Indigenous Activism

Imperial Oil Tailings Spill Fine A ‘Toothless Slap On The Wrist’

August 25, 2024 Taylor Noakes, DeSmog. Resist! Canada, Energy, Environment, Indigenous Activism, Oil Spill, Social Justice

A major Canadian oil producer responsible for a toxic tailings pond leak that dumped 5.3 million litres of contaminated waste into the environment has been fined just $50,000 by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER). Environmental Defence, a prominent Canadian environmental advocacy organization, called the AER’s response “toothless.” The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN), an Indigenous community in Northern Alberta whose territory has been impacted by the tailings pond spill at Imperial Oil’s Kearl tar sands mine since at least 2022, called the fine “laughable” and further condemned what they called the AER’s “weak response.”

Apache Stronghold Heads To The East

August 20, 2024 Apache Stronghold, Popular Resistance. Resist! Apache Stronghold, Indigenous Activism, Oak Flat, Sacred sites

As the Apache Stronghold’s prayer journey to the Supreme Court turns East, we are reflecting on our ceremonies and discussions throughout the western segment of the journey. Our prayer journey through the West began in the Lummi Nation, north of Seattle, where we met with the elders of the nations and were given words of encouragement and support. Adalitza, who leads the elder program for the Lummi Nation, spoke of the importance of this fight, saying it’s crucial to set the precedence for the younger ones because it’s the children who will be living in the world we are creating for them. Additionally, in Adalitza’s words, “We’re doing this to take care of the mind, body, and soul of our people because it’s all timely.

ʔÁLʔAL A Place For Connection, Healing, And Growth

June 17, 2024 Rae Rose, Last Real Indians. Create! Indigenous Activism, Indigenous culture, Seattle, Washington

The Chief Seattle Club, CSC, has long since tended to and nurtured the seeds for growth, sowing opportunities, and holding space for healing. It is an important center we need for our Indigenous communities to survive and hopefully thrive in this urban Coast Salish territory of Seattle Washington. For me CSC has always stood as a place our Indigenous Urban community can find resources, give support, and or/ just be, no façade or mask necessary. This is CSC’s foundation, a place for us Urban Indians to connect or reconnect in an otherwise isolating urban setting. My own memories here at CSC go back decades, sitting in talking circles, filming, and learning from amazing indigenous teachers.

The Global South In The Arctic North

May 14, 2024 Renate Bridenthal, Geopolitical Economy. Resist! Arctic, Global South, Indigenous Activism, Inuit, Sovereignty

In January, three months into Israel’s attack on Gaza, a group people in the Inuit city of Iqaluit, the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, rallied and called for a ceasefire. One demonstrator said, “I think Palestinian rights are Indigenous rights to those lands, and we’re on Indigenous land here, and if we’re fighting for the rights of Indigenous people in Canada, in Nunavut, we should be doing the same worldwide.” Bigger rallies took place in the more populated cities of Whitehorse, Yukon, and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. More than 200 people gathered at the Whitehorse waterfront, some of them descendants of Palestinian refugees from the Nakba of 1948.

Peace Walk 2024: Mindfully Bring The Sacred Back Into Your Journey

May 11, 2024 Sherri L. Mitchell Weh'na Ha'mu Kwasset, Peace & Planet News. Resist! colonization, Indigenous Activism, Indigenous Peoples, Peace Walk 2024

Good morning. [Native greeting] Hello, everyone. [Native language]. My name is Sherri Mitchell. My name in my language, Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset. I am from the Penobscot Nation. My family is Bear clan from the Penobscot Nation and Crow clan from the Passamaquoddy tribe. [Native language] I’m happy to be here with you today. It felt really important for me to come and support what’s happening here for many reasons. As I’ve been thinking about what I wanted to say in these brief comments, this morning, there are a lot of things that I thought about. I have a very dear friend who is currently doing a pilgrimage through territories where only the bones of her ancestors remain: through the Warsaw Ghetto and Auschwitz.

Thacker Pass Protectors File First-Ever ‘Biodiversity Necessity Defense’

March 27, 2024 Max Wilbert, Last Real Indians. Resist! Biodiversity, Environmental Justice, Indigenous Activism, Lithium, Necessity defense, Nevada, Thacker Pass

Winnemuca, Nevada — In a first for the American legal system, the lawyers for six people sued by Lithium Nevada Corporation for protesting the Thacker Pass mine are arguing a ‘biodiversity necessity defense.’ The necessity defense is a legal argument used to justify breaking the law when a greater harm is being prevented; for example, breaking a car window to save an infant locked inside on a stifling hot day, or breaking down a door to help someone screaming inside a locked home. In these cases, trespassing is justified to save a life.

South Dakota Tribes Face Off Again With Governor Kristi Noem

March 22, 2024 Darren Thompson, Last Real Indians. Resist! Indigenous Activism, Kristi Noem, Oglala Sioux, Racism, South Dakota

South Dakota—Last week, while signing two education bills Governor Kristi Noem made comments about wanting to improve Native American students’ achievement, and blamed parents and Tribal leaders for their poor performance. Gov. Noem also said that some Tribal leaders in the state were in partnership with Mexican cartels, and four Tribal Nations have responded demanding an apology. The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (CRST) issued a statement saying, “Last week while visiting Mitchell and Winner, South Dakota, Governor Noem used those events as an opportunity to spew hateful gossip about Native people.

