Glenn Greenwald
Sunday Aug. 31, 2008 11:46 EDT
Federal government involved in raids on protesters
As the police attacks on protesters in Minnesota continue -- see this video of the police swarming a bus transporting members of Earth Justice, seizing the bus and leaving the group members stranded on the side of the highway -- it appears increasingly clear that it is the Federal Government that is directing this intimidation campaign. Minnesota Public Radio reported yesterday that "the searches were led by the Ramsey County Sheriff's office. Deputies coordinated searches with the Minneapolis and St. Paul police departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation." Read article:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/31/raids/
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Haudenosaunee Grandmothers File Suit Against Canada
HAUDENOSAUNEE GRANDMOTHERS FILE “DO IT YOURSELF” LAW SUIT – WATCH OUT CANADA , THE FEDERAL COURT IS BEING PUT TO THE TEST
Mohawk Nation News Aug. 30, 2008.
Canada keeps trying to pretend it’s “open season” on the Kanionkehaka/Mohawk. It’s even okay to assault our elders and grandmothers. No steps have been taken to charge the Canada Border Services Agents CBSA who assaulted Katenies and Kahentinetha on June 14th 2008. Kahentinetha suffered a trauma induced heart attack. They tried to beat Katenies to a pulp. They act like this is “business as usual”. The prosecutors have not done their duty. Because of this there has been no public investigation and the crime has been swept under the carpet.
The two women have no money, but they have found a way that might make rogue crown agents accountable. They have filed an action in Canada ’s Federal Court.
This does not mean they are accepting Canadian jurisdiction over themselves or the Haudenosaunee. Canadian agents have no right to abuse human rights or commit crimes against anyone, including those foreign to Canada . Canada has signed many agreements promising to uphold international human right standards. You don’t have to be a Canadian citizen to sue Canada . Canada ’s courts have an obligation to uphold the law.
The following “Statement of Claim” shows that we can defend ourselves. They two grandmothers filed their complaint in the Federal Court of Canada, under Section 48 of Canada ’s Federal Court Act. [You can find the instructions for filing on the Federal Court website]. To get things going, you pay the filing fee and hand in 5 copies of your “Statement of Claim”. The court clerk puts on a gold stamped seal and signs it to prove it has been filed. They serve it on the government the next day, and the crown has 30 days to answer.
When you draft your claim, just put the facts down. Make sure you don’t include any allegations that you can’t prove. For example, you need a direct witness, documentary evidence or video tapes from CBSA cameras. If you miss a deadline, your case will be finished. The crown has to follow the law too, but it might try to ignore you. Don’t forget to include a demand that federal officials follow the court’s timelines.September 19, 2008, is the crown’s deadline for answering the two grandmothers. If the crown doesn’t answer, Canada will lose by default. The court should then order Canada to meet the grandmothers’ demands. MNN Staff
STATEMENT OF CLAIM TO THE DEFENDANT (court seal)
Assault, Arrest and Illegal Detention
By Canada Border Service Agents
At Cornwall Border
Court File No. F1309-08
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
BETWEEN
KAHENTINETHA AND KATENIES
Persons of the Kanion’ke:haka/Mohawk NationPlaintiffs
AndThe QueenSection 48, Federal Court Act
STATEMENT OF CLAIM1.
The plaintiffs demand that the individuals who assaulted them must be charged, tried and punished and that their personal possessions must be returned.
2. Canada ’s Constitution Act, 1982 states that Canada is governed by the rule of law and everyone is equal before the law.
3. This means that Canadian officials must obey the law, just like everyone else. When they commit an assault they should be charged with an assault under Canada ’s Criminal Code just like anyone else who commits an assault on the territory over which Canada claims jurisdiction.
4. Canada has failed to apply its laws equally in the area over which it claims jurisdiction.
5. Akwesasne is a small Kanionkehaka community that existed long before the Canadian state was conceived.
6. The Canada - U.S. border was placed in the middle of Akwesasne without the consent of the people of Akwesasne.
7. The people of Akwesasne must cross the Canadian border many times a day for groceries, to visit relatives and to conduct normal community life.
8.Kahentinetha is a 68-year old Kanionkehaka grandmother. Katenies is 43-years old and also a Kanionkehaka grandmother. Sakowaiaks is their friend.
9. On June 14, 2008 Sakowaiaks and Kahentinetha went to Akwesasne to pick up Katenies on the Kanatakon portion of the Akwesasne community.
10. At approximately 2:00 pm they arrived at the Canadian border control, which is situated in the Kawehnonkeh portion of the Akwesasne community.
11. The border agent took the identity documents of Katenies, Kahentinetha and Sakowaiaks and told them to wait under the canopy. Soon they took Kahentinetha’s car keys. The three hostages sat there peacefully for an hour surrounded by guards.
12. Some Kanionkehaka elders showed up to witness what was happening.
13. During this time, several other vehicles were searched and released. Only Indigenous people were stopped. All were residents of Akwesasne.
14. At approximately 3:00 pm, a platoon of about a dozen guards marched towards the car, all wearing leather gloves, flack jackets and all kinds of equipment hanging about their waists.
15. Throughout the attack on Kahentinetha and Katenies that followed, one officer, Maurice Saucier [Badge #16121], was on the cell phone directing operations.
16. Katenies was dragged violently from the back seat of the car by a gang of hefty young men and women dressed up as Canadian Border Services Agents. They knocked her down, pinned her to the ground, and forced their knees into her head and back. They handcuffed her and smashed and rubbed her face into the pavement.
17. Sakowaiaks heard the sound of flesh hitting the pavement.
18. Katenies received bleeding scrapes and bruises on her face, shoulders, arms and legs. She was taken into the customs building and later to Ottawa .
19. No charges were read to Katenies and her request for medical help was refused. She was not allowed to call her mother and her mother was not permitted to see her or speak to her. She was held incommunicado for three days until she appeared in Cornwall court on June 17, 2008.
20. After the assault on Katenies began, Kahentinetha was ordered to get out of the car. She was afraid to get out because of what they had done to Katenies.
21. Kahentinetha heard Maurice Saucier tell the other agents to “Take her out”. She was afraid for her life if she got out of the car.
22. Kahentinetha asked “What have I done?” She was not informed of any legal charges against her.23. Several agents started grabbing her and yanking her out of the car. She was thrown around, assaulted, handcuffed, and imprisoned.
24. In the cell, the attack continued. Kahentinetha’s shoes were taken. Some officers tightened the handcuffs she was wearing several times. This cut the circulation to her hands. Pain shot up her arms. She saw flashes of light and felt sharp pains in the middle of her chest and back. She cried out for help. The guards ignored her and tightened the handcuffs more. They yelled threats at her and kept ordering her to bend down. A man stood behind her and had his hands on her pants. She received scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs.
25. Frank Horn, Kahentinetha’s brother is a Cornwall lawyer. He and his son Kanatase, happened to be waiting in the line at the border.
26. When Frank Horn asked to see his sister, they took off the handcuffs and gave her a chair to sit on. When he saw her, he immediately insisted on calling an ambulance. The Akwesasne Police stood and watched in silence.
27. The ambulance took Kahentinetha to Cornwall Community Hospital and later to the Ottawa Ontario Heart Institute. She remained in hospital for 5 days in the trauma unit and intensive care unit. The doctors told her she had had a trauma induced heart attack.
28. Kahentinetha was in excellent health before the attack by the border guards. Her health is now fragile. On June 30th, 2008 she had a relapse and was hospitalized at the Anna Laberge Hospital in Chateauguay Quebec .
29. Neither of these women is associated with any kind of criminal activity.
30. Some of the CBSA officers involved in the attack had the following badge numbers: 17012; 16320; 16511; 16121; and 16275.
31. Katenies’ identity documents have not been returned. Also missing are documents that were in the trunk and the shoes taken from Kahentinetha’s feet.
The plaintiffs request:
a) Trial on appropriate criminal charges against the individuals who committed and directed the assault against them;
b) Full disclosure of all evidence including videotapes, cell phones, files, official communications, policing agreements and wiretaps concerning this action;
c) An order that all Canadian government agencies must respect our human rights as set out in international human rights instruments that Canada has signed;
d) An order that the accused and all involved Canadian government agencies must respect the time delays set out in the Federal Court Rules of Court;
e) $10 million for physical, psychological and punitive damages; andf) Such other relief as this court may deem fit.
The plaintiffs propose that this action be tried in the Federal Court of Canada at 30 McGill Street , Montreal Quebec .
August 20, 2008
Kahentinetha _______________
Katenies ___________________
Address of Service: For the purposes of this proceeding only, service to be made care of Julio Peris, 625 Rene Levesque West, Suite 900, Montreal, Quebec H3B 1R2 – 514-933-4656 Fax 514-93309587/I HEREBY CERTIFY that the above document is a true copy of the original issud out/filed in the Court on Aug. 20, 2008 A.D.
Signed by Nicole Reimen, Agent du Greffe, Registry Officer
PLEASE NOTE: As can be seen, it’s becoming critical for legal actions to be taken to protect our rights. We have no funds. Canada is hiring costly law firms to suppress our rights. If you can donate anything to our cause, it will be greatly appreciated.Donate to: PayPal, www.mohawknationnews.com, or “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Nia:wen/Thank you very much.
New MNN Books Available Now!
The books below, email us:Mohawk Warriors Three - The Trial of Lasagna, Noriega, 20/20$20.00 usd
The On-Going Confusion between The Great Law and The Handsome Lake Code$20.00 usd
The Agonizing Death of "Colonialism" and "Federal Indian Law" in Kaianere'ko:wa/Great Law Territory $20.00 usd
Who's Sorry Now? The good, the bad and the unapologetic Mohawks of Kanehsatake $20.00 usd
Rebuilding the Iroquois ConfederacyKaroniaktajeh$10 usd
Warriors Hand Book Karoniaktajeh$10 usd
Mail checks and money orders to...MNNP.O. Box 991 Kahnawake, QC J0L 1B0
Purchase t-shirts, mugs and more at our CafePress Store
http://www.cafepress.com/mohawknews
Subscribe to MNN for breaking news updates
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Sign Women Title Holders petition!
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Iroquois
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Secure your online transaction with PayPal®. www.mohawknationnews.com
Click on DONATE button.Nia:wen,Kahentinetha kahentinetha2@yahoo.com
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ManagerStay tuned! www.mohawknationnews.com
Mohawk Nation News Aug. 30, 2008.
Canada keeps trying to pretend it’s “open season” on the Kanionkehaka/Mohawk. It’s even okay to assault our elders and grandmothers. No steps have been taken to charge the Canada Border Services Agents CBSA who assaulted Katenies and Kahentinetha on June 14th 2008. Kahentinetha suffered a trauma induced heart attack. They tried to beat Katenies to a pulp. They act like this is “business as usual”. The prosecutors have not done their duty. Because of this there has been no public investigation and the crime has been swept under the carpet.
The two women have no money, but they have found a way that might make rogue crown agents accountable. They have filed an action in Canada ’s Federal Court.
This does not mean they are accepting Canadian jurisdiction over themselves or the Haudenosaunee. Canadian agents have no right to abuse human rights or commit crimes against anyone, including those foreign to Canada . Canada has signed many agreements promising to uphold international human right standards. You don’t have to be a Canadian citizen to sue Canada . Canada ’s courts have an obligation to uphold the law.
The following “Statement of Claim” shows that we can defend ourselves. They two grandmothers filed their complaint in the Federal Court of Canada, under Section 48 of Canada ’s Federal Court Act. [You can find the instructions for filing on the Federal Court website]. To get things going, you pay the filing fee and hand in 5 copies of your “Statement of Claim”. The court clerk puts on a gold stamped seal and signs it to prove it has been filed. They serve it on the government the next day, and the crown has 30 days to answer.
When you draft your claim, just put the facts down. Make sure you don’t include any allegations that you can’t prove. For example, you need a direct witness, documentary evidence or video tapes from CBSA cameras. If you miss a deadline, your case will be finished. The crown has to follow the law too, but it might try to ignore you. Don’t forget to include a demand that federal officials follow the court’s timelines.September 19, 2008, is the crown’s deadline for answering the two grandmothers. If the crown doesn’t answer, Canada will lose by default. The court should then order Canada to meet the grandmothers’ demands. MNN Staff
STATEMENT OF CLAIM TO THE DEFENDANT (court seal)
Assault, Arrest and Illegal Detention
By Canada Border Service Agents
At Cornwall Border
Court File No. F1309-08
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
BETWEEN
KAHENTINETHA AND KATENIES
Persons of the Kanion’ke:haka/Mohawk NationPlaintiffs
AndThe QueenSection 48, Federal Court Act
STATEMENT OF CLAIM1.
The plaintiffs demand that the individuals who assaulted them must be charged, tried and punished and that their personal possessions must be returned.
2. Canada ’s Constitution Act, 1982 states that Canada is governed by the rule of law and everyone is equal before the law.
3. This means that Canadian officials must obey the law, just like everyone else. When they commit an assault they should be charged with an assault under Canada ’s Criminal Code just like anyone else who commits an assault on the territory over which Canada claims jurisdiction.
4. Canada has failed to apply its laws equally in the area over which it claims jurisdiction.
5. Akwesasne is a small Kanionkehaka community that existed long before the Canadian state was conceived.
6. The Canada - U.S. border was placed in the middle of Akwesasne without the consent of the people of Akwesasne.
7. The people of Akwesasne must cross the Canadian border many times a day for groceries, to visit relatives and to conduct normal community life.
8.Kahentinetha is a 68-year old Kanionkehaka grandmother. Katenies is 43-years old and also a Kanionkehaka grandmother. Sakowaiaks is their friend.
9. On June 14, 2008 Sakowaiaks and Kahentinetha went to Akwesasne to pick up Katenies on the Kanatakon portion of the Akwesasne community.
10. At approximately 2:00 pm they arrived at the Canadian border control, which is situated in the Kawehnonkeh portion of the Akwesasne community.
11. The border agent took the identity documents of Katenies, Kahentinetha and Sakowaiaks and told them to wait under the canopy. Soon they took Kahentinetha’s car keys. The three hostages sat there peacefully for an hour surrounded by guards.
12. Some Kanionkehaka elders showed up to witness what was happening.
13. During this time, several other vehicles were searched and released. Only Indigenous people were stopped. All were residents of Akwesasne.
14. At approximately 3:00 pm, a platoon of about a dozen guards marched towards the car, all wearing leather gloves, flack jackets and all kinds of equipment hanging about their waists.
15. Throughout the attack on Kahentinetha and Katenies that followed, one officer, Maurice Saucier [Badge #16121], was on the cell phone directing operations.
16. Katenies was dragged violently from the back seat of the car by a gang of hefty young men and women dressed up as Canadian Border Services Agents. They knocked her down, pinned her to the ground, and forced their knees into her head and back. They handcuffed her and smashed and rubbed her face into the pavement.
17. Sakowaiaks heard the sound of flesh hitting the pavement.
18. Katenies received bleeding scrapes and bruises on her face, shoulders, arms and legs. She was taken into the customs building and later to Ottawa .
19. No charges were read to Katenies and her request for medical help was refused. She was not allowed to call her mother and her mother was not permitted to see her or speak to her. She was held incommunicado for three days until she appeared in Cornwall court on June 17, 2008.
20. After the assault on Katenies began, Kahentinetha was ordered to get out of the car. She was afraid to get out because of what they had done to Katenies.
21. Kahentinetha heard Maurice Saucier tell the other agents to “Take her out”. She was afraid for her life if she got out of the car.
22. Kahentinetha asked “What have I done?” She was not informed of any legal charges against her.23. Several agents started grabbing her and yanking her out of the car. She was thrown around, assaulted, handcuffed, and imprisoned.
24. In the cell, the attack continued. Kahentinetha’s shoes were taken. Some officers tightened the handcuffs she was wearing several times. This cut the circulation to her hands. Pain shot up her arms. She saw flashes of light and felt sharp pains in the middle of her chest and back. She cried out for help. The guards ignored her and tightened the handcuffs more. They yelled threats at her and kept ordering her to bend down. A man stood behind her and had his hands on her pants. She received scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs.
25. Frank Horn, Kahentinetha’s brother is a Cornwall lawyer. He and his son Kanatase, happened to be waiting in the line at the border.
26. When Frank Horn asked to see his sister, they took off the handcuffs and gave her a chair to sit on. When he saw her, he immediately insisted on calling an ambulance. The Akwesasne Police stood and watched in silence.
27. The ambulance took Kahentinetha to Cornwall Community Hospital and later to the Ottawa Ontario Heart Institute. She remained in hospital for 5 days in the trauma unit and intensive care unit. The doctors told her she had had a trauma induced heart attack.
28. Kahentinetha was in excellent health before the attack by the border guards. Her health is now fragile. On June 30th, 2008 she had a relapse and was hospitalized at the Anna Laberge Hospital in Chateauguay Quebec .
29. Neither of these women is associated with any kind of criminal activity.
30. Some of the CBSA officers involved in the attack had the following badge numbers: 17012; 16320; 16511; 16121; and 16275.
31. Katenies’ identity documents have not been returned. Also missing are documents that were in the trunk and the shoes taken from Kahentinetha’s feet.
The plaintiffs request:
a) Trial on appropriate criminal charges against the individuals who committed and directed the assault against them;
b) Full disclosure of all evidence including videotapes, cell phones, files, official communications, policing agreements and wiretaps concerning this action;
c) An order that all Canadian government agencies must respect our human rights as set out in international human rights instruments that Canada has signed;
d) An order that the accused and all involved Canadian government agencies must respect the time delays set out in the Federal Court Rules of Court;
e) $10 million for physical, psychological and punitive damages; andf) Such other relief as this court may deem fit.
The plaintiffs propose that this action be tried in the Federal Court of Canada at 30 McGill Street , Montreal Quebec .
August 20, 2008
Kahentinetha _______________
Katenies ___________________
Address of Service: For the purposes of this proceeding only, service to be made care of Julio Peris, 625 Rene Levesque West, Suite 900, Montreal, Quebec H3B 1R2 – 514-933-4656 Fax 514-93309587/I HEREBY CERTIFY that the above document is a true copy of the original issud out/filed in the Court on Aug. 20, 2008 A.D.
Signed by Nicole Reimen, Agent du Greffe, Registry Officer
PLEASE NOTE: As can be seen, it’s becoming critical for legal actions to be taken to protect our rights. We have no funds. Canada is hiring costly law firms to suppress our rights. If you can donate anything to our cause, it will be greatly appreciated.Donate to: PayPal, www.mohawknationnews.com, or “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Nia:wen/Thank you very much.
New MNN Books Available Now!
The books below, email us:Mohawk Warriors Three - The Trial of Lasagna, Noriega, 20/20$20.00 usd
The On-Going Confusion between The Great Law and The Handsome Lake Code$20.00 usd
The Agonizing Death of "Colonialism" and "Federal Indian Law" in Kaianere'ko:wa/Great Law Territory $20.00 usd
Who's Sorry Now? The good, the bad and the unapologetic Mohawks of Kanehsatake $20.00 usd
Rebuilding the Iroquois ConfederacyKaroniaktajeh$10 usd
Warriors Hand Book Karoniaktajeh$10 usd
Mail checks and money orders to...MNNP.O. Box 991 Kahnawake, QC J0L 1B0
Purchase t-shirts, mugs and more at our CafePress Store
http://www.cafepress.com/mohawknews
Subscribe to MNN for breaking news updates
http://www.mohawknationnews.com/news/subscription.php
Sign Women Title Holders petition!
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Iroquois
Link to MNNGet the code and banners to link to Mohawk Nation News.
http://www.mohawknationnews.com/pg.php?page=promote.html
Your SupportMake a contribution to our newsgroup.
Secure your online transaction with PayPal®. www.mohawknationnews.com
Click on DONATE button.Nia:wen,Kahentinetha kahentinetha2@yahoo.com
Speaking & Contemporary Native Issues WorkshopsKatenies katenies20@yahoo.com
ManagerStay tuned! www.mohawknationnews.com
Denver Democratic National Convention, this isn't OZ
By Brenda Norrell
DENVER -- If you relied on the mainstream media for coverage of this week's Democratic National Convention, you probably visualized everyone clicking their heels together and entering the land of OZ.
While the mainstream media and politicians were cloistered together, the people were in the streets, voicing disgust over the Bush regime, which decimated civil liberties and turned the Earth into the corporate profiteers' commodity. At the same time, the Iraq war continued with the mainstream media complicit in the genocide of women and children in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The signs reminded all that the Bush regime and Congress violated the Geneva Conventions and carried out kidnapping, torture and murder of people in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and secret prisons.
The lawlessness that prevailed in the White House and Congress was maintained by the police at the Democratic National Convention who provoked peaceful demonstrators on Monday night, culminating in an at attack by riot police who sprayed pepper spray and shot rubber bullets at peaceful protesters.
The collapse of US democracy was most poignant at the Freedom for Political Prisoners rally and march at the federal courthouse in Denver on Monday. Here, Aurora police drew weapons on people of color: American Indians, blacks, Chicanos and others. It was clear that there are two Americas and one America is filling the prisons because of racial profiling and racial injustice. While simulating waterboarding and US torture, activists demanded freedom for Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu-Jamal, the Cuban Five and other political prisoners.
With courage, US servicemen led the march against the war and occupation in Iraq on Wednesday. On Thursday, marchers demanded that US lawlessness be halted and the ICE raids against workers that are dividing families be halted. At the "We Are America," march for immigrant rights, marchers pointed out that hundreds of workers arrested in Laurel, Mississippi, in raids have been sent to one of the most racist towns in America: Jena, Louisiana.
