In the wake of the August 2010 fatal police shooting of Ditidaht woodcarver John T. Williams, Millie Kennedy, an Alaska Native and attorney, noticed something missing from the public discourse.
"With so many urban Indians, we felt Seattle needed a civil rights activist group [that] doesn't have to rely on others to speak for us," said Kennedy, a legal advocate for Native Americans at the Northwest Justice Project.
She and fellow Native American lawyers and activists have formed a new nonprofit called NDNs for Justice. "NDN" is onomatopoeia for "Indian." The website is
ndnsforjustice.org.
The idea to form the group grew out of a peaceful rally and "carve-in" Kennedy and others organized Feb. 19 in honor of Williams, a master carver who once sold his totems to stores such as Ye Olde Curiosity Shop in Seattle.
On April 23, the group held a rally at Victor Steinbrueck Park urging Native Americans to report incidents of police abuse to the Department of Justice, which is investigating the Seattle Police Department.
The DOJ is conducting two separate investigations of SPD. One will examine the department's pattern and practices with regard to people of color. Another will assess Officer Ian Birk's actions in shooting Williams. Federal criminal charges are still possible. In February, after an inquest into the shooting, King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg said he would not press charges against Birk.
Kennedy said NDNs is asking tribes in Washington State to support the DOJ investigations. The group is also drafting an initiative called the Washington State Indian Crafts Act, which would prohibit "knockoff" totems made in other countries from being sold as original tribal crafts.