On the Frontlines of Indigenous Activism

This past Independence Day, Oakland's Marty Aranaydo found himself a long way from the town. Marty had joined up with the NDN Collective to scale a 100-foot grain silo in Rapid City, South Dakota. Atop it, the group unfurled a massive inverted American flag with the words, "LANDBACK" across it. The direct action called for more than the transfer of territory back to indigenous tribes, on the bottom corner of the flag they also wrote "1505," to represent the growing number of indigenous children's unmarked graves that have been found at native boarding schools throughout the US and Canada.   While Marty is a well-known DJ and aerosol writer, he isn't new to this kind of work. His family was involved in the original occupation of Alcatraz, direct action for social change is in his blood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices