National Day of Mourning honors Indigenous resistance

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.