Category: LANDBACK
July 4 Nexus
nexus a connection or series of connections linking two or more things
There are so many concepts and much history related to July 4th.
I’ve come a long way from what I, a white person, was taught in school. About the heroes and battles that brought independence from the British. And just a sentence or so about taking over Indigenous lands, and the slave trade. All whitewashed and presented as acceptable. Even referred to as “Manifest Destiny”.
“He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.”
— Declaration of Independence
The crown and the colonists were both determined to seize lands from native peoples and to continue enslavement.
THE TERRIBLE ORIGINS OF JULY 4TH By Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report.
July 3, 2021
The crown and the colonists were both determined to seize lands from native peoples and to continue enslavement. But their interests were also hostile to one another and war was the inevitable result. White settlers wanted full independence for themselves and no control over their actions at all.
The indigenous populations were nearly eradicated in the decades long quest for conquest. Expanding slavery was an integral part of those efforts against native peoples. Genocide could not be carried out completely nor could any accommodation be made with European nations in the quest to control land from sea to shining sea. That is why the settlers declared their independence.
The process of decolonizing ourselves is a difficult one. We have been cut off from our history and we don’t know where or how our people played a part. As we try to educate ourselves we may find it difficult to give up traditions that we have claimed as our own. Regardless of personal choices made on July 4th, the causes of the Declaration of Independence must be known and acknowledged. That is the beginning of true independence for Black people.
THE TERRIBLE ORIGINS OF JULY 4TH By Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report.
July 3, 2021
The news reminds us of the political rally of the previous guy at Mount Rushmore, July 4, 2020. A perfect example of LANDBACK. Native people blocked the highway to Mount Rushmore because the monument is on Native land. Several of my friends were there. In 1980 the Supreme Court confirmed the land belongs to the Sioux. Compensation of $2 million dollars was offered. But never taken.
“What Mount Rushmore has always represented is a system of power and oppression and white supremacy, because they take a sacred place and carved the faces of white men who are responsible for our colonization and our demise,” (Lakota activist) Nick Tilsen said.
Lakota activist: Mount Rushmore key in move to regain land. When then-President Donald Trump visited Mount Rushmore last year for a fireworks display, Lakota activist Nick Tilsen saw an opportunity to advance the Land Back Movement By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press, March 24, 2021
The above are connected to a gathering at the Iowa State Capitol this afternoon from 1 – 3 pm, Stop Whitewashing Genocide and Slavery. Bring Back Critical Race Theory & Remove Monuments to White Supremacy!
On July 4th, stand with Great Plains Action Society, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Ní Btháska Stand Collective, Des Moines Black Liberation Movement, Humanize My Hoodie, Revolutionary Action Party, Quad Cities Interfaith, Iowa Coalition for Collective Change, and Des Moines Mutual Aid!
Join us on “Fourth of He Lies” to demand that the Iowa legislators remove whitewashed monuments to white supremacy in Iowa. Organizers will present a petition demanding that all racist, misogynistic, homo/transphobic, whitewashed historical depictions be removed from all state grounds and facilities. These monuments fall into the realm of hate propaganda and make folks feel unwelcome in public spaces. So, we need legislation that removes all monuments, murals, and depictions of white supremacist persons, acts, and ideologies from all Iowa state grounds and state-funded institutions.
Support the BIPOC struggle in Iowa
People ask me how they can support local oppressed communities. Showing up tomorrow is a great way to do so. Organizers “would love to see a mass turnout to support the BIPOC struggle in Iowa”.
Tomorrow, July 4, 1-3 pm, an event I previously wrote about will take place at the Iowa State Capitol. Stop Whitewashing Genocide & Slavery!!!
Additional organizations are supporting the event, including my Des Moines Mutual Aid group. Again this morning I helped with the food giveaway. A friend and I talked a little about this event as we put together boxes of food.
On July 4th, stand with Great Plains Action Society, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Ní Btháska Stand Collective, Des Moines Black Liberation Movement, Humanize My Hoodie, Revolutionary Action Party, Quad Cities Interfaith, Iowa Coalition for Collective Change, and Des Moines Mutual Aid!
Bring Back Critical Race Theory & Remove Monuments to White Supremacy!
Some additional topics have come up related to new legislation.
Demand that the new law, House File 802, which goes into effect July 1 be repealed. The legislation targets teaching critical race theory and other concepts in government diversity training and classroom curriculum.
