Gabe Galanda, Indigenous Rights Lawyer
@NDNlawyer
Followers
4,827
Following
825
Media
4,163
Statuses
22,894
Indigenous Rights Lawyer. Disenrollment Opponent. Kinship Advocate. Seattle Denizen. El Camino Aficionado. Newest Deadhead.
Seattle
Joined March 2009
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
Zuckerberg
• 514329 Tweets
#SB19atBillboardKPower100
• 393809 Tweets
#SonicMovie3
• 119084 Tweets
Sonic 3
• 79728 Tweets
PS5値上げ
• 58835 Tweets
#lovefighters
• 48377 Tweets
#西園寺さんは家事をしない
• 46140 Tweets
コントローラー
• 42464 Tweets
ニンダイ
• 36801 Tweets
Oasis
• 34931 Tweets
Shadow
• 34568 Tweets
Let's PROXIE KISS KISS OK
• 30642 Tweets
#PROXIE_KISSKISS
• 29331 Tweets
ゲーミングPC
• 24876 Tweets
Toney
• 24734 Tweets
Keanu
• 23928 Tweets
値上がり
• 20820 Tweets
ゲーム機
• 15092 Tweets
Gerald
• 11940 Tweets
كومان
• 10898 Tweets
Pinned Tweet
I just published the most important paper in my career. It reflects four years of deep research and thought. It can be read here:
20
140
723
We are now witnessing a long overdue Indigenous human rights moment.
4
68
591
Please don’t confuse my advocacy as anything other than ferocious love for Indigenous peoples & deep desire for our perpetual existence.
4
63
520
"Indigenous and Alaska Native men died of 'legal intervention' at the highest rate when adjusted for population, with Indigenous men killed by police at a rate six times higher than white men in 2020."
via
@truthout
4
258
426
20 years sober today. Thank you, Creator. 🙏
14
3
218
These words won't age well for us: "Indian country is part of the State, not separate from the State...[A]s a matter of state sovereignty, a State has jurisdiction over all of its territory, including Indian country."
15
77
218
21
99
206
The rising rhetoric that only federally recognized Tribal nations are legitimate, and that only members of federally recognized Tribal nations belong, represents a frightening brand of Tribal nationalism. It's neocolonialism, which threatens Tribal nationhood writ large.
6
70
193
On January 7th, from the Golden Globes red carpet,
@lily_gladstone
thanks her Blackfoot relative Rob Hall
@DeadDogLake
, for teaching her the Blackfoot language she spoke while making history.
The very next day he & his clan folk are disenrolled by Blackfeet Tribal politicians.
Then on January 8th I, alone with many of my relatives, were effectively disenrolled.
2
7
219
7
107
190
On Indigenous Peoples' Day, I recognize those of our Indigenous relatives who have been disenrolled, prohibited from disenrollment, disenfranchised, and persecuted by tribal politicians. You belong and your humanity matters.
1
38
182
This is demonstrably false:
"'If you’re not enrolled in a tribe, you are not subject to Indian federal law [&] all of the trauma that happened under any of those terrible policies' such as the forced removal of Native children & placement into boarding schools and foster homes."
Sacheen Littlefeather’s Claim to Native Ancestry Has Just Gotten a Little More Complicated
26
3
17
4
42
175
On Sept. 10, the Quinault Nation, under the leadership of President Guy Capoeman, amended their Constitution to eliminate fictional blood quantum as a metric of belonging. Instead "[a]ny person who has a biological parent or...grandparent who is currently enrolled," will belong.
6
38
158
End Tribal enrollment moratoria; enroll Indigenous babies and children. Stop disenrollment; honor the Ancestors. Replace Indian blood quantum; it’s fictional and racial and undermines sovereignty. Revitalize Indigenous kinship systems; that’s where our knowledge really lies.
2
53
141
@RionRamirez
@BigIndianGyasi
@ewarren
Won't weigh in on her apology or anybody's acceptance, but this is a remarkable letter. For any Congressperson or Presidential candidate, it shows a striking level of understanding about Indian Country's current state.
