![Charmayne Toadlena, 13, of St. Michaels, Ariz.,and Shania Toadlena, 14, also of St. Michaels, sisters, and their cousin-sister, Michelle Cook of Oak Springs, Ariz.,were part of an April 4, 2015,demonstration and memorial along Route 66 in Gallup, NM, for 170 individuals who have died of unnatural causes in Gallup since July, 2013. Cook, who held her right hand in the power sign, is a UNM Law School student. Photo Credit: Marley Shebala Charmayne Toadlena, 13, of St. Michaels, Ariz.,and Shania Toadlena, 14, also of St. Michaels, sisters, and their cousin-sister, Michelle Cook of Oak Springs, Ariz.,were part of an April 4, 2015,demonstration and memorial along Route 66 in Gallup, NM, for 170 individuals who have died of unnatural causes in Gallup since July, 2013. Cook, who held her right hand in the power sign, is a UNM Law School student. Photo Credit: Marley Shebala](/images/resized/images/news/2015/10_apr/19_100_100.jpg)
It was April 4, the first weekend of the month and, as usual, the city streets were packed with vehicles and people filled the sidewalks. But there were other sounds and sights.
About 50 people walked down Route 66 chanting, “Hey Gallup, you can’t hide, you support genocide.”
Melanie Yazzie, a co-founder of The Red Nation, said, “We’re here today to tell the city of Gallup to tell its economic system that profits off of our deaths, we are reclaiming this space as indigenous space.
“I’m here on behalf of The Red Nation,” said Yazzie. “We demand to thrive, just not survive. We demand life, not just death. And we don’t demand just respect, we demand that the...