CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

A Tipi Village Takes on Healing and Homelessness

Screengrab from the Laura Flanders Show.

Thousands of people in the U.S. die from extreme heat, cold, and lack of care every year, including many of our unhoused neighbors. As climate change exacerbates extreme weather and states prepare for deadly heat waves this summer, it’s important to ask what government officials will do to protect the most vulnerable — and if it’s enough.

Back in 2012, I visited organizers in “He Sapa,’’ the sacred Black Hills of South Dakota, who had taken matters into their own hands and cared for unhoused people (their “relatives”) in the Rapid City area in the dead of winter. The story of Camp Mniluzahan is a powerful example of community care, healing, cultural revival, and the reciprocal value of the #LANDBACK movement.

#LANDBACK the hashtag took off in the late 2010s. I met with members of the NDN Collective........

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