International Indigenous Youth Council Banned From Powwow For Advocating For Palestine

March 20, 2024 Darren Thompson, Last Real Indians. Resist! Colorado, Indigenous Activism, Indigenous Peoples, Israel, Palestine, Pine Ridge, Youth Activism

Denver, Colorado — Youth representing the International Indigenous Youth Council’s (IIYC) Oglala Lakota Chapter were told they would be banned from attending the 48th Annual Denver March Powwow if they demonstrated solidarity with Palestine. It's one of the first documented instances where pro-Palestinian messages were prohibited at a Native American cultural event. The International Indigenous Youth Council’s (IIYC) Oglala Lakota Chapter published a statement on its Instagram Saturday afternoon: “Denver March tried to shut youth down, we will not be silenced.

Native American Lawsuit Sheds Light On Dark Aspect Of US History

March 19, 2024 John Miles, Orinoco Tribune. Resist! Colonialism, History, Indigenous Activism, Legal System, Onondaga, US Imperialism

“The doctrine of discovery refers to a principle in public international law under which, when a nation ‘discovers’ land, it directly acquires rights on that land,” according to a definition offered by Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute. “This doctrine arose when the European nations discovered non-European lands, and therefore acquired special rights.” “More broadly, the doctrine of discovery can be described as an international law doctrine giving authorization to explorers to claim terra nullius [‘uninhabited’ land]… in the name of their sovereign when the land was not populated by Christians.”

40 Years After The Ixil Genocide, Case Against General Lucas García Opens

March 19, 2024 NISGUA. Resist! Genocide, Guatemala, Indigenous Activism, Ixil, Legal System

After 36 years, Guatemala put an end to the Internal Armed Conflict –IAC-, with the definitive ceasefire and the signing of the firm and lasting Peace Agreement on December 29th of 1996. Previously, through the Oslo Accords (1994), the parties agreed to the creation of the Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH) with the purpose of “clarifying with complete objectivity, fairness and impartiality the violations of Human Rights and the acts of violence that caused suffering to the Guatemalan population, linked to the armed conflict,” however the Commission would have an extendable term of 6 months of work from its installation, which would occur between 1997 and 1998.

Bolivia: A Judicial Coup

February 22, 2024 Cindy Forster, Orinoco Tribune. Resist! Boliva, coup, Indigenous Activism, Social Movements, US Imperialism

On Monday, January 22nd, the poor in Bolivia set up road blockades. That day marks the fifteenth anniversary of a great step in human dignity called the Plurinational State of Bolivia. The blockaders resisted police aggression for nearly 2 weeks. The closure of the roads had only one objective: To stop a judicial coup that aims to dismantle a range of collective rights enshrined in the 2009 Constitution, a spectacular constitution that was born of the thirty-six; original and indigenous nations including the Quechua, Mojeña, and Aymara, whose organizing changed modern history. The United Nations declared itself on the side of the blockaders.

Indigenous Demonstrators Continue Opposition To Racism In Sports, Media

February 13, 2024 Last Real Indians. Resist! Indigenous Activism, Mascots, Racism, Super Bowl

Las Vegas—On Sunday, February 11, a group of Native people demonstrated near an entrance at the Super Bowl, where some say Kansas City’s continued use of the “Chiefs” is racist. It is the second consecutive year that Kansas City has appeared in the Super Bowl, and opposition to the “tomahawk chop”, an act some say mocks Native culture and must change, continues. “I’m here to show people that it is not acceptable in this day and age to mock a people,” said Rhonda LeValdo to Last Real Indians (LRI Media). LeValdo, an Acoma Pueblo citizen, traveled to Las Vegas from Kansas City, where she teaches journalism at Haskell University in Lawrence, Kansas.

Facing The Storm: An Interview With Mazaska Talks

December 27, 2023 Rae Rose, Last Real Indians. Strategize! climate crisis, Dakota Access Pipeline, Divestment, Indigenous Activism

I recently sat down with Rachel Heaton and Matt Remle as part of the Facing the Storm series focused on the Indigenous response to the climate crisis. The first question I asked Matt, Wakinyan Waanatan (his Lakota name), Hunkpapa Lakota was how he came to the direct action of divesting money from financial institutions to stop their funneling of funds into fossil fuel projects. Specifically, as a way to combat against the companies many abuses against our Indigenous nations, our Mother Earth, and the detrimental loss they cause of our finite resources in the current climate crisis. Matt said for him it actually began before the Dakota Access Pipeline and on a smaller scale during the early fight against the Keystone XL pipeline.

Climate Criminals Put Profits Over Humanity At COP28

December 21, 2023 Indigenous Environmental Network. Educate! climate crisis, COP28, Dubai, False Solutions, Indigenous Activism

Dubai, UAE — The outcomes of the UNFCCC 28th Conference of Parties has left Indigenous Peoples and frontline communities across the world sitting in disappointment as world leaders put forward watered-down climate commitments and text that continue to compromise our future. The biggest takeaway from this year’s climate summit is the grotesque depth of greed and disregard for humanity as a whole. There was a huge missed opportunity to implement real climate solutions, but bullies from the Global North reaffirmed their false solutions to maintain their extractive economies, and so, lined their pockets with their reinforcement of settler-colonialism and imperial dominance over the Global South.

A Beacon Of Hope To The Unhoused Faces Eviction

December 17, 2023 Ellie Zimmerman, Unicorn Riot. Organize! Eviction, Homelessness, Indigenous Activism, Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN — Camp Nenookaasi is throwing the subject of Minneapolis’ encampment policies into the spotlight again as it faces eviction on December 19. The camp’s supporters are waging the latest skirmish in a longer fight between the city’s prohibition of encampments and those who claim that allowing encampments to remain intact is the most humane approach to the issue, as well as a crucial first step toward getting people into stable housing and recovery programs. On Dec. 8, a group of activists arrived at Mayor Jacob Frey’s office to deliver an eviction notice to his door, symbolically evicting him from the city in an attempt to draw his attention to the issue and sway his decision to further displace the unhoused.

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