There are millions of American Indians in this country and even more perspectives on what the 250th Independence Day means to us. Sometimes it feels like I’m holding just as many perspectives and emotions within myself, and I know many of you feel the same.

250 years is a little more than seven generations, and I think so much of what we live through today would be familiar to our ancestors — from the violence and chaos federal agents brought to our communities this winter, to the ways we came together again to protect and care for all our relatives, Native and non-Native alike. I think they would recognize the challenging, brilliant work we are doing to pass our lifeways forward in a time when everything around us is changing so quickly and we still don’t have the meaningful visibility or support we deserve.

I think they would understand something harder to put into words: how much we can love this this country even when it does not love us back. Native people serve in the military at higher rates than any other group. My Grampa Albert had a Purple Heart in World War 2 for his acts of valor. My mom met my dad serving in the army. We show up for this country again and again, just like we showed up this winter. We show up because our values call us to honor our interdependence with each other and with the land. We show up to protect the knowledge that is held in the land and embodied in our people.

A lot of people are celebrating, or finding hope, in America’s capacity for reinvention. But when you learn from the land, you understand that renewal is the sustaining practice. To the land, 250 years is the blink of an eye, and every season is another chance to grow back into balance. The renewal America needs right now is not someplace in the future, yet to be invented, it is in the land and held in all the people working to caretake, practice, and pass forward Native knowledge systems.

Our ways of creating balance and belonging are needed if we are going to survive the changing climate and tidal wave of economic dislocation coming our way. After 250 years, is this country ready to open its eyes and embrace what it has tried so hard to erase? It’s hard to feel hopeful.

I hope you know it’s ok to feel whatever you are feeling this Independence Day. We are a diverse people with diverse experiences and beliefs, and we should honor and respect our diversity the same way we honor our interdependence. And whatever you’re thinking, I’d love to hear it. So comment your thoughts here or send us a message us at [email protected]. We’ll be doing a deeper reflection on this topic and we’d love to incorporate your perspectives and experiences.

Nikki Love | Waase Gizhiighokwe

Bois Forte Anishinaabe – Onamani Zaagi’igaang (our traditional homelands of Lake Vermilion)

Tiwahe Foundation