The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska held a virtual rally in support of the global protests against police violence and racism.
Black and native speakers led the event with a discussion on the intersecting struggles of black and indigenous communities.
Patricia Allen-Dick identifies as Tlingit and mixed black and Native American. She said it’s important to recognize forgotten identities for people of mixed heritage.
“I felt like this was really important for us to open this space, and I really, really, really needed folks to understand how deep our roots are of our relationships as indigenous, native and our relationships recognizing the indigeneity of black communities as well,” she said.
Angola Dixon, a restorative justice healer in Seattle with roots in black and indigenous communities, said she shares the lived experience of native people.
“We’re actually in this fight together,” Dixon said. “Any time that I hear about an indigenous woman, a native First Nation woman that disappeared, and no one said anything and was murdered, and no one said anything, I feel that pain. It’s our pain. It’s not your pain. It’s our pain.”
The two-hour event drew around 200 people.
