#indigenouspeoplesday
Colonial Statues Fall as Indigenous People’s Day of Rage Takes to the Streets
Published
3 years agoon
By
admin
This report was written in collaboration with It’s Going Down, please follow their work for more anarchist action, resources, and analysis.
Answering a call for an Indigenous People’s Day of Rage Against Colonialism, people across so-called North America responded with a variety of actions, ranging from banner drops, the posting of anti-colonial posters and stickers, militant street marches, and in some cities, the pulling down of colonial statues.
From the original action call:
As the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately ravages Indigenous communities, we cannot ignore the reality that the plague of colonialism has made our peoples more susceptible to this virus. From the fracking and poisoning of our water, mining and burning of coal, oil pipeline spills, abandoned uranium mines, garbage incinerators, building of apartheid walls, the damming of rivers, and continuing ecological devastation, our health is intrinsically tied to the health of our sacred lands. Colonizers are coming to terms with global warming, yet we have been on the front lines of this war against Mother Earth since the first colonial invasions of our lands.
We have grown frustrated with the uninspired assimilationist politics of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Indigenous non-profit corporations and organizations attempt to pacify and assimilate our Peoples further into settler colonial politics. They attempt to police our rage and stifle movements of liberation (as they did at Standing Rock). They are content with hollow land acknowledgments and empty gestures that do nothing to challenge and change the actual conditions of suffering our people face. We do not believe that we can vote our way out of this crisis. We will not beg politicians to reform the very system that is predicated on our genocide and destruction of our Earth Mother. We urge for something more effective towards the undoing of colonialism in our lands. Please read the ‘zine Uprooting Colonialism: The Limitations of Indigenous Peoples’ Day for more insight.
We have celebrated and supported the rage of spontaneous and powerful Black Lives Matters uprisings that have brought down monuments to colonizers, and brought racist institutions like the the racist Washington NFL team to their knees. In this spirit and in the spirit of our militant ancestors who attacked colonial ideas and institutions, we call on all those who share our frustrations and our rage to join us. For missing or murdered Womxn, Girls, Trans and Two-Spirit relatives. Against resource colonialism. Against colonial borders. Against the settler colonial police-state. For total liberation.
Over 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance
The day of action took place against the backdrop of not only the ongoing uprising that began in late May following the police murder of George Floyd, but also the growth and continuation of a variety of Native struggles happening across what is widely known as Turtle Island.
As #COVID19 cases spike + Trump moves to slash federal support for testing + unemployment, we talked with folks from Kinłani Mutual Aid about how they’re building a growing indigenous network + organizing in Diné + Hopi communities hit hardest by #COVID19. https://t.co/OjwcXXRFEJ pic.twitter.com/G0sKpa98oF
— It’s Going Down (@IGD_News) June 25, 2020
In the so-called US, this includes the ongoing resistance in O’odham lands along the so-called US border to wall construction and militarization which is destroying sacred sites and burial grounds and is led by the O’odham Anti-Borders Collective. Actions against the border wall continue despite heavily police violence and continued arrests. There has also been an explosion of Indigenous mutual aid networks which have been organized in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In so-called Canada, the struggle on Wet’suwet’en territory against the RCMP and the Coastal GasLink pipeline is once again heating up, while the Tiny House Warriors on Secwepemc territory continue to fight the TransMountain Pipeline, and members of the Six Nations have launched an ongoing land reclamation struggle known as #1492LandBackLane. The EZLN has also issued a new communique, fleshing out their plans for the future.
#ThisIsAmerica #75: In this episode we spoke with @KanahusFreedom about how people are building #tinyhomes as a way to house people, build community + also stop the construction of the Kinder Morgan #TransMountainPipeline on unceded Secwepemc territory. https://t.co/KnRqHbueeX pic.twitter.com/oxfL8vzrAI
— It’s Going Down (@IGD_News) May 29, 2019
Meanwhile, the Trump White House issued a statement celebrating KKKolumbus Day and attacking “radicals” tearing down colonial and Confederate statues, attempting yet again to vilify the tens of millions of people who have taken to the streets against white supremacy since May.