As the so-called "clean coal," industry poured millions into the convention, protesters reminded the people that there is no such thing as "clean coal." A moment of truth came when ABC news producer Asa Eslocker was roughly arrested. Eslocker, an investigative reporter, was pushed into the traffic by a Boulder police officer. During the arrest, Eslocker was grabbed around the neck by an officer, as documented by a film crew. Eslocker was waiting on a public sidewalk to film financial donors leaving a hotel.
Meanwhile, those marchers who were sprayed with pepper spray on Monday were not allowed to wash it off when they were detained and jailed. "This is a form of torture," said one street medic, describing the poisons that are absorbed internally. Another medic described the wound of a rubber bullet. The women of Code Pink were targeted by police, with women thrown violently to the ground during arrests, as documented in videos.
In the St Paul/Minneapolis area, police raids of homes and community centers are already underway in preparation for the Republican National Convention, Sept. 1 -- 4. Protesters say they are not intimidated.
As thousands marched this week in Denver, volunteers at Food Not Bombs gathered donated foods and fed the people. In the streets, the people asked: "Is anyone really listening?" The people don't have a clue. But for those who spent this week in the streets of Denver, a new America was emerging. The people were giving voice to truth, a prized commodity in this age of US genocide, corrupt media and the corporate rape of the Earth Mother.
DENVER -- If you relied on the mainstream media for coverage of this week's Democratic National Convention, you probably visualized everyone clicking their heels together and entering the land of OZ.
While the mainstream media and politicians were cloistered together, the people were in the streets, voicing disgust over the Bush regime, which decimated civil liberties and turned the Earth into the corporate profiteers' commodity. At the same time, the Iraq war continued with the mainstream media complicit in the genocide of women and children in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The signs reminded all that the Bush regime and Congress violated the Geneva Conventions and carried out kidnapping, torture and murder of people in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and secret prisons.
The lawlessness that prevailed in the White House and Congress was maintained by the police at the Democratic National Convention who provoked peaceful demonstrators on Monday night, culminating in an at attack by riot police who sprayed pepper spray and shot rubber bullets at peaceful protesters.
The collapse of US democracy was most poignant at the Freedom for Political Prisoners rally and march at the federal courthouse in Denver on Monday. Here, Aurora police drew weapons on people of color: American Indians, blacks, Chicanos and others. It was clear that there are two Americas and one America is filling the prisons because of racial profiling and racial injustice. While simulating waterboarding and US torture, activists demanded freedom for Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu-Jamal, the Cuban Five and other political prisoners.
With courage, US servicemen led the march against the war and occupation in Iraq on Wednesday. On Thursday, marchers demanded that US lawlessness be halted and the ICE raids against workers that are dividing families be halted. At the "We Are America," march for immigrant rights, marchers pointed out that hundreds of workers arrested in Laurel, Mississippi, in raids have been sent to one of the most racist towns in America: Jena, Louisiana.
As the so-called "clean coal," industry poured millions into the convention, protesters reminded the people that there is no such thing as "clean coal." A moment of truth came when ABC news producer Asa Eslocker was roughly arrested. Eslocker, an investigative reporter, was pushed into the traffic by a Boulder police officer. During the arrest, Eslocker was grabbed around the neck by an officer, as documented by a film crew. Eslocker was waiting on a public sidewalk to film financial donors leaving a hotel.
Meanwhile, those marchers who were sprayed with pepper spray on Monday were not allowed to wash it off when they were detained and jailed. "This is a form of torture," said one street medic, describing the poisons that are absorbed internally. Another medic described the wound of a rubber bullet. The women of Code Pink were targeted by police, with women thrown violently to the ground during arrests, as documented in videos.
In the St Paul/Minneapolis area, police raids of homes and community centers are already underway in preparation for the Republican National Convention, Sept. 1 -- 4. Protesters say they are not intimidated.
As thousands marched this week in Denver, volunteers at Food Not Bombs gathered donated foods and fed the people. In the streets, the people asked: "Is anyone really listening?" The people don't have a clue. But for those who spent this week in the streets of Denver, a new America was emerging. The people were giving voice to truth, a prized commodity in this age of US genocide, corrupt media and the corporate rape of the Earth Mother.
McCain's VP pick: Oil drilling more important than polar bears
Censored News, reader comment:
McCain's Vice Presidential's selection Palin Would deny Indigenous Rights
Praying to Four Winds
Gov. Sarah Palin is not prepared to be Vice President. She reversed Dirk Kempthorne, US Secretary of the Interior, decision listing polar bears as an endangered species. This youthful appearing governor ignored pleas of both Native People and environmentalists amid her fears of annoying oil barrens. The Governor's actions deny a way of life for American Indians, falsely believing an opposite action would hurt oil and gas development in the bears' habitat off Alaska's northern and northwestern coasts.
We don't need to punch more holes in pristine lands, nor to make our few Indians homeless. Citizens agree it's time to fight against global warming, not add to it.
Palin's pushy fundamentalist Christian views coupled with Texas bible classes would bring havoc to classrooms across Texas, which we do not need. Palin is not good for the Nation; she's not been tested. If we look back historically, it was the fundamentalists who led the worse blight on our Nation -- genocide of the Native People.
Response from Center for Biological Diversity:
"She's either grossly misinformed or intentionally misleading, and both are unbecoming," said Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity. ... "Even the Bush administration can't deny the reality of global warming. The governor is aligning herself and the state of Alaska with the most discredited, fringe, extreme viewpoints by denying this."
McCain's Vice Presidential's selection Palin Would deny Indigenous Rights
Praying to Four Winds
Gov. Sarah Palin is not prepared to be Vice President. She reversed Dirk Kempthorne, US Secretary of the Interior, decision listing polar bears as an endangered species. This youthful appearing governor ignored pleas of both Native People and environmentalists amid her fears of annoying oil barrens. The Governor's actions deny a way of life for American Indians, falsely believing an opposite action would hurt oil and gas development in the bears' habitat off Alaska's northern and northwestern coasts.
We don't need to punch more holes in pristine lands, nor to make our few Indians homeless. Citizens agree it's time to fight against global warming, not add to it.
Palin's pushy fundamentalist Christian views coupled with Texas bible classes would bring havoc to classrooms across Texas, which we do not need. Palin is not good for the Nation; she's not been tested. If we look back historically, it was the fundamentalists who led the worse blight on our Nation -- genocide of the Native People.
In Alaska she has taken just such a position.
This candidate's short history reveals scary positions, at great risk to Alaskans; and if the country should elect her, she's not ready to lead us. The women of this nation would be denied not bettered.
-- Kenneth
This candidate's short history reveals scary positions, at great risk to Alaskans; and if the country should elect her, she's not ready to lead us. The women of this nation would be denied not bettered.
-- Kenneth
In the news:
In May, Palin said she would sue the federal government after it declared polar bears an endangered species. The Anchorage Daily News reported, "She and other Alaska elected officials fear a listing will cripple oil and gas development in prime polar bear habitat off the state's northern and northwestern coasts ... Climate models that predict continued loss of sea ice, the main habitat of polar bears, during summers are unreliable, Palin said."Response from Center for Biological Diversity:
"She's either grossly misinformed or intentionally misleading, and both are unbecoming," said Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity. ... "Even the Bush administration can't deny the reality of global warming. The governor is aligning herself and the state of Alaska with the most discredited, fringe, extreme viewpoints by denying this."
Videos: Recreate 68, Democratic National Convention
Denver Arts Organization Targeted by Police
By The Other Side Arts
DENVER -- Denver Police targeted The Other Side Arts, a non profit art center as part of an effort to, "clean up the neighborhood" just before the Democratic National Convention. On Sunday afternoon, a number of police officers from Denver and Aurora Police Departments appeared outside of TOSA, some dressed in riot gear, and begin to investigate the property.
Denver DNC: Mass arrested pressured to waive rights
Contacts: Brian Vicente, Director, National Lawyers Guild DNC People's Law
Project, (720) 280-4067
Miriam Stohs, Esq., Colorado Chapter liaison, NLG (303) 929-5501
Project, (720) 280-4067
Miriam Stohs, Esq., Colorado Chapter liaison, NLG (303) 929-5501
FROM: NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD DNC PEOPLE'S LAW PROJECT CRITICIZES DNC COURT PROCEDURES
Denver-- The National Lawyers Guild DNC People's Law Project (PLP) criticizes the procedures that created a high risk of accused persons waiving their rights without access to lawyers or an adequate understanding of their cases. The PLP is particularly concerned with today's phone call from the Denver County Courts alerting defendants that they could appear in court on Friday, August 29 "for an opportunity to dispose of their case."
Denver-- The National Lawyers Guild DNC People's Law Project (PLP) criticizes the procedures that created a high risk of accused persons waiving their rights without access to lawyers or an adequate understanding of their cases. The PLP is particularly concerned with today's phone call from the Denver County Courts alerting defendants that they could appear in court on Friday, August 29 "for an opportunity to dispose of their case."
Thursday, August 28, 2008
'We Are America' Migrant March Denver
By Brenda NorrellDENVER -- The march for migrants in Denver, "We Are America," sent a message Thursday morning to both presidential candidates to pass immigration reform laws and halt the ICE raids that are violating human rights and dividing families. The most recent ICE raids have been in Mississippi.
Jose Matus (second photo) is founder and director of the Indigenous Alliance Without Borders. Matus is also a Yaqui ceremonial leader who brings Yaqui ceremonial leaders across the US/Mexico border for temporary visits to carry out ceremonies. Indigenous living along the border, from the Kumeyaay in California to the Tigua and Lipan Apache in Texas have battled the oppression, seizures of land and violations of sacred areas due to Homeland Security waving all federal laws to build the border wall. In addition, Tohono O'odham ancestors have been dug up for border wall construction and an ancient ceremonial route dissected. Tohono O'odham Chairman Ned Norris said in a congressional hearing that human bone fragments have been found in border wall machinery tracks.
Jose Matus (second photo) is founder and director of the Indigenous Alliance Without Borders. Matus is also a Yaqui ceremonial leader who brings Yaqui ceremonial leaders across the US/Mexico border for temporary visits to carry out ceremonies. Indigenous living along the border, from the Kumeyaay in California to the Tigua and Lipan Apache in Texas have battled the oppression, seizures of land and violations of sacred areas due to Homeland Security waving all federal laws to build the border wall. In addition, Tohono O'odham ancestors have been dug up for border wall construction and an ancient ceremonial route dissected. Tohono O'odham Chairman Ned Norris said in a congressional hearing that human bone fragments have been found in border wall machinery tracks.
During today's march near the Democratic National Convention, marchers demanded a halt to the "Gestapo-style ICE raids" that are "promoting bigotry at the highest levels of government," according to World Can't Wait (www.worldcantwait.org)
ICE swept through Laurel, Mississippi and seized 595 workers. Four hundred and seventy-five workers are being held in Jena, Louisiana, a town notorious for racism and attacks on people of color. (Photos Brenda Norrell)
Listen to Earthcycles Producer Govinda Dalton, with Brenda Norrell in Denver:
Listen to Earthcycles Producer Govinda Dalton, with Brenda Norrell in Denver:
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Denver police pepper spray and beat people
Action Alert: Protest Police Treatment of DNC Activists
From Colorado Legal Eagles
info@coloradolegaleagles.org
For photos and more informaton, see:
http://www.coloradolegaleagles.org/
[Denver, CO] - Glenn Spagnuolo, one of the main organizers of Recreate 68, was interviewed on Peter Boyles on KHOW radio Tuesday morning about the pepper bullet incident on Monday. You can listen to the full interviews here:
http://www.khow.com/pages/boyles.html
Glenn said that the incident last night started around 5:30pm, when heavily-armed police in SWAT gear began making random sweeps through Civic Center Park, harassing people sitting in the grass by poking them with nightsticks and telling them to get up and leave. Glenn complained several times to the protester's police liaison, and the police would stop the harassment, just to start it again a few minutes later. He said that happened about 4 or 5 times. Glenn said some of the kids in the park became annoyed and formed a circle and started chanting "No Justice, No Peace" and put bandanas on their faces. He said that the police got worked up and came in pretty heavy and opened up with pepper spray and pepper bullets into the crowd without warning. The police chased the crowd through the park towards 15th and Cleveland, where there was another line of police waiting to surround the people running from the police and prevent them from leaving. Glenn says the police surrounded the crowd, which included frightened and crying children, and began pushing them back and crushing the crowd together. He said they were detained for well over an hour.
With their heavy-handed tactics and lack of warning to the crowds, the police clearly were trying to provoke violence from the crowd. There had been over 2 days of peaceful protests up until this incident. Instead of trying to arrest the trouble-makers without endangering others, the police chose to react by firing pepper bullet guns, pepper spray and tear gas into groups of innocent bystanders without warning and rounding up crowds of innocent people and detaining them for over an hour.
In other incidents of police harassment, Cindy Sheehan, an antiwar activist running for office against Nancy Pelosi, returned to her hotel room in Denver yesterday to find a man trying to plant a bug in her telephone.
http://obambi.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/cindy-sheehan-catches-a-man-trying-to-wiretap-her-hotel-room-telephone/
According to Glenn Spagnuolo, the police had been stopping and searching the cars of Recreate68 and Unconventional Action activists near their convergence center north of downtown.
Another report on colorado.indymedia.org states that 5 members of the Solidarity Radical Library and Revolutionary Center from Lawrence, Kansas were arrested Monday in Denver without any reason.
Other activists reported heavy intimidation and harassment by roving gangs of heavily-armed law enforcement officers in the Civic Center Park Festival of Democracy and elsewhere in Denver.
Please call the officials below and tell them to stop the harassment of antiwar activists by police. Forward this announcement to your friends. We need to let the city of Denver know that the "The Whole World is Watching!"
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper Phone: 720-865-9000 (Denver 311) Ask for the Mayor's Office
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Phone: (303) 866-2471 They say it's the Mayor's responsibility, not theirs, but they still need to feel the heat.
###
---Provided as a public service by the:
Come Up to Denver Coalition"No one else can take your place!"Check out our video of Crosby, Stills and Nash playing "Denver"
http://www.comeuptodenver.org/
Email: info@comeuptodenver.org
From Colorado Legal Eagles
info@coloradolegaleagles.org
For photos and more informaton, see:
http://www.coloradolegaleagles.org/
[Denver, CO] - Glenn Spagnuolo, one of the main organizers of Recreate 68, was interviewed on Peter Boyles on KHOW radio Tuesday morning about the pepper bullet incident on Monday. You can listen to the full interviews here:
http://www.khow.com/pages/boyles.html
Glenn said that the incident last night started around 5:30pm, when heavily-armed police in SWAT gear began making random sweeps through Civic Center Park, harassing people sitting in the grass by poking them with nightsticks and telling them to get up and leave. Glenn complained several times to the protester's police liaison, and the police would stop the harassment, just to start it again a few minutes later. He said that happened about 4 or 5 times. Glenn said some of the kids in the park became annoyed and formed a circle and started chanting "No Justice, No Peace" and put bandanas on their faces. He said that the police got worked up and came in pretty heavy and opened up with pepper spray and pepper bullets into the crowd without warning. The police chased the crowd through the park towards 15th and Cleveland, where there was another line of police waiting to surround the people running from the police and prevent them from leaving. Glenn says the police surrounded the crowd, which included frightened and crying children, and began pushing them back and crushing the crowd together. He said they were detained for well over an hour.
With their heavy-handed tactics and lack of warning to the crowds, the police clearly were trying to provoke violence from the crowd. There had been over 2 days of peaceful protests up until this incident. Instead of trying to arrest the trouble-makers without endangering others, the police chose to react by firing pepper bullet guns, pepper spray and tear gas into groups of innocent bystanders without warning and rounding up crowds of innocent people and detaining them for over an hour.
In other incidents of police harassment, Cindy Sheehan, an antiwar activist running for office against Nancy Pelosi, returned to her hotel room in Denver yesterday to find a man trying to plant a bug in her telephone.
http://obambi.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/cindy-sheehan-catches-a-man-trying-to-wiretap-her-hotel-room-telephone/
According to Glenn Spagnuolo, the police had been stopping and searching the cars of Recreate68 and Unconventional Action activists near their convergence center north of downtown.
Another report on colorado.indymedia.org states that 5 members of the Solidarity Radical Library and Revolutionary Center from Lawrence, Kansas were arrested Monday in Denver without any reason.
Other activists reported heavy intimidation and harassment by roving gangs of heavily-armed law enforcement officers in the Civic Center Park Festival of Democracy and elsewhere in Denver.
Please call the officials below and tell them to stop the harassment of antiwar activists by police. Forward this announcement to your friends. We need to let the city of Denver know that the "The Whole World is Watching!"
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper Phone: 720-865-9000 (Denver 311) Ask for the Mayor's Office
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Phone: (303) 866-2471 They say it's the Mayor's responsibility, not theirs, but they still need to feel the heat.
###
---Provided as a public service by the:
Come Up to Denver Coalition"No one else can take your place!"Check out our video of Crosby, Stills and Nash playing "Denver"
http://www.comeuptodenver.org/
Email: info@comeuptodenver.org
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Guantanamo on the Platte
By Brenda Norrell
DENVER -- If you like chaos, you should be in the streets of Denver. If you like being surrounded by squads of riot police with nothing to do but irritate people, you should definitely be in Denver. If you like downtown shop owners saying, "Our restrooms are out of order," and "We turned the Wi-Fi off for the week," you should really be in Denver.
I don't know how anyone else's day went, but for me, I spent eight hours accomplishing nothing. First, there's the downtown Kinkos, the worst in the nation. You can pay $30 for what should cost $5 to accomplish because the computers are pitiful. It has been that way for years.
While many shop owners just handled the chaos this way: "Our restrooms are broken," (Kinkos) or "We turned off the Wi-Fi for the week," (Paradise Bakery)" on down the street, Barnes and Nobles tried another approach. It was so hot in there that babies were sweating.
Finally I gave up and sat in a coffee shop. Across the street, the anti-abortion crowd had huge posters of fetuses. The restaurant owners were very upset because people really couldn't eat looking at these. There seemed to be lots of drama, as police and news reporters kept rushing back and forth as confrontations came and went. But one thing was clear, these protesters, mostly white Christians from small towns, were treated very different by Denver's riot police, than the peaceful marchers for political prisoners on Monday.
For people of color, the police drew their weapons. The alternative crowd wasn't treated well either. For the peaceful Food Not Bombs group, there was a huge buildup of police delivering intimidation and repression. Finally, for all the alternative protesters near the Civic Center there was a huge arrest sweep on Monday night. Medics, documentary filmmakers, and reporters said they were detained for one and one half-hours during the roundup.
Apparently Denver police felt Monday's crowd was entirely too peaceful and arrests were in order. There was no other way to explain the big roundup and arrests Monday night. Police sprayed people with pepper spray and shot pepper bullets at them. As for the bizarre single file procession of dozens of police through the Food Not Bombs dinner of rice and lentils, there's no way to explain that.
Still, there are great handmade signs all over Denver. However, there's little indication that the "haves" at the Democratic National Convention are paying any attention to the people in the streets. The people taking to the streets of Denver have come from all over America. Anyone who has a cause is here. Two signs today read, "911 was an inside job," and "Clean coal spending $2 million on convention." On the lighter side, here's a few great signs from the streets: "Give everyone everything," "Get rid of government everything," and "Free hugs."
Anyway, back to today. As I was leaving the Civic Center area, I heard from a young woman photographer who had witnessed one of the police attacks. She said one person was simply photographing his friend being arrested. The police told him to halt, so he dropped the camera and put his hands in the air. The young man taking photos was then tackled by three riot police and arrested. His crime was taking a photo. She also filled me in on the fenced dog cages being used as jails during the convention.
The locals call it after their river, "Guantanamo on the Platte."
(PHOTO: Denver riot police ready for the big sweep on Monday. Apparently the people were too peaceful, as the guy sleeping on the grass demonstrates. The photo was taken shortly before the sweep and arrests in the Civic Center area on Monday evening. Photo Brenda Norrell)
Denver police: Intimidation and provocation
Denver police stage bizarre behavior
DENVER -- On Monday, Denver police spent the day intimidating and provoking peaceful protesters. By day's end there were entirely too many police with too much time on their hands. They were eager to arrest people in Denver. It didn't matter if the people were simply walking down the street. Medics were even detained.
Flashing a wide variety of weapons, Denver police positioned police gangs around the peaceful Food Not Bombs. Police even made a single file procession through the heart of Food Not Bombs' peaceful dinner. As people were eating, Denver police made one of the silliest processions ever through a dinner of rice and lentils.
After spending the late afternoon in bizarre staging and intimidation tactics in the Civic Center area, Denver police began spraying people with pepper spray and shoving people randomly by day's end. Finally, apparently bored and itchy to arrest, they arrested people for their Democratic National Convention dog cages. It was a sad and embarrassing day for Denver police, proving that lawlessness reigns for US police.
Monday, August 25, 2008
In the Streets of Denver: Free Political Prisoners
'Taser bait' in Denver
Article and photo by Brenda Norrell
DENVER -- It was an incredible morning in the streets of Denver, with the voices of the people spilling out through this city during the Political Prisoners March and Rally. It was clear that there is another divide underway, those who are in the Democratic National Convention with their expense accounts and those in the streets, lending powerful voices to define the future. With most US citizens in a state of post traumatic stress syndrome, the brave faced off with Denver police and marched through the streets this morning. What began as a small crowd near the Civic Center grew as hundreds joined the march through the heart of the city.
