I may have a website project at work coming up where I might be having to work with a tribal police department of an indigenous tribe to “present themselves in a better way.” My gut reaction is absolutely not, I don’t want to be part of helping an PR initiative of an oppressive institution. But I don’t actually know much about tribal police and how they may differ. US police of course serve the role of capitalist spearhead against those affected by the consequences of capitalism. Do tribal police serve the same role, but just specific to indigenous tribes? My assumption was they’re a settler colonial institution imported to tribal groups as a means of control and conditioning. But is that true? Or are they more integrated into their communities and don’t really serve as a capitalist vanguard because of the unique material conditions etc of indigenous tribes? How should I feel about working with them?
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I live on a rez with a large white population and therefore heavily overlapping political systems, so you get to observe both white and tribal cops in their operations and can compare + contrast.
My verdict: still cops and therefore bad, but not as bad. Example: they do way more natural resource conservation and protection than white cops. Anecdotally they are more a part of their local community and feel more responsibility toward it, are more capable of conflict resolution, and don’t have the same degree of holy warrior mentality as modern US cops. Their badness and their copness are a product of the reservation still being under the hegemony of capital, therefore demanding that their primary duty be to protect property and uphold the social/class order.
I’ve heard mixed things about them from some Indigenous friends.
But I think on the whole, they prefer them over the… err, alternative.
(Just relaying what my Indigenous friends say; I’m not an Indigenous person).
how much can you get away with “present yourselves better by being better”?
putting my reformist hat on i’m thinking about shit like not carrying sidearms, driving people home instead of running DUI traps, submitting themselves to accountability by the tribe’s civilian populace, but what they ought to do besides disband themselves is going to depend heavily on the shit they’ve been doing.
if you can contact a tribe member who is not affiliated with the cops (or even better, is actively anti-cop) and talk to them that’s going to be more relevant and helpful to you than the general terms we can speak in here.
bump for good question because honestly i don’t know either