1
12
128
Please pause to reflect on these facts. Then please reflect on what you can do to change the status quo. Our collective future depends on it.
#Indigeneity
5
28
125
We welcome
@rebecca_mehra
as our new Research Manager. Rebecca holds an MA & BA from
@Stanford
. She is training for the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the 800 & 1500 meter races. She also ran
@TheBroadman
's successful Bend City Council campaign in 2020.
8
4
128
“Enrolled,” “registered,”
“member,”
“citizen,” “descendant”—we didn’t use these words before gaming. We were simply “_______” (insert people’s name).
5
42
128
20 years ago today my auntie took her own life. She inspired my sobriety but left a hole in our hearts. My mom also suffered from suicidal ideation. I lived my childhood on edge. Like love, pain emanates. Please love yourself.
2
12
125
THIS is who gives me hope. Not my generation. Not my parents'. But the next generation. Salute!
3
40
117
We all live in fear of disenrollment. Every single one of us. The threat of disenrollment is why we do not freely speak our minds. Let’s not fool ourselves.
#StopDisenrollment
6
33
115
I tell all my indigenous disenrollee clients to continue to check the "American Indian/Alaska Native" box on all forms, be it the federal census or a college application. No tribal politician can steal their birthright. ✔️
6
31
116
"Per capita, Native people were stopped nearly nine times as frequently as White people, and Black people were stopped over five times as frequently as White people."
1
63
108
I'll soon publish "The Federal Indian Blood Quantum" on SSRN. It will eventually appear in the second rendition of the book, "The Great Vanishing Act: Blood Quantum and the Future of Native Nations." Here's the very beginning of the essay. Let's exist in truth, not fiction.
4
46
99
The Pretendian episode of Rutherford Falls is great. Highlights that Indigenous belonging isn't binary; it's not simply a matter a tribal ID card or CDIB. But also spotlights those who take advantage of the ambiguity. Appreciate the nuance
@janaunplgd
@Bobbydues
@MichaelGreyeyes
.
0
14
101
@dallasgoldtooth
, in the very beginning of
@RezDogsFX
season 3, episode 1, makes this hilariously powerful statement about Indigenous belonging. It is remarkable that Sterlin Harjo questions Tribal nationalism in this way, while most prominent Oklahoma Indians refuse to. Bravo.
3
26
99
It's ALL Indigenous human rights. MMIWG. ICWA Boarding schools. Religious freedoms. Free speech. Disenrollment. We can't afford to pick and choose which human rights we fight for.
1
34
97
Over 75 years later, Indigenous persons remain the only citizens or residents of the United States who are not uniformly guaranteed civil rights protection.
Our nation’s first anti-discrimination law was passed in Alaska in 1945, paving the way for national advancements in civil rights.
This wouldn’t have been possible without the work of Tlingit activist Elizabeth Peratrovich.
#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth
4
121
363
0
34
85
@jbendery
@RomancingNope
You vastly overstate your case. I agree there are many, many more pressing issues in Indian Country, and have written as much. But Warren's political DNA-testing ploy is pressing to many in Indian Country, who are worried about tribal existential issues. You've done a disservice.
1
2
71
21 years sober. Blessed. Grateful. 🙏
6
0
80
This young brother is free. He travelled across the state to dance with and for his incarcerated relatives. Monroe Corrections Center Pow Wow, September 9, 2023
5
12
80
@NDNlawyer
Elder Auntie Ollie Oshiro, age 86, makes her way to her eviction "hearing." She is with her daughter but has no lawyer. I've been warned of criminal trespass if I tried to attend. This is not "sovereignty" or "self-determination." This is cruelty of the most evil kind.
7
25
74
"For the Creek Freedmen descendants today, disenrollment has meant the loss of cultural identity, including recognition of the Creek Nation's practice of slavery [and] incalculable material losses across generations..." via
@nbcnews
1
38
72
Where I stand: My firm sues cops for killing Indigenous people. We walk our talk. We pull no punch. Cops should not answer 911 calls for welfare checks. They're unqualified and untrained to do much else than shoot or suffocate and kill the mentally ill. Reform is needed.
