When George "Dubya" Bush and his merry band of marauding men decided to invade Iraq they initially claimed to be looking for ominous weapons that could supposedly melt our faces like a villain in an Indiana Jones movie.
It soon became apparent that no such weapons existed, so the merry band of marauding men decided they had better come up with a new reason for sending our kids into the desert.
Alas, they set out to bring "democratinizationalism" to the historically tribal Iraqi people.
For the sake of our little newspaper column, I'm going to assume that by "democratinizationalism," Dubya really meant that he wanted to establish democracy and federalism.
Dubya and his merry band of marauding men quickly set out to sell this idea to the world, speaking of democracy federalism as if they were somehow brilliant ideas that a bunch of English guys wearing wigs stumbled upon in Philadelphia.
The truth is that democracy and federalism - which is governance through delegated powers - existed on this continent long before Ben Franklin flew his kite.
The Anishnaabe Nation, which is comprised of the Potawatomi, Odawa, and Ojibwe tribes, extended from the northeastern shores of Lake Huron all the way out west to Montana.
This nation once served as a quintessential model of federalism, with local control over local matters and a national identity that bound the people of the three fires together.
Just beneath the national level of governance were three tribes: the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi.
Beneath them were clans and small communities, which were responsible for affairs at the local level.
It's important to note here that in cross-cultural comparisons, such as this, that no analogy is perfect and that there are many differences between American and Anishnaabe federalism.
That being said, the important fact is that in the Anishnaabe system the clans and the small bands were part of a larger nation.
This system, though, was obliterated with the establishment of the United States and Canada. The drawing of international borders where there previously were none resulted in the segregation of the Anishnaabe people from themselves.
In the U.S., the federal recognition process has further undercut the Anishnaabe Nation by placing ultimate tribal sovereignty with small bands. The result of this has been the perpetual state of competition between previously allied bands and tribes, which in turn plays right into the hands of federal and state governments opposed to tribal sovereignty.
The time has arrived for a restoration of the old order whereby the Anishnaabe people are connected by more than just a name.
It will take strong and committed leaders, but we should seek to reconnect our tribes with each other through a renewed Anishnaabe Nation.
I am not speaking of a loose issue-oriented association, like CORA, but a national government that has delegated aspects of sovereignty from its smaller tribes, such as supreme judicial and diplomatic authority.
Under this system existing tribes would be free to largely govern local affairs, as is currently the case, and the Anishnaabe Nation would deal with foreign governments, recognize and restore old member tribes, and rejuvenate internal dispute resolution between its components through consensus.
A unified Anishnaabe government would also be in a position to leverage its diplomatic power to better defend our traditional rights.
This is much easier said than done, as many Anishnaabe tribes have spent the past generation in competition with each other for casino business.
There is more that binds us than divides us, however. And I look forward to leaders that help spread this message and reunify what was once one of this continent's great nations.
Bryan Newland is a Bay Mills Indian Community Member and a student at Michigan State University College of Law in East Lansing. He is the oldest son of Gordon and Vickie Newland of Bay Mills. He has written columns and letters that have appeared in local, regional, and national publications. You can respond to his column at 517-420-0808 or tikro6@yahoo.com.
