The Mt. Rushmore/Keystone protests occurred in tandem with President Trump’s rally at Mt. Rushmore for the 4th of July.
In the 1920s, South Dakota historian Doane Robinson hired sculptor Gutzon Borglum to construct a national monument to promote tourism in the state. Gutzon was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and had recently helped construct a memorial to Confederate leaders in the state of Georgia. Some of the funding for the Mount Rushmore project came from the KKK.
The mountain that was chosen for the site of the monument is known as “The Six Grandfathers” (Thuŋkášila Šákpe) by Lakota peoples, named after the Earth, the Sky, and the four directions. The nine tribes of the Great Sioux Nation never agreed to or signed away their rights to this land; the Fort Laramie treaty in 1868, which the tribes did sign, guaranteed them “undisturbed use and occupation” of the land on which the Six Grandfathers, or Mount Rushmore, is on.
Dakota Access Pipeline Protests
Map of the Dakota Access Pipeline with reference to indigenous reservations.
The Dakota Access Pipeline was first given the go-ahead under the Obama administration, which would go through a sacred area of the Standing Rock reservation, where indigenous people would take out water and bury the dead in a sacred area. This was met with many protests, and Obama stopped it in 2016. Trump, after taking office, resumed the project and it was completed in 2017, despite marches on the white house and many other demonstrations throughout the country. But, Federal Judge James E Boasberg, sitting at the District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled that the construction of the pipeline had fallen short of environmental standards. It is to be shut down for 13 months until it can be revised to meet environmental standards, reviewed by a team of environmental experts and the United States military.
Highway 6 Blockade
The Six Nations blockaded Highway 6 in the Toronto area as retaliation to an attack by the Canadian Police.
In response to OPP attack on Land Defenders & arrests, Six Nations People’s have shut down Highway 6 Bypass and trains. pic.twitter.com/14sJkDylQR
Hundreds of protesters in the Iranian majority-Sunni and Baloch town of Saravan set the governors’ building and several police cars on fire after government forces opened fire on dozens of fuel traders at the Iranian-Pakistani border, killing at least 37. Following government forces opening fire on demonstrators, more public buildings fell.
Tens of thousands of protesters returned to the streets across Algeria on the 2nd anniversary of the national Hirak movement’s birth, calling for the fall of the military establishment and chanting slogans in support of the indigenous Berber movement.
Thousands of West Papuans marched in Dogiyai against the formation of a Central Papua Province and the building of a police station by the Indonesian government, instead demanding a referendum for independence in order to unite with their blood relatives in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.
Thousands of Algerians returned to the streets of Kherrata on the 2nd anniversary of the birth of the Hirak movement, which peacefully brought down the military regime in the country. The first demonstration occurred on the 16th of February in 2019, with massive anti-government protests then spreading across the country.
Dozens of Portland protesters gathered for an indigenous-led march in solidarity with the Standing Rock Youth 93 mile run in protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Demonstrators marched across the NE Portland bridge, singing indigenous chants, then dispersing after stopping at the Army Corp of Engineers office to demand that Biden respect native tribes’ wishes to rid their lands of pipelines.
Around 100 protesters in Portland gathered for an Abolish ICE protest in front of the local ICE facility in the city’s northeast, with many waving flags of the American Indigenous Movement. Police fired munitions and tear gas at protesters, forcing them to disperse before arrests were made.
Hundreds of Palestinians marched in the city of Tamra to protest the apartheid regime established by the Israeli state, which a few days before had murdered 2 young men who were unarmed and non-resistant.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Panguipulli in response to the police murder of Francisco Martínez, also known as El Pancho, a street artist who juggled fake machetes and was murdered by police for not having an ID. Several public buildings went up in flames by the end of the night, as police refused to provide justice for the murder of the young man.
Dozens of protesters in Portland gathered for a press conference held by indigenous protesters, who recounted their experiences with police brutality in the city. Demonstrators marched through the area, holding banners and waving flags of the American Indian Movement.
Armed Mapuche weichafe (warriors) seized the Route P-70 highway at the Lleu Lleu bridge near the towns of Cañete & Tirúa in solidarity with political prisoner César Millanao facing the courts on charges stemming from his participation in the social uprising of Chile, during which Millanao was arrested in December 2019.
Dozens of protesters in Seattle gathered for the Dexmaamxsgism Da Libaalx indigenous-led march for justice for black lives and all others who have fallen to police brutality. Local citizens of native tribes gave speeches about economic and social oppression facing people of color, then marching and chanting anti-capitalist and anti-police slogans.
