Taking Action on "Thanksgiving"/Day of Mourning

Today is known as "Thanksgiving" to a lot of Americans. To many Indigenous people, however, it's "Day of Mourning" instead.

I'm not Native, and my family got up to watch the parade in New York City on TV today. We made pies yesterday. While it's nice to have these family traditions, the historical (and present!) context of the so-called Thanksgiving holiday is horrific. 

A year ago, I didn't even know whose stolen land I was living on. (If you don't either, let's fix that right now! Check out https://native-land.ca/.) Now, I really want to learn more about how to support building Indigenous power.


Park near my house- Osage and Kickapoo land


From supporting land defenders at their protests and talking to our families to pressuring the new Biden administration about policy, there's no shortage of actions for young activists to take. 

I learned about these action steps today from a Sunrise Movement email by Krystal Two Bulls, LANDBACK Campaign Director:

1. You can sign and share a petition to close Mt. Rushmore and return all public lands in the Black Hills to the Oceti Sakowin: click here.
  • Remember, signing a petition is a very quick and easy action, which means it's just the first step and we need to do a lot more than that to make a difference! So share with your friends and family; use it as a way to start a meaningful conversation.

haaland.house.gov

2. Check out the climate mandate, and call for Rep. Deb Haaland to be appointed the new Secretary of the Interior. It's so important to have a Native woman in this position of authority over stolen land.

3. Donate to and amplify the #LANDBACK campaign-- donate here
  • Make a recurring commitment, if you are able! As a teenager, I don't have a lot of my own money but when I talk to my parents sometimes they match a $5 contribution I make, or the family makes a larger donation together, or something like that.
  • And here are just a few more nonprofits supporting Indigenous rights & sovereignty:

4. Learn more about LANDBACK

5. STAY HOME. I mean it, people, if you care about Indigenous people at all then you will do everything you can to flatten the curve. Consider both the history of germ warfare against Indigenous peoples and the present reality that Native people are 3.5 times more likely to get COVID-19 than white people are.


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