MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Cheyenne Antonio
505-331-9618
c.antonio@gmail.com
Leoyla Cowboy
505-307-8644
leoylacowboy@gmail.com
The Red Nation and KIVA Club issue call to March & Rally in Albuquerque for Indigenous Peoples Day and clemency for Leonard Peltier
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Red Nation and KIVA Club call on all progressive people to march and rally for Indigenous Peoples Day on October 10, 2016, a day nationally celebrated as Columbus Day, and demand clemency for Leonard Peltier, a Native political prisoner.
WHO: The Red Nation and KIVA Club as well as progressive community groups and individuals. Co-founder of The Red Nation Melanie Yazzie (Diné), Grand Marshal of the march and rally John Redhouse (Diné), and Dr. Jennifer Nez Denetdale (Diné) will be speaking along with others. A press conference for media will be held Friday, October 7, 2016 at 10:30 a.m. at the Larry Casuse Center (2626 Garfield Ave. SE, Albuquerque, N.M.). A full list of endorsers and speakers will be coming soon.
WHAT: March & Rally for Indigenous Peoples Day and Clemency for Peltier
WHEN: Monday, October 10, 2016 at 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Intersection of First St. SW & Central Ave. NW, Albuquerque, N.M. at 5:30 p.m. with a march to Civic Center Plaza, intersection of Third St. NW and Marquette Ave. NW, for a rally with speakers
Peltier, an Anishinaabe/Dakota activist, is an internationally recognized freedom fighter. He is a hero to Native nations and all communities of peace and justice. Convicted of a crime that he did not commit, Peltier has endured more than 41 years in prison and his health is deteriorating. If he is not released, Peltier will surely die in prison.
According to Peltier, “As the last remaining months of President Obama’s term pass by, my anxiety increases. I believe that this President is my last hope for freedom.”
Like many of his day, Peltier was targeted simply because he stood for justice — justice for the land and justice for the people. Today, the Standing Rock Sioux carry on the causes Peltier fought for, as they battle to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline. The proposed 1,172-mile pipeline would transport heavy crude oil across the major freshwater source for countless human and nonhuman lives, the Missouri River. The public and vulnerable Native communities will pay for cleanup and contamination when — not if — the pipeline breaks. Although construction has been halted under the river, it continues everywhere else. While the movement to stop the pipeline is peaceful and nonviolent, water protectors face continued harassment and arrest.
Even as U.S. cities, like Albuquerque, have passed resolutions to abolish Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the fight for Indigenous liberation isn’t over. We call on Native and progressive movements internationally to organize on Indigenous Peoples Day to free Leonard Peltier and stop the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Demands:
1) Free Leonard Peltier. With failing health, Peltier, 72, will most likely die in prison if we do not act now. He is not a criminal. He is a hero of all oppressed peoples and we demand clemency.
2) Evict corporate polluters. Native nations from across North American have come together with the Standing Rock Sioux Nation to demand an end to the Dakota Access Pipeline and the corporate exploitation of Native lands and lives. Evict all corporate polluters from Native lands.
3) Stop racist violence against Natives. Natives experience catastrophic rates of violence and discrimination in New Mexico border towns and across the nation. Police kill and incarcerate Natives at the highest rate of any group in the nation. We demand an end to racist violence against Natives and all oppressed peoples.
#IndigenousPeoplesDay #IPD2016 #skodenIPD #freepeltier #NoDAPL #waterislife #keepitintheground #slayempire #notyourresourcecolony
Resources:
Event on Facebook:
2nd Annual Indigenous Peoples Day – March & Rally!
https://www.facebook.com/events/189734328127097/
Indigenous Peoples’ Day and protesting and abolishing Columbus Day:
The Nation: Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day
http://www.thenation.com/article/celebrating-indigenous-peoples-day/
Victory! Albuquerque Declares Indigenous Peoples Day
https://therednation.org/2015/10/07/victory-albuquerque-declares-indigenous-peoples-day/
More Cities Celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day Amid Effort to Abolish Columbus Day
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/10/11/more-cities-celebrating-indigenous-peoples-day-as-effort-to-abolish-columbus-day-grows/
On the Dakota Access Pipeline:
Fighting for Our Lives: #NoDAPL in Historical Context
https://therednation.org/2016/09/18/fighting-for-our-lives-nodapl-in-context/
About the Red Nation:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/therednation/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/the_red_nation/
YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLWlIHx5dZiPfCosHk0YqFQ
10-Point Program – https://therednation.org/manifesto/10-point-program/
About the KIVA Club:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/unmkivaclub/
Email – kiva@unm.edu
Coverage of previous Red Nation and KIVA Club events and protests:
Abolish the Colonial, Revisionist Santa Fe Entrada Celebration
https://www.liberationnews.org/abolish-the-colonial-and-revisionist-santa-fe-entrada-celebration/
Locals Convene at UNM in Solidarity Against the Dakota Access Pipeline
http://www.dailylobo.com/article/2016/09/9-unm-dapl-protest
Native American Students Fight to Remove Colonial Imagery from University of New Mexico
http://hyperallergic.com/322003/native-american-students-fight-to-remove-colonial-imagery-from-university-of-new-mexico/
Protest Held Over Winslow Officer’s Fatal Shooting of Loreal Tsingine
http://navajotimes.com/reznews/protest-held-winslow-officers-fatal-shooting-loreal-tsingine/
Video of previous Red Nation events and protests:
Entrada de Don Vargas de Vargas Protest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWZ9qK0-AGk
The Red Nation’s Indigenous Peoples Day March and Rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYUDuE-DHfY
Red Nation actions on border town violence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXRs3M5H_dw
Red Nation Gallup Border Town Justice march
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39gfbqGN2pA
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