Threats of violence occur because in the last ten years, many reservations have suffered a silent invasion by Mexican drug cartels.
This has occurred in reservations all through the US, along Northern and Southern borders, creating large areas of lawlessness, at horrific human cost. It's not anti-government types so much as Mexican cartels and their types.
If they talk to any outsiders, it can mean death and torture.
Tribal police are strong in some places, but they're laughably insufficient in most cases, and there's an intersection of tribal pride, corruption, distrust of feds, and being overwhelmed that have given cartels a large number of virtually untouchable strongholds.
There are places law enforcement cannot and will not go inside the borders of the US under the control of drug cartel strongmen. Human trafficking, murder, disappearances, drug trade, murder for hire, money laundering, and so on are being hidden under the veil of tribal sovereignty.
The number of girls and young women that go missing is an atrocity, but the ones that go unreported are worse. These people are owed more.
I'm not sure what the solution is that preserves native sovereignty and roots out the cartels, but the US is headed for a dramatic escalation of violence inside the borders. I am as against the war on drugs as anyone, and support blanket legalization as a necessary tool in neutering cartels and their influence. The trouble now is that cartels with militarized presence and sophisticated logistics will need US military intervention within our borders, and on tribal lands, and that's a politically untenable proposition.
So it festers. People disappear. Outsiders see a superficial veneer of anti-government sentiment but the problems are much deeper and more destructive for native cultures. The longer it goes on, the higher the eventual cost will be.
It's shocking that this isn't better known, but maybe Americans don't want introspection of truly scary things.
That's not as applicable to this region, but yes that is part of it. However this was not simply tribals, a good number of threats and acts came from old rural white men. They think the "government" is coming after them and therefore anyone with a clipboard and a name tag is a secret agent to them. I am dead serious.
I could literally go on for thousands of small town stories, or tens of thousands individual family stories about murder and trafficking. This is happening in reservations all over the US and along southern Canada. All of the lower 48, I'm not sure about Hawaii or Alaska.
Along the west coast, lots of illicit marijuana farming, and lots of truck stops and trafficking logistics and meth manufacture elsewhere.
I don't know why we haven't seen a journalistic investigation into the big picture. I've spoken to native friends who have family on reservations who see cartel members recruiting youth, meeting with elders, and crazy shootouts.
This has occurred in reservations all through the US, along Northern and Southern borders, creating large areas of lawlessness, at horrific human cost. It's not anti-government types so much as Mexican cartels and their types.
If they talk to any outsiders, it can mean death and torture.
Tribal police are strong in some places, but they're laughably insufficient in most cases, and there's an intersection of tribal pride, corruption, distrust of feds, and being overwhelmed that have given cartels a large number of virtually untouchable strongholds.
There are places law enforcement cannot and will not go inside the borders of the US under the control of drug cartel strongmen. Human trafficking, murder, disappearances, drug trade, murder for hire, money laundering, and so on are being hidden under the veil of tribal sovereignty.
The number of girls and young women that go missing is an atrocity, but the ones that go unreported are worse. These people are owed more.
I'm not sure what the solution is that preserves native sovereignty and roots out the cartels, but the US is headed for a dramatic escalation of violence inside the borders. I am as against the war on drugs as anyone, and support blanket legalization as a necessary tool in neutering cartels and their influence. The trouble now is that cartels with militarized presence and sophisticated logistics will need US military intervention within our borders, and on tribal lands, and that's a politically untenable proposition.
So it festers. People disappear. Outsiders see a superficial veneer of anti-government sentiment but the problems are much deeper and more destructive for native cultures. The longer it goes on, the higher the eventual cost will be.
It's shocking that this isn't better known, but maybe Americans don't want introspection of truly scary things.