5
21
74
Honored to be included in this new book in honor of Vine Deloria, Jr., along with so many brilliant Indigenous minds.
2
20
75
Ute Chairman gets all Suge Knight at the Source Awards, shouting at state recognized Tribes in attendance at NCAI: “Get some federal recognition!” There are reports of physical altercations in the hallways.
@NCAI1944
has completely lost its way.
26
29
73
Indian blood quantum is not a thing.
3
13
73
@PreetBharara
It's worth mentioning, he was caught at a port, having arrived to Port Angeles, Washington by ferry from Victoria, Canada. No wall would have prevented his terrorism.
4
5
69
Today, for the first time in its 76 years,
@NCAI1944
resolved to affirm the inherent sovereign right of Native Nations to decide who belongs as citizens, and to recognize the Indigenous human/civil right to belong, free from discrimination. NCAI will form a Task Force.
5
11
69
The first woman to ever be barred by and to appear before
@Scotus
, Belva Lockwood, argued and won U.S. v. Cherokee Nation, on behalf of the Cherokee Nation, in 1906. Had no idea. ✊🏽
0
26
67
@AzieDee
@RepGwenMoore
It’s remarkable that the Black Caucus—most notably
@RepGwenMoore
and
@RepMaxineWaters
—are the only folks in Congress—in either party—who will get their hands dirty on matters of Indigenous human rights. Cc:
@NCAI1944
1
6
64
First, there are several "Indian federal laws" that apply to non-enrolled or disenrolled Indigenous people. ICWA, most notably. Second, countless non/disenrolled Indigenous people suffer trauma from federal forced removals, boarding schools & foster care.
1
19
68
As we close out
#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth
, let's realize there could one day be no Indigenous heritage to celebrate if tribal blood quantum, enrollment moratoria & disenrollment persist.
4
26
66
Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis was once disenrolled from her Pueblo for not doing, as a tribal court judge, what her Pueblo's leaders told her to do. She has since been brought back home and re-enrolled. This part of her story only makes today more glorious.
#StopDisenrollment
Gov. Jay Inslee appoints Raquel Montoya-Lewis as first Native American to sit on Washington Supreme Court ?
0
15
49
0
16
61
“What blood quantum does is racialize American Indian identity,” [Jill Doerfler] said. “It is an outside concept used to disenfranchise Native people and tribes from their legal and political status [and] to eliminate ongoing treaty obligations.”
3
16
62
That’s 16 enrolled or re-enrolled relatives in the last two weeks. Every relative counts. Every single one.
0
7
62
What good is tribal sovereignty unless Indigenous persons are ensured the human rights of belonging, employment, housing, health, safety, etc., by their own governments?
0
16
59
Lily Gladstone is a Blackfeet descendant. If/when she wins Oscar, will all the Tribal nationalists who've penetrated Hollywood cheer? Will those who believe only federally recognized tribes and enrolled members belong, celebrate her historic accomplishment? Will there be selfies?
4
12
58
Received a high compliment when told that an entire tribal enrollment committee listened to the blood quantum/disenrollment/kinship episode of
@NativeApprops
,
@matikawilbur
's amazing All My Relations podcast--and it's changed their thinking of who belongs and how.
#ReviveKinship
0
7
58
“All My Relations” podcast taping with the amazing Charlotte Logan, Tommy Miller, Matika Wilbur, Dr. David Wilkins, and
@NativeApprops
, regarding issues of tribal belonging, kinship, disenrollment, blood quantum. THAT’s wassup. 🙏🏽✊🏽
1
16
56
The R word mascot has fallen, but:
The Muscogee Creek Freedmen are still disenfranchised.
Phenotypical racism remains common in Indian Country.
Racial blood quantum is still used by countless tribes.
Tribal politicians disenroll members by the thousands.
