{"id":350472,"date":"2021-10-15T16:22:03","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T16:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=697fc6050a8d7dfdf50198940ec0abcf"},"modified":"2021-10-15T16:22:03","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T16:22:03","slug":"over-530-arrested-in-historic-indigenous-led-climate-protests-in-dc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/10\/15\/over-530-arrested-in-historic-indigenous-led-climate-protests-in-dc\/","title":{"rendered":"Over 530 Arrested in Historic Indigenous-Led Climate Protests in DC"},"content":{"rendered":"<a href=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/video\/over-530-arrested-in-historic-indigenous-led-climate-protests-in-dc\/\"><img width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEG1-Indigenous-Climate-Protest-4-200x113.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEG1-Indigenous-Climate-Protest-4-200x113.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEG1-Indigenous-Climate-Protest-4-400x225.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEG1-Indigenous-Climate-Protest-4.jpeg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><aside class=\"fine_print introtext\">Image Credit: People vs. Fossil Fuels<\/aside>\n<p>This week over 530 climate activists were arrested during Indigenous-led civil disobedience actions in Washington, D.C., calling on President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency and stop approving fossil fuel projects. Indigenous leaders have issued a series of demands, including the abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose offices they occupied on Thursday for the first time since the 1970s. The protests come just weeks before the start of the critical U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, which President Biden and senior Cabinet members are expected to attend. \u201cWe\u2019re not going anywhere,\u201d says Siqi\u00f1iq Maupin, with Sovereign I\u00f1upiat for a Living Arctic, who traveled from Alaska to D.C. and was among those arrested during the<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">BIA<\/span><span> <\/span>occupation. \u201cWe do not have time for negotiations, for compromises. We need to take this serious and take action now.\u201d We also speak with Joye Braun, with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the Indigenous Environmental Network, who was deeply involved in the Standing Rock protests to stop the Dakota Access pipeline. \u201cThe United States government brought the frontlines to us, to the Indigenous people, to our doorsteps,\u201d says Braun. \u201cAnd we wanted to bring the frontlines to his doorstep to let him see that we are very serious about climate change and declaring a climate emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"transcript\">TRANSCRIPT<\/h2>\n<p><em>This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">AMY<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>This is<span> <\/span><em>Democracy Now!<\/em>, democracynow.org,<span> <\/span><em>The War and Peace Report<\/em>. I\u2019m Amy Goodman.<\/p>\n<p>We begin today\u2019s show in Washington, D.C., where over 530 climate activists have been arrested in a historic week of civil disobedience calling on President Biden to declare a climate emergency and stop approving fossil fuel projects. The Indigenous-led protests have been part of a mobilization dubbed \u201cPeople vs. Fossil Fuels.\u201d On Thursday, Indigenous activists occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the first time since the 1970s. Indigenous leaders issued a series of demands, including the abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, restoration of 110 million acres of land taken away from Native nations, the return of Indigenous children buried at residential schools, and no new leases for oil and gas or extractive industries on public lands. Fifty-five people involved in the takeover were arrested. Indigenous activists have also been leading daily acts of civil disobedience outside the White House. This is a member of the Red Lakes in Minnesota speaking Monday.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">RED<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">LAKE<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">ACTIVIST<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>We are the voice of the animals, we are the voice of the trees, because they don\u2019t have the voice. Creator, to us, gave us stewardship over the land, so that\u2019s what we are doing. We are fighting for clean water for future generations, for Mother Earth, for the world.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">AMY<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>Indigenous youth activists are scheduled to lead a march to the U.S. Capitol today. This week\u2019s protests in D.C. come just weeks before the start of the critical U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland.<span> <\/span><em><span class=\"caps\">CNN<\/span><\/em><span> <\/span>is reporting President Biden is planning to attend along with 13 Cabinet members in the first week. But U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is already admitting the talks will likely fail to reach a global target on cutting greenhouse gas emissions. During a protest outside the White House Monday, Joye Braun of the Indigenous Environmental Network called on President Biden to uphold promises made to Indigenous communities.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">JOYE<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">BRAUN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>You need to be held accountable. You made promises to the Indigenous communities across this land that you were going to uphold. But you haven\u2019t upheld those promises. You\u2019ve been speaking with a forked tongue, just like that one that was before you.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">AMY<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>That was Joye Braun speaking Monday outside the White House. She\u2019s joining us now in Washington. She\u2019s a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and a frontline community organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network. She was deeply involved in the Standing Rock protests to stop the Dakota Access pipeline.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re joined by Siqi\u00f1iq Maupin, the executive director of Sovereign I\u00f1upiat for a Living Arctic. She lives in Fairbanks, Alaska. She was arrested yesterday during the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and that\u2019s where we\u2019re going to begin.<\/p>\n<p>Siqi\u00f1iq, can you talk about this protest? We didn\u2019t know if we\u2019d have you on the show today because we didn\u2019t know if you were going to be getting out of jail, but we got word last night that you were.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SIQI\u00d1IQ<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">MAUPIN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>Yes. We had gathered to let Biden know that we\u2019re not going anywhere. Signing petitions and giving them and following these laws have not gotten us where we need to be. There is a climate emergency. People are dying right now. And we needed to make a statement. And I think that we did.