Demand that Iowa legislators do their job and follow their own laws by abolishing monuments to white supremacy, which depict hate speech and promote discrimination. Kim Reynolds herself has stated that “Critical Race Theory is about labels and stereotypes, not education. It teaches kids that we should judge others based on race, gender, or sexual identity, rather than the content of someone’s character.” If this is the case, then statues depicting friendly “westward expansion”, busts of Columbus, and murals depicting manifest destiny are stereotyping European setter invaders and not depicting the true nature of their character. Columbus was a genocidal, rapist, slave trader, and Indians were forced to give up their land–it was not friendly.
Can’t stop, won’t stop.
Don’t be a bystander to white supremacy.
#SmashWhiteSupremacy
Organizers would love to see a mass turnout to support the BIPOC struggle in Iowa
Join us on “Fourth of He Lies” to demand that the Iowa legislators remove whitewashed monuments to white supremacy in Iowa. Organizers will present a petition demanding that all racist, misogynistic, homo/transphobic, whitewashed historical depictions be removed from all state grounds and facilities. These monuments fall into the realm of hate propaganda and make folks feel unwelcome in public spaces. So, we need legislation that removes all monuments, murals, and depictions of white supremacist persons, acts, and ideologies from all Iowa state grounds and state-funded institutions.
In response to police brutality and racial injustice, monuments to white supremacy are being removed all over the country but People of the World Majority are being forced to put their safety on the line to carry out this long-overdue purge. Folks have been shot, arrested, and targeted. We are an Indigenous-led coalition who do not want any more People of the World Majority to put their bodies on the line so this is a permitted event with the intent of making the state–the colonizers–do their job.
To start, we insist that the following statues and mural be removed from the Iowa State Capitol Building and grounds.
On the West Lawn, there is a 15-foot bronze statue on a large pedestal that stands in front of the Iowa State Capitol Building. According to the Iowa State Government website, the statue depicts “The Pioneer of the former territory, a group consisting of father and son guided by a friendly Indian in search of a home. The pioneer depicted was to be hardy, capable of overcoming the hardships of territorial days to make Iowa his home.” The father and son settler invaders are standing tall and proud, looking west, as the “friendly Indian” sits behind them in a less powerful, dejected position.
Inside the capitol is a piece that overwhelmingly encompasses this sentiment called the Westward Mural, which covers a massive wall. The artist writes that “The main idea of the picture is symbolical presentation of the Pioneers led by the spirits of Civilization and Enlightenment to the conquest by cultivation of the Great West.” He also speaks about overcoming the wilderness with plowed fields–as if the current Indigenous inhabitants, such as the Ioway and the Meskwaki, had not already created capable and efficient land management systems.
On the South Lawn, there is a Christopher Columbus Monument that was celebrated in 1938 by five thousand people who showed up for the dedication of the statue on Columbus Day. The statue was put up just a couple years after the Columbus Club of Iowa successfully lobbied to have Walker Park renamed to Columbus Park and have a Columbus monument placed there.
*This is a peaceful event led by Indigenous Folx. Please do not take actions that will put Brown and Black folx in jeopardy
Judy Plank
My friend and fellow Quaker, Judy Plank, has given me permission to share some of her stories.
I’ve written about the background of my grandchildren whose mother’s came from Dakota and Lakota nations in my book. Even as a child I was attracted to what I supposed was the life and culture of the tribes that had thrived in our area before the white colonists arrived. I thought our lives were so boring and unimaginative compared to the lives they lived.
That aside, my experiences with those inlaws and my deep deep love for my grandchildren has drawn me even further into knowledge to the near irrepairable damage done to their lives and culture. I love all my grandchildren with all my heart.
I had a chance meeting at our Le Mars Dairy Queen the fall before the pandemic, with a young native man with a logo on his T-shirt that I was attracted to. He was there with his two children, as their mother was working there. I got into a conversation with him, and he shared that he had attended the Flandreau Indian School, where decades before my grandson’s mother had lived and his other grandmother had been a cook. This young man seemed to have had a very good experience there (the school is still in operation, I believe). From that short conversation, I don’t know how connected he was with his culture and what the school was now teaching, if anything, to continue or revive their culture. He was living in Le Mars, where native people are really scarce.
It’s a miracle that any part of the various native cultures still survive given the relentless violence to wipe it out completely. Yet, reviving some of that culture and reverence for the earth that gives us life as these people traditionally practiced, may well be what saves us from destroying ourselves. I attended a talking circle some years ago facilitated by a man I greatly respect from the Yankton nation, who lived in Sioux City. He referred to all people, creatures and things as our relatives. I try to consistently remember to treat all as relatives in my own life. He’s currently in the process of moving to Sioux Falls, but I communicate with him via Facebook.
