Indigenous Resilience: The Six-Day War and Beyond
In a world of rising terror and distorted narratives, Indigenous resilience offers a principled path forward, rooted in truth, strategy, and survival
Last week marked the anniversary of the Six-Day War: an event that shaped not only the modern State of Israel, but also Jewish perceptions around survival, sovereignty, and self-defense. In the same week, a terrorist attack occurred in Boulder, Colorado, carried out once again under the now-familiar banner of “Free Palestine.” Meanwhile, thousands across the US took to the streets demanding immigration reform, many cloaked in language and symbolism borrowed from Indigenous struggles, including my own.
At first glance, these events may seem unrelated. They are, however, connected by a deeper thread: the misuse of history, the moral confusion around terrorism, and the erasure of real Indigenous voices in the name of activism.
In my last article, I wrote about the rising tide of unchecked rhetoric and the violent outcomes that follow. I called on American Jews and allies to confront terrorism not with slogans, but with clarity. This week, I want to take that conversation further, because the crisis we face is not only political. It is spiritual, moral, and deeply historical.
Indigenous Does Not Mean Anti-Israel
As a Native American and citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, I have watched our struggles be co-opted by others. At recent immigration protests, signs reading “No one is illegal on stolen land” were waved alongside Palestinian flags and chants of “intifada.” The implication is clear: that American immigration enforcement, Zionism, and colonialism are all one and the same. It is a neat narrative, though not a true one.
Indigenous survival is rooted in reality, not rhetoric. It is blood, and history, and language held onto in the face of genocide. We do not exist to be used as moral cover for other people’s ideologies. When Indigenous pain is invoked to justify terrorism against Israeli civilians, that is not solidarity. That is erasure all over again.
Just as Jewish people carry generational trauma from centuries of exile and antisemitism, Native people carry the memory of forced removals, massacres, and broken treaties. Neither people have disappeared. We are still here. Our resilience is not merely reactive; it is strategic.
Terrorism Is Not a Liberation Strategy
The attack in Boulder was not an isolated incident. It was part of a pattern of violence carried out in the name of Palestinian liberation, but aimed at Jews far from any Gazan battlefield. The logic behind these attacks is familiar: when a people cannot be defeated politically, try to intimidate them psychologically. Kill them in places of worship, on college campuses, in their neighborhoods. Turn their trauma into a weapon.
This is not liberation. It is terrorism.
Those of us who come from communities that have known real state violence, who have lived through displacement and oppression, must be the first to say so. As I wrote last week: say it plainly. This is terrorism. Indigenous people should be especially cautious of any ideology that glorifies violence against civilians in our name.
Getting to Yes: Four Principles for Moving Forward
In my last article, I offered four steps for the American Jewish and pro-Israel community: speak truth, challenge dangerous rhetoric, invest in education and security, and build alliances without moral compromise. These ideas were not just a reaction to violence. They are based on a conflict resolution model developed by Roger Fisher and William Ury, known as “Getting to Yes.”
- Name the problem truthfully. Negotiation begins when all sides agree on reality. Calling terrorism by its name is not inflammatory. It is essential.
- Challenge rhetoric before it becomes harmful. Many dangerous assumptions begin as words. We must reject the idea that violence is resistance, or that Indigenous identity requires an anti-Israel stance.
- Invest in education and security. No solution is possible without safety. That includes intellectual safety: students, activists, and voters need facts, context, and empathy.
- Forge alliances with moral clarity. Trust is only possible when both sides are treated as fully human, equally flawed, and equally worthy of peace.
What Resilience Looks Like Now
The Six-Day War was not only a military victory. It was about protecting the right to exist. That Israel survived, and that Jewish people continue to thrive, is itself a form of Indigenous resilience. The same is true for Native nations like mine, who continue to speak our languages, hold our ceremonies, and raise our children to remember who they are.
Survival, however, is no longer enough. The time has come to shift from survival to strategy, from reaction to relationship-building.
We should not let trauma shape our politics, or let anger blur our values. Whether we are Chickasaw, Jewish, or any people who have faced erasure, our strength is not in revenge. It is in remembering who we are, and building a world where our children will not have the same pain.
