From Vallejo to Mexico; A Powerful Moment in Herstory for Indigenous Peoples Everywhere

p class="MsoNormal" When does displacement happen? For my mama it happened everyday. When she woke up without a known living relative, terrorized to live in her own brown skin ndash;to walk outside the house, to be alive. My mama was the orphaned daughter of a landless indigenous span data-scayt_word="Taino" data-scaytid="1"Taino/span, span data-scayt_word="Afrikan" data-scaytid="2"Afrikan/span father and a displaced indigenous Roma (gypsy) and Irish mother. Removal, displacement, eviction, and colonization happened to her indigenous ancestorsspan style=""nbsp; /spanand yet it also happened to her, everyday she spent never knowing and yet always longing, for her people, her culture, her language and her homelands./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" ldquo;We have reached a victory, for the first time, a precedent setting case for our people, for our ancestors,rdquo; said span data-scayt_word="Corrina" data-scaytid="3"Corrina/span Gould, a 21supspan data-scayt_word="st" data-scaytid="6"st/span/sup century span data-scayt_word="Ohlone" data-scaytid="7"Ohlone/span warrior span data-scayt_word="womyn" data-scaytid="8"womyn/span who was on the frontline of the struggle for our ancestors at span data-scayt_word="Sogorea" data-scaytid="9"Sogorea/span span data-scayt_word="Te" data-scaytid="14"Te/span (Glen Cove). span data-scayt_word="Corrina" data-scaytid="4"Corrina/span was talking about a 106 day encampment by indigenous peoples to stop the desecration of a 3500 year old ancestral burial ground in Vallejo, California/p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" ldquo;The Greater Vallejo Recreational District wanted to put parking spaces and span data-scayt_word="porta" data-scaytid="19"porta/span potties on our burial grounds, thatrsquo;s when we began a sacred fire and we werenrsquo;t going to leave until we knew our ancestors were safe,rdquo; span data-scayt_word="Corrina" data-scaytid="5"Corrina/span concluded. She went on to explain that through a complex easement agreement reached between the two tribes in control of the sacred site and the city of Vallejo, the burial grounds were now officially safe from development and desecration./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" From Vallejo to Mexico, from Zimbabwe to Hawaii, indigenous peoples have been systematically removed, displaced, bulldozed over, red-lined, evicted, and span data-scayt_word="gentrified" data-scaytid="20"gentrified/span for hundreds of years. Our sacred burial grounds have been desecrated and our farm-lands and rivers and medicine have been stolen, sold, poisoned and co-opted, leaving us dependent on Governments, NGOrsquo;s and the Non-profit Industrial Complex to scatter a few crumbs of ldquo;aidrdquo; our way when it is politically convenient. The majority of us post-removal, post span data-scayt_word="disaporic" data-scaytid="21"disaporic/span, and without land, resources, safety and even cultural identity like my mama, end up suffering different forms of post-traumatic stress, abuse, economic instability, disability and homelessness/span data-scayt_word="landlessness" data-scaytid="22"landlessness/span only to become criminalized, incarcerated, and/or lumped into the collectively span data-scayt_word="un-solveable" data-scaytid="23"un-solveable/span problem known as ldquo;povertyrdquo; so we can be studied, researched, written about and deconstructed by the industry of Academia./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" The final act of displacement is the removal and desecration of our sacred ancestral burial grounds. In California alone, we have lost countless sacred spaces to shopping malls, parks and museums. Our ancestors desecrated so people could sip lattes, buy computer parts and watch Hollywood movies, tragic losses like the Emeryville and Presidio and span data-scayt_word="Yerba" data-scaytid="24"Yerba/span Buena span data-scayt_word="shellmounds" data-scaytid="25"shellmounds/span located in San Francisco and Oakland. Sorrow-filled, valiant battles were waged by indigenous peoples but in the end, big money and real estate speculation prevailed as it often does in this capitalist society./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" But as the rivers and oceans across span data-scayt_word="Pachamama" data-scaytid="26"Pachamama/span flow with our spilled blood and stolen resources, we have also reached an