We Are All From Here; Statement of the Nez Perce Tribe
On September 16, the Nez Perce Tribe, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit, the Latah County Human Rights Task Force, the Moscow Human Rights Commission, the Department of Justice Community Relations Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation hosted a United Against Hate summit in Moscow. United Against Hate is an initiative launched by the Department of Justice focused on improving efforts to combat hate crimes and hate incidents through relationship building at the local level. Given the widespread support and engagement in this effort, the Nez Perce Tribe is extremely disheartened to hear that before leaving a candidate forum in Kendrick last Monday, a state senator publicly told a Nez Perce Tribal member running for the Idaho legislature to “go back to where [she] came from.”
The Nez Perce Tribe has called this area home for tens of thousands of years and has a bond with this land that is deep and unbreakable. As its first inhabitants, we welcomed the Lewis and Clark expedition to the area in 1805, witnessed the birth of Idaho a little over 130 years ago, and have demonstrated a substantial, diversifying impact on Idaho’s economy.
Given our history and presence in the region, it is difficult to interpret the recent incident as anything other than an attempt to racially divide people while diminishing the value of some relative to others. The Nez Perce Tribe refuses to tolerate this kind of hateful and divisive politics and we ask other elected leaders in this region to stand with us in pushing back against such offensive behavior.
The people of this region are amazing and diverse and deserve leadership that represents and respects us all. Working with and getting to know our neighbors is the most effective way to actively address and prevent ignorance from gaining a foothold in this region. Together we can make this region a home for everyone.