Here & Now

John Johnson on Issues Touching Sovereign Nations

Frederica Freyberg:

The president of the Lac du Flambeau band of Lake Superior Chippewa gave the annual State of the Tribes address at the state Capitol this week. John D. Johnson, Sr. touched on a wide array of issues facing Wisconsin’s sovereign nations: the loss of life from COVID-19, opioid addiction, bigotry around treaty rights and in general. Here’s an excerpt from the 17th annual State of the Tribes address.

John D. Johnson:

We ask all levels of state government to balance economic development and environmental protections. According to our teachings, the Lac du Flambeau and many other tribes make decisions with seven generations in mind. We ask how our decisions today impact those who will come hundreds of years from now. We respectfully ask every level of state government to do the same.

[applause]

Earlier I mentioned different lenses through which our people are viewed. One lens views our people solely on race and skin color. Much is made of cancel culture and modern America these days. We proudly stand here before you as survivors of the ultimate cancel culture effort. There’s no more

[applause]

Thank you. There is no more enduring assault on a single culture in the United States than the ongoing assault on the culture of native people. Federal policies, assimilation or extermination towards our culture, attempted to snuff out all semblance of our cultures and traditions. Children forced from their parents’ arms, children forced to cut their hair, children beaten into submission for speaking their native language and observing their native culture. As we learn more about the effects of trauma on human beings, we can easily see the lasting effects of those federal policies and how those reverberate throughout our daily lives. Mental health services are desperately needed in the north woods. Mental health challenges are the underbelly of many problems: homelessness, addiction, unemployment, crime and the list goes on and on. There’s currently state budget proposed for a mental health facility conveniently located among many Tribal Nations within Wisconsin. Investment by the state to expand these mental health care access to the north woods will pay for itself in countless ways. This is not a plea for sympathy. Rather, a call for understanding, acceptance and actions towards a more seamless way to coexist. There are deep differences and disrespect that have festered for generations. These lead to disdain spreading across the cultures. These get all the headlines. Perpetrating and poisoning relationships. History is a barrier to overcome. Our people are a testament to that fact. Our people are a testament to the tenacity and determination. Our people demonstrate every day their sheer will to succeed in both the modern world and our traditional world. Relentless education of all children is our strongest approach to breaking systematic racism, discrimination and bigotry repeated generation after generation. Prosecution of hate crimes also helps. Conflict over race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and other differences only hold us back. The recent passage of Senate Bill 69 deserves applause and support. To your credit, this legislation is a bipartisan effort.

[applause]

This now requires all schools to educate children about the Holocaust and other genocides. Under the bill, the Holocaust is defined as a systematic, state-sponsored killing of six million Jewish men, women and children and millions of others by Nazi Germany and collaborators between 1933 and 1945. With this in mind, I encourage everyone to realize and recognize systemic state-sponsored killings in a close relative of systematic racism.

Frederica Freyberg:

Lac du Flambeau President John D. Johnson, Sr. delivering the State of the Tribes address at the state Capitol.