As The Hill wrote:
President Trump on Monday bemoaned “radical activists” for their criticisms of Christopher Columbus in his holiday proclamation for Columbus Day.
The president issued the proclamation on Friday but tweeted it out on Columbus Day. In the statement, Trump praises the Italian explorer for opening “a new chapter in world history” more than 500 years ago and representing a “legendary figure” for the country’s 17 million Italian Americans.
Later in the proclamation, Trump condemns the “radical activists” who “have sought to undermine Christopher Columbus’s legacy.”
“These extremists seek to replace discussion of his vast contributions with talk of failings, his discoveries with atrocities, and his achievements with transgressions,” he said. “Rather than learn from our history, this radical ideology and its adherents seek to revise it, deprive it of any splendor, and mark it as inherently sinister.”
In Portland, Oregon, Trump and neoliberals alike seized on the continued protests, where on Saturday, anti-colonial demonstrators broke windows and tore down statues of Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, leaving behind slogans such as “Stolen Land” and “Dakota 38,” a reference to 38 Dakota that Lincoln approved to have hanged in the largest mass execution ever in the so-called United States. Roosevelt once stated, “I don’t go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of every 10 are …”
Ironically, only hours before, around 50 far-Right protesters rallied in Downtown Portland for a “Back the Blue” rally, and after harassing houseless people at an encampment, then attacked people on the street with projectile weapons while the police looked on and threatened to arrest counter-protesters.
This far-Right rally didn’t even make the news outside of social media posts, yet local and national media was quick to play up the “violent” protest which brought down non-living statues in a “Day of Rage.” Ted Wheeler denounced the “anarchic behavior” of the “obscene” acts, while Trump called on the FBI to crack-down, which was directly followed by the FBI and DHS making several arrests. The media also attempted to tie a seemingly unrelated shooting which happened away from the protest, to the demonstration itself. Ironically, this fear mongering comes only days after a new report has been released about systematic police brutality against demonstrators at the hands of local law enforcement.
Week after far-Right murder plot uncovered in #Michigan, yesterday heavily armed Trump supporters marched in #Portland, shooting projectiles at people on the streets while police provided protection. Media largely silent – as Trump + Wheeler condemn statues being toppled. https://t.co/xp0JtWIKzZ
— It’s Going Down (@IGD_News) October 13, 2020
Despite the media obsession with the powerful mobilizations in Portland, the range of actions that took place shows the growing resonance of anti-colonial ideas and actions outside of just large coastal cities. In so-called Santa Fe, a three day occupation ended with a colonial statue being torn down. In Kinłání, so-called Flagstaff, around 100 took to the streets in a militant anti-colonial and anti-capitalist march. In so-called Utica, New York, a rally was held connecting the genocide enacted by Columbus and the 2013 death of a local Native teen at the hands of local police. Other events ranged from cleaning up a river area and making outside art, to holding outside public gatherings, and carrying out banner drops.
Part of a History of Anti-Colonial Direct Action
Across the so-called Americas, there is vast opposition to Columbus Day, a celebration which has it’s roots following the lynching of 11 Italian immigrants in New Orleans in the 1890s. In an effort to put a wet blanket on the outrage surrounding the killings, avoid a war with Italy, bring Italian immigrants into whiteness, and also solidify the myth of Columbus as a central pillar in the construction of the United States – celebrations of Columbus day began to be observed. By 1968, Columbus Day was recognized as a federal holiday, the same year that the American Indian Movement (AIM) was formed.
Since becoming a federal holiday, there has been increasing opposition and direct resistance to Columbus Day. This resistance has taken many forms, from mass marches and direct actions to disrupt Columbus Day celebrations and parades, the targeting of Columbus statues with graffiti and paint, and in recent years, the tearing down of entire monuments. This continued wave of anti-colonial action has been coupled with a growing understanding by the wider population of the brutality, genocide, and enslavement of the Taíno people and others at the hands of Columbus and his men.
“I think they represent oppression.”
