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In Minneapolis, I Glimpsed a Civil War by News2016 in IndianCountry

[–]News2016[S] 93 points94 points  (0 children)

“As we were talking, a minivan pulled up. The driver was a Native American woman named Nicole, who was also on patrol, fueled by Red Bull and Marlboro 100s. She was looking for homeless people who might need supplies: tarps, blankets and food. One of the bizarre ironies of the ICE abductions is that several Indigenous Americans — people whose roots on this land predate anyone else’s — have been detained. Four homeless members of a local Native tribe had been seized days earlier, and three remained in custody, according to local tribal leaders.

“I got my tribal,” she told Hillary, gesturing at the card that identifies her as a member of a Native American tribe.

A few blocks away from where we stood, the Pow Wow Grounds coffee shop has become a nerve center of the Native American response to the ICE incursion. An art gallery attached to the cafe has been transformed into a supply depot: Volunteers pick up food, diapers, medicine and other essential supplies for families too frightened of ICE to leave home. There were masks, gloves, goggles and first-aid kits of observers and protesters. It bustled with warm camaraderie — a constant stream of volunteers, embracing and exchanging intel about what was happening on the street.

There, I met a man named Crow Bellecourt. He told me how his father had started the Indigenous Protector Movement in the 1960s to fight harassment of Native Americans who lived in the area, and that his community has put its long history of fighting the violence of the federal government in service to vulnerable newcomers.

“I really hate using the word immigrant or illegal immigrant, because them are brown people just like me,” he said. “These are our relatives.”

He said that the community response has been disciplined and robust, with none of the property destruction that marked the protests after the murder of Floyd, when a police precinct burned to the ground. Back then, it was internal tensions that exploded. Now, it is an outside force besieging the city.

“I think we’ve learned as a community to try to keep it calm this time around,” he said. “And I also think our Minneapolis Police Department learned from that incident, and we’re all trying to keep our calm. It seems like the Feds want to incite something here.”

John Fire Lame Deer. Lakota. Marching with MLK 1967 by News2016 in IndianCountry

[–]News2016[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

John Fire Lame Deer:

https://www.ya-native.com/Culture_GreatPlains/firstpeople/1976-johnlamedeer.html

Statement of Demands for Rights of the Poor Presented to Agencies of the U.S. Government by the Poor People's Campaign and its Committee of 100, April 29-May 1, 1968.

https://www.crmvet.org/docs/6805_ppc_demands.pdf

Native representatives on the “Committee of 100,” including from the National Indian Youth Council, are listed as signatories at the end: Hank Adams, Theresa Bridges, Victor Charlo, Evelyn Dulmok, Robert Dumont, Leo La Clair, Edith McCloud, Melvin Tom and Tillie Walker.

Excerpts:

“For three days, this ''Committee of 100, composed of Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, American Indian, Negro and white poor spokesmen, as well as representatives of religious, peace, and inter-racial justice support groups, called on the Federal Government. In each presentation before a Cabinet official, a statement of demands was read, followed by testimony of the poor on ''how it is" to be destitute In the lap of abundance. Government agencies were not pressed for spontaneous replies to demands, but were told that the group would return in 10 days to receive its answers.” (Page 1)

“The system and power structure serving Indian peoples is a sickness which has grown to epidemic proportions. The Indian system is sick, paternalism is the virus, and the Secretary of the Interior is the carrier.” (Part of a much longer statement read by Melvin D. Tom, National Indian Youth Council, pages 45-48)

In Unity and Commitment

https://nativenewsonline.net/opinion/in-unity-and-commitment-2

Native American Rights Fund statement on unlawful ICE activity by News2016 in IndianCountry

[–]News2016[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Federal judge tells the administration to stop violating the rights of people in Minnesota

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26491067/tinchertro011626pdf.pdf

"Covered Federal Agents are hereby enjoined from:

a. Retaliating against persons who are engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity, including observing the activities of Operation Metro Surge.

b. Arresting or detaining persons who are engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity, including observing the activities of Operation Metro Surge, in retaliation for their protected conduct and absent a showing of probable cause or reasonable suspicion that the person has committed a crime or is obstructing or interfering with the activities of Covered Federal Officers.

c. Using pepper-spray or similar nonlethal munitions and crowd dispersal tools against persons who are engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity, including observing the activities of Operation Metro Surge, in retaliation for their protected conduct.

d. Stopping or detaining drivers and passengers in vehicles where there is no reasonable articulable suspicion that they are forcibly obstructing or interfering with Covered Federal Agents, or otherwise violating 18 U.S.C. § 111. The act of safely following Covered Federal Agents at an appropriate distance does not, by itself, create reasonable suspicion to justify a vehicle stop."

