This is an active and ongoing movement. Please check the Wet’suwet’en Supporter Toolkit to see how you can best support the movement.

UPDATE: February 23, 2020

Greater Cincinnati Native American Coalition

Phone: 859.307.7226

Email: GCNACoalition@gmail.com

Contact: Jheri Neri, Executive Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE WET’SUWET’EN PEOPLE

CINCINNATI, OH, February 17 - The Greater Cincinnati Native American Coalition stands in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people. We renounce the military violence of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Coastal GasLink pipeline project. The Wet’suwet’en are the original holders of the land and have never ceded their treaty rights. The hereditary chiefs and matriarchs of the Wet’suwet’en stand united in opposing the project.

Militarization is not reconciliation. Canada’s military violence is in direct opposition to its statements on reconciliation with First Nations. Canada and the Crown are violating the treaty rights set forth in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP). Abuse of Indigenous rights and Indigenous people is impermissible. 

In solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people, we echo the following demands: That construction of the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline project cease immediately. That the UNDRIP and the Wet’suwet’en right to free, prior and informed consent are respected by the state and RCMP. That the RCMP and all associated services be removed from Wet’suwet’en lands. That the provincial and federal government, RCMP and private industry employed by CGL respect Wet’suwet’en sovereignty and jurisdiction, and refrain from using force to access Wet’suwet’en lands or remove their people. (Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs Media Advisory, January 7, 2020).

UPDATE: February 22, 2020

The Wet’suwet’en call for solidarity actions from Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities who uphold Indigenous sovereignty and recognize the urgency of stopping resource extraction projects that threaten the lives of future generations. GCNAC stood with the Seneca Nation in in solidarity for Wet’suwet’en hereditary leaders. This action spread Indigenous rail blockades across the fictional colonial borders. 

This action was in accordance with guidelines set by Wet’suwet’en and took place on the Seneca Nation Cattaraugus Territory and Irving, NY CSX Train bridge. Irving, NY isn’t the Seneca nation. 

February 13, 2020 6:30 PM

Join us for food and a film! Get connected with direct action or come and learn how to support the Unist’ot’en Camp, which is an indigenous re-occupation of Wet’suwet’en land in northern “BC, Canada”.

In this era of “reconciliation”, Indigenous land is still being taken at gunpoint. INVASION is a new film about the Unist’ot’en Camp, Gidimt’en checkpoint and the larger Wet’suwet’en Nation standing up to the Canadian government and corporations who continue colonial violence against Indigenous people.

The Unist’ot’en Camp has been a beacon of resistance for nearly 10 years. It is a healing space for Indigenous people and settlers alike, and an active example of decolonization. The violence, environmental destruction, and disregard for human rights following TC Energy (formerly TransCanada) / Coastal GasLink’s interim injunction has been devastating to bear, but this fight is far from over.

On February 10... "Unist’ot’en Matriarchs Freda Huson (Chief Howihkat), Brenda Michell (Chief Geltiy), and Dr. Karla Tait have been forcibly removed off our territories and arrested. Our matriarchs were arrested while holding a ceremony to call on our ancestors and to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls."

Come, bring a covered dish and learn how you can get involved.

UPDATE: We raised $620.00 and sent it directly to camp.

We are collaborating with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park to display a Red Dress installation to bring awareness to the national crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The display opens February 4, 2020.

The Red Dress installation brings attention to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.  These dresses represent thousands of Native American women who go missing every year. Murder rates for Indigenous women in the United States are 10 times the rate of the national average in some areas.  According to the National Crime Information Centre database there were 5,712 Native American women reported missing in 2016 and of those only 116 were entered into the Department of Justice’s missing person database.  Many cases go unreported so the statistics are likely higher. The insufficient data, shortage of police follow through, and the lack of media attention all add to this national epidemic.

To understand the context of the overwhelming number of missing and murdered Indigenous women in the United States, it is necessary to understand the historical trauma of Native people.  Native Americans continue to deal with the repercussions of colonialism, including removal from Native lands, forced assimilation, and Indian boarding schools. A tragic result of historical trauma is continued misunderstanding and prejudice toward Indigenous people, which is often a basis for the violence faced by Native women and girls.

Indigenous women deserve better.  They deserve to be protected but it is not just Native women who go missing.  In Ohio, the stealing and trafficking of women is a serious issue. No one should go missing.  

For further information, reach out to Greater Cincinnati Native American Coalition at gcnacoalition@gmail.com.

In 1996, Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Generation Keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle, began conducting annual World Peace and Prayer Day (WPPD) ceremonies to encourage people of all faiths and all nations to offer prayers for the planet on the summer solstice, June 21st. Across cultures, the solstice is considered a powerful time to pray, especially at sacred sites. For the past 23 years, WPPD has been held at sites across the US and around the world. This year, the gathering comes to Ohio to honor the sites sacred to the Indigenous Peoples of this region.

The 24th annual multicultural honoring of sacred sites will be held at Fort Ancient in Lebanon, Ohio. Fort Ancient is one of the most extensive earthworks sites in the country and has been described as "one of the most extensive, if not the most extensive, work...in the entire West", Fort Ancient has been nominated for potential submission by the United States to the UNESCO World Heritage List, and has been used for many centuries by Indigenous People as a place to gather together for the spiritual ceremony.

Chief Looking Horse leads this annual commemoration to emphasize significant Indigenous sites in Ohio and to inspire youth. Educators, artists, faith-based and civic leaders, and all concerned with the health of our environment will have opportunities to learn during this event. “We all rely on the spirit of Mother Earth, of her waters and lands, along with all living beings, many who are in a place great urgency, because all things are connected,” writes Chief Arvol Looking Horse.

This event is being hosted by the Greater Cincinnati Native American Coalition, and Miami Council of Native Americans.