Indigenous Peoples' Day
A letter from our executive director
Don't just celebrate. Act.
 

The ACLU-WA is a proud sponsor of KEXP's Indigenous Peoples’ Day programming, October 11 from 5am-7pm. On the air at 90.3 FM Seattle, worldwide at KEXP.org.  

Today and every day, support local Indigenous owned businesses. Mention the ACLU at Off the Rez on 10/10 for $5 off any order and at Alma Mater Tacoma on 10/13 for $5 an order of $15 or more.  

RSVP for our free Annual Celebration on 10/22 to learn about the ACLU-WA's work beyond land acknowledgements. Read this interview with our Annual Celebration illustrator Emma Noyes (Sinixt band of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation).  Her images are used on this page. Follow her on Instagram: @expertink

  • Brackeen v. Haaland: In June, the Supreme Court issued a landmark victory for tribal sovereignty by rejecting all the constitutional challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), legislation that seeks to ensure that Native families stay together, and that Native children are raised by tribal members. 

    This decision recognizes the centuries-long history of Native child removal pursuant to state and federal policies, but the work is far from over. Today, states still remove Native children from their families and tribes at alarmingly high rates. Fourteen states have already incorporated ICWA protections into their own codes, and several more states are poised to do the same. Read more

  • Juvenile Points: Last year we worked with partners to successfully end the practice of lengthening state prison sentences based on prior juvenile records, a practice that disproportionately impacts Indigenous people. Unfortunately, that legislation only applies to sentences going forward. This year we are fighting to make that change retroactive so that no one is left behind.

Find out whose land you're on: Native-Land.ca 

See the severity and scale of Native American Land Losses.

Learn from your local Tribe: Follow on social media, check out their websites, see if they have publications or other media outlets.

Attend an event:

Educate:


Support the Land Back Movement:
NDN Collective
Landback.org
Indigenous Environmental Network
Honor The Earth 

Advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women:
Sovereign Bodies Institute
MMIWHOISMISSING
National Indigenous Women's Resource Center (NIWRC)

Follow the hashtags: #MMIW, #MMIWG, #MMIWG2ST, #MMIP  

Listen – Read – Watch – Shop
 
Listen:

All My Relations
At Liberty: The Fight For Indigenous Education
At Liberty: It's Time to Tell Accurate Indigenous Stories
American Genocide Podcast by Illuminative
In Our Power by NDN Collective
Finding Our Way: Seeds, Grief, and Memory with Rowen White
Finding Our Way: Aloha ‘Āina with Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio
Parks Podcast: A podcast on the creation of U.S. National Parks, retold by Indigenous voices.
Seedcast by Nia Tero

Read:
Decolonizing Wealth by Edgar Villanueva
Children’s books by Native authors, including Baby Speaks Salish by Emma Noyes

Watch:
Daughter of a Lost Bird by Brooke Swaney
Check out the past Indigenous Showcase series by Northwest Film Forum for ideas of what to watch

Shop:
Support Native artists through Eighth Generation
Use this directory to find other Native-owned businesses in your area
 

Donate to Indigenous led and Indigenous benefiting organizations:

Chief Seattle Club is a human service agency that provides basic needs for its members, many of whom are experiencing homelessness. At their Day Center in downtown Seattle they provide food, primary health care, housing assistance, an urban Indian legal clinic, and a Native art job training program. They serve over 90,000 meals a year. 

The First Nations COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund of the First Nations Development Institute is responding to American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian community emergency needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic to minimize the risk of Native communities becoming collateral damage. The COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund is designed to distribute funds efficiently and swiftly to Native nonprofit organizations and tribal programs that need it most. Initially, funds are being prioritized in high-concentration areas – California, New Mexico, the Pacific Northwest, New York, Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe and COVID-19 hotspots. 

Heritage University is an accredited, private institution offering a wide variety of academic programs and degrees. Heritage University empowers a multi-cultural and inclusive student body to overcome the social, cultural, economic and geographic barriers that limit access to higher education. Rooted in the homeland of the Yakama Nation, we embrace transformational student-centered education that cultivates leadership and a commitment to the promotion of a more just society. 

Native American Reentry Services: Native American Reentry Services is a nonprofit dedicated to helping Native American, Asian Pacific Islander and other Aboriginal people overcome the challenge of incarceration and reentering the community post-incarceration. Our board consists of professionals who’ve served the incarcerated Native population during incarceration. 

Native American Rights Fund (National) provides legal assistance to Indian tribes, organizations, and individuals nationwide who might otherwise have gone without adequate representation. NARF has successfully asserted and defended the most important rights of Indians and tribes in hundreds of major cases and has achieved significant results in such critical areas as tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, natural resource protection, and Indian education.  

Northwest Indian College is the only accredited tribal college serving Washington, Oregon and Idaho. 

Real Rent Duwamish Real Rent calls on people who live and work in Seattle to make rent payments to the Duwamish Tribe. Though the city named for the Duwamish leader Chief Seattle thrives, the Tribe has yet to be justly compensated for their land, resources, and livelihood. All funds go directly to Duwamish Tribal Services (DTS) to support the revival of Duwamish culture and the vitality of the Duwamish Tribe. 

Red Eagle Soaring Native Youth Theatre exists to empower American Indian and Alaska Native youth to express themselves with confidence and clarity through traditional and contemporary performing arts. 

United Indians of All Tribes Foundation provides educational, cultural and social services that reconnect Indigenous people in the Puget Sound region to their heritage by strengthening their sense of belonging and significance as Native people. 

Urban Native Education Alliance offers culturally responsive support to Native youth and families through social, cultural, and educational support services.