Yankton hog farm, construction speeded up, police out of control

Video: Hog farm construction speeded up. Tonight, Wednesday night, broadcasting live from Yankton Resistance.

By Brenda Norrell

Forty people have been arrested in two waves of arrests, with a buildup of 50 to 70 police cars during the arrests. One woman thrown against a vehcile during the arrest, one woman handcuffed with bailing string. Police sharpshooters were on the roof, aimed at women and children. The Yankton were unarmed.

The land is being torn apart in the heart of Yankton land, one-half mile from the Headstart. The Yankton Indian Nation was never consulted about the polluting, disease producing hog farm. The hog farm is being quickly constructed now, with more than a dozen concrete trucks rolling in and out quickly tonight. The earth is being torn apart. Yankton call for support!

Dennis Banks came today to support Yankton defending their sovereign land.

We were live tonight and will be live again here at the site on Thursday:

Longest Walk Talk Radio:

http://www.earthcycles.net/

Statement of support for Mohawks from Phillipines

Dear Friends at Mohawk Nation,
Greetings of solidarity from the Cordillera Peoples Alliance!
Please find in the attachment our Statement of Support andSolidarity to your ongoing struggle against the encroachment of theNibourgh Developments in your territory. Let us persevere in thestruggle for the recognition of collective and human rights of theworld's indigenous peoples!
Abigail
Cordillera Peoples Alliance Public Information CommissionEmail: pic@cpaphils.orgWebsite: www.cpaphils.orgP.O. Box 975No. 2 P. Guevarra StreetWest Modern Site, Aurora HillBaguio City, Philippines 2600Telephone Number (063) (74) 442-2115Fax: (063) (74) 443-7159

Mohawks: Watch the Cops

”WATCH THE COPS” DAY ON MAY 29 AND EVERY DAY

Mohawk Nation News
April 28, 2008. Canada and Phil Fontaine of the “Assembly of Colonial First Nations” would like to see us standing by the side of the road with our heads down, tears rolling down our cheeks and handing out pamphlets on their “Aboriginal Day of Action” on May 29th. [Beware! It’s an Indigenous “set up” day!] Many think this should be “watch the goons day”. We could walk, drive or bicycle through the roads, streets and highways of our communities and document police brutality and oppression. We’ll be needing a great big notebook for this. Non-Indigenous communities have their problems with cops too. Maybe they’ll join us. Recently a young student was given a $628 ticket for “sitting on a wall in a park” and for snapping pictures of them on his cell phone. They were harassing homeless people. We should be monitoring these colonial henchmen. It’s come to the point now where it’s not really safe to go out alone anymore. The abuse has got to stop. Take cameras, cell phones, become a witness and make good notes. We need names, badge numbers and photos of the abuse and the abusers. Then we should file complaints, take them to court and put pressure on politicians who cave into police pressure. We need “know-your-rights” classes. “Watch the goons” should make periodical reports and publish them regularly on the internet. We want to reduce Police Violence Through Accountability; and to Empower and Unite our communities by looking out for each other. [From: berkeley-copwatch@lists.riseup.net] In Montreal when the Montreal Canadians hockey team won their series against the Boston Bruins, there was a riot on St. Catherine Street . The media coverage showed cop cars being burnt and kids jumping up and down on top of the cars. Many young people were assaulted and arrested. The police confiscated mainstream media footage so no one could see that they has gotten out of their cars, went over to a crowd of young people and started smashing them for no reason at all. People with phone cameras put these images on the internet. It was an emotional response to abuse. The cops have become the worse abusers. Watch out for agent provocateurs. They arrive dressed like us, with back packs on their back full of rocks and other implements. They start throwing these at the police and then disappear into the crowd. We get the blame. Let’s face it, cops are attracted to violence. They can’t stand peaceful people. So they try to stir things up so they can use all the expensive toys they claim to need. One of their most despicable tactics is to target and attack young women. This provokes otherwise peaceful men to come to their defense who are then beaten and arrested. What a violent profession. We do not approve of the theory that peace can be gained by violent means. The cops assume that those who protest their abuse must be under the spell of some kind of “leader”. They don’t want their misdeeds to be made public. There is nothing original about what the cops are doing. They phone the acquaintances of their target and try to get information or get them on side, even offer money and safety. Safety from what! Them? What’s the difference between police action and extortion? In other words, don’t have a leader for them to target!The cops want more control in Southeastern Ontario because it’s getting harder to illegally siphon the resources of enlightened Indigenous people. The highly trained people like doctors, miners, scientists, politicians, military and corporation heads need relative order to go about their job of stealing our water and energy. The factory jobs are now outsourced. This area is being built up for the elites. We Indigenous people are in their way. This puts us at risk. They still have depopulation plans for us in areas where they don’t want us. Haudenosaunee Territory includes prime land and a vast watershed. For example, condos were going to be built on the beautiful Bay of Quinte until we stopped it. The elite always want to be on the water. We Mohawks spoil their view. These condos might have been for the workers at the new proposed U.S. Joint Task Force 2 Training Base that is being set up at Trenton Ontario , just a 20-minute drive from Tyendinaga. Sharbot Lake-Robertsville Mine site is half way between Trenton and Petawawa Army Bases. Sharbot Lake is also half way between Port Hope and Chalk River, which have the most depleted uranium stored for use by the military to make bombs. Trenton Army Base is right near Port Hope to guard that nuclear waste. Petawawa soldiers would be available to clean up nuclear messes at Chalk River, as happened in 1958 when one of the research reactors took a leak. The colonists don’t want all-out warfare here. In guerilla warfare our great strength is when we are on our home turf. We know it and we feel the power that comes from being truly Indigenous. This is not understood by the colonists. They come from fragmented and abused backgrounds. They don’t know what a real community is. In their ignorance they’ve fallen under the delusion that they have to use “low level” warfare by attacking, harassing, taking prisoners, breaking our arms, surrounding us from time to time and putting out bad stories about us to scare the public. The alternative, peaceful co-existence, is simply unthinkable to them. Their psychological warfare strategies are meant to destroy all hope amongst our people and sow seeds of terror in our communiies. They want to create fear and submission. The cops wear armor and cover their faces with hideous visors and shave their heads like fascists. They are loaded with so much equipment they can hardly hear, see or move. These cops are scared and not sure why they’re in our communities pointing guns at unarmed people but they’re getting big pay. There are women and children on the roads too. The cops stand there shivering afraid of what will happen to them if they don’t follow the crazy orders they are being given. The Mohawks took some of the stuffing out of the OPP cops who have been trying out some of their low level warfare tactics on us which aren’t working. If we have courage and know we are right in what we are doing, then we will stand up to them. This perplexes them. They thought it was going to be over a long time ago. Obviously they haven’t read their history. We’re still here after 400 years. And we ain’t going nowhere.Our persistence and perseverance comes from our ancestors. We are so well rooted with nourishment from the land. A “transplant’s” root has to adjust for a long time to gain strength from the earth, but their roots really don’t take. Most of them tumble about like rolling stones, shifting with every twist and turn of the bankrupt and exploitive economy they brought here. Such transplants need a lot of crutches – like guns, propaganda, barking vicious dogs, choppers, sirens, floodlights, loud noises, UAVs [unarmed aerial vehicles for “peeping tom” surveillance], victims to target and lots of larceny. Their next step is to throw us all into their colonial jails and courts. These transplants keep trying to replace the Ongwehonwe of Onowaregeh. It hasn’t happened and never will. We keep popping up. The natural world has decreed that we shall always be here doing our job, taking care of the land, plants, animals, water and air.The non-natives who are organized against us are not political. Otherwise they would be on our side. They would realize their own oppression and abuse by the colonists. The police hire provocateurs to mobilize them. They help set up situations that make it look good for the cops to come in. They made the recent riot at Six Nations look like the OPP were protecting the Indigenous people from the angry vigilantes from Caledonia . This makes the conservatives start okaying money for more policing and more force against us. For the cops this means job security and more opportunity to take out vengeance on us. It’s part of some big plan of a few people. It’s called “mobilizing the masses” to “harmonize the peripheries with the center”. The peripheries are Mexico and Canada and the center is the U.S. , of course. They rile up society so they will get a bigger budget, be in greater demand and get control over everybody. The center wants “death squad” type policing like in Chicago , New York , Toronto and Los Angeles , where they hit the people, do open racial profiling and are extremely corrupt internally. Is this happening in all Indigenous communities right now worldwide? On May 29th Canada with their chief provocateur, Phil Fontaine, who wants to cash in on the re-enactment of the “Sand Creek Massacre”, are coming in with a plan to push the “final solution”.
Watch out. Be ready!
Kahentinetha Horn -
MNN Mohawk Nation News

Longest Walk, live from the Kansas Capitol

WE'RE BACK!

Listen live to Dennis Banks and the Longest Walk at the Kansas Capitol now:

http://www.earthcycles.net/

Longest Walk Talk Radio, cohosts Govinda Dalton and Brenda Norrell, are back in Kansas on the northern route of the Longest Walk. We are joined by Dennis Banks, cofounder of the American Indian Movement, from the southern route, at the Kansas Capitol today, Tuesday.

Nevada Test Site oral history includes Native voices

Nevada Test Site Oral Histories

The Nevada Test Site Oral History Project includes the voices and memories of American Indians, including spiritual leader Corbin Harney and other Western Shoshone and peace activists.

The project at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas is a comprehensive program about the Nevada Test Site during the era of Cold War nuclear testing.

There are interviews with more than 150 people totaling 335 hours. Searchable transcripts, selected audio and video clips, scanned photographs and images are available on this website.

http://digital.library.unlv.edu/ntsohp/

Media Censored: Mass graves of Indian children in Canada

TWENTY-EIGHT RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL GRAVE SITES IDENTIFIED –
WHERE IS THE MEDIA?

Group of 1,500+ members question media silence on report of mass grave locations

(press statement)
On April 10, 2008, the Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared held a press conference and public ceremony in which they released a list of twenty-eight reported mass graves across Canada - the graves of aboriginal children who died while in Indian Residential Schools.
Traditional media sources have ignored this heartbreaking and important story. A Facebookgroup “Mass Graves of Residential School Children Identified – Where Is the Media?” was started on April 18, and in less than a week had over1,000 members. That number is now at 1,500 and still climbing. The group was formed to encourage members to contact the media to demand investigation into these reported grave sites.
The many abuses that First Nations children suffered at the hands of the church-operated, government funded Residential Schools are no longer secret. We know that aboriginal children were torn from their homes and families. Many were subjected to or witnesses of physical and/or sexual abuse. They died of diseases like tuberculosis at alarming rates, as reported last April by the Globe and Mail. An estimated 50,000Residential school students are missing, their fate a mystery.
Now, from eyewitness accounts, documents, survey data and physical evidence, a list of 28 grave sites has been compiled and released, where allegedly the bodies of Residential school students were unceremoniously interred. Their deaths went unreported to their families. The devastating generational legacy of the Residential schools is tragedy enough. The insulting, degrading burial of the First Nations children who died while in church and government care warrants investigation and attention.
And yet, the traditional media remains largely mute about this important piece of Canadian history.
It is our right to know our heritage and our past,even if it fills us with sadness and shame. The only way to address this is to ensure that this story sees the light of day under public scrutiny, and that there is a full investigation is to make it become part of the public knowledge and consideration.
Please consider covering this topic in the very near future. It is in the public interest, and we must finally have the truth.
List of the grave sites can be found here:
http://hiddenfromhistory.org/RecentUpdatesampArticles/Apr102008LocationofMassGravesRevealed/tabid/71/Default.aspx
Contact:
pale.cold@gmail.commailto:proleatacr@gmail.com
Group:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=11679618549&ref=mf

Statement to United Nations on rights violations of Yankton

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Seventh Session, New York,
April 21 to May 2, 2008.

Joint Statement Submitted by the International Indian Treaty Council and the Indigenous Environmental Network

Item 4: Implementation of the six mandated areas of the Permanent Forum and on the Millennium Development Goals, f) Human Rights
Thank you Madame Chair and Respectful greetings to all Delegations. We join with all other delegations to congratulate the world community and the 144 member states who voted to finally recognize Indigenous Peoples as full members of the family of Nations on September 13th 2007. We now have a solid floor and a universally recognized minimum standard for the, promotion and defense of Indigenous Peoples’ human rights, to which all UN member states are accountable.
The Declaration reaffirms Indigenous Peoples' right to free prior and informed consent in all matters affecting our lives, lands and ways of life. The Declaration also affirms the obligation of UN member states to uphold the rights affirmed in Nation- to- Nation Treaties they have signed with Indigenous Nations and calls upon the International community to take responsibility to ensure this is carried out.
We call your attention to an urgent situation in which the human rights of the Dakota Indigenous Nation is being violated in South Dakota, United States. Various provisions of the UN Declaration including Treaty Rights, rights to own control and use traditional Lands, territories and resources, and the Right to Free Prior Informed Consent over development actives are being violated.
At this time, the Ihanktowan Dakota, known as the Yankton Sioux Tribe based in Marty, South Dakota is protesting violations of human rights and the Tribe’s sovereignty including violations of the 1851 Treaty between the U.S. Government and the Dakota Nation (Sioux). On April 15, Yankton Sioux Tribal members began a peaceful protest against the construction of a large scale corporate hog farm which will be operated by Long View Farms based in Hull, Iowa.
Tribal members are calling attention to the environmental degradation the hog farm will bring to the reservation and surrounding communities. The air quality in the community will be impacted and the threat of contamination to surface and ground water due to shallow aquifers in the area, posing serious threats to community health.
The proposed hog farm site, projected to permanently house more than 3000 sows and produce 70,000 pigs each year, is located within Treaty lands recognized as belonging to the Dakota (Sioux) Nation and is surrounded by Indian reservation land. Tribal and local community members are blocking an access road to the site which is under the jurisdiction of the Yankton Sioux Tribe. The Yankton Sioux Tribe has filed a lawsuit opposing the construction of this facility which will use approximately one million gallons of water and produce over 7 million gallons of liquid hog waste a year. Its proposed location is only four miles from the Missouri River, a major source of water for many communities and home to many endangered species. Parents of a pre- school located less than three miles from the proposed site have also filed a lawsuit based on the health threats to their children. US federal laws mandating an Environmental Impact Statement and public hearings before such projects can be implemented have also been violated.
The Sheriff of Charles Mix County and the South Dakota Highway Patrol have initiated a police occupation of Indian land on the Yankton Reservation. More than 70 county, state and federal law enforcement officials, including homeland security officers, with armed swat teams and dogs, snipers with automatic weapons and helicopters are being used to contain a peaceful non-violent action with women and children present. In the last week, thirty eight people have been arrested including minors and elders. The state of South Dakota does not have jurisdictional authority on federal trust land and is therefore violating the sovereignty of the Yankton Sioux Tribe within its own borders.
The Yankton Sioux tribal members are asking if these State of South Dakota and federal law enforcement officials are being used to protect corporate interests at the expense of Indigenous Peoples’ human rights. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota and the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska have written resolutions opposing the hog farm. Additional information has been provided to the North America member of the Permanent Forum for review by all members of the Forum.
The United States joined with only 3 other countries at the General Assembly last year to vote against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and on that basis has attempted to maintain that the Declaration does not apply to them. We remind the US government that their own Constitution, Article 6 states that “Treaties are the supreme law of the land”. We also remind them that on March 7th 2008, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) released its recommendations in response to the United States’ Periodic Report, and recommended that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples be used by the US as a “guide to interpret the State Party’s obligations under the Convention relating to Indigenous Peoples”. This recommendation ties the implementation of the UN Declaration by the US and other state parties to the legally binding obligations of all state parties to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Indigenous Peoples are not alone in recognizing that Industrial livestock production poses a serious threat to the environmental integrity and health, both where it is located as well as around the world. In its recent report, “The Long Shadow of Livestock”, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) cited large scale livestock production as a major source of greenhouse gasses, water contamination and land degradation.
The IITC therefore recommends that the UNPFII7th session:
Transmit without delay the most urgent and critical human rights situat ions which Indigenous Peoples have presented to this session, including those caused by unsustainable imposed development, to the new Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the UN Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the High Commissioner on Human Rights to ensure further investigation and response
Congratulate Human Rights Council for the resolution adopted at its last session “Human Rights and Climate Change [A/HRC/7/L.21], calling upon the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights to undertake a detailed analytical study of the relationship between climate change and human rights, and to submit a separate report as the UNPFII containing the information and testimonies which have been presented to this session to the UN Human Rights Council for inclusion in this Study.
In closing Madame Chair, we thank you for this time and your attention, and we ask that the UNPF determine additional ways that it can monitor, encourage and otherwise support the UN system to fully integrate and implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at all levels, and in all UN bodies and agencies.

.

Press Release: Yankton Head Start Parents

The Yankton Sioux Tribe Head Start (YSTHS) concerned Parents are not an entity of the Yankton Sioux Tribe but parents and Grandparents which consist of YST, other Tribal parents, non Indian contributors, and common people supporting the children and families enrolled in the YSTHS program therefore are not under the Authority of the Tribe.That the YSTHS Concerned Parents Law Suit is on behalf of our children's Environmental Health and Safety, working independently towards the best Interest of our children and families.
Although the YST is regulated by city, state, county, YST B&CC and BIA Agencies, not one is protecting the Rights, Health and Safety of our children And families. Instead the city, state, county, YST B&CC and BIA are Protecting the interest of a foreign company with all owners residing in Hull, Iowa.
The YSTHS Concerned Parent are not represented by the YST B&CC and their Attorney Charles Abourezk. Nor have received funding from the YST B&CC. All contributors are Parents, Grandparents, local non- Indian farmers, different tribal members, other supporters concerned with the Overall environmental protection, rights to clear air and clean water, Which includes the water beneath the ground. Any act to dismiss Federal proceeding and due process rights is a hostile act against our Children and future generations to come.
In closing we pray that federal laws will be upheld and protect our Children’s federal right. Passing on the words of an elder from Rosebud. "This is not economic Development but in fact economic Genocide and this is our children's and future generation's land
Water, and, God. We are only here to protect those who cannot Protect themselves. It is our right and our honor, if we do nothing Then we are also neglecting our children.
Sincerely,
Members of the YSTHS Concerned Parents
Contact #: (605) 491-2674 or (605) 491-2827
Anyone who wishes to contribute to the YSTHS Concern Parents
Mail check or money order to:
Concerned Parent Fund
C/O Robin Bair
Box 34 Wagner, SD 57380

Maori message of support for Yankton struggle

E nga Iwi katoa, mihimihi tatou.Ehoa ma
I am a Kaumatua (Elder) of Te Kaiaio uri of TE WHANAU A APANUIiwi ("tribe") on East Cape, New Zealand.
We are currently in Negotiation with the NZ Govt aka "The Crown" overrestoration of our "tribal Rights" to manage our lands and resources, and have been able to call an INTERIM "stay" on all development projects not carrying approval of any Hapu ("subtribe") concerned.Given that the Govts of NZ,Canada and the US seem to be singing from similar song sheets vis a vis"aboriginal affairs" these days, though the venues are set up slightly differently, we need to be alert to what is happening on the ground and be quick with what support we can offer.A near neighbour Iwi of ours was invaded by SWAT - type forces recently,on "anti-terr" grounds subsequently quashed, but many of those arrested still face "Firearms charges". We are sure that this outrage is connected to a certain agreement centred in "your " national capital. and this viewpoint was well aired in our national Press, which was overjoyed to have the consequent debacle to wallow in. This not quite the point that NZMaori wish to make, but it gave us useful headlines and has added to the"injustice"profile. The Ngai Tuhoe Iwi got wide international support atthe time, and some of that filtered through as well.As you know, publicity is about the biggest tool in the box these days.For generations it was used against us all but the tide is turning somewhat, for various reasons of course but if the horse is going our waylets swing into the saddle. NZ is a small country (about the size of Wyoming) but it happens to have some useful attributes internationally,including a fairly vigorous protest community and an accessible media.Maori TV, a national public broadcaster with a mix of Maori and English programming, has increasing widespread support for the quality of its service and is starting to reach out for overseas stories. It has just launched an exclusive "Reo Maori"(local language) channel, which will takeover some of the specialised Maori topics and hopefully allow for more indigenous political coverage.We share many health and social problems, unknown before colonisation,which need urgent airing. NZ Public services aren't too bad but overstretched as most are, and the NZ Pakeha (white) population moans quite a bit about "extra' resources being sqaundered(!) on "lazy natives". That there is something very wrong with the consequences of colonialism world wide barely penetrates the general consciousness, tho the Global Warming thing is stirring the brain cells inNZ these days. Publicising the "common cause" in Health and Education,both of which all people can relate to, is one vehicle to get the message across. Diabetes, alcoholism, domestic assaults, school truancy, youth gangs - our people never suffered these sorts of afflictions before colonisation, and those who hold the chains of power these days must be pressured into accepting they have inherited a heavy burden of responsibility, even if in their long term interest as well. We all have our local issues, and on behalf of my Hapu I forward heartfelt support foryour stand with regards to the "Hog farm" and say "Kia Kaha" (Be Strong) to those in detention.I am Chairman of our Marae (Longhouse?) Committee, and a Founding Trustee/Board Member of Te Runanga o Te Whanau, the Development Oganisation which these past 20 years has been working to lift our Iwi(consisting of 13 subtribes) out of the shackles of the Dept of Maori Affairs (now disbanded thank god). (We refuse to "register" our tribeunder Parliamentary Law, but use existing "Service Bodies" legislation to set up groups to do the work on the Peoples behalf. For instance I am Chair of a "Water Services Trust" recently registered as a "Charity" toget homes in our Hapu quality, reticulated water. As such we are eligible for funding, whereas the Hapu itself is not!) We have gone through plenty of turmoil, family fights, failed ventures etc , our founding Elders have passed on and those who have stepped up realise how little we know, but we are pushing on, as is the rest of Maoridom and our Iwi has recently joined the Indigenous Nations Organisation formed by "American FirstNations".bodies.Being aged 70, I'm stepping aside from "active service" - we need to putthe younger sector into the lead and Ive work of my own to finish, including a look back over what has been going on for us these past three or four decades.The "Anglophile"Goverments all derive their laws from the English Westminster structure,and they can be challenged on very similar grounds where indigenous communities are involved. I will protest to the US Embassy here, and encourage others to do likewise.I wish your people all the very best success in this current struggle,
Kia Ora ratou - Kia Kaha
Tony Chadwick, Te Whanau a Kaiaio.

Photo: Yankton face off with South Dakota State Police on Indian land, protesting hog farm. Courtesy photo.

