion in modern currency).—The History of the World Part 5—Age of Plunder, BBC (2018) Film Review by Dr. Stuart Bramhall

Looting, too?  Well that’s not good.  In 1492 Columbus, the real-life-slave trader-pirate, was capturing humans for Spain, and lands three boats in Hispaniola.  (Carib People say Columbus, an Italian guy working for Spain, was lost at sea.) - Trace Hentz, from her book ALMOST DEAD INDIANS: Atrocity

 Then there's this👇

 Correction: At 00:32 we incorrectly say that Columbus never set foot on North American soil. Columbus landed in Central America and the Caribbean which are both regions in North America. We meant to say that Columbus never reached the United States. We regret the error.