I’m very happy that finally a native is in charge of the Dept. of Interior. I hope that will change the culture of that department for the better. Other than that, I don’t have much to offer about how to repair the damage done. It will take generations, I fear, before the wrong can be wiped clean.
As I see it, the reason the past boarding schools era is still relevant is the repercussions still today of that trauma of taking children from their families and unthinkable disruption to the culture, language, and family life for the tribal people is still affecting the people to this day. We can be unaware of the entire episode, but they still live with that trauma. What we can do now, is recognize the hurt, listen and learn from the learned history of the tribes as to how to treat the land we live on, and to return as best we can land and lives of these people. How that can best be done, I’m not sure, but many ways must be tried to repair the damage.
I was horrified to read about the treatment in Pipestone. I was just in Pipestone this past Friday. My grandson and I visited my daughter’s grave in the Catholic cemetery there while we were in Pipestone. The Catholic cemetery overlooks the National Monument to the east. Nick and I spent time driving through the other two cemeteries next to the Catholic one. I found an area that had a couple rows of maybe 50 or so unmarked stones that really interested me. I still wonder if those were graves, and if so, who was buried there. If I had the energy, I’d try to find out the answer, especially after reading this story about the Pipestone school,
LANDBACK and Quakers. A case study
The idea of “landback” — returning land to the stewardship of Indigenous peoples — has existed in different forms since colonial governments seized it in the first place. “Any time an Indigenous person or nation has pushed back against the oppressive state, they are exercising some form of landback,” says Nickita Longman, a community organizer from George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada.
The movement goes beyond the transfer of deeds to include respecting Indigenous rights, preserving languages and traditions, and ensuring food sovereignty, housing, and clean air and water. Above all, it is a rallying cry for dismantling white supremacy and the harms of capitalism. Although these goals are herculean, the landback movement has seen recent successes, including the removal of dams along the Klamath River in Oregon following a long campaign by the Yurok Tribe and other activists, and the return of 1,200 acres in Big Sur, California, to the formerly landless Esselen Tribe.
Returning the Land. Four Indigenous leaders share insights about the growing landback movement and what it means for the planet, by Claire Elise Thompson, Grist, February 25, 2020
There are several reasons I’ve been praying, studying, and writing about LANDBACK. Most importantly my Native friends have told me the best way to support them is by doing so. Those who work for justice often hear we need to follow the leadership of the communities impacted by injustice. It is often not clear how to go about doing that.
I’ve been a bit apprehensive about trying to get Friends involved with LANDBACK because many Friends have trouble dealing with the history of Quakers’ involvement with the forced assimilation of Native children. Many white Friends have trouble dealing with Quakers’ history related to enslavement. Many white Friends are uncomfortable with their white privileges today.
So I was very grateful to receive a response to something I’d written about LANDBACK from my friend and fellow Quaker, Marshall Massey, which you can read here: Marshall Massey on LANDBACK – LANDBACK Friends
I wrote the following case study, hoping to give an example of the implementation of the ideas related to LANDBACK.
This is a link to the PDF version of the LANDBACK case study, Wet’suwet’en and Quakers.
Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) Minute 2019
To this day we have not come to grips with fundamental injustices our country was built on, the cultural genocide and theft of land from Native Americans, the enslavement of African Americans and the legal justifications of bestowing rights and privileges on white land-owning men. The consequences of these injustices continue to plague our society today. And will continue to impact us until we do what is necessary to bring these injustices to light and find ways to heal these wounds.
Several Friends recently assisted Boulder Meeting Friend, Paula Palmer, to lead workshops and discussions as part of her ministry “toward right relationships with Native people.” Part of the tragedy of the theft of Native land is that some Native people don’t have the concept of land as property, belonging to a landowner. Rather they have a spiritual connection to Mother Earth, that the land is sacred and not something that can be claimed as property by anyone. Being forced to leave their land broke their spiritual bonds with the land.
Native people have asked us to begin work toward reconciliation and healing. The first step needed is truth telling, recognizing that injury or harm has taken place. One of the important parts of holding “right relationship” workshops is to determine which Native nations were on the land before white settlers arrived.
–Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) 2019
Marshall Massey on LANDBACK
As far as archæology can tell, no one actually lived on any of the land within fifty miles of where I, personally, live, until the 1870s, when whites came to use it for transshipment. It was too dry and barren and empty to support people who just lived *here*. There’s a part of the Bighorn River Canyon about 90 miles southeast of me, where very small numbers of people like the Anasazi lived in Anasazi-style cliff dwellings, at about the time of the Anasazi, perhaps 800 or 1200 years ago. They fished the streams, hunted the nearby hills, and probably cultivated small patches of ground. But that was long before horses arrived, and they had no real reason to come the long distance (it would have been a week or more on foot) from where they dwelt to where I live, except perhaps in curiosity about what the land looked like.
By the time the natives of my area had horses, my area, along with most of the broad stretch of land from the Bighorn to the Rocky Mountain Front — 400 miles and more miles across — was an area that the nearest tribes (Crow and Blackfeet) hunted buffalo and other prey on horseback in, but did not settle in, and did not regard as a possession. They rode across it, from their own edge to the other tribe’s edge, to raid the other tribe’s dwellings on the far side, to steal horses and count coup and work revenge. They spoke of this to the European-Americans: “This all belongs to the Great Spirit,” they said, “and the Great Spirit meant us to have the use of it, but not to own it.” If you want an exact quotation, here is Crowfoot, a chief among the Blackfeet, speaking some time around 1885: “We cannot sell the lives of men and animals; therefore we cannot sell this land. It was put here for us by the Great Spirit and we cannot sell it because it does not belong to us.”
We have a similar testimony in the Bible — would you believe it? Funny coincidence. “The earth is YHWH’s,” it says, “and the fullness thereof.” (YHWH is a Hebrew word which some modern scholars believe began as a representation of the great wind that fills all the sky, or the great breath that animates all beings: the great spirit.) You may know this passage: it appears in Deuteronomy 10:14 and Psalm 24:1, and is repeated in I Corinthians 10:26. Not that the Bible matters much to liberal activists any more, though; most of them would much, much rather get the same teaching from some other source, anywhere else but their own tradition. Nonetheless, this teaching in the biblical tradition is why the believers in the early Church held all things in common and committed all their resources to look after one another. How can anyone really own what God has put in place for all, especially in cases where someone else has an unmet need? Deuteronomy and Psalms represent wisdom teachings that date back three thousand years, and were I a betting man, I would bet the wisdom of non-possession goes back to the dawn of thought about such things — millions of years back, to when our ancestors and the ancestors of chimpanzees were one people.
I have begun to think that many modern Americans — including, unfortunately, many modern, Westernized native Americans, and at least equally unfortunately, also many modern Quakers — will never, never let themselves comprehend the idea of non-ownership. Their souls are too far shriveled. Surely the land must have been someone’s property, whenever there was anyone even remotely able to make a claim. But this was the testimony of the natives of that time, and of Friends as well. And I believe it is the truth. You might as well claim that somebody owns the sun.
–Marshall Massey
Quaker meeting 6/27/2021
Yesterday afternoon a group of Midwest Quakers gathered via Zoom in response to the terrible news of the remains of children at Native residential schools in Canada. Tragically there is no doubt many more will be found.
We began with an hour of worship together. For those not familiar, many Quakers worship in silence. If so led, vocal messages can be given. Afterword we had a discussion about what we might do.
I believe those gathered shared my appreciation for a chance to listen for the Spirit, and to each other, for strength and guidance for what we might be called to do. Many, if not all of us, wonder what our responsibility is for the trauma of forced assimilation. We are aware that Quakers played some role in some of those institutions in the land called the United States.
These traumas have been passed from generation to generation. Described as an open wound in Native communities today.
We must look to Indigenous peoples to learn how we can support them. I’ve been asked to tell people about the concept of LANDBACK. I created the website https://landbackfriends.com/ as one way to do that. There you can find explanations of the concepts of LANDBACK and Mutual Aid. And a number of posts about Native residential schools.
Also there is An Epistle to Friends Regarding Community, Mutual Aid and LANDBACK. This is based on An Epistle to Friends Concerning Military Conscription that was signed by Iowa Friends Roy Knight and Don Laughlin, among others. That espistle discussed options related to military conscription and made the case for draft resistance.
If you are so led, you can add your signature to the LANDBACK epistle. You can also add your email address if you’d like updates.
My friend Christine Nobiss, of the Great Plains Action Society, asks us to support the July 4th event Stop Whitewashing Genocide and Slavery This is a real opportunity for us to demonstrate our support for her work. I would also encourage you to invite young people to attend.
Photos I took at last year’s event can be found below.
