Native Movement Blog
Confirm Deb Haaland for Secretary of Interior
If confirmed, U.S. Representative Deb Haaland of New Mexico will become the first Indigenous person to serve as Secretary of the Interior. Her historic nomination by President Biden demonstrates the Administration’s bold plan to address the climate crisis and commitments to Environmental Justice.
Senator Murkowski stated only a few weeks ago that she would not would not support a confirmation vote to fill the current Supreme Court vacancy before the November 3rd election.
Senator Sullivan should join Senator Murkowski to oppose this rushed Supreme Court confirmation before the election. Alaskans need our Senators to stand by their word and principles: vote No on confirming Judge Barrett to the United States Supreme Court.
In the midst of the third-spike of the global Pandemic of Covid-19, now is not the time to be deliberating on this nomination, while the people of Alaska are calling for relief. Covid is increasing the impacts on Alaskans health and our health care systems. Our labor force and job security is stressed. And Alaskan families are struggling with homeschool and childcare needs. Add to this the fact that we are in the middle of a critical election season. Senator Sullivan and Senator Murkwoski must honor their own past promises and oppose the rushed process to confirm a new Supreme Court judge.
What does it mean for you? Judges nominated to the Supreme Court serve for the remainder of their lives, therefore their appointments must be a deliberate and fair process that guarantees the best interests of the people. The decisions of the supreme court impact the the most critical issues of our time including the mechanics of our democracy, our responses to climate change, and legal amendments for LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and so much more.
Check out these recent Op-Eds for more:
Sullivan should stand up for principal, stand down on Barrett Nomination.
Written by Native Peoples Action board member Heather Kendall-Miller.
With our futures on the line, Supreme Court nomination process must not be rushed.
Co-authored by Native Movement Executive Director Enei Begaye, Native Peoples Action Executive Director Kendra Kloster, The Alaska Center executive director Polly Carr, Natalie Dawson, Jessica Girard, Meredith Trainor and Pamela Miller.
Indigenous Peoples Day 2020
CelebratE and Rally for Representation + Participation on Indigenous Peoples Day
• Monday, October 12 @ 12:00 AK •
Join us Live on Facebook
or Register for the Zoom Webinar
We are joining with Defend the Sacred AK in co-hosting a 90-minute virtual celebration and rally for Indigneous Peoples Day, Monday, October 12 @ 12:00PM AK. Featuring Special Musical Performances by
Mark Brown
Nanieezh Peter
Portugal. The Man
Torin Jacobs
Words and Discussions with Indigenous Protectors from across Alaska on topics of
Land, Water, Food Justice
Gender Justice & Healing
Police Brutality & Systemic Racism
EMCEEs Naaweiyaa Tagaban
& Ruth Miller
and guest appearance by Dakota & Dine Activist/Comedian
Dallas Goldtooth
#ClimateJusticeNow #GetOutTheNativeVote #ProtectTheArctic #Decolonize
#IndigenousPeoplesDay
The system isn't broken. It's rotten.
Breonna Taylor was murdered by Police. Six long, lingering months later, after repeated attempts by the police state to manipulate and corrupt the evidence, the Kentucky Grand Jury failed to confirm what the rest of the world has already witnessed. Justice has been struck down once again.
Carl Takei, senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Criminal Law Reform Project, said in a statement Wednesday that the grand jury's "decision further highlights what was already obvious: To change these systems that routinely perpetuate egregious acts of violence against Black lives, elected officials must listen to the cries of those communities and make sweeping changes—including divestment from these broken institutions and reinvesting in non-police alternatives—so that Black people no longer fear being murdered in their own home."
"Today's charging decision," said Takei, "is the manifestation of what the millions of people who have taken to the streets to protest police violence already know: Modern policing and our criminal legal system are rotten to the core."
On the same day as the Kentucky Supreme Court decision, Donald Trump signed an Executive Order that bans critical trainings on power, privilege and oppression for Federal and Military contractors. The executive order, which Trump said was meant to “to combat offensive and anti-American race and sex stereotyping and scapegoating,” bars contractors from conducting training that “teaches, advocates, or promotes divisive concepts” such as unconscious bias and systemic racism. This action from the top office of the United States government is an affirmation of the rampant authoritarianism and white supremacy that is rotting at the foundation of our history and “Americanism”.
Our pain for Breonna Taylor, her family, and her community, is a visceral reminder that colonial justice systems were never meant to work for us. They were built this way. Native Movement raises our fists in outrage as we stand side by side with our Black relatives in the movement for Black lives, in the movement for liberation.
Native Movement calls on our community and our allies: raise your voices to decry the continued injustices built on racist systems. Dig deep with us to highlight the rotting foundations of the justice system. We believe it is critical for each of us to analyze our participation in white supremacy culture, personally and professionally; this is one step in which we can begin to dismantle systemic oppression. Another step toward stripping rotten systems is by supporting Black, Indigenous, and people of color grassroots leadership. Grassroots leadership rooted in responsibility to community and utilizing strategies grounded in an Indigenized worldview, in decolonizing frameworks, and in anti-racist actions is a powerful path forward.
