Tag: indigenous

Native American Man Went To Police Brutality Rally, Killed By Police Next Day

A man who participated in an anti-police brutality march and rally in Rapid City, South Dakota, on Friday was shot and killed by police a day later, according to reports.

Rapid City Police identified the victim as Allen Locke, 30, of Rapid City. At about 6 p.m. Saturday, police were dispatched to a subdivision known as Lakota Community Homes to remove a person from a residence there, theRapid City Journalreported.

Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom, who was on site investigating the shooting, told the Rapid City Journal that Officer Anthony Meirose fired his weapon after Locke allegedly charged him with a knife. Police are saying Locke was shot up to five times by Officer Meirose. Locke was pronounced dead at the scene.

Not Your Mascots

A coalition of Native organizations announce a march and rally to protest against the Washington NFL football team at FedEx Field in Landover, MD, on December 28, 2014.

Several proponents of the anti-mascot movement, including the National Congress of American Indians, the National Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media, Oneida Nation’s Change the Mascot campaign, the American Indian Movement, and Not Your Mascots, Inc. invite tribal nations, organizations, and allies to join in a demonstration against institutional racism.

As the Washington team’s season comes to a dismal close, we call on Dan Snyder to claim a simple win: Change the Name.

Change the Name indigenous

DOJ To Allow Native Americans To Grow, Sell Marijuana

Opening the door for what could be a lucrative and controversial new industry on some native American reservations, the Justice Department on Thursday will tell U.S. attorneys to not prevent tribes from growing or selling marijuana on the sovereign lands, even in states that ban the practice.

The new guidance, released in a memorandum, will be implemented on a case-by-case basis and tribes must still follow federal guidelines, said Timothy Purdon, the U.S. attorney for North Dakota and the chairman of the Attorney General’s Subcommittee on native American Issues.

It remains to be seen how many reservations will take advantage of the policy. Many tribes are opposed to legalizing pot on their lands, and federal officials will continue to enforce the law in those areas, if requested.

indigenous Land Rights Law Marijuana

The Art Of The Indigenous Protest Movement

These issues are so large it can be hard to know what action to take for individuals invested in anti-oppressive politics. Sometimes it’s a matter of creating spaces for dialogue to occur among our own peers and communities. Back in August, a group of Montreal based artists have done just that by organizing a convergence called Decolonizing Street Art, which brought together artists, activists, youths and community members from Montreal and beyond to engage in making art and in conversation with a focus on decolonization.

The artworks created during the convergence can be found in the Petite-Patrie neighbourhood in the general area bound by Beaubien to Jean-Talon and Parc to St-Urbain, and include works by organizers and Montrealers Cam and Zola, Swarm (Toronto), Jessica Sabogal (San Francisco), Bandit (L.A.), lmnopi (Brooklyn), Chris Bose (Kamloops) and Nigit’stil Norbert (Yellowknife).

Art Canada Colonialism indigenous

Building Bridges Between Ancient Wisdom And Modern Science

The Powerhouse Science Center is one of three science museums in the country, along with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, to participate in Native Universe, whose goal is to build bridges between the two diverse approaches to understanding our world, particularly in evaluating and dealing with climate change. It is the successor to a previous four-year project, Cosmic Serpent, that began the collaborative process.

“This is so beneficial to us,” said Sarah Margoles, director of education at the Powerhouse. “We serve such a diverse community with so many Native American neighbors. How can we say we serve the whole Four Corners region when we only use this one specific way of learning, this one specific way of teaching, which is from the perspective of Western science?”

Education History indigenous Science

Columbus Day: Celebrating A Brutal War Criminal

The US Should Not Be Celebrating the Legacy of Columbus: Slave Trade, Sex Trade, Ethnic Cleansing, Mass Slaughter, Rape, War Crimes, Mutilation and Carnage

Today America celebrates a man who committed obscene slavery, rape and genocide, comparable to the horror perpetrated by Adolf Hitler. Indian Country Today Media Network lists a few of Columbus’ most offensive cruelties inflicted upon the Caribbean inhabitants.

1. He cut off the hands of roughly 10,000 Natives in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Columbus mandated every indigenous Taino over the age of 14 provide him with a “hawk’s bell” of gold every three months. Those who failed to meet orders were “punished by having their hands cut off” and were “left to bleed to death,” Columbus’s son Fernando reported.

2. Columbus punished minor offenses by cutting off Natives’ noses and ears.

3. Columbus combatted resistance by releasing hunting dogs to rip Indians apart . . .

Columbus First Nations indigenous

Seattle Votes To Recognize Indigenous People, Not Columbus

The Seattle City Council unanimously voted on Monday to redesignate the federal Columbus Day holiday as Indigenous Peoples’ Day to reflect that Native Americans were living on the continent before Christopher Columbus’ 15th Century arrival.

