On Turtle Island every day should be Indigenous People’s day. Each day we need to honor the land and remember that the colonial logic of extraction is the same logic that perpetuates the prison industrial slave complex. As companies and the government extract the vital resources our communities need for life they also extract Indigenous, Black, and brown bodies every day from our communities throwing them in cages atop the very land made toxic by their genocidal drive for profit above all else. Overlapping layers of colonial extraction that viciously target those most willing to stand up and fight, those willing to put their bodies on the line to protect the land and water. Indigenous peoples have always been at the forefront of these struggles and have always been targeted by the punitive components of the settler colonial state. We must remember that abolishing the prison industrial slave complex and decolonization go hand in hand. There can be no abolition without decolonization. Support our indigenous land and water defenders behind bars!
Follow and Boost the work of The Water Protector Legal Collective, NoDAPL Political Prisoners (More Info Below), the Indigenous Environmental Network, and all indigenous peoples.
–Native American prisoners at the Fort St. Augustine, Florida [1875].
Here are just a few of many folks you can write to and support materially:
Leonard Peltier
Write to Leonard at:
Leonard Peltier, #89637-132 USP Coleman I, P.O. Box 1033, Coleman, FL 33521
Donate:
“Your donation will help pay the significant legal expenses associated with Leonard’s case—filing and cost recovery fees, as well as attorney fees and travel, for example—in addition to community outreach and public education efforts conducted on his behalf.”
https://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/donate-now/#open-overlay
About Leonard:
“Native American activist Leonard Peltier has spent over 40 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Prosecutors and federal agents manufactured evidence against him (including the so-called “murder weapon”); hid proof of his innocence; presented false testimony obtained through torturous interrogation techniques; ignored court orders; and lied to the jury. People are commonly set free due to a single constitutional violation, but Peltier—innocent and faced with a staggering number of constitutional violations—has yet to receive equal justice.”
Learn more on how to support Leonard and the campaign for his freedom from the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee at www.whoisleonardpeltier.info.
Red Fawn
Write to Red Fawn at:
RedFawn Fallis #16358059 Unit E, Federal Correctional Institution, 5701 8th St., Dublin, CA 94568
Donate:
If Western Union is available to you, funds can go directly to their prison commissary by typing their name and their inmate number without the hyphen:
https://www.westernunion.com/us/en/send-money/app/sendinmatestart
RedFawn Fallis 16358059
Other options for commissary donation include:
Red Fawn: https://www.paypal.me/RedFawn303
About Red Fawn:
“Red Fawn was one of over 140 Water Protectors arrested at Standing Rock on Oct 27, 2016, while peacefully exercising their first amendment right to oppose construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) on treaty-protected land. But she was one of only a handful of people who received serious federal charges.
Bystander and drone videos of her arrest show a Pennington County Sheriff’s Deputy, Thadius Schmit, singling her out from among a crowd of protesters, tackling her from behind, and taking her down to the ground, followed by at least eight other heavily armed law enforcement officials piling on top of her. Shots erupted from the melee, and Red Fawn was arrested and charged by North Dakota with attempted murder of police officers. Those charges were later dropped and replaced with federal charges, including civil disorder, discharge of a weapon in relation to a felony crime of violence, and possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. In the arrest affidavit, Schmit said he arrested Red Fawn for “being an instigator and acting disorderly” and in a hearing described this behavior as shouting “water is life and you’re killing Mother Earth and stuff of that nature.”
As reported by the publications the Intercept and the High Plains Reader, leaked documents have revealed that Red Fawn had been targeted for surveillance and possible arrest by a sprawling intelligence operation that included ETP, TigerSwan and other private mercenary firms hired by them, the FBI, and various levels of law enforcement–all conspiring to discredit and derail the growing resistance to the pipeline.
Leaked documents also revealed that the gun Red Fawn was accused of firing belonged to Heath Harmon, an FBI informant who had infiltrated her camp and managed to become her romantic partner–and who had been with her throughout the day she was arrested.”
Read and Learn more at https://nodaplpoliticalprisoners.org and https://www.standwithredfawn.org.
Red Fawn’s poem from lock up:
“My name is Red Fawn
I am a prisoner of war
My enemies have hunted me 500 years
You know their names
They are the Kings, the Queens
They are all the things that are slaves to greed and power
My name is Red Fawn
I am just one flower
I will not die
I will not cry
I will not bend or cower
My name is Red Fawn
My people know my name
They know the Sheriff’s shame
They know this Governor’s game
They know that I grow stronger every passing hour
My name is Red Fawn
I hear the people sing
Outside my window now
I hear the people
They sing my name”
Rattler
Write to Rattler at:
Michael Markus 06280-073 Unit I, FCI Sandstone, Federal Correctional Institution, PO Box 1000, Sandstone, MN 55072
Donate:
If Western Union is available to you, funds can go directly to their prison commissary by typing their name and their inmate number without the hyphen:
https://www.westernunion.com/us/en/send-money/app/sendinmatestart
Michael Markus 06280073
Other options for commissary donation include:
About Rattler:
“Oglala Lakota tribal member Michael Markus (Rattler) was charged alongside 5 indigenous water protectors that aided others in the resistance camps engaging in nonviolent direct action to stop the desecration and construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) near the Standing Rock reservation in the years 2016-2017.
