Celebrate Indigenous People's Day By Supporting Native Struggles!

Indigenous resistance: not just a matter of history, but still happening all over the world. As Buddhists committed to active non-harming, how can we support these efforts?

Recognize Indigenous presence in our own sanghas

As Andrea Smith points out in Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy, the logic of genocide "holds that indigenous peoples must disappear. In fact, they must always be disappearing, in order to allow non-indigenous peoples rightful claim over this land. Through this logic of genocide, non-Native peoples then become the rightful inheritors of all that was indigenous — land, resources, indigenous spirituality, or culture."To avoid falling into this trap, our engaged Buddhist work must actively recognize the presence of Indigenous people in our communities, without tokenizing Indigenous culture. This weekend, for example, the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, California is hosting an event called Indigenous Presence: Decolonizing the Mind and Cultivating the Causes of Happiness, led by Karen Waconda, Bonnie Duran, Lupe Avila and Peter Bratt.

Remain aware of Indigenous struggles internationally

Whether Buddhist or not, from Palestine to Bangladesh to the Amazon, there are lots of active Indigenous struggles — many of which seldom make headlines in mainstream media. Let's help each other to stay informed.

Get involved in Indigenous struggles where we are

Whether it's tar sands poisoning the food and water sources of indigenous communities, ski resorts trying to pump sewer-snow onto sacred sites, or the ravages of capitalism on the Amazonian "lungs of the world", Native communities are under both chronic and acute forms of attack, and many are responding with inspiring resistance.As just one small example from BPF headquarters in Oakland, a few of us are going tomorrow to a meeting to support Ohlone, Miwok, and other local Native leaders pushing for Indigenous control over Bushy Peak and other significant cultural sites in the East Bay.  Check out the video below for a beautiful and gut-wrenching overview of the struggle.[video type=vimeo id=43092751]Not silenced, not erased, not forgotten; still here. How do you like to celebrate Indigenous People's Day? What ongoing Native and Indigenous struggles are important to you, and how can the rest of us help support them?