“It’s obscene and offensive to us that local and state governments move to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day while the federal government blows up our sacred sites, steals our kids, militarily occupies our communities, and shoots at Native Americans.”

By Kenny Stancil, staff writer for Common Dreams Published 10-13-2020

A dozen land and water protectors were arrested after Border Patrol and Arizona State Troopers used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a Native American ceremony on Indigenous Peoples’ Day on October 12, 2020. (Photo: Rafael Samanez/O’odham Anti Border Collective)

Twelve people, including at least eight Native Americans, were arrested near an immigration checkpoint in Southern Arizona on Indigenous Peoples’ Day after United States Border Patrol agents and Arizona law enforcement officials violently repressed a peaceful action held Monday morning by roughly 30 land and water protectors.

The O’odham Anti Border Collective—a group of Akimel O’odham, Tohono O’odham, and Hia Ced O’odham tribal members that seeks to promote the cultural practices and protect the homelands of all O’odham nations “through the dismantling of colonial borders”—organized an Indigenous prayer ceremony to voice opposition to the cultural and ecological destruction caused by the construction of President Donald Trump’s border wall. Continue reading →