A statue of Christopher Columbus has been removed in Mexico City ahead of #ColumbusDay, as colonial statues globally are being recognized as symbols of racism or minorities’ oppression pic.twitter.com/2Q8puQj9SR
— Bloomberg QuickTake (@QuickTake) October 12, 2020
In the wake of the George Floyd uprising, dozens of cities rushed to take down their remaining Columbus statues, while other cities moved to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day. But while Democratic Party leaders hoped to placate the growing resistance in the streets, many on the Right, especially Trump, have simply doubled-down on their support for the holiday while calling for the jailing of “ANTIFA,” “BLM,” and “rioters.”
But the recent comments from neoliberal Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and fascists like Trump mirror each other and show that whether the settler-colonial State embraces an attempt at “reconciliation” with colonialism or seeks to march forward in its image: the system of global capitalism continues a trajectory of ecocide and land theft. With Indigenous struggles continuing across Turtle Island in the face of escalating colonial violence, this is a critical time to build growing networks and associations of solidarity, mutual aid, infrastructure, and capacity for sustained action for the long haul.
Reported Actions on Indigenous People’s Day of Rage Against Colonialism
Portland, OR: Statues of Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln torn down. Militant march of several hundred takes to the streets.
Activists then smashed the windows of the Oregon Historical Society building and tagged the exterior.
PSU’s Campus Public Safety building also had its windows broken. In 2018 PSU security shot and killed Jason Washington, a Black man, as he was breaking up a fight. pic.twitter.com/KGbBj7PCl4— Daniel V. Media (@danielvmedia) October 12, 2020
We stand in solidarity with Indigenous peoples against the destruction of sacred lands, patriarchal violence against native womxn, trans and two spirit peoples, the exploitation of the environment for profit, and colonial police state borders. Towards total liberation! pic.twitter.com/JfnYRJqx6R
— Symbiosis PDX (@Symbiosis_PDX) October 12, 2020
San Rafael, CA: Junipero Serra statue torn down and graffitied with paint and slogans.
Junipero Serra statue just came down in San Rafael CA. #statuesmustfall pic.twitter.com/jlTt673XwZ
— Robert Ovetz (@OvetzRobert) October 13, 2020
San Jose, CA: Banner drops.
?Received these from a banner drop over 101.
Solidarity from occupied Ohlone land (so-called San Jose). On this indigenous peoples day of rage against colonialism, we stand in solidarity with all those confronting past and present colonial violence. #indigenouspeoplesday pic.twitter.com/MngthZiYcY
— Confrontaciones (@confrontacion_s) October 11, 2020
San Mateo, CA: Junipero Serra statue vandalized with red paint, slogans; anti-colonial anarchists release communique which reads:
From so-called “San Mateo, California,” unceeded Ramaytush and Ohlone land, we strive as settlers to act in solidarity with the ongoing Indigenous resistance that has taken place on this land in the past 500 years.
Junipero Serra, an 18th century roman catholic missionary, was a notable perpetrator of these atrocities. Under his leadership, tens of thousands of Indigenous people were forcibly subjugated and brutalized, using the several missions that Serra established as the predominant tool through which to enact this coercion and extreme violence. This act of vandalism intends to condemn the catholic church as an entity as well, which is wholly responsible for these heinous acts.
The genocide of the Indigenous people of Turtle Island is ongoing. We have seen just a small sample of the eventualities of this colonial, white supremactist, patricarchial violence play out in concrete ways in so-called California, with the consequences of environmental degredation and climate disaster manifesting in devastating fires over the last few months.
SOURCE: indybay.org
84 racist/colonial monuments have come down and stayed down over this Hot Summer. The destruction of these mostly confederate and colonial monuments have been viewed as a major threat to the illusion of order in this land, as witnessed in the repressive executive order that promises 10 years in prison for anyone who attacks the “legitimacy of our institutions” through the vandalism of monuments. Statues and monuments are symbols that reinforce a particular relationship to historical memory. When they are torn down, they signify the relationship between governed and government, the very idea of nationhood, being toppled.
