“Two weeks ago an 8,000-Mile Walk for Native American Rights, Environmental Protection, and to Stop Global Warming reached its destination in Washington, DC. Started on the opposite coast, in the San Francisco Bay Area, on February 11, 2008, the Longest Walk 2 delivered a 30-page manifesto and list of demands to Congress, which included climate change mitigation, environmental sustainability, the protection of sacred sites, and items regarding Native American sovereignty and health.
Hundreds of walkers representing more than 100 Native American Nations, plus an active International group, embarked on a journey that lasted 175 days (4,200 hrs.) criss-crossing 26 states along two separate routes – through rain, snow, and even a tornado. They also picked up more than 8,000 bags of trash on the roads they traveled. ‘As we walked through this land we were horrified to see the extent in which Mother Earth has been raped, ravaged and exploited,’ noted the Manifesto for Change.
The trek also commemorated the 1978 Longest Walk, a similar campaign that led to the defeat of 11 anti-Native American bills pending in Congress and the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.”
July 28, 2008 at 8:35 am
This was a very important walk of both solidarity among Native Americans and for bringing their issues to a wider audience. Thanks for sharing.