From 9/11 to Trump: An Indigenous American Woman’s Journey to Finding Peace, Purpose, and Freedom… Abroad

by Anonymous Indian

Growing up abroad as an Indigenous American woman, I always felt deeply connected to my heritage but caught between different worlds. Two defining events — September 11, 2001, and November 5, 2016 — shaped how I saw America and my place within it, and both eventually led me to seek a life outside the U.S., somewhere I could feel more at ease and perhaps a little safer. Coming back in 2017 and seeing Trump re-elected last week, I knew my path forward would remain abroad. With each change, I found myself leaning more into a journey of seeking peace and strength on my own terms — writing as my way to make sense of it all and stay connected to the causes that mattered.

9/11: The First Shift

When the Twin Towers fell, I was young, watching America change from naive and idealistic, to bonded by sadness and then rapidly shifted to being deeply guarded and patriotic. The images still haunt me, but it was the aftermath that unsettled me most. New laws emerged quickly — ones that allowed increased surveillance and curtailed freedoms in ways that felt uncomfortably familiar as an Indigenous person. Our people had faced similar losses of autonomy, and I knew that once rights are diminished, they are hard to regain.

This moment planted a sense of disconnection in me. As America became a place where security trumped personal freedom, I struggled to reconcile my feelings. I love my people, my culture, my heritage, but I wondered if there would always be a part of me that couldn’t feel fully at home in a place shifting away from its promises of liberty and security.

11/5: New Awareness of Women’s Rights

If 9/11 started my journey of distance, the election of Donald Trump on November 5, 2016, drove home a new urgency. His presidency challenged women’s safety, self-determination, and dignity on a public stage, all elements that already felt tenuous. The policies that followed threatened to roll back hard-won freedoms. I watched from abroad as his administration chipped away at civil rights, each change amplifying my awareness of just how fragile progress can be.

As an Indigenous woman, I was already familiar with this kind of fragility. Our history is one of resilience in the face of lost rights, of holding on to what we can and living through times when safety wasn’t guaranteed. It became clear that my decision to live outside the U.S. wasn’t just about seeking something else; it was about survival. I found myself still missing aspects of the America I had loved but accepting that it might not be a safe home for me.

2017: A Difficult Realization

Returning to America in 2017, I hoped to reconnect, to find familiar faces and feel a renewed sense of belonging, but instead, I found a country that no longer felt like the place I thought I’d known. People were divided, distrustful, and fearful of one another, and women’s rights felt precarious. I had hoped being back would ease some of my fears, but it only confirmed that my decision to build a life elsewhere was not an escape — it was a choice to seek safety and peace that I couldn’t find within my own borders.

My sense of home became more fluid, something I had to carry within. This realization didn’t lessen my love for my roots, but it did help me accept that I needed to look beyond America to build a life that felt true and safe.

2024: Another Election, Another Confirmation

Last week, the re-election of Trump reaffirmed my decision to pursue a life abroad. This is not about loyalty; it was about choosing me and to live in a place where I feel valued, safe, and heard. I found moments of this in my time outside the U.S., and I knew that building a life of peace, even in small ways, is where I feel most aligned.

Embracing Life: Seeking Peace and Purpose

While living abroad allowed me to define safety, freedom, and purpose on my own terms. Outside the U.S., I always breathed easier, feel a little more grounded. I didn’t have to navigate a constant tug-of-war over my rights or question my place as a woman. I was simply allowed to be, without fear that things could shift overnight.

Through writing, I found a way to make sense of these experiences and contribute in some way to the world I left behind. It became a means of connecting with others, of standing up for issues that mattered to me, even from afar. Writing let me stay connected to the conversations I cared about, to find strength in my own voice and to advocate for a world that values the freedoms and rights I want to see honored everywhere.

Becoming a Woman and a Daughter of the World

Experiencing 9/11, 11/5, and Trump’s re-election taught me that belonging isn’t about borders or citizenship; it’s about finding a place where you feel respected and at peace. I know now that home is as much a state of mind as it is a location — a place where I can live authentically, without fearing for my safety or my rights. It’s where I can embrace my heritage, my voice, and my freedom.

As an Indigenous American woman, my strength comes from my roots, and my journey is one I’ll continue to shape. Building a life abroad was not a rejection of where I come from but an intentional choice to create the life I need. I am, at my core, a woman who seeks peace and strives to create change however I can — and wherever I am in the world.