Question 1

What is the Honor Native Land Tax and who is behind it?

Accepted Answer

-The Honor Native Land Tax (HNLT) is a way to redistribute resources from settlers to Indigenous-led organizations committed to dismantling white supremacy, settler colonialism, and capitalism.  -The HNLT is a way to divest from settler colonialism and invest in Indigenous land, liberation, and futures by providing ongoing, unconditional financial support to Indigenous organizations.  -The HNLT is an opportunity for settlers to get more political and historical education about the land we live on. -The HNLT is a way to move towards integrity in our relationships with the Indigenous people whose land we are currently occupying.  -The HNLT is a project of ABQ SURJ, a group of white-settlers organizing for racial justice primarily in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Question 2

What do we mean by settler colonialism and settlers? What if my family did not personally participate in the initial colonization of the so-called United States that occurred hundreds of years ago?

Accepted Answer

- Settler colonialism is the ongoing process of non-Native settlers occupying Native land, demanding their world views, morals, and economies be followed, while attempting to erase, assimilate, and replace the original inhabitants (source).    - Settlers are non-Indigenous peoples who have come to the so-called United States and live on land stolen from Native communities. All settlers, regardless of when they arrived, benefit from the stolen land and stolen labor that the United States is built on.

Question 3

Why should I give to the Honor Native Land Tax?

Accepted Answer

- Over centuries, settlers have stolen and used Native space, infrastructure, and technologies (e.g. Indigenous land, their roads, irrigation systems, cultivation methods, and medicines) to create and accumulate wealth. To this day, that wealth remains in settler families. At the same time, settler-colonialism and capitalism have worked together to displace the negative consequences of development onto Native bodies and lands.  - For instance, economic development offers settlers – long-time and short-time residents alike – job opportunities and upward mobility. For Native peoples, progress in border towns like Albuquerque translates into environmental degradation on reservation land, rising costs of living in the city, and an increased call for police presence to defend gentrified neighborhoods. Settler colonial development requires violent exclusion. - Regardless of political alignment, all settlers pay taxes that go to fund law enforcement agencies that commit violence against Native bodies (“Native Americans are 3.1 times more likely to be killed by police than white Americans”). Police routinely terrorize unsheltered Native peoples in the interest of settler safety. Caught between police violence and the negative consequences of development, it becomes that much harder for Natives as a class of people to opt in and benefit from settler progress. - These problems reflect structural violence that cannot be solved at the individual level. The Honor Native Land Tax acknowledges this complicated reality of occupation as it facilitates a coordinated redistribution of material benefits gained through colonization.

Question 4

What organizations does the Honor Native Land Tax support and why did you choose these organizations instead of supporting tribes?

Accepted Answer

-The nineteen Pueblos, three Apache tribes (the Fort Sill Apache Tribe, the Jicarilla Apache Nation and the Mescalero Apache Tribe), and the Navajo Nation in New Mexico are certainly underfunded. However, we decided that the most direct and profound way to support grassroots organizing for Native liberation would be to support organizations whose work benefits multiple tribes and Pueblos and who share our politics.  -We specifically wanted to build with revolutionary, grassroots, Native-led orgs that hold feminist, queer, and trans/2-spirit inclusive politics. With this criteria in mind, we asked The Red Nation (TRN) and Pueblo Action Alliance (PAA) to be our accountability partners. This means that we have an organizational relationship with them built on trust and ongoing accountability through action. -All contributions are split evenly between TRN and PAA.

Question 5

Who is Red Nation? Who is Pueblo Action Alliance?

Accepted Answer

- The Red Nation (TRN) is a coalition of Native and non-Native activists and organizers fighting for Native liberation from capitalism and colonialism. TRN uses the tactics of direct action, advocacy, mobilization, and education. - Pueblo Action Alliance PAA)is a Native-led group that fights for environmental justice by centering the social impacts of environmental racism on Indigneous communities. Their main projects include the campaign to Protect Greater Chaco, the Indigenous Impact Community Care Initiative, and their popular education work.

Question 6

Why do you call it a tax? How would this fundraising effort work?

Accepted Answer

- We call the Honor Native Land Tax (HNLT) a tax to distinguish it from charity, and instead to situate it as part of our social responsibility. Typically, taxes work to pay for agreed-upon social and community needs. Currently, most of our tax dollars go to support militaristic violence on Turtle Island (center part of which we call the “United States”) and abroad. The HNLT is a tax that meets community needs by investing in Indigenous liberation. Even though we call it a tax, there is no legal obligation.

Question 7

If you’re calling it a tax, why is the local / state government not administering it? Will you push to make the HNLT into law?"

Accepted Answer

- It would be great if our colonial government took concrete steps to honor Indigenous Sovereignty! Pushing them to do so could be a worthy goal. Right now, our focus is to make the Honor Native Land Tax (HNLT) a successful long-term fund for radical Indigenous organizing and direct action. In order to do that, we’re putting our energy towards grassroots fundraising. If you have ideas for how to expand and deepen HNLT’s reach, through a legislative push or otherwise, let us know! We’d love to chat with you!

Question 8

Why do you call money given to the Honor Native Land Tax a “contribution” and not a “donation.”

Accepted Answer

- While one might donate to nonprofits and charities, one contributes to their community. This distinction reflects the nature of the Honor Native Land Tax – not an endowment, but a relationship. That said, we are a fiscally sponsored project and so it is a tax deductible donation according to the IRS.

Question 9

Are there already similar Honor Taxes elsewhere? Is this a model that works?

Accepted Answer

- Yes! HNLT is inspired by and modeled after The Shuumi Land Tax, The Manna-hatta Fund, and Real Rent Duwamish.  - Like the Shuumi Land Tax, we recommend a tax amount based on the contributor’s relationship with stolen land in so-called New Mexico. For example, ABQ SURJ recommends a different contribution rate for low-income renters than high-income homeowners.