Dozens of protesters clashed with Carabineros in the central coastal city of Valparaíso in Chile, during a demonstration on the anniversary of the police murder of Neco Moras & Ariel Moreno during a football game in 2020. Extreme amounts of tear gas were deployed, in response to which protesters threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at armored vehicles.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Santiago during a mobilization on the anniversary of the police murders of Neco Mora & Ariel Morenos in 2020 during demonstrations. Heavy clashes occurred with police around the area of Plaza Dignidad, with demonstrators subject to chemical weapons including tear gas and chemically tainted water cannons, both of which cause burns and possibly permanent injuries.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside of the Center of Justice in Santiago in support of Mauricio Cheque, a Mapuche political prisoner of the social uprising in Chile who was held in prison for over a year without trial, who faced a hearing on the 29th. Demonstrators banged on concrete poles to make noise in support of Cheuque and hanged banners on the walls demanding his release.
Dozens of protesters gathered in Seattle for an indigenous-led march to demand the abolition of ICE and stop all deportations of undocumented immigrants in the United States. Although police trailed the demonstration, no arrests were made and protesters dispersed peacefully.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Plaza Dignidad for a national mobilization demanding the release of political prisoners. Intense clashes occurred with police, who were repulsed from the area several times by angry crowds while trying to disperse the protesters, who finally left after nightfall arrived.
Protesters in Santiago placed barricades along the memorial of Villa Francia on Curacaví street, demanding the end of state terror against the Mapuche communities of Chile by Carabineros, following an incident in which the 7-year-old daughter of the murdered activist Camilo Catrillanca was violently arrested by police.
Thousands of Kurds took to the streets in Paris, demanding justice on the 18th anniversary of the triple murders of pro-PKK Kurdish activists in France, who were all found shot in the head execution-style. Many suspect that the MİT ([Turkish] National Intelligence Organization) was to blame for the murders, including French authorities themselves, who later caught the 34-year-old Ömer Güney, a maintenance worker in the Charles de Gaulle airport, with substantial evidence.
Indigenous activists and allies gathered near Palisade, Minnesota, to protest against the Line 3 Tar Sands Pipeline, marching down the Great River Road to the construction site, where speeches were given out and dances were performed. Later, protesters drove 45 minutes at a 2nd construction site, shutting down activity before sheriffs swiftly arrived and arrested several.
Hundreds of protesters gathered for a People’s March near the Minnesota governor’s mansion in St. Paul, demanding “Cash not covid”, “Community not cops”, “People not pipelines”, and “Politics without Proud Boys”. Several signs were seen demanding justice for Dolal Idd, as well as in opposition to the Line 3 Tar Sands Pipeline.
Hundreds of Chileans gathered in Antofagasta to demand the immediate release of all political prisoners of the 18th of October Uprising that began in 2019 in Chile and still holds strong after more than a year. Clashes with police escalated throughout the day and ended with flames on the cities of the streets of Antofagasta after Carabineros attempted to deploy chemically tainted water cannons on protesters.
Hundreds of Chileans gathered in Santiago to protest against state terror perpetrated on Mapuche indigenous communities, after the family of an activist murdered by police was beaten and arrested at a border checkpoint. Demonstrators successfully repulsed Carabineros using water cannons, and held the central Plaza Dignidad for hours on end.
Chilean protesters placed barricades on the 810th Kilometer of Route 5 in Mafil, in support of the Mapuche communities of Malleko province, where the police beat the families of a murdered activist at a border checkpoint.
Dozens of Chilean activists and street medics gathered at Plaza Dignidad in Santiago to protest for amnesty for all political prisoners and in commemoration of the murder of the Mapuche warrior Matías Catrileo on the 3rd of January in 2007. Demonstrators were immediately subjected to chemically tainted water cannons, with many left having scars and burns. One protester was also thrown to the ground and injured by a water cannon blast that hit them directly.
Thousands of Palestinian activists and demonstrators protested against Israeli settlement expansions in Halhoul and Ramallah, and were assaulted heavily by IDF forces, resulting in more than 25 injuries total. Several were also arrested, and they face the possibility of standing military trial.
Protesters in Temuco placed barricades in solidarity with Matias Catrileo, a young Mapuche warrior/weychafe murdered by police on January 3rd, 2008, during territorial clashes between the ethnic group and the government.
Protesters returned to the Line 3 Tar Sands pipeline blockade in Minnesota after a protester was arrested for stopping construction for 5 hours. Demonstrators had gathered after a worker was killed in an accident 9 days before, and the pipeline even then resumed its normal affairs.