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">AMY<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>So, talk about what you\u2019re demanding of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SIQI\u00d1IQ<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">MAUPIN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>The<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">BIA<\/span><span> <\/span>was created to erase Indigenous people. It has always been against us. And today, or yesterday, and every day, we demand that it be abolished. We do not need a blood quantum to say how Indigenous we are or to qualify that. We know our Indigenous ways to protect this land, this Earth, this water. And we understand that the Earth is unbalanced. And we do not have time for negotiations, for compromises. We need to take this serious and take action now.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">AMY<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>Can you talk about what happened in August, when your group, along with others, were able to get the U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason to throw out the approvals of a major oil project in your state of Alaska?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SIQI\u00d1IQ<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">MAUPIN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>Yes. That was a extraordinary time, considering, during the heart of the pandemic in 2020, the Bureau of Land Management decided to hold the hearings for opening the Willow Master Project, located outside of Nuiqsut, where my mother lives and my family is from. And we heard testimony from tribal administrators, corporation presidents, Native corporation presidents, begging the Bureau of Land Management to stop these hearings until the pandemic was over, until we got it under control. And they, quite literally, did not listen. You can just hear sobbing, and they continued on. They made the record of decision. And it felt a little hopeless, especially with Biden\u2019s approval of this project even though he promised he was going to take the climate crisis serious. So, having the 9th Circuit overthrow this was such a big win, especially when the corruption is so rampant within our government.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">AMY<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>Can you talk about specifically your action yesterday? I think it was reported some 55 water protectors were arrested and taken from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. And to talk about how significant this is, the last time it was occupied was by Native Americans in the 1970s. On November 3rd, 1972, a group of 500 American Indians with the American Indian Movement took over the Interior building, the culmination of a cross-country journey that was called the Trail of Broken Treaties, intended to bring attention to Native American issues, such as living standards and treaty rights. Why did you focus on the<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">BIA<\/span>? Are you calling for it to be disbanded?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SIQI\u00d1IQ<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">MAUPIN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>Yes. And we wanted to make a statement that we are still here. We have been fighting against the genocide of our people, colonization, since contact. And we are not going away. We came with matriarchs that led us, and that was, I think, a powerful statement to have our women come in front again and to lead us into that building. I followed their guidance. And we were able to, again, make a statement at the<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">BIA<\/span>, an organization created to, quite literally, erase us from this place, this Earth, with blood quantum. We do demand the abolishment of<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">BIA<\/span><span> <\/span>and to also say that Indigenous people have always been the caretakers of this land, and we will continue to be the caretakers.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">AMY<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>I want to bring Joye Braun into this conversation, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, frontline community organizer with Indigenous Environmental Network, which organized this week of historic protest. I dare say, with President Biden now saying he and 13 members of his Cabinet are going to go to the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, may well be a result of what you all have done this week right outside the White House. We last talked to you, Joye, at the standoff at Standing Rock. Can you talk about the organizing of this week, what\u2019s happened and what you want to see come out of it? You, along with over 500 people, like Siqi\u00f1iq, have been arrested.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">JOYE<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">BRAUN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>Hi. It\u2019s good to be on the show again and to see you today.<\/p>\n<p>Well, I certainly hope that President Biden is listening. You know, the United States government brought the frontlines to us, to the Indigenous people, to our doorsteps, and we wanted to bring the frontlines to his doorstep, to let him see that we are very serious about climate change and declaring a climate emergency.<\/p>\n<p>People vs. Fossil Fuels came out of Build Back Fossil Free, a coalition of over 200 frontline organizations around the United States that came together and said, \u201cWe\u2019re not being heard. We\u2019re not being listened to. And we have to unite. We need to unite together to let this administration know that we are serious, and, you know, we\u2019re tired.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We go to all the hearings. We do the petitions. We make the phone calls. And it\u2019s not working. They\u2019re still allowing pipelines to go through illegally. Dakota Access pipeline is still an illegal pipeline. And, of course, they did not do a full<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">EIS<\/span><span> <\/span>o Line 3, and they\u2019re ignoring treaty rights on Line 5 and Mountain Valley pipeline.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">AMY<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>Joye, these protests are historic. You knew people who, back in the 1970s, were part of that<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">AIM<\/span><span> <\/span>takeover, the American Indian Movement takeover, of the Bureau of Indian Affairs?<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">JOYE<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">BRAUN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>I was a little kid back in the 1970s, so that I was, like, maybe like 3 years old. So I was just a toddler at that time. But we definitely heard about those times. And we did have elders with us this week who were part of that particular movement in the \u201970s.<\/p>\n<p>What happened this time, again, was organic. There was no leadership. It was just the people saying that we need to go and make a statement that the Bureau of Indian Affairs has \u2014 you know, it only was designed to eliminate us, like my new daughter \u2014 because we like to adopt children \u2014 like my new daughter Siqi\u00f1iq has said. We need to erase blood quantum. What other people in the world must still carry a card saying what percentage of blood you are, like a horse or a dog? I mean, that\u2019s crazy.