We’ve seen #BlackLivesMatter and now #MuslimLivesMatter, but there’s yet another hashtag bringing awareness to marginalized people who are constantly subjected to unwarranted violence, Native Americans. The hashtag #NativeLivesMatter brings to light the sheer volume of Native deaths at the hands of police that occurred last year and years prior.
There are several cases that could be mentioned in this post, such as Allen Locke, a young Lakota man who was killed by police the day after he went to a rally against police killings of Native Americans. There’s also Corey Kanosh, a member of Utah’s Paiute Tribe, who was killed after being suspected of car theft. Kanosh was innocent.
According to numbers from Mic, Native Americans are right below African Americans when it comes to being targeted and shot by police officers at a startling rate. #NativeLivesMatter aims to shine a light on this epidemic as well as other issues, such as a recent incident involving white men pouring beer on Native students and hurling racial slurs at them, and the many missing and murdered Native women. Here are some tweets from the hashtag:
Never forget #NavWoods #AllenLocke #MylesRoughSurface #CoreyKanosh Natives murdered by police #NativeLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/tFnMan92Is
— OffendedNDN (@_RuthHopkins) February 12, 2015
If #NativeLivesMatter John T. Williams would have been able to cross the street without being shot by a cop.
— Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo) February 11, 2015
Pouring beer and shouting racial slurs at middle schoolers?? @nprnews @NPR #racism #NativeLivesMatter http://t.co/25t12KUCAl
— Tiffany Hsu (@tiffy_hsu) February 11, 2015
@geysar @CNN We must join together to fight worldwide hatred! #MuslimLivesMatter #NativeLivesMatter #AllLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/zM7CHyjzpp
— melissa jacobs (@deathrep) February 11, 2015
This KKK display stands in a museum in South Dakota’s state capital beside sacred Lakota objects. #NativeLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/jfiDRfL
— Betty Andersonа (@ogol_oxufipuv) February 11, 2015
Standing Strong Against Racism #AH57 #NativeLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/RtZTWkQCNT
— Karin Eagle (@MzKarinEagle) February 11, 2015
When will this country see, that our people matter too? #NativeLivesMatter
— Enisha Raquel (@ExpertlyEnisha) February 11, 2015
#AH57 #NativeLivesMatter #stopracism @tfanative @TeachForAmerica @OneDayAllKids @CharlesSDPB @Lastrealndn pic.twitter.com/jk1EZO65Du
— Robert Cook (@Wazihanska) February 11, 2015
#NativeLivesMatter #MMIW #SORR Beautiful storytelling on a Cree woman who was attacked last year by @CBCNews http://t.co/CL7vFQmT9Y …
— Native Lives Matter (@NLMcoalition) February 11, 2015
#NativeLivesMatter #MMIW #SORR B.C. missing women inquiry led to changes, but roots of violence remain http://t.co/FMs1oHGVCa
— Native Lives Matter (@NLMcoalition) February 11, 2015
@SingOurRivers Earrings represent the Missing Murdered Indigenous Women. #NativeLivesMatter #Nativewomen pic.twitter.com/5B4jKjdxr6
— Jessy Hegland (@Jessyrheg) February 11, 2015
#NativeLivesMatter #Livehumbly #returntoearth pic.twitter.com/P9tGBf5auK
— Micah Armstrong (@MicahArmstrong) February 10, 2015
#NativeLivesMatter exhibit by Josie Seymour from Pueblo of Laguna for #SORR #MMIW… http://t.co/NdDzLrHvU7
— Native Lives Matter (@NLMcoalition) February 10, 2015
#NativeLivesMatter Spread awareness for #MMIW #SORR pic.twitter.com/273wkPR0RY
— Native Lives Matter (@NLMcoalition) February 10, 2015
this kills me #nativelivesmatter pic.twitter.com/WtosmQFiR0
— sarah mcnuggets☃ ❅ (@SarahMcGillis) February 10, 2015
NativeAmericans lost their history, their land & culture, & is one of the least discussed genocides in world history. #nativelivesmatter
— Justice♥Prevails (@BlueVindication) February 9, 2015
#NativeLivesMatter as well as Native issues. The originals in this country.
— Taking Back theRadio (@TBTRrevolution) February 9, 2015
I hope that more people participate in #NativeLivesMatter. The internet, especially Twitter, has been the starting point for actual change in society, and since the medium gives everyone a chance to have their voices heard, I hope that the Twitter campaign will gain steam and lead to some actual progress in the real world.
Screengrab from Mic article “The Police Are Killing One Group at a Staggering Rate, and Nobody is Talking About It” by Zak Cheney-Rice.