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- By Native News Online Staff
Actor and activist Mark Ruffalo took to Twitter on Monday to voice his support for Native Americans by restoring stewardship of federal lands to tribal nations.
The Hulk actor retweeted an article from the Huffington Post on co-stewardship agreements between tribal nations and U.S. government entities spurred on by a Nov. 2021 joint secretarial order by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Ruffalo tweeted: "This is a beautiful step toward restorative justice for our fellow Native Americans. A long time in the making. It feels like it is a gesture toward healing national wounds and disharmony."
The social media post caused one media outlet to post a story with a headline that reads: “Hulk Star Mark Ruffalo Wins the Internet, Stands Up for Native American Rights Whose Lands Were Stolen by America.”
The actor has been a longtime outspoken ally of Indian Country. In 2016, Ruffalo traveled to North Dakota to join protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline in Standing Rock. He returned to the state in 2018 to mobilize Native American voters.
He also attended a disinterment ceremony in the summer of 2021 at the Carlisle Indian Boarding School, the first government Indian Boarding school where nearly 180 Native American children died and many more suffered horrific abuse and neglect.
The ceremony was coordinated by the Rosebud Sicangu Youth Council, led by Rachel Jannis (Rosebud Sioux), whom Rufflo praised for her efforts to bring home the tribe's relatives.
“I may be a hero on TV, but you are my hero in real life,” Ruffalo told Jannis.
As well, Ruffalo is signed on to executive produce Lakota Nation vs. the United States — a feature-length documentary chronicling the Lakota Indians’ present-day quest to reclaim the Black Hill — with actress, author, activist and Emmy Award-winner Sarah Eagle Heart (Oglala Sioux).
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