Statement on Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Great Oceti Sakowin Passage of Resolution in Support of the Palestinian People
On Wednesday, March 27, 2024, The Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST) of the great Oceti Sakowin, passed a resolution -14 to 1- in support of the Palestinian People. This decision comes after months of organizing by the Oglala Lakota youth, representing the Oglala chapter of the International Indigenous Youth Council (IIYC), organized for months to make this happen We held several Teach-In’s and educational opportunities not only in our home communities, but throughout Indian Country by carrying banners into basketball tournaments, pow wows and other community events.
Oglala Lakota are known for resisting and fighting back against settler colonialism, so the passage of this resolution is no surprise. It stands as a continuation of a rich history between the Palestinian and Lakota Peoples, including when Palestinians stood with us in solidarity at Standing Rock and Wounded Knee.
The OST resolution mirrors the resolution Honor the Earth presented to the Oceti Sakowin Oyate Treaty Council, which was approved in December 2023. Both resolutions call out the graphic parallels between the colonial experience at the hands of settler U.S. forces from the settlement era to the present day with that of the Israeli government engaging in genocide and ethnic cleansing in real time.
Prior to colonization, the Oceti Sakowin inhabited a vast land area that covered 24 American states and parts of 4 Canadian Provinces. The people of the Oceti Sakowin have lived in this region since time immemorial. Since the arrival of settlers, we have fought the genocidal policies and brutal practices of an invading colonial force determined to take our land and exterminate our culture and Peoples.
Today on the other side of the world, our Palestinian relatives are resisting similar violence and conditions, albeit under a different timeline of settler colonization. So-called Israel is now engaged in a similar ethnic cleansing campaign through starvation, relentless bombings and total destruction of infrastructure towards their goal of complete erasure of the Palestinian People.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe not only passed the resolution supporting our Palestinian Relatives, but asked the Tribal President to advocate for similar resolutions to the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association, Coalition of Large Tribes, National Congress of American Indians and the US Congress and House of Representatives.
We, Honor the Earth, hope this will inspire other Native Nations to take a public stance on the genocide of the Palestinian People and their liberation. Until this genocide ends, the Oglala Lakota stand with the Palestinian People and will advocate for justice and Land Back for all Indigenous Peoples under colonialism. When Palestine is liberated, we are all liberated.