I can't find this off Facebook:
It’s Time to Get Off the Gravy Train – A Call for Accountability and Self-Reliance
By Marshall Van Fleet | ScalingLocal.com | The Local AI 4 Pillar Catalyst™ | Victoria, BC, Canada
I say this not as an outsider—but as someone with Native blood myself. What I’m about to say might upset some, but truth often does.
It’s time to stop milking the North American taxpayer.
Yes, Indigenous people have endured horrific injustice. Yes, land was taken. Yes, treaties were broken. But at what point do we stop living in the past and start standing on our own two feet?
What I see today isn’t resilience—it’s dependency. It’s billions in payouts, government subsidies, and welfare programs while chiefs and band councils line their pockets, and communities remain broken, impoverished, and addicted. That’s not sovereignty. That’s systemic failure dressed in traditional regalia.
Let’s be clear: Indigenous tribes fought wars—brutal, violent wars—against each other long before Europeans ever arrived. Lands were taken, treaties ignored, and power shifted based on strength. That’s history. And when the settlers came, the tribes lost. Just like many peoples throughout history who’ve been conquered, displaced, and changed forever.
But here’s the difference: most others didn’t make victimhood their identity.
Instead of building back stronger, some Indigenous leaders today are more focused on leveraging guilt, rewriting history, and extracting endless “reparations” from taxpayers who had nothing to do with what happened hundreds of years ago.
That’s not reconciliation. That’s entitlement.
I’m calling for a new era—not of blame, but of bold action.
Let’s teach entrepreneurship, not dependency. Let’s build businesses, not bureaucracy. Let’s stand tall, not beg for more.
If you want sovereignty, prove it. Don’t just demand land. Build something on it. Don’t just block roads. Build roads. Don’t just cry foul. Compete. Innovate. Win.
We can honor our ancestors not by crying over what was lost—but by fighting for what can still be built.
True respect isn’t given—it’s earned.
Let’s earn it.
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Marshall Van Fleet
Victoria, BC | ScalingLocal.com | The Local AI 4 Pillar Catalyst™
Contact: marshall@scalinglocal.com | 236-562-7345