While our anger escalates and our frustration mounts, we know that we stand with millions of people across the country who are organizing in their communities -- Don’t stop. Do your work to understand the impacts of the power and privilege structures of colonialism, racism, patriarchy, and capitalism. And to our Black, Indigenous, and people of color relatives in particular: we must take moments of reprieve and rest.
Our Joy is Resistance as well. All of us must engage daily in healing practices, this is essential to the longevity of our march toward Liberation. We were meant to be here, at this time, in this place, for a purpose; fists in the air and songs from our hearts, we are marching forward in solidarity for for Black lives, for Justice, for Liberation.
#JusticeForBreonnaTaylor #BlackLivesMatter #Solidarity
banner image is a mural in Oakland, CA by The People's Conservatory Collective
MMIWG2S Alaska 5K: Run for Healing, Run for Justice
Artwork by Sarah Whalen-Lunn
We invite you to participate and honor our AK MMIWG2S (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Womxn and Girls/Two Spirit) through healthy healing.
MMIWG Alaska Run for Healing, Run for Justice is a virtual 5K run, walk, or other physical activity dedicated to honoring missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and relatives. This is a free virtual 5K run open to all. The 5K is meant to raise awareness and provide a healthy healing activity for our community to join.
While this is not a race or competition, you can share your participation into the Facebook event and you will be entered into a drawing for a swag bag!
Register and participate from any location!
Once registered you’ll receive your registration packet through email from the organizing team before the event. Share your participation for a drawing! Details are in the packet that you will receive.
>> Here are ways that you can participate!
1. Mark yourself ‘GOING’ in our Facebook Event!
2. Choose your activity! We invite all active participation! You can walk, roll, skate, ski, climb, or even row! The idea is to be active in any way that is healthy for you!
3. Choose your route and distance! Whether it's 2 blocks, 5k, up a mountain, or around your village, we invite you to do what feels best for you! If you’d like to mark your route using GPS check out Android/iOS options here: https://www.tomsguide.com/round-up/best-running-apps
>> Check out the schedule of Facebook events with daily videos from our organizing team!
October 5th - Welcome from our team!
October 6th - Healing with Rochelle Adams, NPA CF
October 7th - Justice with Charlene Aqpik Apok, NM & DIJ
October 8th - Future Generations with Maritza Nuglene-Gomez , NM
October 9th - Healthy Families with Kelsey Wallace, NPA CF
October 10th - Closing and Drawing!
>> Make it yours!
Print the BIB! Check out the webpage for the BIB to print: https://aknativevision.files.wordpress.com/.../mmiwg2s...
If you’d like to do your ‘5K’ in honor of someone special add their names on your bib. Dress up! Wear red, or fun clothes to commemorate. Go as a team! Practice safe distancing and COVID precautions if going as a group.
>> Share the love!
Take a video or picture of your participation and share in the Facebook event! Each person who shares in the FB event will be entered into a final drawing of swag!
Share: your name, location/whose land you are on, your activity, and why you chose to participate!
#MMIWG #MMIWGAK #MMIWG2S #RunningForJustice #SayTheirNames
This event is cohosted by MMIWG Alaska: Native Peoples Action Community Fund, Native Movement, and Data for Indigenous Justice.
Why Is Bank of America Still Open to Funding the Destruction of Our Homelands in the Arctic?
We stand together, the Iñupiat and the Gwich’in, in calling on Bank of America to listen to Indigenous people, protect our homelands, and stay out of the Arctic Refuge. Continue reading at CommonDreams.Org >>
Original Press Release Below:
All Eyes Are on Bank of America to Rule out Support for Arctic Drilling
By Bernadette Demientieff and Siqiñiq Maupin
Bank of America’s customers may have noticed that recently the bank has been standing out from the rest of its peers. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been in a good way. Right now, Bank of America is the only major American bank that has not yet ruled out funding for destructive drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Over the last year, every other major American bank -- Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Chase, Citi, and Morgan Stanley -- have joined more than two dozen financial institutions worldwide in updating their lending policies to exclude funding for new drilling in the Arctic, including the Arctic Refuge. Indigenous human rights are being upheld in these new policies and pave the way towards a just transition into a sustainable economy.
For thousands of years, the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge has sustained life for the Porcupine Caribou Herd, and other relatives on and off the land, that sustain the food security and ways of life of the Iñupiat and Gwich'in people as well as other Alaska Native Tribes. Any disruption of this area would pose an existential threat to not just food security, but our identity as Iñupiat and Gwich'in People. Drilling in the Arctic Refuge would also pose an increased public health threat to communities on Alaska’s North Slope that already experience severe health disparities directly tied to the oil production surrounding their community.
Drilling in the Arctic Refuge violates Indigenous rights, and is a threat to the bottom line of any bank that funds this destructive activity. As the world increasingly recognizes the urgent need to move away from polluting fossil fuels, investments in expensive new drilling projects are growing riskier. By ruling out support for Arctic drilling, banks have recognized that investing in a project that would threaten human rights and worsen the climate crisis is a risk that’s not worth taking.