extremely important moment in span data-scayt_word="herstory" data-scaytid="27"herstory/span. A moment when centuries of resistance movements brought by threatened, displaced and removed indigenous peoples are prevailing/p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" ldquo;We have been fighting removal for hundreds of years, and now another speculator is trying to turn our sacred burial grounds at Rattlesnake Island into a summer vacation home,rdquo; said Jim span data-scayt_word="BrownEagle" data-scaytid="28"BrownEagle/span of Lake County span data-scayt_word="Elam" data-scaytid="29"Elam/span people. He went on to explain that his tribal nation has collected extensive documentation of the historic theft of their peoples resources and will proceed with a law suit against the government for reparations./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" In San span data-scayt_word="Sabastien" data-scaytid="30"Sabastien/span, span data-scayt_word="Bachajon" data-scaytid="31"Bachajon/span, Mexico, after a deep struggle by indigenous peoples to control their land and natural resources from government land grabs and destructive ldquo;eco-tourismrdquo;, a struggle which included false accusation, arrest and incarceration of seven of the indigenous warriors who protect the beautiful waterfalls and rivers of the land, the indigenous peoples prevailed, the political prisoners were released and the truth is circulating throughout international media channels The fight is definitely not over, but the world is watching and responding and not letting up the pressure on the ldquo;bad governmentrdquo; attempts to steal the original peoples lands ./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" Like their brothers and sisters in span data-scayt_word="Chiapas" data-scaytid="32"Chiapas/span, the span data-scayt_word="Huicholes" data-scaytid="33"Huicholes/span in span data-scayt_word="Jalisco" data-scaytid="34"Jalisco/span fought the governmentrsquo;s plan to build a road through their village by coming out and standing in front of the bulldozers and refusing to leave. Now thespan style=""nbsp; /spangovernment has conceded to the indigenous peoples and are building the road around the village./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" Other powerful landless peoples and poor peoples movements that have successfully resisted government span data-scayt_word="politricks" data-scaytid="35"politricks/span and corporate domination recently include the span data-scayt_word="Shackdwellers" data-scaytid="36"Shackdwellers/span Union in South Africa, The Landless Peoples Movement in Brazil and The Peoples Parliament in Zimbabwe./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" Aligned with indigenous people-led and poor people-led movements across the globe POOR Magazine has been working on our own form of stolen land resistance we call a href="http://www.poormagazine.org/homefulness"span data-scayt_word="HOMEFULNESS" data-scaytid="37"HOMEFULNESS/span/a ndash; a sweat-equity, co-housing project practicing equity-sharing and land distribution led by us ndash; the peoples whose voices are continually silenced and repressed. The poor, the displaced, the removed./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" As me and my fellow indigenous reporters, span data-scayt_word="SIlencio" data-scaytid="38"SIlencio/span span data-scayt_word="Muteado" data-scaytid="39"Muteado/span and Philip Standing Bear from our family at POOR Magazine stood in front of the sacred fire at span data-scayt_word="Sogorea" data-scaytid="10"Sogorea/span span data-scayt_word="Te" data-scaytid="15"Te/span, celebrating the last day of this revolutionary victory for the ancestors, I reflected on the countless fights of indigenous peoples that have come before this one and the ones currently being waged. Fights that have a renewed strength now./p p span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"span style=""nbsp;/spanldquo;We are part of a pan pacific coalition of Samoan, Hawaiian, span data-scayt_word="Tongan" data-scaytid="40"Tongan/span and many morespan style=""nbsp; /spanPacific Islander social justice organizers who came together to work on the Free span data-scayt_word="Rapa" data-scaytid="42"Rapa/span span data-scayt_word="Nui" data-scaytid="43"Nui/span project,rdquo; said, span class="profilenamefnginormousprofilenamefwb"Loa span data-scayt_word="Niumeitolu" data-scaytid="44"Niumeitolu/span, a span data-scayt_word="Tongan" data-scaytid="41"Tongan/span