John,
Thanksgiving is a time when families, relatives, and friends gather together to honor what we’re thankful for.
It’s also an important moment of truth and healing to remember and acknowledge the history of our country’s treatment of Indigenous peoples and the legacy of colonialism that still exists today.
Native peoples continue to fight for their lands and sovereignty, while facing extreme rates of poverty, suicide, and sexual and domestic violence. There is also a growing epidemic of Indigenous women who have gone missing or been murdered inflicting great harm on Indigenous communities across Turtle Island (North America).
Addressing these issues is at the heart of the Women’s March, which is why it’s so important that we rise together – native and non-native – on January 18th. Will you make a commitment to join me?
RSVP to rise in D.C. »
Pledge to take action in your city »
As an Oglala Lakota growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, I experienced many of the issues facing Indigenous communities first hand. My personal experiences inspired me to become an activist first in my teens and into adulthood.
I became involved with the Women’s March in 2017 when several native-led organizations came together under Indigenous Women Rise to serve on the leadership committee and help inform the Women’s March in Washington. Together, we worked with Women’s March to help raise visibility for Indigenous women’s issues.
I’ll never forget that morning when 1,000 women came together in prayer. It was so powerful to sing the Women’s Warrior song from our First Nations relatives to highlight the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women.
Last year, Indigenous Women from many nations led the 2018 Women’s March in Washington, DC holding red signs in the shape of Indigenous women to center the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women.
I’m proud to say that our partnership with Women’s March has only deepened and I’m excited to continue the work we started in 2017 to grow and strengthen the movement for Indigenous rights.
Trump’s policies have had disastrous impacts on Indigenous communities from green lighting fossil fuel development on tribal lands, to slashing the protected Bears Ears site by 200,000 acres, to cutting several federal assistance programs.1 Trump consistently uses hateful language towards Native Americans – referencing Pocahontas as a slur and making light of an act of genocide against the Lakota people at Wounded Knee.
Every day a sexual predator occupies the White House, it signals to ALL WOMEN that people who commit violence won’t be held accountable. It must stop.
Together we will rise up and demand justice for all of our communities and make sure 2020 is the year that Trump gets kicked out of the White House.
Wopila and thank you,
Sarah Eagle Heart
Women’s March Board Member