Pro-drilling politicians that have long sought to sell off the coastal plain for drilling have predictably pushed back on this growing trend, even going so far as to point to support from corporations like Arctic Slope Regional Corporation to claim that Alaska Native people support drilling, or that the Gwich’in are alone in their opposition to drilling while the Iñupiat people or members of other Tribes support it. This week, we had the opportunity to meet with Bank of America executives to correct the record and explain that these claims couldn’t be further from the truth.
We let them know that both Gwich’in and Iñupiat Peoples have made official resolutions to protect the Arctic Refuge, and that Alaska Native corporations are just that: corporations. They are not accountable to Tribal members, and they do not speak for us. Neither does Alaska’s Congressional delegation, whose push for drilling and disingenuous claims that the destruction of the Arctic Refuge would help Native communities have made it clear that they care more about corporate profits than our health or human rights.
We know that we can’t count on these politicians to do the right thing to defend our land and our communities, and the Trump administration is pushing ahead to try to sell off the coastal plain for drilling by the end of the year. That’s why it’s more important than ever that financial institutions like Bank of America recognize the role they play in helping destroy this sacred place or keeping it intact.
As a growing number of major banks are making the right decision, all eyes are on Bank of America to see whether they will follow their peers or continue to stand out in their disregard for the rights of Alaska’s Indigenous people. We stand together, the Iñupiat and the Gwich’in, in calling on Bank of America to listen to Indigenous people, protect our homelands, and stay out of the Arctic Refuge.
Bernadette Demientieff is the Executive Director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee. Siqiñiq Maupin is a co-founder/Director of Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic.
Alaskans Stand Up to Protect Arctic Refuge from Exploitation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 17, 2020
Alaskans Stand Up to Protect Arctic Refuge from Exploitation
A coalition of Alaskans denounced today’s Bureau of Land Management decision to give sacred lands in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to private interests for oil and gas exploitation. This Record of Decision is the final step in an agency environmental review process that puts politics before science and the law, and that threatens the land, water, wildlife, and people of America’s Arctic. As Alaskans and people around the world face ongoing health and financial challenges due to the global pandemic, the administration’s continued efforts to exploit sacred lands on behalf of the fossil fuel industry is particularly egregious.
“This decision, and the Final Environmental Impact Statement that informed it, is sloppy and unacceptable, ” said Bernadette Demientieff, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee. “The federal government did not meaningfully engage with us, and they left out Gwich'in communities in Alaska and Canada. As a result, people that will be negatively affected were never given a voice.”
“The attack on Alaska as a whole has been overwhelming. Our food, water, and air has been contaminated to the point of serious health impacts to humans and our relatives on the land and in the sea,” said Siqiñiq Maupin, Community Organizer for Native Movement. “We are seeing warming of the land that sustains all life at two times the rate of the rest of the world, endangering basic needs as the climate crisis worsens. In the midst of a pandemic that disproportionately affects BIPOC communities, we must take a stance against any further fossil fuel extraction and continued harm against our People. We are experiencing a shift in global consciousness from a system rooted in white supremacy into systems rooted in Indigenous ways and values. We must transition into an equitable and sustainable future for all beings.”
This decision follows the release of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on September 12, 2019, and illustrates the corruption, haste, and disregard for human rights and science that have defined this push for exploitation since day one.
The FEIS went so far as to deny that there is a climate crisis impacting our entire planet, especially Arctic communities. Traditional and Western science overwhelmingly agree that human-caused climate change is occurring, and that transitioning off fossil fuels is needed. Officials have selected the most exploitative of the alternatives (none of which were sufficiently protective), allowing leasing across the entirety of the considered area, with minimal and waivable restrictions on construction only during a single month, a blatant dismissal of the Porcupine Caribou Herd and the Gwich'in and Inupiat people who depend on it. This is the deceitful foundation on which the administration has built their policy. Protection of the coastal plain is an Indigenous issue, an environmental issue, and a global issue, and voices from around the world have spoken up against this rush towards exploitation.
In response to the FEIS, a broad coalition of Alaska organizations issued a statement committing to “stand in solidarity for the protection of the coastal plain which provides spiritual, cultural, recreational, and economic sustenance for Alaskans and many others around the world.” This commitment remains strong, and we will not allow the violation of the coastal plain.
Additional Quotes:
“An environmental impact statement is meant to determine whether a project on public lands is in the best public interest, but this EIS process markedly failed to do that,” said Lisa Baraff, Program Director for the Northern Alaska Environmental Center. “The administration suppressed science and traditional knowledge about the coastal plain. They unabashedly deny the realities of climate change, and have ignored over a million Americans who have spoken out in overwhelming opposition to this project. They have minimized the concerns of Gwich'in and Iñupiaq peoples who rely on the Porcupine Caribou Herd and have been stewards of this land for millennia. We will not sit back and watch the wealth of our land extracted for the benefit of Outside interests. Fortunately, Alaskans and our allies around the world are watching, and will not allow this exploitation to happen.”