Urgent Call for Support for Tyendinaga

URGENT! CALL OUT FOR SUPPORT OF TYENDINAGA
Action of Support on Coast Salish Territory

Tyendinaga and Six Nations SolidarityAction of Support on Coast Salish Territory
Monday, April 27th, 2008

2:30 - Meet @ China Creek Skate ParkLocated at East Broadway and Clark Drive
Bring your flags, banners and voices!Wear Red to show your solidarity!

On Friday April 25th at 2:45pm EST OPP surrounded the quarries inTyendinaga demanding the surrender of the Mohawks. Guns were drawnand violence ensued on the part of the police. This is following theOPP's swarm of Mohawk Territory earlier this week which was theresponse to halting of construction of a development site thatencroaches onto Mohawk territory that a group of warriors had takenover.
2 years ago we made a promise that if the OPP harmed the Haudenosauneagain, we would take action and show KKKanada that we will standunited against police oppression and the governments theft of ourlands.
Actions have already taken place in Awkwesasne and Kahnawake, SixNations has resurrected Barricades and were threatened with an OPPraid yesturday afternoon. Because of the overwhelming support thatreturned to Kahnonstaton reclamation site (the protected place andformerly the Douglas Creek Estates) the raid was called off and theHighway 6 Bypass remains closed.
In Tyendinaga, the quarries have been blocked off by police and thereis only one entrance through the reserve to the quarries. They arestill holding strong despite 6 arrests, physical violence inflicted onyoung people (a young man had both arms broken by police) and despitenews reports that denied this fact, guns were pointed at our children. They are currently requesting actions of support as well asdonations for food and supplies. See more info at bottom of email.
Tyendinaga and Six Nations SolidarityAction of Support on Coast Salish TerritoryMonday, April 27th, 2008
2:30 - Meet @ China Creek Skate ParkLocated at East Broadway and Clark Drive
Bring your flags, banners and voices!Wear Red to show your solidarity!
Banner/Sign/Placard Making PartySunday April 26th, 20083:00 - 9:00@ Purple Thistle Centrehttp://www.purplethistle.ca/ for location details*** purple thistle is one block SOUTH of Venables and one block WEST of Clarkring buzzer to be let in.
All Welcome and there will be food!
==> Requested Action from Mohawk Nation News:
CALL Ontario Provicial Police & advise them that the world is watching: 24hour communications center OPP: 1-888-310-1122OPP Eastern Headquarters: 613-284-4500

Citizens Walk for Human Dignity, Tucson to Phoenix, in May

The Citizens Walk for Human Dignity starts May 2, from Tucson-Phoenix

A national coalition of over 50 local, state and national organizations are participating in walk from Tucson to Phoenix beginning May 2 to call for an end to racially fomented hate crimes. The ten-day peaceful walk will end with a rally in downtown Phoenix on Mother’s Day, May 11, honoring mothers for teaching children to treat all human beings with equal dignity.

Kucinich letter of support:
“Dear Friends,
Thank you for your courageous "Citizen's Walk for Human Dignity". Events like this are very important if we are to achieve respect for the civil rights and human rights of all people. Your effort in Arizona is important for America. Each step you take is an affirmation of the power of the human spirit to respond powerfully to oppression. Every step you take challenges the system to be respectful of human dignity. Every step you take helps America to take a new direction so that we may one day soon reach that place where the rights of all people are respected. Si Se Puede.”
Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich

Message from Jay Johnson Castro
As citizens of the United States,
We call on each and every US Congressperson and US Senator to join the people of this country, who want our government and our country to be the model of human dignity. You don’t have to walk with us. Just STAND WITH US…in solidarity. Will you join us in our demand for the cessation of hate crimes and racially prejudiced profiling by law enforcement officials that are being committed with impunity in the name of the “rule of law” and on the pretext of national security?
Of all the countries of the world, human dignity should be guaranteed to any member of our human family that lives within the boundaries of our United States of America, the land of the free. If we are going to enforce the “rule of law”, our county cannot go wrong, and can only be blessed, by applying the highest “rule of law”, the Golden Rule. That of doing unto others as we would want them to do unto us…if the shoe were on the other foot.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich, along with his gracious wife, Elizabeth, has taken the lead on the part of nationally elected officials, in supporting the Citizens Walk for Human Dignity. The Citizens Walk organizers will be reaching out to and inviting all Congresspersons and Senators to show their solidarity with we the people for human dignity.
To Governor Janet Napolitano. You have HB 2807 and HB 2359 on your desk that would turn your state into a prototype police state, one of tyranny and terror. If those bills are signed, without consideration of the impact on human rights and civil rights, there will be an escalation of the violations of human dignity that already exist in the State of Arizona. As it stands, Arizona, and in particular, Maricopa County are already considered Ground Zero of hate crimes, much as Selma, Alabama was some four decades ago.
The already rampant violations by law enforcement officers of human rights, civil rights and constitutional rights will become epidemic in your state, and like a malignant cancer will spread all over the surface of our country. The terrorizing and victimizing of all people of color will escalate, including Arizona and US citizens. If you do not veto those bills, we appeal to you to consider delaying their signing until after the Citizens Walk for Human Dignity.
Meanwhile, we are asking for the highest officials of the State of Arizona and of the US Congress to initiate an investigation, indictment, prosecution and conviction of any and all persons, especially those with a law enforcement badge, who would violate the sacredness of our freedoms.
Who to contact:
Rick Romero, Citizens Walk Coordinator (602) 515-9844; romero85008@yahoo.com
Annette Sexton-Ruiz, Citizens Walk Assistant Coordinator (602) 505-4147; annettesr44@yahoo.com
Paul Fuschini, Tucson Citizens Walk Coordinator, (520) 490-2000; fuschini@sonoracohousing.com
Sarah Boone, Freedom Ambassadors, Secretary (830)768-1100, sboone@stx.rr.com.
In solidarity…
Jay
.
About the walk ...
Among the more than 50 organizations endorsing the event are: LULAC National; Cesar Chavez March for Justice; National Indian Treaty Council; Border Angels; Freedom Ambassadors; National Network for Immigration and Refugee Rights; Veterans for Peace; Derechos Humanos; Humane Borders; Gente Unida;American Indian Movement; International Indian Treaty Council; Texas Indigenous Council; Border Ambassadors; Border Network for Human Rights; Southwest Workers Union; No Mas Muertes; LUPE; Somos America, the 42 member Phoenix coalition;IUE-CWA/AFL-CIO; Labor Council for Latin American Advancement AFL-CIO;Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law; Dallas Peace Center and MADRES.
Groups as well as individuals are invited to participate in the walk for an hour, a mile, a day or whatever circumstances allow. The walk will begin immediately after a 10 a.m. rally on Friday, May 2 in downtown Tucson at the Plaza on South 6th Avenue, between 12th and 13th Streets.


(PHOTO: Protest of vigilante patrols and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, during a trip to Tucson by Arpaio in 2008. Photo Brenda Norrell)

Mohawk Nation News: Update from Tyendinaga

Tyendinaga Update: Sunday, April 27, 2008

What happened - How you can help - – Needs of Mohawks - Contacts of cops and politicians

Mohawk Nation News
Apr. 27, 2008. An email came from the real estate agents, Emile and Theodore Nibourg, enibourg@sutton.com. These are the guys who wanted to build condos on Mohawk land, or at least they wanted to make it look like they were building condos. They knew the Mohawks would object. They even told some of us they were hoping to get a pay out guaranteeing their profits from Canadian taxpayers when the deal fell through. What a scam! The “OPP” [who help the thieves of “Other Peoples Property”] fell for it hook, line and sinker. These are Nibourg’s puppets. You can practically see the strings. In a press statement Nibourg said, “We sent out a media release last week stating we are refraining from continuing our plans to develop the land to allow for a peaceful resolution and negotiations with the government”. We want peace too. There is nothing to resolve. If someone was trespassing on your land, what would you expect the police to do? Kick them off or kick you off? Why are the police on Mohawk land? They were not invited, Nibourg’s gone, the cops are trespassing! They are also violating international law by unlawfully confining our people. Throughout the Rotiskenrekete have not blocked any roads. Commissioner of the OPP, Julian Fantino, said, “There are no blockages except for the ones we put up. It’s all peaceful now.” Even though the Globe and Mail has published photos of the cops pointing guns at us and beating up our people, Fantino tried to deny this happened in a Canadian Press release, of April 26th. He said, “There are claims on blogs that police officers pointed their guns at unarmed women and children, broke people’s arms and beat prisoners”. Fantino went on to say, “I think it’s inflaming what is already a very tenuous, very difficult situation”. Fantino didn’t denying any of this. There’s obviously a double standards in Canadian society. A photo of an ordinary person resisting violence results in immediate charges and an arraignment in court. A photo of a cop doing the same things results in excuses, foot shuffling and obfuscation. It looks like becoming a cop makes them immune from prosecution. It’s becoming a magnet for thugs. Fantino doesn’t like it when the brutality and law breaking of his henchmen gets publicized. [MNN has photos of cops standing behind their patrol cars, pointing their weapons at us. Also, in the Globe and Mail is a photo of the cops beating one of our men in the ditch and breaking his arms.] Fantino told the Globe Mail, “The hard work and dedication of our officers in protecting the citizens of this community cannot go unnoticed”. No kidding! We have you on video beating up our people. “Those responsible for criminal activities will be held accountable”. If this is true, we expect to see some cops wearing handcuffs in court prisoner’s dock. The standoff at the quarry continues. OPP are still holding their positions, though their numbers have decreased. Talks are ongoing between Tyendinaga Mohawks and the OPP. Today the OPP sent a message to the Rotiskenrekete at the quarry on Mohawk land. “Let’s agree to walk away from this and go our separate ways and then nothing will happen”!!! Remember what happened the other day when the OPP were arresting Shawn Brant for a fake charge? They said the same thing. When our five men got into their cars, ten OPP goons jumped them, threw them in the ditch and beat them up. They broke both arms of one native man and one arm of another. Then the OPP put out a lie that one of our men had a gun. The Rotiskenrekete listened and told the officer, “Put out a statement that our men did not have guns and that you lied, and then maybe we’ll talk to you”. The community is still holding strong both inside the quarry and outside on nearby Slash Road. There are a significant number of supporters. People from other Indigenous communities arrived last night and today. Visits from allies are welcome. Come during daylight hours. The situation is less tense at this moment, but dynamics can shift suddenly.
Urgently Needed are – first aid - water - money - non-perishable foods – meat – fish - camping equipment – communications equipment – fuel – gas – propane – mobile phones – phone cards – rain coats – towels – soap – wet wipes – tooth brushes – tooth paste – gloves – work shoes – boots – runners – socks – mosquito repellent – sun block – radios – two-way radios – hand held radios/scanners – cooking utensils – plates – silverware – buckets – pails – blankets and sleeping bags - and anything else you can think of. Once again, the police have turned what should have been a non-event into a summer project.
Directions to the site: take TransCanada Highway 401 to the “Marysville/Deseronto” exit (east of Belleville ). This is the exit to Highway 49. Go south [right] on highway 49 for about 10-15 minutes. You'll pass a stop sign “Tyendinaga”. Once you hit the Slash Road , turn left. Drive until you see the people and a big bonfire.
Tyendinaga_support@masses.tao.ca. The five arrested on false charges of assaulting OPP on Deseronto Road , are Matthew James KUNKEL, 21, Clint BRANT, 29, Daniel John DORENE, 34, and Steve CHARTRAND, 32. All four men are from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory . They are scheduled to appear on Monday, April 28, 2008 in Napanee court. The names, ages and places of residence of the ten trespassing police officers who committed the assault on our men are unknown. Shawn BRANT, 44 years, was remanded into custody and is also scheduled to appear in Napanee court on Monday, April 28, 2008.
[Contact: Sgt. Kristine Rae, (613) 285-5479cell, 1-800-279-8660 pager].
Some have been released but we don’t know their conditions.
Support Action: The OPP blocked off the bypass on Highway 6. The Six Nations went there to burn fires on the bypass and stand in solidarity with the Mohawks of Tyendinaga. At 6:45 pm, Saturday, April 26, the OPP told the Rotiskenrekete to remove themselves from the bypass within half an hour or else they would be raided. Rotiskenrekete responded with a one middle finger salute to corporate Canada ’s “security guards”, followed by the profound words, “FU!” On Saturday, a large delegation of Mohawks of Kahnawake demonstrated at the foot of the Mercier Bridge going into Montreal handing out statements, speaking to the drivers and passengers and generally putting out information on the resistance to “desecrating the land” and asking them to “defend mother earth” and the Mohawks at Tyendinaga. A comment from an AIMer came in: “This is definitely showing the difference in how people are treated by the "Powers That Think They Are" over protests. Sharbot Lake gets the OPP presence, but not the “swarming”. Could that be due to the non-native locals being part of the objections to the mine?” Down in Tyendinaga, the locals haven’t realized the implications of polluting the ground water or using the quarry for illegally dumping of toxic waste. Instead they demonstrate against us.The following message of support went to Ontario Premier McGuinty, "Don't repeat the crimes of the Harris government at Ipperwash. Stop the OPP and military now!" from Elizabeth Rowley [rowley@cpc-pcc.ca Provincial Leader, Communist Party of Canada ( Ontario ) (416) 469-2446 FAX (416) 469-4063 http://www.communist-party.ca/ E-mail info@cpc-pcc.ca]: “We call on you to act immediately to withdraw the police and military who are attacking unarmed Mohawks at Tyendinaga. This appears to be a repeat of the events that lead to the murder of Dudley George in Ipperwash [in 1995].. you have the power and authority to act immediately to save lives by stopping this attack. What is needed is a political solution, … and an end to resource exploration and all development [of Indigenous] lands…”
The following message came from ECOTERRA International, AfricaNode, Nairobi, on Apr. 26, 2008, “Kwe, We say: The fish always starts stinking from it's head! So why should we spend international calls to make the consciousness of the Band Office Chief, who suffers from the same oppression, more miserable. We want to attack the ones, who really are the real aggressors! The Prime-Minister of Canada is one - whom else should we address (e.g. highest Police Commander in charge of this nonsense).We demand our native men be released from the colonial jails immediately.
Here are some of the colonial culprits. The Tyendinaga band council office is administrator of illegal colonial government policies. They do not support our people in defending the land. The colonial chief is R. Don Maracle 1-613-396-3426; 613-396-3089 Cell 613-391-9249; Julian Fantino, is the Commission of the Ontario Provincial Police, julian.fantino@jus.gov.on.ca, julian.fantino@ontario.ca; Governor General Michaelle Jean info@gg.ca;Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada harper.s@parl.gc.ca; Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty dalton.mcguinty@premier.gov.on.ca;Paul Leblanc of Indian Affairs, leblanc.p@ainc-inac.gc.ca;Yvan Dery, Privy Council Office, ydery@pco-bcp.gc.ca; Sylvia McKenzie, Justice Canada, sylvia.mackenzie@sppcc-psepc.gc.ca; Gilles Rochon, Aboriginal Policing, gilles.rochon@psepc.gc.ca 613-990-2666;Emanuel Chabot, Public Affairs 7 Emergency Preparedness emmanuel.chabot@psepc-sppcc.gc.ca 613-990-4353;Louis-Alexandre Guay, the inaptly named “Justice Canada ” lguay@justice.gc.ca;Phil Fontaine, Assembly of [Colonized] First Nations, reception@afn.ca;Jim Potts, advisor to the inept Ontario Provincial Police on Indigenous policing who claims to be Indigenous 613-795-3907;RCMP Royal Canadian Mounted Police, London Ontario Detachment 519-640-7267;Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian Affairs, 819-997-0002, 819-953-1160, 613-992-2940 Fax 613-944-9376 strahc@parl.gc.ca;Walter Walling, who organizes police attacks against Mohawks such as the Jan. 12, 2004 debacle at Kanehsatake, wallingw@ainc-inac.gc.ca;Leona Dombrowsky, Member of Ontario Legislature, 613-962-1144, 1-877-536-6248 Fax 613-969-6381 ldombrowsky.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org;Michael Bryant, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Ontario, 416-314-8693, Fax 416-314-2701, mbryant.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org, 416-656-0943, 416-325-7754, Fax 416-325-7755;L.G. Beechey Chief Supt. Commander Eastern Region OPP, 613-284-4500;Canadian Embassies in your country. Here’s an email from a UK supporter, “Hey there, must be getting old. It took longer than I expected it to, but we've got the embassies covered. We are harassing the media, but equally the media cannot go to the embassies without crashing head first into us. We've got your backs Brothers and Sister. Zoi.”
TO VERIFY AND FOR INFORMATION CALL:
Akwesasne Rotiskenekete 518-358-3660Tyendinaga Aserakowa [Warchief]: 613-243-4993Jan Hill [Longhouse] 613-961-8515 613-827-1547
Dan 613-919-1354
Rotiskenekete 613-849-1314 613-827-4991 613-577-1355
Kahentinetha HornMNN Mohawk Nation NewsClick News & See Category: “ Tyendinaga “4/27/08, 10:44am EDT.
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Woman activist and farm leader arrested in Juarez

Ciudad Juarez News
Cipriana Jurado, a prominent Ciudad Juarez women's rights activist, is now free after posting a $700 bond. The director of the Worker Research and Solidarity Center, Jurado was arrested by Mexican federal police outside her home on Wednesday, April 2. The veteran activist was charged with blocking a public roadway during an October 2005 protest ... Read more:
http://frontera.nmsu.edu/today.html
Lipan Apache (El Calaboz) Women Community Built a Local-Global Movement...
https://mysite.wsu.edu/personal/mtamez/calaboz/default.aspx
Our case is supported by~~Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law
http://www.centerforhumanrights.org/

SOUTH DAKOTA: Video of arrests at Yankton protest

WATCH VIDEO OF ARRESTS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmRLkGPwW_0

Photos from Indybay:

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/04/16/18493221.php

Mohawks Surrounded by Police at Tyendinaga

URGENT HELP NEEDED

Mohawks of Tyendinaga: UPDATE! OPP to take out Rotiskenekete at the quarry
Mohawk Nation News
April 25, 2008
Mohawks surrounded at the quarry in Tyendinaga. Ontario Provincial Police OPP fully armed with guns drawn. They are yelling through blow horns ordering the Rotiskenekete to come down with their hands up, or else they are going to take them out.
The Rotiskenekete have told the OPP they are not coming down from there. We have been informed that help will probably not arrive in time. The OPP have said they are coming right away. There are 20 left at the quarry. Many have already been arrested. DO SOMETHING QUICK! WE HAVE TO SAVE OUR PEOPLE.
FOR INFORMATION CALL: 518-358-3660; Warchief: 613-243-4993; Jan Hill 613-961-8515 613-827-1547; Dan 613-919-1354; Rotiskenekete 613-849-1314 613-827-4991; OPP Easter Headquarters 613-284-4500 L.G. Beechey Chief Supt. Commander Eastern Region
R. Don Maracle 613-396-3089 Cell 613-391-9249

GENOCIDE IS HAPPENING AT THIS HOUR AT TYENDINAGA. THEIR POSITION IS THEY ARE NOT MOVING. THEY ARE GOING DOWN. THEY WILL DEFEND THEMSELVES. THEY ARE NOT GIVING UP THE LAND.
Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News

UN: Indigenous Peoples protest Sithe Global in New York

Indigenous Peoples from North America Say No to Fossil Fuel Development Dooda Desert Rock (David) Knocks on Sithe Global’s (Goliath’s) Door

By Elouise Brown/Dooda Desert Rock

Listen to audio of protest in New York:
http://www.earthcycles.net/

NEW YORK – A delegation of Indigenous Peoples from all over the world rallied at Sithe Global LLC in New York City, to ensure that Sithe understands the impacts of their proposed Desert Rock Energy Project on the local, Navajo people at the proposed site.
Elouise Brown, President of the Dooda Desert Rock committee, and Enei Begaye, Executive Director of the Black Mesa Water Coalition, attempted to deliver a letter to Sithe telling them that local people do not support the project. Sithe did not meet with them.
News reporters accompanied Elouise and Enei into the building, but were ordered to “leave immediately.” Enei and Elouise, as tribal members of the Navajo Nation who Sithe Global is doing business with, asked to deliver a letter to Sithe Global. Receptionists called the Sithe Global office several times and left two messages, but Sithe never came down or called back. The receptionists refused to deliver the letter but directed Elouise and Enei to a messenger center at a different location, where they sent the letter.
“I don’t understand how the proponents of the Desert Rock Energy Project from our Navajo Nation can do business with a corporation that will not speak to members of the Nation who would be directly impacted by the project,” says Elouise Brown.
“At least we know we delivered the letter, and they have an idea there are many Navajo people opposed to this project, and only a couple who want the project.”
Outside Indigenous Peoples from all over the world who are in New York for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UN PFII), rallied, chanted, and held signs in solidarity with the Dooda Desert Rock Committee. Suspiciously, soon after the rally started, large moving trucks were parked in front of the building, blocking protesters from being seen on the street. Elouise and Enei were part of the Indigenous Environmental Network delegation to the UN PFII. Together, the group profiled the disproportionate impacts their communities face as a result of the expansion of fossil fuel development in their homelands, resulting in contamination and depletion of water, compounding climate change, and exacerbating health impacts.
Enei Begaye said, “These are resource wars. These companies are occupying sovereign Indigenous territories, and not just in Iraq. In this country, from the Navajo Nation to the Arctic, the Indian wars continue.”
The letter can be found at http://www.dooda-desert-rock.net/

Contact: Elouise Brown, Dooda Desert Rock, 505-947-6159 Jihan Gearon, Indigenous Environmental Network, 218-760-1370 Enei Begay, Black Mesa Water Coaltion, 928-380-6296

Photo: Elouise Brown and Tom Goldtooth. Courtesy photo.

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Ponca Casey Camp-Horinek at UN: Fossil fuels, climate change, devastating Indian lands

Indigenous Environmental Network at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Ponca Casey Camp-Horinek delivers statement on fossil fuels and climate change

INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORKAt the 7th Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Intervention on Climate: Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 As part of the “Road of Destruction” campaign of the Indigenous Environmental Network, Indigenous grassroots representatives from communities traveled to New York City, New York to make a statement to the Indigenous Peoples of the world and world government leaders and UN agencies on the issue of climate change and fossil fuels. The following statement (intervention) was read to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on Tuesday, April 22, 2008. All statements were limited to 3 minutes and even though our collective statement should have been much longer, we respected the policy and limited our words to the 3 minute limit. Our delegation recognized many of the other statements given by Indigenous peoples from around the world. However, we recognized the link to fossil fuels was not being highlighted.

