#LandBack
Have you seen that hashtag? No? Well, I'm here to kind of talk about it. And remind you that yesterday people celebrated the genocide of millions by Christopher Columbus. Oh, yes. Chris did not discover shit because there was nothing to discover. This land was never in need of 'discovering'.
LANDBACK is a movement that has existed for generations with a long legacy of organizing and sacrifice to get Indigenous Lands back into Indigenous hands. Currently, there are LANDBACK battles being fought all across Turtle Island, to the north and the South.
As NDN Collective, we are stepping into this legacy with the launch of a LANDBACK Campaign as a mechanism to connect, coordinate, resource and amplify this movement and the communities that are fighting for LANDBACK. The closure of Mount Rushmore, return of that land and all public lands in the Black Hills, South Dakota is our cornerstone battle, from which we will build out this campaign. Not only does Mount Rushmore sit in the heart of the sacred Black Hills, but it is an international symbol of white supremacy and colonization. To truly dismantle white supremacy and systems of oppression, we have to go back to the roots. Which, for us, is putting Indigneous Lands back in Indigenous hands.
I do not celebrate Christopher Columbus day. I celebrate Indigenous' People's Day. Because nothing like a made-up holiday to appease Italians in the United States to remind us of the plight of Native Peoples. Columbus did not 'discover' anything. Indigenous people were in America 23,000 years BEFORE Chris arrived to La Española (he never set foot in 'America'). Celebrating Columbus Day literally erases Indigenous People and upholds the notion of colonization as something 'good' and of genocide as something natural.
May be this the last year you celebrate (or talk about) Columbus Day. Wanna start doing something? Go sign the #CHINOOKJUSTICE petition, to demand that Congress restore the Chinook Indian Nation's Federal recognition now. There. and remember, Indigenous' People's Day is every day. Just like Mother's Day.
XOXO
P.S. Talking about Indigenous People's stories, you should watch Wildhood immediately. A little festival jewel of a movie that would probably go unnoticed in the many streaming platforms. It's a coming-of-age/ Road Trip story, I know, it sounds trite, but it's beautifully shot and told. Totally recommend it.
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My father told me about #Landback a few months ago. I also don't celebrate Columbus Day; I haven't for years because, call me Not A Republican, but I don't celebrate racist slave-trading murderers.
ReplyDeleteOMG I love that for your dad!
DeleteSo cool. And calling somebody Not A Repug is fab.
Same.
XOXO
So, I went to mail my ballot yesterday and the Post Office was closed because it was Christopher Columbus day. It's a fake holiday generated by a fledgling country desperately in search of holidays. Indigenous People's Day. Now, that's a great holiday.
ReplyDeleteWait what?
DeleteIt figures. And Columbus day was created to appease the Italians after THEY were treated like vermin.
Love Indigenous People's Day.
XOXO
I am convinced that many feasts should be abolished, the first of all would be Columbus Day! it's such a remote fact now ...
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely.
DeleteNot even counting the genocide, the pillage, the cruelty....
XOXO
Big says,
ReplyDeleteHaven't acknowledged CC Day in decades....it was never a day that any companies I worked for ever declared a "holiday." #Landback is a very worthy movement and effort. Do folks know what Indigenous Peoples mean by that and what they truly want to do? XOXO
Same.
DeleteWe've always celebrated Indigenous People's Day at work as far as I can remember. And to tell you the truth, I've only heard about #landback once or twice, especially with the pipeline debacle. People need to know more about it, right?
XOXO
I've always found Mount Rushmore to be creepy and now we understand it's so much more awful and insidious than that.
ReplyDeleteOh, absolutely.
DeleteThat's one of the reason 'conservatives' do not want history taught in classrooms.
XOXO
It's a common trope, in fact. Colonizers building these massive monuments to militaristic masturbation. Alexander named how many cities after himself again?
DeleteThe really bad thing is, we now have tankies co-opting #landback to refer to their favorite forms of irredentism. Putin and Ukraine. Xi and Taiwan (which was never part of the PRC, and has its own indigenous issues besides). Returning (India, Israel, South Sudan, Spain, Greece) to Muslims.
OT: Smooch!
ReplyDeletejimmy
*SMOOCHES!*
DeleteGood to read from you!
XOXO
I never saw the hashtag laying back thing either but I had a feeling what it was. I too never understood Columbus Day and don't recall ever celebrating it.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a topic that needed to be discussed.
DeleteIt's very cool and a very worthy cause. After all, Native Americans were here way before anybody decided to 'discover' America.
And Columbus Day is bogus.
XOXO
HuntleyBiGuy:
ReplyDeleteIndigenous Peoples’ Day is so much more appropriate. As you are aware all of the Columbus statues were removed in Chicago (I think there were 3 of them). The Italian organizations are still trying to get at least one of them restored. And a Lincoln statue was defaced by an indigenous peoples group yesterday.
The cause of the indigenous people is getting stronger. But you know in the south and west, they will run into huge resistance.
XOXO 👨🏼❤️💋👨🏽
Absolutely.
DeleteAnd I do remember they were removed. And the Italians feel validated by the holiday. It was created FOR them cause America treated them like vermin at one point (and then it was the Irish who were demonized).
Love the idea of statues get their share of fuckery.
And you know the South (and West) own EVERYTHING to the land they stole, so...
XOXO
Watched Wildhood a while back and it is, as you say, a beautifully shot and told story. In fact, I think it is due a re-watch soon.
ReplyDeleteOMG is such a cool movie!
DeleteI was so surprised by the quality of the story and filmanking!
It does deserve a re-watch.
XOXO
P.S. love the new pic!!!