National Day of Mourning honors Indigenous resistance

WW photo: Liz Green

Indigenous people and their supporters gathered on Coles Hill in Plymouth, Mass., for the 45th annual National Day of Mourning, organized by United American Indians of New England. A spirited march followed a rally, and then a potluck dinner and social at two local churches. NDOM brings the truth to light about the real meaning of “Thanksgiving” for Native peoples — genocide, theft of Indigenous lands and racist repression.

The Nov. 27 all-Native rally program included Juan Gonzalez, who performed opening prayers and later spoke; Maya, who spoke about the history of Guatemala; Moonanum James, from the Aquinnah Wampanoag Nation, who reviewed the origins of NDOM; Mahtowin Munro, from the Lakota Nation, who spoke about the solidarity of Indigenous peoples with other movements fighting oppression, including Ferguson; Bert Waters, also from the Wampanoag Nation, who read a solidarity statement from political prisoner Leonard Peltier; Inarunika, from the Taino Nation, who talked about the first invasion of the Americas by Christopher Columbus; and Stephanie Hedgecoke, of the Cherokee Language and Cultural Circle, who spoke about the struggle against fracking and the Keystone XL Pipeline.