Hundreds of activists descended on Washington, DC on Oct. 11th to urge Biden to declare a climate emergency. In the midst of their protests the statue of Andrew Jackson was graffitied and the words “Expect Us” were sprayed on the base.
Chant protestors shouted “respect us or expect us” as they took a stance against a pipeline in Minnesota. Apparently, the pipeline runs through lands owned by Indigenous tribes. According to the protesters’ website, the concern is that the pipeline could spill and ruin some of the land Indigenous people use to farm.
Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which took land away from the Natives and gave it to the states. The act led to the “Trail of Tears,” in which approximately 4,000 Cherokees died as they were forced to vacate their land. Jackson was no longer the president during the Trail of Tears, though it was the direct enforcement of the Removal Act.
The protest was brought to the nation’s capital on Columbus Day, which has become a contentious day for some, especially among Indigenous peoples, who view Christopher Columbus as a colonizer as opposed to a discoverer.
Les Begay, a member of Diné Nation, said it is important to focus on celebrating the Indigenous culture.
“Not honoring Indigenous peoples on this day just continues to erase our history, our contributions and the fact that we were the first inhabitants of this country,” Begay said.
Crowds of mostly indigenous activists marched down the streets of DC carrying signs that read ‘Biden Reject Fossil Fuel Projects’ and ‘no pride in genocide’ among others.
Hundreds of people were present, many dressed in traditional Native American garb and signing songs in Indigenous languages.It was just the first of a five-day campaign of demonstrations dubbed People vs. Fossil Fuels.
The event was organized by the Build Back Fossil Free coalition, which is made up of several indigenous and other environmental groups.
One of those groups, the Indigenous Environmental Network, endorsed the Jackson statue’s defacement.
‘President Biden woke up to a message on the Andrew Jackson statue in front of the White House today. On the base of the statue “Expect Us” was written with blood splattered handprints to represent the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women epidemic all over the statue of the genocidal President,’ a statement released by IEN Monday said.
Biden didn’t wake up to see the statue, however, as he’s been spending the holiday weekend in Delaware with his family.
Today he and First Lady Jill Biden are attending a wedding in Pennsylvania. Cuffe Owens, the son of Biden’s sister Valerie Owens, is marrying ex-Real Housewives of Orange County star Meghan O’Toole King.
Protesters are demanding Biden follow up on his hardline stance against the Keystone XL pipeline by also moving to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline, the proposed Enbridge Pipeline 3 and phasing out fossil fuel projects.
Biden’s failure to take action on those gas pipelines has been viewed as a disappointment by activists who voted him in in the hopes he would enact serious climate reform.
Biden, who is not due back at the White House until late afternoon Monday, missed the entire ordeal.
Through his brief term so far Biden has taken strides to bolster the Native American community. He appointed Deb Haaland to lead the Interior Department, the first indigenous person to lead a Cabinet agency.
Just last week he fulfilled a campaign promise by restoring the Bear Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments to their original boundaries.
He signed the orders in a White House ceremony surrounded by Haaland and Native American tribal leaders of the Bear Ears coalition.
And on Friday, he released the first-ever presidential proclamation of Indigenous People’s Day.