The state has always acted in the interest of colonizers like Serra and against Indigenous, Black, Brown, and other oppressed people. We see this familiar dynamic play out in the state’s response to the COVID pandemic, where working people are left with no resources and incarcerated people are left to die in prison; in the lack of response to the climate crisis as fires rage across the West Coast; and in the State’s attempts to brutally repress the Black Liberation Movement and uprising that have erupted in the last 5 months.
We are in an unprecedented moment as trust erodes against the state. Now is the time for a decentralized insurgency to emerge and attack the infrastructure and culture of white supremacy. We do not consent to be governed.
Love & Rage,
-some anarchists
Reno, NV: Banners drop on Washoe County GOP and DNC headquarters. A community celebration also featured a “river cleanup, the artistic reclamation of the Believe plaza, and a march on UNR’s John Mackay statue later in the afternoon.”
#IndigenousDayofRage banner dropped in front of Washoe County GOP + DNC headquarters in #Reno. Banner reads: “Colonialism and Genocide Did Not Die, It Became a Bi-Partisan Effort.” pic.twitter.com/SRiW66ICsL
— It’s Going Down (@IGD_News) October 12, 2020
Santa Fe, NM: After an occupation of Santa Fe Plaza by a coalition of Tewa, Indigenous peoples and their allies which lasted several days demanded that the Mayor tear down a racist colonial monument at the center of town, people took matters into their own hands and tore the obelisk which celebrated the murder of ‘Savage Indians.’ Police responded by putting demonstrators in choke-holds and shooting off tear-gas. Alan Webber, the town’s Mayor, ironically responded to people opposed to a monument of mass murder by condemning “people taking the law into their own hands.”
Kinłání, So-Called Flagstaff: Militant anti-colonial, anti-fascist march through the streets. Read full report here.
People in the streets of #Kinłání – so-called Flagstaff – for #IndigenousDayofRage. pic.twitter.com/pHSs3m3gwR
— It’s Going Down (@IGD_News) October 12, 2020
Occupied O’odham Lands: Riot police and border patrol attack indigenous mobilization against border wall construction. Donate to the bail-fund here.
This morning O’odham activists were tear-gassed & shot with rubber bullets while blocking a border patrol checkpoint. Eight people were arrested & two minors taken into custody.
Cashapp: $DefendOodhamJewed
Venmo: @DefendOodhamJewedVideo from O’odham Anti Border Collective: pic.twitter.com/kZJsiEQkdN
— Maxie Adler (@maxie_adler) October 12, 2020
Pueblo, CO: Columbus statue vandalized.
The Columbus Statue in Pueblo has been vandalized with red paint early this morning. The fire department is currently cleaning it up. PD is investigating. @KOAA pic.twitter.com/vFQFHnc1zK
— Dez Rowe (@DezRowe5) October 11, 2020
Tampa, FL: Crowd gathers, covers Columbus statue in bloody hand prints; paint. Holds rally.
Minneapolis, MN: Banner placed up outside of squatted garden that has now been fenced off.
#Minneapolis: Multiple events were organized & several banners were hung in the city today to celebrate #IndigenousPeoplesDay.
The pictured “Make America Indigenous Again! #LandBack” banner was hung outside of the now-fenced-in Lake Street Growth Space squatted garden. pic.twitter.com/JbX9NryXj7
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) October 13, 2020
Chicago, IL: Chicago Blackhawks Monument vandalized.
good morning, zhigaagoong pic.twitter.com/mLZ5z7pLok
— no racist mascots (@zhigaagoong) October 12, 2020
Brooklyn, NY: “About 70 protesters gathered at McCarren Park for an Indigenous Day of Rage demonstration. Protesters are burning fake money and logs that represent the Amazon rain forest, which lost more than 4.6 million acres from devastating fires last year.”
About 70 protesters are gathered at McCarren Park for an Indigenous Day of Rage demonstration. Protesters are burning fake money and logs that represent the Amazon rain forest, which lost more than 4.6 million acres from devastating fires last year. pic.twitter.com/WossSNBQLm
— NYC Protest Updates 2020 (@protest_nyc) October 11, 2020
Utica, NY: “On Saturday afternoon, a protester climbed the Christopher Columbus statue at the intersection of Memorial Parkway and Mohawk Street in Utica and affixed it with a white sheet and a pointed hood. Other protesters chanted “Columbus is a murderer!”, “Black Lives Matter” and “Native Lives Matter.” In the week before the protest, the Columbus statue had been vandalized twice.