Casey Camp-Horinek, of the Ponca Nation was selected by the IEN delegation to read the intervention. As a member of concerned Ponca tribal members, Casey Camp has been fighting for environmental and health issues in the shadow of the international headquarters of the Conoco-Phillips refinery and the Carbon Black coke processing plant. After the statement was read, Casey asked for all Indigenous Peoples that are affected by oil, gas, coal and fossil fuel development, to please stand up. Almost the whole assembly stood up. This visual action demonstrated the need of CO2olonalism and petro politics to be addressed. IEN with support of Indigenous organizations throughout the world are demanding the Permanent Forum to call for an EMERGENCY WORLD SESSION of the UN General Assembly to address this issue (please see the Recommendation at the end of the statement below). Climate change is an Indigenous rights issue! INTERVENTION TO THE SEVENTH SESSION ON THE UNITED NATIONS PERMANENT FORUM ON INDIGENOUS ISSUES April 2008 Topic: Climate Submitted by the Indigenous Environmental Network, with support of global endorsements: Centre for Organisation Research & Education (Indigenous Peoples' Centre for Policy and Human Rights in India's Eastern Himalayan Territories Center for Organization Research and Education (CORE), Federation of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Asia, Indian Confederation of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, Western Shoshone Defense Project, Cabildo Wayuu Noona, International Indian Treaty Council, Asociación Indígena Ambiental, Seventh Generation Fund.

Thank you, Madame Chair, for the opportunity to address the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. I’m Casey Camp-Horinek a member of the Ponca Nation of Oklahoma. I represent the Indigenous Environmental Network, which includes the following affiliate organizations and Canadian First Nations governments that are with me today: Pa Tha Tah, REDOIL [Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands], Mikisew Cree First Nation, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, the Tribal Campus Climate Challenge Youth delegation, Dooda’ Desert Rock, Fort Berthold Environmental Awareness Committee, Passamaquoddy Bay Defenders, Black Mesa Water Coalition, Tulalip Youth, Laguna Acoma Coalition for a Safe Environment. We cannot deny that the dangers of climate change violate the human rights of Indigenous Peoples. Climate change threatens our food systems and ability to practice our ceremonies, forces removals from our traditional lands and territories, and creates disproportionate health impacts on Indigenous Peoples. Climate change is more than an environmental issue to Indigenous Peoples. Our cultures are in crisis – the inability of governments to address the issue of climate change is tantamount to cultural genocide for our Peoples. The UN and relevant international agencies must address these human rights violations immediately. We cannot wait; climate change is a real issue in the communities we are from. We must build upon the discussion of impacts, and take action to create real solutions to climate change and global warming now. Madame Chair, while there is a very justifiable increase of global interest on studying climate issues and debates on its solutions, it is business as usual with the expansion of oil, coal and other fossil fuel development within our homelands. The international scientific community, led by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was established through a resolution of the UN General Assembly, has concluded that the burning of oil, gas, liquid natural gas, and coal, as fossil fuels, is the primary source of human-induced climate change and global warming. The Earth has already warmed by 0.76 degrees Celsius (nearly 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. Most scientists warn that a temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) could have serious consequences. Above the 2 degrees level, scientists are saying this is the tipping point where temperatures and weather events will be out of control, with an acceleration of climate changes and global warming. Concerned scientists are now saying we are almost at that tipping point, within 10 years. For the well being of Mother Earth and future generations, the world must move more aggressively then it is now, towards a rigorous plan towards a zero fossil-fuel emissions level by 2050. Conventional fossil-fuel supplies are limited, even if we tear up Mother Earth to extract every last drop of oil and shard of coal. Tearing up the sacredness of our Mother Earth to get to the last drops of oil is not sustainable and violates every principle of our Indigenous Original Instructions. As Indigenous Peoples gathered here at the Seventh Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, we are in solidarity with many other Indigenous Peoples of every region of our Mother Earth in demanding a worldwide moratorium on new exploration, extraction, and processing of fossil fuels on Indigenous Peoples land and territories. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the General Assembly on September 13, 2007 and consecrates fundamental rights of Indigenous Peoples. Articles 10, 26, 27, 29, and 32 justify the following recommendation: 1) The Permanent Forum, through ECOSOC [Economic and Social Council] call on the UN General Assembly to convene an emergency world session to fully explore, with all branches of the UN, and relevant treaty bodies, in particular UNCERD, the multiple impacts of climate change and its link to fossil fuel development and the human rights of Indigenous Peoples, to include the topics of, but not limited to social, economic, cultural, environmental, health, food security, land and water rights, and treaty rights. Thank you

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'Callous' Homeland Security on San Pedro, wrecking environment to build wall

Department of Homeland Security Ignored Warnings of Harm to San Pedro River Prior to October 2007 Border Wall Exemptions

By Center for Biological Diversity

PHOENIX, Ariz— Newly obtained Bureau of Land Management documents reveal that the Department of Homeland Security ignored warnings of damage to the San Pedro River, prior to exempting the border wall across the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area from all environmental laws.
“The callousness displayed by Homeland Security in ignoring warnings to damage a national treasure is mind-boggling. The border wall does not stop humans, but it will destroy the southern part of the San Pedro,” said Dr. Robin Silver, board member of the Center for Biological Diversity. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff exempted the border wall across the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area from all environmental laws on October 22, 2007.
“The Bush administration keeps claiming that they are taking environmental impacts of the border wall into consideration, but time and time again their actions prove that sensitive wildlife and protected lands are being ignored and neglected in their rush to build expensive, ineffective walls" said Matt Clark, Southwest representative for Defenders of Wildlife. "The San Pedro River is treasured by Americans because it is a ribbon of life that sustains diverse bird and wildlife populations in an otherwise arid landscape. To handle such a fragile, important area with such disregard is reprehensible.” READ MORE ...
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/

Yankton police officer quits job, arrested, at hog farm protest

Illegal South Dakota state police occupation continues on Yankton Indian Land

Incoming messages from Yankton protest:

I am Oitancan Zephier, a former police officer of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, combat veteran of Afghanistan and a father. Last week I quit my job when the protests started over the building of a hog farm by a corporation on private land surrounded by tribal lands. I quit because the Bureau of Indian Affairs will not help us. They stand and watch us get tossed in jail. The filth of the pigs will effect every part of our Indian people here.
There is a headstart school 2 miles away from the hog farm. There is a kindergarten through 12th grade school 4 miles away. There is a day care a couple miles away from the site. It is a prejudice act granted by the state of South Dakota to these pig farm owners. We need your help. If this is completed they will assume jurisdiction of all that surrounds them. The already began taking our tribal road, which we have intensely fought for 2 weeks now.
I have been thrown in jail while on our Indian land by a state officer. That is wrong!
I am begging you for your help. If you can, please publish the cry for help below in any way you can.
Contact me if you can help; or please forward this on to anyone who can help us.
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People! We need your help! Come to Marty, SD now! Help us fight the Longview Farms Hog farm and the State of South Dakota.
We need the help of every nation that is willing to help us! Don't wait for an invitation. Please! Come help us now! We're too busy with things here to think of everyone that can help us.
We have our hands full with whats in front of us. Call us. Make suggestions. Give us advise! Whatever it is, help us! We need bodies.
We need people! people! people! We need people willing to fight! We need people willing to go to jail by a state officer on Indian land!
Doesn't that seem wrong to you? I went to jail while standing on a tribal highway by a South Dakota state deputy, while the Bureau of Indian Affairs watched.
That's what is happening! It is wrong! We need money for bail. Many more of our Indian people will be going to jail.
If we don't fight this, Indian people will continue to lose land. Next time it will be your people. Remember when a cry for help came out what "reason" or "excuse" you gave.
You'll get it right back when you need help. The system keeps us locked in place. It keeps us working, paying bills and plugged into society.
In that mindset we're all robots programmed to do what the government wants us to do pay taxes! Give them money! "I gotta feed my family," you're thinking.
I know it. I was too but overcame it. Tunkasina (the grandfather) knows that our fight is right and honorable. Better things will follow for us.
This is really not about a hog farm! This is about the racist state of south dakota moving in the middle of Indian country and saying, "This is our road!"
Tomorrow it will be "this is our land!" We need to fight! We need your help!

Oi Zephier
Ihanktonwan Dakota
Yankton Sioux Tribe
Marty, SD 57361
http://us.f330.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=Zephiero@hotmail.com
(605) 454-8355 (Cell)

The Genocide of Gold, Meet the Resistance

Meet the Resistance: A Speaking Tour of Affected Indigenous Communities

NEW YORK -- Over 3,000 people are attending the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) over the next two weeks in New York, including Indigenous Nations, UN bodies, Governments and NGO's. Three Indigenous communities present at the forum are voicing their concern against the worlds largest gold mining company, Canadian owned Barrick Gold.
As side events to the UNPFII, Wiradjuri (Australia), Ipili (Papua New Guinea) and Western Shoshone (Nevada, USA) will be talking about the desecration and destruction of their lands by Barrick Gold. Please show your support by coming to the following events to hear about Barrick's exploitative and unsustainable practices on these communities lands, culture and life.
These events have been supported by Friends of the Earth Australia, ProtestBarrick.net, Western Shoshone Defence Project, Mineral Policy Institute, Save Lake Cowal and Akali Tange Association.
Indigenous Resistance to Gold MiningOur guests will make presentations, show short films and answer questions about gold mining on their lands.
Carrie Dann, Western Shoshone (Nevada, USA)Neville ‘Chappy’ Williams, Wiradjuri (Australia)Jethro Tulin, Executive Officer Akali Tange Association, Ipili (Papua New Guinea) Thursday 24th April @ 7.30pm American Indian Community Center11 Broadway, 2nd Floor, New York
Subway 4 & 5 to Bowling Green, Lower Manhattan
Indigenous Voices Films and Speakers from Australia and Papua New Guinea Neville ‘Chappy’ Williams, Wiradjuri (Australia) Jethro Tulin, Executive Officer Akali Tange Association, Ipili (Papua New Guinea) Sunday 27th April @ 7.00pm Bluestocking’s BookStore172 Allen Street between Stanton and Riverington Lower East Side, Manhattan
Subway F J M Z to Delancey Street/Essex,
Indigenous Struggles from Australia and Papua New Guinea
Wedneday 30th April @ 7.00pm ABC No Rio156 Rivington Street between Suffolk and Clinton Streets Lower East Side, Manhattan
Subway F J M Z to Delancey Street/Essex
For more info: natalie.lowrey@foe.org.au
www.ProtestBarrick.net

Dooda Desert Rock members join Longest Walk to DC

Dooda Desert Rock Members Walk With The Longest Walk II to Washington, DC

By Elouise Brown

Arriving at Amarillo, Texas, members of Dooda Desert Rock continue their walk with the Longest Walk II, along the southern route across the United States to Washington D.C. The Longest Walk II began their trans-continental journey in San Francisco on February 11th. The walk marks the 30th anniversary of the original Longest Walk for environmental protection and Native American rights.
DDR joined the Longest Walk II as they crossed into New Mexico from Arizona. DDR president Elouise Brown reported that the weather has been unpredictable. Sometimes it has been warm and sunny, other times very windy and cold. In Taos, NM, the walkers encountered snow and wind, but they continued their sacred walk with the intent of carrying a strong message of protecting and improving the health of the environment for all people, and preserving the rights of indigenous peoples.
The mission of The Longest Walk II is to carry the message that All Life is Sacred, Save Mother Earth. We walk for the Seventh Generation, for our youth, for peace, for justice, for healing of Mother Earth, for the healing of our people suffering from diabetes, heart conditions, alcoholism, drug addiction, and other diseases. Through the elements of the seasons, we shall walk through the rain, snow, over mountains, high winds, through the heat and cold. Nothing shall deter us from completing our mission: All Life is Sacred, Protect Sacred Sites.
Let those who doubt, hear our pledge. Let those who believe, join our ranks. As we walk the final miles, by our side will be elders, families, children, people of all races, from many walks of life, from the old and the new America. All Life is Sacred, Clean Up Mother Earth.
As we walk, we support The Longest Walk II’s goal: The Clean Up America Campaign. This campaign is an effort to clean up our country’s highways and roads by collecting debris found along the Longest Walk’s route. This monumental task will engage Walkers at a grassroots level, in a global effort to promote harmony with our delicate environment. Longest Walk participants will carry specially marked trash bags to separate the collected refuse into trash bins and recycling bins. A rotating team of walkers will pick up trash along the way with trash pokers leaving a health trail of earth in their path.
The photo above shows a group of Dine (Navajo) representatives of Dooda Desert Rock walking with the Longest Walk II to Washington D.C. They need financial support while they represent the Dine people. Contributions can be sent to Dooda Desert Rock (DDR), P.O. Box 7838, Newcomb, NM 87455. All contributions are tax deductible and will help the DDR walkers continue to walk with the Longest Walk II until they arrive in Washington D.C. on July 11th.

Indigenous at UN plan Desert Rock/SITHE protest in New York

PRESS ADVISORYPRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULED
WHO: Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) and members of its Native grassroots delegation attending the 7th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
WHAT: Protest/Rally & Press Conference on Environmental Racism and Indigenous Peoples Rights
WHEN: Friday, April 25, 2008 at 9:30 am
WHERE: Sithe Global Power, LLC, 245 Park Avenue, New York City, NY
WHY: To demand immediate action to address fossil fuel expansion and climate chaos on Indigenous lands, and support Dooda Desert Rock (DDR), a Dine’ grassroots organization in calling out Sithe Global Power in it’s plan to build a coal-fired power plant on the Navajo reservation.

UNITED NATIONS, New York City, NY – A delegation of Indigenous Peoples from the United States and Canada are demanding immediate action to address climate chaos and crisis. Twenty two youth, women, elders and tribal chiefs have traveled to New York City to participate in the United Nations 7th Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. One of the main issues the UN forum is addressing is climate issues. This delegation is profiling the disproportionate impacts their communities face as a result of the expansion of fossil fuel development in their homelands resulting in increased greenhouse gases, contamination and depletion of water and compounding climate change. In solidarity with delegation member, Elouise Brown, President of DDR Committee, the delegation and supporters will stage a protest/rally at Sithe Global Power, LLC at 245 Park Avenue at 9:30am. Sithe Global Power formed and partnered with Desert Rock Energy Company to build a destructive mine-mouth coal-fired power plant in the Four Corners Area of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. It would be the third coal-fired power plant in an area where the community is already suffering from respiratory and skin ailments and other health problems associated with the existing coal-burning power plants. Although there is an Environmental Impact Statement pending, it did not incorporate or address what the cumulative impacts of all three power plants and the existing uranium contamination in the area, would be. A press conference will take place immediately after the protest/rally and will feature various frontline Native community members impacted by fossil fuel expansion.
Speakers include: ·
Elouise Brown, (Dine [Navajo]) – As a President of Dooda Desert Rock, Elouise has been on the front line fighting a proposed coal fired power plant in her back yard near Crown Point, New Mexico. ·
Faith Gemmil, (Pit River, Wintu, and Neets'aii Gwich'in Athabascan) – As the REDOIL campaigner, runs an Alaska Native network opposing efforts of the U.S. Congress and the State of Alaska in their attempts to open the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to offshore oil and gas development. ·
Clayton Thomas-Muller, (Cree) – With the Canadian Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign, working with Cree, Dene and Metis First Nations from northern Alberta Canada speaking out on health, ecological and environmental damge to their Aboriginal lands from tar sands development. · Loren White Jr., (Hidatsa/Arikara/Mandan) – As a member of the Environmental Awareness Committee from Fort Berthold, North Dakota, is fighting a proposed oil refinery that is set to produce crude oil from the tar sands in Canada. ·
David Moses Bridges, (Passomaquaddy First Nation) – As a member of the local “We take care of the land” coalition in Maine, fighting the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in their attempts to site a massive liquefied natural gas terminal in their pristine Atlantic homeland. · Enei Begaye, (Dine and Tohono O’odham) – As Executive Director of Black Mesa Water Coalition, they are battling coal and water mining and are leading a Native movement for a Just Transition and Green Economy/Green Job Transition. For more information please contact:
Clayton Thomas-Muller, CITSC (218) 760-6632 (cell)Elouise Brown, DDR (505) 505-947-6159 (cell)
Jihan Gearon IEN (218) 760-1370 (cell)
The Permanent Forum is meeting from April 21 to May 2, 2008 at the UN in New York. This is its 7th session since starting in 2002. This year the forum was opened by Bolivian President Evo Morales.
For more information please see http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/index.html

Canada Grave Disappointment for Indigenous Peoples at UN

Aboriginal Peoples Declare Canada's UN Statement Grave Disappointment for Aboriginal Peoples on Climate Change

Press statement from Indigenous Peoples at UN

UNITED NATIONS, NY - The statement delivered by the Canadian government yesterday to the United Nations Permanent Forum (UNPFII) on Indigenous Issues was a grave disappointment to the Indigenous representatives attending the UNPFII's special session on climate change because "it does not address Indigenous Peoples' rights, needs and priorities in real climate change solutions," according to Indigenous Environmental Network director Tom Goldtooth.
Other groups represented include the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations, the International Indian Treaty Council, the Indigenous Network on the Environment and Trade, the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) and the British Colombia First Nations Leadership Council.
"What the statement shows is how little the government cares to deal with climate change's effects or stopping climate change. They announced their plan to reduce 2006 greenhouse gas levels by 20% in 2020, but this is too little too late, and will only mean further devastation to our peoples," said Ben Powless (Mohawk) of the Indigenous Environmental Network.
Current impacts on First Nations communities were also left out. Grand Chief Edward John (Carrier Sekani) of the BC First Nations Leadership Council stated, "Canada is ignoring the devastating impacts of the mountain pine beetle on the lands, territories and resources of First Nations in BC." "Canada has stated that it is committed with us on climate change, so we call upon Canada to ensure the full participation of Indigenous Peoples in all domestic and international climate change discussions, initiatives and negotiations," concurred AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine.
Also evident was Canada's unilateral approach of dealing with Indigenous Peoples after they begin to have problems. "Canada is happy to pour more and more money into studying us and how we adapt to climate change, but not with addressing environmental issues at their source," stated Beverley Jacobs, President, NWAC. "They are now telling us they take traditional knowledge seriously, but that they would never consider implementing it themselves. These continued, seriously misguided federal policies are going to be the death of us," warned Arthur Manuel (Secwepmc) of the Indigenous Network on the Environment and Trade.
This comes after dramatic action was called for by Indigenous participants attending the forum. A representative of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug Nation made a presentation to the forum attesting to the fact that her community's elected leadership had been jailed for opposition to destructive mining in their community. Elected representatives of Aboriginal communities surrounding the Tar Sands were also attending to detest the destructive practices upsetting their homelands.
For more information please contact: Gina Cosentino, AFN: (613) 241 6789 x356
Grand Chief Edward John (778) 772 8218 Arthur Manuel: (250) 319-0688
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The Permanent Forum is meeting from April 21 to May 2, 2008 at the UN in New York. This is its 7th session since starting in 2002. This year the forum was opened by Bolivian President Evo Morales. For more information please see
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/index.html -- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Alyssa MacyConfederated Tribes of Warm Springs, OregonIndigenius Mediahttp://www.indigeniusmedia.com/International Indian Treaty Councilhttp://www.treatycouncil.org/

Treaty Council Human Rights Forum in Illinois

Join the Longest Walk Northern Route and the International Indian Treaty Council, for the Human Rights Forum at Southern Illinois University on May 9. (Please double click on image to enlarge and print.)

CENSORED: US Torture Training at Fort Huachuca

By Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

PHOENIX -- OK, so its no surprise, but it keeps happening. Reporters and editors keep asking for my comments and columns. Then those words are censored and stashed in the "Don't even think about publishing it department."
The subject this time was not a funny one. It was the ongoing torture training at Fort Huachuca in southern Arizona. Two priests, Fr. Steve Kelly and Fr. Louie Vitale, just spent five months in prison for kneeling in prayer at Fort Huachuca in opposition to US torture in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo, torture in violation of the Geneva Conventions.
A reporter for the Arizona Business Journal asked me to comment on the newest human intelligence training facility contract for Fort Huachuca, which went to Sletten Corp. of Phoenix. Here's what I said on April 7. It was chopped by the media powers that be:

"The United States government is acting like a dog gone mad with rabies. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has declared himself 'god' and voided all federal laws to build the border wall. Now, in a continuance of the practices which reflect the Nazi regime, the United States will continue to build torture training facilities at Fort Huachuca. It was here that the root of the torture manuals were produced that led to the rape, disappearance, torture and murder of an unknown number of Indigenous Peoples and innocent farmers in Central and South America, before the manual was exposed in 1996.
"The United States, in violation of the Geneva Conventions, has tortured people to death in Iraq and Afghanistan. While Americans sleepwalk, hypnotized by television and Wal-Mart shopping, their country is in ruin."As we make our way across the United States, broadcasting from the Longest Walk, we see that fear has been used to manipulate the people into building power plants and allowing oil and gas drilling on their own lands. The purpose is profiteering for corporations and their politicians. From California to Kansas, we have listened to the stories of a sinking and desperate America. The continuance of torture and torture training is another cancer in the body of America."
--Brenda Norrell
The Contract:
Sletten Companies, Phoenix, Ariz. was awarded on March 28, 2008, an $11,981.566 firm-fixed price contract for the design and construction of a human intelligence training facility. Work will be performed in Fort Huachuca, Ariz. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Work is expected to be completed by July 31, 2009. Web bids were solicited on Jan. 24, 2008, and six bids were received. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles, Calif. is the contracting agency (W912PL-08-C-0008).