“To disrupt and fragment the Coastal Plain, especially in a time of climate change and surging local and national resistance, is both reckless and short-sighted,” said Nicole Schmitt, director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance. “We cannot continue to manage our public lands in ignorance of climate change, and cannot in good conscience sell our public lands, traditions, wildlife, and ecosystems for short-term exploitation. We stand with the Indigenous Peoples of Alaska who depend on these lands, and with the polar bears, caribou, birds, and other Arctic species who cannot speak against the irrevocable destruction of their habitat.”
"Three major fossil fuel projects - the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, KeystoneXL, and Dakota Access Pipeline - have succumbed to community resistance and legal intervention based on the lack of meaningful engagement in the NEPA process. The ROD on Arctic Refuge leasing repeats the same errors, and will divert limited legal and community resources away from addressing climate change in the Arctic,” said Jessica Girard, director of the Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition. “We're witnessing the end of the fossil fuel economy. And yet the Alaska congressional delegation and the Trump Administration push to lease for oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Refuge, in its feeble attempt to feed a dying economy. Alaskans will continue to defend the lands and waters, and to work together to create a future beyond exploitative extraction in the face of climate change."
“This record of decision, concocted under a rushed time frame, improper manipulation of scientific data, and preordained conclusions, validates the fallacy of ‘responsible oil development’ in the Arctic Refuge,” said Fran Mauer, Alaska Chapter Representative of Wilderness Watch. “If left unchallenged, it will bring irreversible damage to the ecological integrity of America’s Last Great Wilderness, including a vast area of northwest Canada and beyond. It would also leave an indelible scar on our nation’s character.”
“Alaskans know the Arctic Refuge as the wild intersection of cultural and environmental preservation in one of the world’s last remaining, intact, Arctic coastlines,” said Natalie Dawson, V.P. and executive director for Audubon Alaska. “The BLM has ignored the voices of people across Alaska, and the United States, and the result is a hasty plan to drill in this wild, sacred landscape. Alaskans have played a key role in protecting the refuge for decades, and we are determined to fight for our future as many times as it is needed to permanently protect the coastal plain for people, birds, and other wildlife in the face of our climate changed future.”
"The relationship between industrial exploitation of land and exploitation of peoples' bodies, especially Native women and girls, is well established. This makes protecting the Arctic Refuge a feminist issue," said Brenae Baker of the Hrrrl Scouts. "Selling off stolen sacred lands to be exploited for the enrichment of a few at the cost of Alaska Native lives and lands is white supremacist exploitation, pure and simple. We stand in solidarity with our Alaska Native neighbors and demand protection of the Arctic Refuge."
Media Contacts:
Bernadette Demientieff, Gwich’in Steering Committee, bernademientieff76@gmail.com, 907-458-8264
Siqiñiq Maupin, Native Movement, siqiniq@nativemovement.org, 907-884-1859
Jessica Girard, Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition, jessica@fbxclimateaction.org, 907-251-5293
Erica Watson, Northern Center, erica@northern.org, 907-452-5093
Rebecca Sentner, Audubon Alaska, rebecce.sentner@audubon.org, 907-276-7034
Nicole Schmitt, Alaska Wildlife Alliance, nicole@akwildlife.org, 907-917-9453
###
AK’s Voting Options for COVID-19 Safety
According to the CDC, “elections with only in-person voting on a single day are higher risk for COVID-19 spread because there will be larger crowds and longer wait times.” Although COVID-19 transmission is on the rise in Alaska, absentee ballots, early voting, and special needs ballots are voting options offered by the state of Alaska for state and federal elections that can reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread. Voting is important and necessary political action for many Alaskans, and by using all the options available to us we can keep each other safe.
Read through to explore the voting options available to you.
Absentee Ballots
Alaska offers three kinds of absentee ballots: by-mail, by-fax, and online delivery (email). No justification is required to apply for any kind of absentee ballot: any registered voter may apply. You must sign in the presence of a witness (anyone over 18 years old) for any form of absentee ballot.
By-mail Absentee Ballots
In order to apply for an absentee ballot online, visit https://absenteeballotapplication.alaska.gov/ where you can apply with DMV validation. To apply you will need your name, date of birth, the last four numbers of your Social Security, and your Alaska driver’s license or state ID number. You can also download a PDF form, fill it out, and sign it with a handwritten signature, and then mail, email, or fax it Alaska’s Division of Elections. If you do not have access to a computer contact the Division of Elections at 907-465-4611 or 1-866-952-8683 to request a paper application to be delivered by mail. Absentee ballots are mailed 45 days before election day for certain groups such as active duty military, and 25 days before election day for everyone else.
The deadlines for by-mail absentee ballot applications are:
Saturday, August 8th, for the August 18th primary elections.
Saturday, September 26th, for the October 6th REAA elections.
Saturday, October 24th, for the November 3rd general elections.
By-mail absentee ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day. Learn more about by-mail absentee voting here: https://www.elections.alaska.gov/Core/votingbymail.php.
