We Are Still Here
One fact in the history of the United States is that Native Americans are not immigrants and have been stewarding the northern lands of the Western Hemisphere for millennia before colonial contact. We know that the colonial pilgrims recognized this as they first encountered Native sovereign nations in the name of peace and respect.
These empowering words have been said and repeated countless times in many different Native languages. In our Native American contemporary world and lives, the phrase reminds us of the history, death and survival of our ancestors, the battles that were fought, as well as signaling us to embrace home, where we honor and appreciate our elders, celebrate our cultural history through contemporary holidays, or celebrate our traditional feasts and community practices back home in our original homelands. Together, the notion of “Tribal Sovereignty and Home” encompasses all that is explained as a holistic concept, and serves to empower and heal us as we, Native Americans, are still here.
1 Britannica.com, https://www.britannica.com/topic/treaty, October 26, 2020
2 The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, https://mashpeewam panoagtribe-nsn.gov/, October 27, 2020