What is the best way for a non-Native person to support your efforts (and those of other native-based organizations across the country) in a truly meaningful way? I give financially to a few nonprofits, but would like to know how to go beyond that. Thank you.

Educating yourself is a very powerful way to support Native efforts, because at the end of the day Native efforts are also your efforts. Because our efforts toward environmental stewardship for example, involve not only every human but all beings of any particular ecosystem, a couple examples I can think of now, that I am involved in, is preventing the Dakota Access Pipeline which is set to cross the Missouri river, the source of our drinking water, less than a football field away from our northern border. Additionally, we are engaged in helping the Buffalo Field Campaign to liberate the last real buffalo of North America. We need a way to bring them home because they are being killed due to cattle ranching interests, when we should be welcoming them home to their territory. Buffalo are integral to a healthy ecosystem and cattle are harmful to a healthy ecosystem. So you can help us by going vegan for instance. Keep up with issues by visiting lakotalaw.org, Last Real Indians.com, Buffalo field campaign, and also link with us on social media!

Buffalo are integral to a healthy ecosystem and cattle are harmful to a healthy ecosystem. So you can help us by going vegan for instance.

Do you have any opinions on popularizing more-natural food for the various ecosystems (buffalo, reindeer, herring, etc...)

On the one hand, I've been attracted to the concept due to its possible power to replace cattle (and associated displacement) with something which, if it 'escapes,' is supposed to be on the land.

OTOH, I'm very familiar with the former king of norway's role in enforcing propertarian vs. free-range herding, and the degree to which that shift, alone, was destructive. Thoughts?

We must go plant based everywhere. Buffalo, deer, reindeer and other natural game cannot replace cattle in feed lots. The world's diet needs to be plant based majority. We need to create direct relationships with our food sources; historically we had a sacred relationship with our food sources. We've all been colonized in that respect.

Hello, I am finishing my degree to be a high school English teacher, and am working on building up my classroom library. Do you have recommendations for books that can give my future students insight into the Native American history, viewpoint, and experience (fiction and nonfiction), that way they can get a chance to be more well rounded than the traditional history classes often offered in public schools?

Personally, I started with Black Elk Speaks, those sort of books, that could be considered to be first person narratives, they were written by people close to them. The Gift of Power is another one, I would recommend Sherman Alexie, even though it is banned in certain schools. And there's a book called 1491 that could be used to guide the educational journey of high school students. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is another great choice.

Id like to piggyback this question with a similar one. I work closely with gelping teachers develop their school music programs in canada and, in my province, they are making it manditory to include aboriginal education into the music programs. Any ideas of some ideas to incorporate this in a way that is accurate to native american culture? Thanks!

It is essential to include aboriginal education into music programs, of course our music and our technology is all sustainable or comes from certain gifts of the natural environment including the drum, including the flute, including the different songs of the birds, of the coyote for instance. I think that an exploration of what Native music is, or what Indigenous music is, could be very beneficial to somebody studying music that is based in mathematics, to more further develop somebody's music scope. So starting with the drum would be appropriate, there are many kinds of drums of Indigenous peoples across the world.

What current policies are detrimental to Native Americans ?

There are two categories that we have to consider. One is tribal nations, they have a distinct legal relationship with the U.S. and with Canada, within that context one of the most destructive policies involves something known as Indian Land Title. Then stems directly from the Doctrine of Discovery, which holds that we as Tribal Nations do not have supreme sovereign title to our land. The U.S. invented something called Indian Land Title, which means by our very nature, we are not capable of a sovereign title. The other, is for the Native American population in general, that enjoys all the privileges and rights of modern American life, and it's not really a policy that is destructive, the general exclusion and eraser of Native American history, Native American institutions and knowledge, our story our narrative is excluded as a matter of policy.

I've heard people say systemic discrimination against Natives called 'the last acceptable racism.' Why do you think that is?

I think you're right on to say that systemic discrimination of Natives is the last acceptable racism but we also see it in things like #OscarsSoWhite. These institutions of the law, media, academia, economy, politics and so on are not “our” institutions historically. Rather these institutions have been used by Christian-european-capital-privilege to disenfranchise and subsume people outside of that demographic. I think we are all evolving though and our transcending our own complexes, our own religions, languages, and phenotype for the better.

