Ariz. tribe member fights border wall at U.N.

warm March day with about 100 other protesters, Garcia was in the minority. There were plenty of older, white, nontribal members chanting and carrying signs, But most of the Native Americans protesters were younger.

Garcia, with a long-standing history of activism dating to the 1970s, said he has seen a resurgence in advocacy and activism among Native American youths. He has supported actions to ban the name of the NFL team in Washington, D.C., because it promotes a racist slur. He has supported young Native leaders who traveled to the Standing Rock Sioux tribal lands in North Dakota to stop construction of an oil pipeline.

Survival, dignity and well-being

committed against their communities.

The room was bright, and in between statements, the sound of people whispering created a distant hum, like a mosquito you can hear but can’t see.

A congresswoman from Peru, wearing the traditional clothing of her indigenous people, spoke in Spanish. She said indigenous people must demand a seat at every table where political decisions are made that affect their community. Garcia listened. Then it was his turn. He stared at the paper with his statement on violations of his people’s rights, silently practicing the words he wanted to get right. He couldn’t waste a second. He only had three minutes. But Garcia isn’t the kind of man who forgoes tradition or respect.

“Thank you, Madam Chair,” Garcia said, adding a nod to the anniversary of the declaration.

The clock was ticking, but the man from the Tohono O’odham Nation had traveled a long way. So he tried not to rush when he read the full text of three articles in the declaration that protect his tribe’s rights.

He used the seconds he had left to recognize tribal members who, he worries, have the most to lose if a wall is built.

Looking up from his papers, he stared straight ahead and said, “Madam Chair, we have members who live in the state of Sonora, in the country of Mexico. I want to make that very clear.”

He told his audience that the National Congress of American Indians passed a resolution in February opposing the construction of a physical wall without tribal consent. The Tohono O’odham Legislative Council passed a similar resolution.

There wasn’t time for Garcia to read from those tribal resolutions.

Instead, he asked for action. He called for a study of a convention on the rights of indigenous peoples.

Finally, he put his papers down and listened. People were clapping.

Respect for the land