Indigenous delegation visiting Derry for Developing International Solidarity programme
A delegation from Indigenous communities in the United States will take part in a series of events and visits across Derry as part of the Developing International Solidarity programme this week.
The delegation was due to arrive in Derry on Monday for a six day visit as part of Derry Peace and Conflict International, hosted by the Bloody Sunday Trust.
The visit will bring together Indigenous organisers, campaigners, cultural leaders and artists working across issues including sovereignty, land rights, environmental justice, cultural preservation and community organising. It will also build on longstanding connections between Indigenous communities in the United States and Derry.
In 1985, Indigenous activists, including Clyde Bellecourt of the American Indian Movement, travelled to Derry and took part in the Bloody Sunday Commemoration in solidarity with the Bloody Sunday families and their campaign for truth and justice.
Among those arriving to Derry this week is Krystal Two Bulls, an Oglala Lakota and Northern Cheyenne grassroots organiser, Native American veteran and Executive Director of Honor the Earth, an Indigenous women-led organisation working for Indigenous sovereignty, environmental justice and community empowerment.
Krystal has frontline experience in campaign development and management around social, racial and environmental justice, Sovereignty, LANDBACK and cross-movement relationship building.
She will be joined by fellow Honor the Earth organisers Cheyenna “Chey” Morgan and Joseph White Eyes.
Cheyenna is an enrolled member of the Keetoowah Band of Cherokees and comes from the Oglala Lakota nation. She is coalition coordinator for Stop Data Colonialism, a national Indigenous coalition organising around the expansion of hyper-scale data centers and generative AI and their impact on tribal lands, communities and sovereignty.
Joseph White Eyes is Siha Sapa Lakota from the Wakpa Waste Oyate and works as a campaign organiser with Honor the Earth.
Also joining the delegation is Lynette Two Bulls, a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation and of Northern Cheyenne ancestry and founder and Executive Director of Blue Bird Lifeways.
Her work focuses on preserving intergenerational Indigenous knowledge, food sovereignty, youth empowerment, cultural revitalisation, healing from historical trauma and connection to the land.
Big Wind Carpenter, a Two Spirit member of the Northern Arapaho tribe from the Wind River Reservation, will also take part in the visit.
Big Wind became involved in youth and climate leadership at the age of 13 after learning about environmental racism affecting their community and has since worked on campaigns across Indigenous communities in the United States.
The delegation will also include Mato White Plume, an Oglala Lakota organiser from the Pine Ridge Reservation who has been involved in campaigns asserting Treaty Rights, defending Sacred Sites and strengthening Lakota sovereignty.
Rafael “Tufawon” Gonzalez Jr., a Dakota/Boricua rapper, singer-songwriter, producer, teaching artist and community organiser from Minneapolis, will also travel to the city.
Alongside his music, Tufawon has been involved in campaigns including Standing Rock and Stop Line 3 and has spoken internationally about issues affecting Indigenous communities. Through his WAVWARRIOR programme, he also works with young people on music production, songwriting and recording.
The programme includes a visit to the Museum of Free Derry and a special screening of Lakota Nation vs. United States, a documentary exploring Lakota land, sovereignty and resistance, followed by a Q&A. The film examines the history of the Black Hills and the continuing Lakota struggle for land, sovereignty and justice.
The screening will provide an opportunity to explore these issues during the delegation’s visit and continue the wider conversation around colonialism, resistance, sovereignty and international solidarity.
As part of the week, the Bloody Sunday Trust will also hold a public meeting, Developing International Solidarity, at Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin on Thursday 10 September at 7pm.
The meeting will give people in Derry an opportunity to hear directly from members of the delegation and take part in a wider discussion on international solidarity.
The visit will provide opportunities to share experiences and learn from each other’s struggles for justice, equality and self-determination, including the impact of colonisation, displacement and attempts to suppress culture, identity and history.
The public meeting is open to everyone. Register at: https://tinyurl.com/4apzak5u