Foothill College Native American Heritage Month 2024
This art installation continues the tradition of resisting erasure by honoring the hundreds of Palestinian family bloodlines who have been wiped out by the military assault in Gaza. Indigenous activists and scholars today continue to align themselves with efforts to call for an arms embargo in order to end the violence enacted upon civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. Citing the common experience of living under settler colonial realities, Native American activists today are using their voices to humanize Palestinians and document the erasure of entire families over the past year. Roots of Resistance symbolizes the memory of these families as it calls upon the viewer to take note of how many indigenous bloodlines have been wiped out in Gaza over the past year alone. The tree is a space to honor those families and the communities that will forever be impacted by their absence. We offer this tree as a space to mourn and to find the courage to speak out for justice and peace and call for an end to the military aggression that continues to expand beyond Gaza and the West Bank to Lebanon and Iran. Papier-mâché and recycled materials were used to create this sustainable artwork as a way to honor and protect the Earth.
