8 Global Actions You Should Know About
After reading an awesome list of Indigenous Actions compiled by IllumiNative last month, we at The Chapter House were inspired to continue highlighting the important work of the many who are fighting for their communities across the world for their land, clean water, women’s rights, their cultures, and more.
We’ve compiled a list of 8 current, global actions you should know about and support now. Continue reading to learn more about each struggle and fight of our relatives across the world and find out how you can take action, spread their message, and/or donate! Remember, this vital work continues even during COVID and we need to support it.
1. Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders
The Unist’otet’en Healing Centre in Wet’suwet’en territory. Photo by Amanda Follett Hosgood.
Our Wet'suwet'en relatives are an Indigenous nation organized into five clans: Unist'ot'en (Gilseyhu/Big Frog), Laksilyu (Small Frog), Gidimt’en (Wolf and Bear), Laksamshu (Fireweed), and Tsayu (Beaver).
Right now they are occupying and using their traditional territories, nonviolently, as they have for centuries, and have set up camps on their unceded land to protect it from the $6.6 billion dollar installation of a Coastal GasLink/TC Energy pipeline. This 417 mile (670 km) pipeline will cut across traditional and unceded Wet’suwet’en lands that cover 22,000sq km across northern so-called British Columbia, Canada. This pipeline will carry fracked gas from Dawson Creek, B.C. to the coastal town of Kitimat, where LNG Canada’s processing plant would be located. LNG Canada is the single largest private investment in Canadian history.
Each clan within the Wet’suwet’en Nation has full jurisdiction under their law to control access to their territory. Under Wet’suwet’en law all five clans of the Wet’suwet’en have unanimously opposed all pipeline proposals and have not provided free, prior, and informed consent to Coastal Gaslink to do work on Wet’suwet’en lands.
The construction of this pipeline is being backed by Candian federal and provincial governments, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and is openly violating Wet’suwet’en, Canadian, and international laws.
The Wet’suwet’en are not only fighting to block this pipeline to protect their land and their water, but they are also fighting to protect the women of their communities. Resource extraction does not only endanger the land, but also the lives of Indigenous women, as man camps are set up to build pipelines, which are directly linked to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) epidemic.
They need your help. Visit the Wet’suwet’en’s official site here to find out what you can do to support!
Find them on social media: Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
2. Farmers Protests in India
Photo by Himanshu Dua.
(Eloquent explanation borrowed from our sis Manpreet Kaur Kalra!)
At this moment, tens of thousands of farmers and youth across Punjab, Haryana, and other parts of India are coming together and surrounding Delhi in protest of three new agricultural bills that claim to create a “free market.” These recent farm ordinances take away any guarantee of minimum support prices (MSPs) and allow for corporations to monopolize Punjab’s farming economy, driving crop prices so low that small farmers will be unable to survive.
Over 10,000 farmers take their life each year due to the stress and insurmountable debt of farming. While their protests have been peaceful, they have been met with violence from law enforcement.
The movement is being led by Kaurs (women) and elders, who are fighting for the land that they have cared for, feeding the country that has failed them time after time.
As with any matter of human rights in India, the Indian media is failing to report facts about the protests and the true implications of these bills. We cannot let the government control the narrative. This movement is not about politics. It is not about religion. It is about Kisaans, the small farmers.
Speak up, demand fair reporting, and support small farmers.
Please visit the two organizations Sahaita (social media: Facebook / Instagram / Twitter) and KhalsaAid International (social media: Facebook / Instagram / Twitter) to learn more about the farmers’ movement and to donate. Funds are needed!
3. The Red House on Mississippi
Photo taken from www.redhouseonmississippi.com.
In the midst of a global pandemic, and while most of Portland was ablaze and the air filled with toxic smoke, the Kinney Family was forcibly removed from the fourth-generation home.
On the morning of September 9th, 2020, Multnomah County Sheriffs bashed open the Kinney family door at gunpoint. Armed with assault rifles, they barked orders for the family to pack up their belongings and move within 30 minutes. The Kinneys were given no prior legal notice, as their case was still in litigation in a higher court. Multnomah County Judge Judith H. Matazarro authorized the eviction in direct violation of state and federal eviction moratoriums.