Among those speaking out was Ben Carnes, Choctaw, who read a message from Leonard Peltier. King Downing, with ACLU's Campaign against Racial Profiling, described how he was arrested in a racial profiling incident and won his case. Mumia Abu Jamal's message was heard from death row in a recording for the event. Jamal described the true portrait of US democracy.
At one point, a police officer drew his weapon on the crowd in front of the federal courthouse. A legal observer with the Lawyer's Guild confronted him and after a standoff, the officer walked away. There was the feeling that we could all soon be "taser bait."
Update: Denver police stage bizarre behavior, make arrests: http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
Here is the list of speakers that brought me here: Pamela Africa - MOVE Organization;
American Indian Movement Spokesperson Leonard Peltier Defense Committee - Ben Carnes, with a message from Leonard, direct from Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary; Rosa Clemente - United States Vice Presidential Candidate for the Green Party; Kathleen Cleaver - The Panther Nine from San Francisco; King Downing - National Coordinator of the ACLU's Campaign Against Racial Profiling; Jenny Esquiveo - Spokesperson for Eric McDavid (Political Prisoner); Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. - Prisoners of Conscience Committee; Mumia Abu Jamal - Current Political Prisoner (Recorded from Death Row); Cha Cha Jimenez - Founder of the Young Lords (Puerto Rican Resistance Prisoners); Ricardo Romero - National Coordinator for the Mexican National Liberation Movement (MLNM); Natsu Saito - Author, Activist, and Human Rights Scholar (Guantanamo Inmates); Spokesperson for the Cuban Five and a special musical performance by Native hip hop youth activists The Savage Family.
Listen later for the audios. We were live on the radio and web this morning on Earthcycles:
http://www.earthcycles.net/
In the streets of Denver, Brenda
Statement from Leonard Peltier
by Leonard Peltier Monday Aug 25th, 2008 10:08 AM
Greetings my friends and relatives, First of all, I can't express to you, near as much as I'd like to. The sincere appreciation I have that you would gather together remembering all the political prisoners, hostages and myself the way you have. Gatherings like this are extremely important because it reminds people of the sacrifices that are made daily through out the world for freedom, justice, and a clean and sane environment for our future generations. The powers that exploit our resources and people will always be there, generation after generation. And the creator will always call upon people to stand against that exploitation. Even if the creator does not call. Any just man or woman, with any semblance of justice, be it spiritual, social or environmental, He will find cause to take issue with those enemies of humanity and nature.
Listen later for the audios. We were live on the radio and web this morning on Earthcycles:
http://www.earthcycles.net/
In the streets of Denver, Brenda
Statement from Leonard Peltier
by Leonard Peltier Monday Aug 25th, 2008 10:08 AM
Greetings my friends and relatives, First of all, I can't express to you, near as much as I'd like to. The sincere appreciation I have that you would gather together remembering all the political prisoners, hostages and myself the way you have. Gatherings like this are extremely important because it reminds people of the sacrifices that are made daily through out the world for freedom, justice, and a clean and sane environment for our future generations. The powers that exploit our resources and people will always be there, generation after generation. And the creator will always call upon people to stand against that exploitation. Even if the creator does not call. Any just man or woman, with any semblance of justice, be it spiritual, social or environmental, He will find cause to take issue with those enemies of humanity and nature.
Photo: Ben Carnes, Choctaw, at the Freedom for Political Prisoner reads Peltier's statement outside the federal courthouse in Denver. Photo Brenda Norrell.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
US commits genocide of infants and children at the border
US violates rights of infants and children
In this news article, La Jornada in Mexico reports that the United States is violating the rights of infants and children by abandoning them at the border
Translation of:
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2008/08/11/index.php?section=politica&article=018n1pol
In 7 months, the United States deported 90,000 Mexican children
Others remain abandoned, left to their luck on the border
As of this writing, during the first seven months of the year, at least 90,000 Mexican children were deported by the government of the United States, in the context of its anti-immigrant politics, according to a PRI task force study group of work on immigration matters to Mexico's House of Representatives. Also about 300,000 adults have been deported. The report states that 15 per cent of the children, approximately 13,500, live on the Mexican border, without any type of governmental protection. However, ideally they are attended by religious institutions or non-governmental organizations.The coordinator of the group and secretary of the Commission of Population, Borders and Immigration Matters, the deputy from PRI Edmundo Ramírez Martínez, specified that the children are entrusted to "polleros" or human traffickers to be taken to the United States with their parents. If the parents attempt to regain their children, they are deported. The children are practically left on the Mexican border, since the families, for fear of having the same luck, do not claim them. Also, the report explains that for every three adult deportees from the United States, one Mexican origin child is left in this nation. The report said that many of the minors accompanied parents to the north to find work, but they were deported by the authorities of this country.
Violated rights
On the northern border of Mexico there are children, "parked" who remain in the care of DIF hostels, religious or civil organizations. But, a very high percentage devote themselves to begging to survive and to try to go to the United States. The report detailed that the deportation of infants has a major impact, with consequences felt in areas with high migratory flow such as: Michoacán, Jalisco, Zacatecas and Guanajuato.
The report expressed remorse for the systematic violation to the rights of the infants on the part of the authorities of the United States and the absence of a program of support on the part of the Mexican government.
The legislative report exhibits that the International Convention of the Rights of the Children determines that in case of minors they must not be deported but repatriated. But in fact, it is believed that only 25 per cent arrive directly to their state of origin, the rest suffer the same luck as the adults who are left at the border and there they are left to their luck.
Ramírez Martínez described the difference between deportation and repatriation as "one of funds." The first one implies practically an expulsion, whereas the second one forces the country to take responsibility of the care and tutelage of the minors.
In this news article, La Jornada in Mexico reports that the United States is violating the rights of infants and children by abandoning them at the border
Translation of:
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2008/08/11/index.php?section=politica&article=018n1pol
In 7 months, the United States deported 90,000 Mexican children
Others remain abandoned, left to their luck on the border
As of this writing, during the first seven months of the year, at least 90,000 Mexican children were deported by the government of the United States, in the context of its anti-immigrant politics, according to a PRI task force study group of work on immigration matters to Mexico's House of Representatives. Also about 300,000 adults have been deported. The report states that 15 per cent of the children, approximately 13,500, live on the Mexican border, without any type of governmental protection. However, ideally they are attended by religious institutions or non-governmental organizations.The coordinator of the group and secretary of the Commission of Population, Borders and Immigration Matters, the deputy from PRI Edmundo Ramírez Martínez, specified that the children are entrusted to "polleros" or human traffickers to be taken to the United States with their parents. If the parents attempt to regain their children, they are deported. The children are practically left on the Mexican border, since the families, for fear of having the same luck, do not claim them. Also, the report explains that for every three adult deportees from the United States, one Mexican origin child is left in this nation. The report said that many of the minors accompanied parents to the north to find work, but they were deported by the authorities of this country.
Violated rights
On the northern border of Mexico there are children, "parked" who remain in the care of DIF hostels, religious or civil organizations. But, a very high percentage devote themselves to begging to survive and to try to go to the United States. The report detailed that the deportation of infants has a major impact, with consequences felt in areas with high migratory flow such as: Michoacán, Jalisco, Zacatecas and Guanajuato.
The report expressed remorse for the systematic violation to the rights of the infants on the part of the authorities of the United States and the absence of a program of support on the part of the Mexican government.
The legislative report exhibits that the International Convention of the Rights of the Children determines that in case of minors they must not be deported but repatriated. But in fact, it is believed that only 25 per cent arrive directly to their state of origin, the rest suffer the same luck as the adults who are left at the border and there they are left to their luck.
Ramírez Martínez described the difference between deportation and repatriation as "one of funds." The first one implies practically an expulsion, whereas the second one forces the country to take responsibility of the care and tutelage of the minors.
Congratulations to Native American Music Award Nominees 2008
10th Annual Native American Music Awards Nominees Announced
Blackfire, Blackfoot, Brule & AIRO, The Blessed Blend, The Crow Girls, and The Red Corn Band lead with three nominations each
August 23, 2008 - New York. Nominations for the 10th Annual Native American Music Awards (NAMA) were announced today by The Native American Music Association & Awards, reflecting the combined votes of the NAMA Advisory Board Nominating Committee Membership. This year is a monumental year for the organization which will now have nominated an estimated 1500 artists and honored 300 winners over the past decade.
A new limited edition “NAMMY” will be introduced this year commemorating the organization’s 10th Anniversary year. The 10th Annual Native American Music Awards will be held on Saturday, October 4, 2008 at the Seneca Entertainment Center in the Seneca Casino & Hotel in Niagara Falls, NY. Tickets for the 10th Annual Native American Music Awards are on-sale now through all ticketmaster outlets. The Awards show will again be broadcast on MHZ Networks in November to an estimated 30 million cable households.
New up-and-comers were nominated alongside established artists in a diverse array of 30 music categories. Blackfire, Blackfoot, Brule & AIRO, The Blessed Blend, The Crow Girls, and The Red Corn Band lead with three nominations each. Tied with two nominations each are; Blu, Carroll Medicine Crow, Cherokee National Youth Choir, Cheryl Bear, Chief Seattle Speaks, Delbert Blackhorse, Douglas Blue Feather, Dream Scape, Eagle & Hawk, Producer Ed Stasium, Edmund Bull, Fara Palmer, Gilbert Begay Sr, Golana, Injunuity, J.C. Campbell, Jim Boyd, Ken Quiet Hawk, Medicine Dream, Native Roots, Nightshield, Primeaux & Mike, Pura Fe’, R Carlos Nakai, Rain Song, Red Feather Woman, Rezhogs, Robert Mirabal, Sotiw, Star Nayea, Stevie Salas, Tanya Brown, Terri Rivera Piatt & Lancy Goodman, Terry Lee Whetstone, Tiger Tiger, Tracy Bone and Walter Ahhaitty & Friends.
Nominated in the field of Record Of The Year are; Blackfire’s (Silence) Is A Weapon, Northern Cree & Friends’ Calling All Dancers , Thee Express’ Express Yourself, Golana’s Mirror Lake, Brule’ & AIRO’s Live At Mt. Rushmore and Blackfoot’s Train Train.
This year's Song Single Of The Year nominees represent more musical works within the Pop/Folk genres that feature distinctive Native American elements; All Colors Together by RainSong Terry & Darlene Wildman, Broken Dreams by Nightshield, Going To Gathering by The Blessed Blend, Hey Cuzzin’! by Cheryl Bear, Sleep Is The Ocean by The Crow Girls, and Way of the Warrior by Medicine Dream."These nominations throughout all 30 music categories truly reflect a diverse and impressive range of new and established talent from our community," said Awards President Ellen Bello. "We are looking forward to a spectacular Awards celebration running the full spectrum of today’s most popular contemporary and traditional Native American music initiatives.” Special Recognition Awards will also be given to internationally acclaimed artists; Janice Marie Johnson of A Taste of Honey, Pat Vegas & Redbone, Felipe Rose of the Village People and Rickey Medlocke of Blackfoot and Lynyrd Skynyrd.Voting ballots to select the final winner in each category will be mailed to all Advisory Board voting members. Voting ballots are also available to the general public on our websites http://www.votenative.com/ or http://www.nativeamericanmusicawards.com/.
See below for a complete list of official nominees for the 10th Annual Native American Awards: ARTIST OF THE YEAR Carroll Medicine Crow – Homeland Security Delbert Blackhorse – The Four Directions Jim Boyd – Blues To Bluegrass Johnny Whitehorse – Totemic Flute Chants Stevie Salas – The Sun & The EarthTerry Lee Whetstone –
The Best of the Best
BEST BLUES RECORDING Deep Downtown – Jimmy Wolf Goin’ For It – Terry Tsotigh Graywolf Blues Band – Graywolf Blues Band Hold The Rain – Pura Fe’ Levi Platero – Levi Platero & The Plateros Sir Harrison & The Blues Kings – Sir Harrison & The Blues Kings
BEST COMPILATION RECORDING Calling All Dancers – Northern Cree & Friends Heart of the Bitterroot – Various Navajo Christmas – Todi Neesh Zhee Singers Old Style Round Dance Songs – Various
The Best of the Best – Terry Lee Whetstone (2) The Native Hip Hop Hour Volume One – Various
BEST COUNTRY RECORDING Follow Your Dreams – Edmund Bull Mysterys – Qua TiSiNo Lies – Tracy Bone Still No Good – The Red Corn Band Crystal Shawanda – Crystal Shawanda
DEBUT ARTIST OF THE YEAR Blu – Rez Life Cheryl Bear – The Good Road Chucki Begay – Songs From My Heart Ghosthorse – KSA Gilbert Begay Sr – Traditional Navajo Shoe Game Songs Slavior - Slavior
DEBUT GROUP OF THE YEAR 191 N. – 5 Bucks Gas Injunuity – Unconquered Moon Lodge Singers – Cultural Legacy: Fights Alone Pimadiziwin Singers – Save The Last Round Dance For Me The Breeze Band – The Breeze BandThe Crow Girls – Sleep is the Ocean
BEST FEMALE ARTIST Fara Palmer – Phoenix Nicole – Deep Dreams Pura Fe’ – Hold The Rain Radmilla Cody – Precious Friends Star Nayea – Silenced My Tongue Tracy Bone – No Lies (2)BEST FOLK RECORDING Blue Moon – Terri Rivera Piatt & Lancy Goodman Nikawiy Askiy – Sandy Scofield Red Lodge – Danielle Egnew Where The Green Grass Grows – The Crow Girls (2) Wind of the North – Violet Naytovhow Wolfgirl – Arlette
FLUTIST OF THE YEAR Jan Michael Looking Wolf – Unity JJ Kent – I Am Red Moontee Sinquah – Freedom Tim Yett – Creating Sacred SpaceTommy Wildcat – Red Fire People Xavier Quijas Yxayotl – The Color of Morning
BEST GOSPEL/INSPIRATIONAL RECORDING Heartbeat of the Creator – Kelly Montijo FinkI’ve Come Too Far To Look Back – Thelma Emerson Journeys Through The Mist – The Blessed Blend Precious Memories – Cherokee National Youth ChoirRise Up & Dance – Rain Song: Terry & Darlene Wildman Singing Heavenly & Free – Joe Tohonnie Jr
GROUP OF THE YEAR Blackfire – (Silence) Is A WeaponBrule’ & AIRO – Live At Mt. Rushmore Eagle & Hawk – Red Road Stories Native Roots – Celebrate Primeaux & Mike w/Xavier Quijas Yxayotl – The Color of Morning The Red Corn Band – Still No Good (2)
BEST HISTORICAL RECORDING Chief Seattle Speaks 1854 – Red Hawk Journeys Through The Mist – The Blessed Blend (2) Oklahoma Style – Walter Ahhaitty & Friends Omeigwessi Reel Metis: A Tribute To Walter Flett – Omeigwessi Ensemble Precious Memories – Cherokee National Youth Choir
BEST INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING
Dream Scape: Spirit Maiden – Dream Scape Mirror Lake – Golana Sacred Land – Johnsy G The Whisper Spirit Progression – Larry Redhouse Unconquered – Injunuity York Boats & Legends – Ryan D’Aoust
BEST MALE ARTIST Clinton Denny – Prayers For My Father Edmund Bull – Follow Your Dreams Exitwound: The Native Axeman – After The Storm J.C. Campbell – Lazy James Johnny Mike – My Spirit Soars Ken Quiet Hawk – The Story Tellers
BEST NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH RECORDINGA Vision of Spiritual Blessing – Merlinda Woody First Light – Cheevers Toppah & Kevin Yazzie Humble Prayers – Denise Becenti Mourning Praise Unto Our Creator – Meewasin Oma New Beginning – Janelle Turtle The Four Directions – Delbert Blackhorse (2)
BEST NEW AGE RECORDINGA Crown of Stars – Blue Feather, Dunlap & Henke Deep Dreams – Nicole (2) Homeland Security – Carroll Medicine Crow (2) Kokyo – Devin Village Stone /KiwamuraPoints of Origin – Anthony Wakeman & Mr Soon Voyagers – R Carlos Nakai, Udi Bar - David, Will Clipman
BEST POP RECORDING Eye of the Tiger – Tiger Tiger In The Blood – Robert MirabalLove Birds – Archie Cavanaugh Phoenix – Fara Palmer The Outsiders – RezhogsTribal Trance – Socie Saltwater
BEST POW WOW RECORDING 5 Bucks Gas – 191 N. (2) Blue Scout – Tha Tribe Hear The Beat – Blackfoot Confederacy Honoring Women Veterans – Zotigh Singers Oklahoma Style – Walter Ahhaitty & FriendsThe Elk Way – Elk Soldier
BEST PRODUCER Adrian Brown, Tim Sampson, Jonathon Joss – Still No GoodDouglas Blue Feather – A Crown Of Stars Ed Stasium – (Silence) Is A Weapon JC Campbell, Tracy Bone, DJ St Germain- Lazy James Kelly Parker – Follow Your Dreams R. Carlos Nakai, Udi Bar- David, Robert Doyle – Voyagers
BEST RAP HIP HOP RECORDING Blest With Skills – Blest One I Am Universal – Buggin Malone Loved & Hated – Nightshield Native American Hustle – Dago Braves Paranormal: The War Within – Maniac The Siouxpernatural Rez Life – Blu (2) RECORD OF THE YEAR (Silence) Is A Weapon – Blackfire Calling All Dancers – Northern Cree & Friends Express Yourself – Thee Express Mirror Lake - GolanaLive At Mt. Rushmore – Brule’ & AIRO Train Train – Blackfoot
BEST ROCK RECORDING (Silence) Is A Weapon – Blackfire Blues To Bluegrass – Jim Boyd Learning To Fly- Medicine Dream The Sun & The Earth – Stevie Salas Train Train – Blackfoot Wanted Alive –
XIT SONG/SINGLE OF THE YEAR All Colors Together – Rain Song Terry & Darlene Wildman Broken Dreams – Nightshield Going To Gathering – The Blessed Blend Hey Cuzzin’! – Cheryl Bear Sleep Is The Ocean – The Crow Girls Way of the Warrior – Medicine Dream
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR Alex E Smith, Cheevers Toppah, Nitanis “Kit” Landry – Harmony NightsDerek Mortland, Michael Joseph – Sketches In Time Lee & Stephen Tiger – Eye of The Tiger Michael Jeans – Leather & Feathers Star Nayea – Silenced My Tongue Vince Fontaine, Lawrence Mullhall – Red Road Stories
BEST SPOKEN WORD RECORDING Artificial Red – Randy Kemp Chief Seattle Speaks 1854 – Red Hawk Distant Drums – Red Feather WomanTales From The Lodge – Debra Morningstar The Story Tellers – Ken Quiet Hawk
BEST TRADITIONAL RECORDING Brand New Day – Tanya Brown My Father’s Fire Dance Songs – Mary SmithPo’li – Clark Tenakhongva Rezmerized – Ryon Polequptena Traditional Navajo Shoe Songs –Gilbert Begay Sr Waiting With The Cellular – Navajo Nation Singers
BEST SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO Brave New World – Robert Mirabal Dirty Water – Michael Bucher Drinking Song – Rezhogs The Enlightened Time – JanaTimes We’ve Had – NDNVision Quest -
AIROBEST LONG FORM MUSIC VIDEO Eye of the Tiger – Tiger TigerLive At Mt Rushmore: Concert For Reconciliation of the Cultures – Brule’ & AIRO Live In Concert – Michael Searching Bear Our Land Our Life- Joanne Shenandoah The 8th Fire – Andy Pickard, Cindy Pickard, Tom Bee Train Train – Blackfoot
BEST WORLD MUSIC RECORDING Celebrate – Native Roots Dream Scape: Spirit Maiden – Dreamscape Going Home – The Gathering Journeys Through The Mist – The Blessed Blend Sketches In Time – Derek Mortland, Michael Joseph Sounds of Beauty – Estun – Bah
NATIVE HEART Ed Stasium – (Silence) Is A Weapon Jeff Ball – Shape of Light Jonny Lipford – Transitions: Out of the Flames & Into The Wind Peter Kater – Sacred Earth: Wind of the North Richard Stepp – The Sacred Journey William Hoshal – A Rumor of the Sun
Blackfire, Blackfoot, Brule & AIRO, The Blessed Blend, The Crow Girls, and The Red Corn Band lead with three nominations each
August 23, 2008 - New York. Nominations for the 10th Annual Native American Music Awards (NAMA) were announced today by The Native American Music Association & Awards, reflecting the combined votes of the NAMA Advisory Board Nominating Committee Membership. This year is a monumental year for the organization which will now have nominated an estimated 1500 artists and honored 300 winners over the past decade.
A new limited edition “NAMMY” will be introduced this year commemorating the organization’s 10th Anniversary year. The 10th Annual Native American Music Awards will be held on Saturday, October 4, 2008 at the Seneca Entertainment Center in the Seneca Casino & Hotel in Niagara Falls, NY. Tickets for the 10th Annual Native American Music Awards are on-sale now through all ticketmaster outlets. The Awards show will again be broadcast on MHZ Networks in November to an estimated 30 million cable households.