Hi Chase- how prepared do you think our indigenous people are to take a place at the table? in other words, when we are given the opportunity to share our knowledge, and take leadership roles in shaping the direction of society at large, in what fashion should we participate in the larger society? do we continue to adapt and adopt, or do we ask for people to change toward our ways? are we comfortable with non-natives living in our ways?

that's a great question. I think we should share as much as possible without pushing our ways onto the larger scene. I really think we need to lead by example in simple and powerful ways like small farm to table, creating a direct relationship with our food, our energy (hemp pellets for heat) , solar and wind or other source for electricity, water for our consumption, divorcing ourselves from cattle production and consumption, finding ways to repopulate our lands with buffalo. I think we should share all that we can except for ceremonial knowledges and other things that are left to the spiritual realm to decide where those responsibilities should be shouldered. But we need a spiritual economy, a regenerative economy. We all need to be Native.

What is the worst case of racism or discrimination you have seen against Native Americans?

There are many way in which Native peoples are oppressed and discriminated against today. One very major way is that we are targeted by state department of social services for the money that our kids (as wards of the state DSS systems) bring to those state economies. We are also killed by the cops and imprisoned at rates that are grotesque for a country that prides itself on equality, that is why we published the Native Lives Matter report at lakotalaw.org . Another very visceral way is taxation in Indian country where nonindian taxes paid in indian country does not go to tribal nations but goes to state counties; and all the money tribal nation citizens spend off the rez in border towns goes to those border towns. The last way that ill mention is Hollywood, representations and mascots. Its clear that we are objects in a narrative dominated by the oppressive occupying institutions.

What would you say the greatest threat to the modern native american life would be? I visited pine ridge reservation in south dakota and saw and heard disturbing things that pertained to the residents of the reservation.

the greatest threat is continued colonial occupation, oppressive occupation. We are treated as refugees in our own homelands. We are held hostage in poverty yet we must continue to claw our way out. Imposed poverty culture is a hard thing to break free from. Indeed we were forced into dependence on the federal government and that legacy lives right now in the colonial relationship that is federal Indian law. if we can recreate that relationship with the United States I believe there can be a meaningful way to address this threat.

How awful is it to go to a shithole like Grand Forks?

living in a place like grand forks, ND which is 90% white is very different. the whole of the northern plains is generally 30-50 years behind the social evolution and changing demographics that are reflected in other cities like Denver, LA, Seattle, NYC, etc. Grand Forks is where I was forced to form a perception on the whole Indians as mascots debate with their use of the Fighting Sioux name. They have retired the name so maybe our students can have a positive student experience at the only place that draws most natives to grand forks and that is Univ. of North Dakota (my alma mater) where they have tremendous opportunity for our young and adult learners. Would I live there again? I don't know, but my time there was worth it :)

Why is the nickname offensive? I went to UND during the time frame of phasing out the nickname. I rationalized it as being similar to the fighting Irish of Notre Dame so it seemed strange to me that it was seen as offensive. Either way the nickname does not matter to me personally, I just want to understand your perspective to broaden mine.

---the process of objectifying indian people essentially freezes them in time allowing their image, their essence to become commodifiable, we become the object to be digested by the forces that are objectifying us. This is a dehumanizing phenomenon. There are issue with dictionary defined racial slurs like the redskins and there are issues with words like Sioux (which means snake in a pejorative manner), also there are issues with the process of stereotyping...all of which are valid reasons to change but for me its the impact on the developing esteem of native and non native children, one is dehumanized and the other learns to dehumanize, this is different from the irish because the irish are not as easily discriminated against in modern America as they "look white" (I know irish are not white) but its the same for really light natives (they are natives just the same but with different experiences)

What's your reaction to nativists who go on ranting about immigrants without realizing how hypocritical they're being given what's happened to actual American natives?

I don't blame them for their ignorance but we can't relent in our work to re-educate all in the way of the truth. What's equally appalling is Native Americans who denigrate others who don't speak English. I've seen a lot of these sentiments. Americans are not taught accurate history, this is why they have no problems villainizing immigrants when America is an immigrant state that must come to a self accord with the dissonance made evident by our mere existence as Tribal Nations and Native Americans.

Where do you imagine the native american community in 100 years?

We are doing our part in helping guide the planet toward a more regenerative relationship with the natural environment. But also we are in a direct struggle to revive our languages, sometimes re-create the sacred relationships with the land and sacred sites, and I think that Native people 100 years from now are going to be, hopefully, blessed and evolved in a way that furthers that respect relationship with the universe. More people than are evolving in that manner are being swallowed up by the neo-classic economy, everything that is our current reality. It's hard to say where Indian people will be in 100 years, but we will be surviving and adapting.

