Nathan Phillips (activist) facts for kids

Nathan Phillips, also known as Sky Man, was born on February 22, 1954. He is an Omaha Native American activist. He became widely known after an event at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., in 2019.

Early Life and Military Service

Nathan Phillips was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. He spent his first five years in a traditional Omaha Nation tribal home. Later, he was raised by a white foster family. He attended Lincoln Southeast High School. Phillips then moved to Washington, D.C.

He joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves on May 20, 1972. He was trained to work with anti-tank missiles. He also served as a refrigerator technician in Nebraska and California. Phillips was honorably discharged from the Marines in 1976.

Native American Activism

Phillips (right) at the 2017 Native Nations Rise March

Nathan Phillips has been involved in many efforts to support Native American communities. By 1999, he was working to create a foster care system. This system would be run by American Indians for Native children. Its goal was to help children learn about their heritage. Phillips once said, "I don't want our children to think that prison is the only place for them to go."

The New York Times newspaper reported that Phillips was a former director of the Native Youth Alliance. This group works to keep traditional culture and spiritual ways alive for future Native Americans. He also leads a yearly ceremony. This ceremony honors Native American war veterans at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Guardian newspaper called him a "well-known Native American activist." He was one of the leaders of the Standing Rock protests in 2016 and 2017. These protests were against building an oil pipeline in North Dakota. Phillips was among the last protesters when the camps were cleared. He described the protest as "a prayer." He said it was "a commitment to stand for our youth, for our children, for nature and for myself."

In 2015, Phillips said a group of students from Eastern Michigan University bothered him. A January 2019 article in The Washington Post called Phillips "a veteran in the indigenous rights movement." Another article in Indian Country Today described him as a "keeper of a sacred pipe."

Between Earth and Sky Documentary

Phillips is featured in a documentary film from 2013 called Between Earth and Sky. The film won awards. In it, Phillips and his wife, Shoshana, go back to his Omaha reservation. They seek traditional healing for Shoshana, who had bone-marrow cancer. She sadly passed away from the disease in 2014.

"Make It Bun Dem" Music Video

In 2012, Phillips and his son appeared in a music video. The song was "Make It Bun Dem" by Skrillex and Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley. In an interview in 2017, Phillips explained why he joined the video. He said he wanted to help his children cope with his wife's illness.

Lincoln Memorial Event

On January 18, 2019, an event happened at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Videos showed Phillips interacting with a group of high school boys. The boys had attended the annual March for Life. These videos were shared widely online.

Phillips was singing the AIM Song, a Native American song. He was also beating his drum. Some of the students were very close to him. Several students wore red "Make America Great Again" hats.

After the videos became popular, the school of some students released a statement. They said they regretted the incident. Some students who were there said the news coverage was not fair. One student, Nicholas Sandmann, said that Phillips had tried to provoke them. He also said they did not chant "build the wall" or use racist words.

Phillips later said he heard students chanting, "Build that wall! Build that wall!" He also said they made racist comments. He explained, "This is indigenous land... we're not supposed to have walls here." He added, "We never did for millenniums before anybody else came here."

Some news reports and magazines, like Reason and The Atlantic, looked at more videos. They said the videos did not fully support all parts of Phillips's story. They also showed other groups shouting insults at the students and Native Americans. Phillips said he approached the students to calm a situation. He saw a small group of Black Hebrew Israelites shouting at the students. He wanted to help stop the conflict.