New up-and-comers were nominated alongside established artists in a diverse array of 30 music categories. Blackfire, Blackfoot, Brule & AIRO, The Blessed Blend, The Crow Girls, and The Red Corn Band lead with three nominations each. Tied with two nominations each are; Blu, Carroll Medicine Crow, Cherokee National Youth Choir, Cheryl Bear, Chief Seattle Speaks, Delbert Blackhorse, Douglas Blue Feather, Dream Scape, Eagle & Hawk, Producer Ed Stasium, Edmund Bull, Fara Palmer, Gilbert Begay Sr, Golana, Injunuity, J.C. Campbell, Jim Boyd, Ken Quiet Hawk, Medicine Dream, Native Roots, Nightshield, Primeaux & Mike, Pura Fe’, R Carlos Nakai, Rain Song, Red Feather Woman, Rezhogs, Robert Mirabal, Sotiw, Star Nayea, Stevie Salas, Tanya Brown, Terri Rivera Piatt & Lancy Goodman, Terry Lee Whetstone, Tiger Tiger, Tracy Bone and Walter Ahhaitty & Friends.
Nominated in the field of Record Of The Year are; Blackfire’s (Silence) Is A Weapon, Northern Cree & Friends’ Calling All Dancers , Thee Express’ Express Yourself, Golana’s Mirror Lake, Brule’ & AIRO’s Live At Mt. Rushmore and Blackfoot’s Train Train.
This year's Song Single Of The Year nominees represent more musical works within the Pop/Folk genres that feature distinctive Native American elements; All Colors Together by RainSong Terry & Darlene Wildman, Broken Dreams by Nightshield, Going To Gathering by The Blessed Blend, Hey Cuzzin’! by Cheryl Bear, Sleep Is The Ocean by The Crow Girls, and Way of the Warrior by Medicine Dream."These nominations throughout all 30 music categories truly reflect a diverse and impressive range of new and established talent from our community," said Awards President Ellen Bello. "We are looking forward to a spectacular Awards celebration running the full spectrum of today’s most popular contemporary and traditional Native American music initiatives.” Special Recognition Awards will also be given to internationally acclaimed artists; Janice Marie Johnson of A Taste of Honey, Pat Vegas & Redbone, Felipe Rose of the Village People and Rickey Medlocke of Blackfoot and Lynyrd Skynyrd.Voting ballots to select the final winner in each category will be mailed to all Advisory Board voting members. Voting ballots are also available to the general public on our websites http://www.votenative.com/ or http://www.nativeamericanmusicawards.com/.
See below for a complete list of official nominees for the 10th Annual Native American Awards: ARTIST OF THE YEAR Carroll Medicine Crow – Homeland Security Delbert Blackhorse – The Four Directions Jim Boyd – Blues To Bluegrass Johnny Whitehorse – Totemic Flute Chants Stevie Salas – The Sun & The EarthTerry Lee Whetstone –
The Best of the Best
BEST BLUES RECORDING Deep Downtown – Jimmy Wolf Goin’ For It – Terry Tsotigh Graywolf Blues Band – Graywolf Blues Band Hold The Rain – Pura Fe’ Levi Platero – Levi Platero & The Plateros Sir Harrison & The Blues Kings – Sir Harrison & The Blues Kings
BEST COMPILATION RECORDING Calling All Dancers – Northern Cree & Friends Heart of the Bitterroot – Various Navajo Christmas – Todi Neesh Zhee Singers Old Style Round Dance Songs – Various
The Best of the Best – Terry Lee Whetstone (2) The Native Hip Hop Hour Volume One – Various
BEST COUNTRY RECORDING Follow Your Dreams – Edmund Bull Mysterys – Qua TiSiNo Lies – Tracy Bone Still No Good – The Red Corn Band Crystal Shawanda – Crystal Shawanda
DEBUT ARTIST OF THE YEAR Blu – Rez Life Cheryl Bear – The Good Road Chucki Begay – Songs From My Heart Ghosthorse – KSA Gilbert Begay Sr – Traditional Navajo Shoe Game Songs Slavior - Slavior
DEBUT GROUP OF THE YEAR 191 N. – 5 Bucks Gas Injunuity – Unconquered Moon Lodge Singers – Cultural Legacy: Fights Alone Pimadiziwin Singers – Save The Last Round Dance For Me The Breeze Band – The Breeze BandThe Crow Girls – Sleep is the Ocean
BEST FEMALE ARTIST Fara Palmer – Phoenix Nicole – Deep Dreams Pura Fe’ – Hold The Rain Radmilla Cody – Precious Friends Star Nayea – Silenced My Tongue Tracy Bone – No Lies (2)BEST FOLK RECORDING Blue Moon – Terri Rivera Piatt & Lancy Goodman Nikawiy Askiy – Sandy Scofield Red Lodge – Danielle Egnew Where The Green Grass Grows – The Crow Girls (2) Wind of the North – Violet Naytovhow Wolfgirl – Arlette
FLUTIST OF THE YEAR Jan Michael Looking Wolf – Unity JJ Kent – I Am Red Moontee Sinquah – Freedom Tim Yett – Creating Sacred SpaceTommy Wildcat – Red Fire People Xavier Quijas Yxayotl – The Color of Morning
BEST GOSPEL/INSPIRATIONAL RECORDING Heartbeat of the Creator – Kelly Montijo FinkI’ve Come Too Far To Look Back – Thelma Emerson Journeys Through The Mist – The Blessed Blend Precious Memories – Cherokee National Youth ChoirRise Up & Dance – Rain Song: Terry & Darlene Wildman Singing Heavenly & Free – Joe Tohonnie Jr
GROUP OF THE YEAR Blackfire – (Silence) Is A WeaponBrule’ & AIRO – Live At Mt. Rushmore Eagle & Hawk – Red Road Stories Native Roots – Celebrate Primeaux & Mike w/Xavier Quijas Yxayotl – The Color of Morning The Red Corn Band – Still No Good (2)
BEST HISTORICAL RECORDING Chief Seattle Speaks 1854 – Red Hawk Journeys Through The Mist – The Blessed Blend (2) Oklahoma Style – Walter Ahhaitty & Friends Omeigwessi Reel Metis: A Tribute To Walter Flett – Omeigwessi Ensemble Precious Memories – Cherokee National Youth Choir
BEST INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING
Dream Scape: Spirit Maiden – Dream Scape Mirror Lake – Golana Sacred Land – Johnsy G The Whisper Spirit Progression – Larry Redhouse Unconquered – Injunuity York Boats & Legends – Ryan D’Aoust
BEST MALE ARTIST Clinton Denny – Prayers For My Father Edmund Bull – Follow Your Dreams Exitwound: The Native Axeman – After The Storm J.C. Campbell – Lazy James Johnny Mike – My Spirit Soars Ken Quiet Hawk – The Story Tellers
BEST NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH RECORDINGA Vision of Spiritual Blessing – Merlinda Woody First Light – Cheevers Toppah & Kevin Yazzie Humble Prayers – Denise Becenti Mourning Praise Unto Our Creator – Meewasin Oma New Beginning – Janelle Turtle The Four Directions – Delbert Blackhorse (2)
BEST NEW AGE RECORDINGA Crown of Stars – Blue Feather, Dunlap & Henke Deep Dreams – Nicole (2) Homeland Security – Carroll Medicine Crow (2) Kokyo – Devin Village Stone /KiwamuraPoints of Origin – Anthony Wakeman & Mr Soon Voyagers – R Carlos Nakai, Udi Bar - David, Will Clipman
BEST POP RECORDING Eye of the Tiger – Tiger Tiger In The Blood – Robert MirabalLove Birds – Archie Cavanaugh Phoenix – Fara Palmer The Outsiders – RezhogsTribal Trance – Socie Saltwater
BEST POW WOW RECORDING 5 Bucks Gas – 191 N. (2) Blue Scout – Tha Tribe Hear The Beat – Blackfoot Confederacy Honoring Women Veterans – Zotigh Singers Oklahoma Style – Walter Ahhaitty & FriendsThe Elk Way – Elk Soldier
BEST PRODUCER Adrian Brown, Tim Sampson, Jonathon Joss – Still No GoodDouglas Blue Feather – A Crown Of Stars Ed Stasium – (Silence) Is A Weapon JC Campbell, Tracy Bone, DJ St Germain- Lazy James Kelly Parker – Follow Your Dreams R. Carlos Nakai, Udi Bar- David, Robert Doyle – Voyagers
BEST RAP HIP HOP RECORDING Blest With Skills – Blest One I Am Universal – Buggin Malone Loved & Hated – Nightshield Native American Hustle – Dago Braves Paranormal: The War Within – Maniac The Siouxpernatural Rez Life – Blu (2) RECORD OF THE YEAR (Silence) Is A Weapon – Blackfire Calling All Dancers – Northern Cree & Friends Express Yourself – Thee Express Mirror Lake - GolanaLive At Mt. Rushmore – Brule’ & AIRO Train Train – Blackfoot
BEST ROCK RECORDING (Silence) Is A Weapon – Blackfire Blues To Bluegrass – Jim Boyd Learning To Fly- Medicine Dream The Sun & The Earth – Stevie Salas Train Train – Blackfoot Wanted Alive –
XIT SONG/SINGLE OF THE YEAR All Colors Together – Rain Song Terry & Darlene Wildman Broken Dreams – Nightshield Going To Gathering – The Blessed Blend Hey Cuzzin’! – Cheryl Bear Sleep Is The Ocean – The Crow Girls Way of the Warrior – Medicine Dream
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR Alex E Smith, Cheevers Toppah, Nitanis “Kit” Landry – Harmony NightsDerek Mortland, Michael Joseph – Sketches In Time Lee & Stephen Tiger – Eye of The Tiger Michael Jeans – Leather & Feathers Star Nayea – Silenced My Tongue Vince Fontaine, Lawrence Mullhall – Red Road Stories
BEST SPOKEN WORD RECORDING Artificial Red – Randy Kemp Chief Seattle Speaks 1854 – Red Hawk Distant Drums – Red Feather WomanTales From The Lodge – Debra Morningstar The Story Tellers – Ken Quiet Hawk
BEST TRADITIONAL RECORDING Brand New Day – Tanya Brown My Father’s Fire Dance Songs – Mary SmithPo’li – Clark Tenakhongva Rezmerized – Ryon Polequptena Traditional Navajo Shoe Songs –Gilbert Begay Sr Waiting With The Cellular – Navajo Nation Singers
BEST SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO Brave New World – Robert Mirabal Dirty Water – Michael Bucher Drinking Song – Rezhogs The Enlightened Time – JanaTimes We’ve Had – NDNVision Quest -
AIROBEST LONG FORM MUSIC VIDEO Eye of the Tiger – Tiger TigerLive At Mt Rushmore: Concert For Reconciliation of the Cultures – Brule’ & AIRO Live In Concert – Michael Searching Bear Our Land Our Life- Joanne Shenandoah The 8th Fire – Andy Pickard, Cindy Pickard, Tom Bee Train Train – Blackfoot
BEST WORLD MUSIC RECORDING Celebrate – Native Roots Dream Scape: Spirit Maiden – Dreamscape Going Home – The Gathering Journeys Through The Mist – The Blessed Blend Sketches In Time – Derek Mortland, Michael Joseph Sounds of Beauty – Estun – Bah
NATIVE HEART Ed Stasium – (Silence) Is A Weapon Jeff Ball – Shape of Light Jonny Lipford – Transitions: Out of the Flames & Into The Wind Peter Kater – Sacred Earth: Wind of the North Richard Stepp – The Sacred Journey William Hoshal – A Rumor of the Sun
Friday, August 22, 2008
Denver Political Prisoner March, Monday, August 25, 2008
Political Prisoner March, Monday, August 25th
Freedom March — Civic Center Park, August 25, 9 am
Join supporters of Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu Jamal, The Cuban Five, and other political prisoners for the Freedom March and Rally! After serving 33 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit, Leonard Peltier's parole hearing will take place in December, 2008. Do not forget that in 2001, the Clintons left Leonard in prison, after promising to grant him clemency. Free Mumia, the Cuban Five, the Guantanamo detainees, and others. The march will begin at Civic Center Park and end with a rally at the Federal Court House.
Hear a personal recording specific for this protest and the DNC from Mumia and written statement from Leonard PeltierCall for the Freedom of Mumia and the Cuban Five
Call for an end to Human Rights abuses
Speakers (Alphabetical):
Pamela Africa - MOVE Organization
American Indian Movement Spokesperson Leonard Peltier Defense Committee - Ben Carnes, with a message from Leonard, direct from Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary
Rosa Clemente - United States Vice Presidential Candidate for the Green Party
Kathleen Cleaver - The Panther Nine from San Francisco
King Downing - National Coordinator of the ACLU's Campaign Against Racial Profiling
Jenny Esquiveo - Spokesperson for Eric McDavid (Political Prisoner)
Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. - Prisoners of Conscience Committee
Mumia Abu Jamal - Current Political Prisoner (Recorded from Death Row)
Cha Cha Jimenez - Founder of the Young Lords (Puerto Rican Resistance Prisoners)
Ricardo Romero - National Coordinator for the Mexican National Liberation Movement (MLNM) Natsu Saito - Author, Activist, and Human Rights Scholar (Guantanamo Inmates)
Spokesperson for the Cuban Five Special Musical Performance by THE SAVAGE FAMILY http://www.myspace.com/savagefamily01
Freedom March — Civic Center Park, August 25, 9 am
Join supporters of Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu Jamal, The Cuban Five, and other political prisoners for the Freedom March and Rally! After serving 33 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit, Leonard Peltier's parole hearing will take place in December, 2008. Do not forget that in 2001, the Clintons left Leonard in prison, after promising to grant him clemency. Free Mumia, the Cuban Five, the Guantanamo detainees, and others. The march will begin at Civic Center Park and end with a rally at the Federal Court House.
Hear a personal recording specific for this protest and the DNC from Mumia and written statement from Leonard PeltierCall for the Freedom of Mumia and the Cuban Five
Call for an end to Human Rights abuses
Speakers (Alphabetical):
Pamela Africa - MOVE Organization
American Indian Movement Spokesperson Leonard Peltier Defense Committee - Ben Carnes, with a message from Leonard, direct from Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary
Rosa Clemente - United States Vice Presidential Candidate for the Green Party
Kathleen Cleaver - The Panther Nine from San Francisco
King Downing - National Coordinator of the ACLU's Campaign Against Racial Profiling
Jenny Esquiveo - Spokesperson for Eric McDavid (Political Prisoner)
Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. - Prisoners of Conscience Committee
Mumia Abu Jamal - Current Political Prisoner (Recorded from Death Row)
Cha Cha Jimenez - Founder of the Young Lords (Puerto Rican Resistance Prisoners)
Ricardo Romero - National Coordinator for the Mexican National Liberation Movement (MLNM) Natsu Saito - Author, Activist, and Human Rights Scholar (Guantanamo Inmates)
Spokesperson for the Cuban Five Special Musical Performance by THE SAVAGE FAMILY http://www.myspace.com/savagefamily01
Stop Ottawa's warmongers show
Please sign the online PETITION now:
http://prax.ca/coat/No-Arms-Shows
" Stop Ottawa's Arms Shows!"For the first time in almost 20 years -- since ARMX '89 -- the City of Ottawa is hosting arms bazaars at municipally-funded facilities.We stopped them before, we can stop them again! Please join us!
Online Petition: Sign it Now! Whether you live in Ottawa or elsewhere in Canada, please sign this online petition telling Ottawa politicians to respect City Council's 1989 commitment to stop using municipally-funded facilities for international arms trade exhibitions! (Here's a hard copy of the petition that can be printed out for signing offline at meetings and other events, etc.)
Spread the word! After signing this Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) petition online, please encourage others to do likewise. Circulate this notice to friends, colleagues, list serves and post the petition link to as many web pages as possible.
EMAIL! Tell the Mayor, City Council and Staff what you think!Click above to send a preset message to Mayor O'Brien, Ottawa Councillors and Staff. Send it as is, or -- better yet -- modify the subject line and rewrite text to emphasize your own specific concerns. (This link will also let you know how to contact City Council by phone, fax and regular post.)
Protest! If the so-called "Secure Canada 2008" and "U.S. Embassy Defense and Security Exhibition" (Sept.30-Oct.1) go ahead, we will be organising peaceful protests to express our opposition to these manifestations of the international arms trade. Please join us in our non-violent opposition to the warmongers and merchants of death who will be flogging their deadly wares in Ottawa! (Please do whatever you can to encourage progressive organizations to endorse COAT's campaign to expose and oppose these blatant manifestations of the international arms trade.)
More Information! For many more details about the arms bazaars and exhibitors scheduled to showcase their deadly products at Ottawa's Lansdowne Park, please visit the COAT website.
Keep informedIf you aren't already on the "COAT email list," you can join here.
Thanks!
Your support in signing the COAT petition, contacting City Council and encouraging others to do likewise is greatly appreciated! Click here to see how else you might help.
http://prax.ca/coat/No-Arms-Shows
http://prax.ca/coat/No-Arms-Shows
" Stop Ottawa's Arms Shows!"For the first time in almost 20 years -- since ARMX '89 -- the City of Ottawa is hosting arms bazaars at municipally-funded facilities.We stopped them before, we can stop them again! Please join us!
Online Petition: Sign it Now! Whether you live in Ottawa or elsewhere in Canada, please sign this online petition telling Ottawa politicians to respect City Council's 1989 commitment to stop using municipally-funded facilities for international arms trade exhibitions! (Here's a hard copy of the petition that can be printed out for signing offline at meetings and other events, etc.)
Spread the word! After signing this Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) petition online, please encourage others to do likewise. Circulate this notice to friends, colleagues, list serves and post the petition link to as many web pages as possible.
EMAIL! Tell the Mayor, City Council and Staff what you think!Click above to send a preset message to Mayor O'Brien, Ottawa Councillors and Staff. Send it as is, or -- better yet -- modify the subject line and rewrite text to emphasize your own specific concerns. (This link will also let you know how to contact City Council by phone, fax and regular post.)
Protest! If the so-called "Secure Canada 2008" and "U.S. Embassy Defense and Security Exhibition" (Sept.30-Oct.1) go ahead, we will be organising peaceful protests to express our opposition to these manifestations of the international arms trade. Please join us in our non-violent opposition to the warmongers and merchants of death who will be flogging their deadly wares in Ottawa! (Please do whatever you can to encourage progressive organizations to endorse COAT's campaign to expose and oppose these blatant manifestations of the international arms trade.)
More Information! For many more details about the arms bazaars and exhibitors scheduled to showcase their deadly products at Ottawa's Lansdowne Park, please visit the COAT website.
Keep informedIf you aren't already on the "COAT email list," you can join here.
Thanks!
Your support in signing the COAT petition, contacting City Council and encouraging others to do likewise is greatly appreciated! Click here to see how else you might help.
http://prax.ca/coat/No-Arms-Shows
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Dooda Desert Rock: US EPA fails the Navajo people
DOODA DESERT ROCK COMMITTEE
Elouise Brown, President
P.O. Box 7838
Newcomb, Navajo Nation
(New Mexico) 87455
(505) 947-6159
August 16, 2008
Stephen Johnson, Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20460
Dear Mr. Johnson:
You have failed your duty to protect the environment therefore I am telling you that you are not welcome and you should resign. Approving the air quality permit for the proposal of desert rock energy project was a total disrespect and deadly wrongful to the environment. While perhaps I would feel better to vent in a letter to you, I will save the venting for August 22nd. I write to tell you precisely why you will not be welcome and why you should resign — if for no other reason than to acknowledge the injustice being done to grassroots Navajos.
There are many reasons to oppose the proposed Desert Rock coal-fired, mine-mouth power plant. The obvious health reasons are that there are already two of the dirtiest power plants in the United States near the Four Corners, and there are other polluting plants in our area. Ozone emissions from the existing plants are already at the highest permissible level. Added to the mix is dust from uranium sites that United States failed to monitor. The U.S. is still in the process of cleaning up that hazardous waste.
We object because your agency is not following its own policy on environmental justice in compliance with Executive Order 12898 and the guidelines of the Council on Environmental Policy. More particularly, there are two specific issues I will raise in this letter: The first is the violation of the principle that EPA should consider relevant public health and industry data on the potential for multiple or cumulative health risks. The second is the obviousness that the plant will not benefit the people who live in the area.
Frankly, it is a no-brainer that public health data should have been gotten by the author of the draft environmental impact statement — the URS corporation of San Francisco. The data is available at the Indian Health Service in Shiprock, NM, but URS was all too-industry friendly.
URS also ignored the principle of Executive Order 12989 that impacts on poor people and minorities in the area must be examined. The environmental justice discussion in the EIS was poor and it did not measure the true economic and cultural impacts. I live in the area myself, and my neighbors are the targets of environmental injustice.
The Interior Department notice for comments on EIS and the recent EPA press release (in the style of a member of the Bracewell & Giuliani law firm) both tout the economic benefit of the plant. Let’s separate issues — employment and economic benefit to the locality.
It may be true that there will be construction and operations employment. However, no one is acting like that is the fact. That is, there is nothing being done to improve local infrastructure (housing, roads and highways, shopping, etc.) to accommodate large numbers of workers. Why is that?
It is that — like other Navajo Nation economic ventures — the workers will live off reservation because they will have no choice. They will spend their paychecks off reservation too. While some workers will share some of their pay with family, many won’t. There is no direct benefit from jobs to the area as a whole.
On the economic issue, there will be no trickle-down from Window Rock. There are no-profit or tax-sharing agreements in place with the local governments (called chapters) and there are no arrangements to pay for impacts on local infrastructure. The money will be used to feed a centralized bureaucracy, the Interior, the EPA and to the central government of the Navajo Nation is — Navajos call it dola bichaan (the s h _ t it belongs to the bull — B S).
Your people were or should have been aware of these issues. I raised them in a January 24, 2008 letter to the NEPA coordinator in the Navajo Regional Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and our lawyer raised them again in our June 21, 2008 comments on the consent decree with the developers.