What do you think about blood quantum? or big casino tribes disenrolling people to eliminate beneficiaries of casino profits?

Blood quantum is a legal and social fiction. Much the same as race is a human construct, a fiction. Cultures may not be fictions: languages, sacred sites, ceremony, rituals, myths, etc. but blood quantum and race are fictions created by the United States, historically the Christian European states, to divide those they sought to conquer and dispossess while remaking them in their image, potentially including recognition of aspects of the “defeated” peoples. Blood quantum will result in a statistical genocide. There needs to be other indicators of a belonging to a people much like there are citizenship tests for naturalized citizens but in our case, Indians case, blood descendency deserves a place in this “analysis” because of our knowledge that we inhere in the soil, that we were created of the flesh of this earth and of the buffalo in the Lakota's case.

disenrollment is a foreign concept as well. we banished the most vile offenders but there was not such thing as disenrollment. the united states cant even take your citizenship like a tribe can disenroll you? I don't know if its ever proper to disenroll someone.

Do you believe that positive personal experiences from boarding school attendees will be detrimental to the successful outcome of TRP (such as what happened with the #changethename / #notyourmascot campaigns against sports mascots)?

No. We have heard this sentiment as well: the boarding school gave me a shot at life. Not everyone was molested, abused physically, sexually, spiritually (well arguably everyone was spiritually abused) but some people made it thru without suffering what amounts to genocide. On the other hand this should not diminish any of the pain and suffering that survivors endured and for which we need to be made whole again. I think this is an effective way to divide us but we are dealing with it because it is a reality.

I am sure I am far too late to the party, but I would like to give this a shot if I could.

How much support, in general, would you say your push for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission receives from the Eastern tribes?

I would say the East coast supports the effort; they were the 1st to encounter forced schooling etc. We also have a member of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Project who works on the east coast. We don't have any Tribal Gov. reps involved yet to my knowledge but send them our way if you may know.

Chase, I know that Canada has launched a Truth & Reconciliation committee to investigate the past abuses of the boarding schools in Canada. What do you know about this committees findings? and do you think it would be possible to have an a similar investigation in America?

This is exactly what we are working for in Lakota People's Law Project, in the National Native American Boarding School Healing project (NABS), we are in direct contact with commissioners of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Canada, we applaud their work and hope that the momentum spills over into the United States. We have a lot of supporters, we have a lot of momentum and we agree with all of their findings. We agree with the building of an interpretive center and museum that will tell the story of what Canada terms as cultural genocide. NABS is led by, and has the support of other organizations like the International Indian Treaty Council, the Native American Rights Fund, Native Americans in Philanthropy and other Tribal Nations. We feel it is only a matter of time before Truth and Reconciliation is had in the United States.

Have you found any political allies in recent years? If so, what have your experiences been?

I have found political allies, and they come from unexpected places, one is the Rainbow Coalition, Black Lives Matter, and the Latino Vote Movement. And all three of those are expressive of different racial characteristics, and for me, being able to build bridges is extremely important for different causes. One of those is adapting to the changing social demographics, and the other is that Native peoples have legitimate land claims that they need help in. Because Native peoples are easily ignored, because of our small numbers and our lack of proximity to mainstream media hubs. We need to build bridges.

Have you ever heard of anyone finding the final resting place of Chief Crazy Horse?

Do you believe any of the photos claiming to be him are true?

No, nobody from the family of Crazy Horse has ever confirmed that the photo was actually Crazy Horse, it is understood that members of his families know where his remains were interred. A good book for that is The Killing of Crazy Horse.

You like Wu-Tang?

Yes. I LOVE Wu-Tang, I've read the Tao of Wu by RZA. But I was sort of concerned to see the RZA criticizing the way that young black males were dressing, suggesting that they were attracting negative police contact. But I still listen to the Wu Tang definitely. And Wu Tang is for the children.

What are your thoughts on the Truth and Reconciliation commission that recently concluded in Canada? Is that something that US groups have been following at all?

(Link: http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=3)

We are working directly with commissioners of Canadian T & R to inform and help our process here in the States.

The boarding school era ended decades ago. Why is it important to have a Truth and Reconciliation Commission now?

