Sovereignty IS NOT A SHIELD FOR ABUSE, Tribal Leaders "OH YES IT IS" Native Youth MUST SPEAK OUT

 

THIS PICTURE IS HORRIBLE
Yes, so is TRIBAL DISENROLLMENT
AND ABUSE OF ANCESTORS

Sovereignty Is Not a Shield for Abuse yet, tribal leaders claim it is.  South Africa was a sovereign country, we stood against the apartheid system there.  
  
Disenrollment, Silence, and Power: Why Native Youth Should be Demanding Accountability

Ethical governments and businesses are expected to uphold basic human rights. History shows that when institutions abuse power, the world eventually responds—through boycotts, divestment, and public pressure.

Pechanga’s actions and those of all disenrolling tribes—denying civil rights, silencing dissent, and punishing families—are not meaningfully different from other systems of exclusion the world has condemned. Sovereignty was never meant to be a shield for injustice.  

You live in a time where silence is no longer neutral.

You understand transparency.
You understand accountability.
You understand that mental health, identity, and belonging matter.

You also understand influence—how conversations, social pressure, and moral clarity move change faster than petitions ever did.

Your elders may not hear this message online. But they will hear it from you.

Ask them:

• Why were families erased instead of reconciled?

• Why was dissent punished instead of addressed?

• Why was culture treated as a privilege instead of a birthright?

Respect does not mean obedience.
Tradition does not mean silence.

If Pechanga is to have a future worth inheriting, it must first confront the truth about its past.