We are again being subjected to environmental injustice and discrimination, and we intend to raise the matter with the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination because the U.S. is again in violation of its international treaty obligations.
Sincerely,
Elouise Brown
Elouise Brown, President
P.O. Box 7838
Newcomb, Navajo Nation
(New Mexico) 87455
(505) 947-6159
August 16, 2008
Stephen Johnson, Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20460
Dear Mr. Johnson:
You have failed your duty to protect the environment therefore I am telling you that you are not welcome and you should resign. Approving the air quality permit for the proposal of desert rock energy project was a total disrespect and deadly wrongful to the environment. While perhaps I would feel better to vent in a letter to you, I will save the venting for August 22nd. I write to tell you precisely why you will not be welcome and why you should resign — if for no other reason than to acknowledge the injustice being done to grassroots Navajos.
There are many reasons to oppose the proposed Desert Rock coal-fired, mine-mouth power plant. The obvious health reasons are that there are already two of the dirtiest power plants in the United States near the Four Corners, and there are other polluting plants in our area. Ozone emissions from the existing plants are already at the highest permissible level. Added to the mix is dust from uranium sites that United States failed to monitor. The U.S. is still in the process of cleaning up that hazardous waste.
We object because your agency is not following its own policy on environmental justice in compliance with Executive Order 12898 and the guidelines of the Council on Environmental Policy. More particularly, there are two specific issues I will raise in this letter: The first is the violation of the principle that EPA should consider relevant public health and industry data on the potential for multiple or cumulative health risks. The second is the obviousness that the plant will not benefit the people who live in the area.
Frankly, it is a no-brainer that public health data should have been gotten by the author of the draft environmental impact statement — the URS corporation of San Francisco. The data is available at the Indian Health Service in Shiprock, NM, but URS was all too-industry friendly.
URS also ignored the principle of Executive Order 12989 that impacts on poor people and minorities in the area must be examined. The environmental justice discussion in the EIS was poor and it did not measure the true economic and cultural impacts. I live in the area myself, and my neighbors are the targets of environmental injustice.
The Interior Department notice for comments on EIS and the recent EPA press release (in the style of a member of the Bracewell & Giuliani law firm) both tout the economic benefit of the plant. Let’s separate issues — employment and economic benefit to the locality.
It may be true that there will be construction and operations employment. However, no one is acting like that is the fact. That is, there is nothing being done to improve local infrastructure (housing, roads and highways, shopping, etc.) to accommodate large numbers of workers. Why is that?
It is that — like other Navajo Nation economic ventures — the workers will live off reservation because they will have no choice. They will spend their paychecks off reservation too. While some workers will share some of their pay with family, many won’t. There is no direct benefit from jobs to the area as a whole.
On the economic issue, there will be no trickle-down from Window Rock. There are no-profit or tax-sharing agreements in place with the local governments (called chapters) and there are no arrangements to pay for impacts on local infrastructure. The money will be used to feed a centralized bureaucracy, the Interior, the EPA and to the central government of the Navajo Nation is — Navajos call it dola bichaan (the s h _ t it belongs to the bull — B S).
Your people were or should have been aware of these issues. I raised them in a January 24, 2008 letter to the NEPA coordinator in the Navajo Regional Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and our lawyer raised them again in our June 21, 2008 comments on the consent decree with the developers.
We are again being subjected to environmental injustice and discrimination, and we intend to raise the matter with the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination because the U.S. is again in violation of its international treaty obligations.
Sincerely,
Elouise Brown
Ben Carnes: Peltier, justice and fearlessness
By Ben CarnesChoctaw columnist
.
His name is Leonard Peltier
As most everyone knows I have been a spokesperson for Peltier in the past. Recently, I was asked by David Hill to help with organizing some events.
Yesterday, David was returning to Oklahoma after visiting with Leonard at the prison he assigned to in Lewisburg, PA. He said that Leonard really needs help right now and that he wanted see if I could come up with some ideas to focus attention on the injustices of his case. So I may find myself involved again, and I am hoping that many others will renew their involvement with his case.
One way to do something right now is to join Peltier’s’ branches of support. You can sign up at
As most everyone knows I have been a spokesperson for Peltier in the past. Recently, I was asked by David Hill to help with organizing some events.
Yesterday, David was returning to Oklahoma after visiting with Leonard at the prison he assigned to in Lewisburg, PA. He said that Leonard really needs help right now and that he wanted see if I could come up with some ideas to focus attention on the injustices of his case. So I may find myself involved again, and I am hoping that many others will renew their involvement with his case.
One way to do something right now is to join Peltier’s’ branches of support. You can sign up at
http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/branches.htm
And then network with your friends, campus organization, peace/social justice groups and so on.
Leonard’s 64th birthday will be on Sept. 12th, and September 6 will mark 32 and half years he will have been held captive for something the government c
an no longer prove.
His case has generated support from the entertainment industry, religious/world leaders, 55 members of congress, numerous human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, and other respected national organizations. There has been over 25 million letters written on his behalf. U.S. Presidents have patronized his supporters and then ignored his appeal for justice.
Attempts to initiate congressional hearings have been blocked, and the judicial system seems to withhold justice they would have granted to others. After being released from prison after evidence of his innocence was presented, Geronimo Ji-jaga Pratt expressed astonishment that Peltier was still be held and with more proof and support on his side.
There have been several agents of the FBI who have said that it doesn’t matter if Peltier is guilty or not. He will never be freed. The FBI will make sure of that and to me that sounds like a threat. It was the FBI who threatened the life of Anna Mae Aquash if she didn’t cooperate in their investigations of who killed the agents. Standing Deer was also threatened with the loss of his life if he revealed the assassination plot in 1978. When Standing Deer was released and became involved with working for Peltier’s’ freedom, he was murdered in his Houston home in 2003.
In Aquash's case, it seems strange that al of a sudden the Justice Department and FBI are being cast as hero’s in solving the case. But from so many of the sources, it is highly questionable that Looking Cloud got a fair trial and that Graham will probably be expected to see anything better. So if Graham is convicted, then will the case be over for Indians? Will ‘justice’ be served on a plate of BS greedily devoured by anti-AIM rhetoric’s and the media?
Will former federal agents, David Price, William Wood, Norman Zigrossi, and Richard G. Held ever be tried for their roles in the deaths of AIM activists or the traditional people who supported them? Several women and children were murdered, some viciously, and the FBI did nothing to prosecute.
The federal agents will never stand a day in their court. It isn’t going to happen and never will. I say that because we have not secured a new trial or the release of Leonard Peltier.
With Grahams’ trial coming up on October 6th, 2008 in Rapid City, S.D., it is an opportune time to remind people about who the thugs were that perpetuated the Oglala Civil War of the 1970’s. The government has the capability and experience in fabricating their records and evidence. They gained experience from their mistakes.
When Bob Robideau and Dino Butler were found not guilty by reason of self-defense, Leonard would have been freed also, but he was in Canada and was tried before a different judge. The FBI learned after the Robideau and Butler case where their trial strategy failed and then shopped for a different Judge. The FBI created a climate of fear among the jurors and courtroom attendees, with SWAT teams covering their every move.
They made Leonard out to be a very dangerous man in the minds of the jurors and the judge refused to allow Leonard to present the same evidence and testimony as his co-defendants. With the court ruling against his defense, he had no defense at all. And years after his conviction, evidence surfaced that would have brought him a new trial. But the rules had changed a few months earlier on what standards would have resulted in a new trial through prosecutorial misconduct, such as with holding of evidence that would have proved his innocence.
This information and so much more I have spoken of since I became involved in 1991, and I’ve seen a groundswell of support rise and then fade away. There have been several changes in the leadership of the defense committee; others have misused his name for their own gain. The coordinator for the committee is his younger sister, Betty.
Through their website, you can find resources to educate yourself on Peltier’s’ case. If you are a student, than write a research paper on the very criminal justice system within the colonial occupying government called America, using Peltier as an example. Obtain handouts on the chronology of his case, and then purchase products to keep Leonard’s name and his case in the public mind.
We have held major benefit concerts, spoken at colleges/universities, held mass demonstrations; signed petitions and many other activities have been held around the world. What is it going to take to free him I really wished I had an answer for you, and especially Peltier.
I know that a movement doesn’t exist unless we are in a state of motion. We have to be doing something everywhere. Maybe we will need to have cross-country horse rides to publicize Peltier’s case, hold spiritual fasts, or other activities to draw people’s attention. I will see what I can come up with and if anything develops, we can get the word out
Maybe write letters and hold public demonstrations to bring an investigation into the FBI’s activities of the Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO) that targeted Martin Luther King, the Kennedy’s and so any activists. The FBI is responsible for the false imprisonment of so many people and the murders and assassinations of so many others. In the era of homeland security, we may receive a visit from the suits and dark glasses threatening to have us taken in because we might be homegrown radicals and violent terrorists. If we are terrorists, then we stand the risk of being detained alongside Al-Qaeda and other people who may or may not be innocent.
It could be something to fear, but I know there was many nameless people who stood with that same fear against the federal government and they called themselves the American Indian Movement. And we have one who is falsely imprisoned and his name is Leonard Peltier.
And then network with your friends, campus organization, peace/social justice groups and so on.
Leonard’s 64th birthday will be on Sept. 12th, and September 6 will mark 32 and half years he will have been held captive for something the government c
an no longer prove.His case has generated support from the entertainment industry, religious/world leaders, 55 members of congress, numerous human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, and other respected national organizations. There has been over 25 million letters written on his behalf. U.S. Presidents have patronized his supporters and then ignored his appeal for justice.
Attempts to initiate congressional hearings have been blocked, and the judicial system seems to withhold justice they would have granted to others. After being released from prison after evidence of his innocence was presented, Geronimo Ji-jaga Pratt expressed astonishment that Peltier was still be held and with more proof and support on his side.
There have been several agents of the FBI who have said that it doesn’t matter if Peltier is guilty or not. He will never be freed. The FBI will make sure of that and to me that sounds like a threat. It was the FBI who threatened the life of Anna Mae Aquash if she didn’t cooperate in their investigations of who killed the agents. Standing Deer was also threatened with the loss of his life if he revealed the assassination plot in 1978. When Standing Deer was released and became involved with working for Peltier’s’ freedom, he was murdered in his Houston home in 2003.
In Aquash's case, it seems strange that al of a sudden the Justice Department and FBI are being cast as hero’s in solving the case. But from so many of the sources, it is highly questionable that Looking Cloud got a fair trial and that Graham will probably be expected to see anything better. So if Graham is convicted, then will the case be over for Indians? Will ‘justice’ be served on a plate of BS greedily devoured by anti-AIM rhetoric’s and the media?
Will former federal agents, David Price, William Wood, Norman Zigrossi, and Richard G. Held ever be tried for their roles in the deaths of AIM activists or the traditional people who supported them? Several women and children were murdered, some viciously, and the FBI did nothing to prosecute.
The federal agents will never stand a day in their court. It isn’t going to happen and never will. I say that because we have not secured a new trial or the release of Leonard Peltier.
With Grahams’ trial coming up on October 6th, 2008 in Rapid City, S.D., it is an opportune time to remind people about who the thugs were that perpetuated the Oglala Civil War of the 1970’s. The government has the capability and experience in fabricating their records and evidence. They gained experience from their mistakes.
When Bob Robideau and Dino Butler were found not guilty by reason of self-defense, Leonard would have been freed also, but he was in Canada and was tried before a different judge. The FBI learned after the Robideau and Butler case where their trial strategy failed and then shopped for a different Judge. The FBI created a climate of fear among the jurors and courtroom attendees, with SWAT teams covering their every move.
They made Leonard out to be a very dangerous man in the minds of the jurors and the judge refused to allow Leonard to present the same evidence and testimony as his co-defendants. With the court ruling against his defense, he had no defense at all. And years after his conviction, evidence surfaced that would have brought him a new trial. But the rules had changed a few months earlier on what standards would have resulted in a new trial through prosecutorial misconduct, such as with holding of evidence that would have proved his innocence.
This information and so much more I have spoken of since I became involved in 1991, and I’ve seen a groundswell of support rise and then fade away. There have been several changes in the leadership of the defense committee; others have misused his name for their own gain. The coordinator for the committee is his younger sister, Betty.
Through their website, you can find resources to educate yourself on Peltier’s’ case. If you are a student, than write a research paper on the very criminal justice system within the colonial occupying government called America, using Peltier as an example. Obtain handouts on the chronology of his case, and then purchase products to keep Leonard’s name and his case in the public mind.
We have held major benefit concerts, spoken at colleges/universities, held mass demonstrations; signed petitions and many other activities have been held around the world. What is it going to take to free him I really wished I had an answer for you, and especially Peltier.
I know that a movement doesn’t exist unless we are in a state of motion. We have to be doing something everywhere. Maybe we will need to have cross-country horse rides to publicize Peltier’s case, hold spiritual fasts, or other activities to draw people’s attention. I will see what I can come up with and if anything develops, we can get the word out
Maybe write letters and hold public demonstrations to bring an investigation into the FBI’s activities of the Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO) that targeted Martin Luther King, the Kennedy’s and so any activists. The FBI is responsible for the false imprisonment of so many people and the murders and assassinations of so many others. In the era of homeland security, we may receive a visit from the suits and dark glasses threatening to have us taken in because we might be homegrown radicals and violent terrorists. If we are terrorists, then we stand the risk of being detained alongside Al-Qaeda and other people who may or may not be innocent.
It could be something to fear, but I know there was many nameless people who stood with that same fear against the federal government and they called themselves the American Indian Movement. And we have one who is falsely imprisoned and his name is Leonard Peltier.
.
Photo: Longest Walk northern route walks the prayer in Lewisburg, Penn., to the federal prison where Peltier is incarcerated. The walk and 24-hour vigil in June was for all Native prisoners.
Photo Brenda Norrell
Indian Uprising Radio: Price of tar sands oil
KFAI's Indian Uprising, August 24, 2008 from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. CDT #279
Daryl Sager (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe), Energy Justice Program Associate, Fresh Energy, Inc. Fresh Energy of St. Paul, Minnesota is an organization leading the transition to a clean, efficient and fair energy system. Its goals are: Healthy Economies, Healthy People, Healthy Environment and Energy Independence. Fresh Energy focus areas are: Clean Electricity, Energy Efficiency, Transportation Policy, Global Warming Solutions and Energy Justice. www.fresh-energy.org "Fresh Energy is the only nonprofit in Minnesota whose sole focus is a clean, just energy future for the Upper Midwest. Often, the economically disadvantaged are the most adversely affected by energy decisions. The Energy Justice program at Fresh Energy works to pass policies that help build the capacity of low-income individuals to have a strong voice in those decisions."
Tom Goldtooth (Dine’/Dakota), Director, Indigenous Environmental Network, Bemidji, Minnesota
IEN (nonprofit) is a network of grass-roots Indigenous Peoples empowering Indigenous Nations and communities towards sustainable livelihoods, demanding environmental justice and maintaining the Sacred Fire of cultural traditions. IEN is dependent on private foundations and individual donations but does not solicit for federal grants. www.ienearth.org
One immediate concern, says Goldtooth, is the proposed 36-inch diameter tar sand oil pipeline cutting through northern Minnesota running almost 1,000 miles, from Alberta, Canada, to Superior, Wisconsin, dubbed the Alberta Clipper.
"The Real Price of Tar Sands Oil - Enbridge, a Canadian company, seeks to build a pipeline to carry synthetic crude oil from Alberta, Canada, into southern Illinois. Of the many problems with this project, the greatest one stems from the energy approach driving its construction: bitumen extraction from Alberta's tar sands.
Tar sands oil is produced through a destructive process that has deplorable consequences. Extraction and processing of just one barrel of synthetic crude oil from bitumen requires up to five barrels of fresh water and 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas. The gasoline yield from that single barrel is only enough to fill a Chevrolet Avalanche's tank three-quarters full.
The environmental impact is severe. In 2007, greenhouse gas emissions from tar sands plants were roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of 27 million American passenger vehicles. High levels of carcinogens in fish, water and sediment have been found downstream from tar sands areas.
Meanwhile, annual production of tar sands oil from Alberta is expected to at least triple by 2015, fueled principally by U.S. demand.
While no one enjoys reliance on OPEC oil, the alternative of a pending environmental catastrophe is intolerable." – Brian P. Granahan, Staff Attorney, Environment Illinois Research and Education Center (washingtonpost.com, Jan. 2008).
* * * * Indian Uprising is a KFAI Public & Cultural Affairs program relevant to Native Indigenous people, broadcast each Sunday on 90.3 FM Minneapolis and 106.7 FM St. Paul. Volunteer producer & host is Chris Spotted Eagle. Note: Chris is taking a leave of absence for five months, starting September 1st.
For internet listening, visit www.kfai.org <http://www.kfai.org/> , click Play under ON AIR NOW or for listening later via their archives, click PROGRAMS & SCHEDULE > Indian Uprising > STREAM. Programs are archived for two weeks.
Daryl Sager (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe), Energy Justice Program Associate, Fresh Energy, Inc. Fresh Energy of St. Paul, Minnesota is an organization leading the transition to a clean, efficient and fair energy system. Its goals are: Healthy Economies, Healthy People, Healthy Environment and Energy Independence. Fresh Energy focus areas are: Clean Electricity, Energy Efficiency, Transportation Policy, Global Warming Solutions and Energy Justice. www.fresh-energy.org "Fresh Energy is the only nonprofit in Minnesota whose sole focus is a clean, just energy future for the Upper Midwest. Often, the economically disadvantaged are the most adversely affected by energy decisions. The Energy Justice program at Fresh Energy works to pass policies that help build the capacity of low-income individuals to have a strong voice in those decisions."
Tom Goldtooth (Dine’/Dakota), Director, Indigenous Environmental Network, Bemidji, Minnesota
IEN (nonprofit) is a network of grass-roots Indigenous Peoples empowering Indigenous Nations and communities towards sustainable livelihoods, demanding environmental justice and maintaining the Sacred Fire of cultural traditions. IEN is dependent on private foundations and individual donations but does not solicit for federal grants. www.ienearth.org
One immediate concern, says Goldtooth, is the proposed 36-inch diameter tar sand oil pipeline cutting through northern Minnesota running almost 1,000 miles, from Alberta, Canada, to Superior, Wisconsin, dubbed the Alberta Clipper.
"The Real Price of Tar Sands Oil - Enbridge, a Canadian company, seeks to build a pipeline to carry synthetic crude oil from Alberta, Canada, into southern Illinois. Of the many problems with this project, the greatest one stems from the energy approach driving its construction: bitumen extraction from Alberta's tar sands.
Tar sands oil is produced through a destructive process that has deplorable consequences. Extraction and processing of just one barrel of synthetic crude oil from bitumen requires up to five barrels of fresh water and 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas. The gasoline yield from that single barrel is only enough to fill a Chevrolet Avalanche's tank three-quarters full.
The environmental impact is severe. In 2007, greenhouse gas emissions from tar sands plants were roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of 27 million American passenger vehicles. High levels of carcinogens in fish, water and sediment have been found downstream from tar sands areas.
Meanwhile, annual production of tar sands oil from Alberta is expected to at least triple by 2015, fueled principally by U.S. demand.
While no one enjoys reliance on OPEC oil, the alternative of a pending environmental catastrophe is intolerable." – Brian P. Granahan, Staff Attorney, Environment Illinois Research and Education Center (washingtonpost.com, Jan. 2008).
* * * * Indian Uprising is a KFAI Public & Cultural Affairs program relevant to Native Indigenous people, broadcast each Sunday on 90.3 FM Minneapolis and 106.7 FM St. Paul. Volunteer producer & host is Chris Spotted Eagle. Note: Chris is taking a leave of absence for five months, starting September 1st.
For internet listening, visit www.kfai.org <http://www.kfai.org/> , click Play under ON AIR NOW or for listening later via their archives, click PROGRAMS & SCHEDULE > Indian Uprising > STREAM. Programs are archived for two weeks.
Mato Nunpa challenging censorship of genocide
Chris Mato Nunpa, Dakota and retired professor of Indigenous Nations and Dakota Studies, challenges the censorship of a previous letter to the editor by the Granite Falls Tribune Mato Nunpa's daughter and granddaughter were arrested last Saturday protesting Minnesota's genocide:
Hi Dave,
I noticed that my letter was edited and my statement re: "I come from a people who were the victims of genocide. Terri comes from a people who perpetrated the genocide of Indigenous Peoples" was omitted. Also, my statement re: Terri's "white supremacist attitude" will work well with most white people" which was after I had said that "Terri should resign and be transferred elsewhere in the DNR system, preferably, where she can work with white people only."
Most U.S. Euro-Americans shy away from the term "Genocide" especially when it's connected to genocide of the Indigenous Peoples of the U.S, even U.S. Euro-American genocide scholars shy away from the term. My friend and strongest supporter of my program and of me at SMSU was Dr. Eric Markusen, a genocide scholars. For several years, he talked about the "mistreatment" of Indigenous Peoples. However, even he had to succumb to the overwhelming documentation that it was more than just "mistreatment." It was GENOCIDE!
I talk about the topic of "Genocide and the Indigenous Peoples of the U.S." around the world: Kigali, Rwanda; Galway, Ireland; Copenhagen, Denmark; Mumbai, Indian; Sydney, Australia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; etc. as well as at universities in the U.S.: Yale University, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; University of Minnesota; University of Kansas; Arizona State University; Worcester College, Worcester, MA; etc.
