2022 National Week of Action for MMIW

The National Partners Work Group on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) and the MMIW Family Advisors are organizing a National Week of Action (April 29-May 5, 2022) to call the nation and the world to action in honor of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Take action by participating in these virtual events, exploring our list of resources, and organizing additional actions in your communities on and around May 5th. Join us in saying ‘enough is enough’—not one more stolen sister.
National Week Events:
12 pm MDT |
Traditional Launch of the National Week of Action |
1 pm MDT |
National Briefing: Addressing the Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) |
5/2
1 pm MDT |
Voices Rising: Uplifting Native Hawaiian Women Survivors and Victims Missing or Murdered |
5/3
1 pm MDT |
Spotlight Alaska and the Crisis of MMIWG 2022 |
5/4
1 pm MDT |
Using International Law to Respond to VAIW and the MMIWG Crisis |
May 4 - 8 |
Running for Justice: Virtual 5K, 10K and Half-Marathon |
5/5
REGISTER
A MESSAGE FROM CHIEF ARVOL LOOKING HORSE
A “disease of the mind” has set in world leaders and many members of our global community, with their belief that a solution of retaliation and destruction of peoples will bring peace.
In our Prophecies it is told that we are now at the crossroads: Either unite spiritually as a global nation or be faced with chaos, disasters, diseases, and tears from our relatives’ eyes.
We are the only species that is destroying the source of life, meaning Mother Earth, in the name of power, mineral resources, and ownership of land. Using chemicals and methods of warfare that are doing irreversible damage, as Mother Earth is becoming tired and cannot sustain any more impacts of war.
I ask you to join me in this endeavor. Our vision is for the peoples of all continents, regardless of their beliefs in the Creator, to come together as one at their Sacred Sites.
Interior Department Renaming Sites With Offensive Native American Names
28 lakes, creeks, rivers and other geographical features in Wisconsin being renamed.
The U.S. Department of the Interior is requesting public input on new names for more than 650 geographic features with racially offensive names.
Comments: https://www.regulations.gov/
In November, DOI Secretary Deb Haaland signed Secretarial Order 3404 declaring a word that originated as an Algonquin term for “woman” a derogatory name. Its meaning has shifted after centuries of use by white people as an offensive term for Indigenous women.
“It’s such a derogatory and negative thing to call a woman,” Doud said. “We’re resilient people, and it’s only fair to change the name to something that isn’t so racist.”
The federal order outlined steps for removing the term from federal and state lands, one of the steps included forming the Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force.
By March, the task force identified 664 geographical features — such as creeks, lakes, rivers and valleys — across the country that use the term and proposed five new names for each site. The complete list of places and their suggested new names are available as both a PDF and an interactive map.
The 28 sites in Wisconsin span 19 counties.
The federal government will manage the process, but the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is helping to solicit input and will review proposed names to avoid duplicating the names of nearby geographic features.
“That process can easily take over a year to get that accomplished. This kind of puts it on a fast track,” Goodwill said.
Under the new order, sites with the word in their title would bypass the state process.
But even before the order, many Wisconsin counties were already trying to eliminate the term.
In 2019, Dane County changed the name of a bay on Monona Lake to Wicawak, the Ho-Chunk word for muskrat. And last year, a lake in Oneida and Vilas counties near the Lac du Flambeau reservation was changed to Amber Lake.
John D. Johnson, Sr., president of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, said the old name was a dishonor to Native women.
“Here in Lac du Flambeau — and I can speak for other reservations too — we put our women on a pedestal,” Johnson said. “We appreciate everything they do for us, because if it wasn’t for the woman, none of us would be here, right?”
People had been trying to change the name for more than 20 years, but nothing ever happened, Johnson said.
“What we did with the Lakes Association was pretty cool because they had come right to our (Tribal) Council room and we had talked together, we collaborated and that’s what needed to be done,” Johnson said.
Together they submitted a formal petition to the Wisconsin Geographic Names Council and about six months later, residents and tribal members had collectively renamed the lake Amber Lake.
Doud said they initially chose the name Ikwe, which means “woman” in Ojibwe, but some residents felt it might be difficult to pronounce. Together they agreed on Amber because of the golden color of the Tamarack trees that surround the lake.
Now communities will have the backing of the federal government to speed up the process. And the movement to remove offensive terms from geographic features will not stop with this one word.
In November, Haaland also signed Secretarial Order 3405, creating a federal advisory committee that will identify and recommend new names for sites that use other racial slurs and derogatory terms. In the past, similar bodies have renamed geographic features that used the N-word or a pejorative term for Japanese people.
“This is a good move for the future. I think it’s overdue,” said Goodwill, who is a member of the Menominee Nation. “I think it goes along with having our first Native American secretary of the Interior.”
Public input on the current list will be accepted until April 25. You can submit comments online, using the docket number DOI-2022-0001. You can also mail your written comments to: Reconciliation of Derogatory Geographic Names, MS-511, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley Dr., Reston, VA 20192. Be sure to include the docket number.
Listen to the WPR report here.
