1988: Marching for Truth, When Native Leaders Called Out Reagan’s Racism

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan publicly stated that the U.S. 'humored' the Indians by allowing them to remain on reservations living their 'primitive lifestyle' rather than assimilating into the mainstream of American life. His comments, made while he was overseas in Moscow of all places, managed to simultaneously insult tribal sovereignty, erase the reality of Native poverty, and diminish the survival of Indigenous cultures as mere resistance to assimilation. Reagan wasn’t just misguided. He was perpetuating the centuries-old lie that Native people had been “humored” by the U.S. government—allowed to cling to the past out of pity rather than strength.

Native people didn’t just respond with words. They marched. In Santa Barbara, retired Marine Corp Captain Michael Khus-Zarate (Coastal Band), Wonono Rubio (Coastal Band), and the American Indian Action Group organized a march on Reagan’s ranch, which was local—just up the canyon from Refugio State Beach and a short drive from Santa Barbara. That summer, dozens of tribes across the country planned to join them on the march. Two weeks before the march, White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater visited Michael Khus-Zarate at his home in Goleta.

Michael recalls:

“Fitzwater drove his contingent of government cars to my little rental house in Goleta, followed by his secret service. He sat in my living room and proposed: ‘The President mis-spoke in his comments about Indians. Why don’t we have a meeting between you and the President to talk things out. I’ll set up that meeting if you call off the march.’

I told him we wouldn’t call off the march—there were too many Native people who needed to express their rights. But we’d be happy to meet with the President to get an apology.” And we marched. Over 200 Native people from dozens of tribes and their allies met at Refugio State Beach and marched on Reagan’s ranch.” Read his 1998 article.

After the march, the White House invited Coastal Band Chairman Bob Rivera and other tribal leaders from across the country to the White House for a formal apology. That moment—walking through the doors of the nation’s highest office—was not about forgiveness. It was about power. It was about truth.

Reagan’s comments may have been swept aside by history books, but Native memory is long. We remember. We remember that Native nations are not relics. We are still here. We remember that calling our ways "primitive" is a tool of colonization—a tactic to erase the sophistication, science, governance, and ceremony that have sustained us since time immemorial. We remember the march to the ranch. The apology at the White House. The leadership of our Chairman Bob Rivera. The resilience of the Coastal Band.

Left: Protestors speaking at Refugio Canyon before their march to Reagan’s Ranch.
Right: Marching up Refugio Canyon to the Reagan Ranch.