Powerful Photos From the Indigenous Peoples March on Washington
On Friday, January 18, Indigenous organizers took their movement to the capitol, inaugurating the first-ever Indigenous Peoples March on Washington (#IPMDC19). According to organizer Roberto Borrero, who spoke with Teen Vogue, over 1,000 people representing more than 100 tribal nations marched in Washington, D.C. — traditionally Paskatawe land — calling for policies that strengthen Native sovereignty and recognition of the deep injustices that continue to affect their communities.
Organizers for the event claim that the violence of settler colonization hasn’t disappeared into the past; today, it takes form as extractive industry land violations, police brutality, disappearing Native women and girls, systematic voter suppression, contaminated natural resources, structural poverty, and other manifestations of collective oppression. These challenges afflict communities everywhere, from South Dakota to Guatemala.
Speakers at the march inspired the crowd to keep organizing to protect their rights and also facilitated group prayers and dances. The day in Washington, D.C. was as much about strengthening future coalitions as healing from past trauma. After centuries of forced assimilation, genocide, and erasure, the Indigenous movement shows tremendous resilience — as signs held by those on the ground read, “we are still here,” “we are unafraid,” and “we are rising up.”
Photo: Hanna Wallis1/22Demonstrators gathered at the Bureau of Indian Affairs office, beginning the Indigenous Peoples March on Washington at a symbolic site of oppression. The BIA was the government agency responsible for negotiating land and trade with Native communities during the bloodiest years of mass displacement, genocide, and forced cultural assimilation.
Photo: Hanna Wallis2/22Many protestors brought instruments and ceremonial objects to the event to proudly express their cultures.
Photo: Hanna Wallis3/22A woman from the Pacific Northwest closes her eyes during a silent prayer honoring stolen lands and missing Native girls.
Photo: Hanna Wallis4/22One sign reads, “We Will Not Be Silenced.”
Photo: Hanna Wallis5/22An inter-tribal drumming collective called Uptown Boyz (@uptownboyzdc) sang and beat their drum throughout the Indigenous Peoples March on Washington.
Photo: Hanna Wallis6/22Nova Saigo of the Redrum Motorcycle Club stands in front of the crowd with the Washington Monument in the distance. Calling themselves “Warriors for the People,” Redrum is an inter-tribal motorcycle collective that also includes non-Native members who “follow the Native way.” The group was involved in organizing the march.
Photo: Hanna Wallis7/22Activists spoke out against violence to Indigenous peoples in the Brazilian Amazon, who face mass displacement and death under Brazil’s new right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro. The leader has vowed to completely eliminate tribal lands, opening them up to mining and agribusiness.
Photo: Hanna Wallis8/22Members of the Redrum Motorcycle Club led the procession through the National Mall. At Standing Rock, the group brought clothing and other supplies to Water Defenders.
Photo: Hanna Wallis9/22A group of women beat drums surrounded by red, dress-shaped cutouts with the words “grandmother,” “sister,” “mother,” and “friend” to honor the thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women (#MMIW) who have disappeared from their communities.
Photo: Hanna Wallis10/22Running the American flag upside-down is traditionally a sign of distress or emergency, and has long been used by Native peoples as a sign of resistance (even seen in an image of displaced Osage men who were photographed in the1890s). In the early 1970s, the American Indian Movement used the symbol as a way of expressing the catastrophic living conditions on reservations, many of which lacked water, food and basic services.
Photo: Hanna Wallis11/22A protestor holds up the message, “These are not partisan issues, these are colonial issues.” Since the government shutdown, many reservations have gone without basic supplies and amenities, which they rely on largely as a result of the history of forced dependency imposed by the U.S. government.
Photo: Hanna Wallis12/22Nancy Skenadore of the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin lights sweetgrass with the flame from a man’s sage bundle, using the smoke for ceremonial cleansing.
Photo: Hanna Wallis13/22Indigenous women hold the rainbow checkered “Wiphala” flag, which represents peoples of the Andean region of South America.
Photo: Hanna Wallis14/22A group of Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota people from South Dakota hold signs educating about the horrors their people have faced.
Photo: Hanna Wallis15/22A man wears a headdress that dangles over his motorcycle jacket, which features a decal reading “Redrum First Nations.”
Photo: Hanna Wallis16/22“Stop Romanticizing Genocide,” a sweatshirt reads. Many protestors had messages acknowledging the history of genocide and displacement. Washington D.C., where they marched, is traditionally Paskatawe land.
Photo: Hanna Wallis17/22Kali “Ko” Mequinonoag Reis is the first mixed-Native female boxing world champion. She tells Teen Vogue, “I fight for all nations. I fight for our ancestors.” Reis is Seaconke Wampanoag — “the people of the first light.”
Photo: Hanna Wallis18/22Screen-printed patches show Dakota women warriors, painted by an artist from the same tribe, Inkpa Mani (@Inkpa_mani_art).
Photo: Hanna Wallis19/22James Flores of the Oneida Nation holds his people’s tribal flag.
Photo: Hanna Wallis20/22The march culminated at the Lincoln Memorial. President Abraham Lincoln is a controversial figure in Native history, having ordered the hanging of 38 Dakota people in 1862, the largest mass execution in U.S. history.
Photo: Hanna Wallis21/22Many protesters wore traditional dress and ceremonial objects as a celebration of their heritage.
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