I warned about the US using their, post 9-11 developed, Department of Homeland Security to subjugate Native people. Well, here is part of the plan. To get a new "Enhanced Tribal Card"(ETC) from participating tribal governments, proof of US or Canadian citizenship are required and the resultant card becomes a declaration of that citizenship; emblazoned with flags and everything.
The Department of Homeland Security(DHS) developed requirements for new travel documents under their Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative(WHTI or as I prefer, WHITIE). The new "tribal" cards are WHITIE compliant and provide the US with all the necessary tools for tracking movement, building better files on individuals and provide the added benefit of coercing Native people into accepting the will of the genocidal societies around them.
The treachery in all this is that there is an attempt at selling these cards as some sort of expression of sovereignty; like the federal government respects us so much that they will honor "our" tribal ID's. Let's be clear here; these are US government ID's, DHS ID's, WHITIE Cards. Just because tribal logos are added, or the tribal clerk issues them, or the tribe is complicit in providing them or covering part of their costs does not change the fact that every feature is federally mandated.
The photos must be compatible with the facial recognition programs employed by the feds. There must be a scannable bar code for US government agency scanners to retrieve identification data. Each card will have an RFID chip embedded which can broadcast ID data up to 30 feet to automated receiving stations without ever needing to hand your card to anyone. And every time this card is seen, scanned or transmits its presence another data point gets added to the system.
If all this information technology seems like an invasion of privacy or a violation of Native sovereignty, relax. By getting one of these ETC's you already declared yourself to be one of them.
One question: where were all those tribal leaders fighting for our right to travel our homeland, our right to maintain our distinction? Perhaps if we stop with all this "tribe" bullshit we could get our heads straight. I am not a "tribesman". I am not a member of a "tribe". I have no "tribal leader", "tribal card", "tribal rights" or "tribal customs". I am Ohnkwe Ohnwe: a real human being; forever in my past and forever in my future, with both connected.
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2 comments:
With the Federal government in trillions of dollars of debt I don't think they will be mandating tax payer funds toward a new tribal I.D. anytime soon. Besides my cell phone and drivers liscense already do all those things.
My point is that they aren't "tribal" ID's. They are federal ID's with cute "Indian" logos. I never suggested the Feds should pay for our ID's. I am suggesting that they should not be dictating their features or coercing our people into their tracking systems and worst of all extorting our sovereign right to travel our homelands against a declaration of citizenship to the nations trying subjugate us.
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