In a weekend gathering at Fort Calgary, several Indigenous chiefs along with other activists gathered to rally and defend the status quo against the independence movement. Unsurprisingly, many of the speakers went straight into the claim that Alberta’s sovereigntist movement was nothing more than a collection of racists who want to take the province back in time.

A piece in Ricochet Media was provocatively headlined, “‘They hate us more now’: Treaty Chiefs rally against Alberta separatism.”

Piikani Nation Chief Troy Knowlton said Trump handed “every racist, bigot and white supremacist” permission to say out loud what they’d once kept to themselves. Knowlton then said Premier Danielle Smith has done the same thing within Alberta.

Chief Crowfoot of the Siksika sounded militant as he said, “Pretty soon, First Nations won’t be asking to exercise their rights,” while claiming some UN articles would entitle Indigenous people to demand compensation for alleged lost rights and that they must pursue “decolonization.”

Not willing to be left behind in highlighting a possible foreign bogeyman, Tsuut’ina Head Chief Ellery Starlight said, “Alberta, wake up. Wake up! Because if you don’t, Donald Trump is waiting for you.”

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The chiefs were long on rhetoric but short on facts. There has been no evidence of racism from the independence movement, no rights for Indigenous people are being violated, and Donald Trump isn’t under anybody’s beds in Alberta.

The gathering was representative of the class of Indigenous people who benefit very well under the status quo. The chiefs and other assorted bureaucrats and politicians within the Indigenous world do very well under the Canadian system. While the many of the average citizens on the reserves managed by these chiefs live in abject poverty and are surrounded by social disorder.

The chiefs feel vulnerable and they should. Indigenous people in Alberta are the largest identifiable ethnic group in support of Alberta independence. Social media has made it more difficult for the leadership among Indigenous people to act as gatekeepers to communication and information for the residents on reserves.

Albertans want change and Indigenous citizens want it more than anybody else.

It’s hard to imagine that 46% of Alberta’s Indigenous people support independence based on some bizarre form of racial self-loathing. There are many motivations driving the independence movement in Alberta. Racism isn’t one of them.