However, I do understand the U.S. Euro-Americans' reluctance to talk about genocide of the Indigenous Peoples of the U.S., or specifically, the genocide of the Dakota People of Minnesota perpetrated by the Euro-Minnesotan citizenry. No one wants to be considered a "bad person." People who perpetrate genocide are "bad people." So, in order to silence the talk, the perpetrator uses various techniques; suppress the talk of genocide (so, it's not mentioned in the Minnesota History Textbooks or in the U.S. History textbooks); don't give the victims a forum (e.g., Terri's USASP program, letters to the editor, etc.) to talk about the genocide. And, if these don't work, the perpetrator resorts to more drastic and lethal measures to suppress the talk of genocide, like arresting the individual, or killing the individual. All of these techniques that are employed by the perpetrator of genocide or of a crime against humanity, etc. are mentioned in Judith Herman's book TRAUMA AND RECOVERY.
Bounties, concentration camps (2 or them in Minensota), mass executions (the hanging of the 38 Dakota in Mankato, MN on December 26, 2008); forced marches (the 150 mile forced march of 1,000 Dakota women, children, and elders; forced removal, or ethnic cleansing, of the Dakota People from their ancient homaland, Minnesota; cries of "extermination or removal" from Govern Ramsey right on down to the common white man on the street; the term "extermination" used by General Pope, Govern Ramsey, and soldiers, legislators, the Euro-Minnesota citizenry, and in the newspapers of the day the ads for bounties on the scalps of Dakota People: in Winona, Red Wing, St. Paul, Farribault, St. Cloud, Mankato, etc. I will send you an ad for bounties on Dakota scalps from one of the Minnesota newspapers, the Winona Republican, September 23, 1863.
Also, I will send to you a picture of the scalp of Little Crow for whom the State of Minnesota paid the killer $500. The remains of Little Crow were kept and displayed at the Minnesota Historical Society for 108 years before Little Crow was finally buried in 1971 in Flandrea, South Dakota. What I have mentioned above is just a smattering of the documentation of the GENOCIDE of the Indigenous Peoples by the United States government and by its Euro-American citizenry (or white people).
When U.S. Euro-Americans apply the terms such as "butcher," or "murderer," or "criminal," to Hitler, or to Saddam, or to Stalin, or to Milasovic (sp.?), et. al., they conveniently forget their own history of genocide and atrocities against the Indigenous Peoples of the U.S. and against the Dakota People of Minnesota. They, too, would be "butchers," "murderers," and "criminals." The U.S. Euro-Americans are afraid that the people of the world might say that the U.S. and its citizenry are not better than Hitler, or Stalin, et. al. One can teach several semesters re: this topic of Genocide against the Indigenous Peoples of the U.S.
Thanks for listening!
Chris Mato Nunpa, Ph.D.
West Central Tribune: Re-enactment leads to arrests
http://www.wctrib.com/articles/index.cfm?id=40485§ion=news
Hi Dave,
I noticed that my letter was edited and my statement re: "I come from a people who were the victims of genocide. Terri comes from a people who perpetrated the genocide of Indigenous Peoples" was omitted. Also, my statement re: Terri's "white supremacist attitude" will work well with most white people" which was after I had said that "Terri should resign and be transferred elsewhere in the DNR system, preferably, where she can work with white people only."
Most U.S. Euro-Americans shy away from the term "Genocide" especially when it's connected to genocide of the Indigenous Peoples of the U.S, even U.S. Euro-American genocide scholars shy away from the term. My friend and strongest supporter of my program and of me at SMSU was Dr. Eric Markusen, a genocide scholars. For several years, he talked about the "mistreatment" of Indigenous Peoples. However, even he had to succumb to the overwhelming documentation that it was more than just "mistreatment." It was GENOCIDE!
I talk about the topic of "Genocide and the Indigenous Peoples of the U.S." around the world: Kigali, Rwanda; Galway, Ireland; Copenhagen, Denmark; Mumbai, Indian; Sydney, Australia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; etc. as well as at universities in the U.S.: Yale University, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; University of Minnesota; University of Kansas; Arizona State University; Worcester College, Worcester, MA; etc.
However, I do understand the U.S. Euro-Americans' reluctance to talk about genocide of the Indigenous Peoples of the U.S., or specifically, the genocide of the Dakota People of Minnesota perpetrated by the Euro-Minnesotan citizenry. No one wants to be considered a "bad person." People who perpetrate genocide are "bad people." So, in order to silence the talk, the perpetrator uses various techniques; suppress the talk of genocide (so, it's not mentioned in the Minnesota History Textbooks or in the U.S. History textbooks); don't give the victims a forum (e.g., Terri's USASP program, letters to the editor, etc.) to talk about the genocide. And, if these don't work, the perpetrator resorts to more drastic and lethal measures to suppress the talk of genocide, like arresting the individual, or killing the individual. All of these techniques that are employed by the perpetrator of genocide or of a crime against humanity, etc. are mentioned in Judith Herman's book TRAUMA AND RECOVERY.
Bounties, concentration camps (2 or them in Minensota), mass executions (the hanging of the 38 Dakota in Mankato, MN on December 26, 2008); forced marches (the 150 mile forced march of 1,000 Dakota women, children, and elders; forced removal, or ethnic cleansing, of the Dakota People from their ancient homaland, Minnesota; cries of "extermination or removal" from Govern Ramsey right on down to the common white man on the street; the term "extermination" used by General Pope, Govern Ramsey, and soldiers, legislators, the Euro-Minnesota citizenry, and in the newspapers of the day the ads for bounties on the scalps of Dakota People: in Winona, Red Wing, St. Paul, Farribault, St. Cloud, Mankato, etc. I will send you an ad for bounties on Dakota scalps from one of the Minnesota newspapers, the Winona Republican, September 23, 1863.
Also, I will send to you a picture of the scalp of Little Crow for whom the State of Minnesota paid the killer $500. The remains of Little Crow were kept and displayed at the Minnesota Historical Society for 108 years before Little Crow was finally buried in 1971 in Flandrea, South Dakota. What I have mentioned above is just a smattering of the documentation of the GENOCIDE of the Indigenous Peoples by the United States government and by its Euro-American citizenry (or white people).
When U.S. Euro-Americans apply the terms such as "butcher," or "murderer," or "criminal," to Hitler, or to Saddam, or to Stalin, or to Milasovic (sp.?), et. al., they conveniently forget their own history of genocide and atrocities against the Indigenous Peoples of the U.S. and against the Dakota People of Minnesota. They, too, would be "butchers," "murderers," and "criminals." The U.S. Euro-Americans are afraid that the people of the world might say that the U.S. and its citizenry are not better than Hitler, or Stalin, et. al. One can teach several semesters re: this topic of Genocide against the Indigenous Peoples of the U.S.
Thanks for listening!
Chris Mato Nunpa, Ph.D.
West Central Tribune: Re-enactment leads to arrests
http://www.wctrib.com/articles/index.cfm?id=40485§ion=news
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
O'odham Voice Against the Wall: Celebrating halting a toxic dump in Quitovac
O'odham VOICE Agains the Wall
O'odham Rights and Cultural and Environmental Justice Coalition
By Ofelia Rivas
The Centro de Gestion Integral de Residuos S.A. (CEGIR) proposal to build a hazardous dump site in Quitovac has been defeated by Traditional O’odham communities and local State of Sonora, Mexico communities
We would like to send our sincere appreciation to all of you, Greenaction our main advisor and the 569 international organizations and individuals that supported our efforts to have this hazardous dump have canceled especially everyone who signed our online petition. We would also like to thank the 21 original organizations that signed our letter to the Environmental and Natural Resources Department of Mexico (SEMARNAT). The great thanks to support efforts of Jeff Hendricks of Tiamat Publications and all of Resistant Culture.
The O’odham VOICE Against the WALL and the O’odham Rights Cultural and Environmental Justice Coalition have worked for a number of years to maintain the integrity of Quitovac, an O’odham sacred site, while at the same time building an international coalition to stop this proposed hazardous dump.
Our coalition represents thousands of people in diverse communities across Mexico and the United States spanning many different ethnic and economic backgrounds. Our coalition will remain diligent in maintaining watch on CEGIR and other companies invading O’odham traditional lands and local communities.
The attempt by CEGIR to build this toxic dump was in total violation of the Human Rights of O’odham Indigenous communities. If this dump had been built, it would have been in a violation to the O’odham integral right to protect their traditional homelands and their continued responsibility to conduct their traditional way of life through ceremonies that have been held at Quitovac since time immemorial.
This would have been yet another devastating episode in the ongoing destruction of the culture, traditions, and spiritual well-being of the O’odham people in both Mexico and the US which has been being carried out by the occupation governments of Mexico and the United States for many years.
The proposed facility would have exposed nearby communities to dangerous toxins released in the land and the air. The proposed hazardous waste facility would have received large amounts of hazardous waste materials annually, including radioactive materials, explosives, aliphatic peroxides, compressed gasses, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) wastes, dioxins, and infectious biological wastes. Such contaminates would have contaminated the underground well water the community of Quitovac depends on.We strongly urge the Mexican government – just as we urge the United States government – to deal with hazardous waste issues in a manner that protects the environment and does not harm the lives, culture, traditions and sacred sites of Indigenous peoples. CEGIR violated the La Paz Agreement between Mexico and the United States which requires that official notification be given to stakeholders of the proposed site region. These stakeholders include the traditional O’odham communities in Mexico and the local community of Quitovac.
The exclusion of the O’odham and the residents of Quitovac in the decision-making process for the planning of the CEGIR hazardous dump was an intentional injustice.
Contact
Ofelia Rivas, O’odham VOICE Against the WALL & O’odham Rights Cultural and Environmental Justice Coalition
(520) 471-3398 uyarivas@hotmail.com
www.tiamatpublications.com/odham_solidarity_project.html
Bradley Angel
Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice
(415)248-5010
greenaction@greenaction.org
http://www.greenaction.org/
O'odham Rights and Cultural and Environmental Justice Coalition
By Ofelia Rivas
The Centro de Gestion Integral de Residuos S.A. (CEGIR) proposal to build a hazardous dump site in Quitovac has been defeated by Traditional O’odham communities and local State of Sonora, Mexico communities
We would like to send our sincere appreciation to all of you, Greenaction our main advisor and the 569 international organizations and individuals that supported our efforts to have this hazardous dump have canceled especially everyone who signed our online petition. We would also like to thank the 21 original organizations that signed our letter to the Environmental and Natural Resources Department of Mexico (SEMARNAT). The great thanks to support efforts of Jeff Hendricks of Tiamat Publications and all of Resistant Culture.
The O’odham VOICE Against the WALL and the O’odham Rights Cultural and Environmental Justice Coalition have worked for a number of years to maintain the integrity of Quitovac, an O’odham sacred site, while at the same time building an international coalition to stop this proposed hazardous dump.
Our coalition represents thousands of people in diverse communities across Mexico and the United States spanning many different ethnic and economic backgrounds. Our coalition will remain diligent in maintaining watch on CEGIR and other companies invading O’odham traditional lands and local communities.
The attempt by CEGIR to build this toxic dump was in total violation of the Human Rights of O’odham Indigenous communities. If this dump had been built, it would have been in a violation to the O’odham integral right to protect their traditional homelands and their continued responsibility to conduct their traditional way of life through ceremonies that have been held at Quitovac since time immemorial.
This would have been yet another devastating episode in the ongoing destruction of the culture, traditions, and spiritual well-being of the O’odham people in both Mexico and the US which has been being carried out by the occupation governments of Mexico and the United States for many years.
The proposed facility would have exposed nearby communities to dangerous toxins released in the land and the air. The proposed hazardous waste facility would have received large amounts of hazardous waste materials annually, including radioactive materials, explosives, aliphatic peroxides, compressed gasses, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) wastes, dioxins, and infectious biological wastes. Such contaminates would have contaminated the underground well water the community of Quitovac depends on.We strongly urge the Mexican government – just as we urge the United States government – to deal with hazardous waste issues in a manner that protects the environment and does not harm the lives, culture, traditions and sacred sites of Indigenous peoples. CEGIR violated the La Paz Agreement between Mexico and the United States which requires that official notification be given to stakeholders of the proposed site region. These stakeholders include the traditional O’odham communities in Mexico and the local community of Quitovac.
The exclusion of the O’odham and the residents of Quitovac in the decision-making process for the planning of the CEGIR hazardous dump was an intentional injustice.
Contact
Ofelia Rivas, O’odham VOICE Against the WALL & O’odham Rights Cultural and Environmental Justice Coalition
(520) 471-3398 uyarivas@hotmail.com
www.tiamatpublications.com/odham_solidarity_project.html
Bradley Angel
Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice
(415)248-5010
greenaction@greenaction.org
http://www.greenaction.org/
Uncensored: Dakota genocide
Chris Mato Nunpa, Dakota and retired professor of Indigenous Nations and Dakota Studies, points out how "genocide" is censored by newspapers
From Chris Mato Nunpa,
Below is my letter to the editor which was printed in this week's edition of the Granite Falls Advocate Tribune, Thursday, August 21, 2008. It was edited, for example my statement, "I come from a people who were the victims of genocide. Terri comes from a people who were the perpetrators", was omitted. This is so typical. Most U.S. Euro-Americans shy away from the term "GENOCIDE". The thought of this is so horrible and paints the U.S. Euro-Americans in a very bad light. If they talk about genocide of the Indigenous Peoples of the U.S., people of the world might say that U.S. Euro-Americans are like Hitler and his Nazis. Anyway, if you get a hold of my edited letter to the editor in the paper and compare with my letter, you will find the differences. Thanks.
In Struggle,
Chris
--------------------------------------------------------------------
LIES, TRUTH, AND CLASH OF PERSPECTIVES
This past Saturday and Sunday, August 16 & 17, 2008, some of us Dakota People and our allies/supporters had a counter event to the Upper Sioux Agency State Park program initiated by Terri Dinesen. We did this because we thought that Ms. Dinesen was perpetuating lies, and, also, had not consulted with the Yellow Medicine Dakota Community. On Saturday, 8/16, my younger daughter, Waziyata Win, and my granddaughter, Winuna, were arrested by the Yellow Medicine County Sheriff's department. I wish to offer several comments and impressions about this weekend's events.
First, I was absolutely amazed at the number of armed personnel - so many guns and police cars - from the Yellow Medicine County Sheriff's department and from the Department of Natural Resources. It seemed like overkill, figuratively speaking. We had no weapons - guns, clubs, knives, etc. - yet the white law enforcement authorities were there in force. We know that they were not there for our protection but protection for Terri and the rest of the white people. In fact, one of our community members said something to the effect that "they were there to shoot us or beat us up." To me, this over-reaction demonstrated a high level of racial hatred and fear of the Dakota People, specifically, and of Indigenous Peoples, generally, on the part of the white folk here in southwestern Minnesota. We had gathered peaceably, with our posters, banners, and educational materials to be distributed to the interested white folk.
Secondly, there were many discriminatory aspects of the event. One aspect was the presence of so many law enforcement personnel. They were there so that they could bash Native heads. Several of these officers even had bulletproof vests. Another aspect involved a cousin's husband who is terminally ill. My cousin was not allowed to drive her husband up to where our group had gathered so that he would not have to walk so far. Later, a white lady, who has a husband, who, also, is terminally, ill, was able to drive right up to where we were and the husband could then join us. In my mind, this was discrimination on the part of Terri and her DNR guardians and, also, it was a violation of the federal disabilities act. Terri even asked the white woman, "are you with them," referring to us Dakota People. Lastly, when our people were arrested, the sons who were minors (and who were, also, deeply impacted by their mother's arrest) could not check on their mother and the husband could not check on his wife. The sheriff's deputies forcibly blocked them. However, we saw several white women who were allowed to go to the sheriff's car and see those who were arrested. Some of these things were videotaped and are now on YouTube for viewing both nationally and internationally.
There are so many things to say but in the interest of space, I will make one more comment re: Terri Dinesen. I perceive her as acting very unprofessionally and disrespectfully with the Dakota Community. According to one of her emails, Terri said she was taking the criticisms of her personally and it may well be that she, personally, ordered the arrest of Waziyata Win. I suspect that, in the future, there will not be too much cooperation between Ms. Dinesen/DNR and the local Dakota community because of her bull-headedness in NOT cancelling the event. One council (Board of Trustees) member indicated that she might introduce a resolution banning Terri Dinesen from the reservation. I, myself, think Terri should resign and be transferred elsewhere in the the DNR system. preferably, where she can work with white people only. She seems to have a white supremacist attitude and this would work well with white people.
Lastly, a comment re: perspective. I come from the perspective of a people whose lands were stolen. Terri comes from a perspective of the people who stole the lands. I come from a people whose treaties were violated and she comes from a people who violated the treaties. I come from a people who were the victims of genocide and Terri comes from a people who perpetrated the genocide. It's extremely difficult to reconcile these two diametrically opposed perspectives and world-views. White Minnesotans would have to admit the TRUTH! One thing that Terri could have done with her event would have been to include both the Dakota and wasicu (white man) perspective, not just the wasicu point-of-view. Let the public be exposed to both views, especially to the Dakota view. The public can, then, make up its own mind.
Chris Mato Nunpa, Ph.D.
Member, Upper Sioux Community
matonunpa@earthlink.net "
Retired Former Associate Professor
Indigenous Nations & Dakota Studies (INDS)
Southwest Minnesota State University
Marshall, Minnesota 56258
From Chris Mato Nunpa,
Below is my letter to the editor which was printed in this week's edition of the Granite Falls Advocate Tribune, Thursday, August 21, 2008. It was edited, for example my statement, "I come from a people who were the victims of genocide. Terri comes from a people who were the perpetrators", was omitted. This is so typical. Most U.S. Euro-Americans shy away from the term "GENOCIDE". The thought of this is so horrible and paints the U.S. Euro-Americans in a very bad light. If they talk about genocide of the Indigenous Peoples of the U.S., people of the world might say that U.S. Euro-Americans are like Hitler and his Nazis. Anyway, if you get a hold of my edited letter to the editor in the paper and compare with my letter, you will find the differences. Thanks.
In Struggle,
Chris
--------------------------------------------------------------------
LIES, TRUTH, AND CLASH OF PERSPECTIVES
This past Saturday and Sunday, August 16 & 17, 2008, some of us Dakota People and our allies/supporters had a counter event to the Upper Sioux Agency State Park program initiated by Terri Dinesen. We did this because we thought that Ms. Dinesen was perpetuating lies, and, also, had not consulted with the Yellow Medicine Dakota Community. On Saturday, 8/16, my younger daughter, Waziyata Win, and my granddaughter, Winuna, were arrested by the Yellow Medicine County Sheriff's department. I wish to offer several comments and impressions about this weekend's events.
First, I was absolutely amazed at the number of armed personnel - so many guns and police cars - from the Yellow Medicine County Sheriff's department and from the Department of Natural Resources. It seemed like overkill, figuratively speaking. We had no weapons - guns, clubs, knives, etc. - yet the white law enforcement authorities were there in force. We know that they were not there for our protection but protection for Terri and the rest of the white people. In fact, one of our community members said something to the effect that "they were there to shoot us or beat us up." To me, this over-reaction demonstrated a high level of racial hatred and fear of the Dakota People, specifically, and of Indigenous Peoples, generally, on the part of the white folk here in southwestern Minnesota. We had gathered peaceably, with our posters, banners, and educational materials to be distributed to the interested white folk.
Secondly, there were many discriminatory aspects of the event. One aspect was the presence of so many law enforcement personnel. They were there so that they could bash Native heads. Several of these officers even had bulletproof vests. Another aspect involved a cousin's husband who is terminally ill. My cousin was not allowed to drive her husband up to where our group had gathered so that he would not have to walk so far. Later, a white lady, who has a husband, who, also, is terminally, ill, was able to drive right up to where we were and the husband could then join us. In my mind, this was discrimination on the part of Terri and her DNR guardians and, also, it was a violation of the federal disabilities act. Terri even asked the white woman, "are you with them," referring to us Dakota People. Lastly, when our people were arrested, the sons who were minors (and who were, also, deeply impacted by their mother's arrest) could not check on their mother and the husband could not check on his wife. The sheriff's deputies forcibly blocked them. However, we saw several white women who were allowed to go to the sheriff's car and see those who were arrested. Some of these things were videotaped and are now on YouTube for viewing both nationally and internationally.
There are so many things to say but in the interest of space, I will make one more comment re: Terri Dinesen. I perceive her as acting very unprofessionally and disrespectfully with the Dakota Community. According to one of her emails, Terri said she was taking the criticisms of her personally and it may well be that she, personally, ordered the arrest of Waziyata Win. I suspect that, in the future, there will not be too much cooperation between Ms. Dinesen/DNR and the local Dakota community because of her bull-headedness in NOT cancelling the event. One council (Board of Trustees) member indicated that she might introduce a resolution banning Terri Dinesen from the reservation. I, myself, think Terri should resign and be transferred elsewhere in the the DNR system. preferably, where she can work with white people only. She seems to have a white supremacist attitude and this would work well with white people.
Lastly, a comment re: perspective. I come from the perspective of a people whose lands were stolen. Terri comes from a perspective of the people who stole the lands. I come from a people whose treaties were violated and she comes from a people who violated the treaties. I come from a people who were the victims of genocide and Terri comes from a people who perpetrated the genocide. It's extremely difficult to reconcile these two diametrically opposed perspectives and world-views. White Minnesotans would have to admit the TRUTH! One thing that Terri could have done with her event would have been to include both the Dakota and wasicu (white man) perspective, not just the wasicu point-of-view. Let the public be exposed to both views, especially to the Dakota view. The public can, then, make up its own mind.
Chris Mato Nunpa, Ph.D.