UNCENSORED ARTICLES
Mass Graves Revealed of Indian Children in Canadian Schools The NarcoSphere, NY - Apr 18, 2008By Brenda Norrell, The horror of the genocide in Canada's Indian Residential Schools became public, as the locations of 28 mass graves of Indian children ...
Brenda Norrell: Longest Walk offers feast to tornado devastated ... UN Observer - Apr 15, 20082008-04-15 GREENSBURG, Kansas -- The Longest Walk Northern Route offered a grand feast for the community of Greensburg, Kansas, where a two-mile wide ...
Brenda Norrell: Navajo selected as peace diplomat for delegation ... UN Observer - Apr 10, 20082008-04-10 Michelle Cook is a community worker, spiritual activist, and a recent graduate from the University of Arizona with a BA in Women's Studies and ...
Sand Creek, releasing the spirits Narcosphere

Arizona cops target people of color

DWI: Driving while Indian in Arizona

By Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

PHOENIX -- The Arizona Department of Public Safety targets people of color, with American Indians stopped more than 3 times more often than whites, according to DPS own statistics.
For Natives who drive in Arizona, or those who ride with them, this will come as no surprise. Like South Dakota, where Indians are also targeted in traffic stops, the term DWI, "Driving While Indian," has long been a reality.
The statistics don't stop there. The traffic stops are not the only place you find Indians targeted. The jails are packed with American Indians and people of color. Military recruiters target American Indians and other people of color, making empty promises, when the reality is the risk of dying in Iraq.
DPS data shows that Arizona police target American Indians.
According to Associated Press, Arizona Department of Public Safety officers are more likely to search minorities than White people, even though on average minorities were less likely to have illegal items, according to a report released Monday.
The report is dubbed Driving While Black or Brown. It was produced for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona by Fred Solop, director of the Social Research Laboratory at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.
Using DPS data, Solop looked at 200,000 traffic stops on Arizona highways between July 2006 and June 2007. Of those, 13,271 resulted in searches.
The report concludes that Blacks and Hispanics were each 2½ times more likely than Whites to be searched by DPS. American Indians were about 3¼ times more likely to be searched.
The minorities were more likely to be searched although Whites were more likely to have illegal items than any other minority except for Blacks. Whites were 34 percent likely to have such items and Blacks were 38 percent likely to have them.
In comparison, Hispanics were 22 percent likely to have illegal items and America Indians were 24 percent likely to have them. Asians and Middle Easterners had comparable results.
"The true test of democracy is how we treat people who are outsiders," ACLU attorney Dan Pochoda said. "We have seen a trampling of the rights of those persons in Maricopa County and throughout the state."
A DPS spokesman wasn't immediately available to comment on the report.
DPS collected data for the report under the terms of a settlement of a 2001 class-action lawsuit.

Swat Team Attacks Mohawks at Tyendinaga

UPDATE: OPP BRINGS IN FULLY ARMED SWAT TEAM.
MOHAWKS OF TYENDINAGA RETREAT TO QUARRY - OPP CLOSE PERIMETER AT 9:00 A.M. TUESDAY APRIL 22, 2008 OPP USING CHILDISH VIDEO GAME TACTICS 300 SWAT IN FULL GEAR, SHIELDS, ARMS AND ALL. ANOTHER 80 TO 100 OFFICER IN “GHOST CARS” AND “MARKED AND UNARKED” CARS. REAL ESTATE AGENT EMILE NIBOURG STAYS AWAY.

Choppers flying overhead. Low flights over our heads at Culbertson Track and the quarry. On the water there a dozen OPP surveillance boats.

BACKGROUND
Mohawk Nation News
Apr. 22, 2008. Last night the non-native Deseronto squatters, whose town is on Tyendinaga Mohawk land along the Bay of Quinte, made human chains along the road leading up to the demostration. They held up signs for the Mohawks to see, with messages, like “power to people [themselves]” “Remove your masks” and “You are a disgrace to your race”. Pictures available. Are they copying us or what? They get the tactics but not the principle! Band council chief R. Don Maracle distanced himself from the blockaders saying “Blockades are not the way to settle land claims. it takes time to resolve these issues. They need to remain calm to allow [me] to negotiate peacefully in a climate that is not hampered by protests and blockades”, he told the local radio station. His treasonous comments set us up for the colonial attack that followed. R.Don Maracle is wrong. One, a negotiator needs to be picked by the people for the purpose. You can’t assume the right to negotiate because you’ve been elected to a colonial band council office who function on colonial capitalist brains. You are not legal! Two, negotiations have to be in public to meet the requirements of both Haudenosaunee Law and international law. Agreements cannot be the result of the informed consent of the people if the people have not been informed. In camera closed door negotiations are not legitimate. The land in question is the Culbertson Track of 1832 which was never given up. The Ontario government knows full well that there’s a problem with squatters on the Tract since 1832. How long do they expect us to wait for them to uphold the law. The roads trespass on our land. It’s our land. It’s our business where we stand on it. The OPP, the squatters, the trucks carrying toxic waste to the quarry and the construction crews are all trespassers. The illegal colonial governments and agents defame us by accusing us of saying we’re the law breakers instead of doing their duty to protect to us from their unruly law breaking people. Why are the cops breaking the law? The squatters roamed around all night shooting verbal threats left, right and center, “You better take down your blockade or else!”, with the OPP standing behind them probably setting them up and urging them along. The OPP are following the same “Whiskey Trench” tactics used by the SQ during the Mohawk Oka Crisis of 1990 at Kanehsatake and Kahnawake. They’re just standing there watching as their citizens break the law. By doing this they are encouraging them to act like rabble. What needs to happen in a proper democracy is that the legal rights and principles have to be set out and recognized by all responsible parties. In keeping with the requirements of both international law and the Great Law of Peace/Kaianereh’ko:wa, we have set out our rights. The British Crown agreed to recognize and protect our right to our land on the Culbertson Tract. Ontario has not set out its rights. It has provided no legal authority for its claims. Instead it’s using armed force to support those who would violate the law. This is totally dishonorable behavior. This isn’t the 19th century anymore. When are Canadians going to leave colonialism behind? It’s been formally recognized as illegal for almost a century now. They should know by now that their strong arm strategy to wear us down and scare us into submission by defaming us and our ancestors just won’t work. We have been unwavering since the time of first contact. We never agreed to be British subjects. We never became Canadian citizens. We never agreed to accept the injustices that have been visited upon us. We will continue to ask questions about their illegal actions. We will overcome this nonsense. The Rotiskenekete did take down some of the blockades last night in good faith as we feel we had made our point about the fraud that is taking place. The condominium construction on the Bay of Quinte is illegal. Ontario should stop feeding into the scam artists who are trying to use us to extort cash pay outs out of them. They should simply uphold the law and evict the squatters. Succumbing to these tactics is unfair to Ontario tax payers. When the Deseronto squatters started attacking us, it was left to the Mohawks to defend ourselves and our land by putting the blockades back up. The OPP should have been cooperating with these efforts to ensure the safety of everyone. The OPP came in yesterday morning and set up a perimeter further out. This morning at 8:00 am they moved closer. The OPP came to every area where there was a Mohawk blockade pushing threats from OPP Headquarters that they are “coming in” and “taking us out”. Constables Ron Van Straalen and C. Flynn of the OPP at Napanee Detachment are in charge [613-354-3369, Fax 613-354-9183]. We had 4 sections blocked. The roads are open, #2 highway going through Deseronto to Napanee. Emile Neibourg, the real estate agent created this situation. He is trying to extort a pay out from Ontario by threatening to build condos on our land. Caught on video was the police saying, “We know that he created this to deal with this land issue”. Then he can help Canada say, “We don’t have any money to pay the Mohawks for the disruption of their land, or to relocate the Deseronto squatters. We gave it all to Mr. Neibourg. The OPP has become a tool of corporate corruption. They’ve been turned into a private army of the opportunistic scumbags who will stop at nothing to line their pockets. To our brothers and sisters, “We need help. Pressure the OPP and the governments of Ontario and Canada to stop the violence and stop the corruption on sovereign independent people. Nobody has spoken to us. They just came in and attacked. Is this the new OPP protocol? These OPP look like they are itching to converge on us at the quarry and take us out. They want to try out their new Faschist Fantino tactics. Their ultimatum is, “get out of here!!” They know we are right. They refuse to talk to us. Ontario citizens should be asking why their government is letting itself be used for this organized thuggery. Rotiskenekete 613-849-1314 – 613-827-4991 email davidrmaracle@aol.com OPP Eastern Regional Headquarters 613-284-4500 fax 613-284-4597 lg.beechey chief supt. Commander, Eastern Region, Smiths Falls . MBQ R. Don Maracle, 613-396-3089, CELL 613-391-9249 RDONM@MBQ-TMT.ORG 613-396-3424 ext. 106 info@mbq-tmt.org Jan Hill 613-396-6742 Emile Nibourg 613-561-0984 fax 613-544-7868 enibourg@sutton.com

More Arrests at Yankton Protest

Arrests Made At Protest
Keloland TV
Law officers say 15 to 20 people were arrested for disorderly conduct this morning because they blocked traffic en route to the construction site of a large-scale hog farm west of Wagner.A big truck carrying construction materials approached the site late this morning, and some protesters refused to get off the asphalt road leading to the site. Seven law enforcement cars from the South Dakota Highway Patrol and the Charles Mix County Sheriff's Office arrived and made the arrests. Sheriff Ray Westendorf says the arrests were made because the people were blocking traffic. After the arrests, some Yankton Sioux tribal members protesting the hog farm asked law officers why they had to make arrests. One state trooper told them he didn't want to arrest anyone and only cited those who refused when they were asked to leave the road. The vice chairman of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, John Stone, is blaming county and state law officers for escalating tension at the site. Stone says tribal members will continue a peaceful protest. He says the arrests happened when some people got caught up in the moment. A blockade of the road lasted only about a half hour. Protesters let local traffic through but wanted to stop construction vehicles. The arrests happened south of the hog farm site after protesters heard that a construction truck was coming. The original blockade was on the north end of the road. Stone says the tribe is considering several legal strategies. We have a news crew at the site and will bring you a full report later today on KELOLAND News.

UN: Cultural Survival, Saving Native Languages

Ellen Lutz, Executive Directorelutz@cs.org 617.441.5400 x16

Cultural Survival Takes the Fight to Save Native Languages to the UN

Indigenous Languages Hold Keys to Global Warming Solutions and Preserving Biodiversity; New York, NY

April 22, 2008 – Cultural Survival, a global leader in the fight to protect indigenous languages, lands and cultures around the world, this week takes the fight to save native languages to the United Nations. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based organization will bring issues relating to American Indian/Native Hawaiian language revitalization to an international audience at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
The United Nations has declared 2008 the "International Year of Languages" and the leadership of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues recognizes biological, linguistic and cultural diversity as "inseparable and mutually reinforcing – when an indigenous language is lost, so too is traditional knowledge on how to maintain the world's biological diversity and address climate change and other environmental challenges."
This year's Seventh Session is expected to draw indigenous delegates and NGOs from around the world to investigate "Climate change, bio-cultural diversity and livelihoods: the stewardship role of indigenous peoples and new challenges." Among them will be Cultural Survival board members Dr. Richard A. Grounds and Ryan Wilson, founder of the National Alliance to Save Native Languages, who will present their efforts to revitalize disappearing Native American languages. "Indigenous languages contain priceless repositories of human knowledge developed over millennia of interconnections to local environments," said Cultural Survival Executive Director Ellen Lutz. "Future generations of all peoples will need to rely on the worldviews contained within Native Hawaiian, Native Alaskan, Native American and other indigenous peoples' languages to adequately address threats to the global environment, including climate change and critical reductions in biodiversity. These fragile languages are part of our common human heritage and Cultural Survival is taking urgent action to bolster support to tribal language programs and their speaker communities while there is still time," said Lutz.Cultural Survival's Campaign to Revitalize Native Languages, in partnership with Native Hawaiian and tribal language programs will host a roundtable discussion at the Permanent Forum entitled "American Indian/Native Hawaiian Language Revitalization: BRINGING OUR LANGUAGES HOME AGAIN" from 1:15-2:45 pm at UN Headquarters, 2 UN Plaza - DC2 23rd floor Conference Room, followed at 3:00 pm by the Permanent Forum session on indigenous languages, and Dr. Grounds' presentation as part of a report by an international expert group on indigenous languages. About Cultural Survival: Cultural Survival is a global leader in the fight to protect indigenous lands, languages, and cultures around the world. In partnership with indigenous peoples, we advocate for native communities whose rights, cultures, and dignities threatened. Based in Cambridge, MA, we are a membership organization whose board of directors includes some of the world's preeminent indigenous leaders, as well as lawyers, anthropologists, business leaders, and philanthropists. For additional information visit: http://www.cs.org/

Citizens Walk for Human Dignity, Tucson to Phoenix

NATIONAL COALITION TO HOLD “CITIZENS WALK FOR HUMAN DIGNITY”

A national coalition of over 50 local, state and national organizations are participating in walk from Tucson to Phoenix beginning May 2 to call for an end to racially fomented hate crimes. The ten-day peaceful walk will end with a rally in downtown Phoenix on Mother’s Day, May 11, honoring mothers for teaching children to treat all human beings with equal dignity.
“We walk in support of Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano and join them in seeking the indictment and prosecution of any who willfully abuse the constitutional rights of citizens,” states organizer Jay Johnson-Castro. “American values and the future of our country are at stake when people live in fear and are terrorized.
Among the more than 50 organizations endorsing the event are:
LULAC National; Cesar Chavez March for Justice; National Indian Treaty Council;
Border Angels; Freedom Ambassadors; National Network for Immigration and Refugee Rights; Veterans for Peace; Derechos Humanos; Humane Borders; Gente Unida;
American Indian Movement; International Indian Treaty Council; Texas Indigenous Council; Border Ambassadors; Border Network for Human Rights; Southwest Workers Union; No Mas Muertes; LUPE; Somos America, the 42 member Phoenix coalition;
IUE-CWA/AFL-CIO; Labor Council for Latin American Advancement AFL-CIO;
Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law; Dallas Peace Center and MADRES.
Groups as well as individuals are invited to participate in the walk for an hour, a mile, a day or whatever circumstances allow. The walk will begin immediately after a 10 a.m. rally on Friday, May 2 in downtown Tucson at the Plaza on South 6th Avenue, between 12th and 13th Streets.
************************************************************************
For further information contact
Rick Romero Citizens Walk, Coordinator (602) 515-9844 Annette Sexton-Ruiz Citizens Walk, Assistant Coordinator (602) 505-4147

Ontario Police Invade Mohawks at Tyendinaga

URGENT! ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE INVADE PEACEFUL MOHAWKS AT TYENDINAGA. ANOTHER CALEDONIA –STYLE DEVELOPER “CASH-OUT” SCAM

Mohawk Nation News
Mon. April 21, 2008. Attacks on Indigenous people continue. Canada isn’t satisfied to waste billions of dollars a year on war missions overseas. It’s using the same armored fist at home. Today the town of Deseronto on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory was surrounded by the armed forces of the Ontario Provincial Police. Deseronto is an illegal non-native enclave. With eyes wide open, Emile and his father Theodore Nibourg of Napanee Ontario , who own the “Smiling Wilderness Restaurant” on the Trans-Canada Highway , decided they wanted to build a $35 million condominium on Mohawk land in Deseronto overlooking the Bay of Quinte . Never mind that they don’t own the land, Canada refuses to acknowledge Indigenous property rights. The Nibourgs are real estate developers of commercial and residential properties out of Kingston Ontario . They are fully aware of the Culbertson Land dispute which has been the focus of negotiations between the federal government and the Mohawks since 1995. [Nibourgs at cell 613-561-0984 fax 613-544-7868 enibourg@sutton.com. Last year the Thurlow Aggregates Quarry Site run by Tim Letch of Intergrorup Finance of Kingston was shut down by the Rotiskenekete. There was evidence of extensive illegal dumping including large amounts of asphalt. Not only was the dumping illegal it also violated environmental protection laws by contaminating ground water with toxic waste. Tim Letch was involved in some way in the condo development. The Nibourgs appeared to have pushed Tim Letch out of the picture. In a press release from the Sadie’s Lane Longhouse at Tyendinaga supporting the occupation, according to the Two Row Wampum agreement, they said that, “It’s our land and we are prepared to help defend it”. [Contact Jan Hill 613-396-6742 janh@fnti.net]. A Rotiskenekete said, “We are prepared to stay as long as necessary to defend our land. Mr. Nibourg or anyone else trying to develop our land in Deseronto better think again”. The peaceful encampment is on a large grassyknoll, overlooking the Bay, surrounding a large tipi. The full moon was glistening off the water. There was drumming, singing and good humor. Flashing Rotiskenekete patrol cars ringed the encampment. According to the OPP budget plan, they need to find some Mohawk fall guys to arrest to illegally enforce their foreign laws. Everybody except us cashes in – police doing overtime, justice system, Indian Affairs, bureaucrats, media, the town, and maybe the developer. All because they know we will do what we are supposed to do, defend our land! This morning at 5:00 am an overwhelming force of armed OPP are “just monitoring” the situation. The Mohawks of Tyendinaga camped on the property last night. This morning they set up blockades on highway 2 just east of Deseronto. “They’ve got East and West bound roads blocked”, said Constable Jackie Perry of Napanee provincial police. He said vehicles can go north on Deseronto Road at the T-intersection. On April 11th the Nibourgs had started cutting trees on the property. The Rotiskenekete appeared on the scene, stopped them and told them to leave. Nibourgs seem to think that the OPP is their private army. Ignoring the legal rights of the Mohawks at Tyendinaga, they declared, “If you Mohawks don’t leave, we are going to call the OPP and have you kicked out”. He appeared to be setting up a confrontation. A few days later Nibourg decided to apologize and asked for a meeting with the Rotiskenekete. Obviously, he had his eye on the lucrative pay out received by Henco Inc. for their illegal development at Six Nations Caledonia . He was quite blunt about it. He offered to use them as pawns to extort money from the Ontario Government. He asked the Rotiskenekete to occupy the said land and block the roads in order to escalate the situation. Then he would ask the government to pay him for the land, his expenses and his forecasted profits. Then he would agree to stop the construction. We understand he doesn’t even need the money to build this because he’s planning to be bought off. Regarding Deseronto, the government violated our lands rights by fraudulently giving out permits for non-native people to build on our land also referred to as the Culbertson Tract of 1873. The Rotiskenekete told Nibourg, “No. There will never be a development on our land”. We want our land that Deseronto sits on returned to us. We demand that the government deal with the non-native residents of Deseronto by compensating them and paying for their relocation. They told Nibourg, “You will be the last to be dealt with”. The Rotiskenekete added, “We don’t want to be used as a tool for extorting money from any foreign governments, including the governments of Canada and Ontario ”. Then Nibourg said that he would be back with a construction crew on Monday, April 21st, to start building. The Mohawks have stopped construction, are occupying our land and have blocked the roads to keep him and any of his co-conspirators away from creating another “ Caledonia ” so they can cash in big! Supporters of the Mohawks are welcome. Residents may pass through the occupation without hindrance. We are anxious that everybody understand this issue from the Mohawk perspective. The Rotiskenekete will carry out the peace and the tenets of the Kaianereh’ko:wa [Great Law of Peace]. Contact: Rotiskenekete: 613-849-1314; 613-827-4991; email - davidrmaracle@aol.com Kahentinetha HornMNN Mohawk Nation News See Category: “ Tyendinaga “

Chiefs jailed in Ontario for protecting resources from mining

On March 18th, 2008 five community leaders, including Chief Donny Morris from Kitchenumahkoosib Inninuwug (KI) were jailed for six months for contempt of a court injunction which prohibits them from interfering with a mineral exploration program by Canadian-owned Platinex Inc. The community is gravely concerned about the possible impact to their land and water where they have lived in the Boreal forest for over 5,000 years. It has been over a month and these leaders (one of whom is a grandmother) have still not been released. Please do what you can – sign the online petition and send an email to the Canadian Premier.

http://www.freeki6.ca/

PEOPLE before Profits!
130 emails sent to the Premier!904 names on our petition!

Please help us reach our first goal of 1,000 for each!
On March 18th, 2008 five community leaders, including Chief Donny Morris from Kitchenumahkoosib Inninuwug (KI) were jailed for six months for contempt of a court injunction which prohibits them from interfering with a mineral exploration program by Platinex Inc. The community is gravely concerned about the possible impact to their land and water where they have lived in the Boreal forest for over 5,000 years.
The Supreme Court of Canada recognizes that consultation with aboriginals must take place before drilling can start on their land. The Province of Ontario has failed all Ontarians by allowing the six leaders to be jailed and ignoring the consultation process.
The KI-6 prisoners must be freed immediately so that they may be seated at the consultation table beside their Treaty partner, the Government of Ontario, in discussion with Platinex or any companies wishing to conduct business on the land and/or in the water near aboriginal territory.
Please help free the KI-6 from prison, starting with the immediate release of the only woman and grandmother, Cecilia Begg, followed by the five men.
Read about the environmental impact at stake.
Read about the Human Rights issues.
Send this link to your friends and family.
And stop this grave injustice by writing to Premier McGuinty asking for their immediate and unconditional release so that proper discussion may begin at once.

Ontario First Nation Leadership Statement of Support for the KI 6

First Nations leadership met yesterday in Thunder Bay to discuss the imprisonment of First Nation leaders for protecting their constitutional rights. On March 17, 2008, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) Chief Donny Morris, Deputy Chief Jack McKay, Councilor Cecilia Begg, Councilor Darryl Sainnawap, and community member Bruce Sakakeep were sentenced to six months in jail for contempt of court.
The Court system and their interpretation of the Rule of Law does not accommodate First Nation laws and rights. By definition the “Rule of Law” should and must include the recognition of First Nation constitutional rights contained in the Constitution Act of 1982. Much of Canadian statutory law and regulations pre-date the 1982 recognition of aboriginal and treaty rights even though such rights have been in existence prior to Canada forming as a state. A review to determine whether federal and provincial laws conform with section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 has not been done.
The lack of federal and provincial law conformance with aboriginal and treaty rights forces judges and the courts to impose a discriminatory form of justice. First Nations people are characterized as disrespecting Canadian laws. In fact, First Nations leaders such as the KI 6 are acting in accordance with their own laws and rights.
In the majority of instances, conflicts between First Nations people and Canadian governments end up adjudicated in provincial or federal courts instead of impartial tribunals. Provincial and federal courts are established to administer and enforce provincial and federal laws so First Nations peoples and their rights are always going to be at a disadvantage.
The First Nation leaders that gathered in Thunder Bay were unanimous in their support for the jailed KI leadership (KI 6) and expressed considerable respect and support for the determination of this group of First Nation heroes. They are heroes because they stood up for what they believe in. As First Nation peoples we derive our survival and very identity from the land. It is incumbent upon us to protect the land for the survival of our future generations.
What the provincial government has done is that they have jailed respected First Nation leaders for protecting their land and standing up for the values and beliefs that they hold dear. This solves nothing. It deters no First Nation from taking action to protect their land. What they have accomplished is to push First Nations past the breaking point of frustration. The First Nations leadership that met in Thunder Bay have said “enough is enough”, so much has been taken from First Nations from the time of contact and now our people will be jailed for protecting what little we have left. We won’t sit idly by while such blatantly unfair and unacceptable acts are committed against our First Nation brothers and sisters.
In support of the people of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug and the jailed KI 6 leaders, First Nations in Ontario are determined they will act collectively to express visible and loud support through rallies and demonstrations commencing immediately and continuing until the KI prisoners are released.
Other actions and demands of support expressed by the Ontario First Nations leadership include a demand that the Provincial government withdraw the mining permits issued on the lands of KI. Furthermore, the First Nations leaders support the demand of the KI peoples to be reimbursed for all the litigation and related costs for asserting and protecting their rights.
First Nations in Ontario note the silence of the Federal Government as negligent and dishonourable conduct. The federal government is the partner in the Treaty 9 relationship between the KI peoples and the Crown yet the federal government has not acted as a fiduciary and treaty partner to ensure that the provincial government and Platinex, a Canadian corporate entity, respects the constitutionally guaranteed treaty rights of the KI peoples. First Nations leadership in Ontario demand that the federal government act in a responsible and honourable manner to facilitate an acceptable solution in this matter.
The following is the banking information for the KI Legal Fund for those able to make a financial contribution:
Kitchenuhmaykoosib InninuwugKanawayandan D’aaki Legal FundTransit #00387Account Number 22-07117CIBC, Sioux Lookout, Ontario
For more information please contact:
Pam Hunter (416) 597-1266 orPolicy Advisor (613) 203-3233

Evo Morales at World Indigenous Forum in New York

Evo Morales opens Seventh Session of UN Indigenous Forum on Monday, on climate change and bio-cultural diversity

Earthcycles is broadcasting from UN Forum, following two months of live broadcasts from the Longest Walk Northern Route, producer Govinda Dalton is in New York:
www.earthcycles.net/

UN Indigenous Forum agenda, documents and info:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/session_seventh.html

Evo Morales at World Indigenous Forum

La Paz, Apr 19 (Prensa Latina) Bolivian President Evo Morales will travel to New York Sunday to attend the 7th period of sessions of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, an official source affirmed Saturday.
Governmental spokesman Ivan Canelas, who will accompany the president, told Prensa Latina Morales will speak for 30 minutes during the opening of the forum dedicated to the impact of climate change on those communities, and will later give a press conference.
Canelas recalled the meeting will be held until May 2, and will be the first session after the approval in September of the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, rose to the category of law in Bolivia.
The official informed Morales will also speak about the political tension in the country, particularly the agrarian revolution hindered in the eastern region by big landowners.