Dozens of protesters gathered in Portland on the anniversary of the public execution of 38 Dakota men in Mankato by the Lincoln administration in 1862, condemning the largest one-day mass execution in American history. Demonstrators gave speeches at a small monument to Thomas Jefferson before dispersing.
Hundreds of activists across Portland dropped dozens of banners in the city, as part of a new campaign labeled as BLM PDX Winter. Several organizations participated, including Rose City Antifa, the Portland Socialist Rifle Association, as well as anonymous affinity groups acting on their own.
Police arrested 9 indigenous Otomi occupiers of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples, shortly after the government agreed to take down 3 properties for a community housing project. The Zapatista-aligned indigenous community expressed that the occupation would continue to occur until the dropping of all charges and release of all detained Otomi.
Demonstrators all over Southeast Portland spray-painted slogans and defaced statues of colonialism, including many large businesses. A war monument was…
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Esquel and Trelew, 2 towns in Chubut province, against a mega-mining operation in the area that would harm the ecosystem that was approved by the governor. Other protests also occurred in Rawson, with provincial police cracking down on the march and arresting several people.
Tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated across Guatemala against government corruption and a budget plan that took away from the poorest and gave to the richest of the country. Over 40 arrests occurred nationally, with hundreds more injured. Demonstrations took place in Guatemala City, Quetzaltenango, and Huehuetenango.
Demonstrators gathered in central Madrid to condemn rampant racism, of which the country has been reminded on the recent anniversary of the murder of a Dominican immigrant. About 50 protesters were in attendance, and received support for many passing through the central plaza of the city.
Demonstrators and allies across Chile commemorated the 2-year anniversary of the murder of Camilo Catrillanca, a Mapuche farmer, at the hands of Chilean police, in Temucuicui, in the area of Ercilla. Hundreds of protesters and friends marched on the site of his murder, where his tractor still lies, and condemned the lack of transparency in the Chilean government while handling his case.
Protesters in Antofagasta took to the streets demanding the resignation of President Piñera and the government representation in the constitutional delegation not to have any party members. Hundreds took part in the protest as a part of the growing movement for the end of politicians and party politics in Chile.
Protesters took to the streets for the 4-year anniversary of the murder of Renee Davis, an indigenous black woman. More than 200 protesters attended the demonstration, demanding justice for her and her unborn son.
Clashes continued to occur between the Onkwehonwe tribe and the OPP at 1492 Land Back Lane, with indigenous people hitting police cars and getting shot with rubber bullets and tasers after.
Protesters at the 1492 Land Back Lane camp clashed with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), with multiple roads blockaded and barricades set up in Caledonia, near the city of Ontario itself. Multiple protesters were injured and arrested, and courts ruled that setting up barricades is a punishable offence upon which charges can be mounted.
The Misak tribe is a tribe from Western Colombia (Cauca Department), which attended the Minga 2020 protests in which 150,000 indigenous people demonstrated against the government. The Misak occupied the El Dorado airport in Bogota in protest against the massacres committed by government-backed paramilitaries against indigenous and poor people.
Tens of thousands of indigenous people once again occupied Plaza Bolivar in Bogota to protest massacres perpetrated by government-backed paramilitaries that kill hundreds to thousands of people every year. About 100,000 people demonstrated again, demanding the end of funding for paramilitary forces such as the fascist Black Eagles.
Indigenous People’s Day protests were planned as part of a 3-consecutive day event involving 1492 Land Back Lane, the Indigenous Day of Rage, and now the Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day, which is criticized by many for venerating a colonizer and a genocidal architect.
https://protests.media/indigenous-day-of-rage-begins/ Portlanders took to the streets during the Indigenous Day of Rage on the 11th of October to protest the…
The Indigenous Day of Rage, a planned direct action across the Americas, took place on the 11th against decolonization and violation of the land of native reservations in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. One of the main direct actions took place in Portland, with the toppling of many statues.
1492 Land Back Lane was a planned day of direct action on the 9th of October all across so-called Canada for the self-determination of the indigenous peoples’ of the country, and the halt of pipelines and police invasions that violate the sovereignty of native land.
A protest took place in Minneapolis on the 4th of October against anti-indigenous activity by police and local fossil fuel drilling in the area. Its organizers called for a return of indigenous land to its original inhabitants, along with the abolition of police in the city, which the city council had originally promised to do but backed off from doing.
Through the week of 13-20 September 2020, several activist groups belonging to the O’Odham and Kumeyaay indigenous tribes have been arrested for protesting the wall and halting construction. 2 O’Ohdham activists have been arrested on Class B misdemeanor charges, while other Kumeyaay protesters have been brutalized by police.
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