SOURCE: Observer-Dispatch, Alex Cooper
Troy, NY: Columbus statue vandalized.
Providence, RI: Freeway blocked with U-Haul.
Several people were arrested in Providence on Monday night after blocking Route 95 near the Providence Place Mall. Protesters parked a U-Haul truck and a car, blocking all lanes on the northbound highway for over 7 minutes. In all, there were around a dozen people on the highway, chanting and unfurling a banner that read, “A Genocide Happened Here, Rhode Island is Guilty,” an apparent reference to the celebration of Columbus.
Protesters launched two fireworks on the highway, then left of their own accord. The U-Haul was quickly located by Rhode Island State Police officers near Exit 23. Around 20 police vehicles surrounded the U-Haul van and 7 arrests were made in relation to the action.
This protest was the third part of a 12 hour day of action organized by Indigenous peoples and local abolitionists in Rhode Island to demand that the State recognize Indigenous Peoples Day and make Columbus Day obsolete.
SOURCE: @UpriseRI
Algonquin Traditional Territory: March and rally.
Mexico City: Indigenous Otomis living in Mexico City took over the facilities of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI) today. INPI “doesn’t respect or recognize indigenous autonomy, their self-determination, nor their forms of organization.”
#Mexico Indigenous Otomis living in Mexico City took over the facilities of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI) today. INPI “doesn’t respect or recognize indigenous autonomy, their self-determination, nor their forms of organization.” Solidarity! #EZLN ? ❤️ pic.twitter.com/tBEHOYNAZQ
— Voices in Movement (@VIM_Media) October 13, 2020
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Indigenous Peoples’ Day of Rage 2022
Published
9 months agoon
September 14, 2022By
admin
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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Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage 2021: Action Report
Published
2 years agoon
October 14, 2021By
admin
Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage 2021: Action Report
From www.Indigenouspeoplesdayofrage.org
(More pics and info to be added as reports come in)
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
From up north in so-called Edmonton, AB down to “Tampa, Florida” and spanning Turtle Island from Sacramento, CA to Washington D.C. – resisters everywhere threw down on Sunday, Oct. 10th, 2021 (plus few days before and after) for Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage (Against Colonialism) – Round Two.
We saw banner drops, militant marches, paint attacks on settler institutions, and a lot of discomfort on colonizers faces before the day even began. Apparently, the politicians including mayors of cities hit hard by last year’s IPDoR actions penciled in overtime for their thinning blue lines while members of the clergy peeked out of windows with trepidation as they sat in round-the-clock vigils anticipating their comeuppance. It was indeed a good day to be Indigenous – not so great of a day to be a colonial relic, as evidenced by Washington DC’s statue of the infamous genocidal maniac Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Park which had “EXPECT US” spray painted on its base in reference to the classic slogan of Indigenous resistance, “Respect us or expect us.”
As monuments to colonizers around the globe have been vandalized, smashed, and/or ceremoniously thrown into rivers over the past couple years – it was great to see Andrew Jackson inducted into the club! Along with the Columbus statue in Tampa, FL and Abraham Lincoln’s statue in so-called Bennington, Vermont (not pictured).
The rubble that is the 3rd Precinct, burned to the ground in last years George Floyd protests, was decorated with an “Avenge Indigenous Children” banner to acknowledge the thousands of lives lost in boarding schools and residential schools across the continent during late 1800’s through mid-1900’s.
The Southwest saw militant marches demanding No More Stolen Sisters on behalf of the MMIWG2ST campaign and a rally calling out the mascotization of Native images used by a long-time racist ass business in Durango, CO. In occupied Kinłani (“Flagstaff, Arizona”), a rally and march led to the shutting down of major intersections for a radical round dance that ensnarled traffic. A colonial statue was vandalized and smoke devices were set off throughout the downtown for some anti-colonial mayhem.