Aboriginal delegation heads to UN
Posted Fri Apr 18, 2008 7:22am AEST
The National Aboriginal Alliance is taking its concerns about the Northern Territory intervention to the United Nations.
A delegation leaves today for the annual UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York.
Delegation Leader Les Malezer says parts of the intervention, like income management, breach United Nations charters on racial discrimination and human rights.
"What we hope to do is at least make people aware internationally of the extent of racial discrimination that occurs only against Aboriginal people in Australia and that continues despite changes of government," he said.
"Despite decades of supposed reforms in Australia, it's still the most discriminatory place in the world."





Nepalese team leaves for New York
By A Staff Reporter


Kathmandu, Apr. 19


Minister for Local Development Dev Prasad Gurung left for New York on Saturday to take part in the Seventh Convention of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to be held from April 21 to May 2.The participation of Nepalese delegates is specially important given the context of UN General Assembly declaring a manifesto on the rights of the indigenous peoples last year and the Nepalese government ratifying article 169 of International Labour Organisation.The seven-member delegation has a plan to meet with the UN high officials at the changing political context of Nepal and implementation of the international conventions in the country.Jitpal Kirat, vice president of National Academy for the Uplift of Indigenous Nationalities, and members Sita Gurung, Dr. Chaitanya Subba, member of National Planning Commission, Tana Gautam, secretary at the office of the Prime Minister are among the delegates. The other delegates are Ganga Datta Awasthi, acting secretary at Ministry for Local Development and Baburam Gautam, under secretary of the same Ministry.



Quebec Delegation at Permanent Forum


An important delegation of the First Nations of Quebec at the UN - Quebec is invited to support the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples QUEBEC


CNW Telbec/ - Following the adoption by the Canadian Parliament of a motion supporting the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Chief of the Assembly of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL), Ghislain Picard, reiterates his request to Quebec's
National Assembly.


"The recognition of the Declaration by the House of Commons
testifies to the legitimacy and the pertinence of this tool in the Canadian
system. Therefore, there is no longer any reason for the National Assembly, to
not adopt a motion of support and to commit to respect it", stated Ghislain
Picard.
The motion of support to the Universal Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples was adopted by a majority of MPs of the House of Commons,
on April 8. The Members of Parliament of the Conservative party were the only
ones who voted against the motion. While denouncing the attitude of Stephen
Harper's party on the issue of the vote, the First Nations of Quebec and
Labrador welcome the gesture of the Parliament, which constitutes an important
step towards the recognition of their fundamental rights.
It should be noted that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples was adopted by a strong majority vote, on September 13,
2007 by the United Nations General Assembly, after more than twenty years of
negotiations. One hundred forty-three countries had then voted in favor of the
Declaration, 11 had abstained and only 4, including Canada, had voted against.
Since that vote, the AFNQL has requested on many occasions, from the elected
officials of the National Assembly, to adopt a motion of support to this
Declaration, which is recognized as the tool ratifying the "minimal standards
required for the survival, the dignity and the well-being of Indigenous
Peoples of the world". "Quebec cannot hide behind the federal, since it
exercises a great number of authorities which are directly concerned by the
Declaration, such as land management and the exploitation of natural
resources", stated Chief Picard.
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
An important delegation of the First Nations of Quebec will participate
in the 7th session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which will be
held in New York, from April 21 to May 2. Under the leadership of the Chief of
the Assembly of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL), Ghislain
Picard, this delegation will take this opportunity to denounce the colonialist
attitude of the Canadian government, and particularly its refusal to support
the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
"The Canadian government has unveiled the extent of its discriminatory
and paternalistic policy towards the First Nations, by refusing to adopt the
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples", stated Ghislain Picard.
The First Nations of Quebec and Labrador wish to remind the government of
Canada, that, in spite of the fact that it voted against the Declaration, the
rights which are contained therein, still apply both in this country as well
as anywhere else.
In October 2007, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Louise Arbour, had expressed profound disappointment and surprise that a
country like Canada voted against the Declaration considering that it likes to
be viewed abroad as an example of tolerance and diversity.
"The Canadian government must hasten to respect the vote of the House of
Commons and adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples. The government must also take the appropriate measures to put an end
to its discriminatory policies and laws, which jeopardize the right of the
First Nations to self-determination", proclaims Chief Picard.
In regards to the Permanent Forum
The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues was created by
the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in July 2000, whose goals are to
provide advice to the United Nations on Indigenous issues, and to raise public
awareness on these issues. It comprises 16 independent experts who sit in a
personal capacity.
In regards to the AFNQL
The Assembly of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador is the regional
organization which represents the Chiefs of the First Nations of Quebec and
Labrador. Those who will be participating to this delegation are, Grand Chief
Lucien Wabanonik (Tribal Council of the Anishinabeg Algonquin Nation), Grand
Chief Eva Ottawa (Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw), Chief Jean-Charles Piétacho
(Conseil des Innus de Ekuanitshit) as well as several professionals of the
AFNQL, of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Health and Social Services
Commission, of the First Nations Education Council, of the Economic
Development Commission, and of the First Nations Human Resources Development
Commission of Quebec.
For media accreditation at the United Nations - Telephone:
(212) 963-7164 / Web Site:
http://www.un.org/media/accreditation/require.htm
For further information: Alain Garon, Informations and Communications
Officer, AFNQL, (418) 842-5020, Cell.: (418) 956-5720

Dooda (NO) Desert Rock welcomes Longest Walk Southern Route

Dooda (NO) Desert Rock welcomes Dennis Banks and the Longest Walk Southern Route. Navajos are fighting a power plant on their land which is being pushed by the Navajo Nation Council and Navajo President Joe Shirley, Jr. Polluting industries which destroy the earth, water and air -- including power plants, coal mining and gas wells -- provide the majority of the revenues for elected tribal politicians' salaries and travel expense funds.
Courtesy Photo Elouise Brown

DOODA DESERT ROCK HOSTS THE LONGEST WALK II!

By Elouise Brown
Dooda Desert Rock
http://www.desert-rock-blog.com/

CHACO RIO, NM - On April 6th, DDR welcomed over 100 participants of the Longest Walk II to New Mexico, as they made their historic walk across the United States to raise awareness about Native American rights and environmental issues. The event marked the thirty-year anniversary of the first Longest Walk journey in 1978.
Supporters from all over the World showed up to support Dooda Desert Rock organization in this great, historical event. One observer noted that, “It was like a gathering of the United Nations with people from a variety of cultures, ages, and backgrounds. Navajos, Chinese, Japanese, African-American, a Tibetan monk, Russia, Australia, Poland and Anglos were the groups recognized, and there were others as well as 628 plus supporters,” said a supporter, William Southworth. DDR members began the day with the sunrise ceremony and the flag ceremony, before making the pre-dawn trip to the Arizona-New Mexico border to meet the Longest Walk II walkers and join them in their walk to the DDR camp at Chaco Rio.
Several supporters remained at the DDR camp, cooking food, and making last minute preparations for the Mother Earth/Father Sky Music Festival. The air was charged with the excitement and anticipation of the Longest Walk II’s arrival. When the walkers first appeared on the distant horizon, the echoes of war cries punctuated the air. As the Longest Walk II made their final approach into the DDR camp, the large welcoming crowd erupted in cheers of support for the brothers and sisters making this historic walk.
Native American leader and AIM co-founder, Dennis Banks, headed the procession, followed by DDR president Elouise Brown, DDR group, staff carriers, flag bearers, and the walkers. It was a proud and emotional moment for DDR and all of the supporters who turned out for the event. As the walkers entered the camp, they formed a circle with the supporters, and listened as Mr. Banks greeted the crowd. He talked about their travels, noting that they were on their 53rd day of travel, and had walked 1330 miles on their journey from San Francisco to Washington D.C. He recognized and thanked the staff carriers and flag bearers, explaining that the staffs represented the history of the Native people, and the flags came from the various states represented in the walk. Mr. Banks spoke about the eagle feathers he carried, saying, “Each of you are like an eagle feather. When you drop, there is a ceremony to pick you back up, and if you drop again, there is still a ceremony to send you on your spirit journey.”
During his opening remarks, Mr. Banks recalled that his initial resistance to stopping at the DDR camp was changed once he gave Elouise Brown an opportunity to tell the story of the struggle her family, and the Dine people, have been engaged in since first learning about the proposed plan to build the Desert Rock power plant. Inspired by the story of a woman leading the charge to stop this ill-conceived project, Mr. Banks graciously lent his support and agreed to come to Chaco Rio. He acknowledged the tremendous work Ms. Brown and the DDR organization have done to preserve the sacred environment and the Dine way of life, and publicly offered his support towards DDR’s continued efforts.
Among the walkers were several people who had made the first walk in 1978. The youngest walker celebrated her 17th birthday during the journey. She was the daughter of a woman who had participated in the 1969-1971 occupation of Alcatraz, and been a part of the 1978 walk. In a moving interview, she described the profound effect her mother had had on her life, and the inspiration and support she received when she decided to join this walk. After the welcoming ceremonies, DDR provided a wonderful feast for everyone, and the Mother Earth/Father Sky Music Festival got underway. A variety of Native American bands entertained the crowd throughout the day and into the evening. Interviews with several people recognized the spiritual connectedness and inspiration felt in the presence of the Longest Walk II participants and the continued grass roots environmental work spearheaded by DDR. “This is a great turn-out for a great cause. It is an awakening for a lot of people. We really need to raise the consciousness of everybody in order to put it on a national agenda. This event is one of the most beautiful happenings I’ve ever been blessed to witness. Seeing so many people gathered together towards such a beautiful effort is just so moving,” said another supporter, Christy Ferrato.
During the Longest Walk II’s travels, participants are learning about Native American issues and environmental concerns across the country. On April 7th, DDR escorted the Longest Walk II to the proposed Desert Rock power plant site. Walkers had an opportunity to experience the beauty of the land, see ancestral burial sites, and other sacred sites. The story of DDR’s work to halt the construction of this environmentally disastrous project was shared with the Longest Walk II, and they will be taking this story all the way to Washington D.C. In July, the Longest Walk II will present a charter of recommendations to protect Native people and the environment, based upon what they learn as they make their journey.
The walkers returned to the DDR camp for another evening of food, music, and storytelling. Ms. Brown had the opportunity to spend several hours talking with Mr. Banks, discussing DDR issues and listening to Mr. Banks insights about these issues. The next day, DDR led the walk to Crownpoint, NM, and they have been walking with the Longest Walk II ever since. They plan to continue walking all the way to Washington D.C.

For more on the Longest Walk:
www.longestwalk.org/

Power plants and exhausts in US cause melting Arctic, destroying polar bear habitat
Statement of the Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace, and Natural Resources Defense Councilon Bush Administration’s Request for Further Delay in Protecting Polar Bears From Global Warming
http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0417-16.htm

Mass Graves Revealed at Indian Schools in Canada

Location of Mass Graves Revealed
http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/
via Mohawk Nation News

Breaking News:
Location of Mass Graves of Residential School Children Revealed for the First Time; Independent Tribunal Established Squamish Nation Territory ("Vancouver, Canada")
Thursday, April 10, 2008 11:00 am PST

At a public ceremony and press conference held today outside the colonial "Indian Affairs" building in downtown Vancouver, the Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD) released a list of twenty eight mass graves across Canada holding the remains of untold numbers of aboriginal children who died in Indian Residential Schools.
The list was distributed today to the world media and to United Nations agencies, as the first act of the newly-formed International Human Rights Tribunal into Genocide in Canada (IHRTGC), a non-governmental body established by indigenous elders.
In a statement read by FRD spokesperson Eagle Strong Voice, it was declared that the IHRTGC would commence its investigations on April 15, 2008, the fourth Annual Aboriginal Holocaust Memorial Day. This inquiry will involve international human rights observers from Guatemala and Cyprus, and will convene aboriginal courts of justice where those persons and institutions responsible for the death and suffering of residential school children will be tried and sentenced. (The complete Statement and List of Mass Graves is reproduced below).
Eagle Strong Voice and IHRTGC elders will present the Mass Graves List at the United Nations on April 19, and will ask United Nations agencies to protect and monitor the mass graves as part of a genuine inquiry and judicial prosecution of those responsible for this Canadian Genocide.Eyewitness Sylvester Greene spoke to the media at today's event, and described how he helped bury a young Inuit boy at the United Church's Edmonton residential school in 1953."We were told never to tell anyone by Jim Ludford, the Principal, who got me and three other boys to bury him. But a lot more kids got buried all the time in that big grave next to the school."
For more information: http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/, or write to the IHRTGC at: genocidetribunal@yahoo.ca Issued on Squamish Territory, 10 April, 2008, under the authority of Hereditary Chief Kiapilano............. ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .......
Press Statement:
Mass Graves of Residential School Children Identified – Independent Inquiry Launched
We are gathered today to publicly disclose the location of twenty eight mass graves of children who died in Indian Residential Schools across Canada, and to announce the formation of an independent, non-governmental inquiry into the death and disappearance of children in these schools.We estimate that there are hundreds, and possibly thousands, of children buried in these grave sites alone. The Catholic, Anglican and United Church, and the government of Canada, operated the schools and hospitals where these mass graves are located. We therefore hold these institutions and their officers legally responsible and liable for the deaths of these children.
We have no confidence that the very institutions of church and state that are responsible for these deaths can conduct any kind of impartial or real inquiry into them. Accordingly, as of April 15, 2008, we are establishing an independent, non governmental inquiry into the death and disappearance of Indian residential school children across Canada.
This inquiry shall be known as The International Human Rights Tribunal into Genocide in Canada (IHRTGC), and is established under the authority of the following hereditary chiefs, who shall serve as presiding judges of the Tribunal:Hereditary Chief Kiapilano of the Squamish NationChief Louis Daniels (Whispers Wind), Anishinabe Nation Chief Svnoyi Wohali (Night Eagle), Cherokee NationLillian Shirt, Clan Mother, Cree NationElder Ernie Sandy, Anishinabe (Ojibway) NationHereditary Chief Steve Sampson, Chemainus NationAmbassador Chief Red Jacket of Turtle IslandToday, we are releasing to this Tribunal and to the people of the world the enclosed information on the location of mass graves connected to Indian residential schools and hospitals in order to prevent the destruction of this crucial evidence by the Canadian government, the RCMP and the Anglican, Catholic and United Church of Canada.We call upon indigenous people on the land where these graves are located to monitor and protect these sites vigilantly, and prevent their destruction by occupational forces such as the RCMP and other government agencies.Our Tribunal will commence on April 15 by gathering all of the evidence, including forensic remains, that is necessary to charge and indict those responsible for the deaths of the children buried therein.Once these persons have been identified and detained, they will be tried and sentenced in indigenous courts of justice established by our Tribunal and under the authority of hereditary chiefs.As a first step in this process, the IHRTGC will present this list of mass graves along with a statement to the United Nations in New York City on April 19, 2008. The IHRTGC will be asking the United Nations to declare these mass graves to be protected heritage sites, and will invite international human rights observers to monitor and assist its work.Issued by the Elders and Judges of the IHRTGC Interim Spokesperson: Eagle Strong VoiceEmail: genocidetribunal@yahoo.ca pager: 1-888-265-1007IHRTGC Sponsors include The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared, The Truth Commission into Genocide in Canada, the Defensoria Indigenia of Guatemala, Canadians for the Separation of Church and State, and a confederation of indigenous elders across Canada and Turtle Island............. ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... .......

Mass Graves at former Indian Residential Schools and Hospitals across CanadaA. British Columbia
1. Port Alberni: Presby
terian- United Church school (1895-1973), now occupied by the Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council (NTC) office, Kitskuksis Road. Grave site is a series of sinkhole rows in hills 100 metres due west of the NTC building, in thick foliage, past an unused water pipeline. Children also interred at Tseshaht reserve cemetery, and in wooded gully east of Catholic cemetery on River Road.
2. Alert Bay: St. Michael’s Anglican school (1878-1975), situated on Cormorant Island offshore from Port McNeill. Presently building is used by Namgis First Nation. Site is an overgrown field adjacent to the building, and also under the foundations of the present new building, constructed during the 1960’s. Skeletons seen “between the walls”.
3. Kuper Island: Catholic school (1890-1975), offshore from Chemainus. Land occupied by Penelakut Band. Former building is destroyed except for a staircase. Two grave sites: one immediately south of the former building, in a field containing a conventional cemetery; another at the west shoreline in a lagoon near the main dock.
4. Nanaimo Indian Hospital: Indian Affairs and United Church experimental facility (1942-1970) on Department of National Defense land. Buildings now destroyed. Grave sites are immediately east of former buildings on Fifth avenue, adjacent to and south of Malaspina College.
5. Mission: St. Mary’s Catholic school (1861-1984), adjacent to and north of Lougheed Highway and Fraser River Heritage Park. Original school buildings are destroyed, but many foundations are visible on the grounds of the Park.In this area there are two grave sites: a) immediately adjacent to former girls’ dormitory and present cemetery for priests, and a larger mass grave in an artificial earthen mound, north of the cemetery among overgrown foliage and blackberry bushes, and b) east of the old school grounds, on the hilly slopes next to the field leading to the newer school building which is presently used by the Sto:lo First Nation. Hill site is 150 metres west of building.
6. North Vancouver: Squamish (1898-1959) and Sechelt (1912-1975) Catholic schools, buildings destroyed. Graves of children who died in these schools interred in the Squamish Band Cemetery, North Vancouver.
7. Sardis: Coqualeetza Methodist-United Church school (1889-1940), then experimental hospital run by federal government (1940-1969). Native burial site next to Sto:lo reserve and Little Mountain school, also possibly adjacent to former school-hospital building.
8. Cranbrook: St. Eugene Catholic school (1898-1970), recently converted into a tourist “resort” with federal funding, resulting in the covering-over of a mass burial site by a golf course in front of the building. Numerous grave sites are around and under this golf course.9. Williams Lake: Catholic school (1890-1981), buildings destroyed but foundations intact, five miles south of city. Grave sites reported north of school grounds and under foundations of tunnel-like structure.10. Meares Island (Tofino): Kakawis-Christie Catholic school (1898-1974). Buildings incorporated into Kakawis Healing Centre. Body storage room reported in basement, adjacent to burial grounds south of school.11. Kamloops: Catholic school (1890-1978). Buildings intact. Mass grave south of school, adjacent to and amidst orchard. Numerous burials witnessed there.
12. Lytton: St. George’s Anglican school (1901-1979). Graves of students flogged to death, and others, reported under floorboards and next to playground.
13. Fraser Lake: Lejac Catholic school (1910-1976), buildings destroyed. Graves reported under old foundations and between the walls.Alberta:1. Edmonton: United Church school (1919-1960), presently site of the Poundmaker Lodge in St. Albert. Graves of children reported south of former school site, under thick hedge that runs north-south, adjacent to memorial marker.2. Edmonton: Charles Camsell Hospital (1945-1967), building intact, experimental hospital run by Indian Affairs and United Church. Mass graves of children from hospital reported south of building, near staff garden.3. Saddle Lake: Bluequills Catholic school (1898-1970), building intact, skeletons and skulls observed in basement furnace. Mass grave reported adjacent to school.4. Hobbema: Ermineskin Catholic school (1916-1973), five intact skeletons observed in school furnace. Graves under former building foundations.Manitoba:1. Brandon: Methodist-United Church school (1895-1972). Building intact. Burials reported west of school building.2. Portage La Prairie: Presbyterian- United Church school (1895-1950). Children buried at nearby Hillside Cemetery. 3. Norway House: Methodist-United Church school (1900-1974). “Very old” grave site next to former school building, demolished by United Church in 2004.Ontario:1. Thunder Bay: Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital, still in operation. Experimental centre. Women and children reported buried adjacent to hospital grounds.2. Sioux Lookout: Pelican Lake Catholic school (1911-1973). Burials of children in mound near to school.3. Kenora: Cecilia Jeffrey school, Presbyterian- United Church (1900-1966). Large burial mound east of former school.4. Fort Albany: St. Anne’s Catholic school (1936-1964). Children killed in electric chair buried next to school. 5. Spanish: Catholic school (1883-1965). Numerous graves.6. Brantford: Mohawk Institute, Anglican church (1850-1969), building intact. Series of graves in orchard behind school building, under rows of trees.7. Sault Ste. Marie: Shingwauk Anglican school (1873-1969), some intact buildings. Several graves of children reported on grounds of old school.Quebec:1. Montreal: Allan Memorial Institute, McGill University, still in operation since opening in 1940. MKULTRA experimental centre. Mass grave of children killed there north of building, on southern slopes of Mount Royal behind stone wall.
Sources:- Eyewitness accounts from survivors of these institutions, catalogued in Hidden from History: The Canadian Holocaust (2nd ed., 2005) by Kevin Annett. Other accounts are from local residents. See http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/ - Documents and other material from the Department of Indian Affairs RG 10 microfilm series on Indian Residential Schools in Koerner Library, University of B.C.- Survey data and physical evidence obtained from grave sites in Port Alberni, Mission, and other locations.This is a partial list and does not include all of the grave sites connected to Indian residential Schools and hospitals across Canada. In many cases, children who were dying of diseases were sent home to die by school and church officials, and the remains of other children who died at the school were incinerated in the residential school furnaces.
This information is submitted by The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD) to the world media, the United Nations, and to the International Human Rights Tribunal into Genocide in Canada (IHRTGC). The IHRTGC will commence its investigations on April 15, 2008 on Squamish Nation territory.
For more information on the independent inquiry into genocide in Canada being conducted by the IHRTGC, write to: genocidetribunal@ yahoo.ca10 April, 2008Squamish Nation Territory (“ Vancouver, Canada ”)

Posted by Mohawk Nation News
poster: katenies
PR Photos hid the truth of genocide in residential schools:
Photo 1: Mi'kmaq girls in sewing class at the Roman Catholic-run Shubenacadie Indian Residential School in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, 1929: Library and Archives Canada Photo 2: A group of nuns with Aboriginal students - ca. 1890: H.J. Woodside/Library and Archives Canada

Canada's Genocide Continues

Indigenous leaders jailed for standing strong to protect their homelands from mining

On March 18th, 2008 five community leaders, including Chief Donny Morris from Kitchenumahkoosib Inninuwug (KI) were jailed for six months for contempt of a court injunction which prohibits them from interfering with a mineral exploration program by Canadian-owned Platinex Inc. The community is gravely concerned about the possible impact to their land and water where they have lived in the Boreal forest for over 5,000 years. It has been over a month and these leaders (one of whom is a grandmother) have still not been released. Please do what you can – sign the online petition and send an email to the Canadian Premier. www.freeki6.ca

South Texas: US to enter Tamez property on Tuesday

Homeland Security to enter private land of Lipan Apache
on Tuesday, first step to seizure for US/Mexico border wall

Message from Margo Tamez, Lipan Apache

Dear friends:

The Department of Homeland Security was given approval by Judge Hanen in Federal Court--Brownsville, Texas, to conduct surveys of our lands in El Calaboz. We argued that the government did not provide consultation, nor did they negotiate in good faith. Under protest, we negotiated with the government in good faith, outlining our needs to protect cultural, ecological, ceremonial, burial, and livelihood rights.