‘A good move for the future’: Federal officials ask for public input in renaming 28 sites with derogatory names in Wisconsin was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
NO MORE PIPELINE BLUES (ON THIS LAND WHERE WE BELONG)
NO MORE PIPELINE BLUES (ON THIS LAND WHERE WE BELONG)
FEATURING WAUBANEWQUAY, WINONA LADUKE, DAY SISTERS, MUMU FRESH, PURA FE, SONI MORENO, JENNIFER KREISBERG, INDIGO GIRLS, BONNIE RAITT AND JOY HARJO.
Film Directed by Keri Pickett | Edited by River Akemann & Keri Pickett
Music Written & Produced by Larry Long | Recorded by Brett Huus
Cinematographers: Sarah Littleredfeather, River Akemann & Keri Pickett
By Gerry Adams (for Léargas)
This Christmas take a moment to think about Leonard Peltier.
Leonard was convicted in 1977 of the murder in 1975 of two FBI agents during a confrontation at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Two others who were charged with the murders were found not guilty by reason of self-defence. Peltier has always denied involvement in the two deaths. He has been in prison for almost 45 years.
In the years since then serious and significant questions have arisen over the evidence produced by the prosecution at the trial. A witness who recanted her account claimed she had been forced into making a statement by the FBI. A ballistics expert who linked Peltier’s weapon to the murders was reprimanded by the federal court for lying.
In July this year James H. Reynolds, the former US Attorney General whose office handled the prosecution and appeal in the Leonard Peltier case, appealed for his sentence to be commuted. In a letter to President Joe Biden he said: “With time, and the benefit of hindsight, I have realised that the prosecution and continued incarceration of Mr Peltier was and is unjust.”
In October Amnesty International issued an Urgent Action notice calling for clemency for Leonard Peltier. Amnesty pointed out that “Leonard Peltier has been imprisoned in the USA for over 44 years, some of which was spent in solitary confinement, serving two life sentences for murder despite concerns over the fairness of his trial. He has always maintained his innocence. He is 77 years old and suffers from a number of chronic health ailments, including one that is potentially fatal.”
“In October US Congress members Raúl M. Grijalva, Barbara Lee, Jesús Garcia, Cori Bush, Emanuel Cleaver II, Jared Huffman, Teresa Leger Fernández, Rashida Tlaib, Pramila Jayapal, Betty McCollum, and Melanie Stansbury — wrote a joint letter to you requesting the expedited release of Leonard Peltier from the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Florida and requesting that Mr Peltier be granted clemency.”
Calls for Leonard Peltier’s release have also been supported by international figures, including the late Nelson Mandela, former Irish President Mary Robinson and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Join us in urging compassion and clemency for Leonard Peltier. Write to:
President Joseph Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500, USA.
Native Lives Matter
National Day of Awareness for Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, 2 Spirit Thursday, May 5, 2022
LN3: Seven Teachings of the Anishinaabe in Resistance
The South Shore of Lake Superior and Line 5: Impacts
https://www.facebook.com/RejectLine5/videos/1050867815489741
Shut Down Line 5 - Protect the Water!
https://www.facebook.com/WinonaLaDukeHonorTheEarth/videos/313448660748647
Menominee Indian Tribe No Back 40 Mine
https://www.facebook.com/NoBack40Mine
The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, a federally recognized Indian Tribe, is indigenous to what is now known as Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. By the early 1800’s, the start of the treaty era, the Menominee occupied a land base estimated at 10 million acres; however, through a series of seven treaties entered into with the United States Government during the 1800’s, the Tribe witnessed its land base erode to little more than 235,000 acres today.
Our sacred place of origin exists within our 1836 treaty territory, at the mouth of the Menominee River which is located in the border cities of Menominee, MI and Marinette, WI. It was here, a mere 60 miles east of our present Menominee Indian Reservation, where our five main clans: ancestral Bear, Eagle, Wolf, Moose and Crane were transformed into human form and thus became the first Menominee.
As a result of our undeniable ties and long occupation of the Menominee River area, we have numerous sacred sites and burial mounds up and down the Menominee River, including the area of the proposed Back Forty Mine. Much like our brothers and sister in the NODAPL movement we also know that water is essential to life. The Menominee River is, in fact, the very origin of life for the Menominee people. It also provides life to Michigan and Wisconsin residents and the natural wildlife within the Great Lakes ecosystem. The harmful threats to this area and all who depend on it far outweigh the corporate interests of a Canadian exploratory company and justify the denial of the necessary permits for the proposed mine.
The Menominee Nation is steadfast in its opposition to the proposed mine and its commitment to preserving the Menominee River. We ask you to stand in solidarity with us as we continue our fight to protect our place of origin, our sacred sites, the wildlife, water and environment for future generations.
https://www.grandcanyontrust.org/white-mesa-uranium-mill
https://www.facebook.com/yo.nuche/videos/409028270945404
EPA faults uranium processor for not keeping Superfund waste covered
Energy Fuels Resources barred from accepting some radioactive material after federal authorities conclude the White Mesa facility has not been properly storing dangerous waste.
Clean Up The Mines
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