Wisconsin's Native American tribes respond to George Floyd protests
Wisconsin's Native American tribes respond to George Floyd protests
The family of Jonathon Tubby doesn't want another family to suffer from a loved one being killed by police. Green Bay Press-Gazette
Richard Peterson was proud to see Native American tribal drummers in the midst of the demonstrators on TV in the early days of the protests over the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Peterson is the tribal chair of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. His Ojibwe people have a large presence in Minnesota. “We’re very supportive,” Peterson said.
He said he was living in Los Angeles in 1992 during the riots that erupted after a jury acquitted four white police officers accused of beating Rodney King. Video footage showed the four Los Angeles police officers beating King, a black man, in 1991 after a high-speed chase.
Peterson said that while both social responses started after videos of police brutality, he believes the looting and vandalism have been relatively small this time and that the message of peaceful protest is largely getting out.
“I see hope in that,” he said.
Menominee Tribe officials also expressed support of the protesters.
“Menominee Tribe expresses solidarity for the movement that emerged from the senseless, horrific killing of Mr. Floyd,” tribal officials said in a statement. “We join the many voices against police brutality, racism and inequity. Their voices and their messages are ours and are important and must be heard.”
The Oneida Nation supported the protests against racism. “As Native people we have fought racism for generations and we continue to believe that systematic racism must end,” Oneida Nation Chairman Tehassi Hill said in a statement. “We will continue to peacefully raise our voices and express our opposition.”
Brandon Stevens, vice chair of the Oneida Nation, said he and his family marched with protesters in Green Bay this past weekend and alongside the family of Jonathon Tubby, an Oneida Nation member who was killed while in Green Bay police custody in 2018.
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Stevens said the Oneida Nation supports the constitutional right to protest.
He said the Oneidas prepared an emergency plan, including a temporary curfew, to protect property from any potential looters, vandals or rioters, but said they didn't want those measures to take away from the message of the vast majority of peaceful protesters.
Some Ho-Chunk and other tribal members from Wisconsin invited the American Indian Movement to Minneapolis when riots and looting started to erupt there in the wake of Floyd's death. The American Indian Movement was started in 1968 in Minneapolis with one of its goals to address police brutality against Native Americans.
Michael Goze, a Ho-Chunk member, invited AIM to conduct security patrols and help protect tribal property and people in Minneapolis.
A building belonging to MIGIZI Communications, an American Indian youth organization, caught fire May 29 in Minneapolis during the riots, according to reports. The building had apparently not been targeted but burned after fires from other buildings on the block started to spread, according to NativeNewsOnline.net.
“Sad to see such a long-standing and important American Indian organization turn to ash,” Goze said in a Facebook post. “It will rebuilt and be even better.”
He said the AIM patrols allowed several Native American-owned businesses in the Minneapolis area to feel safe enough reopen last week.
Frank Vaisvilas is a Report For America corps member based at the Green Bay Press-Gazette covering Native American issues in Wisconsin. He can be reached at 920-228-0437 or fvaisvilas@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @vaisvilas_frank.
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