Urgent Support and Solidarity Needed on the Front Lines of Black Mesa

Call for urgent support and solidarity with indigenous people in Black Mesa who are fighting colonial land theft and removal from their homes.

Starting on August 1st and continuing through the month, police will be performing systematic counting and roundups of Dineh elders’ sheep and other livestock. Since the beginning of May, the Black Mesa Resistance camp has maintained a constant presence on the ground, working with elders across Black Mesa. Now, as another round of livestock roundups is set to begin, we need people to come to the front to support these relocation resisters.

Dineh elders on Black Mesa want people present to bear witness and demand accountability as police begin making their rounds to document and attempt to impound their livestock.

Having people on site as police attempt to photograph, count, and document people’s livestock can help deter police from treating Dineh elders abusively and can keep livestock from being impounded.

If you are able to come to the camp, we need people who can monitor and resist livestock inventory and roundups, help herd sheep, work on chores around Dineh elders’ land, and offer other support to people during this period of extra stress. Support can come in many forms, and we need as many people on the frontline as we can get. Come and offer your help in any way you know how.

For decades, Peabody Coal has preyed on and fostered the division created by the 1974 Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act to enforce the theft of Dineh people’s sheep and other livestock in an effort to relocate them from their land and desecrate their homes. The sheep are sacred to them and central to their livelihood; Dineh families rely on them for their survival and the proliferation of their culture through the weavings they create with their wool. The Dineh have been resisting colonization and relocation for generations, and they will continue to resist during this next phase of attacks. Having support helps to bolster their resistance throughout the most difficult times.

The resistance on Black Mesa is one against colonization, environmental racism, and resource extraction, and it needs support from anyone who works within those struggles. Come to support, to resist, to learn, or to hold space. Just come and be active.

If you are able to make it to the camp, email [email protected] for information and details.

If you can’t be on the ground, you can donate here. Thank you for any support you can offer!