Electronic Transmission Absentee Ballots
Electronic transmission absentee ballots applications are available 15 days before the date of each Election Day. Alaska offers two electronic transmission ballot options: fax and online delivery (email). Electronic transmission ballots are delivered 24 to 48 hours after your application is received. Electronic transmission absentee ballots must be submitted before 5:00 PM on the day before Election Day.
In order to vote by fax, you must have access to a fax machine. To apply for a by-fax absentee ballot or to learn more visit this website: https://www.elections.alaska.gov/Core/votingbyfax.php.
In order to vote an online delivery ballot you must have access to a computer, a printer, and an email account. To apply for an online delivery absentee ballot or to learn more visit this website: https://www.elections.alaska.gov/Core/votingbyonline.php.
Electronic transmission absentee ballot applications are available at 8:00 AM on:
Monday August 3rd, for the August 18th primary elections.
Monday, October 19th, for the November 3rd general elections.
Note: Electronic transmission is not available for REAA elections.
Early and Absentee In-Person Voting
Early voting and absentee in-person voting begins fifteen days prior to the date of each election. Early and absentee in-person locations and times are posted 40 days prior to each Election Day. When early voting, your eligibility is verified by an election official on the spot, is similar to voting on Election Day. When voting absentee in-person, your eligibility to vote is verified after voting by a bipartisan review board. Early voting is available in Juneau, Soldotna, Anchorage, Wasilla, Fairbanks, and Nome. To find early and absentee-person voting locations in your city or town, visit this page on the State of Alaska’s Division of Elections website: https://www.elections.alaska.gov/Core/AIPEVEvents.php.
Early and absentee in-person voting begins:
Monday, August 3rd, for the August 18th primary elections.
Monday, September 21 for the October 6th REAA elections (absentee in-person only).
Monday, October 19th, for the November 3rd general elections.
Special needs ballots
If you are unable to vote in-person because of age, illness, or disability you have the option of voting a special needs ballot. Special need voting is available as soon as early and absentee in-person voting is available. Learn more about special needs ballots here: https://www.elections.alaska.gov/Core/specialneedsvoting.php. To vote a special needs ballot:
Select a personal representative who will go to a voting location, either on election day or prior to election day at an early voting location.
Your representative will fill out the step one of the special needs envelope with your name, their information, and their signature.
An election worker will provide your representative with the special needs envelope containing a ballot and secrecy sleeve, and your representative will deliver the ballot to you.
Vote your ballot, place it in the secrecy sleeve, and then secure it in the special needs envelope.
Complete step two of the special needs envelope with your information, and your representative will act as witness to your signature.
Your representative will return it to a voting location before 8:00 PM on Election Day.
Note: Your personal representative cannot be a (1) candidate for office in the election, (2) your employer, (3) an agent of your employer, or (4) an officer or agent of your union.
Untangling Colonization • Virtual Training • July 29
Wednesday, July 29 @ 5PM
Untangling Colonialism
Building a Decolonizing Framework
A decolonizing practice requires recognition of the history of colonization and its current manifestations. This training briefly covers United States Federal Indian Policy carried out dominantly in the lower 48 and its expansion into Alaska policy and the implications on Alaska Native peoples. Additionally, participants will discuss how the history of environmental conservation has mirrored colonial world-views and what possible strategies we can further in order to decolonize conservation. This training delves into the spectrum of decolonizing strategies; from various personal, institutional, and systemic pathways forward.
“As a nonprofit environmental law firm in Alaska, we work with many coalitions and represent diverse interests. Native Movement is a valued partner and the decolonization trainings they provide are essential. Our Board and staff have done at least one of the trainings and it is so helpful for unlearning dominant culture norms and becoming/being aware of unconscious bias. Learning and unlearning with Native Movement is always effective, but especially in our current political culture.” - Vicki Clark, Executive Director, Trustees for Alaska
"The decolonization training helped our group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers and community leaders get centered in the history of colonial relations and decolonial efforts in Alaska. It also helped us experience in a personal way what the impact of colonial processes was on tribes. Several members of our group incorporated aspects of the training into their work with Indigenous youth. I would recommend this training to anyone who is interested in partnering with Indigenous communities and organizations so that they can have a shared understanding of history and its affects on current day relationships." - Noor Johnson, Research Scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado Boulder
“Native Movement's decolonization workshop had a profound impact on the way I understand the shape of white supremacy and the conservation movement. It offered a powerful way forward toward building up communities and supporting each other on our path of healing and justice. Everyone needs to go…twice!” -Veri di Suvero, Anchorage community organizer
Ban Conversion Therapy in Anchorage
On Tuesday, July 28 the Anchorage Assembly will be taking public testimony on Anchorage Ordinance 2020-65. This ordinance would amend the Municipal Code to ban conversion therapy in the Municipality of Anchorage with a fine of $500 if a facility is found to be providing, applying, or using sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts with a minor. Native Movement supports the ban of conversion therapy.