<\/p>\n<p>So, plus, you know, the<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">DOI<\/span><span> <\/span>did give 2,500 new oil and gas leases on<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">BLM<\/span><span> <\/span>property, when President Biden said, \u201cOh, we\u2019re going to stop all new leases,\u201d but then opens it back up and then also threatens the Arctic with new leases, and the Gulf Coast, of course, with new leases and new<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">LNG<\/span><span> <\/span>projects.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">AMY<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>Can you describe some of the other actions, Joye, that have been taking place in Washington? For example, the Andrew Jackson statue in Lafayette Park across the street from the White House was \u2014 the words \u201cexpect us\u201d were written across it. What did that mean?<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">JOYE<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">BRAUN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>Well, it came out of \u201cRespect us or expect us.\u201d And that is a saying that was said, geez, many, many times over the years during the fight, from the 1970s and \u201980s, in the \u201990s. It was something that one of my mentors, Deb White Plume, used to say. And, of course, I said it at Standing Rock when we were at Treaty Camp. But I woke up, like many people, and saw the redecoration of that statue. Jackson was the one that caused mass genocide to Indigenous people. I mean, tens of thousands of Indigenous people died at his hands, and, of course, started the Trail of Tears, for many tribes, including the Cherokee.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">AMY<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>Earlier this week, protesters climbed a flagpole outside the Army Corps of Engineers office demanding a stop to the Line 3 crude oil pipeline?<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">JOYE<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">BRAUN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>Yes, yes. I was there. Two flagpoles were climbed by Indigenous activists. And the flags were \u2014 those became coup presents. We kind of grabbed and nabbed them. But, you know, that\u2019s kind of something that we would have done if we were in battle. We like to go grab the enemy\u2019s flag. So that\u2019s what happened.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">AMY<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>Yet, at the same time, you have the first Indigenous, the first Native American cabinet member to be named, under \u2014 and this was under President Biden, Deb Haaland, who is a former congressmember from New Mexico. She is the interior secretary. Now, according to AP, she was not in the Interior Department\u2019s building, where the<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">BIA<\/span><span> <\/span>is, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, on Thursday. But can you talk about her role and if you\u2019ve had conversations with her?<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">JOYE<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">BRAUN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>Well, of course, different organizations have been trying to reach out to who we call Auntie Deb. We love Auntie Deb. Make no doubt about it. We love Auntie Deb. We love that she was appointed by President Biden. We love that she\u2019s been able to get some really good, positive work done. However, her hands have been tied by the Biden administration when it comes to climate change. Like I said, the<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">DOI<\/span><span> <\/span>allowed 2,500 new oil and gas leases, when President Biden could have said, \u201cWe\u2019re going to stop them, and we\u2019re not going to allow this to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In order for us to truly make a climate change in the world, in order for us to say, \u201cHey, we are leaders in climate,\u201d then we must stop all new oil and gas infrastructure, especially on public lands. And unfortunately, Auntie Deb hasn\u2019t been able to do those types of things because her hands are tied by the Biden administration\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n<p>So, we love Auntie Deb. She\u2019s doing an amazing job. We\u2019re really, really proud of her. But President Biden needs to be held accountable for not following through.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">AMY<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>Siqi\u00f1iq Maupin, we\u2019re giving you the last word. You came down from Alaska, a leading Indigenous rights activist at your young age. What do you take away from this week?<\/p>\n<p><strong>SIQI\u00d1IQ<span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">MAUPIN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>I take away knowing that this is not an isolated incident in Alaska, where children are getting cancer, asthma. We are seeing our caribou with black bone marrow, with mold on our fish. And we come to our relatives, and the same things are happening in communities all over the world. And we are saying enough is enough, and standing with leadership with no leader but an entire group of an Indigenous peoples and allies that are saying, \u201cExpect us,\u201d because we have not been respected.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span class=\"caps\">AMY<\/span><span> <\/span><span class=\"caps\">GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong><span> <\/span>We thank you both for being with us. Siqi\u00f1iq Maupin is the executive director of the Sovereign I\u00f1upiat for a Living Arctic, and Joye Braun, member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, a frontline community organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network, which has organized this historic civil disobedience in Washington that have lasted throughout the week. At this point, over 530 people have been arrested.<\/p>\n<p>Coming up, we look at the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the world\u2019s largest jail complex, right here in New York City, Rikers Island. Stay with us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/video\/over-530-arrested-in-historic-indigenous-led-climate-protests-in-dc\/\">Latest \u2013 Truthout<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/video\/over-530-arrested-in-historic-indigenous-led-climate-protests-in-dc\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=\"https:\/\/truthout.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEG1-Indigenous-Climate-Protest-4-200x113.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-summary\">Indigenous leaders have issued a series of demands, including the abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1462,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16947,5605,4603,7252,1275,463,51,8308],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350472"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1462"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350472"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":350474,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350472\/revisions\/350474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}