¨Thankstaking¨

Season’s greetings to you and yours! I suspect that this year, you may be feeling a bit muted in your celebrations. With the pandemic still raging around the world, many of us won’t have the opportunity to get together with loved ones in the way we’re accustomed. Of course, some of us in Native communities already have issues with Thanksgiving — which I call Thankstaking — because it’s a holiday that unfortunately reminds us of all we have lost.

It seems somehow appropriate then that Giving Tuesday follows closely on the heels of this holiday. It gives us all an opportunity to consider the true spirit of giving differently. By giving to support Native justice now, you have a way to honor Native communities on a painful day. And because a group of our generous patrons has offered to match all gifts we receive between now and the end of next week, your contribution will make twice the impact.

In this week’s members-only event for monthly contributors, Chase and I discussed Thanksgiving and our accomplishments together.

And what an impact we’ve been making together! We’re still joyful about the success we had getting out the national Native vote in partnership with Standing Rock — and now we’ve got our sights set on how we can build on that success. I’ve got one word for you: Georgia.

This week, our staff spent time in Atlanta solidifying partnerships with the NAACP and the Indigenous Peoples Movement so we can effectively work together to get out the vote for the upcoming U.S. Senate run-off elections in the Peach State.

There are almost 40,000 Indigenous people in Georgia. There are also many environmental, Hispanic, and Black voters who share some political values with Native people. The state has the ninth youngest population in America and the third largest Black population. But the historical pattern in Georgia has been that, during runoffs, people of color and younger folks tend to vote in smaller numbers than during presidential elections. We aim to change that. Our focus will be making sure that everyone who voted in November votes again by Jan. 5.

We aren’t ready to rest. Over the next several weeks, we’ll be back at Standing Rock replicating our successful outreach from tribal members to all voters who will listen to them. And we plan to offer you all a chance to join our phonebank effort as well — please stay tuned! Thank you for being there for us every step of the way! With your support, we can keep the historic wins coming.

Wopila Tanka — thank you, and I wish you well this holiday season!

Madonna Thunder Hawk
Cheyenne River Organizer
Lakota People’s Law Project