The U.S. government is following through, and is seeking to do a one hour survey, with 2 environmental engineers, and one Border Patrol Officer on Friday, 4/18/08.

At this time we are urgently requesting a mobilization to El Calaboz and to bring expertise on these four critical issues which the Omnibus Act authorized and requires of DHS in consultation with local communities prior to condemnation:

1. the Environment
2. the Culture
3. the Economic Livelihood
4. the Way of Life

WE ARE URGENTLY SEEKING EXPERTS related to the above to travel to El Calaboz, South Texas either Friday or Tuesday.

Our attorneys are attempting to seek relief for FRIDAY, due to the fact that my mother, Eloisa G. Tamez, is visiting my critically ill niece in Minneapolis and cannot be on the family lands until Tuesday, at the earliest.

We are urgently needing folks with any expertise in the ecological, environmental, airshed, watershed, Apache culture, and economic, cultural, way of life impacts and threats to these to COME FORWARD AT THIS TIME, and make your critiques of the building of the wall visible in El Calaboz.

Our attorney, Peter Schey discussed with us the potential for experts to re-focus the energy for battling the government on issues of the environment, ecologies, climate, and corporate polluting, privatization of the Rio Grande to corporations and the rise of militarization as the threats to indigenous people, land-based farmers and ranchers, agrarian societies, aquaculture societies of the Rio Grande along the Texas border, etc.

The cases in Texas are currently the only fora where consultation is required prior to condemnation, and therefore we urge all experts who recently launched legal cases against the U.S. government to strongly consider the traction to be gained here if all were to suddenly amass at the El Calaboz site survey of the U.S.

Those who are interested in sending your organizations representatives to our community, please contact me at 509-595-4445.

Thank you
Margo Tamez
(Co-founder, Lipan Apache Women Defense)
Photo: Eloisa Tamez by Jay Johnson Castro

Eloisa Tamez' attorney assembling experts after federal judge rules in favor of Homeland Security

Attorney Peter Schey:
The Government plans to have a Border Patrol agent and two environmental engineers visit Dr. Eloisa Tamez’s property in El Calaboz, Texas, for a preliminary environmental assessment on Tuesday at 1 PM.
If possible, it would be very helpful if a small team of experts could be assembled including one or more experts on (1) border environmental issues, (2) cultural / indigenous issues, and (3) land value issues (including easements).
This team will be crucial not only to assist property owners during these initial stages of surveying border properties, but even more importantly when in a few months the Government starts to condemn land permanently mainly in AZ and Texas to build a border wall.
Formulating an expert border team is critically important.
Please circulate this email to anyone with expertise who may be interested. Academics, please circulate to your listservs. Experts interested in helping, please email me your resume and a couple of sentences about your interest.
If any experts may be available to be at Dr. Tamez’s land in El Calaboz on Tuesday at 1 PM, please email Eloisa Tamez Eloisa.tamez1@gmail.com, Margo Tamez sumalhepa.nde.defense@gmail.com and pschey@centerforhumanrights.org. Thanks.

Best wishes,
Peter A. Schey
President and Executive Director
Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law256 S. Occidental Blvd.
Los Angeles, Ca. 90057Telephone: (213) 388-8693 ext. 104Facsimile: (213) 386-9484
Electronic mail: pschey@centerforhumanrights.org
http://www.centerforhumanrights.org/
http://www.centerforhumanrights.org/
http://www.legalizationusa.org/
http://www.legalizationusa.org/
http://www.immigrantchildren.org/
http://www.immigrantchildren.org/
http://www.casa-libre.org/
http://www.casa-libre.org/
http://www.vocesunidas.org/
http://www.vocesunidas.org/
http://www.unityblueprint.org/
http://www.unityblueprint.org/

NY: Preparations underway for UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues ‘08 A Preparatory Meeting/Teach-In Co-Sponsored by Indigenous Environmental Network and the
Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Development

THE CHURCH CENTER, 777 United Nations Plaza, 44th Street & 1st Avenue, 8th Floor
Saturday - April 19, 2008
AGENDA
8: 30am Breakfast
9:00am Traditional Greetings – Elder - Oren Lyons, to be confirmed
Welcome and Introductory comments – Facilitated by Tom Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network and Tia Oros, Seventh Generation Fund
9:30am Introduction to the United Nations: A Brief Overview and Orientation to the world of the United Nations and the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
- Peggy Bird (Kewa) Native Women’s Advocacy Center
- Tonya Gonnella Frichner (Onondaga) North American Regional Representative to the UNPFII / SGF Vice Chair, to be confirmed
10:30 – 11:30am Navigating the UN and the PFII System – How to Engage and be Effective
· Yolanda Teran (Kichwa) Andes Chinchasuyo
· Manny Pino (Acoma), Laguna-Acoma for a Safe Environment and Indigenous Environmental Network
11:30am – Noon Questions and Answers (Q and A)
12 – 1 pm Lunch
1 – 2:30pm Panel on Indigenous Issues and Strategies Related to Climate change, Bio-Cultural Diversity and Livelihoods
· Casey Horinek-Camp, (Ponca), Pa-Tha-Tah Society, Oklahoma
· George Poitras,(Mikisew Cree First Nation), Alberta Canada
· Arthur Manuel (Neskonlith Band of Shushwap) Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade, British Colombia, Canada
· Anastasia Pinto (Meitei) CORE Centre for Organisation Research & Education (Indigenous Peoples' Centre for Policy and Human Rights in India's Eastern Himalayan Territories, MANIPURIndia)
2:30- 3 pm Q and A
3 pm Final thoughts
3:30pm Adjourn – Delegations will get registered or attend the Global Indigenous Caucus

Selma Alabama in Yankton SD: Police occupation and arrests

Photo: Police occupation in Yankton (double click to enlarge)

AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT GRAND GOVERNING COUNCIL
April 16, 2008
Selma, Alabama – Wagner, SD – Bull Conner Lives On!

Sheriff Ray Westindorf, Sheriff of Charles Mix County in South Dakota and the SD Highway Patrol has initiated a police occupation of Indian Land on the Yankton Reservation. An out of state Hog Farm Corporation has set up shop on the Reservation against the wishes of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, local farmers and community members. The Hog Farm is surrounded by Reservation land and the only access road is under the jurisdiction of the US Bureau of Indian Affairs.
On April 15th Yankton Sioux Tribal Members began a peaceful protest against the Hog Farm and were met immediately with illegal law enforcement presence and arrest. To date twenty-two people have been arrested on trumped up charges and there has been a total over reaction of law enforcement numbering up to 52 SD Highway Patrol Cars with 22 more Highway Patrol cars waiting in reserve. Some patrol cars from as far away as the state of Iowa. The Highway Patrol has set up snipers with rifles on top of two command posts they have established near the scene. The State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction on Indian land and the highway leading to the Hog Farm is Indian Land where Tribal members and others have been arrested while peacefully protesting. This amount of law enforcement presence is unprecedented for a peaceful protest and violates the legal Jurisdiction of the Yankton Sioux Tribe.
Sheriff Westindorf is carrying on the Spirit of Bull Conner in Selma, Alabama during the Civil Rights era of the nineteen sixties. The Sheriff’s son was awarded the electrical contract for the building of the Hog Farm. Is law enforcement now being used to protect out of state corporate interests and family members of the Sheriff in the State of South Dakota? Corporate Hog Farms have been outlawed in many states in the US. How many Highway Patrol cars have been dispatched to White Peoples’ protests in South Dakota? Racism is alive and well in South Dakota! The Peace and Justice Center has been notified and has dispatched observers to the scene with Catholic Nuns vowing to protest and be arrested if necessary to bring attention to the violation of Human Rights of the Yankton Sioux Tribal Members. The Dakota American Indian Movement has observers at the scene and if the community decides to invite the National American Indian Movement to the reservation to protect the People from the SD Highway Patrol we will respond with a call to all of our members in the Upper Midwest to travel to Yankton to help the community in any way possible.
Page two
The International Indian Treaty Council has dispatched attorneys to the scene to document the Human Rights Violations which will be presented to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues meeting, beginning in New York on Monday April 21, 2008.
Contact numbers for the American Indian Movement are:
Clyde Bellecourt, National AIM 612 251-5836
Dennis Banks, National AIM 218-654-5885
Russell Means, Dakota AIM 605 867-1025
Bill Means, International Indian Treaty Council 612 386-4030

Corn planting at DQ University on Sunday

GHOST MACHINE Group
AFFILIATED OBSIDIAN NATION AT DQ UNIVERISTY
April 16, 20081:35 p.m.
Honoring of the Elders Gathering and Corn Planting Ceremony at DQ UniversityApril 20, 2008*Sunday 10:00 a.m. -to- 6:00 p.m.
MEN: Bill WrightJack D. Forbes Coyote Owl GeorgeDarrell Fairbanks Lee Polanco Sr. Joe Ferguusen ("Razzle Dazzle")Darrell Standing ElkBob Agger Al George
WOMEN: Senora Cobb Leona Begay Susan JimPat Apkaw Mary Peedee Genevieve Seely Rita Montes Martin Dorinda Moreno Dagmar

Global Green Indigenous Film Festival

Global Green Indigenous Film Festival
April 18-20, 2008
Santa Fe, NM

WHO
The National Tribal Environmental Council (NTEC), the New Mexico Tourism Department and the Jicarilla Apache Nation will take the global stage launching the inaugural Global Green Indigenous Film Festival.
WHAT: An Indigenous environmental film festival representing nine countries and endorsed by UNESCO, an agency of the United Nations.
WHERE: Santa Fe, New Mexico at the Cinema Café, Center for Contemporary Arts, and NM Film Museum Theater.
WHEN: April 18-20, 2008
FILMS: Over 40 films from around the globe will be presented, their common theme being that they address the relationship between Indigenous communities and mother earth
SOME FEATURED FILMS INCLUDE:

The National Geographic All Roads Film Project will open and close the festival. Opening night, April 18 at 7:00p, will feature Actic Son. This Canadian/ U.S. documentary directed by Andrew Walton tells the story of Stanley Njootli Jr., who escapes a drug-fueled city life to join his father and his Gwitchin roots in the rugged Arctic , and embarks on a universal quest to discover who he is and where he belongs. On closing night, April 20 at 6:00p, Kekexili: Mountain Patrol, a Chinese/ Tibetan film directed by Lu Chuan will be shown. Experience the unbelievable rugged and death-defying true story of Tibetan volunteers who battle the elements, poachers, and each other in their noble quest to save the Chiru antelope in the inhospitable mountains of Tibet . Both films will be screened at the Santa Fe Film Center at Cinema Café.
Oil on Ice is a vivid, compelling and comprehensive documentary connecting the fate of the Artic National Wildlife Refuge to the decisions America makes about energy policy, transportation choices and other seemingly unrelated matters.
Uno deglie Utimi (One of the Last), Italy .
Last Yoik Saammi Forest, Finland.
Sacred Ground, South Australia .
Herdswoman, Sweden.
Shadow of the Salmon, Washington .
Islands at Risk-Genetic Engineering, Hawaii .
Yookkene, Alaska.
OTHER EVENTS
Tantoo Cardinal
At its first annual Global Green Indigenous Film Festival will be acclaimed actress Tantoo Cardinal. Widely acknowledged as being the most recognizable Aboriginal actress of our time, Ms. Cardinal is of Métis descent and was born in Alberta , Canada . She has appeared in over fifty films and television series, including "Dances with Wolves", "Legends of the Fall" and "Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman". Ms. Cardinal has been honored with numerous awards, among them the National Aboriginal Achievement Award, Wind and Glacier Voices Festival Lifetime Achievement Award, Rudy Martin Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Native American in Film, Toronto Women in Film and Television Outstanding Achievement Award, and the Harvard Film Archive Sun Hill Award for Excellence in Native American Filmmaking. Ms. Cardinal is also an activist and author.

Image of Hope is a photo contest initiative of Earth Care International, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to educate and empower youth to create a thriving, just and sustainable world. Youth ages 12 to 25 were invited to submit an original photo of an environmental problem, an original photo of an environmental solution and an artist statement. The first, second and third place winners of the Image of Hope contest will be announced at the Festival's opening night reception, and the top 10 entries will be exhibited at the Cinema Café for the duration of the Festival.

Youth Film Workshop
CCA Moving Images and Digital Lab1050 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe, NMSaturday, April 19, 2008, 8:00 am - 2 :00 pmThis NTEC-sponsored, interactive workshop is a challenge for youth to learn about the elements of making a film. It allows participants to actually write, shoot, and edit a film project under the mentorship of real world filmmakers in just 6 hours! There's no cost associated; however it's by pre-registration only - first come, first served. For more info visit http://www.yiyonline.org/ or contact Candice at 505.216.7681. Workshop Leader: Jeremiah Bitsui.

Panels

Going Green with Wind and SunNTEC's Panel Discussion Especially for the Environmentally-ConsciousHotel Santa Fe1501 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NMFriday, April 18, 2008, 10:00 am - 12:00 pmAn examination of tribal renewable energy programs, specifically large-scale wind and solar energy. Moderator: Jerry Pardilla, Executive Director, NTEC. Panelists: Bob Gough, Intertribal Council on Utility Policy; Chip Comins, Filmmaker; Jonny Stiffarm, Native Energy; Roger Fragua, Cota Holdings.Green Filmmaking, and Filming on Tribal LandsGGIFF's Panel Discussion Especially for Tribal LeadersNew Mexico Film Museum418 Montezuma Avenue, Santa Fe, NMSaturday, April 19, 2008, 10:00 - 11:15 amWhat can the state government do to promote filmmaking for interested tribes, as well as assist with the protection of tribal lands through Green Filmmaking practices? What are the latest Green Filmmaking initiatives? Join us for an informational discussion with industry experts. Moderator: Tony Estrada, Wild Horse Films, Festival Director, GGIFF. Panelists: Lisa Strout, Director of the NM Film Office; Casey Haymes, NM Film Office; Sarah Cottrell, Energy & Environmental Policy Advisor.Speaking in Two Worlds: Exploring Indigenous Languages In FilmInstitute of American Indian Arts-CACS Auditorium83 A-Van-Nu-Po, Santa Fe, NM Saturday, April 19, 2008, 2:00 - 5:00 pmAcross the Native American cinemascape, the use of languages in film is reaching a wider audience. Hear from filmmakers who explore the oral tradition though filmic storytelling in different thought-provoking ideas and context. These filmmakers speak many voices, whether exploring their culture, or expressing personal stories, each film holds its own perspective. Join this special film and languages presentation hosted by the Institute of the American Indian Arts and the Indigenous Languages Institute in partnership with the Global Green Indigenous Film Festival. Moderator: Carlos Peinado, Director, New Media Arts, IAIA. Panelists: Jonathan Sims (Acoma); Cora McKenna (Nambé Tewa), Medina Swazo-Hinds (San Illdefonso); other GGIFF Filmmakers.
FOR MORE INFO
Visit http://www.ggiff.com/
or call 505-242-2175

Live from Greensburg, Kansas

LISTEN LIVE: THE LONGEST WALK 2 visits GREENSBURG

www.earthcycles.net/

By Joni Tucker

GREENSBURG, Kansas -- Walkers will be spending that evening and the following day of the 14th touring Greensburg with GreenTown representative Alanna Goodman.

Some highlights will include dinner Sunday evening with Greensburg residents, meeting The Green Club high school students, viewing progress of 5-4-7 Art Center, and visiting with GreenTown Chairman Wylan Fleener.

For more information regarding The Longest Walk check out their website at http://www.blogger.com/ plus Northern Route information for photos and news articles at http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/ and for the radio web cast at http://www.earthcycles.net/

http://www.greensburggreentown.org/

http://www.547artscenter.org/
A SELF SUSTAINING COMMUNITY
House Representative Dennis McKinney will be here Monday morning to meet the walkers, as well as other city officials and guests. The walkers will take a tour of the town that day.

THE LONGEST WALK 2 visits WICHITA
Walkers arrive directly from Kingman to the Mid America All Indian Center for City events. DAY 1 - April 16 5 pm – 6:30

Walker Welcome Reception at MAAIC with dignitaries . 6 30 - 7 30

Meal and Forum 7 30 - 830 Gourd Dance and Intertribal Dance
DAY 2 - April 17
stay all day at retreat for open house- community meet/greet.

Mid America All Indian Center

650 N Seneca, Wichita, KS

316-262-5221

Riverview Retreat Center

5225 N Sullivan, Wichita, KS

316-838-6230

Arizona Republic, Worst Headline of the Day

Don't be deceived by the Arizona Republic, coal mining means the death of the Navajo people and pocket change for Navajo politicians

By Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

In the "Worst Headline of the Day" Department, Arizona Republic wins the prize for this one, "For Navajos, coal means survival."
This headline shows either the reporter's lack of knowledge, or the newspaper's agenda. The truth is that coal mines mean survival for tribal politicians who cut backdoor energy deals.
The revenues -- from coal mines, power plants and other destructive development destroying the sacred earth -- primarily pay the salaries and travel expenses for the 88-member Navajo Nation Council, Navajo President and staff and others in Window Rock.
Those travel expenses include Navajo Council committee meetings in Las Vegas during the National Indian Finals Rodeo and lavish hotels.
Who doesn't benefit? The Navajo people who live under the powerlines which take electricity to southern California. Most live without running water and electricity. Their children often study by lantern light at night without electricity.
Navajos live with the pollution and diseases of coal fired power plants, strewn radioactive unreclaimed uranium mine tailings and hundreds of spewing oil and gas wells. The air is dangerous to breathe in the area of the Navajos place of origin, Dinetah, in northern New Mexico.
News reporters who have never lived on the Navajo Nation with the people continue to publish these false news stories and glorify coal mining and promote the politicians who abuse their own people.
It is not only environmental racism, but racism of another type. It implies that the Navajo peoples only hope is destructive coal-fired power plants. These power plants not only poison the Navajo peoples own air, land and water, but the particles are also melting the Arctic ice and destroying the homelands of polar bear, walrus and other Arctic life. Power plants and tailpipe emmissions are the major causes of the melting Arcitc, according to scientists.
It is a win-win situation for Bush and his corporate friends, who profiteer from the power plants and are now rushing to claim the melting Northwest Passage to drill for oil and gas.
The deceptive news stories from Arizona Republic and other media benefit corporations like Sithe Global, owned primarily by Blackstone, one of the Bush family cronies and member of the Skull and Bones secret society based at Yale University.
Sithe is cutting the deal with Navajos for the proposed Desert Rock Power Plant, under protest by elderly Navajos on the land, at Dooda (NO) Desert Rock.
Skull and Bones seeks world domination through political power and financial dominion. The production of the first atomic bomb was controlled by members of this secret society, according to the research in "Secrets of the Tomb," by Alexandra Robbins.
Grandfather Prescott Bush dug up Geronimo's skull, according to Skull and Bones own log.
Then, Bush family members and a Skull and Bones attorney attempted to return a skull to a delegation from San Carlos Apache Tribal Council in the 1980s, but they rejected it, since it was the skull of a child, according to San Carlos Apache Raleigh Thompson who served on the council and was part of the delegation to New York.
Don't be deceived by the Arizona Republic and its claims that coal mines are the savior of the Navajo people.
Coal mines are the death of Navajo people and pocket change for Navajo politicians.
.

