Every month, a group of Indigenous scientists from around the world gathers on Zoom. They never have an agenda. They meet as colleagues to catch up and commiserate about the challenges of being Indigenous in Western academia.

Their February meeting, however, quickly struck a different tone.

“There was this cascade that started happening,” recalled Max Liboiron, a professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland who hosts the virtual calls. “Everyone in the US was like, ‘Holy shit. My career is over. My students’ funding is screwed.'”

Liboiron immediately entered triage mode. A geographer and university administrator by trade, Liboiron used to organize with Occupy Wall Street. “I was a full-time activist,” they said over Zoom. With their hair buzzed and arms tattooed, Liboiron’s past life isn’t hard to imagine. They’re Red River Métis, the Indigenous peoples of Canada’s prairie provinces, and speak with a candidness that is both cool and calculated.

Since Donald Trump entered office, Liboiron has put those rapid-response skills to use to support their US colleagues in need. US federal law recognizes many tribal nations as sovereign political entities, not racial or ethnic g …

Read the full story at The Verge.