Question 10

What if I don’t have much income/wealth or am not class privileged?

Accepted Answer

- Honor Native Land Tax is a cross-class project that allows anybody to contribute financially to the tax on a sliding scale basis. People who aren’t able to give financially can give in the form of energy, labor, and skills. If this is you, email us at ABQSURJ@gmail.com.

Question 11

How does the Honor Native Land Tax relate to the ongoing uprisings against police violence and the COVID-19 pandemic?

Accepted Answer

- Indigenous communities face horrifically high rates of police violence and disproportionate rates of COVID-19 illness and death. These realities are interrelated and stem directly from ongoing settler colonialism. The Honor Native Land Tax (HNLT) is funding organizations that work against settler colonialism, so we see HNLT as a part of the struggle against police violence and racist health systems.  - The Red Nation and Pueblo Action Alliance prioritize the interrelation between struggles for Indigenous and Black/Pan-African liberation. - To learn more, see The Red Nation’s statement of Solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter and this joint statement on the murder of George Floyd from All African People’s Party - New Mexico and Pueblo Action Alliance.

Question 12

I donated to the COVID-19 relief fundraising effort. How is that different from the HNLT?

Accepted Answer

- The COVID-19 relief fund is a rapid response effort to meet immediate needs in the face of the pandemic. The fundraising effort directed people to six radical Indigenous, African, and Migrant-led organizations who continue to do COVID-19 related work in the face of the pandemic.    - The Honor Native Land Tax is a long-term project organizing toward revolutionary change. All contributions to the Honor Native Land Tax are given unconditionally to Pueblo Action Alliance and The Red Nation.    - For more on those two organizations and why we chose them see FAQ: “What organizations does the Honor Native Land Tax support and why did you choose these organizations instead of supporting tribes?” and “Who is Red Nation? Who is Pueblo Action Alliance?”

Question 13

Why is a monthly contribution the best way to be a part of the Honor Native Land Tax?

Accepted Answer

-Ongoing, consistent contributions help our partners, Pueblo Action Alliance and The Red Nation, to plan more clearly and easily. Our goal is to offer no-strings attached resources so that both groups can maintain their focus on Indigenous liberation, and monthly contributions provide the consistency that they need to do that work.  -Monthly contributions are a way of showing our commitment to the long-haul work of organizing for Indigenous futures, land, air, and water. This project is connected to a vision of shifting the extractive history of settler colonialism toward a generative future. As monthly contributions grow, our commitment to that vision and all of the work it entails can deepen.

Question 14

How does Albuquerque SURJ/Honor Native Land Tax make decisions?

Accepted Answer

We have a core team that makes decisions for ABQ SURJ that practices consensus-based decision making. This means that for all major decisions we make we want the majority of the group to be in support of the decision. We move slowly to allow time for reflections, constructive feedback, outright rejections, and amendments. As part of this process, we share written proposals well before we meet to allow time for thoughtful reflection. We only move forward after a series of conversations that take into account any feedback.

Question 15

Where can I contribute and where does my contribution go?

Accepted Answer

You can make your contribution electronically (link here) or you can send a check to our fiscal sponsor, Southwest Organizing Project: 211 10th St. SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102 with "Honor Native Land Tax" in the memo line. After our merchant processing fee and our SWOP fiscal sponsorship fee of 7%, 100% of contributions are split evenly between Pueblo Action Alliance and The Red Nation. That means that no contributions go to ABQ SURJ.

Question 16

I want to change the amount I contribute, how do I do that?"

Accepted Answer

If you want to change the amount you contribute, click the link in your email receipt to cancel your contribution (to find this email easily, in the search bar of your email search: “Receipt - Honor Native Land Tax”). Once you’ve canceled your original contribution, sign up (again!) to contribute at your desired amount. If you have any questions, email us at abqsurj@gmail.com.

Question 17

Is my contribution tax deductible (to the IRS)?

Accepted Answer

Yes, ABQ SURJ is working with a 501c3 organization, Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) so your contribution is tax deductible.

Question 18

How did you come up with the calculator?

Accepted Answer

-Our process was guided by our goals that the calculator be:       *Easy to use,       *A representation of our values,       *An effective tool for political education around class and capitalism,       *And supportive to us in achieving our fundraising goals.  -At first we thought the “tax” should be based on an individual’s income but we realized that class is much more complicated than just your paycheck . With income-only calculations or flat tax rates, poor people end up subsidizing rich people (want to learn more about this? Watch this video!).  We sought to create a calculator that would consider overlooked factors that make up our class experience. We also took into account the specificity of wealth inequality in New Mexico.  -We worked with people across the class spectrum to come up with our initial giving levels. As it works now, the calculator is a tool to encourage a meaningful monthly contribution that can challenge one’s entitlement to money made on stolen land. We’re trying it out to see how it works, and you can tell us what you think here! We are open to changing it as we learn more because we intend the calculator to be an evolving document and not “the truth” about how much you should give. In this respect, the calculator reflects our value to resist perfectionism and white supremacy culture.

Question 19

How does the calculator work?

Accepted Answer

The HNLT calculator is made up of seven contribution levels, each suggesting a different monthly contribution amount. The working group that came up with the calculator devised the seven contribution levels based on extensive research of economic demographics within Central New Mexico including average and median incomes, wealth disparity, and statistics regarding educational levels. We developed the levels to reflect our commitment to cross-class participation. While we put a lot of thought into the creation of these levels, they are our subjective creation, and it’s not an obligation to contribute at the suggested level. Each answer to each question is associated with a particular level. The calculator averages to find out what level you are in and rounds up at .5 and above. See the following table for our suggested contributions based on level.