Member, Upper Sioux Community
matonunpa@earthlink.net "
Retired Former Associate Professor
Indigenous Nations & Dakota Studies (INDS)
Southwest Minnesota State University
Marshall, Minnesota 56258
Biological and chemical warfare toxins on Indian lands
Toxic cleanup inventories reveal biological and chemical warfare agents on and near Indian lands in Canada and US
Special thanks to John Hummel for sending the information on biological and chemical warfare on Canada's First Nations lands to Censored News. These agents are revealed on toxic inventories. In the US, similar research using toxic cleanup inventories shows the biological and chemical warfare agents adjacent to the Skull Valley Goshute, at the US military Dugway Proving Grounds in northwest Utah, and more secret sites, such as an unidentified project on the western portion of the Navajo Nation in Arizona. The information on the Navajo Nation site came from DOD's Native American Environmental Tracking System site. The Navajo area site was listed as “Nauaya Gra Res AX” on Department of Defense cleanup data. The site is listed with "no information," located on or near the Navajo Nation, with impacts unknown. (After first publishing the original information in 1995, a notice was posted on the NAETS website that NAETS has been decommissioned.) The only other US reference to "Nauaya Gra Res AX" comes from a DOD Arizona toxic cleanup citation stating the Nauaya Gra Res AX site is in Coconino County, Ariz. It states there are "no records," and there was a clean
up cost of $15 million. This web page also lists multiple Prisoner of War camps in Arizona as former Department of Defense sites for cleanup. (The Prisoner of War camps include Eloy I, Eloy II, Florence, Duncan, Maricopa County, Continental, Cortaro, Queen Creek and Safford.) The state of California has the most toxic sites, including five Prisoner of War camps.
Former DOD sites in Arizona:
http://www.gao.gov/gao-01-1012sp/AZ.html/
Toxic sites on First Nations Canada
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2008/08/biological-and-chemical-warfare-agents.html
US map of DOD contaminated sites. Click on each state:
http://www.gao.gov/gao-01-1012sp/app1.htm
--Brenda Norrell, Censored News
Special thanks to John Hummel for sending the information on biological and chemical warfare on Canada's First Nations lands to Censored News. These agents are revealed on toxic inventories. In the US, similar research using toxic cleanup inventories shows the biological and chemical warfare agents adjacent to the Skull Valley Goshute, at the US military Dugway Proving Grounds in northwest Utah, and more secret sites, such as an unidentified project on the western portion of the Navajo Nation in Arizona. The information on the Navajo Nation site came from DOD's Native American Environmental Tracking System site. The Navajo area site was listed as “Nauaya Gra Res AX” on Department of Defense cleanup data. The site is listed with "no information," located on or near the Navajo Nation, with impacts unknown. (After first publishing the original information in 1995, a notice was posted on the NAETS website that NAETS has been decommissioned.) The only other US reference to "Nauaya Gra Res AX" comes from a DOD Arizona toxic cleanup citation stating the Nauaya Gra Res AX site is in Coconino County, Ariz. It states there are "no records," and there was a clean
up cost of $15 million. This web page also lists multiple Prisoner of War camps in Arizona as former Department of Defense sites for cleanup. (The Prisoner of War camps include Eloy I, Eloy II, Florence, Duncan, Maricopa County, Continental, Cortaro, Queen Creek and Safford.) The state of California has the most toxic sites, including five Prisoner of War camps.Former DOD sites in Arizona:
http://www.gao.gov/gao-01-1012sp/AZ.html/
Toxic sites on First Nations Canada
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2008/08/biological-and-chemical-warfare-agents.html
US map of DOD contaminated sites. Click on each state:
http://www.gao.gov/gao-01-1012sp/app1.htm
--Brenda Norrell, Censored News
Berkeley City Council continues opposition to US/Mexico Apartheid Wall
( Please double click to enlarge) Berkeley City Council reception of Apache from Texas and Arizona on Thursday, August 28, 2008.Ottawa refuses to halt warmongers trade show
Incoming message:
HERE'S THE RESPONSE TO OUR EFFORTS TO CANCEL THE WARMONGERS TRADE SHOW. NO SURPRISE. NOW IT'S LOOKING LIKE PROTESTS WILL BE NECESSARY. MEANWHILE, MORE MESSAGES TO LET THEM KNOW THIS DRIVEL IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE ANSWER.
STOP THE MILITARY TRADE SHOW
Aug 19, 2008
Sent on behalf of, Larry O'Brien, Mayor, City of Ottawa
Thank you for your email dated July 30, 2008. Mayor O'Brien has asked that I contact you on his behalf, to let you know that a number of inquiries have been received regarding a City of Ottawa motion dating back to 1989 whereby "Lansdowne Park and other city facilities not be leased to ARMX or other such arms exhibitions", and asking how that motion relates to the US Embassy Defense and Security Exhibition contracted to take place in the Exhibit Hall at Lansdowne Park, September 30 - October 1, 2008.
Staff consulted with Legal Services regarding the prohibition on hosting arms exhibitions that was approved by Ottawa City Council in 1989. The advice from Legal Services was that the previous motion by Council is no longer applicable, since Lansdowne Park was sold to the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton on December 31, 1999. The transfer agreement between the City of Ottawa and the RMOC did not provide any obligation for the continuation of such then-City policies by the Region at Lansdowne Park.
You may wish to know that Secure Canada 2008 focuses on technologies and products used for security, public safety and to a lesser degree, defence applications, including secure communications, surveillance, and command and control requirements and unmanned systems technologies for security operations - everything from critical infrastructure protection to border patrol and port security and first responder requirements.
The Mayor's Office has been reassured by the show manager that weapons and firearms are not included in these exhibits. It is the opinion of staff that given the range of products and services being marketed during this event, it does not meet the test of what one would reasonably expect to find in an "arms exhibition".
In furtherance of its due diligence, staff also consulted with both Corporate Security and the Ottawa Police Service for insights regarding the operation of these types of shows, and the feedback was very positive in terms of minimal threat to public safety and security.
Based on this due diligence, staff determined that there was no impediment to hosting these types of events, while recognizing the degree of sensitivity regarding activities that focus primarily on armaments and various weapons.
Accordingly, Lansdowne Park has contracted for Secure Canada 2008 as well as CANSEC 2009, a similarly themed exhibition of security and defence technologies.
It should be noted that both of these events have been successfully staged at the Ottawa Congress Centre in recent years. The imminent closure and reconstruction of that facility has forced its clientele to seek out alternate venues, even if only for the duration of new construction. There is an expectation that both of these events are likely to return to the brand-new convention centre when it opens, a project that includes a funding contribution of $40,000,000 from the City of Ottawa."
Should you have additional questions regarding this exhibit, please feel free to contact Doug Moore, Manager, Venture Properties, Business Transformation Services at (613)580-2424 ext. 41301 (office) or by e-mail douglas.moore@ottawa.ca.
Thank you for contacting Mayor O'Brien with your concerns.
Regards,
Colleen Gareau
Constituency Assistant
Mayor's Office110 Laurier Avenue
West Ottawa (Ontario) K1P 1J1
Tel : 613-580-2496Fax: 613-580-2509
Email: colleen.gareau@ottawa.ca
READ MORE: Mohawk Nation News: Sicko: Ottawa hosts warmonger trade show
http://www.mohawknationnews.com/news/singlenews.php?en=en&layout=mnn&newsnr=640&backurl=%2Fnews%2Fnews3.php%3Flang%3Den%26layout%3Dmnn%26sortorder%3D0&srcscript=/news/news3.php
HERE'S THE RESPONSE TO OUR EFFORTS TO CANCEL THE WARMONGERS TRADE SHOW. NO SURPRISE. NOW IT'S LOOKING LIKE PROTESTS WILL BE NECESSARY. MEANWHILE, MORE MESSAGES TO LET THEM KNOW THIS DRIVEL IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE ANSWER.
STOP THE MILITARY TRADE SHOW
Aug 19, 2008
Sent on behalf of, Larry O'Brien, Mayor, City of Ottawa
Thank you for your email dated July 30, 2008. Mayor O'Brien has asked that I contact you on his behalf, to let you know that a number of inquiries have been received regarding a City of Ottawa motion dating back to 1989 whereby "Lansdowne Park and other city facilities not be leased to ARMX or other such arms exhibitions", and asking how that motion relates to the US Embassy Defense and Security Exhibition contracted to take place in the Exhibit Hall at Lansdowne Park, September 30 - October 1, 2008.
Staff consulted with Legal Services regarding the prohibition on hosting arms exhibitions that was approved by Ottawa City Council in 1989. The advice from Legal Services was that the previous motion by Council is no longer applicable, since Lansdowne Park was sold to the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton on December 31, 1999. The transfer agreement between the City of Ottawa and the RMOC did not provide any obligation for the continuation of such then-City policies by the Region at Lansdowne Park.
You may wish to know that Secure Canada 2008 focuses on technologies and products used for security, public safety and to a lesser degree, defence applications, including secure communications, surveillance, and command and control requirements and unmanned systems technologies for security operations - everything from critical infrastructure protection to border patrol and port security and first responder requirements.
The Mayor's Office has been reassured by the show manager that weapons and firearms are not included in these exhibits. It is the opinion of staff that given the range of products and services being marketed during this event, it does not meet the test of what one would reasonably expect to find in an "arms exhibition".
In furtherance of its due diligence, staff also consulted with both Corporate Security and the Ottawa Police Service for insights regarding the operation of these types of shows, and the feedback was very positive in terms of minimal threat to public safety and security.
Based on this due diligence, staff determined that there was no impediment to hosting these types of events, while recognizing the degree of sensitivity regarding activities that focus primarily on armaments and various weapons.
Accordingly, Lansdowne Park has contracted for Secure Canada 2008 as well as CANSEC 2009, a similarly themed exhibition of security and defence technologies.
It should be noted that both of these events have been successfully staged at the Ottawa Congress Centre in recent years. The imminent closure and reconstruction of that facility has forced its clientele to seek out alternate venues, even if only for the duration of new construction. There is an expectation that both of these events are likely to return to the brand-new convention centre when it opens, a project that includes a funding contribution of $40,000,000 from the City of Ottawa."
Should you have additional questions regarding this exhibit, please feel free to contact Doug Moore, Manager, Venture Properties, Business Transformation Services at (613)580-2424 ext. 41301 (office) or by e-mail douglas.moore@ottawa.ca.
Thank you for contacting Mayor O'Brien with your concerns.
Regards,
Colleen Gareau
Constituency Assistant
Mayor's Office110 Laurier Avenue
West Ottawa (Ontario) K1P 1J1
Tel : 613-580-2496Fax: 613-580-2509
Email: colleen.gareau@ottawa.ca
READ MORE: Mohawk Nation News: Sicko: Ottawa hosts warmonger trade show
http://www.mohawknationnews.com/news/singlenews.php?en=en&layout=mnn&newsnr=640&backurl=%2Fnews%2Fnews3.php%3Flang%3Den%26layout%3Dmnn%26sortorder%3D0&srcscript=/news/news3.php
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Protest US EPA environmental racism San Francisco August 22, 2008
Please double click on image to enlarge for protest of US EPA's environmental racism. Tell the US EPA to put the toxic dumps and power plants in their own backyards, rather than on Indian lands.Geenaction to US EPA: No 'cat and mouse' games, listen to the people
Bradley Angel of Greenaction tells the US EPA that Administrator Stephen Johnson should meet with the people and halt the excuses. E-mail correspondences:
From: Bradley Angel, Greenaction
Dear Ms. Yoshii,
Thanks for the prompt response. However, Administrator Johnson must rearrange his schedule due to the urgent matters involving US EPA and environmental justice that have arisen in the last few months, as well as the ongoing violations of environmental justice by the EPA. It is unacceptable for Mr. Johnson to come to San Francisco and fail to make time to meet with community members who will be or are being poisoned by the decisions Mr. Johnson and the EPA have made. From communities on the Navajo Nation to the Colorado River Indian Tribes to Kettleman City to Bayview Hunters Point, EPA’s actions truly threaten the health and well-being of the people. We will continue to insist that Mr. Johnson meet with community representatives on Friday and we will seek to speak with him at that time. For environmental justice,
Bradley Angel
--------------------------------------------------------------
From: Yoshii.Laura@epamail.epa.gov
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 3:02 PM
To: Bradley Angel Subject: Re: Request for meeting Friday with EPA Administrator Johnson
Dear Mr. Angel,
In response to your request for a meeting with the EPA Administrator on Friday August 22, 2008, the Administrator's schedule is full and he will be unable to meet with you and other community and environmental justice groups as requested.
However, Region 9 personnel would be happy to meet with you and others at a future date to discuss the concerns raised regarding Region 9 actions. Please contact Lily Lee of my staff at (415) 972-3795 to schedule these meetings.
Sincerely,
Laura Yoshii Deputy Regional Administrator EPA Region 9
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Bradley Angel" <bradley@greenaction.org> 08/19/2008 09:12 AM
To US EPA:
Subject Request for meeting Friday with EPA Administrator Johnson
This is a formal written request, following up on our phone request, that Administrator Johnson meet with representatives of community and environmental justice groups during his visit to San Francisco on Friday. Mr. Johnson should make time to meet on such important concerns, especially in light of numerous actions by him and the EPA that have serious environmental justice impacts. Attached is also a flyer advertising a protest against Johnson and US EPA’s racist, unjust and pro-polluter policies. We expect that EPA will respect the right of peaceful protest on Friday. Please contact me with the response to this request. Bradley Angel On behalf of the two dozen organizations uniting to protest EPA’s pro-polluter policies.
Kahnawake: Mohawk Women Title Holders file objection over Highway 30
ROTINO’SHONNI:ONWE FILE OBJECTION AGAINST SUPER HIGHWAY 30“COLONIAL OPPORTUNISTS, WATCH OUT!”
KAHNAWAKE WOMEN TITLE HOLDERS OF THE ROTINO’SHONNI:ONWE FILE OBJECTION AGAINST SUPER HIGHWAY 30
Mohawk Nation News
Aug. 17, 2008. Someone is trying to plow under the Mohawks and our history. The three clans each had their villages around a river that bore the name of their clan. Bear River is Mount Royal which is now Montreal; Wolf River is Chateauguay to the west of Kahnawake; and Turtle River is St. Constant-Laprairie-Candiac to the east of Kahnawake. The fields contain dozens of Mohawk village and burial sites.
Quebec is building a mega highway through the territory of the Iroquois Confederacy known as the protectors of the “Eastern Door” of Turtle Island. The territory has never been surrendered. Yet the Quebec government is handing out permits to companies to build on our land without our consent. These companies use our land as collateral to raise money from the public, which is criminal fraud.
To stop a further invasion and breakdown of our community, the Women Title Holders of the Rotino’shonni:onwe [the voice of the people] served a “Notice of Objection” on Canada, Quebec, the colonially established Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and their agents.
The colonial band council headed by Mike Delisle [communications@mck.ca] has supported the super highway through the middle of Kahnawake in exchange for some land and “other undisclosed considerations” citing he had made a “gentlemen’s agreement”. Nothing is in writing. It looks like a business partnership between him and Quebec. The people erected a large sign on the proposed route stating “Mohawk Territory – No Trespassing”. The Quebec Police have torn it down. Our people have gone out to the site to put it back up. The farmers of St-Constant have shown strong support for our cause. "Farmers oppose Hwy. 30 expansion" by Stefan Christoff http://www.hour.ca/news/news.aspx?iIDArticle=15304For more info visit: Autoroute 30 au Nord http://www.sos30.com/index.html
More news to come. Read the following “Notice of Objection”. MNN Mohawk Nation News http://www.mohawknationnews.com
NOTICE OF OBJECTION - August 17, 2008TO ILLEGAL CONSTRUCTION OF “HIGHWAY 30” AND TRESPASSING IN KAHNAWAKE OF MOHAWK TERRITORY BY COLONIAL OPPORTUNISTS OF CANADA AND QUEBEC
Burial sites being desecrated and natural waterways being diverted
FROM: The Kanion’ke:haka/Mohawk Nation of the of the Rotino’shonni:onwe [Iroquois].
OBJECTION: To the development of Highway 30 through the territory of the northern protectors of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Kanion’ke:haka [Mohawk], who are the “Keepers of the Eastern Door”. The entity known as “ Quebec ” is attempting to illegally build Highway 30 through the ancient community of Kahnawake. Old villages, burial sites and waterways are being destroyed or diverted. This development violates the Two Row Wampum, the Kaianereh’ko:wa [the Rotino’shonni:onwe constitution] and international law as it does not have the fully informed consent of the Kanion’ke:haka. The construction permits issued by the government of Quebec are illegal. Our land cannot be alienated. Quebec is encroaching on unsurrendered Kanion’ke:haka territory and using it as collateral to raise money to fund their businesses. This constitutes fraud. It will encourage a further invasion and breakdown of our solitary community for the benefit of a few.
TO: The colonial entities that are carrying on illegal activities, known as:- “Canada”;- “Quebec government”;- Chenail Construction Brinco Quarry and others; - “Mohawk Council of Kahnawake”; and - Any and all their agents are all squatting on our territory.
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake who gave permission to Quebec is a “band council”, a colonial entity that is set up by the colonial entity known as “Canada”. Its members have become Canadian citizens of “Indian” ancestry". They have no legal right to make any decisions on our unceded territory. Mike Delisle Jr., the band council chief, cannot make a “personal decision” or “gentleman’s agreement” [!] to make secret deals or override the voice of the people. These foreign corporate franchises can never have title to or interest in our land;
RE: The attempt to illegally develop Highway 30 through the Kanion’ke:haka territory on the portion known as “Kahnawake” and surrounding settlements known as “St. Constant”, “Delson” and “Candiac”. This usurpation of our territory does not have the fully informed consent of the Kanion’ke:haka, violating international law.
BASIS OF ACTION: WAMPUM 44 OF THE GREAT LAW OF PEACE, KAIANEREH’KO:WA
According to Wampum 44 of the Kaianereh’ko:wa, the Great Law of Peace, we, the Kohtihon’tia:kwenio – Women Title Holders – are the caretakers of the land, water and air of “Onowaregeh” [Turtle Island]; and as trustees, our obligation is to preserve and protect the land for the future generations.
a) WHEREAS the foreign invaders cannot determine our identity. We are Haudenosaunee, Six Nations of Onowaregeh. According to the Two Row Wampum Agreement, it is illegal for colonial institutions like Canada, Quebec, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and their agents to violate internationally recognized principles of fundamental justice;
b) WHEREAS the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People has been adopted by a majority of 144 states; international law has affirmed that colonialism is dead, that all Indigenous peoples are to be treated as equals to all other peoples; and we accordingly claim our right to the full enjoyment as collectives and as individuals to all the human rights and fundamental freedoms that have been recognized in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international law, including the right to self-determination and self-government without being subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of ourselves and our culture.
c) WHEREAS respect for our rights is entrenched in the constitution of Canada, the British North America Act, Sections 109 and 132;
d)WHEREAS the Charter of the United Nations has been signed by its members to resolve differences peacefully without using force. According to the July 7th 2008 decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, the indigenous people have a right to freedom of speech and to demonstrate to protect our lands without hindrance;
e) WHEREAS Canada has ascribed to the internationally recognized standards for respecting political rights of the People as set out in the international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Prevention of Genocide, United Nations Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other international legal instruments;
f) WHEREAS General Assembly Resolution 1541 (XV) requires the informed consent of the people before they are included in another state; and the international Court of Justice affirmed this Resolution in the Western Sahara case; and the Indigenous people never consented to be part of Canada;
g) WHEREAS Canada must abide by the international law principles that there can be no arbitrary encroachment on Indigenous peoples; ignoring the true Indigenous people is illegal; independent Indigenous peoples’ rights must be respected and heeded; and our perspectives on the issues must not be ignored. Canada cannot legally deal with its band council system or other colonial entities on behalf of the true Indigenous People. We are independent sovereign people who must be dealt with as a nation.
h) WHEREAS the Kanion’ke:haka have a constitution. We cannot be governed by foreign laws that we have always resisted and we will continue to resist the usurpation of our territory and resources;
i) WHEREAS states must provide redress for violations of our rights through effective mechanisms; we hereby notify Canada, Quebec, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and all their agents that their attempt to build Highway 30 on the said part of our territory is unlawful and will be resisted. They must deal with the Women Title Holders who are the lawful owners of the territory through diplomatic relations.
WE, THE KOHTIHON’TIA:KWENIO OF THE ROTINO’SHONNI:ONWE SEEK TO INFORM YOU THAT THIS IS FULL AND FAIR NOTICE THAT:
Canada, Quebec, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and other colonial agents must cease and desist their attempts to violate our authority by building Highway 30; that they must deal with us as a nation as required under both our law and international law; that any individual or foreign entity wishing to discuss any issues between us must provide full information through the proper diplomatic channel, which is the Governor General of Canada, who has a duty to inform us.
We, the Kohtihon’tia:kwenio, brought this matter to the attention of Canada in an action in the Supreme Court of Canada – Kanion’ke:haka Kaianereh’ko:wa Kanon’sesneh v. Attorney General of Canada and her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario, Court File: 05-CV-030785. This case in effect acknowledged that Canada has no authority over us and our territory. We remain independent and sovereign.
FOR THE ABOVE REASONS, WE, THE KOHTIHON’TIA:KWENIO OF THE ROTINO’SHONNI:ONWE - IN ORDER TO PROTECT OUR PHYSICAL INTEGRITY AND LEGAL RIGHTS – REQUEST THE FOLLOWING:
1) The Women Title Holders will not tolerate the violations of our constitution, ancient customs, traditions, inherent rights and agreements by Canada, Quebec, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and its agents who are attempting to encroach on our territory. The colonists are breaking their own laws by openly desecrating our historic rivers and village sites and burial grounds. At least 8 sites have been found on the proposed route. Natural waterways are being diverted. No valid environmental studies have been carried out.
