Smithsonian Says It Was Wrong to Ask Water Protectors to Remove Jackets

A group of Native American women who were in Washington, D.C. to take part in the Native Nations Rise March are asking for the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) to increase cultural sensitivity training for its workers after the women were forced by staff to remove their jackets, which were adorned with patches and pins supporting water protectors and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s battle against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The patches said, “Water Is Life, Mni Wiconi.” Some of the women had spent time on the ground at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation as water protectors protesting the controversial pipeline and enduring freezing weather, tear gas, verbal abuse, and harassment from law enforcement.

https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/native-news/smithsonian-wrong-water-protectors-jackets/