(Photo: San Juan Power Plant. The San Juan Power Plant and Four Corners Power Plant are the two existing power plants on Navajo Nation land in the Four Corners area near Farmington, NM. It is the same area where the proposed Desert Rock Power Plant would be built. The sacred place of Navajo origin, Dinetah, is also in this region. )

Return to Censored News Homepage:
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

Longest Walk Northern Route Photos by Chris Teves

Longest Walk Northern Route in Kansas/Photo by Chris Teves
More photos at:
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2008/04/longest-walk-chris-teves-photos.html

Kumeyaay in Baha, Mexico, host National Indigenous Congress

Zapatistas Reunion in Kumeyaay's Juntas de Neji, Baha, Mexico

Indigenous Border community hosts National Indigenous Congress on May 3 & 4, 2008

CONVOCATORIA
Tercera Reunión del CNI Noroeste,
Comunidad Indígena Kumiai de Juntas de Nejí, Baja California, México,
3 y 4 de mayo del 2008.
Como resultado de la Segunda Reunión del Congreso Nacional Indígena (CNI) desarrollada en la comunidad de El Mayor Cucapá, Baja California, los días 26 y 27 de enero del 2008 con la participación de los pueblos Cucapá, Kumiai, Purhépecha, durante la cual se analizaron los siguientes temas:
Recuento histórico del CNI.
Intercambio de experiencias de nuestros pueblos.
¿Cómo hemos dado seguimiento a los acuerdos de la primera reunión del CNI noroeste?
Propuestas para la celebración y organización del V CNI en algún punto del norte.
y en la que se obtuvieron los siguientes acuerdos:
l Ratificamos que la propuesta para la sede del V CNI sea una comunidad del territorio kumiai de Baja California, para lo cual presentaremos un anteproyecto en la próxima reunión del CNI Noroeste que incluya: accesos, vialidades, croquis, fotos, recursos, espacios, distancias y servicios disponibles
l Impulsar la organización de los pueblos, abajo y a la izquierda, para expulsar a los invasores de nuestros territorios y avanzar en la lucha anticapitalista.
l Seguir desarrollando y llegar a formalizar nuestro proyecto de vida, uniendo esfuerzos con la sociedad civil para lograr nuestra autonomía.
l Fomentar el intercambio de experiencias y conocimientos técnicos entre los pueblos, en particular el apoyo técnico por parte de los compañeros purhépechas para la apicultura y agricultura orgánica.
l Reiterar el llamado a los jóvenes indígenas que hagan suya la lucha de nuestros pueblos.
l Denunciamos los despojos de tierras y los abusos cometidos en contra de hermanos miembros del pueblo kumiai así como el uso del territorio para la instalación de gasoductos de transnacionales.
l Nos pronunciamos enérgicamente en contra de la nueva andanada de agresiones llevada a cabo por toda la estructura del Estado dirigida a despojar de las tierras recuperadas por el EZLN en 1994. Repudiamos el proceso de paramilitarización que se lleva a cabo en Chiapas donde sobresale la Opddic como instrumento para fomentar la guerra entre hermanos y atacar el núcleo de los logros de la lucha expresados en la Ley Agraria Revolucionaria. Rechazamos los ataques violentos a las bases de apoyo zapatistas que incluyen violencia física, intentos de homicidio, desalojos, robos de cosechas, amenazas, negación al acceso a servicios indispensables como el agua y todo tipo de violación de derechos humanos como ha sucedido en: Mukulúm, Aguazul, Ranchería El Nance, Comunidad 24 de Diciembre, Comunidad San Juan del Río, San Alfredo, Casablanca, Miguel Hidalgo, 20 de Febrero, Nuevo Rosario, en la región de La Garrucha; Nueva Revolución y San Patricio en el Caracol de Roberto Barrios, Cerro de Huitepec en el Caracol de Oventik y Sok’om y Bolom Ajaw.
l Apoyar la lucha del pueblo coca de Mezcala en contra del proyecto que el gobierno de Jalisco quiere imponer en su isla.
l La próxima reunión del CNI Noroeste se llevará a cabo en Juntas de Nejí, territorio kumiai el 5 y 6 de abril del 2008.
CONVOCAMOS a la Tercera Reunión del CNI Noroeste en la Comunidad Indígena Kumiai de Juntas de Nejí, Baja California, México, para celebrarse los días 3 y 4 de mayo del 2008.
PROGRAMA DE ACTIVIDADES:
Día 3 de mayo:
Ceremonia tradicional.
Presentación de asistentes
Recuento de la lucha indígena dentro del CNI.
Historia de la tribu kumiai.
Experiencia de lucha de los pueblos asistentes.
¿Cómo hemos dado seguimiento a los acuerdos de la Segunda Reunión?
Mesa de trabajo: leyes estatales, programas gubernamentales (PROCECE, PROCECOM, CDI), consejos consultivos, proyectos neoliberales (basureros tóxicos, turismo, gasoductos, escalera naútica, energía eólica).
Ceremonia de clausura.
Dia 4 de mayo:
Propuesta para celebración y celebración del V Congreso Nacional Indígena en Juntas de Nejí, territorio kumiai, Baja California.
Ceremonia de Clausura.
Instrucciones para llegar.
Para llegar a la comunidad de Juntas de Nejí, dirigirse a Tecate, Baja California, tomar la carretera pavimentada a Ensenada y salirse en el km. 36 por una terracería –habrá señalamiento-. Pasar Rancho Viejo, dos guarda ganados, Encino Solo, Plateros y a 17 km de la carretera se encuentra Mescuich, sitio de la reunión. Hay servicio de autobuses desde Tecate por la carretera hasta Valle de las Palmas donde también los podemos recoger.
ATENTAMENTE
Por la Reconstitución Integral de Nuestros Pueblos
Nunca Más un México sin Nosotros
Congreso Nacional Indígena Región Noroeste
Pueblos Cucapá, Kumiai, y Purhépecha
Para mayor información comunicarse al correo electrónico http://us.f330.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=cuca.pah@gmail.com, o a los cel. (646) 1 31 76 45, (665) 3 93 59 15

Photo: Subcomandante Marcos and Comandantes in Sonora, Mexico in 2007/Photo Brenda Norrell

Longest Walk in tornado ravaged Greensburg, Kansas

The Longest Walk is in Greensburg, Kansas, devastated by a tornado on May 4, 2007, that destroyed more than 90 percent of the town. The Longest Walk will prepare a feast for the community on Sunday afternoon. Photo Brenda Norrell

Federal court allows Homeland Security power over private land

Nazi rule in the US: Chertoff continues as self-appointed god, squashing the little people

By Brenda Norrell

A federal court ruled in favor of Homeland Security, giving it access to the three acres of land of Lipan Apache Eloisa Tamez, who has been fighting the seizure of her land by the US to build the border wall.
The action follows the Nazi-style action of Homeland Security in April, voiding all federal laws to build the border wall, including NAGPRA, American Indian Religious Freedom Act and all environmental laws that protect species such as the jaguar and Sonoran pronghorn.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff waived 36 federal laws to build the border wall using the Real ID Act. Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club and Congressmen are asking the Supreme Court to intervene, pointing out that Chertoff has overstepped his bounds and is outside the law.
Judge grants US access to land:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5694135.html
Photo of Eloisa Tamez and her daughter Margo Tamez on family land in South Texas. Photo Arnoldo Garcia

Former Secret Service and cops, spying on activists

Former Secret Service agents and cops spied on Greenpeace and other green groups for corporations

MOTHER JONES Exclusive: Cops and Former Secret Service Agents Ran Black Ops on Green Groups
Meet the private security firm that spied on Greenpeace and other environmental outfits for corporate clients. A tale of intrigue, infiltration, and dumpster-diving.
By James Ridgeway
Additional reporting by David Corn, Jennifer Wedekind, Daniel Schulman, and Nick Baumann
April 11, 2008
A private security company organized and managed by former Secret Service officers spied on Greenpeace and other environmental organizations from the late 1990s through at least 2000, pilfering documents from trash bins, attempting to plant undercover operatives within groups, casing offices, collecting phone records of activists, and penetrating confidential meetings. According to company documents provided to Mother Jones by a former investor in the firm, this security outfit collected confidential internal records—donor lists, detailed financial statements, the Social Security numbers of staff members, strategy memos—from these organizations and produced intelligence reports for public relations firms and major corporations involved in environmental controversies. Read article ...
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/04/firm-spied-on-environmental-groups.html


TO VIEW PREVIOUS POSTS, CLICK ON "OLDER POSTS" LINK AT RIGHT ...

The World Bank's carbon credit scam

Published on Friday, April 11, 2008 by Inter Press Service
World Bank “Playing Both Sides of Climate Crisis”
By Haider Rizvi
NEW YORK - A new study released by an independent policy think tank casts further doubts on the World Bank’s ability to stay neutral in the global politics of climate change.
“It is making money off of causing the climate crisis and then turning around and claiming to solve it,” charged Janet Redman, the study’s lead author and a researcher at the Institute for Policy Studies. In releasing the 79-page report Thursday, Redman described the World Bank’s role in the so-called carbon markets as “dangerously counterproductive” to international efforts to tackle climate change. Carbon markets refer to commercial aspects of environmental responsibility, in which energy companies can either agree to cut carbon emissions or buy the right to keep polluting. The report, entitled “World Bank: Climate Profiteer”, shows that instead of encouraging clean energy investors, the bank is lending much of its financial support to the fossil fuel industry. “It’s playing both sides of the climate crisis,” said Redman, noting that in just past two years the bank loaned no less than 1.5 billion dollars to companies investing in fossil fuels. The scientific community has repeatedly warned that drastic reduction in the use of oil, gas, and coal is a must to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change.
The bank claims it is an “honest broker” of carbon deals, but the study’s authors say their findings do not validate that assertion. Read article ...
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41943

Listen online: New Zealand family joins Long Walk, on Earthcycles

Photo: Family from New Zealand, just off the cold Hwy 50 on the Longest Walk, will be onair on Earthcycles radio today, Friday. Photo at the Cimarron, Kansas, Library by Brenda Norrell

Good Morning from Cimarron, Kansas,

Listen to http://www.earthcycles.net/ and meet a family that just arrived and joined the Longest Walk from New Zealand. We'll be talking with Sharon Heta, Maori/Tuhoe Nation, Michael Lane, Menominee and children Merehuka, Rangitau, TeRuihi.
Welcome to the Longest Walk.
Earthcycles is live at 10 am Pacific; 11 am Mountain; 12 am Central Time and 1 pm Eastern Time on weekdays, weekends during special events on the Longest Walk

Read about the Maori sovereignty movement following the police raids in New Zealand:

Te Kotahi a-Tuhoe

http://www.tekotahiatuhoe.iwi.nz/

Western Shoshone visit Longest Walk

Western Shoshone spiritual person Johnny Bobb, wife Bonnie and daughters recently visited the Longest Walk. They presented the Longest Walk with a flag of the Western Shoshone National Council to carry to Washington D.C. The family hosted the walkers earlier when they were in Austin, Nevada. Photo Brenda Norrell

Censored: Homeland Security waives NAGPRA and 35 other laws

By Brenda Norrell

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has waived NAGPRA and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, among 36 federal laws waived, to build the US/Mexico border wall.
Why is there no outrage from American Indian Nations, National Congress of American Indians or the American Indian media?

Letter from Congressman Raul Grijalva:
Dear Colleague,
On April 1, 2008, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff signed a waiver of 36 separate laws to pave the way for border walls and fences along 470 miles of the southwest U.S. border. The laws waived include the:
- Endangered Species Act,
- Clean Water Act, - Clean Air Act,
- CERCLA (the Superfund Act),
- Archaeological Resources Protection Act,
- National Park Service Organic Act,
- Wilderness Act,
- NAGPRA,
- American Indian Religious Freedom Act,
- and 27 other major public laws.
Unfortunately and incredibly, this was no April Fools' joke. Secretary Chertoff's action severely compromises decades of environmental stewardship, public health and safety, the integrity of our public lands, and our Nation's obligations to Indian tribes. We all recognize the urgent need to secure and control our nation's borders, but we cannot allow this Administration to run roughshod over the rule of law.It is with particular urgency that I ask you to join me in co-sponsoring H.R. 2593, the Borderlands Conservation and Security Act, which I introduced on June 6, 2007.
This bill strikes the smart balance missing from our current border policy. H.R. 2593 gives federal border enforcement agents the tools and options they need to do a difficult job, while upholding environmental protection laws and respecting local, state, and tribal governments, by: ·
Repealing Section 102 of the REAL ID Act, which DHS is now using to waive numerous laws for construction of roads and barriers along the border,·
Mandating joint development of a comprehensive Border Protection Strategy among Executive Branch agencies, including those that manage public lands,·
Providing on-the-ground DHS agents and officials, the men and women most familiar with enforcement needs, with the flexibility to choose appropriate methods of border security,· Respecting tribal sovereignty, requiring DHS to consult with tribal governments before implementing enforcement activities on their lands. Please join me in co-sponsoring the Borderlands Conservation and Security Act.
Should you have any questions regarding the legislation, please contact Gloria Montaño, Gloria.montano@mail.house.gov or my office.
Sincerely,
Raúl M. Grijalva
Member of Congress

Longest Walkers plan feast for Greensburg, Kansas, ravaged by tornado in 2007

Photo of Greensburg, Kansas, destroyed by a tornado on May 4, 2007. Jaime Oppenheimer/The Wichita Eagle

By Brenda Norrell

The Longest Walk Northern Route crossed the Kansas state line today, marking the fifth state for the Long Walkers. It was with great joy today that the Long Walkers planned a feast for the community of Greensburg, Kansas, ravaged by a tornado on May 4, 2007.
When the community of Greensburg apologized for having nothing left to offer the Longest Walk, the walkers organized a feast for the good people of Greensburg.
Since entering Kansas, the Long Walkers have received the most gracious hospitality from the townspeople of Syracuse, Kansas. While camped here last night, there was lightning, high winds and some freezing rain with a little snow whirling around their tents, but the spirits of the walkers was high. The sun returned today.
Please join us in Greensburg to walk and offer a feast to Greensburg, Kansas on Sunday, April 13.
Join us on April 16 at the Mid America Indian Center in Wichita, Kansas.

--On the northern route of the Longest Walk

--

Navajo peace diplomat selected for Iran

Navajo selected as peace diplomat for
delegation to Iran

Michelle Cook is a community worker, spiritual activist, and a recent graduate from the University of Arizona with a B.A. in Women's Studies and American Indian Studies. She has advocated for the rights and well being of indigenous peoples and communities both domestically and internationally including the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Michelle is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation born of the Walk Around Clan and Close to the Water's Edge Clan. She currently resides with her grandmother in Oak Springs Arizona.

Michelle has recently been selected by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (F.O.R) to participate as a civilian diplomat on a Peace and Friendship Delegation to Iran. This fact-finding mission hopes to shed light on and prevent a potential war between the United States and Iran. This is her story and journey.

By Michelle Cook

Part I

The war in Iraq and the Middle East in general was an abstraction, something far from me both physically and intellectually, that was until my sister Gabriella Notah was deployed to Iraq in March 2008. When she was deployed my life changed, no longer would I have the privilege to ignore the war, or its costs, because regardless of whether or not I wanted it, the war, came to me, to my door step, impacting my life, my home, and my family. I see the toll it takes on my family, how deeply we miss her and love her.When I was asked to go to Iran to advocate for peace and dialogue in hopes of preventing Washington's next war, I could not refuse. I believe that it is my responsibility to my sister, to all our people serving in the military and armed forces, to our veterans who have survived war, to know what the facts are, before our people are sent to fight at Washington's behest. I wish I could trust what the U.S. is government officials are saying about Iran that we are to be threatened and in fear of them, but as an indigenous person, I have been taught by history's cruelest lessons to be suspicious of Washington's words and promises. Therefore, it is our responsibility as individuals and as a Nation, to ask these tough questions, to think critically about how another war would effect our people in particular and to do everything in our power to prevent a war that would result in the loss of Navajo lives and human suffering. If our people are asked to go to war then let us make sure we know why, we have a right to know, and a right to decide. I am going to find out for myself, to meet face to face with these people I am suppose to fear and call my enemy. I am going to tell them that our people aspire to be in hozho, to walk in beauty, that we are a peaceful people living by the law of beehaz'áannii. We as a people do not aspire to harm other living creatures or to walk a path of chaos and destruction. Our people and our ways are peaceful and beautiful. I intend to go to these lands to offer pollen to pray for the protection for our people who are there and peace for the peoples of those lands. I will do my best to share with the people of Iran the beauty and wisdom of our culture and life ways. To pray that beauty will be restored to them and their lands so they can rest and have peace and safety.I will do what I can to find the facts and to communicate these facts to our people and to the Navajo Nation Government. I hope that by doing so we as citizens and as a people can make an informed decision on the matter. I only ask that we quiet our minds, open our hearts, that we stop, and critically think about what is happening with Iran and how we could be effected if there is another war. There is still time for the Navajo people to enter into the debate and let our voices be heard. We are a powerful people; we are known throughout the world, and our voice, our words, and our prayers matter. They bring beauty, positive changes, and harmony to all things. As Navajo people I believe we have much to offer the debate on a potential war with Iran especially in our position and experiences with the United States nuclear industry specifically their practices of mining uranium from our lands for nuclear weapons, how they used our people and lands for nuclear testing and experimentation, and the disposal of their toxic radioactive waste on our people, sacred sites, lands, resources, and territories all of which have caused irreparable harm to our people and the generations to come. We also have much to offer the debate in terms of our methods and views of peace making, mediation, and non-violent conflict resolution. In the words of Sun-Tzu, "war is a grave affair of state; it is a place of life and death, a road to survival and extinction, a matter to be pondered carefully", I invite Navajo people and all indigenous nations both young and old, to do just this, to begin to ponder carefully, to have the courage to ask the tough questions, "Is a war with Iran necessary? Does the United States have the legal or moral authority to invade Iran? Is it legal? Most importantly, what role can Navajo people and indigenous nations play in preventing the war and advocating for harmony and non-violence between our peoples and those of the Middle East?

Photo 1: Courtesy photo Michelle Cook. Photo 2: Michelle Cook at the Indigenous Border Summit of the Americas 2007. Photo Brenda Norrell

Kansas ready to welcome Longest Walk

Kansas Welcomes the “The Longest Walk 2”

An American Indian Spiritual Walk for Survival and the 30th Anniversary of Historic Native American Rights March

This is a Direct Call to Support the healing of Mother Earth, environmental protection, and respect for Sacred Sites and Human rights

SYRACUSE, Kansas -- On Tuesday April 8 after traveling on foot over 1,500 miles from San Francisco, CA, the Northern Route of the Longest Walk 2 will arrive in Kansas as they continue their journey across the nation. The Longest Walk 2 Northern Route will walk on highway U.S. 50 from Colorado into Syracuse Kansas and then will be hosted by Kansans across the state through the month of April. On February 11, 2008 Longest Walk- 2 embarked in an extraordinary grassroots effort on a national level to bring attention to the environmental disharmony of Mother Earth, sacred site issues, and to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the original longest walk. In the five-month journey from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. Longest Walk 2 participants are carrying out simultaneous North and South walk routes that will have together walked more than 8000 miles across the country.
American Indian activists Jimbo Simmons and Dennis Banks are leading the Walks. The two groups will converge in Washington DC on July 11, where they will meet with United States Congressional members. Jimbo Simmons of the International Indian Treaty Council sates, "In 1978, our communities faced many hardships such as non-existing religious rights and criminalization of our people who fought for cultural survival. This is why the Longest Walk was necessary. As Indigenous Peoples in the United States our environment and our cultural survival are directly correlated and are still imperiled today. ‘This is why we must walk once again’.
On Tuesday, organizers from Kansas will meet the Longest Walk 2 (LW 2) North route as they cross the border near Syracuse. Community members at Syracuse will host the LW 2 where the Walkers will spend two days sharing stories and learning about environmental issues that most concern Kansans. Topics discussed will be the Holcomb Coal Plant, Greensburg building green, Lawrence / Haskell College Wetlands protection, as well as other issues impacting Kansas. In support of LW 2 , The Kansas Sierra Club writes, “Earth's resources should be used responsibly and sustainable so all people including future generations may share nature's bounty. No community should bear disproportionate risks of harm because of their demographic characteristics or economic condition. We support Native People's wielding of their sovereign powers to protect the environment and to establish environmental justice.”
The LW 2 participants will stay in hosting communities along US 50 through Kansas, including Garden City, Dodge City, Wichita, Newton, Lawrence and Kansas City, where public events will be held nightly. The LW 2 will also visit the Greensburg area where Walkers will acknowledge the work of students, citizens, and the Greentown committee in their efforts with re- building a “green” community after the devastating tornado on May 4, 2007.
LW 2 organizers invite the public to join in community events and encourage citizens to walk with the group. The LW 2 consists of Indigenous peoples from North, South, and Central America, as well as people from Europe and Asia.
For local events and other information go to http://www.longestwalk.org/
Contacts:
Kansas State Coordinator
Jim Schneweis jims0326@aol.com
Western Kansas contact (913) 342- 4018
Joni Tucker-Nisbeth(913) 449 4554 (620) 708 2026
National Office
Ricardo Tapia (510) 520-6096 Jimbo Simmons (415) 568- 0926
www.longestwalk.org

Sand Creek, 'Wiping the Tears'

Marty Chase Alone, Oglala, representating the Red Cloud people and a Tiospaye of the Big Road Band, led ceremonies at the Sand Creek Massacre site to release the spirits and wipe the tears. Chase Alone's relatives were descendants of White Antelope and Yellow Wolf, massacred at Sand Creek.
During presentations to the Longest Walk Northern Route, Chase Alone also presented the Longest Walk with a staff representing Native American Prisoners to carry to Washington in their struggle to ensure the ceremonial rights for inmates. Listen to today's interview at Earthcycles:
http://www.earthcycles.net/
Photo: Marty Chase Alone by Brenda Norrell

Sand Creek, healing the wounds of a massacre

By Brenda Norrell
Human right editor
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report

SAND CREEK, Colo. – Before first light, the Longest Walk arrived at the site of the massacre of Cheyenne and Arapahoe children, women and men. Some of the walkers had seen the spirit women dancing and clapping during the women’s walk toward Sand Creek. Other walkers heard the spirit women singing with joy as they arrived.

For the Cheyenne Arapahoe on this journey, like Calvin Magpie, Jr., from Oklahoma, it was a time of profound sorrow, remembering the innumerable babies, children, women, men and elderly who were shot in cold blood and mutilated.

For others on the Longest Walk, like Jimbo Simmons, coordinator of the northern route, the assault at Sand Creek was one that has never ended, because now the National Park Service officials have positioned themselves in control and with authority at the site. It is now designated an historic site, with implications for tourism and exploitation.

In these killing fields, the Long Walkers walked up the hill overlooking the trees where Chief Black Kettle’s people camped. The trees are now bare and looked much like they would have on November 29, 1864, when the Colorado Militia carried out the murders of the innocents as the warriors were away from camp. Beyond Black Kettle’s camp site is a flat plain, without trees, where the people ran, where the bodies of the babies, women, children, men and elderly fell as the bullets pierced their bodies.