Outraged at the treatment of this Afro-Indigenous family, the Portland community has united to save the Red House on Mississippi, rallying support around the family to reclaim the house and hold the land in a 24/7 eviction blockade. Since September, support has grown for the Red House and today protectors maintain an around-the-clock community presence along with onsite camping, a fully functional kitchen offering two free hot meals a day, and free programming centered in healing and abolition. This is what it looks like for neighbors to truly take care of each other.
In the early morning hours of December 8, 2020, riot officers with the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, Portland Police Bureau, and possibly other law enforcement agencies, violently dismantled the encampment at Red House. Along with sweeping the encampment, which supports and surrounds the Red House, officers entered the home itself, destroying its interior, and violently arresting two residents — injuring at least one. This story is still developing.
Learn more about the Kinney family and how you can help them here. And make sure to keep up with their story and the encampment on Instagram and Twitter.
4. Wiigwaasikaa
Photo by Luke Ottenhof.
Since July 2, a small community of Indigenous youth have reclaimed land in Tkaranto, or Toronto’s east end, turning it into an outdoor living and learning space.
Wiigwaasikaa, an Aanishnaabemowin word that means ‘there are many birch trees’ is mostly a collection of tents nestled among trees on land alongside Taylor-Massey Creek. One of the tents serves as a community kitchen, while a small wooden structure houses lessons. Some people come and go but people, usually between five and 10 of them, are there 24/7, generally undisturbed.
Their goal is to hold the Canadian government accountable, and turn words into action, as they continuously talk about land back and reconciliation publicly, and force them to implement more equitable conditions for Indigenous communities.
You can learn more about their movement and community here.
5. Kumeyaay and O’odham Anti-Border Land Defenders.
Artwork by Weshoyot Alvitre.
One of Donald Trump’s major platforms while running for President of the United States to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. The wall, a symbol of xenophobia and racism, has proven to be extremely expensive, wasteful, and destructive to the environment. The border wall is also an affront to Indigenous sovereignty, and has desecrated Indigenous homelands, including burial grounds and water sources. In response, several Indigenous-led anti-border coalitions and land defender groups have been actively fighting the wall through direct actions, prayer camps and social media campaigns.
There are three tribes who have been leading the defense against the border: the Kumeyaay, one of 12 bands of the La Posta Band of Diegueno Mission Indians in southern California; Tohono O'odham in southern Arizona; and the Hia-Ced O’odham, also in southern Arizona. While racing to stop the wall from being built before the November 3rd election, collectives like the Kumeyaay Defense Against the Wall, O’odham Anti Border Collective, No Border Wall on O’odham Land, and their accomplices, were met with racist violence, water cannons, and incarceration.
While many of the direct actions have subsided, and unfortunately much of the border walla has been built, tribes on the so-called border are still mourning and fighting for their lands and resources. Hon’mana Seukteoma, a Tohono O’odham, Diné, and Hopi anti-border activist, recently said on Twitter “The fight isn’t over of course, the fight is all over the borderlands. I’m so very inspired by all the work being done continuously across the border to stop wall construction and in the future, to tear that b*tch down!”
You can continue to support anti-border Land and Water Defenders by following Kumeyaay Defense Against the Wall, Defend O’odham Jewed, and O’odham Anti Border Collective on Instagram. All three accounts have a ton of great information and links to donate, including to all bail funds. Also, check out these articles below for more information: Democracy Now! Segment on the Indigenous Anti-Border Actions and Teen Vogue Article on Indigenous Defense Against the Border.
6. #EndSARS
A demonstrator holds a placard to protest against abuses by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) at the Lekki toll Plaza in Lagos, Nigeria on Oct. 12. Photo by Pius Utomu Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images.
Police brutality is a global issue. The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) is a branch of the Nigerian Police Force, formed in 1984, and is notorious for “torture, ill treatment and extrajudicial executions,” according to the New York Times. SARS has historically targeted Black men, ages 18-25, from low-income backgrounds and other “vulnerable populations.” Anti-SARS protests escalated this October when SARS murdered a man unprovoked in Ughelli. The horrific incident was filmed and can be considered to be the catalyst a worldwide movement to #EndSARS. On October 20, protests in the Lekki District of Lagos were violently suppressed by police and military forces, as well as curfews.
