Indigenous model and content creator Nikki Apostolou has been making a series on Instagram lately to talk about places where the NYPD needs reform. In a recent Instagram post, the New York resident described a baffling experience from 2018, when she realized that law enforcement officers weren’t properly trained to recognize anything outside the norm. She then framed it as a petition directly to Mayor Mamdani. Apostolou started her video with context. She claimed, “The NYPD gave me a ticket for driving without a license because I’m Native American. I’m a federally recognized First Nations person from Canada. And because of that, I have a status card. And that status card is also my passport. And it allows me to live, work, retire, own a business, and all rights of a United States citizen in America. Because I fall under the Jay Treaty. Also, both of my parents are American. And yes, I am an American citizen.” She alleged that she was driving in Staten Island when she was first pulled over for allegedly texting. Since her phone was in the holder, she offered to let him check it. However, he didn’t budge and allegedly issued a ticket. Then things escalated when he asked for her ID. Apostolou noted that her car at the time was from Quebec, and so was her valid driver’s license, which prompted him to ask for her passport. This is when she handed him her status card. He didn’t recognize it and so refused to accept it Despite it being a valid form of identification, the officer allegedly refused to accept the card. At the time of writing, all we have is her version of events, so it shouldn’t be treated as verifiable fact. Nikki alleged, “I said, ‘Sir, I am a Native American individual. That is my card that’s recognized by the federal government.’ He said, ‘I don’t know what this is.’” View this post on Instagram According to the Canadian U.S. Embassy, the Jay Treaty was signed in 1794 between Great Britain and the United States. The treaty provides that American Indians may travel freely across the international boundary. Native individuals born in Canada are entitled to enter the U.S. for employment, study, retirement, or immigration. To qualify, the embassy notes that all an individual must do is provide evidence of their background. This typically includes an identification card from the Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs or a tribal statement, alongside photographic identification. The officer allegedly detained Apostolou for over an hour with her six-year-old son in the backseat. He eventually gave her a ticket for unlicensed driving, a charge that was immediately dismissed in court once she presented her valid driver’s license and ID. Apostolou claimed, “He kept insisting that I wasn’t American, that I didn’t have the right to be driving my car, that my license and my IDs were not valid.” Instagram got up in arms over her story. One user commented, “Law enforcement are the only demographic who can use ignorance of the law as an excuse. That’s why they don’t train them. They expect you to know your rights, but not the ones who have sworn to uphold them.” Another user pointed out the discrepancy in training, noting, “I worked retail and was shown what a tribal id looked like in case someone used it for alcohol purchase. In 2 years I never saw one but it was posted at the register as a reminder. Why would law enforcement not be better trained than a minimum wage cashier?” Despite the Jay Treaty, in recent months, the Canadian government updated its travel advice for the United States, per CBC News. The advise that First Nations people carry a valid passport in addition to a status card when crossing the border. They noted that while First Nations people may be able to cross the border with a secure status card, the acceptance of these documents is “entirely at the discretion of U.S. officials.” Interestingly, native tribes in the US have been locked in their own fight with the government after federal protections on sacred land were revoked. For Apostolou, however, this alleged ordeal was a reason for reform. “They need to learn how to read, tell time, know what legal documents are, know what a license is when it’s handed to them,” she ranted. “And if they are unfamiliar with something, they also have phones that they can use to call someone that maybe knows a little bit more than they do.” She called for reform through better training and procedures for when police don’t know something. Others echoed her frustration. One user suggested, “In cases like these, judges should be writing reports to the corresponding police station about the specific cop that wrote the ticket and how wrong they are, and give them court mandated training.”