And we sit quiet.
6
21
55
I've published "The Federal Indian Blood Quantum Fiction" on SSRN.
"[A]ny metric for Indigenous national belonging should be rooted in kinship, not race—and in truth, not fiction."
🩸➗
4
18
56
"'I believe that Native kids matter,” said
@mosesbread72
. 'We must amplify the voices of Native children because they are the original Americans.'"
3
19
53
Your occasional reminder that the biggest Pretendians are Disenrollment Chiefs and other Tribal autocrats who deny our relatives and children their birthrights.
2
15
50
Please don’t. You’ve said quite enough for us already. Pass the mic to a Native female journalist.
@opalina100
@RomancingNope
I can tell you, as one reporter in DC, that's an issue I plan to cover. I reported a bunch on Savanna's Act last month (and the single GOP congressman who was blocking it + ultimately tanked it) and I'm sticking with it until it's passed.
1
0
2
1
16
50
Over 60
@nooksack306
kinfolk, including Elders and young families, have lived in fear of tribal police arriving to their homes with eviction orders, for the last six months. Nobody should live like this, especially the first peoples of these lands. But this is Indian Country.
1
20
50
After 12 years, we’re no longer taking on intra-Tribal civil rights cases. Someday I’ll write about it but here it is: If a Tribal politician wants to eradicate a Tribal member, there’s no bill of rights or anything else stopping them. And nobody in government gives a damn.🚫⚖️
8
13
48
The Five Tribal Freedmen were not emancipated until 1866. Countless Freedmen descendants have never obtained a modicum of justice or reparation through Five Tribal citizenship. It’s high time to bring them all home. Every single one.
#JuneTeenth2021
#HonorTheTreaties
Juneteenth – which became a federal holiday on Thursday – recognizes June 19, 1865, when a Union Army general arrived in Galveston, Texas, and declared the end of slavery after the Civil War.
2
0
5
1
8
49
Imagine if Indigenous kinship—not Tribal per capitalism—was the most indomitable social force in Indian country.
1
17
48
Yesterday President Robbins delivered a heartfelt, tearful apology to
@uarizona
Indigenous SOAR students, who graciously accepted his apology with tears and good words of their own. Let’s hope this learning lesson for the university sticks and translates into action/resources.
I stand in solidarity with the Native students at UA. These types of incidences happen all the time and the sad/frustrating part in all of this is the pervasive dismissal and erasing that occurs, in this case from UA President Robbins.
0
9
21
0
15
47
"Tribal sovereignty," when used as a sword to eradicate Indigenous persons, is neocolonialism.
1
6
45
Yes, historically, Indigenous belonging was based on "who claimed you." But tribal gaming politicians have subverted that kinship system. It's no longer that simple.
1
4
45
I don't know if Sacheen is or isn't. That's why I've never said anything about her. What I know is this Indigeneity story could have been reported with more care & precision,
@therebeccasun
. Publishing such demonstrable falsehood is damaging to Indigenous people & Tribal nations.
2
8
46
We are witnessing a sharp rise in ardent Tribal nationalism across Indian country’s upper echelons. If you are not an “enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe,” the national powers that be don’t think you belong and hope to eradicate and assimilate you. Believe it.
5
16
40
How could you possibly disenroll your ancestors and refuse to enroll your newborn babies?
2
6
43
Auntie Ollie suffers from dementia. She cannot see well, having had cataract surgeries in both eyes. Nor can she hear well. She cannot walk without assistance. There should be no scenario in which she could be evicted from her home of 24 years--a home she should own outright.
2
10
40
🙏🏽
Gabriel Galanda graduated in 2000 from the Indigenous People’s Law and Policy Program at
@uarizonalaw
. A member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes of California, Gabe is now one of the country’s leading Indigenous rights attorneys.
He is the College of Law's Alumnus of the Year.
1
5
19
6
1
45
Authoritarianism is on the rise in Indian Country, too.
