Border Patrol & Police Attack & Arrest Indigenous People Holding Ceremony at Border Patrol Checkpoint
PRESS RELEASE
Contact:
O’odham Anti Border Collective oabc1853@gmail.com
Defend O’odham Jewed Defendoodhamjewed@gmail.com
Oct. 12, 2020
Border Patrol and Arizona State Police Violently Attacked Peaceful, Non-Violent Indigenous Land Protection Ceremony
With Rubber Bullets and Tear Gas On Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Photos by Rafael Samanez attached, video available at https://vimeo.com/467449845
O’odham sacred land and water protectors held ceremony this morning at a border patrol checkpoint on unceded O’odham homelands to pray for sacred sites and graves demolished by the racist border wall. Border Patrol and Arizona State Troopers and Department of Public Safety attacked them with tear gas and rubber bullets, hitting at least one O’odham in prayer in the chest with rubber bullets and arresting at least eight Native Americans on Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2020; Highway 85, Hia Ced O’odham lands (Arizona) –
This morning at about 7am, roughly thirty O’odham sacred land and water protectors and allies held a peaceful action at a border patrol checkpoint on unceded O’odham lands to pray for sacred sites and burial grounds destroyed by the border wall & border militarization. The prayer ceremony was attended by O’odham families from all O’odham nations (Hia Ced O’odham, Tohono O’odham, and Akimel O’odham) including children. Covid-19 precautions were taken. This prayer ceremony marked Indigenous Peoples’ Day as O’odham continue to face violence from border militarization, including extensive abuses from border patrol against O’odham communities. During ceremony O’odham sang traditional songs, prayed, and attempted to discuss the Freedom Of Religion Act (1978), that decriminalized Native American religions and opened the path towards the protection of sacred sites, with members of Border Patrol and Arizona State Troopers and Department of Public Safety present to educate them on the context of Indigenous religious protections.
Border Patrol, State Troopers, and Arizona Department of Public Safety responded with violence to shut down the Indigenous prayer ceremony. Border Patrol, State Troopers, and Arizona Department of Public Safety ordered children and people with vulnerable health who were observing the ceremony from inside their vehicles out of their vehicles and then tear gassed them. Border Patrol, State Troopers, and Arizona Department of Public Safety then grabbed children who had been in vehicles and abducted them from their parents – stealing children from Indigenous parents for practicing their religion is a clear violation of the Freedom of Religion Act and the Indian Child Welfare Act.
After tear-gassing protectors and snatching children from their parents, Border Patrol, State Troopers, and AZ Department of Public Safety advanced on the crowd shooting O’odham peoples in prayer with rubber bullets, hitting an O’odham man in the chest. We are seeking information on his condition and the condition of others who were shot at and will provide updates as we receive them. Border Patrol, State Troopers, and Arizona Department of Public Safety then arrested at least eight land protectors and pursued others, including media observers and journalists.
“It’s obscene and offensive to us that local and state governments move to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day while the federal government blows up our sacred sites, steals our kids, militarily occupies our communities, and shoots at Native Americans praying to protect our land and ancestors from desecration. They want to appropriate our cultures but they don’t want us to practice our religions or protect our lands,” said one O’odham Auntie present at today’s ceremony.
We demand the following:
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Immediate release of all who were arrested today
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Immediate release of all minors abducted by the state today
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Information about and reparations for all who were injured today
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End the checkpoints and remove all Customs and Border Patrol agencies from O’odham lands.
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Immediate and indefinite discontinuation of border wall construction at Quitobaquito Springs and throughout O’odham territories.
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Immediate removal of the white supremacist border wall and restoration of the land.
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Immediate demilitarization of O’odham lands.
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Remove the Integrated Fixed Towers
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End racial profiling and harassment of Indigenous peoples
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End incarceration and deportation of O’odham people from O’odham homelands by border patrol
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End sexual and gender violence by border patrol
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End white supremacist attacks, incarceration, and deportation of refugees and migrants on Indigenous lands
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Supporting Indigenous autonomy against colonial borders
About:
O’odham Anti Border Collective is a grassroots collective of Akimel O’odham, Tohono O’odham, and Hia Ced O’odham tribal members and descendants committed to the unification of all O’odham peoples, regeneration of O’odham himdag (traditions, spirituality, language, and culture), and the protection of O’odham jewed (homelands) through the dismantling of colonial borders.
Defend O’odham Jewed* is an O’odham u’uwi (women) led grassroots movement and spiritual direct action campaign to protect the sacred O’odham homelands from desecration and violence.
