Dr. Nick Estes is an Assistant Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. He is the founder of The Red Nation blog and hosts a podcast with the same name. 

Dr. Estes has called for the dissolution of the United States, praised communism, and castigates white people. 

Referring to the United States as a settler colonial nation, Dr. Estes states that America is committed to the destruction of native Americans. In an article for The Guardian, Dr. Estes describes the country as a “white supremacist empire,” and a “savage nation built on untold violence” against indigenous people. 

“The erasure of Native histories and peoples – which existed long before and despite a white supremacist empire – is a founding principle of the United States. In fact, it’s still codified in US law.” 

Dr. Estes’s world views are encapsulated in The Red Nation’s “10 Point Program,” which calls for the following: 

– Return of all the nation’s land to the “original caretakers” or tribes, which would dissolve the United States. 

– Abolish all police, which Estes describes as “Indian killers” and the “foot soldiers of US occupation, racism, and misogyny.” 

– Abolish the “racist system” of capitalism.   

Dr. Estes elsewhere advocates for the total erasure of national borders. Among the demands listed on the “Beyond Border Caucus”—which is hosted on The Red Nation’s website—Estes calls for abolishing all borders but specifically cites America and Israel for elimination. 

In a blog post titled, “The Liberation of Palestine Represents an Alternative Path for Native Nations,” Dr. Estes urges his readers to support Arab “resistance in any and all forms” against Israel. This includes the adoption of the BDS movement, which embraces the following tenets: 

– Boycotting all goods that originate from the state of Israel;

– Divesting all funds (private or public) that are allocated to Israel; and

– Placing sanctions exclusively on Israel.

His post further demands the “Right of Return,” which calls for the forcible relocation of over 7 million self-identifying Palestinian “refugees” into Israel’s current borders. This would demographically swamp Israel and transform it into a majority-Arab state.  

Dr. Estes further cites “revolutionary socialism” as the “primary political ideology of the Red Nation.” He declares Communism the “greatest expression of love,” and promises that socialism will replace capitalism once the latter is destroyed. 

Throughout the site, the Hammer and Sickle is displayed prominently. The symbol was the insignia of the Soviet Union, which was responsible for as many as 61 million deaths. 

Dr. Estes uses his personal Twitter account to denigrate white people as “pilgrims,”

Destroy the Pilgrim Mythology. pic.twitter.com/s4ksOqoLKJ

— Nick Estes (@nickwestes) November 28, 2019

Ok, pilgrim. 🤡 https://t.co/j6cyUvMAyw

— Nick Estes (@nickwestes) April 15, 2021

 

On several occasions, he even instructs followers to “kill the pilgrim.” 

Kill the Pilgrim in your head.

— Nick Estes (@nickwestes) November 25, 2019

It’s also the first all Lakota show!

Kill the Pilgrim, Save the man.

— Nick Estes (@nickwestes) November 25, 2019

 

 

Published – November 16, 2022