The Indigenous Ledger: Receipts of Genocide in Plain Sight
- GhostByte
- Sep 25, 2025
- 2 min read
The Indigenous Ledger: Receipts of Genocide in Plain Sight
1. Bodies in the Ground, Names Erased
MMIWG/MMIP (U.S.): In 2016, 5,712 Indigenous women & girls reported missing; only 116 cases entered into NamUs (federal system). Urban Indian Health Institute, 2018.
Sterilization Programs: U.S. GAO documented 3,406 Native women sterilized (1973–76) across 4 of 12 IHS regions. Canada’s Senate (2022) confirmed coerced sterilizations continued into the 2010s.
Boarding Schools: 2024 U.S. DOI report confirmed 973 child deaths, 74 burial sites at 65 schools. Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission called the system “cultural genocide.” Kamloops (2021): 215 anomalies detected by ground-penetrating radar, still unexhumed.
2. Land and Water = Life (and War)
Standing Rock (NoDAPL): Tens of thousands resisted the Dakota Access Pipeline. In 2020, a federal court vacated the pipeline easement for violating NEPA. In 2021, the D.C. Circuit upheld that ruling. Oil still flows during the “redo” review. Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
3. Churches, Fires, and Buried Truth
Church Complicity: Catholic missions ran many residential schools where children died. Survivors testified for decades about hidden graves.
Church Fires (Canada, post-2021): At least 24 confirmed arsons against churches after Kamloops revelations. Over 30 churches burned or vandalized in total. CBC analysis, 2024.
Kamloops: Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announced 215 anomalies in May 2021. Media: “unmarked children’s graves.” Government: “unconfirmed anomalies.” Survivors: “our children.”
4. The Cover-Up Machine
Jurisdictional Black Holes: Oliphant v. Suquamish (1978) stripped tribal courts’ ability to prosecute non-Natives. VAWA 2022 restored limited powers (domestic violence, sex crimes, trafficking). Most crimes remain outside tribal jurisdiction.
Data Black Holes: Agencies not required to log adult Indigenous missing cases into NCIC/NamUs, causing systemic undercounts.
Policy Theater: Savanna’s Act (2020) and the Not Invisible Act Commission (2023) mandated coordination and reports—but advocates say enforcement and funding are weak.
5. The Throughline = Genocide by Another Name
Boarding schools → “Education.”
Sterilizations → “Population control.”
MMIWG crisis → “Jurisdictional complexities.”
Pipelines → “Energy security.”
Burial anomalies → “Unconfirmed.”
Every atrocity is laundered through sanitized language while Indigenous people carry the grief.
Bottom Line
This isn’t history.
It’s policy.
Indigenous survival is resistance.
Receipts are here. Accountability isn’t.
Sources:
Urban Indian Health Institute (2018), MMIWG Report
U.S. GAO Report (1976), Sterilization of Native Women
U.S. Department of the Interior (2024), Federal Boarding School Initiative Report
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015), Final Report
Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc (2021), Kamloops Radar Findings
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 985 F.3d 1032 (D.C. Cir. 2021)
CBC News (2024), Church Fire Analysis
Violence Against Women Act (2013, 2022 reauthorization)
Savanna’s Act (2020); Not Invisible Act (2023 Commission Report)
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