*jewed means homelands in the O’odham language
Contact us oabc1853@gmail.com or Defendoodhamjewed@gmail.com
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Donate:
Cashapp: $DefendOodhamJewed
Venmo: @DefendOodhamJewed
PayPal: paypal.me/DefendOodhamJewed
We also have bail fund for land and water protectors here: www.gofundme.com/f/defend-
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Spread the word:
www.facebook.com/AntiBorderCollective/
Instagram: @OodhamAntiBorder, @DefendOodhamJewed
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Rejecting Indigenous Peoples’ Day of Tokenism
Hosts Klee and Bonn talk with some awesome guests & revisit our 2017 ‘zine “Uprooting Colonialism: The Limitations of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.” We dig into the questions, “How do whitewashed celebrations of Indigenous Peoples Day undermine decolonization?” and “What does it mean to be an anti-colonial abolitionist?”
Guests:
Amrah Salomón J. is a writer, artist, activist, and educator of Mexican, O’odham and Tohono O’odham, and European ancestry.
@oodhamantiborder, @defendoodhamjewed, Cashapp: $DefendOodhamJewed, Paypal.me/DefendOodhamJewed, Venmo: @DefendOodhamJewed
Kittie Kuntagion, @kittiekuntagion
Andrew Pedro, @desert.dweller.58 Got tired of seeing disapointing activist bullshit, now focused on music. Organizes metal/punk shows on and of the Rez.
Hosts:
Bonn: @bonnabella.xvx, Venmo: bonnabellaxvx
Klee: @kleebenally
About the podcast: Indigenous Action is an autonomous anti-colonial broadcast with unapologetic and claws-out analysis towards total liberation. We feature radical frontline Indigenous voices and dig deep into critical issues impacting our communities. So take your seat by this fire and may the bridges we burn together, light our way. www.indigenousaction.org/podcast
Email us at IAInfo@protonmail.com.
Subscribe, like, share on iTunes | Spotify, and Youtube.
Read the ‘zine here: https://www.indigenousaction.org/uprooting-colonialism-the-limitations-of-indigenous-peoples-day/
From the 2017 ‘zine: “…if the state dismantles these statues and proclaims Indigenous Peoples’ Days, what do we actually achieve if the structures and systems rooted in colonial violence remain intact? Is it merely political posturing or window dressing to diminish liberatory agitations? Our senses are heightened as most re-brandings of Columbus Day into IPD appear to whitewash ongoing colonial legacies… If the goal is for Indigenous autonomy, liberation of the land, people, and other beings, then why plead with our oppressors to merely acknowledge or recognize our existence?…To claim Indigenous Peoples’ Day as an act of decolonization is a failure of liberal assimilationists… Symbolically ending Columbus’ legacy while continuing to perpetuate and benefit from the violence of the ‘doctrine of discovery’ is just one more dead-end direction of Indigenous liberalism. If we understand that colonization has always been war, then why are we fighting a battle for recognition and affirmation through colonial power structures?… Indigenous Peoples’ Day, as a process of collusion with occupying state forces, risks becoming a colonial patriotic ritual more than anything that amounts to liberation.”
Direct action training, workshop, & panel discussion with Haul No! Protect the Peaks, Indigenous Action, & Louise Benally.
Friday, Oct 13th, 4p-8p
Free (bring a warm clothing/sleeping bag/tent donation for unsheltered relatives).
At Mayan Winds Coffee Emporium
2144 N 4th St. Flagstaff AZ
*Masks required!*
How do whitewashed celebrations of Indigenous Peoples’ Day undermine decolonization?
What ways can you directly support regional anti-colonial struggles?
Schedule:
4:00p-5:30p – Direct Action training
5:30p – Haul No! Resisting Nuclear Colonialism workshop
6:15p – Break for food (Provided, w gluten free & vegan options avail.)
6:45p – Panel Discussion: Supporting Regional Indigenous Resistance Struggles
8:30p – end
Celebrate and support ongoing frontline Indigenous resistance struggles!
This is a call for an Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage Against Colonialism on Sunday, October 9, 2022, everywhere.
We heard that mass actions are a bit out of fashion this season & lone wolfs or affinity groups are all the rage.
Counter the spectacle of the “good, respectable Indian” and their mundane celebrations of assimilation. Your ancestors invite you to embrace the veracious criminality of anti-colonial struggle and be smart (don’t get caught).
A banner drop? An attack on colonial symbols, monuments, etc. Spray paint? A broken window here, a burning xxxxxxx there? Be fierce and fabulously unpredictable and strike in the darkest part of the night (points if you use glitter). Even the smallest Indigenous dreams of liberation are greater than the settler nightmares we live everyday.
We won’t be making any lists or asking for emails this year due to a heightened sense for the need of greater security culture. Though we will post any securely and anonymously sent reports and pics in the aftermath.
In the spirit of Jane’s Revenge, abort colonialism. Colonizer (c)laws off our bodies!
– The insurrectionary anti-colonial invisible council of IPDR.
https://indigenouspeoplesdayofrage.org/
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