Written comments can be submitted via email to:
Testimony@anchorageak.gov by 2:00 p.m. on July 28.
In the subject line use: 14.P. Ordinance No. AO 2020-65.
If you'd like to provide testimony via phone:
email Testimony@anchorageak.gov by 2pm on July 28 with your Name, Phone Number, Agenda Item Number/Title for which you wish to provide testimony and Subject Line: Phone Testimony. When the Assembly reaches your agenda item, the Clerk will contact you at the number you have provided. You will have 3 minutes to provide testimony on each item you wish to speak on.
What is conversion therapy?
Conversion Therapy, or "reparative therapy," is any of several dangerous and discredited pseudoscientific practices where therapists attempt to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Treatment relies on and amplifies the youths already present shame and may include physically painful stimuli to associate their identity with the negative stimuli. Every major medical and mental health association in the United States, Canada, and countries of the European Union, as well as in many other countries, have condemned the practice of “conversion therapy.”
The practice has been denounced by the American Psychological Association since 1998 and reiterated and expanded on their statement in 2013: The American Psychiatric Association does not believe that same-sex orientation should or needs to be changed, and efforts to do so represent a significant risk of harm by subjecting individuals to these forms of treatment.
The colonizing history of psychiatric providers treating LGBTQ2S+ people as “abnormal” hinged on the notion that sexuality was something which could, and should, be changed. The idea of queer and gender expansive experiences as disorders that could be “treated” was then exported throughout the world from the 19th century on through oppressive institutions. Indigenous cultures around the world, including Alaska Native and Native Americans, recognize genders beyond the Male-Female binary. Indigenous Peoples who transcend the binary have traditionally served important roles in our communities. Conversion therapy instills feelings of rejection, disappointment and depression. It fractures healthy relationships and feeds shame.
Let's protect our LGBTQ2S+ youth in Anchorage and preserve the health of our whole community by supporting AO 2020-65.
SILA Response to AK Congressional Delegation on the Reality of Racism
Author: Siqiñiq Maupin
Co-founder of Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic
(907)-884-1859 • inupiaq@silainuat.org siqiniq@nativemovement.org
Recently the Alaska Congressional delegation, Don Young, Dan Sullivan, and Lisa Murkoski, shamefully attempted to utilize this moment of racial spotlight to benefit their own profit interests, by implying that global banks' decisions to divest from the fossil fuel industry in Alaska is racially fueled. Banks around the world are divesting from activities that contribute to climate change AND they are listening to Indigenous Peoples calling for the protection of our ways of life. Both Gwich’in and Iñupiat Peoples have made official resolutions to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, therefore divesting from oil and gas development in the Refuge is answering the calls of Indigenous Peoples, it is the right thing to do.
Today we are in a revolution. The world is finally waking up to the long fought battle against racism. Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities have been subjected to subtle and violent racism since the onset of colonialism that has been both systemic and very very personal. Yet, in the last few weeks we are seeing the possibility of real change. We are seeing Justice demanded and taken.
While Arctic Slope Regional Corporation supports drilling in the Arctic Refuge, they are not a tribal entity nor do they require or practice consensus from their Iñupiat shareholders. Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic (SILA) is an Iñupiat organization, and while we respect the complex relationship of regional corporations and our Native peoples of the North Slope, we also recognize that regional corporations, by definition of law are not tribal entities and do not meet federal tribal consultation standards/requirements. Alaska Native corporations are beholden to shareholders (who may or may not be tribal members), they are not necessarily accountable to tribal membership. When Alaska’s congressional delegation sides with the corporations rather than the Alaska Native nations it is for blatant interest in oil and gas profits, not people and definitely not for racial equity.
For decades, Gwich’in and Iñupiat peoples have spoken, rallied, petitioned, and pleaded for recognition of Indigenous rights to food security and our long practiced ways of life. SILA stands united with our Gwich’in neighbors in the call to protect the Porcupine Caribou herd whose birthing grounds are on the coastal plain of what is now known as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We stand united with Black, Indigenous, and peoples of color globally in our demands to address climate change which is creating a continuous crisis in so many of our communities right now. SILA stands united with Black, brown, and Indigenous lives that are threatened daily by systemic racism. This systemic violence has been perpetuated by elected leadership who would manipulate our suffering for their profit.
By calling for a federal investigation of the banks who have taken a stand to support Indigenous Peoples rights, the Alaska congressional delegation -- Senators Murkowski, Sullivan, and Representative Young -- have shamefully declared, once again, that they side with corporate profits rather than racial equity.
The Kohtr’elneyh Workbook: A Visioning Guide for Families
This downloadable and printable workbook produced by Native Movement and in collaboration with the Alaska Just Transition Collective has been structured around the principles necessary for a Just Transition, as adapted from Movement Generation and Indigenous Environmental Network, and features coloring pages by artists Siqiniq Maupin, Apay’uq Moore, Jessica Thornton, Nabi Qureshi and Naaweiyaa Tagaban. Their artwork is then followed by descriptions and prompts designed to spark your own imagination!
Pride is celebration. Pride is also revolution.
