“Mall of America” to Native Americans: Happy New Year; You Are Under Arrest

[annm4peace]

Published on Jan 1, 2014

"Discrimination" was behind a pair of New Year's Eve arrests at the sprawling Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota according to organizers of a Native American group called "Idle No More".

Patricia Shepard and Reyna Crow arrests came exactly one year after last year's New Year's Eve Idle No More round dance at the Mall, in which nearly a thousand Native people and allies flooded the vestibule near the entrance to Sears, drumming and dancing in a circle.

The Idle No More movement originated among Native tribes in Canada at the end of 2012 in response to the Jobs and Growth Act, which reduced the requirements for privatizing Native-owned land. The Mall of America is owned by Triple Five Group, a Canadian company.

On the Triple Five Group website , the company touts "exciting services and opportunities to First Nations in Canada and the Native Tribes of America." The webpage goes on to list its programs, which include "development of casinos, residential commercial and industrial — on or off reservation," "Exploration and development of mineral resources" and "exploration and production of oil and gas."

Plans were in the works from several Minnesota-based Native groups to hold another Idle No More event at the Mall this New Year's, but Shepard and Crow — along with other Native leaders in the community — recently received letters from the Mall of America threatening them with arrest if another event took place. "The Idle No More group caused disruption to our customers, tenants and employees, and resulted in a significant commitment of time and resources by our security and management teams," the letter stated.

At a press conference held outside the Mall at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Crow called the letter discriminatory.

"Singling out one particular group of people and telling them that they're not welcome to have a positive family event, a gesture of friendship and healing in the Mall when so many other cultural groups are welcomed is to me absolutely appalling," Crow said.

More at: http://theuptake.org/2014/01/01/mall-...

[RC]

1. Discrimination is still alive and well in this country.

Equal Rights is everyone's Right. We as a a country are falling behind, from even from what once we had.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Yeah, equal rights to play Black Sabbath loud and hold pantheistic rituals

Yeah, equal rights to play Black Sabbath loud and hold pantheistic rituals in the Mall without notice or permission or asking?

We know there is lots of discrimination against First Nations.
We agree that there are many ways their rights are abused.
We know that there is much to do to help those First Nations who don't have casinos in populated areas to bring in needed money or don't have rich mineral rights to license.

But this case is not one of discrimination. There is no other group that flash mobbed the Mall for political goals and is planning to do it again.

[Thespian2]

7. Thank You

for proving your ignorance of First Nations history and the continuing problems they have. Perhaps a background check on all the other groups allowed to use the mall will help you understand that this act is discriminatory.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. You are very insincere.

I am not ignorant of First Nations. Are you? I know more about them and their issues than your prejudice imagines because you are prejudging me from my profile which is purposely vague. Note for example that I am more aware and respectful than most Americans by calling them "First Nations" in the first place.

I wrote (to forestall bogus complaints):

We know there is lots of discrimination against First Nations.
We agree that there are many ways their rights are abused.
We know that there is much to do to help those First Nations who don't have casinos in populated areas to bring in needed money or don't have rich mineral rights to license.

There is no part of that that is ignorant. Look at the troubles they are having dealing with the Conservative Harper government, which is not negotiating in good faith and is slowing down any progress toward helping the First Nations that need help. Not all of the groups are equal. Some have money and some do not.

The housing crisis at Atawapiskat is atrocious. The Residential Schools issue is still not properly resolved. Substance abuse including paint and glue is rampant in some areas, especially the North. The Hobema reserves recently changed their name and hope that it will be a new beginning because they have severe troubles there in Alberta. Look at how the Ring of Fire mining proposal collapsed, despite efforts by Bob Ray, ex Liberal leader, to bring jobs to the nations of the area.

I only included "pantheistic rituals" to go along with Black Sabbath to contrast with the First Nations, not to satirize them; it was an attempt to find something kind of diametrically opposed to First Nations ways yet with some of the same disruptive effect. I had been about to write "satanic rituals" for contrast but changed it to pantheistic at the last minute because I was sure somebody would get up in arms about that. I could have used MegaDeath or Metallica or some other very noisy heavy band to contrast with the First Nations drumming.

The point was to show that if another group was as large and as loud they would face the same reaction by the Mall if they planned a repeat performance.

As far as other groups, the article doesn't mention any other flash mobs except to say that some have been there. I am sure that none of them have been anything near as large, and I am sure that none of them have planned a highly visible repeat performance. If you have any information about that I suspect you would have stated it in your post, so I don't think you have a leg to stand on there. If you do, please inform us.

The point is that the event was planned as a repeat of a disruptive event unlike any other there. Unique, hence no discrimination. Shepard chose to enter the Mall when asked not to, and thus was arrested for trespassing. That is not discrimination. Shepard was asked not to enter the Mall because of their role in planning the repeat civil disobedience. That is not discrimination.

Civil disobedience is disobedience and people should expect to be arrested.

[riverwalker]

2. the round dance last year

this is what they were stopped from doing this year. Looks pretty awesome.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. If it is that awesome it can be done elsewhere and be equally awesome and

equally make the point.

If they are intent on civil disobedience and being awesome while being disruptive, they can expect arrest whether they play awesome Ted Nugent music or awesome native drumming.