Proximity and perspective
This is likely to be a kind of stream of consciousness. Exploring proximity of distance, of time, proximity to the Spirit. How proximity changes our perspective.
I’m floundering. I seem to have become unmoored from the Quaker faith community I was raised in and chose to remain part of my entire life.
Throughout my life there have been tensions between us. One related to the profligate use of fossil fuels. I had hoped when I was led to live without a car, other Friends might also. Had hoped other Friends would be draft resisters. Find ways to join communities of color. Ways to be accountable for settling on Native lands. For participating in the cultural genocide of institutions of forced assimilation.
There have been some Friends who have done some of those things.
A number of things contribute to my current condition. One is realizing the inherent racism, evil of the colonial capitalist economic system. How have we become immune to the hunger, houselessness, disease and despair of millions of people? To endless wars? To the utter devastation of Mother Earth? All predicated on capitalism and white supremacy.
The vast majority of Quakers in the United States are white and relatively well off financially. Benefactors of capitalism and white dominant culture. Many avoid looking at the evils of the capitalist economic system they/we live in. Which, I would contend, is why we don’t have a diverse membership. Why many of us have trouble comprehending racism and privilege.
My perspective has radically changed over the past decade. First when I was blessed to become part of the Kheprw Institute community in Indianapolis. A black youth mentoring and empowerment community. I was mentored myself in the process. I learned there is no substitute for spending a great deal of time in oppressed communities. Justice work is founded on relationships. Without this development of friendships, no meaningful work can be done. This is the proximity of physical distance.
Over the past four years I have been similarly blessed to build relationships, friendships with Native people in Iowa. This was another example of the proximity of physical distance, which was the intention of the First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March I am profoundly grateful to have been part of. For a week in September, 2018, a small group of about 15 Native and 15 non-native folks walked together, and camped along the route of the Dakota Access pipeline. Walking down rural gravel roads, we shared our stories with each other. Began to build friendships and trust. Since then, there have been numerous occasions when we worked together.
For over a year now I have been so grateful to become part of Des Moines Mutual Aid. My good friend Ronnie James, an Indigenous organizer with more than twenty years of experience, has been generously, patiently mentoring me about Mutual Aid and activism in Iowa. I spend several hours every Saturday morning with a very diverse group of friends as we put together and distribute boxes of food for those in need. Another example of proximity of distance. Over these times together we share our stories. Get to meet family members. Share our joy of being with each other. My perspective relative to Quakers and black, indigenous and other people of color (BIPOC) has changed significantly as a result.
What has brought about my crisis of connection with Quakers has been the recent verification of the remains of Native children at residential schools in Canada. Verification because Indigenous peoples knew children were buried there.
A problem for me was Quaker involvement in some of these schools in the land called the United States. I doubt those Friends harmed the children physically. But looking back from our perspective today, grievous harm was done by forceful attempts to assimilate the children into white culture.
I knew I could not have honest relationships with my Native friends if this wasn’t brought up. So I did. Those stories are for another time.
There are Quakers and many others who contend this was done in the past. Not something that needs to be dealt with today. Not a close proximity of time.
But that is not true. Some of those schools were still in operation until around the 1970’s. And the traumas that occurred at these residential schools have been passed from generation to generation. A close proximity of time. Native peoples suffering now.
Some have suggested we aren’t accountable because there were not residential schools close to us geographically. Proximity of distance.
More what I meant by the proximity of distance relates to physical presence. Because I am often in the presence of my Native friends, I see the great pain this latest news of the Native children has caused. This totally informs my perspective.
I don’t know how often my Native friends think about it, but I imagine our conversations about Quaker involvement come to mind.
There are calls now to look for children’s remains at all the residential schools. They will undoubtedly be found. Very likely found at schools Quakers were involved with. The numbers are already staggering, with over 800 children found at just two schools. Heightening tensions between Native and non-native peoples.
So there is proximity of time. Here and now. For some Quakers there is also proximity of distance. In various ways some of us are physically in touch with Native people. Close in terms of relationships with each other.
Don’t be a bystander to white supremacy
Christine Nobiss
I know I am fortunate, and many other Friends don’t have such relationships. That needs to change.
There are several reasons I have, hopefully temporarily, created distance from Friends. Many don’t acknowledge our responsibilities in this tragic history. Contend we don’t have accountability because these schools operated in the past. Don’t feel a proximity of time. Don’t realize the depths of the pain of Native peoples, because these Friends don’t have physical proximity.
