Advocating for Indigenous Rights: Gabe Galanda Talks Pressing Native Issues
Guest host Omari Salisbury recently welcomed Indigenous rights lawyer Gabe Galanda to The Day With Trae to discuss pressing issues within the Native American community, including the ongoing disenrollment controversy at the Nooksack Reservation and the broader challenges facing tribal communities.
Galanda, a longtime friend and collaborator of Converge Media, provided updates on a case central to Converge Media’s Emmy-nominated film, “Nooksack 306.” The film, released last year, documented the plight of Nooksack families facing disenrollment and eviction from their homes.
Leading with the fundamental issue, Galanda defined disenrollment as the elimination of an Indigenous person's citizenship in their tribal nation. He traced its origins, explaining it was originally invented by the United States government in the late 1800s to eradicate white settlers who ended up in tribal roles. But it's been used over the last 30 years primarily to get rid of Indigenous people, meaning tribal politicians getting rid of their own people in order to concentrate gaming wealth and power, he said.
Galanda summarized the tragic irony. "It's essentially a colonial device that Indigenous people are wielding against each other to finish the job of eradicating Indigenous people,” he said.
Regarding the families featured in “Nooksack 306,” Galanda confirmed that the evictions did take place, even after national and international pleas for intervention. Tribal court judges affirmed the evictions, Galanda said, despite the families having "no lawyer to contest the matter."
Galanda recounted the emotional toll the local disenrollment had on him. "When the last home was taken, when Liz Oshiro was forcibly removed from her home on camera being filmed by USA Today and I saw that, I was sad. I wept. And it took me actually until very recently to…grieve that defeat and that loss and that injustice,” he said.
The fate of the evicted families highlights a remarkable story of kinship and resilience. Galanda shared that the families were ultimately taken into homes built in Whatcom County by a First Nation.
Apart from disenrollment, Galanda and Salisbury dove into the difficult times facing Indian Country. Galanda pointed to federal budget cuts impacting the Indian Health Service and the loss of SNAP benefits, which hit tribal communities “really, really hard.”
"The vast majority of Indian Country, both here in Washington and across the country, exists at poverty levels,” Galanda said, noting that the focus on Indian gaming “ignores or obfuscates the deep poverty that the vast majority of Indigenous people continue to live in in this country."
Addressing recent news, Galanda commented on a Seattle Times article regarding ICE outreach to tribes about housing detainees in tribal lockups. He found it ironic that the United States government would come to the first people of these lands to seek assistance in forcibly removing immigrants from this country.
Leaving the Black Media Matters Studio on a positive note, Galanda highlighted the work of his organization, Huy, and its recent 2nd Annual Welcome Home Celebration earlier this month. The ceremony welcomed incarcerated community members back into the community by wrapping them in a special butterfly blanket that represents transformation and metamorphosis.
Before leaving, Galanda thanked the Converge Media team. "I just wanted to lift my hands to the whole Converge family... I'm so grateful to you all."
Learn more about Gabe Galanda, his legal work, and his organization Huy at huycares.org, and follow Galanda Broadman on Instagram and Facebook.
Catch The Day With Trae weekdays at 11 a.m. on all Converge streaming platforms.
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