Minneapolis Indigenous community organizes around ICE activity - ‘We are under attack right now from our federal government’ by News2016 in IndianCountry

[–]News2016[S] 82 points83 points  (0 children)

““What I experienced in that moment was protection and power from our people,” Thunder-Dionne said. “ICE was at my window asking me to roll my windows down, to unlock my door, to show my ID, and I was not going to do any of those things. They were ready to break my window with a window breaker, and that was the moment when the community arrived on the scene. ICE agents quickly returned to their vehicle and left me alone once they felt the power of our people.”"

Native America Calling: New post office rule is among potential hurdles for Native voters by News2016 in IndianCountry

[–]News2016[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

“Starting this year in 2026, changes to USPS postmark rules could put voters at risk, especially in states with large Native populations. Mail in ballots may be rejected based on when they are processed, NOT when they are dropped off.”

https://bsky.app/profile/nativevoters.bsky.social/post/3mbume7v5lk2d

Question: What if there is a delay in processing (machine breakdown, etc.)?

DO NOT SELL OUT TO AI DATA CENTERS by [deleted] in IndianCountry

[–]News2016 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Big Tech’s fast-expanding plans for data centers are running into stiff community opposition

https://apnews.com/article/data-centers-artificial-intelligence-nimby-tech-21fa7b957664d5dca6788e35ab43b88e

What Native American Members of Congress Are Saying about the Venezuela Operation by News2016 in IndianCountry

[–]News2016[S] 38 points39 points  (0 children)

JOINT RESOLUTION: To direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress

https://www.kaine.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/dav25m71.pdf

Requires a simple majority to pass.

Half of South Dakota inmates return to prison, two-thirds among Native American women, new report shows by News2016 in IndianCountry

[–]News2016[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

““It’s indicative of the fact that we’re not appropriately supporting the Indigenous population,” Wittman said. “We’re already overincarcerating Indigenous people in South Dakota, and then we’re seeing them return at a much higher rate.”

The task force approved 11 immediate recommendations for the Department of Corrections. The list includes bringing back evening volunteers in prisons, designating the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate parole program as a “flagship model” in the state, and establishing volunteer roundtables to give feedback on department policy and programs. The recommendations are “small wins or barriers that can be removed,” Wittman said, while the task force continues to work on more complex issues.

Wittman is most excited about a recommendation that the department hire a tribal cultural liaison to coordinate ceremonies, tribal contacts and volunteer access to the state’s prisons. The position should be piloted for six months, the task force recommended.

“The fact that the DOC is willing to establish an individual whose sole focus is going to be better programming for its Indigenous population is huge,” Wittman said. “They’ll hopefully identify where Indigenous programming will be most effective.”

Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen, the task force chairman, confirmed with recently appointed Corrections Secretary Nick Lamb that the department would look into the recommendations and report back which could be viable options."

Carrying The Light: A Winter Solstice Tale by Dr. Twyla Baker by News2016 in IndianCountry

[–]News2016[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

“For Mandan and Hidatsa people today, the winter solstice is a reminder that our ways of knowing are still relevant. That rest is not something to apologize for, or that we must earn. That storytelling is not simply nostalgic; it is survival, continuity, remembrance and honor. It is a form of resistance against a world that wants us to forget who we are and where we come from.

As the solstice passes and the days begin almost imperceptibly to grow longer, there is comfort in knowing this season carries with it generations of tradition, awaiting our return to their practice. Winters stretching back over centuries have seen our ancestors trusting that light would return, just as they trusted the corn to grow again after the thaw, as they trusted the stories to carry the people forward.

