27 | February | 2019 | Water is Life

We’ve Had Nathan Phillips’ Back. Will You Have Ours?

The past five weeks spotlighted the ever-present need to focus on Indigenous issues and First Amendment rights — and your friendship and financial support helped us respond to the call. Our team assisted in organizing the first Indigenous Peoples March in Washington D.C., and then we provided crucial support to Omaha elder Nathan Phillips after he was mocked by MAGA hat-wearing, tomahawk-chopping students from Covington Catholic High School at the Lincoln Memorial. We facilitated Nathan’s appearances on CBS Evening News, ABC’s Nightline, NBC’s The Today Show, Democracy Now, and many more.

The hard costs of our media outreach, legal advising, event production, and travel in support of Indigenous leadership has already totaled more than $30,000 since January. Your gift today can help offset these costs and support our ongoing vigilance in the face of new lawsuits and legal threats related to the incident on the Mall.

Chase Iron Eyes
on Democracy Now!

A lawyer representing Covington student Nick Sandmann — a conservative attorney on record declaring that “the pendulum has swung too far in favor of the First Amendment” — has absurdly sued The Washington Post for $250 million for its coverage of the encounter. This lawyer might also sue Nathan, saying about the Washington Post suit, “This is just the beginning.”

In our view, the pendulum has not swung far enough in favor of protecting the free speech of Native Americans. That’s why the Lakota People’s Law Project will continue to stand with Nathan Phillips, the Post, and all others who work to promote truth, justice, and reconciliation in our divided nation. We hope you will as well.

We’re ready to provide additional support, both media and amicus legal, if Nathan is sued. In the past two weeks, we’ve issued two rebuttals against the MAGA machine: one challenging the objectivity of an “investigative report” from a group secured by a Sandmann family attorney, and a second legally critiquing the bad faith lawsuit filed against The Washington Post, in which LPLP is twice mentioned.

We are in close communication with top-level journalists around the country, ensuring that communication of Indigenous perspectives and First Amendment principles are part of the ongoing national dialogue related to the incident in Washington. Trump and his cronies are not letting go of this issue, and so neither will we, until peace with justice is secured. Please help us continue to stand in solidarity with Indigenous leaders like Nathan Phillips and defend a responsible, free press.

Pilamaya — Your friendship is a blessing!

Chase Iron Eyes
Lead Counsel
Lakota People’s Law Project