Native independence events smother Noem's fireworks wish

Jul 12, 20210

count

A supportive crowd watched climbers unfurl the flag, emblazoned with the slogan "LANDBACK" and patched with the number "1,505" during a peaceful Rapid City civil disobedience action that resulted in four arrests on July 4, 2021. Courtesy photo

RAPID CITY, South Dakota - Grassroots Native treaty rights events here during the national Independence Day holiday this 4th of July featured a peaceful but spectacular civil disobedience action: Four indigenous technical climbers scaled downtown's landmark private grain elevator to drop a gigantic, inverted U.S. flag from the top.

"An upside-down flag represents being in distress and is a prominent symbol across Indian Country," NDN Collective organizers said in a media release.

"That flag belongs to us. So-called Independence Day is the day that U.S. colonizers officially claimed stolen Indigenous lands as their own - the day they celebrated and continue to celebrate an outright lie that America is or has ever been a place of freedom and justice for all," they said.

https://www.indianz.com/News/2021/07/09/native-sun-news-today-climbers-arrested-for-calling-for-land-back-on-fourth-of-you-lie/