First and foremost it's important to have T&R because we need healing, because Indigenous people need healing, my mother and grandmother went to a boarding school where they endured tragic conditions, where they were made to feel ashamed of who they are, subjected to corporal punishment. And so America and Tribal Nations need to concile in the first instance to say that we need a reconciliation is to say that things were good and amicable at some point. We can call it reconciliation, but what it really means is that we need to be truthful with each other, America and Tribal Nations. Sometimes this may involve ceremonial objects or human remains returned to the living decedents of those people so they can properly have closure and conduct spiritual rights with regard to people who have passed away in these schools. Currently, through our work we are trying to gain a more accurate picture of the scope of the boarding school era and how that era is made to live by subsequent policies like the Indian adoption era of the 70s up to right now, the willful violations of the Indian Child Welfare Act by South Dakota as recent as 2015 in the Van Hunnik case where Judge Viken is making findings against Judge Davis and the city of Rapid City and validating our claims that ICWA is being violated and Native peoples rights are being trampled upon. So we need T&R for a couple of things, one of which is to not hide from the truth. And the other part has to do with healing and promoting a growth out of this spiritual scar.

How do you feel about Elizabeth Warren falsely claiming native heritage? I never actually heard any Native groups sounding off on it.

What native sports mascots do you think are acceptable or not acceptable?

I feel that native people would have forgiven Elizabeth warren for falsely claiming Native heritage if she had run for president; I also feel that she’ll be forgiven for that if she decides to run as Bernie Sanders VP. I do no support native Rachel Dolezals but there must be a way to forgive those false claims of Indian identity, like with Ward Churchill, and only take the good of what they have to offer the Indians causes of the day. They should not benefit over and against other Indians in programs or places meant to benefit natives but also it does some of us no good to constantly police the myriad of repeat offenders. As far as mascots I feel we’ve all been bamboozled by the centuries of deliberate objectification and caricaturization of our essence, our image. Even today we mascot ourselves on the Rez because of non-indian administrators who named us things like “warriors, braves, redskins, Indians, etc” even giving my parents’ generation highschool cheers, from Indian schools, things like “beat em, bust em, that’s our custom.” The fight is long and expensive and it will strike chords from the local highschools to the Washington Redskins but it will change one day just the same as little black sambo doesn’t exist anymore.

If you could travel back in time and be a little bird whispering in Little Crow's ear, would you encourage or discourage his decision to eventually side with the warrior's lodge?

that is a very tough question on how I would counsel little crow. I suppose I would have come to the conclusion that any other course would have resulted in a slow and painful death for all the Dakota who were not going to be allowed to stay in Minnesota and Iowa. The americans kept encroaching; the Dakota kept starving and dying a dependent death. Its hard to revisit the decisions of the past. I would have counseled for a flight of all women and children and unwilling warriors to make relatives with other Dakota and Lakota further west and then united with inkpa duta to repel the settlers, but having hindsight I would have sought an active alliance with the Lakota and joined an organized front against American expansion and genocide.

Mr. Iron Eyes, does the Sioux Nation issue passports?

the Sioux nation currently does not issue its own passports. The Mohawks do I believe and sometimes they are honored sometimes not, like when United Kingdom would not let them in to Britain to compete in the world lacrosse championships but the Sioux Nation will issue its own in the near future. Currently, no.

I took a course last semester called Ancient Astronomies of the World. We covered a lot of different cultures, including some Native American ones, but I don't recall anything regarding the Sioux people specifically. Could you recommend any books that include the Sioux perspective on the night sky?

This is a much neglected area. There is a book by Ron Goodman called Lakota Star Knowledge...that is a good place to start. let me know if you get it. Also Denny Gayton has done valuable research into this; he is a writer for lastrealindians.com

Do any tribes hold grudges from the past? Like the Ojibwe and Sioux for example?

Tribes definitely do hold grudges but they are not hostile anymore they are more for friendly competition and joking (razzing); we make jokes about each other but appreciate that we all went thru the same colonization. Each Tribal Nation is ethnocentric unto itself; holding itself as "the people" "the originals" and sometimes the old rivalries come to fore if one tribe does something that others are critical of. but we don't go around attacking people, stealing their horses or accosting them because of their Tribal Nation.

What are some federal policies that are considered detrimental?

Assimilation, Termination, Relocation, the Doctrine of Discovery, Indian Adoption, Indian as the Trust beneficiary and the USA as the Trustee (we are the wards and they the guardian), Federal criminal jurisdiction over crimes on the Rez, the whole of the relationship between Tribal Nations and the USA needs to be revisited.