Written by Ruth Dan and Edited by Ruth Miller • ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN OLBRYSH
In the wake of George Floyd’s killing by Derek Chauvin and the Minneapolis Police Department, it is all the more important to remember that Pride is the celebration and commemoration of Black and brown lgbtq+ protest against police violence ignited by the Stonewall riots in 1969.
In June 1969, the most vulnerable members of the lgbtq+ community led a series of clashes with the New York City Police Department, beginning at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. The street kids and the Black and brown gay youth led the front lines. The riots ignited the gay pride movement and ushered in a new era of visibility, freedom, and organizing for the lgbtq+ community. Today, Pride occurs in June to commemorate those historical riots. But Pride also celebrates the decades of lgbtq+ organizing it sparked in the aftermath. One estimate put the number of lgbtq+ groups at the time of the Stonewall Riots at 50–60, but two years later there were at least 2500 lgbtq+ advocacy groups active in the country. Radical organizations like s.t.a.r., founded by Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, provided support and housing to lgbtq+ youth and sex workers.
Building on this legacy of the Stonewall Riots, Native American and Indigenous communities have developed the two spirit movement, resonant of diverse Indigenous non-binary gender roles. Two spirit was first adopted at the international gathering of gay and lesbian Natives in 1990 to challenge colonially-created derogatory term berdache. A dynamic and relatively new movement, two spirit encompasses Indigenous systems of gender and sexuality that exist outside and independent from the lgbtq+ system.
Alaska Natives have been a part of these revolutionary traditions since the beginning. Anguksuar, also known by his English name Richard LaFortune, is a Yup’ik activist, author, and community organizer. Anguksuar was adopted from his home village early in his childhood by a Moravian family and was raised largely in the Lower 48. After college, he began a path of environmental and anti-war activism in the 1970s after the Three Mile nuclear disaster. He eventually became the executive director of Honor the Earth, a Native environmental advocacy organization dedicated to a Just Transition. Eventually he settled in Minneapolis, becoming part of the city’s diverse Native community. After attending a meeting hosted by the first Native lgbtq+ organization in the U.S., the Gay American Indians, in San Francisco, Anguksuar returned to Minneapolis and held a meeting of lgbtq+ Natives there. This meeting was the first of many, eventually becoming the International Two Spirit Gathering after the innovations of the 1990 gathering in Winnipeg.
At the time, few lgbtq+ spaces recognized the unique needs of Native lgbtq+ and two spirit people. Describing the need for a space specifically for Native lgbtq+ and two spirit people, Anguksuar said, “We didn’t have a lot of places to meet and socialize except with the mainstream lgbt community, which was in bars, and those aren’t a good place for us.”(1) Unlike many other lgbtq+ oriented events, Anguksuar said the International Two Spirit gathering was “an expression of culture, not sexual identity or gender politics […] It’s a place to heal and a chance to see the community grow.”(2) In 2005 he founded the Two Spirit Press Room (or 2spr) in Minneapolis, “a glbt Indigenous Media and cultural literacy project,” which became one of the few organizations in the U.S. doing lgbtq+ and two spirit education and advocacy.(3)
Because of the groundwork laid by Black, Native, and brown lgbtq+ leaders our lgbtq+ community enjoys the freedoms that we do. Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Richard LaFortune used their time, energy, and power to establish community and organization for generations of Black, Native, and brown lgbtq+ communities to gather, heal, and thrive. Native Movement continues in the legacy of Pride and the Stonewall Riots with our work on two spirit and lgbtq+ issues, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives, gender justice, Indigenous feminisms, and police violence.
Quoted in “Sacred Rights of the International Two Spirit Gathering,” UTNE Reader, 2009
Quoted in Queer Twin Cities, 154
Quoted in Queer Twin Cities.
Open Letter to our Supporters
Get in this work with us! If you want to help, then help us tear down the prevalent culture of white-supremacy and colonialism. Black, brown, Indigenous, and queer communities need accomplices in the movement toward collective liberation. Your solidarity has been stated, now get in the trenches with us.
“This country was built on stolen lands, on the backs of stolen people, and deeply entrenched racism has wrought devastation in our Black and Indigenous communities throughout the generations all the way up until today. Racism, in all insidious forms, pervades our systems and society - and it quite literally kills us. Black and Indigenous men, in particular, are disproportionately targeted and harmed by law enforcement. The harm and loss of our precious, beautiful, deeply valuable men - our fathers, uncles, brothers - is and has been in a state of emergency for far too long.” - Joint statement from Native Peoples Action, First Alaskans Institute, and Native Movement, read the full statement HERE.
It should go without saying, but we're gonna say it again: We must ALL work to counter anti-Black actions and sentiments within all communities. We are stronger together. We are in this together. Our Indigenous liberation is tied to Black liberation; it is tied to the liberation of people of color, and the liberation of our two-spirit and queer relatives.
