Indigenous Activism

Fear Paralyzes: Courage And Fortitude Will Get Us Through Together

January 27, 2025 Charmaine White Face, Popular Resistance. Strategize! Donald Trump, Indigenous Activism, Pine Ridge, Spirituality, Violence

Early in the morning, a few days ago, I received a phone call from Standing Rock. My brother said he had heard that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) was picking up people on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He also said that he heard the Proud Boys (a militant group that was involved in the White House raid in 2020 and now pardoned by the US President Trump) were driving their pickups all over Rapid City. Then I knew why he called so early. He was worried about me. I laughed and said "No, none of that is true. I'll talk to my granddaughter who lives on the rez and she'll tell me.

Indigenous Activists Honor Endangered Orcas At Governor’s Inauguration

January 19, 2025 Aife Pasquale, Fight Back! News. Resist! Endangered species, Environment, Indigenous Activism, Washington, whales

Olympia, WA – Indigenous leaders and environmentalists held a ceremony on January 15, outside Governor Bob Ferguson’s inauguration, to honor the Southern Resident Orca population, which is suffering from environmental collapse. Nearly 100 people from around the state gathered to share in grief the tremendous loss that occurred at the turn of the new year. On December 21, an orca was born to Tahlequah, who made international headlines in 2018 when her baby passed away and she continued to carry it with her for 17 days and over 1000 miles.

Permit for Pipeline Reconstruction Near Sacred Site Rescinded

January 10, 2025 Akičita Šuŋka-Wakaŋ Ska, Unicorn Riot. Resist! Indigenous Activism, Indigenous Rights, Minnesota, Pipelines, Sacred sites, St. Paul, Victory

St. Paul, MN — Minnesota regulators have rescinded a controversial permit allowing Magellan Pipeline Co. to reconstruct a petroleum pipeline near Pipestone National Monument, following sustained opposition from tribal nations, community groups, and environmental advocates. The decision, made during a recent Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) public hearing, reflects mounting pressure to safeguard the sacred site and its surrounding environment. The PUC unanimously voted to revoke the route permit granted in Oct. 2024 and favored the RA-01 pipeline route (alternative proposed by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe — 13.1 miles long), citing inadequate tribal consultation and incomplete cultural and archaeological surveys.

Native Vote Calls On Biden To Remove Medals Given To Calvary Members Of Massacre At Wounded Knee

December 30, 2024 Levi Rickert, Native News Online. Resist! Indigenous Activism, Joe Biden, Massacre, Medals of Honor, Wounded Knee

In a letter addressed to President Joe Biden, dated just two days before the 134th anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre, Four Directions Native Vote called on the president to rescind the Medals of Honor awarded to members of the U.S. 7th Cavalry involved in the massacre. The letter, co-authored by Oliver and Barbra Semans, revisits the tragic events of December 29, 1890, when Chief Spotted Elk (also known as Chief Big Foot) and more than 300 unarmed Lakota men, women, and children were brutally killed at Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Hope In Turbulent Times: Native Leaders Take The Long View

December 26, 2024 Stephanie Woodard, Resilience. Organize! Education, Indigenous Activism, Landback Movement, Sovereignty, Youth

Representatives from three tribes discuss how their communities have learned to endure by celebrating connections. In the wake of the 2024 election, Barn Raiser talks to prominent Native leaders and mentors, who tell us in edited interviews how and why their communities have long endured, even in divisive and unsettled times. Right now, all of us who live together on this earth face not just political instability but the “dual crises of climate change and social injustice,” according to Fawn Sharp, citizen of the Quinalt Indian Nation, in Taholah, Washington, and former president of the National Congress of American Indians.

Wisconsin Approves Pipeline Reroute Near Bad River Reservation

November 29, 2024 Ray Levy Uyeda, Prism. Educate! Enbridge, Indigenous Activism, Pipelines, Reservations, Water Defenders, Water Pollution, Wisconsin

According to Indigenous water protectors, it’s not a matter of whether a pipeline will rupture and leak, but when. The federal government’s own data supports this, with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration reporting that there were 1.5 incidents per day in 2023. But in northern Wisconsin on the Bad River Reservation, the incontrovertible claim that the safest way to build a pipeline is not to build one at all isn’t being heeded. On Nov. 14, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) granted the Canadian pipeline corporation Enbridge the permits needed to proceed with a plan to build a 41-mile section of pipeline around the Bad River Reservation.

Indigenous Spiritual Walk Protests Last Conventional Uranium Mill

November 2, 2024 Alex Binder, Unicorn Riot. Resist! Indigenous Activism, Sacred sites, Uranium, Utah

White Mesa, UT — The White Mesa Mill was built in 1979 with plans to process uranium ore for 15 years. With the facility now well past its initial operational lifespan, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, other Indigenous tribes and allies continue their call for it to be shut down and cleaned up. On October 12, over 75 people participated in an annual spiritual walk in opposition to the mill, which is the last conventional uranium processing plant in operation in the United States. Participants met at the White Mesa Community Center in southern Utah at 11 a.m., then walked five miles north on the shoulder of U.S. Highway 191 to rally outside the mill.

Why We Celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day

October 14, 2024 Native News Online. Educate! American genocide, Columbus Day, Indigenous Activism, Indigenous Peoples Day

On Monday, Americans will celebrate the millions of people who have lived on this land since time immemorial instead of a lone man who never stepped foot on North American soil. That’s because Americans — including Native Americans — will be celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day rather than Columbus Day. In October 2021, President Joe Biden issued the first-ever presidential proclamation declaring the second Monday in October Indigenous People’s Day to celebrate and honor the invaluable contributions and resilience of Native Americans. The proclamation was the culmination of a decades-long effort by Native Americans to get the United States to cast aside Columbus Day in favor of honoring Indigenous communities and their inherent stewardship over the land.

White Mesa Indigenous Community And Supporters Rally Against Uranium Mill

October 9, 2024 Sean Summers, Unicorn Riot. Resist! Indigenous Activism, Salt Lake City, Uranium, Utah

Salt Lake City, UT — On Friday, October 4, members of the White Mesa Ute community and supporters rallied at the Utah State Capitol against uranium transport and processing on Indigenous lands. White Mesa Concerned Community and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe co-organized the rally demanding the closure and clean up of the White Mesa Uranium Mill in southern Utah. The mill, which is the only one in operation in the United States, processes uranium from nearby mines, and serves as a uranium disposal site for projects across the country. Indigenous community members who live near the mill appealed to state agencies today to close the mill, citing the known and potential health hazards that uranium poses.

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.

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