"Today in the cold temperatures of the North Dakota landscape American Indians and allies are committed to protecting water, one of our most precious natural resources. As they attempt to exercise their right to care for this resource, to draw attention to the damage that will be done to all of us if the Dakota Access Pipeline is allowed to be built, they have been ridiculed, harassed, shamed and belittled. While the mainstream press ignores their efforts, alternative and social media outlets share stories and images of inhumane acts toward these unarmed warriors. On Tuesday morning, we woke to photos and video of defenders at Standing Rock being blasted with water hoses, shot with rubber bullets and suffering the effects of tear gas. That morning all of the Resource Center Directors decided that we must speak out publicly against this injustice – we stand with Standing Rock.
As the country prepares to celebrate Thanksgiving, during Native American Heritage month, American Indians are living the horrors of American history all over again. The UC Santa Cruz Resource Centers want all Native students to know that we are aware of how this directly affects you. We support you and extend an invitation to our centers, where you will always be welcomed and nurtured.
To the warriors at Standing Rock, we see you. We know what is happening, we know what is true. We send this greeting so you can see us. We are far away in distance, but right beside you in spirit.
In Solidarity,
Nancy I. Kim, MA, Director, Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center
Managing Director, Resource Centers
travis s. becker, MA, Director, Lionel Cantú Queer Center
Dr. Judith Estrada, PhD, Director, Chicano/Latino Resource Center (El Centro)
Dr. Rebecca H. Rosser, PhD, Director, American Indian Resource Center
Interim Director, Women’s Center
Shonté Thomas, M.Ed, Director, African American Resource and Cultural Center
YOU CAN DO SOMETHING!
SUPPORT THE UCSF CLINIC at Standing Rock
https://crowdfund.ucsf.edu/project/2913
In early September 2016, the Do No Harm Coalition at UCSF was invited to help create a free clinic at the camp of the Standing Rock Lakota Dakota and their supporters who are gathering to protect access to clean water and dignity of their ancestral lands.
The Mni Wiconi (Water is Life) Health Clinic is a free integrative clinic proposed as a partnership with Standing Rock Sioux Tribe traditional healers, UCSF, National Nurses United, Herbal Medics, Changing Woman Initiative (indigenous midwifery group) and Global Health Care Alternative Project to provide free care to all people in the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. At the invitation of the tribe, our consortium's goal is to create a space for the imagining and practice of decolonized medicine in order to further the health of the community in the short-term with the expanded population due to pipeline resistance and in the long term after the encampments have dissolved.
We are currently raising funds to get the clinic doors open, to cover general liability and the necessary equipment and medications to practice responsibly. This clinic will be staffed by 100% volunteer work, with faculty covering during vacation time.
Currently there is no local healthcare access for all of the 2,000-5,000 people who are assembled at Standing Rock. The local 12 bed IHS hospital cannot care for nonnative people or native people from tribes that are not federally recognized. Your gift will be made directly to the UCSF fund that will used to get the clinic doors open!"
No comments:
Post a Comment