Nāʻālehu Anthony, CEO ʻŌiwi TV (USA)
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Nāʻālehu is a native of Kaʻaʻawa, Hawaiʻi. He says he is ‘stunned’ that Donald Trump will become the 45th President of the United States.
“I think it means that there are going to be a few more challenges in the coming months and then in years to come… I think that we’re probably going to find a Supreme Court that is not as friendly to Indigenous people, and I bet we’re going to find a large onslaught of lawsuits against Indigenous people as well.”
“I think one of the things that we as voters, as people who have watched the election, that we’re really waiting to find out who Donald Trump is. You know, that the debates were more about character than they were about policy. He’s said a lot without saying much.”
Nāʻālehu says it is unclear what this will mean for movements such as Black Lives Matter, but that it doesn’t look positive.
“I think it probably means that the scrutiny for what they’re (BLM) doing and whether or not it’s lawful is going to get cranked up a bunch.”
“We’re still trying to get our heads around how this happened, and we’re trying to really understand now that it has happened, what the implications are in all of the different ways that the federal government and the executive branch have power to help, and hinder, some of the movements that we work in.”
Jean La Rose, CEO Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN, Canada)
Jean La Rose, CEO Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN, Canada) Source: NITV News
“There’s a lot of fear in our communities as to how this will impact our brothers and sisters in the US, especially when you consider what’s happening at Standing Rock.”
“But I think we need to wait a bit before overreacting to this. A lot of what has been said during the election is the usual fanfare type talk.”
“I think for now, while there is concern, we just sort of have to step back and wait and see what kind of discourse will happen going forward, especially from the new President Elect.”
Jean says it will be interesting to see how relations continue between Canada and the US.
“We have a Prime Minister whose mindset is about 180 degrees away from Mr Trump. So what kind of relationship they’ll have, maybe won’t be the warmest, it certainly won’t be anything like he currently has with President Obama, from my perspective.”
Norrie McLennen, Gaelic News Editor (BBC ALBA, UK)
Norrie McLennen, Gaelic News Editor (BBC ALBA, UK) Source: NITV News
Norrie is from the Gaelic speaking region of the Isle of Skye, in Scotland. He says it is hard to predict what kind of President Donald Trump will be for Indigenous peoples.
“Certainly Mr Trump has got a record of speaking out on racial issues in a way that many people have been uncomfortable with, and to that extent that would be a concern. I’ve heard that opinion voiced by a number of representatives of Indigenous people.”
In Scotland Norrie says most people ‘tended against Trump,’ but points out that there are similarities between how the US election played out, and the Brexit decision earlier this year.
“People have more doubts; they have less faith in mainstream politicians and mainstream media than they used to have.
“And it feels like the same thing where, part of the vote for Brexit was a vote against what was seen as the ‘establishment,’ and what was seen as being the mainstream, and that’s clearly also part of the answer to how Donald Trump got elected in America.”
