In September, Deb Konechne and S. Gutierrez conducted a number of interviews with opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Denver, CO – An estimated 1000 people assembled at the Colorado State Capitol on Sept. 8, in solidarity with the indigenous people of Standing Rock against the notorious Dakota Access Pipeline.

Cannon Ball, ND – On Sept. 8, at the Standing Rock encampment to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, the sky is deep velvet studded with the endless stars of the Milky Way, when a public address system cackles, stirring the camp. Indigenous people and their supporters are not here to sleep under the cold sky. They are here to protect the water and stop the Dakota Access pipeline.

Cannon Ball, ND – As the sun came up behind the clouds, Aug. 26, the camp was already stirring in one of the two main Sacred Stone Spirit resistance camps. Flags of different colors and designs flapped in the morning wind, advertising the multitude of different indigenous peoples represented at the camp. Thousands have traveled to the site to stand in solidarity with the people of Standing Rock as they oppose a pipeline’s threat to the water and land of their people, and millions of others down the Missouri River.

Washington, DC – In the Philippines, there is a mounting crisis of human rights abuses against indigenous people, labor and community activists at the hands of the armed forces. Victims demand justice and there are even calls for President Benigno Aquino to resign. But mainly the demand is for an end to impunity for the killers and torturers, because over and over they go unpunished.

Minneapolis, MN – Over five thousand people joined eleven tribal nations in demanding Washington’s football franchise “change the name!” Gathering at Northrop Plaza at the University of Minnesota over 3,000 people marched and converged on the stadium two hours before the game and were joined by 2,000 others who marched from the Phillips Neighborhood of South Minneapolis.

Minneapolis, MN – With Native American activists and other supporters of social justice packing City Hall, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously on Friday, April 25 to change Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day. Minneapolis is the first city in Minnesota to do so, while Red Wing is about to vote on a similar resolution.

Minneapolis, MN – Over 800 people gathered here, Nov. 7, to demand the Washington Redskins change their racist name. Marching from the Minneapolis American Indian Center on Franklin Avenue south of downtown to the Vikings stadium, the protesters rallied in front of the Metrodome chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho, little red Sambo’s got to go!”

Plan to put U.S. government on trial

Minneapolis, MN – On Oct. 2 through Oct. 4, the U.S. government will be put on trial for “malfeasance in Indian Country,” according to a statement released at a press conference Sept. 4. Witnesses are being subpoenaed to appear in Oneida, Wisconsin for the three-day tribunal entitled “The Leonard Peltier International Tribunal on the Abuse of Indigenous Human Rights.”

Hayward, WI – A group of protesters are facing arrest in northern Wisconsin. Members of Lac Courte Oreilles (LCO) Band of Ojibwe and others have been hosting a traditional harvest camp for nearly two months near a proposed mine site in Iron and Ashland counties. The mine, sought after by Gogebic Taconite, or GTAC, is a proposed open pit iron mine. Plans for the mine are moving ahead because of a mining law deregulation measure that was signed by Governor Scott Walker this past spring. The proposed open pit iron mine would be the largest in the nation.