A Perfect Storm Of U.S. Political Extremism, Calmed By Homegrown Indigenous Wisdom

The story of what happened between MAGA hats and Native elders in our nation's capital last week turns out to be weirder than my post yesterday indicated.

A perfect storm of U.S. political extremism was brewing on January 18 at the Lincoln memorial.

First of all, Native people had come to Washington for the first ever Indigenous Peoples March. Organizing under the climate change slogan, "If the waters are rising, then so must we," and bringing attention to the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, their presence was healing and wise. You can read coverage of that event here.

Smoke dance another angle. The moves my relatives! Those moves! #IPMDC19 #IndigenousPeoplesMarch pic.twitter.com/Ulqp8TfFyV

— Prairie Rose (@msprairierose) January 18, 2019

Today we remember the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women. #IndigenousPeoplesMarch #IPMDC19 #WaterIsLife pic.twitter.com/icU7csfV78

— PFAW (@peoplefor) January 18, 201

Next, a radical Christian group called Black Hebrew Israelites -- which the Southern Poverty Law Center tracks as a hate group -- began preaching their aggressive brand of monotheism. You can see them and hear them in this video made on January 18.

You can hear them mocking Native people for "worshiping totem poles" (?!), eagles, buffalo and other forms of what they characterize as "idolatry."

They also claim Natives lost their land because of their incorrect spiritual practices and beliefs (which the Israelites give every indication of near total ignorance of).

Screenshot from video

A couple of women approach them and clap back. One is led gently away by an elder woman. The other resists another woman's attempt to turn her away. She persists offering education and a reasoned argument until the Israelites begin dissing her for being a female who uses her voice.

Meanwhile, a knot of MAGA hat boys is gathering; they have been bused in from Kentucky's Covington Catholic High School to attend an annual event aimed at denying women and girls access to reproductive health care.

As the Israelite group and the MAGA hats become more confrontational and agitated, Native elder Nathan Phillips steps between the two groups with his drum. According to his own account, he attempts to climb the steps of the Lincoln memorial intending to pray from that vantage point, but he is blogged by a grinning 16 year old who won't let him pass.

Nathan keeps drumming and is joined by another drummer as the crowd of boys chant "build the wall" and jump around mocking the Native prayer song demonstration. They also offer their political views, as nurtured by their politicized religious education.

Here is another infuriating clip from the MAGA mob of kids from #CovingtonCatholic

An indigenous man politely reminds them they are on stolen land and a student responds, “Land gets stolen. That’s how it works. It’s the way of the world.” via @ka_ya11 IG #IndigenousPeoplesMarch pic.twitter.com/SYun9wkzpY

— Andrew Kimmel (@andrewkimmel) January 19, 2019

Some viewers say they see chaperones behind the large group of boys.

So we have religious fanatics, white supremacists, and Native people still in possession of their non-coercive system of spiritual beliefs. An elder peacekeeper who was in the military during the Vietnam War era and who doesn't believe in walls, doesn't believe in prisons. (Thank you, Nathan Phillips.)

Photo credit: Perez Hilton

Some of the questions I'm left with: who bought all the matching MAGA gear for the teenage boys? Why weren't they in school on a Friday?

Who knew I would find common ground with a group preaching that I'm headed for eternal damnation because I don't worship Yahweh? (The Hebrew Israelites are angry, as I am, about the federal government shutdown.)

A more comprehensive account of the day with additional videos can be seen here on Indian Country Today.