To our allies: LISTEN. Listen to Black leadership, listen to Indigenous and people of color community leaders, listen to *BIPOC LGBTQ2+ leaders. Seriously. Listen to those who have been voicing the direction and the solutions since the first injustices of colonialism. EDUCATE YOURSELVES. Don’t expect others to educate you. Check out the Jemez Principles, the Defend the Sacred AK principles, our Untangling Colonialism resources, and Remembering Forward -- AK Just Transition, to show up in a good way. Know that you are gonna mess up, be open to learning, be open to getting feedback, be open to deep growth, and keep going.
Now is the time to ORGANIZE! Build People Power by organizing your neighborhood, your work colleagues, your school. Organize toward lasting systemic change based on what BIPOC community leaders have articulated. Call your elected leadership to implement mandatory Anti-Racism and Decolonization Training sessions. Get on the school board, run for city council, help us implement a post-oil economy and protect our water, air, and lives. There are so many ways you can get involved; check out this newsletter and those to follow for more ways to show up, support, and educate yourself. We feel the momentum of these days & the urgency of our steps toward collective liberation. Please don’t stop, ACT UP.
And as we surge forward let us also take a moment to recognize the elders who have broken trail for us all. We want to honor two Alaska Native elders who recently passed -- MaryAnn Warden and Carlos Frank. We would not be where we are today without their leadership.
From Native Movement leadership team,
Enei Begaye (Executive Director), Shawna Larson (Deputy Director),
Aqpik Apok (Gender Justice Director), and Jody Potts (Regional Director)
*BIPOC: Black, Indigenous, People of Color
*LGBTQ2+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Two-Spirit, plus
Digital Organizer Internship | June - August 2020
Native Movement June - August 2020
Digital Design + Advocacy Internship Opportunity
Digital Organizer Internship
This year our internship opportunity will focus on Digital Organizing! Many people in Alaska live outside major city centers and this time of Covid-19 has underscored the importance of organizing from a distance. Our Digital Organizer Internship aims to support rural/distance community organizing and support the safety of our communities throughout Alaska in this heightened pandemic time.
We are excited to announce that we are able to hire two paid Digital Organizer Interns for three months of full-time, on the job training and development. This internship will support Native Movement narrative strategies through digital communications, graphic design, web design and creative storytelling. Interns will learn tools for advocacy around Indigenous rights, the rights of Mother Earth, Gender Justice, Climate Justice, economic justice, and a variety of other issues Native Movement works on. Interns will work through a variety of online platforms, collaborate with statewide, national, and international activists and organizers, and nurture your communications skills through this 3-month internship.
This will be a fully distance online and phone internship that will demand self-motivation and self-discipline. Interns will be supported by Native Movement communications staff most directly and will have the opportunity to be mentored by or engage with other Native Movement staff and/or leadership, again all from a distance (online). You are not required to have the necessary online tools (laptop, software, internet, etc.) before applying, however that is a major plus, if selected for this internship Native Movement will work with you to achieve the needed technical items.
WHO SHOULD APPLY:
Alaska Native and Native American people with a passion for social and environmental justice.
People who want to be a part of teamwork to build and support grassroots movements for justice.
People with a desire to learn and build new and creative solutions to help shape better communities for all
Self-motivated people who are able to work well independently and within a team.
SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS:
A demonstrated Interest in developing or advancing skill sets with Adobe Creative Suite + Canva, Website Design ( Squarespace, Wordpress ) and other digital advocacy tools.
Values the creative process and enthusiastic for outreach campaigns on social media, e-mail, and beyond ( Facebook + Instagram etc. )
Again, this summer internship position will be carried out fully virtual, fully online, from a distance. Therefore, access to consistent and reliable internet as well as phone accessibility will be needed. If you have a computer, software, and wifi/internet that is a major plus, but Native Movement is committed to supporting equitable access for all and we will work with you if selected to secure internship technical requirements. If computer or internet access are a challenge for you but you are still enthusiastic about applying, please note any connectivity or computer limitations in your application and we will reach out to discuss possible options with you.
POSITION DETAILS:
Full-time, flexible hours. Because of the nature of community organizing staff often work in the evenings and on the weekends, however, not more than 40 hours per week. $15/hour
Because we are adapting to decentralized virtual organizing, Native Movement will do all we can to ensure a healthy, supportive, and fun learning environment for our 2020 Interns, even if we cannot gather together. To make the most of these new restrictions, we particularly encourage rural applicants who are eager to develop their graphic design, web design and other online skill set. Our Communications team will collaborate closely with the Digital Organizers to provide meaningful work opportunities, skills development, and social justice organizing experience.
Experience with social communications platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter are a plus! Experience with design platforms such as the Adobe Creative Apps, Canva, Procreate or other software is not necessary but a plus!
HOW TO APPLY:
E-mail the following to brandon@nativemovement.org
A cover letter or short video telling us why you would like this internship position
Your resume, including 2 references with contact information
1-2 letters of recommendation
For more information email brandon@nativemovement.org
Application Deadline: May 15, 2020
Notification of internship acceptance or declinations will be made as swiftly as possible. We hope to have a start date of June 1st, however we are also open to working with people’s schedules.