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Lakota Law's fifth annual Wopila Gathering is coming soon!
Join us on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 2 for Lakota Law's fifth annual Wopila Gathering! This year's theme is:
The Spiritual Resistance: Sustaining Sovereignty and Culture in Troubled Times
Across Turtle Island and around the world, Indigenous communities face tremendous challenges — legal battles, climate threats, political upheaval, and ongoing attacks on our rights and our ways of life. But through ceremony, through culture, through art and music and the unbroken lines of our traditional teachings, we remain strong. This spiritual resistance is more than survival — it is the active, daily practice of sovereignty. It is the protection of our homelands and our relatives. It is the renewal of our languages and our kinship systems. It is the courage to keep standing in full humanity, even when the world tries to silence us. We give thanks for all those who continue this resistance, and we invite all our relations and allies to stand with us as we build a future worthy of our ancestors.
Give to Lakota Law in the spirit of Wopila!
Wopila Gathering
Where spirit meets struggle, Indigenous traditions light the pathWopila (our deep gratitude) for friendship and support!
This year's lineup will include guests from across Indian Country: From the Cherokee homelands, west through the Dakotas to Santa Fe, from the north in Alaska and south to Hawaii, speakers and artists will share their gifts and their messages of activism and unity.
The program begins at 4 p.m. PST with our Opening Invocation and a program introduction from host Chase Iron Eyes
Stay tuned for presentations from our friends from our team and friends across Indian Country and live music from Nataanii Means, Lakota Law organizer & spokesperson Tokata Iron Eyes, Nanibaah, destroykasmin, and Rain from Heaven.
Check back here for any program updates, then join us on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 2 to enjoy the show and defend the sacred!
Start Your Own Fundraiser
We invite you to start your own fundraiser as part of our Wopila Gathering celebration. Set a goal, provide us with a summary, and start sharing today.
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A Legacy of Justice
Since 2005, the Lakota People’s Law Project has partnered with Native communities to protect sacred lands, safeguard human rights, promote sustainability, reunite Indigenous families, and protect tribal health.
We work in Lakota communities to counteract treaty violations, protect sovereignty, and confront systemic racism. We're helping to defend sacred lands and water, end the removal of children from their families and traditions, uphold human rights, promote sustainability, and amplify Native voices.
Taking Action
In our Lakota Law Action Center, you can get involved and make a real and lasting impact! Check out our campaigns and take action to end pipelines, protect tribal health and safety, safeguard Native children, and so much more. Tell lawmakers to respect treaties and return stolen lands and sacred sites to our continent’s original peoples. We invite you to build unity among frontline communities and become part of the larger movement for equity.
We launched the Lakota Child Rescue Project in 2005 to assist the return of Lakota children to their families, tribes, and communities. We then broadened our mission to include a tribal foster care program funded with direct funds from the federal government, bypassing the state of South Dakota.
In 2016, the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) threatened sacred lands and water, so we expanded our mission to combat the contempt and disregard for First Amendment rights and Lakota sovereignty. In court, we defended Chase Iron Eyes, who faced six years in federal prison for defending his tribe’s ancestral lands.
Since 2017, the Lakota People’s Law Project has responded where and when we’re needed most in Lakota Country and beyond. Whether we’re protecting the Native vote, providing disaster relief, or providing resources for children, we continue to safeguard Lakota and other Indigenous communities.
As we move forward under the Sacred Defense Fund, we will continue to win Indigenous and environmental justice under full Indigenous leadership! We're implementing an expansion of program priorities, including a renewed focus on legal action and exciting partnerships with other Indigenous-led organizations.
The Lakota People’s Law Project is dedicated to reversing the slow genocide of the Lakota People and destruction of Native culture.