Is the Lakota People's Law Project at all involved with pursuing clemency for Leonard Peltier? If so, has there been any hint of possibility along that front for the end of Obama's term?

We are definitely involved and supportive. I have met with Lenny Foster and others working tirelessly for his release. I have spoken with Mr. Peltier on the phone and am currently waiting response from those holding him relating to whether or not I can be put on his visitor list. All the world does not want him to die a political prisoner. He needs to be with loved ones.

When are you guys gonna make your own Olympic and World Cup Qualifying teams?

Reservations are sovereign nations, so you should be able to make your own teams for it, rather than have to play for the white man's flag.

Soon. this is a shared dream of many Tribal Nations. even if we could all combine as the Turtle Island Confederacy etc.

Who are the four grandfathers?

usually this refers to the 4 cardinal directions: west, north, east, and south.

Do the Lakota-Sioux have casinos? What are the politics among tribal leaders, members, and casino owners really like? Have you had troubles, like the California tribes, with criminal organizations infiltrating native-owned business? Are Federal Agents really that corrupt?

Are these two CA casinos anomalies or is this shit happening to you folks too: "Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino" and "Rolling Hills Casino", both of which have been overrun by paramilitary gunmen.

Edit: misspelled Sioux, sorry!

We do have Casinos, not all the Sioux Tribes (of which there are 9 in south Dakota alone) with only 1 abstaining from gaming casinos and that is the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Organized crime does not seem to be a problem but I would not doubt for a second that nefarious interests have infiltrated some levels of gaming in the northern plains (one tribe is suing a craps manager for keeping a large % of the profits unbeknownst to that Tribe). The Tribes that leave their casinos and other ventures alone usually succeed; the Tribes that do not know their role, and that is pretty much all tribes in the northern plains, sometimes over-reach, micromanage, and ruin a venture that could benefit the people. Hopefully criminals, or mancamps from oil development do not come to our lands because there would be friction.

Chase Iron Eyes, I have been watching all the hard work people like yourself and Payu Harris and Mazacoin development group have been putting in to further economic chances for Pine Ridge and Oglala Lakota Tribe. Is there much headway you have seen in the way the ruling council are looking at Mazacoin and blockchain technology for their community? Thanks

Mazacoin and other digital currencies should be prioritized by Tribal Nations

Fiat currency is dead. It is only a matter of time. We are some of the most adaptable people in the world and we need to welcome crypto currency. It represents the last hope for true decentralization and a liberated currency. One that cannot be manipulated and has its own built in checks and balances. If I am elected to my governing council in 2017 I will make this a priority. We need a practical way to adopt it in Indian country.

Hey Chase! How many, if any, of the problems I hear about Indian reservations (drinking, diabetes, poverty) do you attribute to 'intergenerational trauma' from the boarding schools? Is it possible to measure those effects?

It might not be possible to quantify and assign percentages, but when we talk about boarding schools we're talking about genocide. So when we hear about the social ills, the quality of life indicators, of which Native people are consistently ranked at the bottom of those indicators, meaning we have high alcoholism rate, diabetes rate, poverty rate, violence rate, low graduation rate, low income levels, etc. At some point we are at a third world existence status, it doesn't take much to link our current situation to boarding schools and the destruction of the family units, the self-reliant values of the family unit that existed before boarding schools and before forced dependence, forced economic dependence on the United States, and before the deliberate attempt to eradicate the dignity that Indigenous peoples somehow still maintain in their own pre-contact identity.

I used to read the writings and posts you'd share on Tumblr, and I remember distinctly one of your fellow members of The Last Real Indians posted. She went into detail about you taking credit for the movements and projects she created, on top of having an affair with her and probably multiple women. My question is do you steal ALL the credit from people you sleep with and send your nude photos to or is it more of a general theft like your #NativeLivesMatter from the Black community?

The #NativeLivesMatter movement is not meant to coopt Black Lives Matter and as we can see it certainly has not, in fact I have met with founder of Black Lives Matter and pledged support and synergy; the other matter is an exercise in libel, an unauthenticated slander, a defamation that was recognized as such and revoked by the defamer, I have not decided whether to pursue it legally, I just dealt with it internally with those close to me. I am working tirelessly to rebuild my Tribal Nation and do my part for Native America.