He’s currently incarcerated at FCI Sandstone (federal prison), serving a three year sentence from a non-cooperating plea for Civil Disorder, a charge that has mainly been given to those engaging in resistance movements (American Indian Movement, Black Liberation Movement, Anti-Vietnam War protestors, NoDAPL Water Protectors, etc.)
Rattler served as Akicita, a continuation of a traditional role among the Lakota that protect the peace and hold their own people accountable of their responsibilities for the collective. He gave necessary knowledge of militarized police tactics, scouting of DAPL, aided de-escalation during nonviolent direct actions, and helped those within camp to be safe and sober.”
Read more at https://nodaplpoliticalprisoners.org/8-people/1-rattler
Angry Bird
Write Angry Bird here (personal address):
James White, PO Box 755, Ft. Yates, ND 58538
Angry Bird is not incarcerated in federal prison, but he is consistently monitored while on probation. Caution regarding contents of letters must be used, as federal officers can search his home or belongings at any time.
Donate:
Please support Akicita elder Angry Bird, currently under federal surveillance on probation, through his family’s and Tiospaye’s PayPal account:
https://www.paypal.me/wacanga
About Angry Bird:
“James White (Angry Bird) references “two worlds” – life on the reservation at Standing Rock and life outside the reservation.
He’s an elder, army veteran, Akicita, and the only enrolled member of Standing Rock to get federal charges. This is part of the statement he wrtote originally for Judge Hovland:
I did what I thought was right for the safety of others I might have known and others who I never met. I tried to keep everyone safe in camp, and also to keep the water and the earth safe from danger that will occur in the future. …Life is tough for many, as we all know, and good for so few. For us growing up, being in boarding schools was not so good. But we are still living, trying to forget the pain and shame of what happened to me and so many others at a young age. The way people in the other world that you live in see us and judge us is easy to understand for they do not live in my shoes or climb the ladder I have to climb or had to climb. I tried to live in both worlds – as a vet and a father sending my offspring and others to the other world to make a better place. We all need to come to an understanding that we are killing the earth for money and profit. But we forget what we are destroying for our future generations. We need to come together as one – not as one better than the other – and to remember it’s going to take us all to help fix what we’re destroying. If not for us, then for our children and children’s children to live.”
Read More at: https://nodaplpoliticalprisoners.org/8-people/6-james-white and www.facebook.com/justiceforangrybird
Dion Ortiz
Dion Ortiz has been transferred to a NM halfway house and is no longer incarcerated at FCI Sandstone. We will post Dion’s mailing address in the near future. Check https://nodaplpoliticalprisoners.org/write-letters for updates on where to write Dion.
Donate:
Please support Dion and his immediate family while transitioning to Bureau of Prison’s halfway house in New Mexico:
https://www.paypal.me/dionortiz
About Dion:
‘“My son had a purpose,” said Dion’s mother Christina Ortiz. “He had this image that he could help protect the water.
Water is life, that’s why he was there. Whatever he did to protect the water and the Water Protectors, he did out of love.”
“He made himself a warrior and involved himself for the people,” said Martina Ortiz, Dion’s 25-year-old sister. ”He was fighting for something sacred. To us he’s not only a brother and a son, he’s more like a hero to everybody now.”’
Read more at: https://nodaplpoliticalprisoners.org/8-people/3-dion
Little Feather
Michael Little Feather Giron was transferred to a ND halfway house and is no longer incarcerated at USP Hazelton. He’s currently transitioning to probation out of the halfway house, with a new address for receiving letters still pending. Check https://nodaplpoliticalprisoners.org/write-letters for updates on where to write Little Feather.
Donate:
Please support Little Feather and his immediate family while transitioning to Bureau of Prison’s halfway house in North Dakota:
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme2/lcowboy
Venmo: leoyla-cowboy-1
About Little Feather:
“Michael “Little Feather” Giron is the first Water Protector sentenced in relation to the NoDAPL pipeline movement at Standing Rock.
Little Feather [was] sentenced to 36 month federal prison term pursuant to a non-cooperating plea agreement. Please take a moment and donate to him through this website. Additional updates and video interviews about Little Feather can be found on the Water Protector Legal Collective website and facebook.
Statement from Little Feather on June 4, 2018. “Please let our people know that I love them and I’m honored to be where I am at for them. I want our people to know also to never give up hope on our movement. Our struggle is only the beginning and that we need to remember that what we stood for and fight for are the essence of our movement Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ”.”
Read more at: https://nodaplpoliticalprisoners.org/8-people/4-little-feather
Mama Julz
Donate:
Julie Dreamer via Paypal at paypal.me/julzrich
Longtime friend of Fight Toxic Prisons, Julie Richards (Oglala Lakota), aka Mama Julz, is a frontline water protector, land defender, and the founder of the Mothers Against Meth Alliance. Mama was the first to lock down to DAPL equipment at Standing Rock and has taken similar direct action across the country. Mama faces several state and federal charges for her activism but has not let this stop her. In the meantime Mama Julz runs Mothers Against Meth Alliance (M.A.M.A) who’s mission is to provide competent and compassionate advocacy, community action, media outreach, drug education, and provide rehabilitation resources that reflect the traditions and customs of the Lakota Nakota, and Dakota people for all those affected by methamphetamine addiction, their families, and their communities. Julz educates on the troubling connection between meth addiction, oil extraction, and the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