People tend to forget that civil disobedience is disobedience when they like the group and remember it when they don't like the group.

[BrainDrain]

9. Good thing...

you weren't around in the 60's, the anti-war movement would have been in serious trouble. The Mall of America is an obscene monument to capitalistic greed and the urgent need for the sheeple to have a place to gather and spend money.

The aim of civil disobedience is to cause disruption of the norm. Tell ya what how about they find an empty field somewhere on the res and have it there.

Idiot.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. I endorse their freedom to disobey & their right to get arrested. It's not about that.

We are more in agreement than you imagine because you are only reacting to the surface of my posts without reading carefully. If you had read carefully you would see that I did not object to the First Nations engaging in their civil disobedience. If you read carefully you will see that I object to the allegations of discrimination in the specific case of the group planning a repeat disruption.

Yes, the Mall is obscene. I avoid places like that for precisely the reasons you mention.

Yes, the aim of civil disobedience is to cause disruption for publicity. They achieved that.

They planned to repeat it, for publicity, which is fine. They got arrested for disobeying a lawful order, which is fine and is all part of civil disobedience, in the 60s but also the 50s and the 80s and today and every decade in between. But given how uniquely large and noisy their event was, it is not discrimination when the mall tries to prevent a repeat.

Not just the anti-war movement (movements, plural, against Vietnam, Iraq, Iraq again, and nuclear war), but also civil rights and voting rights and women's rights and LGBT rights. Those movements had some success because of civil disobedience and mass disruption and arrests leading to publicity.

No, the First Nations people involved do not necessarily live on a "res" like you think they do.

You can take your personal attack ("idiot&quot and stuff it. It does not gain you any respect or help any of your causes. I thought you worked at a higher level of discourse than that.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Sympathize with First Nation goals, but what if

What if a thousand tea baggers flash mobbed the Mall and played Ted Nugent songs loudly for a while and then were planning to do it again? Wouldn't it be wise to warn them off?

What if a thousand hispanics and supporters flash mobbed the Mall and protested loudly about immigration policy for a while and then were planning to do it again? Wouldn't it be wise to warn them off?

Just because one set of political goals are favored, and another group's goals are despised, doesn't mean that one should be given a free pass and the other not.

If the event is really to be positive and a family event (not just First Nation families, but shopping families too), then the Idle No More movement would have planned the first event with the Mall and definitely the second one. If I am wrong please correct me, but it seems that group has simply announced another protest and has not been planning or working with the Mall.

It is not discrimination to warn that civil disobedience is subject to arrest. People seem to think that political protest excuses breaking laws.

Can Shepard and Crow point to any other group who have done what the Idle No More flash mob did at the Mall and are planning to repeat? No. There was no other such group. So it is not discrimination and it is not "singling out one particular group".

[proReality]

6. If that round dance was political

I'll eat your shorts.

A round dance is a friendship dance, not a political statement.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. A round dance, per se, no. A thousand person flash mob, yes.

If it was a friendship dance, it would have been planned and coordinated with the Mall instead of imposing it upon the Mall with no choice. A thousand person flash mob is enormous and disruptive. To plan a second one behind the Mall's back, again without coordination, is not friendly and is definitely political.

Both events were organized by Idle No More which is a loose set of groups with clear political aims and even their name is a protest name. It is naive to think that there was no goal to get publicity for political aims.

At the same time, it was a brilliant successful action that did achieve that helpful publicity.

It is rather like the street theater of the 60s which was entertaining, but nobody thought it was designed for literary aims.

I would not want you to have to endure eating my shorts and you are released.

[Thespian2]

8. Discrimination? Of Course

The real issue is simple: The Triple Five Group does not want the First Nations people performing in the mall. They failed to kick out all other groups who do the same thing. The quotation below is from Practical Protest, easily found on the internet. If the tea-bagger types want to do a tribal dance that represents the friendship of their culture, let them have at it.

"Idle No More Duluth organizer Reyna Crow was one of several people who received the letter on Christmas Eve. “The characterization of the Round Dance as a protest is not only incorrect, it is insulting”, says Crow, “If the Idle No More flash mob Round Dance that was held there last year is a `protest’, so are the Christmas carols and the other flash mob events that have been held there”.

Crow is inviting a representative of the `Mall of America’ management to join her and Patricia Shepard, who also received the letter, at a news conference at the Mall of America on December 31st at 3:00 pm. Crow plans to use the designated `free speech zone’ there to discuss her concerns that the apparent singling out of organizers associated with Indigenous people and issues for threats of arrest and/or other intimidation over flash mobs events at the mall."

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. The Mall does not want a thousand Tea baggers performing there either.

It is not discrimination. There was no other flash mob of comparable size or noise to come close to the Idle No More group. If there was you would be posting the details, but there isn't so there is nothing to post to hold up that leg of the argument.

They may call their Round Dance "not a protest", but if that were truly the case they would have coordinated and arranged it ahead of time and most certainly would have begun working with the Mall for the repeat instead of working against the Mall behind their backs.

[proReality]

15. The 1,000 were also potential shoppers

Stupid move on the part of Mall of America to alienate people with money in their pockets.

Their hissy fit has alienated me, I will never shop there on my visits to the state.

[heaven05]

14. I'm surprised?

NOT!!!!!!!!