University indigenous groups march on Washington

People rally for missing and murdered indigenous women and girls during the Indigenous People's March.

By: Anna Radinsky/Assistant News Director

 

Nine University students took a 15-hour road trip in a rented van from Miami to march in the first Indigenous People’s March in Washington D.C. on Friday, Jan. 18.

The University’s Global Indigenous Group (GIG), a student-led organization, organized the trip for a total of 12 people to participate in the Friday march, Saturday’s Women’s March and an Indigenous leadership meeting on Sunday.

Joseph Morales, the cultural chair of GIG and a member of the Pijao people of Colombia, carried a sign during the march that said that he marches to unite the condor and eagle, a prophecy that says that the people in North, South and Central America will unite after centuries of hardship on indigenous people and native land.

The Indigenous Peoples March recognized issues related to the global indigenous community, including genocide, environmental degradation, missing and murdered indigenous women, migration due to neglect and poverty, loss of sovereignty on native lands and other injustices, according to Morales.

“I think that this movement is going to be another highlight [in indigenous history], kind of like Standing Rock,” said Morales. “Native people are still here and we’re fighting and we’re not going anywhere.”

The march was forced to be turned into a rally outside of the Lincoln Memorial because of permit complications with another rally, the March for Life, that was happening on the same day.

The Indigenous People’s March started off with a prayer outside of the Building of Interior Affairs in in Washington D.C.

Instead of walking through the streets of Washington D.C., speeches and performances were given that shared the spirit and frustrations of indigenous people from all over the world, according to Morales.

One member of the group that traveled with GIG believed that the rally was not as impactful as it should have been because of the lack of discussion in the fundamental causes of indigenous issues, such as colonialism.

“To critics [of activists] and myself, we sound like a broken record,” said Ian Iglesias, a political science graduate, to Student Media. “Instead of talking about the difficulty of living on reservations, I think it would have been more effective to talk about who put the reservations there, who allowed the soil to be so poor in quality… But, unfortunately, discussing these things are seen as aggressive by members of the majority class.”

William Sanchez, the president of GIG, believes that discussing controversial topics such as the continuation of the negative effects of colonialism reflects truth, not radicalism.

“I don’t think we are radical. However, people nowadays are saying that speaking the truth is radical, which is kind of funny to me,” Sanchez said. “It doesn’t matter what anyone says: [capitalism] goes directly against indigenous people.”

Other members in GIG believe that the march had its impact in showing the beginnings of fulfilling the prophecy of the condor and eagle.

“The prophecy of the uniting of the eagle and the condor was seen in this march,” said Eric Brown, a junior majoring in political science and a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. “I have never seen so many people south of the border at an event similar to this.”

Brown shared with Student Media that the sense of community was very strong during the rally because of the representation of so many indigenous people from around the world, including people from Asia, the Caribbean, and Australia.

From GIG alone, five University students identify as being part of indigenous communities including the Seminole, the Cherokee, the Pijao of Colombia, the Maya and the Taíno of the Caribbean.

From left to right: Eden Jumper, Gerson Sachez, David Martins, William Sánchez and Joey Morales, members of FIU Global Indigenous Group

Two elders joined the group from the communities of the Fishing Lake First Nation from Saskatchewan, Canada and the Caribs of Jamaica.

Five other University students and graduates that do not identify as indigenous also joined GIG.

Morales hopes that the GIG community will grow and educate more people about indigenous cultures and issues because of the diverse group of people that came out to the march.

“I want FIU students to feel welcome to this organization. While it is for native issues, it’s open to others,” Morales said. “I’m hoping that if we show that FIU participated in a grassroots march then maybe that’s an organization that they would want to participate in.”

For more information on the FIU Global Indigenous Group, visit their Facebook through ‘GIGFIU’ and Instagram through @fiugig.

Photos provided by the FIU Global Indigenous Group.

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