Meanwhile, over on the West Coast, freeway overpasses hosted banner drops from occupied California and up through KKKanada. Folx in occupied San Rafael demanded that the city drop the charges of Protectors/Defenders (check out https://ip5solidarity.org/) while roadways in Sacramento declared “Columbus Was Lost,” “Indigenous Sovereignty NOW!” and, “No Justice on Stolen Land!” Our relatives to the north, in Amiskwaciwaskahikan (“Edmonton, Alberta”) reminded drivers that there is “No Pride in Genocide.”
Speaking of stolen land, this year seemed to hold one very resounding cry. Whether it was splashed across barriers in public spaces of so-called Las Vegas, Nevada, or etched brazenly on a wall under the gaze of the ever-present eyeball surveilling “Asheville, North Carolina’s” city hall, done in the colorful handstyle in a more urban setting as submitted by anonymous, or dressed up with the good ol’ circle A in flat black out on Diné Bikeyah (“The Navajo Nation”) – the writing on the wall is clear: LAND BACK.
Signage at colonial institutions were not spared. In Portland, OR, Lewis & Clark College had “CHANGE NAME” not so subtly suggested. And the recently opened Tesla dealership and service station in Nambe Pueblo, NM didn’t escape the rage at the betrayal of the Pueblo’s decision to climb in bed with Elon Musk and become green capitalists.
Understandably, there were many other actions that went down that couldn’t or wouldn’t be documented, such as sabotaged rail lines in the so-called Pacific NorthWest, excavators threatening sacred lands in the “Midwest” that were rendered useless, the Catholic Church in “Denver, Colorado” that allegedly had their truths displayed for the world to see with bright red paint on their walls, and the relatives up in “Portland, Oregon” who struck like ghosts in the night, leaving only the footage of clean up crews sweeping up glass and colonial tears the following day in their wake. Some of the strongest statements are made quietly, as some of our actions have become a silent warcry–an ever present threat–making colonizers clutch their pearls and pocketbooks, in recognition of an Indigenous resistance that is alive, untamed claws-out, rabid and growing. It cannot be neatly confined to one designated calendar day, our anti-colonial agitation is year-round and we celebrate that ANY WAY we damn well please.
This year the justifications for our rage felt more acute, particularly in the so-called US with the colonial authority proclaiming “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.” We’ve seen the farce of this politics of recognition for what it is and this is why we rage; to undermine their co-optation and white/redwashing. We emphasized that arrests weren’t the point this year especially considering how performative Non-Violent Direct Actions have fed so many of our people into the hands of the police state. We don’t want our people and accomplices locked up ever, especially during a pandemic. We’re not out to beg politicians, negotiate treaties, and we will not make concessions – we fight for total liberation. To radicalize, inspire, empower and attack – this is what anti-colonial struggle looks like and we are everywhere.
With Love & Rage –
May the bridges we burn together light our way.
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Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage Round Two – Kinłani Report Back
Published
2 years agoon
October 14, 2021By
admin
Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage Round Two – Kinłani Report Back
As the sun set on Sunday, Oct. 11 a crowd of Indigenous folx and accomplices gathered outside Flagstaff City Hall and pitched three tents for unsheltered relatives. The cops came to intimidate but no-one from what we could see was listening to whatever it was they were attempting to convey.
A contingent of a liberal Indigenous group called “Indigenous Circle of Flagstaff” attempted to communicate what the police could not. Something about “change coming from policy,” about not wanting something “bad” to happen to the demonstrators. There was some sort of debate but we weren’t close enough to hear what was happening and decided to ignore the clear attempt at movement policing. After all, the night was emerging and we weren’t there to debate hang-around-the-fort Natives.
A jail support number was shared with the message that “We’re not here because we want any more of our people locked up in the system. Our plan is not to get arrested and if they try, to make sure we don’t let that happen.” Some words were said on a megaphone but we’ve learned to tune that frequency out after years of marching, somehow the megaphone ends up in the same hands and our ears are tired of the cheer-leading.
