We say #NativeJusticeNow not Native Lives Matter.

We know Native lives matter just as Black lives matter and we believe we can not say all lives matter until Black lives and Native lives and our cultures are protected, respected and not appropriated.

We also know that #BlackLivesMatter was created by 3 black queer women as a call to action and a statement of urgency for Black lives and Black life to be honored, respected and valued as to be protected, acknowledged and prioritized.

We say #NativeJusticeNow because we know that our lives are sacred. We deserved to be acknowledged as the original inhabitants of this land that is called the Americas. We are the highest regulated race in the world and the US government holds more than 55 million acres of Indian land “in trust” for tribes, in the name of tribal sovereignty.  Natives make up less than 1% of the national population but 2% of all police killings. In states all over the US, we are disproportionality represented in prisons.

Our women are 3.5 times more likely to be victims of rape and sexual violence than our sisters of other races.

Under VAWA 2005, a national study authorized by Congress found that between 1979 and 1992 homicide was the third leading cause of death among Native females aged 15-34, and that 75 percent were killed by family members or acquaintances.

Because of colonization, our diets have caused us to be twice as likely as other races to have diabetes and 5 times more likely to have kidney failure from diabetes.

As a people our inheritances is much more than any riches; we are the keepers of fire, the holders of medicine and the water protectors, the land defenders. We have been given a way of life, that has been able to survive more than 525 years of genocide, massacre and colonization…

Because our life is sacred.

We are more than characterized mascots and casinos. Each indigenous nation has a distinct history, language, and culture.