Stolen Land — The Ritual, The Riot, and The Rewrite

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They say we live on stolen land. And now, that slogan has leapt from classroom rituals to street riots. From land acknowledgments to ICE agents being swarmed in the name of justice. But what happens when poetic truth replaces real history — and guilt becomes policy? Jim Detjen breaks down the narrative, the irony, and the gaslight driving the Summer of Selective Sovereignty.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
We're told this land was stolen, that the nation
itself is illegitimate, thateverything from our borders to
our backyard barbecues is builton theft.
You've probably heard thephrase by now.
We recognize that we're onstolen land.
It's said in schools, whisperedat council meetings, stamped
onto college syllabi like adisclaimer.

(00:26):
It sounds respectful,reflective, even honest.
But what if it's something else, a ritual, a performance, a
political gaslight wrapped inpoetic truth?
Because if we're going to talkabout stolen land, let's at
least get the story straight.
Because if we're going to talkabout stolen land, let's at
least get the story straight.

(00:47):
Who gets to claim moral highground and who pays the price
for it?
Is this about justice orpolitical theater?
Why do we pretend conquest onlystarted in 1492?
And how did Mount Rushmorebecome more offensive than
cartel beheadings?
And how did Mount Rushmorebecome more offensive than
cartel beheadings?
Hi, I'm Jim Detchen, host ofThink First, founder of Gaslight

(01:10):
360, and a man who now wondersif putting up a patio umbrella
on a Saturday qualifies as anact of colonial aggression.
Let's talk about what's shapingup to be the summer of
selective sovereignty.
A wave of protesters sweptthrough Los Angeles recently,
not over gas prices, crime orhomelessness, but to declare

(01:34):
that America doesn't reallyexist.
They mobbed ICE officers,climbed fences and shouted that
federal agents have no right tobe here Because, as the signs
reminded us, no borders onstolen land.
It's not just a chant anymore,it's a worldview, a belief that
American laws, borders andsovereignty are invalid because

(01:56):
of something that happenedhundreds of years ago.
It's activism, sure, but it'salso performance, art,
performance guilt.
Let's rewind to how thisgaslight got lit.
A new ritual is sweepingclassrooms and campuses the land
acknowledgement.
You've probably heard one.

(02:17):
They usually go something likethis we recognize that we are on
the stolen land of the inserttribe name here and we honor
their stewardship.
It's meant to be respectful,reflective, inclusive, but let's
be honest For many it nowsounds more like a confession,
and not a personal one, anational one, a moral indictment

(02:40):
stitched into morningannouncements and school plays.
If history were a trial, itfeels like the verdict has
already been read and only oneside gets to speak.
The stolen land argument, aspopularized in schools, politics
and media, isn't just aboutacknowledging past injustice.
It's about redefining presentlegitimacy.

(03:02):
It says the land we live on isillegitimate.
We live on is illegitimate.
The country itself is built ontheft and modern systems like
borders, laws and property arestill rooted in colonial sin.
But here's where poetic truthand gaslighting start holding
hands, because while it's truethat many tribes were displaced

(03:23):
violently, it's also true thatthose same tribes often
displaced others also violently.
It wasn't Eden until 1492.
Tribes like the Lakota, cheyenne, comanche and Iroquois were not
peaceful co-op boards handingout land leases.
They fought, they conquered,they enslaved, they exterminated

(03:45):
.
That's not colonialism, that'shistory.
They exterminated that's notcolonialism, that's history.
So when a PBS piece calls theLakota the original occupants of
the Black Hills, that's poetictruth, it's emotionally
satisfying, it simplifies themess, but it isn't historically
honest.
The US didn't steal the landfrom its first owners.

(04:06):
It took it from the last groupwho had taken it, from the group
before them who had taken itfrom.
You get the idea.
Conquest wasn't introduced byEuropeans.
It's been the global game sincefire was invented.
But instead of teaching kidsthis hard truth, we're training
them in a new kind of civicshame.

(04:26):
The New American reports thatfive-year-olds are now reciting
land acknowledgements,effectively tasked with
apologizing for their juiceboxes on stolen Lenape land.
What exactly are they atoningfor their Legos?
This isn't education, it'sindoctrination, wrapped in
virtue, sealed with guilt anddelivered daily with morning

(04:49):
attendance, and it's selectivelyapplied.
When the city approves a newluxury condo tower, no one asks
which tribe lost beachfrontaccess.
And when protesters scream noborders on stolen land, they
still expect the zoning board toapprove their skate park.
And then there's Mount RushmoreTo some it's a monument to
American their skate park.
And then there's Mount Rushmore.
To some it's a monument toAmerican ambition and leadership

(05:11):
.
To others, it's now a crimescene.
The backlash machine wants itreconsidered, recontextualized
or preferably erased.
Blowing it up has been floated.
Covering it with a tarp wasseriously debated.
Personally, I think we shouldleave it up, but add a giant
trigger warning plaque made ofrecycled paper straws.

(05:33):
It's the perfect compromisebetween symbolism and satire.
Let's be clear no one isdenying that America has scars.
Yes, treaties were broken.
Yes, people suffered and yes,that should be taught.
But there's a differencebetween acknowledging history

(05:54):
and rewriting it into a moralityplay where one side is always
evil and the other alwaysblameless.
That's the gaslight, because ifyou question the narrative,
you're erasing history and ifyou ask for nuance, you're
called insensitive.
But the truth doesn't needceremony, it needs context and
the courage to say this story ismore complicated than you're

(06:16):
letting on.
Leave us a rating on Apple.
It helps us cut through thenoise, especially when the noise
is rewriting history.
One protest sign at a time whenthe noise is rewriting history.
One protest sign at a time.
Until next time, think first.
No-transcript.