A bright orange banner led the way with the words “Avenge Indigenous Children” referencing the brutal legacy of boarding school violence that has resurfaced with powerful calls for accountability throughout the so-called US and KKKanada. The crowd started a quick march on the sidewalk. Cops on bikes tried to heard us but we were swift. We pushed passed them and quickly with a chant of “Whose streets? Our streets. Whose land? Native land” took the intersection of Route 66 and San Francisco St., which is the busiest intersection in the downtown area. Cop cars rushed around. Traffic downtown was fully stopped. The drummer started a round dance song, and at first it seemed some of us weren’t sure do dance or stand there with banners. But we took our time. The beat was steady and echoed off the walls of this colonial settlement that our great grandparents are older than. Banners reading, “Colonialism is a Plague,” “Indigenous Resistance,” “Land Back,” and many others were carried in the dance that was held for about 20 minutes or so. At some point the crowd gathered around an obnoxious and controversial statue of a white railroad worker (which obscures the reality of forced Chinese labor and the advancement of waves of colonial invaders via the rail system).
The statue was enhanced with red paint. Some in the crowd used banners to provide tactical cover then moved on. Cops followed and tried to get ahead of the crowd. A series of massive smoke devices were set off by someone. The streets of downtown “Flagstaff” looked overrun by angry ancestors emerging from the smoke chanting “Fuck Columbus, fuck the police!” It felt like the nightmares of colonizers coming to haunt the futures they have stolen. By pumping millions of gallons of recycled shit water on the sacred San Francisco Peaks. By attacking Indigenous unsheltered relatives and leaving them to freeze in the winter months. By arresting what amounts to half the Indigenous population every year. By doing absolutely nothing when Indigenous womxn have gone missing or were murdered, Vanessa Lee. Ariel Bryant. Nicole Joe. We screamed their names and asserted our rage. We weren’t there to debate, plead, or negotiate as the pacified Natives who tried to make rooms in their chains for us. We were there to celebrate our dignified rage (as the Zapatistas have so beautifully named this anger that is a powerful component of the centuries of resistance against colonialism). Another busy intersection was taken and a round dance ensued. Some colonizers yelled something and we’re quickly told to “Fuck off.” There was a moment when the marching stopped in a central part of downtown, a relative who had been there every fierce step of the way spoke, (pieces of her words from memory here): “Ariel Bryant was my best friend. She went missing and the cops told me not to look for her. She was found dead and nothing has been done. I’m here for all missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, trans, and two-spirit relatives.” Another relative who said they were from Tsé Bit’ a’í spoke about a Diné elder named Ella Mae Begay who has been missing for months now. “No one is taking this seriously except her family and some community members.” They said stepping out into the streets to rage for missing relatives was a powerful experience. Last year there were more numbers out (less people due to protest burnout? Fuck activists anyways). But this year the spirit and fire was just as fierce. We had friends not come out ‘cause they got cases. We had other friends who just are done with protesting and focus on direct underground actions. (Which we were inspired to see the colorful redecorating occurring in other spaces throughout the town).
Overall the politicians, cops, settlers, and sellouts were all afraid of how fragile the facade of their colonial structures really are. The officially recognized and formal Indigenous Peoples’ Day proclamations and “celebrations” lets them off the hook for accountability and the reckoning that is long overdue. Sometimes its the alchemy of catharsis that keeps us going through the despair of colonially induced trauma and the spiritual and physical brutality we (and the land which also hold trauma) face everyday. What we felt was healing. What we felt was anti-colonial struggle. When monuments (and the systems of violence that uphold them) fall, our people can only come up. Let’s tear them all fucking down. Fuck movement police and “Indian scouts.” Fuck Biden’s proclamation of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
– An anonymous hashké Diné
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Indigenous Action Podcast
- Indigenous Action Podcast Episode 16: Fuck a Valentine, Indigenous Abolition Feminism
- Indigenous Action Podcast Episode 15: 15th Annual No Thanks, No Giving: Indigenous Anarchism
- Indigenous Action Podcast Episode 14: Queering #MMIWG2ST
- Indigenous Action Podcast Episode 13: Unsettling Climate Colonialism
- Ep. 12: Abolishing the Non-Profit Industrial Complex
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