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This is racist garbage, but I would like to make a thread debunking the “conquered land” myth
Save the east coast, a slice of the south from Mobile to Corpus Christi, and about half of North Dakota, the US is not “conquered land”. https://twitter.com/christianwalk1r/status/1294334389099216897
Save the east coast, a slice of the south from Mobile to Corpus Christi, and about half of North Dakota, the US is not “conquered land”. https://twitter.com/christianwalk1r/status/1294334389099216897
The term conquer, especially when used in a US context, generally means the ability of the state to do whatever it wishes with no regard to the conquered peoples’ wishes. Unfortunately for people like this guy, that’s not how it works on paper in the US.
The vast, vast majority of Native lawyers and activists focus on treaty rights because, for most Natives, these treaties function as international law that must be followed in any polite society that claims to abide by international law.
This is to say, the US did not conquer these places. In the most liberal of terms, it went through a diplomatic process with Native nations to decide upon land usage rights and a whole host of other things. These treaties still have political weight.
SCOTUS decisions, like US v. Sioux Nation of Indians, or McGirt v. Oklahoma, show that treaty rights are still an active part of US law. Justices who show themselves to respect basic US legalistic patterns, like Gorusch, follow the treaties to a point that makes sense for the US.
Speaking in the most legalistic and constitutional manner, it is not possible to just argue away Native rights by angrily yelling “conquered land” like the guy in the video above. The most simple arguments which follow US legal tradition on Indian Country show this.
Incidentally, I find these issues to be the easiest way to figure out whether or not someone is garbage. If they believe in the need to somewhat follow treaties, you can at least talk with them. If someone’s screaming about conquered land, no point in saying a word