Social media has played a huge role in spreading awareness about the issue and the movement has received attention from celebrities, politicians, Black Lives Matter activists, and many others. Supporters of the #EndSARS movement are demanding Nigerian officials to end the SARS police unit, free jailed protestors, lift the ban of protesting and more accountability from their government officials.
Currently, #EndSARS activists are continuing to demand that protestors be freed from jail. You can continue to support the movement by staying informed, and using the hashtag #EndSARS on social media to find and spread information. While many organizations are no longer accepting donations, it is vital that we remember what happens in Nigeria and that Black lives matter across the world. For more information about SARS, see this New York Times article, this photo exhibition of SARS protests, or this card created by three Nigerian #EndSARS activists.
7. Stop Line 3
Water protectors in the summer of 2018 at the Wisconsin-Minnesota. Photo by Danielle Kaeding.
Line 3 is a proposed pipeline expansion to bring nearly a million barrels of tar sands per day from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin. It was proposed in 2014 by Enbridge, a Canadian pipeline company responsible for the largest inland oil spill in the US. Enbridge seeks to build a new pipeline corridor through untouched wetlands and the treaty territory of Anishinaabe peoples, through the Mississippi River headwaters to the shore of Lake Superior.
Remember: all pipelines spill. Line 3 isn’t about safe transportation of a necessary product, it’s about expansion of a dying tar sands industry. Line 3 would contribute more to climate change than Minnesota’s entire economy. Minnesota’s own Department of Commerce found their local market does not need Line 3 oil. Land defenders here are pushing for the decommission of the old Line 3 and a just transition to a renewable, sustainable economy. Line 3 would violate the treaty rights of Anishinaabe peoples and nations in its path — wild rice is a centerpiece of Anishinaabe culture, it grows in numerous watersheds Line 3 seeks to cross. It’s well-past time to end the legacy of theft from and destruction of indigenous peoples and territories.
Winona LaDuke breaks down exactly what Line 3 is and why it needs to be stopped here. Watch the video and visit stopline3.org to learn how you can take action now.
Also make sure to keep up with those fighting this black snake on social media: Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
8. Free West Papua
Supporters of West Papuan independence at a rally in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Dec. 1. Photo by Achmad Ibrahim/AP.
West Papua was originally populated by Melanesian people, our Indigenous sisters and brothers of Melanesia, tens of thousands of years ago. After almost no contact with the Western world, their land was formally colonized by the Netherlands in 1898. The islands that now make up Indonesia were also colonized by the Dutch but when the Republic of Indonesia became an independent nation in 1949. At that time West Papua did not join. The Dutch government recognized that West Papua was very different to Indonesia (geographically, ethnically and culturally) and so they began preparing West Papua for its own independence throughout the 1950s. At the end of 1961, West Papua held a Congress at which its people declared independence, and raised their new flag, the Morning Star, which is now banned.
This independence never happened, and after an unjust slew of events of Indonesian occupation, being handed over to the United Nations, handed over back to Indonesia without consent, promised self-determination and finally a rigged election where the Papuan people were to supposedly given the choice to decide whether or not to become their own nation, there is still no true independence for West Papua. The Free West Papua Movement was started in 1965 to fight for just that.
The people of West Papua and their sacred lands have endured much violence and destruction at the hands of the Indonesian government, and the violence and killing over the past several years, including the past several months, has increased greatly.
West Papuan leaders have declared a provisional “government-in-waiting” and the independence movement, the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), has laid out a new constitution and nominated exiled leader Benny Wenda as its interim president.
The Free West Papua Movement is gaining momentum, and much more international attention, as they continue to fight for their independence and freedom to exist as their own country, people and culture. They need your help, and you can find out more about how to support and stand in solidarity with West Papua by visiting freewestpapua.org. As always, make sure to follow them on social media to keep up to date: Facebook / Instagram / Twitter.
#FreeWestPapua!