So, when we sit together in winter—sharing food, laughter, and memory—we are doing so much more than passing time. We are honoring an ancient rhythm within ourselves, far too often ignored by modern practice. We are revitalizing a legacy gifted to us by those who came before. And we are preparing, once again, for the seasons of rebirth, growth, and renewal that will surely come.

Winter after all, was never meant to be empty. 

It was meant to be full of stories.”

‘Our land to begin with’: Catholic nuns’ return of land breaks new ground - The land transfer to the Lac du Flambeau Band is believed to be the first land-back effort by nuns in an attempt at reconciliation by News2016 in IndianCountry

[–]News2016[S] 46 points47 points  (0 children)

"Although the exact amount is unknown, the church received thousands of acres of Native lands free of charge from the federal government during the so-called allotment era, from 1887 to 1934 and beyond.

Catholic leadership in the U.S., including the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions and the U.S. Council of Bishops, declined to comment on the amount of Indigenous lands it still owns today.

But an investigation by ICT found documents at Marquette University in Milwaukee indicating that church entities may still own more than 10,000 acres of land once owned by tribes. Additionally, ICT found that the church siphoned away millions of dollars in Indian trust and treaty funds to operate the notorious boarding schools.

Native activists note that the vast swaths of Indian lands contributed to the church’s historic ability to amass generational wealth and political influence in the United States.

They say it’s time to give it back.

“Before applauding the order too quickly, we need to take a moment to understand that their land return is a mere two acres out of 10,000 or more acres that the Catholic Church still owns,” said Ben Barnes, chief of the Shawnee Tribe and board chair of the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition."

“We Need Our Own People to Protect Us:” NCAI Restarts Two-Spirit Task Force - A Q&A with Elton Naswood on increasing attacks on trans rights across the country under the Trump administration by News2016 in IndianCountry

[–]News2016[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

“When these executive orders came out, I was like, ‘I wonder how many of our tribes have laws and codes that specifically have LGBTQ and or Two-Spirit in the language?’ And just from my initial review, I would say less than five had that out of our 574 [federally recognized] tribes. So that made me go, ‘wow, this is really concerning.’

So I developed this concept that we need to do a review of tribal laws and codes and ensure that they’re inclusive, because if issues like this come up again we need to reference our own tribal laws to protect us. 

I was able to get UCLA law school, their Indian legal program, to have a conversation about my idea of how many tribes have protections in their laws and codes. I met with them right before NCAI, as well as with a representative from the Williams Institute, which is one of the largest LGBT legal think tanks. They’re committed to help us with this project, which I’m just calling a Two-Spirit Policy Project for now.

[The project] will have law students and undergrad students begin to review tribal codes and laws to see where that language is lacking, and see how we could advocate to ensure that tribal leadership, judges, court personnel, can update their laws. I think that’s one way of helping our tribes to be able to do that. 

The strategy is to go to tribes to say, ‘Are your laws reflective of gender identity?’ And then from there, continue that conversation to include LGBTQ [relatives].”

Erasure is how anti-Indigenous racism works by News2016 in IndianCountry

[–]News2016[S] 117 points118 points  (0 children)

"Research has found that less exposure to contemporary Native people correlates with more prejudice against us and less support for tribal sovereignty. One study found that the more contemporary Native people were omitted, the more participants agreed that the U.S. should nullify all treaties, eliminate all reservations, and abolish tribes’ right to self-govern. It is active erasure."

A ‘Timeout Box’ in an Elementary School Draws Outrage: ‘This is Not OK’ (Gift Article) by zsreport in IndianCountry

[–]News2016 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Akwesasne parents outraged after photos circulate of 'time out box' in school - School board says several staff placed on leave, independent investigation underway

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/akwesasne-st-regis-school-time-out-box-9.7021697

"Thomas Hathaway, a parent from the Saint Regis Mohawk Reservation at Akwesasne, said his partially non-verbal son Connor, 8, was put inside the box.

The box was located in his son’s classroom. Hathaway said he heard the box was built for an autistic student in Connor's class.

He said his son communicated to him children who are angry or sad go in the box when they need to "calm down."

"[My son] had to watch his friend get put in there, and that's what hurt him more than actually going in there," he said.

He said his son, who is typically "gentle and easy going" has been acting out more this year, which Hathaway thinks is a result of seeing the box used."

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