So how can Friends find ways to be present with Native people? One way is to show up for Native gatherings. One such opportunity will be this July 4th, 2021, 1 – 3 pm. West terrace Iowa State Capitol. Stop Whitewashing Genocide & Slavery!!! Bring Back Critical Race Theory & Remove Monuments to White Supremacy in Iowa!
My friend Christine Nobiss is asking for a large turnout to support the removal of such statues in Iowa. She writes, “Don’t be a bystander to white supremacy. Fight back!” For more information: Stop Whitewashing Genocide and Slavery
I pray for proximity of the Spirit for all of us. Extremely trying days lie ahead of us. There will be an increasingly desperate need for Quakers learn about all this. So we will be prepared for what the Spirit will ask of us.
The intention of the website, LANDBACK Friends, is to help us learn and share about Quakers and Native peoples, about the Native boarding schools. Learn about the concepts of LANDBACK and Mutual Aid. LANDBACK Friends
Incomprehensible
From their beginnings the Indian residential schools, as they were called, in the United States and Canada, were institutions of cultural genocide, abuse, hunger, illness and death of Native children. Some were literally killed. Others died from disease. Or during their desperate journeys of escape. The institutions were usually far away from the tribe.
I hadn’t realized it until recently, but this purposeful cruelty was intended to quell Native resistance to being forced off their lands.
The recent verification of the remains of Native children at the Kamloops institution has triggered profound grief. See: Boarding schools – LANDBACK Friends
This discovery led Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, to create the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative for a comprehensive review of Federal boarding school policies in the United States. See: Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative – LANDBACK Friends
Part of the devastation at the news from Kamloops was knowing children’s remains would be found at many, probably most, other residential schools. Now there is news of many more remains at another Canadian institution. It doesn’t seem right to call them schools.
“This was a crime against humanity, an assault on First Nations,” said Chief Bobby Cameron of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous First Nations in Saskatchewan. He said he expects more graves will be found on residential school grounds across Canada.
“We will not stop until we find all the bodies,” he said.
From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools, the majority of them run by Roman Catholic missionary congregations, in a campaign to assimilate them into Canadian society.
Report: Over 600 bodies found at Indigenous school in Canada. Leaders of Indigenous groups in Canada say investigators have found more than 600 unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school for Indigenous children — a discovery that follows last month’s report of 215 bodies found at another school By JIM MORRIS, Associated Press
June 24, 2021
This is just incomprehensible. A web of grief for all the connections of each child. The parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and other families and tribal communities and nations. A web that continues across generations.
It adds to the injury that there has been so little press coverage of these monumental tragedies. Yet another way lack of concern for Indigenous peoples continues to be demonstrated. I find it infuriating. Native people are who should tell the stories here. But we can help spread the news as appropriate. So others are aware and looks for ways to help in these dire times. The purpose of this blog is to inform people about the concepts involved in LANDBACK. Which includes being informed about all aspects of the relationships of non-native people with Indigenous peoples.
Additional coverage: Canadian First Nation group finds 751 bodies in unmarked graves at another ‘Indian residential’ school run by Catholics where children were ‘assimilated’ into society By SOPHIE TANNO FOR MAILONLINE, DailyMail, June 24, 2021
The foundation of LANDBACK is to support the leadership of Native people. In Iowa we are being asked to show up for “Stop whitewashing genocide and slavery. Bring back critical race theory and remove monuments to white supremacy in Iowa”. July 4, 2021 at the Iowa State Capitol.”
With this crappy critical race theory bill being passed in Iowa, I think it’s more important than ever that folks show up to this event! The law bans teaching certain concepts, such as that the U.S. or Iowa is systemically racist… but yet this entire state is littered with monuments to white supremacy.
Please try and find the time to be there and show your solidarity with BIPOC folks.
Christine Nobiss
Stop Whitewashing Genocide & Slavery!!! Bring Back Critical Race Theory & Remove Monuments to White Supremacy in Iowa!
We have an event planned for July 4th at the Capitol Complex and we would love to see a mass turnout to support the BIPOC struggle in Iowa. If your organization would like to join our coalition and co-host, hit me up ASAP and send me your logo.
Don’t be a bystander to white supremacy. Fight back!
More info at the https://fb.me/e/2unK2uiVj
Great Plains Action Society
As we struggle with these tragic stories, one thing we are asked to do is show up.
#LANDBACK #NoMonumentsToWhiteSupremacy #GreatPlainsActionSociety
LANDBACK Friends 