National Indigenous Congress of Mexico Declaration

As the Summit of Indigenous Nations to protect Bear Butte, all sacred spaces and all indigenous land, opens in Mato Paha (Bear Butte, South Dakota), here is the declaration from the indigenous people of the Northwest and Central Pacific Regions of the National Indigenous Congress of Mexico. In it, representatives from the Yaqui, Mayo, Comca’ac, Triqui, ñu Saavi, Zapoteco, Wixáritari, Purhépecha, Nahua and Coca Nations address local and national concerns, promising Mexican society to “defend that which belongs to us by any means within our reach, as we have in the last five hundred years”. In addition, showing solidarity for their brothers and sisters of the North, these Nations include a request to the United States Government to respect the Treaties made with the indigenous Nations, and the State of South Dakota to respect Bear Butte.