revolutionary who with her sister, span data-scayt_word="FuiFuiLupe" data-scaytid="45"FuiFuiLupe/span spoke tospan style=""nbsp; /spanus about the work of the span data-scayt_word="Oceana" data-scaytid="46"Oceana/span Coalition of Northern California (span data-scayt_word="OCNC" data-scaytid="47"OCNC/span) to support the indigenous peoples of Easter Island. A Coalition of Pacific Islanders were one of many nations who came out to stand in solidarity with the span data-scayt_word="Sogorea" data-scaytid="11"Sogorea/span span data-scayt_word="Te" data-scaytid="16"Te/span resistance in the occupation. The work of span data-scayt_word="OCNC" data-scaytid="48"OCNC/span is based on the fact that so many pacific islanders are currently incarcerated, displaced and/or in poverty through so many forms of indigenous removal and theft. /span/span/p p span class="profilenamefnginormousprofilenamefwb"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"Other indigenous nations like the /span/spanspan style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"span data-scayt_word="Winnemem" data-scaytid="49"Winnemem/span span data-scayt_word="Wintu" data-scaytid="54"Wintu/spanspan class="profilenamefnginormousprofilenamefwb", came with medicine and prayers on the 52supspan data-scayt_word="nd" data-scaytid="57"nd/span/sup day of the occupation at span data-scayt_word="Sogorea" data-scaytid="12"Sogorea/span span data-scayt_word="Te" data-scaytid="17"Te/span/span/span span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"The homeland of the span data-scayt_word="Winnemem" data-scaytid="50"Winnemem/span span data-scayt_word="Wintu" data-scaytid="55"Wintu/span is centered around the span data-scayt_word="McCloud" data-scaytid="58"McCloud/span River in Northern California, which for thousands of years was one of the most fertile salmon spawning rivers in the West. In the span data-scayt_word="1940s" data-scaytid="60"1940s/span, construction of the Shasta Dam resulted in the flooding of span data-scayt_word="Winnemem" data-scaytid="51"Winnemem/span villages and sacred places, and effectively wiped out the span data-scayt_word="McCloud" data-scaytid="59"McCloud/span Salmon by blocking their upriver passage. The span data-scayt_word="Winnemem" data-scaytid="52"Winnemem/span are currently battling a proposal to a href="http://www.winnememwintu.us/journey-to-justice/shasta-dam-raise/"further raise/a the Shasta Dam, and are working passionately to a href="http://www.winnememwintu.us/mccloud-salmon-restoration/"restore/a their ancestral relationship with span data-scayt_word="Nur" data-scaytid="61"Nur/span, the Salmon. /span/p p span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"The span data-scayt_word="Winnemem" data-scaytid="53"Winnemem/span span data-scayt_word="Wintu" data-scaytid="56"Wintu/span peoples have committed to standing their ground no matter what even if the Dam is raised. Even if the water comes. /span/p p nbsp;/p p span class="profilenamefnginormousprofilenamefwb"span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"ldquo;We won this fight because we as indigenous peoples, as all peoples of all colors and cultures came together, thatrsquo;s what we have to do at all of the remaining sites to ensure that they are safe,rdquo; said Wounded Knee span data-scayt_word="DeOcampo" data-scaytid="63"DeOcampo/span, a span data-scayt_word="Miwok" data-scaytid="65"Miwok/span elder who has been fighting for the preservation of ancestral burial grounds for years,span style=""nbsp; /spanldquo;now that we won this powerful victory we need to focus on the San Francisco Peaks located in Arizona, another sacred site that must be saved, span data-scayt_word="DeOcampo" data-scaytid="64"DeOcampo/span concluded./span/span/p p class="MsoNormal" As the smoke from the sacred fire blended with the sweet smell of sage and tobacco offerings, I placed my Mama Dee and Uncle Al Robles pictures at the entrance to the span data-scayt_word="Sogorea" data-scaytid="13"Sogorea/span span data-scayt_word="Te" data-scaytid="18"Te/span prayer circle so their revolutionary indigenous spirits could be part of this important victory. A quiet softness brushed past me and then I knew.span style=""nbsp; /spanI heard her in the deep beat of the drum and felt her in the soft grass in the wind. Mama was there. Smiling from the deepest place in her wounded heart, as she rarely did, when she saw justice finally done for displaced peoples, like her./p p class="MsoNormal" bnbsp;/b/p