This Week in Native American News (11/22/19): Alcatraz, Street Art, and Frozen 2
November 22, 2019 - November is Native Heritage Month!
From Alcatraz to Standing Rock: The 50-Year Arc of Native Activism
Left to right, Richard Oakes, Earl Livermore, and Al Miller, leaders of the American Indian Movement hold a press conference at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on December 24, 1969, during their takeover in 1969-70. Photo from Bettmann/Getty Images
Months into the Occupation, a visitor arrived on Alcatraz Island. Chosen by the elders to reveal the traditional wisdom and prophecies of the Hopi Nation, Thomas Banyacya had come to bear witness to a new chapter in Native American resistance.
Genocide and federal assimilationist policies had cut the “tree of life” off at the base, he told LaNada [Boyer] War Jack and the other young Native leaders assembled on The Rock. When the Indians of All Tribes seized Alcatraz on November 20, 1969, the tree had once again begun to grow.
Fifty years later, the sprouts that first germinated on Alcatraz Island have matured into a broad canopy thick with Indigenous activism. A direct line traces the path of pan-Native activism from the 1969 Occupation of Alcatraz to the 10-month standoff over the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock three years ago. War Jack has been there every step of the way.
The 19-month Occupation of Alcatraz by Native American activists was a direct result of centuries of Indigenous resistance to the systematic destruction of homeland, culture and identity perpetrated by the federal government of the United States. That’s the argument War Jack makes in her new book, Native Resistance: An Intergenerational Fight for Survival and Life, being released this month.
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Chip Thomas Is Telling Navajo Stories with Street Art
As a young National Health Service Corps physician, Chip Thomas moved to the Diné Nation to help build a community of wellness. Today, his public-art installations are bolstering that mission.
Head north on Highway 89 out of Flagstaff, Arizona, and before long the dignified and sturdy ponderosa pines that blanket the foothills around the city give way to rockier badlands as you descend toward the Diné (Navajo) Nation and the Painted Desert, the huge swath of northern Arizona stretching from Grand Canyon National Park to Petrified Forest National Park.
As the landscape opens up, the high desert’s rolling hills and craggy ridgelines unfurl in dusty hues that beg to be Instagrammed. And that’s just what you can see from the highway. Venture down any of the region’s backroads and you’ll find forgotten canyons, massive arches, sand dunes, and ancient, unmarked ruins. There are other gems, too, many of which are hiding in plain sight just off the road, such as the series of public art installations created and curated by Chip Thomas, a 62-year-old local physician, activist, and world-renowned public artist.
The installations dot roadsides across the region, telling pieces of its rich and complex history. There’s the Green Room, a small abandoned building behind a dilapidated trading post, roughly 30 minutes north of Flagstaff, that addresses the effects of uranium extraction. The exterior features black-and-white photos of sheep; the inside walls practically glow with pictures of corn highlighted with translucent neon-green paint.
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Disney Worked with Indigenous Sámi People to Ensure Frozen II Was Culturally Sensitive
Northuldra characters Honeymaren, Ryder, and Yelena.
(Sidenote: We realize this story does not technically have anything to do with Native American peoples, but it is a reflection of how people and corporations are better understanding the importance of indigenous cultures. Plus, who isn’t excited about the Frozen 2?)
Frozen was a worldwide hit when it debuted in 2013, though it wasn’t without its flaws. No, we’re not talking about that awful troll song that stalls the second half of the movie, we’re talking about how the film handled (or didn’t handle) the use of indigenous Scandinavian elements. But while the first Frozen didn’t really acknowledge the indigenous peoples of Scandinavia, Frozen II is putting them front and center with the blessing and cooperation of the Sámi.
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It’s hard to fit all the news in a little space.
To read all of this week's news, visit the LIM Magazine.
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