On the hilltop, the Long Walkers formed a circle, with the staff carriers facing east. Each Long Walker offered a prayer. Returning to the base of the hill, Long Walkers ate breakfast and reflected on this journey of mourning, sorrow and healing.

Rebecca Duncan, Wylacki from Round Valley, Calif., remembered the Cheyenne and Arapahoe massacred. “It was real hard because the spirits are alive.”

Duncan said two days earlier, she had an idea, to gather the women for a women’s walk toward Sand Creek. The women all joined her.

“We didn’t even get ten feet, it was like the women were clapping their hands and jumping around in a circle. The little kids seemed happy,” Duncan said of the massacred women and children.

The night before the memorial, a delegation from the Long Walk, including Cheyenne Arapahoe Calvin Magpie, spent the night at the massacre site. They prayed and introduced themselves to the spirits, before the other Long Walkers arrived.

Magpie said the healing begins this way, with respect, remembrance and prayers.

Gail Ridgely, Northern Arapahoe from Wyoming and Sand Creek descendant, visited the Long Walkers here. Ridgely said it was an honor to be among the Long Walkers and the staffs they carry.

Before the memorial at the place of massacre, the Long Walkers watched the documentary, “The Sand Creek Massacre,” produced by Don Vasicek. Long Walkers viewed the film while camped by a reservoir earlier this week, and learned of the history of the massacre. Long Walkers said the film reveals the facts that they did not learn in school, details that do not exist in history books, including the shooting of young children.

Then, on Saturday, April 5, Long Walkers rose at 3 a.m. and traveled to the massacre site. They walked at first light the final half mile up the hill, overlooking the massacre site at Sand Creek.

On Saturday evening and Sunday morning, Marty Chase Alone, Oglala, representing the Red Cloud people and a Tiospaye of the Big Road Band, led ceremonies at the Sand Creek Massacre site to release the spirits and wipe the tears.

Chase Alone's relatives were descendants of White Antelope and Yellow Wolf, massacred at Sand Creek.

Long Walkers said they could hear and feel the unrest and agony when they first arrived. After the ceremonies, walkers said there was a feeling of peace and calm here. Chase Alone said the ceremonies were held to let the ancestors know that they could go on now.

During presentations to the Longest Walk Northern Route, Chase Alone also presented the Longest Walk with a staff representing Native American Prisoners to carry to Washington in their struggle to ensure the ceremonial rights for inmates.

Listen to Marty Chase Alone and others --- from Sand Creek at Earthcycles:
http://www.earthcycles.net/
More at:
Censored News Homepage
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Longest Walk
http://www.longestwalk.org/

Longest Walk, reunited after 27 years

On the Longest Walk Northern Route, near Sand Creek, Paul Owns the Sabre and his mother, Thelma Franks of Denver, are reunited after 27 years in Eads, Colorado. Lee Plenty Wolf Drum Group sang an honor song and a birthday song for all the birthdays they had missed. (Click on arrow to watch brief video.) Video by Brenda Norrell.

Waiting for first light at Sand Creek

By Brenda Norrell

SAND CREEK, Colo. -- It is still dark outside, at Sand Creek. The earth has not yet spun around to greet the morning sun. On this land the Colorado Militia murdered babies and children, butchered women and elderly. They were, they are, the Cheyenne and Arapahoe people.

The Longest Walk is here early, waiting for first light. In front of us is the place of massacre. Behind us is California, Nevada, Utah and most of Colorado. The Longest Walkers and runners have crossed the land behind us on foot, ready to cross the land in front of us.

I wonder who will hear the screams of the women, the mothers, who saw their children shot and bleeding, shot and dying. I wonder who will feel the old ones’ hearts when they saw their daughters and wives, mothers and sisters, dying in pools of blood with their babies clutched in their hands.

One of the survivors’ descendants tells of the baby’s heart that stopped in the cold by the river. Then, suddenly, a ray of sunlight struck the child and this beam brought the child back to life.

We are waiting for first light. We are waiting for first light to restore the sight of humanity. We are waiting for first light in a world that has grown dark with poison and ruin. We are waiting for the dead to make us alive again.

We are waiting to remember, we are waiting for the world to remember.

Sand Creek, remembering the Cheyenne and Arapahoe women and children

On the Longest Walk, women walk to Sand Creek, remembering the Cheyenne and Arapahoe children, women and men who were massacred. Photo Brenda Norrell


Watch "Sand Creek Massacre" film online:
http://www.maxmouth.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ec8e48cf3d026e173a43


Longest Walk Northern Route Media contact:
Morning Star Gali
mstargali@gmail.com
Mano Cockrum(720) 276 7452
Aislyn Colgan(831) 295 2555

Indigenous Rights Prayer Walk, 'The Longest Walk 2' to hold Sunrise Gathering and Prayer Vigil at Sand Creek Massacre Site

EADES, CO- On Saturday, April 5, more than 50 participants of the Longest Walk 2 will embark on a spiritual walk and prayer gathering at the Sacred Sand Creek Massacre Site. An all night prayer vigil at the site will be held Friday night. Saturday morning the walkers will walk 8 miles to the Massacre site to hold a sunrise ceremony and gathering. They will make prayer offerings 4 times before arriving at the Site. The walkers are gathering at Sand Creek to remember the massacre of over 150 elderly men, women and children that occurred there and offer prayers. The walkers have asked for and received materials from the site for a sacred staff to carry on our journey across the country. The staff will be carried to honor the memory of those who were murdered and to bring awareness to the communities we travel through about the history of this country.

On February 11, 2008 Longest Walk 2 participants began our five month journey from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. The Longest Walk 2 is a grassroots effort on a national level to bring attention to the environmental disharmony of Mother Earth and the effects of environmental destruction on Native American people; as well as the need for the protection and preservation of Sacred Sites as a means for cultural survival. In our spiritual and historic walk, Native Americans and our allies from across the nation and world will walk carrying the message, "All Life is Sacred; Save Mother Earth."

Additionally Northern route walkers carry this mission: "Renewing the Spirit by Walking in the Footsteps of our Ancestors", as we cover the original route walked 30 years ago in the first Longest Walk. A southern route is walking simultaneously in the Clean Up Mother Earth campaign. Both routes will cover a combined total of 8000 miles on foot.We will be visiting communities along Highway 50 across Colorado sharing our message and inviting communities to contribute their stories of the issues they are facing, such as the need for greater protection and respect for Sacred Places and bringing about community awareness of the history and culture of this land.

The Longest Walk 2 will journey to the Sand Creek Massacre site for the weekend to offer support, prayers, and collect statements from descendants of the massacre as well as local Indigenous communities. These and all the issues expressed by the communities the walkers have passed through will be brought to the capital upon arrival in D.C. The Longest Walk 2 Northern Route visited Denver, CO on March 24th and stopped at the Sand Creek Massacre Plaque in front of the State Capitol, where Calvin Magpie, a walker and descendant of Cheyenne and Arapahoe who were massacred there, offered his prayers in honor of their losses. He recounted the tragedy in which Colorado Militia attacked peaceful tribes who had already surrendered and were heading to reservations in Oklahoma to settle.

The town of Eads, CO has offered its hospitality in hosting the walkers at their fairgrounds and community center from Thursday- Sunday nights. The Eads community, Chamber of Commerce, volunteers from Project Lighthouse in Monument, CO, and many more volunteers from Lamar, Denver, and Pueblo will travel there for the weekend to offer their support and help host feeds in honor of the occasion.

The art gallery Artists of the Plains in Eads will host an art show Saturday by Denver youth from the Indigenous Youth Sovereignty Project for a showing entitled "Healing Through the Next Generations" from 10:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon there will also be a showing of the 20 minute documentary detailing the Sand Creek Massacre at the community center.The walk will arrive in Washington, D.C. on July 11, 2008, bringing attention to issues of environmental injustice, protection of sacred sites, cultural survival, youth empowerment, and eroding Native American rights shared along the route. As a result of the first Longest Walk held in 1978, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (1978) was passed and 11 legislative bills that would have abrogated native treaties were defeated.

Saturday, April 5th
5:00 a.m. Longest Walk 2 will begin Spiritual Walk to Sand Creek Massacre Site
WHERE: Starting at 8 mi north of 96, on CO Rd 54WHO: Sand Creek Massacre Descendants, Longest Walk 2 representatives and other tribal and spiritual leaders.
6:30 a.m. Walk will arrive at Sand Creek Massacre Site. Sunrise Prayer in Honor & Protection of Sand Creek Sacred Site.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Horror of the Sand Creek Massacre: “Captain Silas S. Soule/Lt. Joseph Cramer Letters”

By Don Vasicek

On November 29, 1864, about 700 Colorado 1st &†3rd Regiment troops and troops from New Mexico, slaughtered over 150 men, women, and children in the southeastern Colorado Territory. This act became known as the Sand Creek Massacre.Lt,. Captain Silas S. Soule wrote a letter dated December 19, 1864 from Ft. Lyon, C. T., to Major Ed Wynkoop, his commanding officer. It reads in part what he witnessed at Sand Creek, “…hundreds of women and children were coming towards us and getting on their knees for mercy. Anthony shouted, ‘Kill the sons of bitches’ ”The letter goes on to say in part, “…the massacre lasted six to eight hours…I tell you Ned it was hard to see little children on their knees have their brains beat out by men professing to be civilized. Some tried to escape on the Prairie, but most of them were run down by horsemen …They were all horribly mutilated. One women was cut open and child taken out of her, and scalped…”In a letter dated, December 19, 1863, Fort Lyon, C.T.,Lt. Joseph Cramer wrote to Major Ed Wynkoop, his commanding officer a letter about what he witnessed at Sand Creek. It reads, in part, “…“Dear Major, This is the first opportunity I have had of writing you since the great Indian Massacre, and for a start, I will acknowledge I am ashamed to own I was in it with my Co. Col. Chivington came here with the gallant third, known as Chivington Brigade, like a thief in the dark…marched all night up Sand, to the big bend in Sandy…and came to Black Kettle’s village of 103 lodges, containing not over 500 all told, 350 of which were women and children…We lost 40 men wounded, and 10 killed. Not over 250 Indians mostly women and children, and I think not over 200 killed, and not over 75 bucks. With proper management they could all have been killed and not lost over 10 men. After the fight there was a sight I hope I may never see again…Bucks, women and children, were scalped, fingers cut off to get the rings…a squaw ripped open and a child taken from her, little children shot, while begging for their lives (and all the indignities shown their bodies that ever was heard of)(women shot while on their knees, with their arms around soldiers a begging for their lives)…Most of the Indians yielded 4 or 5 scalps…”The letter continues in part, “…Black Kettle said when he saw us coming, that he was glad, for it was Major Wynkoop coming to make peace. Left Hand stood with his hands folded across his breast, until he was shot saying, ‘Soldiers no hurt me – soldiers my friends.’About 130 years after the Sand Creek Massacre, the 1990’s, Florence Blunt (1894-1969)was going through two stored trunks of a family member who was a rancher who was in the habit of taking supplies to Fort Lyon before and after the Sand Creek Massacre. She found Captain Silas S. Soule and Lt. Joseph Cramer’s letters. The lady’s daughter, Linda Rebek of Evergreen, Colorado, retains possession of the letters. She is seeking someone to appraise the letters to see what they are worth. The American Indian Genocide Museum needs help in locating an appraiser and funding to pay for the appraiser and acquisition of the letters to place in the museum.“

Longest Walk, women walk toward Sand Creek

Longest Walk Northern Route, women's walk toward Sand Creek in eastern Colorado, on Thursday morning. Photo Brenda Norrell

Longest Walk Northern Route wish list

Richard Nolan, Mohawk, fries fry bread. Photo Brenda Norrell

For an updated wish list, please contact Northern Route coordinator Jimbo Simmons.

AIM West calls assembly in response to D Q arrests

AIM-WEST calls for an assembly in Woodland, Wednesday April 2, at 6 am!
eltonyg@earthlink.net
I have asked everyone as AIM-WEST organization to plan to be at the Woodland Court House tomorrow morning @ 6 AM in the pre-dawn hours to assemble and be together as we also plan to appear at the hearings that starts at 8:30 am. in support of those arrested 2/20.
Please support this effort and tell others who wish to get involved or know more about what is happening and how to help. It will be important to have a show of attendance to indicate to the public that we are stronger than ever, concerned, that this whole trip is all wrong, it's been going on too long and without positive results, and briefly talk about next steps, together.
We now have the public's total attention and a strong yet sincere message with a majority in favor of its direction needs to go out to the public/press. Indeed this is a crucial moment where everything is on the table and the support now for DQU can be harnessed with a political and spiritual agenda and proceed. Thank you for your attention.
Tony Gonzales
AIM-WEST
http://us.f520.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=eltonyg@earthlink.net
415-577-1492

Monday, March 31, 2008 10:20 PM
Subject: Seventeen students and elders arrested in overwhelming police assault at D-Q
Seventeen students and elders arrested in overwhelming police assault on D-Q University
March 31, 2008 8:06 p.m.
By Steve Jerome-Wyatt, one of the people arrested today, and the Acknowledged Spokesman for the SPECTRE Group Affiliated Obsidian Nation.
Davis, CA
Special to the A.O.N. KINDRED SPIRIT ARCHIVES
Brothers and Sisters:
At 9:45 a.m. this morning, a large force of Yolo County Sheriffs stormed the buildings at D-Q University, battering their way into the Hallway of the large dorm -backing each other with guns drawn, and arrested 17 students, community supporters, and elders.
Since last Friday, the students were aware of a looming police action on campus; but no one thought that the cops would come in so quickly and in such overwhelming numbers.
The first notice that the studentʼs received of the cops', presence was a flying squad of three white sheriff's cars that sped into the main parking lot at high speed. At the same time, an equal number of other police cars rushed into the area next to the fire circle from the north.
In the resulting confusion, the police didn't give anyone a chance to either leave the grounds or face imminent arrest. The cops immediately began grabbing men and women; - EVEN A SKINNY BLACK CAT- and putting handcuffs on them. The cops shouted, "get on your knees, you're under arrest for trespassing!"
As this was taking place on the east side of the Large Dorm, a large group of visiting community supporters (about ten people) slipped out the front door of the Dining Room. They made a break for freedom by running through the farm fields to the west. They were successful in their exodus; the cops knew that they were running away, but the cops didn't make a move to stop them.
Instead, the cops concentrated on forcing The People into a large kneeling circle on the grass and open area next to the Sacred Fire Circle -which burned brightly through the entire raid. Overhead, a Sheriff's airplane circled DQ University, again and again.
There were cop cars ALL OVER DQ University this morning. They swept past the barricade of hay bales that had been placed across the entrance of the school. Some of them sealed off the main entrance gate on County Road 31. Others gathered in the driveway between the Large Dorm and the Maintenance Building .
The cops that came for us came prepared: they brought along a huge paddy wagon, into which they eventually herded seventeen of our people. Soon afterward, we could see the cops sweeping the buildings for anyone who might be trying to hide from them. The cops even got onto the roofs of the buildings, walking around, searching for more people to arrest. Our friend the skinny black cat was stuffed into an animal-control pickup specially called for this purpose.
As the arrests were unfolding, members of the D-Q University Board of Trustees were parked close by in a mini-van, laughing. The boards "consultant," -a woman named Susan Reece- used the occasion to take photographs of the cops leading us around in handcuffs.
A TV News van from KCRA Channel 3 ( Sacramento ) arrived at the entrance of D-Q University as the arrests were taking place. But the cops barred the TV people from coming onto school property, insisting that the area was "a crime scene" and for that reason Channel 3 had to stay out.
After going through "pre-booking" in the big parking just west of the Administration building, the cops drove us to Woodland jail, where they took over three hours to book us.
When we were finally released from jail, at about 4:30 p.m, we were greeted in the jail parking lot by a large group of jubilant supporters.
We were interviewed live on KPFA Radio, as we stood in the jail parking lo. Our wrists were still red and sore from the handcuffs that we'd been forced to wear for hours. We described how the DQ University Board of trustees had asked the Yolo County Sheriff's Department Woodland commit this armed aggression against the sixteen peaceful people who -until today- had dared to call California's Only Tribal College (D-Q University) "home."
This message is being written in the middle of an emergency meeting about today's arrests, called by M.E.Ch.A group of UC Davis. We are going to talk about what we're going to do to respond the challenge that the corrupt Board of Trustees of DQ University has issued to the American Indian and Mexica world today.
This is all for now. Write back for a complete list of the names of the people who were arrested today.
IN ADDITION: The first three students who were arrested for 'trespassing' at DQ on February 20th are scheduled to appear in Woodland Superior Court this Wednesday, April 2, at 8:30 a.m. The students are sending out an urgent appeal for assistance tot he community; Please attend the student's court hearing.
This is all for now. Write back for a complete list of the names of the people who were arrested today. And remember:
THE REAL D-Q WILL NEVER DIE
for the Affiliated Obsidian Nation,
Steve Jerome-Wyatt and the community supporters of D-QU

DQ Students Arrested Again

http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_8769785

Chertoff declares himself god one more time

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2008
Contact: Scott Nicol, (956) 532-5983

No Border Wall Coalition: Chertoff’s Border Wall Waiver is an Assault on the Rule of Law

The No Border Wall Coalition is deeply disturbed by the announcement that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has decided to “waive in their entirety” 36 federal laws to build walls along the United States’ southern border. This represents an unprecedented abuse of authority on Secretary Chertoff’s part, and clearly demonstrates the need for an immediate repeal of section 102 of the Real ID Act. Obeying the law is not voluntary, it is mandatory, and Secretary Chertoff cannot claim that he is sweeping aside a host of laws on the border in defense of immigration laws. In a nation of laws all laws must be respected, not just those that are convenient. Equal protection under the law is meant to be a fundamental right shared by every American, but the Real ID Act makes the legal rights of citizens who live near the border conditional on Secretary Chertoff’s whims. Section 102 of the Real ID Act of 2005 states, “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall have the authority to waive all legal requirements such Secretary, in such Secretary’s sole discretion, determines necessary to ensure expeditious construction of the barriers and roads under this section.” No one else is granted this extreme power under any circumstance. The president cannot waive our nation’s laws even in times of national crisis, and Secretary Chertoff cannot waive the laws that protect citizens who live away from the border. Only border residents may have their legal protections waived. The only reason for Secretary Chertoff to waive these laws is because he knows that the border wall will violate them. In setting these 36 federal laws aside Secretary Chertoff sets himself above the law. If congress allows unchecked power to remain in the hands of an unelected administration appointee they are complicit in fundamentally undermining the rule of law. Leaving the Real ID Act on the books and allowing Chertoff’s waivers to stand sets a precedent that should outrage the American people. If our nation’s laws can be set aside to build a border wall today, they may be similarly set aside for whatever crisis politicians discover in the next election cycle. The No Border Wall coalition calls on Congress to repeal section 102 of the Real ID Act and restore the rule of law. We also urge the Supreme Court to take up the constitutional challenge brought by the Defenders of Wildlife and Sierra Club to Secretary Chertoff’s earlier waiver of 19 federal laws to force the border wall through the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area in Arizona. Allowing one man to overrule laws passed by Congress and signed by the President for the express intent of circumventing judicial oversight is fundamentally un-American. # # # No Border Wall is a grassroots coalition of groups and individuals united in the belief that a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border will do irreparable harm to our borderlands and the nation as a whole. No Border Wall is opposed to the construction of a border wall because of the devastating consequences such a wall would have on border economies, on the environment, on human rights, and on the U.S. relationship with Mexico and the rest of the world. For more information or an interview, contact Scott Nicol at (956) 532-5983 or noborderwall@yahoo.com.


Homeland Security announces that it will waive regulations in order to complete the fence along the southern U.S. border by the end of this year

By Nicole Gaouette
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer 10:34 AM PDT, April 1, 2008

WASHINGTON -- In an aggressive move to finish building 670 miles of border fence by the end of this year, the Department of Homeland Security announced today that it will waive federal environmental laws to meet that goal.The two waivers, which will allow the department to slash through a thicket of environmental and cultural laws, would be the most expansive to date, encompassing land in California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas that stretches about 470 miles.The waivers are highly controversial with environmentalists and border communities, which see them as a federal imposition that could damage the land and disrupts wildlife.But they are praised by conservatives who championed the 2006 Secure Fence Act, despite the reluctance of President Bush, who has said a broader approach is needed to deal with illegal immigration.Republicans greeted the news with satisfaction."It's great. This is the priority area where most of the illegal activity is going on and where most of the deaths are occurring," said Rep. Brian P. Bilbray (R-Solana Beach), chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus. "The quicker we can get the physical fence up, the sooner we'll avoid situations like the deaths of agents. And it's still a national security issue. You just have to stop this kind of open traffic along the border."Wildlife groups reacted with dismay.Brian Segee, an attorney with Defenders of Wildlife, said, "It's dangerous, it's arrogant, it's going to have pronounced environmental impacts and it won't do a thing to address the problems of undocumented immigrants or address border security problems. It's an incredibly simplistic and ineffective approach to complex problems."The waivers are intended to clear the way for fencing to block pedestrians and cars, as well as extra camera, towers and roads near the border. A special waiver was issued for a project in Hidalgo County, Texas, that would combine levees and a barrier.Congress gave Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff the power to waive federal law in order to build the fence quickly. Since construction began, the department has faced fierce opposition from local communities and has had to go to court against more than 50 property owners simply to survey land to determine whether it is suitable for a fence.The department has so far built 309 miles of fence.Some of the resistance comes from landowners who protest that the path of the fence might block their access to the Rio Grande; other opponents are concerned that it could increase the danger of extinction for endangered animals, such as the ocelot, a wild cat whose mating habits may be affected.Chertoff has called the waivers a last resort, and department officials say the agency is committed to minimizing the impacts to the environment and wildlife.Homeland Security officials said many of the 470 miles have already undergone environmental review and that the agency is committed to environmental responsibility."If that was true, the waivers wouldn't be necessary," Segee countered.Homeland Security has previously issued three waivers.One, on September 2005, was to complete roughly 14 miles near San Diego; another in January 2007 was used to build infrastructure near the Barry M. Goldwater military range in southern Arizona. A third waiver was issued in October 2007 near the San Pedro National Riparian Conservation Area, also in southern Arizona.nicole.gaouette@latimes.com

Longest Walk Southern Route in Leupp on Navajo Nation

The Longest Walk Southern Route reaches Leupp on the Navajo Nation. Photo by Calvin Johnson.

On the Longest Walk, Mohawk fries fry bread

Richard Nolan, Mohawk, fries fry bread for the Longest Walk Northern Route in Pueblo, Colorado. Photo Brenda Norrell