3
7
44
Here's Auntie Ollie at her administrative eviction "hearing" at Nooksack last month. She was denied her right to counsel. Suffering from dementia, she didn't and doesn't know what's happening to her. But what she does know: Where she belongs.
1
18
39
10,000 Indigenous persons have been disenrolled. 10,000. Let that sink in.
#StopDisenrollment
0
16
40
#StopDisenrollment
. Halt enrollment moratoria. End blood quantum. Honor birthrights. Legislate kinship rules. Stem per capita payments. End tribal neocolonialism. Then the Indigeneity lines won't be so blurry.
#Pretendianism
.
0
14
43
Indigenous human rights protection is a supreme act of Tribal sovereignty & self-determination. Those ideals shouldn't be mutually exclusive.
0
5
40
I’ve recently heard from two non-Indigenous mainstream news reporters—who did bang up stories on existential Indigenous struggles—how clicks & reads of their stories spiked. That’s surely due to Indigenous readership. Newsrooms should pay attention.
@najournalists
0
6
39
Despite being enjoined by the Washington State Supreme Court, Nooksack will proceed with an eviction "trial" against 86 year-old Auntie Ollie on Wed. She'll get 30 minutes by Zoom to plead why her rent-to-own home of 24 years should not be taken. Nooksack remains above the law.
3
15
39
Better yet: Raquel Montoya-Lewis becomes the first Native American *citizen* to serve as a *State* Supreme Court Justice *in the history of our country.*
On today's
@knkxfm
newscast: Changes at the WA Supreme Court. Debra Stephens is sworn in as chief justice and Raquel Montoya-Lewis becomes the first Native American to serve as a Washington Supreme Court Justice. Story by Olympia reporter
@AustinJenkinsN3
1
3
17
2
17
40
I am an only child but grew up with two cousins who were like brothers. We were each raised by single mothers who suffered deeply from addiction and mental illness. To say we each struggled would be a woeful understatement. Today we are all clean and sober husbands and fathers.🙏🏽
2
3
39
There is almost certainly no legal way to protect these Nooksack Elders from eviction from their tax credit homes. They are owed deeds, not eviction writs. I remain disbarred. They remain without any right to other counsel. The federal Trustee or state fiduciary must act. Now.
9
12
38
We’re still disenrolling our elders and refusing to enroll our children. What seven generations?
#StopDisenrollment
1
16
37
“Descendant” is and shouldn’t be a derisive term. It is a kinship term. It honors one’s ancestral line—who they are and where they come from.
0
13
40
Eight relatives from the Little River Band of Pomo Indians of the Redwood Valley Rancheria have been re-enrolled after being disenrolled several years ago. There is hope.
#StopDisenrollment
0
7
39
19 years sober. Blessed. Grateful. 🙏
2
0
38
Repugnant. DNA lab advertises its "services" in support of disenrollment. As
@KimTallBear
's leading research makes plain, DNA results are not genuine "evidence" of anything when it comes to Indigenous belonging.
#StopDisenrollment
1
15
36
Imagine if tribal citizenship wasn’t racially infused with fictional blood quantum. 🩸🧮
0
9
36
“[ICWA] applies not just to children who are enrolled in a tribal nation, but also children who are eligible to be enrolled.”
1
15
39
LET’S. GO. ✊🏽
"Our main thing is to save lives...We're going to stay put": Chairman Harold Frazier
@CRSTChairman
of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe says
#Coronavirus
checkpoints will remain on reservation despite threat from
@govkristinoem
.
#COVID19
#SouthDakota
#Sovereignty
3
79
176
0
12
38
Your occasional reminder that there is not an organization in the country that serves to defend against Indigenous human rights abuse in Indian country. ⚖️🚫
2
17
39
How many tribal influencers will tritely decry “merciless Indian savages” this weekend without ever having decried merciless Indigenous human rights abuse by tribal politicians?
6
6
39
Attempted to attend Michelle Roberts’ eviction “hearing” with her but was denied entry, in violation of her due process right to counsel.
@nooksack306
10
14
38