Mayor Ed Murray was expected to swiftly sign the measure, making Seattle the second major U.S. city after Minneapolis to mark Indigenous Peoples’ Day on the second Monday in October, the same day as Columbus Day.

The change will take effect for the upcoming October 13 holiday, the city council said.

The legislation acknowledges that Native Americans were already living in the Americas before Columbus’ arrival and says Seattle, named after a Native American tribal chief, was built atop indigenous peoples’ homes.

Colonialism indigenous Law Seattle

Idle No More: Why We Don’t Celebrate Christopher Columbus

We don’t celebrate Columbus Day in this house, and we never will. It’s not that we don’t enjoy holidays when they come around. We love holidays around here as much as anyone, but there are some holidays that, in my opinion, should not be celebrated.

Columbus Day is one of those holidays I believe should not be celebrated … ever!

I’d consider celebrating Columbus Day in this house if it was treated the same way we observe Remembrance Day. There are far more similarities between Columbus Day and Remembrance Day than there are between Columbus Day and happy celebrations like the 4th of July or Christmas.

Colonialism indigenous Racism

A Colonized Ally Meets A Decolonized Ally

1. A colonized ally stands in the front. A decolonized ally stands behind.

2. A colonized ally stands behind an oppressive patriarchy. A decolonized ally stands behind women and children.

3. A colonized ally makes assumptions about the process. A decolonized ally values there may be principles in the process they are not aware of.

4. A colonized ally wants knowledge now! A decolonized ally values their own relationship to the knowledge.

5. A colonized ally finds an Indigenous token. A decolonized ally is more objective in the process.

6. A colonized ally equates their money and hard work on the land as meaning land ownership. A decolonized ally knows that land ownership is more about social hierarchy and privilege.

Ally colonization indigenous

Solidarity Walk Draws Attention To Missing & Murdered Women

Reports involving missing and murdered indigenous women have become a depressingly frequent staple of Canadian news.

But when Emil Bell saw a photo on Facebook of recently slain 15-year-old Tina Fontaine — whose body was recovered from the Red River in Winnipeg last week — something struck a nerve for the Cree elder.

“I saw the picture of Tina in Manitoba … and then it hit me,” Bell said. “Right about then I said, ‘Well, I’ve got do something about this.’

“We were quite busy fighting the tar sands,” he added. “But then I think this is also very important that we do get the federal government, (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper, to do something.”

On Thursday, Bell, 73, arrived in Prince Albert for the latest stop in his 400-kilometre solidarity walk to raise awareness of missing and murdered aboriginal women and to promote the need for a public inquiry.

Canada indigenous Women's Rights

Focus On Stopping Tar Sands, Not Just KXL

Thanks to the courageous and indefatigable efforts of pipeline fighters everywhere, the tide has finally turned on Keystone XL. As it becomes increasingly clear that Keystone XL’s northern leg is not going through, it is time to set our sights on ending all tar sands exploitation.

The Obama administration’s latest election year delay on Keystone North is not a victory, but the dominoes continue to fall. Earlier this year, a citizen lawsuit denied TransCanada a route through Nebraska. Last month, it lost its permit through South Dakota. Now it faces a gauntlet of “Cowboys & Indians” vowing to stop it in its tracks. . . .We need to heed the indictment of the tar sands industry issued by Ponca Nation matriarch and grandmother Casey Camp-Horinek of Oklahoma: “We’re suffering from environmental genocide from this extractive industry.”

Energy Environment indigenous Indigenous Rights KXL Pipelines Tar Sands

40 Years Later First Nations Occupation Remembered

A gathering in Kenora this weekend will mark the 40th anniversary of the Anicinabe Park occupation.

Dozens of young First Nations people from across the continent, including members of the American Indian Movement, joined the protest in 1974.

They were demanding better living conditions, education and access to land.

One of the original protestors, Lorraine Major, said the people who were there with her should be remembered and honoured.

“I’d like to remember the people that have passed,” she said.

“They had the guts to stand up for their rights. They had the guts to speak out against leadership.”

Events are planned in Kenora throughout the weekend, to mark the anniversary.

First Nations indigenous Indigenous Rights

People’s Social Forums Planned Across Canada

Indigenous histories teach us that we are all part of an intricate creation; where all beings carry their own bundle of gifts and responsibilities to creation. Our bundles help us at all times of our existence and give us tools in order to live a sustainable and fulfilling life. Creation is formed in a universal order that facilitates balance, interconnections, and happiness for all life. Essentially, creation is based on a relationship-making structure to maintain that balance and mino bemaadziwin: good way of living.

The Peoples’ Social Forum, to be held in Ottawa, August 21-24, 2014, is about relationship building, bringing people together who don’t usually work together but who might be working on common causes, changing the nature of future relationships, honouring treaties, changing the structure of how things are done on this land, and respecting the teachings that the land has for us.

Arts Canada indigenous Revolution

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