Take Action this Indigenous Peoples’ Day!

Protesters with mask stand in front of truck on the right. A tent with a banner that reads "Borders=Genocide - No Wall on Oodham Land" in the center. Border wall on the left.

Indigenous Peoples Day has been reclaimed by Indigenous Peoples, who have denounced columbus day as a celebration of genocide and colonialism.  This year, join us in taking powerful action on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Monday, October 12th, which will mark the official launch of the #LANDBACK Campaign.

On July 3rd, 2020, amidst uprisings to end police brutality and for Black Liberation, Indigenous land defenders reignited the fight for the Black Hills and to close Mt. Rushmore, a symbol of racism and white supremacy. Twenty one of those land defenders are still facing charges from protesting Trump’s visit to Mt. Rushmore. Meanwhile the defense of the ancestral homelands of the Lakota–Ȟesápa–has spurred an international movement. Join us in taking action to support #LandBack in this historic era of racist monuments and structures being pulled down. Let’s keep dismantling. Let’s keep building the power we need to transform white supremacy, get Indigenous land back to Indigenous peoples, and defend Black Lives!

Please watch and share this powerful 5 minute short film on #LandBack. This film puts the fight for the return of the Black Hills into context. This film also uplifts the disproportionate rates of imprisonment of Indigenous people and uplifts the connections between #LandBack and the Movement for Black Lives.

Hesapa – A Land Back Film

Actions to take on Indigenous People’s Day (Monday, October 12):

  1. Sign this petition demanding Mt. Rushmore and all Public Lands in the Black Hills be returned to the Oceti Sakowin
  2. Sign up for #LandBack campaign updates. Mobilize your folks and turn out for Indigenous Peoples’ Day actions. 
  3. Pressure your city, school, church, and other institutions to change the name to Indigenous Peoples’ Day and take down racist & colonial monuments.
  4. Donate to NDN collective’s LandBack campaign 
  5. Support organizing to ensure Native communities get out the vote and build power for the elections and beyond. Donate to the Native Voter Fund. “The Native vote in 2020 – both urban and rural – will be pivotal in Arizona, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina and Colorado. With a growing electorate in major swing states, investing in Native-led organizing is especially important in 2020 and beyond.” ~ Movement Voter Project & Native Voter Fund
  6. The colonial US-Mexico border divides O’odham peoples’ ancestral lands and Indigneous people are leading powerful resistance at two sites to stop Trump’s wall. Border operations have reached A’al Wappia/Quitobaquito Springs, hindering access to sacred land and water for the Hia-Ced O’odham.Show up in solidarity with Indigenous frontline communities resisting Trump’s Border Wall by donating to these two funds:
    •  Donate to direct action and O’odham Anti Border Collective via Venmo (@DefendOodhamJewed) or Cashapp ($DefendOodhamJewed). 
    • Kumeyaay people were arrested for defending their unceded land against Trump’s Border Wall.  Support the Kumyaay defense movement by donating to support them. 

In the San Francisco Bay Area, you can:

  •  Pay your Shuumi Tax
  • Demand city and counties pay their Shuumi tax
  • Demand city and counties rematriate sacred sites: Sequoia Point, Lisjan Creek, West Berkeley Shellmound
  • Demand no evictions on Stolen Land, house people in vacant homes
  • Check out the native land hotline:
    • “Don’t know whose land you are on? Text [City, State] to 907-312-5085”

We know that the work to dismantle colonization on this continent is work we must do every day. Indigenous Peoples’ Day is an important movement moment and day when it is critical to center Indigenous sovereignty and the fight for #LandBack!

Sign up here for the Indigenous Solidarity Network listserv, a collaborative project of Catalyst Project, SURJ and others.

Two protesters with masks hold a sign in the dark. Sign reads: "Defend Oodham Jeved - No Wall"
Photos from O’odham Anti Border Collective on Facebook