2) We invite Canada, Quebec, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and their agents to resolve our differences in a mature and peaceful way, by rediscovering and brightening the spirit of the Two Row Wampum and the Covenant Chain that began our international relationship centuries ago.
3) Should Canada, Quebec, the Mohawk Council of Kahnwake and their agents continue to breach our rights, we shall take the necessary measures available to us in the international arena to correct the injustices that have been committed against us.
4) It is unacceptable to abuse people on the basis of race, religion, nationality, belief or membership in a particular social group. We invite all members of the colonizing societies to become partners with us to end this cycle of abuse, stop enforcing illegal jurisdiction over us and our territory, halt the illegal construction of Highway 30 and extend dignity, equality and a voice to all peoples.
KANION’KE:HAKA OF THE ROTINO’SHONNI:ONWE:
Karakwine /s/ Turtle Clan
Contact: karonhiarokwas@yahoo.com;
address - Box 2208,
Kahnawake [Quebec Canada] J0L 1B0.
Sent to: All media; Canada, Quebec; Queen Elizabeth II; United Nations, Six Nations Confederacy: Kanion’ke:haka [Mohawks] of Wahta, Six Nations, Tyendinaga, Akwesasne, Kahnawake, Kanehsatake, Ganienkeh and Kanatiohareke; stock exchanges; Ethnoscop; Chateauguay and St. Constant Historical Societies; Cities of Montreal, Chateauguay, St. Constant, Laprairie, Delson, St. Catherine; Governor General of Canada; Minister of Indian Affairs.
KAHNAWAKE WOMEN TITLE HOLDERS OF THE ROTINO’SHONNI:ONWE FILE OBJECTION AGAINST SUPER HIGHWAY 30
Mohawk Nation News
Aug. 17, 2008. Someone is trying to plow under the Mohawks and our history. The three clans each had their villages around a river that bore the name of their clan. Bear River is Mount Royal which is now Montreal; Wolf River is Chateauguay to the west of Kahnawake; and Turtle River is St. Constant-Laprairie-Candiac to the east of Kahnawake. The fields contain dozens of Mohawk village and burial sites.
Quebec is building a mega highway through the territory of the Iroquois Confederacy known as the protectors of the “Eastern Door” of Turtle Island. The territory has never been surrendered. Yet the Quebec government is handing out permits to companies to build on our land without our consent. These companies use our land as collateral to raise money from the public, which is criminal fraud.
To stop a further invasion and breakdown of our community, the Women Title Holders of the Rotino’shonni:onwe [the voice of the people] served a “Notice of Objection” on Canada, Quebec, the colonially established Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and their agents.
The colonial band council headed by Mike Delisle [communications@mck.ca] has supported the super highway through the middle of Kahnawake in exchange for some land and “other undisclosed considerations” citing he had made a “gentlemen’s agreement”. Nothing is in writing. It looks like a business partnership between him and Quebec. The people erected a large sign on the proposed route stating “Mohawk Territory – No Trespassing”. The Quebec Police have torn it down. Our people have gone out to the site to put it back up. The farmers of St-Constant have shown strong support for our cause. "Farmers oppose Hwy. 30 expansion" by Stefan Christoff http://www.hour.ca/news/news.aspx?iIDArticle=15304For more info visit: Autoroute 30 au Nord http://www.sos30.com/index.html
More news to come. Read the following “Notice of Objection”. MNN Mohawk Nation News http://www.mohawknationnews.com
NOTICE OF OBJECTION - August 17, 2008TO ILLEGAL CONSTRUCTION OF “HIGHWAY 30” AND TRESPASSING IN KAHNAWAKE OF MOHAWK TERRITORY BY COLONIAL OPPORTUNISTS OF CANADA AND QUEBEC
Burial sites being desecrated and natural waterways being diverted
FROM: The Kanion’ke:haka/Mohawk Nation of the of the Rotino’shonni:onwe [Iroquois].
OBJECTION: To the development of Highway 30 through the territory of the northern protectors of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Kanion’ke:haka [Mohawk], who are the “Keepers of the Eastern Door”. The entity known as “ Quebec ” is attempting to illegally build Highway 30 through the ancient community of Kahnawake. Old villages, burial sites and waterways are being destroyed or diverted. This development violates the Two Row Wampum, the Kaianereh’ko:wa [the Rotino’shonni:onwe constitution] and international law as it does not have the fully informed consent of the Kanion’ke:haka. The construction permits issued by the government of Quebec are illegal. Our land cannot be alienated. Quebec is encroaching on unsurrendered Kanion’ke:haka territory and using it as collateral to raise money to fund their businesses. This constitutes fraud. It will encourage a further invasion and breakdown of our solitary community for the benefit of a few.
TO: The colonial entities that are carrying on illegal activities, known as:- “Canada”;- “Quebec government”;- Chenail Construction Brinco Quarry and others; - “Mohawk Council of Kahnawake”; and - Any and all their agents are all squatting on our territory.
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake who gave permission to Quebec is a “band council”, a colonial entity that is set up by the colonial entity known as “Canada”. Its members have become Canadian citizens of “Indian” ancestry". They have no legal right to make any decisions on our unceded territory. Mike Delisle Jr., the band council chief, cannot make a “personal decision” or “gentleman’s agreement” [!] to make secret deals or override the voice of the people. These foreign corporate franchises can never have title to or interest in our land;
RE: The attempt to illegally develop Highway 30 through the Kanion’ke:haka territory on the portion known as “Kahnawake” and surrounding settlements known as “St. Constant”, “Delson” and “Candiac”. This usurpation of our territory does not have the fully informed consent of the Kanion’ke:haka, violating international law.
BASIS OF ACTION: WAMPUM 44 OF THE GREAT LAW OF PEACE, KAIANEREH’KO:WA
According to Wampum 44 of the Kaianereh’ko:wa, the Great Law of Peace, we, the Kohtihon’tia:kwenio – Women Title Holders – are the caretakers of the land, water and air of “Onowaregeh” [Turtle Island]; and as trustees, our obligation is to preserve and protect the land for the future generations.
a) WHEREAS the foreign invaders cannot determine our identity. We are Haudenosaunee, Six Nations of Onowaregeh. According to the Two Row Wampum Agreement, it is illegal for colonial institutions like Canada, Quebec, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and their agents to violate internationally recognized principles of fundamental justice;
b) WHEREAS the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People has been adopted by a majority of 144 states; international law has affirmed that colonialism is dead, that all Indigenous peoples are to be treated as equals to all other peoples; and we accordingly claim our right to the full enjoyment as collectives and as individuals to all the human rights and fundamental freedoms that have been recognized in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international law, including the right to self-determination and self-government without being subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of ourselves and our culture.
c) WHEREAS respect for our rights is entrenched in the constitution of Canada, the British North America Act, Sections 109 and 132;
d)WHEREAS the Charter of the United Nations has been signed by its members to resolve differences peacefully without using force. According to the July 7th 2008 decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, the indigenous people have a right to freedom of speech and to demonstrate to protect our lands without hindrance;
e) WHEREAS Canada has ascribed to the internationally recognized standards for respecting political rights of the People as set out in the international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Prevention of Genocide, United Nations Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other international legal instruments;
f) WHEREAS General Assembly Resolution 1541 (XV) requires the informed consent of the people before they are included in another state; and the international Court of Justice affirmed this Resolution in the Western Sahara case; and the Indigenous people never consented to be part of Canada;
g) WHEREAS Canada must abide by the international law principles that there can be no arbitrary encroachment on Indigenous peoples; ignoring the true Indigenous people is illegal; independent Indigenous peoples’ rights must be respected and heeded; and our perspectives on the issues must not be ignored. Canada cannot legally deal with its band council system or other colonial entities on behalf of the true Indigenous People. We are independent sovereign people who must be dealt with as a nation.
h) WHEREAS the Kanion’ke:haka have a constitution. We cannot be governed by foreign laws that we have always resisted and we will continue to resist the usurpation of our territory and resources;
i) WHEREAS states must provide redress for violations of our rights through effective mechanisms; we hereby notify Canada, Quebec, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and all their agents that their attempt to build Highway 30 on the said part of our territory is unlawful and will be resisted. They must deal with the Women Title Holders who are the lawful owners of the territory through diplomatic relations.
WE, THE KOHTIHON’TIA:KWENIO OF THE ROTINO’SHONNI:ONWE SEEK TO INFORM YOU THAT THIS IS FULL AND FAIR NOTICE THAT:
Canada, Quebec, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and other colonial agents must cease and desist their attempts to violate our authority by building Highway 30; that they must deal with us as a nation as required under both our law and international law; that any individual or foreign entity wishing to discuss any issues between us must provide full information through the proper diplomatic channel, which is the Governor General of Canada, who has a duty to inform us.
We, the Kohtihon’tia:kwenio, brought this matter to the attention of Canada in an action in the Supreme Court of Canada – Kanion’ke:haka Kaianereh’ko:wa Kanon’sesneh v. Attorney General of Canada and her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario, Court File: 05-CV-030785. This case in effect acknowledged that Canada has no authority over us and our territory. We remain independent and sovereign.
FOR THE ABOVE REASONS, WE, THE KOHTIHON’TIA:KWENIO OF THE ROTINO’SHONNI:ONWE - IN ORDER TO PROTECT OUR PHYSICAL INTEGRITY AND LEGAL RIGHTS – REQUEST THE FOLLOWING:
1) The Women Title Holders will not tolerate the violations of our constitution, ancient customs, traditions, inherent rights and agreements by Canada, Quebec, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and its agents who are attempting to encroach on our territory. The colonists are breaking their own laws by openly desecrating our historic rivers and village sites and burial grounds. At least 8 sites have been found on the proposed route. Natural waterways are being diverted. No valid environmental studies have been carried out.
2) We invite Canada, Quebec, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and their agents to resolve our differences in a mature and peaceful way, by rediscovering and brightening the spirit of the Two Row Wampum and the Covenant Chain that began our international relationship centuries ago.
3) Should Canada, Quebec, the Mohawk Council of Kahnwake and their agents continue to breach our rights, we shall take the necessary measures available to us in the international arena to correct the injustices that have been committed against us.
4) It is unacceptable to abuse people on the basis of race, religion, nationality, belief or membership in a particular social group. We invite all members of the colonizing societies to become partners with us to end this cycle of abuse, stop enforcing illegal jurisdiction over us and our territory, halt the illegal construction of Highway 30 and extend dignity, equality and a voice to all peoples.
KANION’KE:HAKA OF THE ROTINO’SHONNI:ONWE:
Karakwine /s/ Turtle Clan
Contact: karonhiarokwas@yahoo.com;
address - Box 2208,
Kahnawake [Quebec Canada] J0L 1B0.
Sent to: All media; Canada, Quebec; Queen Elizabeth II; United Nations, Six Nations Confederacy: Kanion’ke:haka [Mohawks] of Wahta, Six Nations, Tyendinaga, Akwesasne, Kahnawake, Kanehsatake, Ganienkeh and Kanatiohareke; stock exchanges; Ethnoscop; Chateauguay and St. Constant Historical Societies; Cities of Montreal, Chateauguay, St. Constant, Laprairie, Delson, St. Catherine; Governor General of Canada; Minister of Indian Affairs.
Biological and Chemical Warfare Agents in First Nations Territory
Message from John Hummel,
Published with permission
While searching the Treasury Board of Canada's 'Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory' database, I discovered that there are 12 Federal Contaminated sites listed where Biological/Chemical Warfare Agents are present. I have attached a list of these sites as well as the complete site report and a map of the one near the city of Campbell River, British Columbia. This toxic site is located in Campbell River First Nation Traditional Territory. At the Campbell River toxic site, biological/chemical warfare agents were found in the air! Here are the 'Federal Site Identifier' Numbers for all twelve of these Federal toxic sites across Canada which contain biological/chemical warfare agents:
00000941
00008332
02739056
05031001
05031003
08591001
14976016
14976062
14976063
31517001
67631001
70030002
If you wish to see complete site reports and maps for these toxic sites, here's how, 1) Go to this Link: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/fcsi-rscf/numbers-numeros.aspx?Language=EN&sid=wu6813313800
2) Click on 'Federal Site Identifier', type in one of the numbers above in the box and then click on 'get details' and the full Contaminated Site Report will appear,
3) If you wish to see a detailed map of that particular contaminated site, look in the body of the report for a link titled: 'Locate this site on a map' and click on it. Also, there is a contact person listed in the report for each site if you wish more detailed information. The Canadian federal Government is legaly liable for cleaning up this toxic mess.
For Land and Life,
John H.W. Hummel
Toxics Researcher
611 Eighth Street,
Nelson, British Columbia
Canada V1L 3A6
Tel: (250)505-2165
Email: jhwhummel@shaw.ca
P.S. There is also a 'Zoom In' feature for the maps.
Read more: 'Biological and chemical warfare agents: Poisonous Cauldrons'
http://archive.peacemagazine.org/v05n6p14.htm
Published with permission
While searching the Treasury Board of Canada's 'Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory' database, I discovered that there are 12 Federal Contaminated sites listed where Biological/Chemical Warfare Agents are present. I have attached a list of these sites as well as the complete site report and a map of the one near the city of Campbell River, British Columbia. This toxic site is located in Campbell River First Nation Traditional Territory. At the Campbell River toxic site, biological/chemical warfare agents were found in the air! Here are the 'Federal Site Identifier' Numbers for all twelve of these Federal toxic sites across Canada which contain biological/chemical warfare agents:
00000941
00008332
02739056
05031001
05031003
08591001
14976016
14976062
14976063
31517001
67631001
70030002
If you wish to see complete site reports and maps for these toxic sites, here's how, 1) Go to this Link: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/fcsi-rscf/numbers-numeros.aspx?Language=EN&sid=wu6813313800
2) Click on 'Federal Site Identifier', type in one of the numbers above in the box and then click on 'get details' and the full Contaminated Site Report will appear,
3) If you wish to see a detailed map of that particular contaminated site, look in the body of the report for a link titled: 'Locate this site on a map' and click on it. Also, there is a contact person listed in the report for each site if you wish more detailed information. The Canadian federal Government is legaly liable for cleaning up this toxic mess.
For Land and Life,
John H.W. Hummel
Toxics Researcher
611 Eighth Street,
Nelson, British Columbia
Canada V1L 3A6
Tel: (250)505-2165
Email: jhwhummel@shaw.ca
P.S. There is also a 'Zoom In' feature for the maps.
Read more: 'Biological and chemical warfare agents: Poisonous Cauldrons'
http://archive.peacemagazine.org/v05n6p14.htm
Mount Rushmore National Memorial August 29, 2008
Please double click to enlarge poster for the Mount Rushmore National Memorial on August 29, 2008.Sunday, August 17, 2008
Dakota women arrested countering genocide
Article by Brenda Norrell Photo by Tom Cherveny/West Central Tribune
Winuna of Granite Falls is taken into custody shortly after her mother, Dr. Angela Wilson or Waziyata Win, was also taken into custody.
UPPER SIOUX AGENCY STATE PARK, Minn. -- Dakota women were arrested on Saturday, August 16, 2008 during a counter genocide protest. Dakotas from the Yellow Medicine Dakota Community, with their allies, countered the Upper Sioux Agency State Park's program. The genocide celebration was part of the Sesquicentennial of the state of Minnesota, portraying the 1858 1st Regiment.
Chris Mato Nunpa, retired Dakota professor, said, "My daughter, Waziyata Win, and my grand-daughter, Winuna were arrested. Fortunately, they both were released later in the day.
"It was incredible the amount of armed law enforcement personnel that were there. We had no guns, clubs, knives, etc. We were peaceful and non-violent. To me, it just illustrates the level of racial hatred and fear of the Dakota and of Indigenous Peoples that is present here in southwestern Minnesota and elsewhere throughout the U.S.
"Again, it shows how we as Indigenous Peoples are living in oppression, in this case we are oppressed by their law, their legal ideology which is used to enforce the exploitation and continued oppression of the Indigenous Peoples. They have the guns and the men to enforce their law, even though we were on Dakota land," Mato Nunpa wrote.
"They, the wasicu, have the forums and and freedom of expression. We express our views, the TRUTH, and we get arrested."
Dr. Mato Nunpa, Ph.D., retired, was an associate professor of Indigenous Nations and Dakota Studies at Southwest Minnesota State University Marshall.
Mato Nunpa said the state's celebration reveals nothing about the massive land theft, broken treaties or genocide perpetrated on the Dakota by the Euro-Minnesotans. The state's celebration does not reveal the bounties, mass executions, forced marches and forced removal of the Dakota People from their ancient homelands in Minnesota.
Video of arrest of Dakota women:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wcTPQLKGz4
Chris Mato Nunpa, retired Dakota professor, said, "My daughter, Waziyata Win, and my grand-daughter, Winuna were arrested. Fortunately, they both were released later in the day.
"It was incredible the amount of armed law enforcement personnel that were there. We had no guns, clubs, knives, etc. We were peaceful and non-violent. To me, it just illustrates the level of racial hatred and fear of the Dakota and of Indigenous Peoples that is present here in southwestern Minnesota and elsewhere throughout the U.S.
"Again, it shows how we as Indigenous Peoples are living in oppression, in this case we are oppressed by their law, their legal ideology which is used to enforce the exploitation and continued oppression of the Indigenous Peoples. They have the guns and the men to enforce their law, even though we were on Dakota land," Mato Nunpa wrote.
"They, the wasicu, have the forums and and freedom of expression. We express our views, the TRUTH, and we get arrested."
Dr. Mato Nunpa, Ph.D., retired, was an associate professor of Indigenous Nations and Dakota Studies at Southwest Minnesota State University Marshall.
Mato Nunpa said the state's celebration reveals nothing about the massive land theft, broken treaties or genocide perpetrated on the Dakota by the Euro-Minnesotans. The state's celebration does not reveal the bounties, mass executions, forced marches and forced removal of the Dakota People from their ancient homelands in Minnesota.
Video of arrest of Dakota women:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wcTPQLKGz4
West Central Tribune: 'Re-enactment leads to arrests'
http://www.wctrib.com/articles/index.cfm?id=40485§ion=news
Chris Mato Nunpa: "Dakota exercised their fishing rights on Sunday, July 20, 2008 on Lake Harriet, a lake in the ceded area of our Treaty of 1805."
Video of treaty fishing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5kgLcC7afQ
or
http://www.youtube.com/user/alliesms
More by Chris Mato Nunpa on Minnesota's genocide and concentration camps:
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2008/08/chris-mato-numpa-minnesotas-genocide.html
Chris Mato Nunpa: "Dakota exercised their fishing rights on Sunday, July 20, 2008 on Lake Harriet, a lake in the ceded area of our Treaty of 1805."
Video of treaty fishing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5kgLcC7afQ
or
http://www.youtube.com/user/alliesms
More by Chris Mato Nunpa on Minnesota's genocide and concentration camps:
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2008/08/chris-mato-numpa-minnesotas-genocide.html
Reader comment, published with permission:
Hi Brenda,
As I read the story and watched the video of the confrontation last weekend at the Upper Sioux Agency it became crystal clear that white Minnesota cannot deal with the truth and reality of its history. It's pathetic that not only did white Christian Minnesota lie, coerce, swindle, and kill the Dakota people, but also goes to great lengths including arresting minors to shut them up and keep them from revealing the true history. Once again, only the conqueror's version of history prevails and can be told. How utterly pathetic. I also read the posted comments pertaining to the video and was appalled at the racist and imbecilic remarks that were directed at Chris and his family, and at the Native American people in general. Maybe the comedian Ron White is correct when he says "Ya can't fix stupid."
In the Spirit and the Struggle,
Dave Murray
Friday, August 15, 2008
US/Mexico border wall causes flooding O'odham territory
US/Mexico border wall increases risk to lives of Tohono O'odham during monsoon flash floods Flash floods damage businesses and government offices in Arizona and Mexico after Homeland Security flaunts federal laws and builds border wall
By Brenda Norrell
LUKEVILLE, Ariz. - The risk to the lives of Tohono O'odham and other residents living on the Arizona and Sonora border due to monsoon flash floods has increased because of a newly constructed border wall. Homeland Security flaunted federal laws and the laws of nature to build the border wall in 2008.
In a report made public this week, the National Park Service details the ecological and infrastructure damage in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument caused by flood obstruction and debris accumulation along recently constructed portions of the bor
der wall. Tohono O'odham and others reside in the area on both sides of the international border.The report points out that the border wall resulted in the flooding of private businesses and government offices in both Lukeville, Arizona and the adjacent Sonoyta, Mexico.
The NPS report describes flash flooding from the July 12, 2008 monsoon thunderstom.
"Headquarters Wash flowed over 200 feet to the east along the pedestrian fence and through the international port of entry. It caused flood damage to private property, government offices and commercial businesses in Lukeville, Arizona, and Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico," the report states.
The NPS report describes how the faulty border wall design has increased flash flooding.
Flash floods during the monsoon season, July to September, claim lives as fast falling rain in thunderstoms skirts across the surface of the dry baked earth and causes fast and dangerous flooding each summer.
The NPS report states the damage was foreseen and Homeland Security was warned of the outcome. It states that, as predicted, the damage includes severe erosion and infrastructure damage. The damage included the movement of floodwaters and drainages behind debris obstructions into adjacent deserts and, in one case, through a border-crossing station.
Robin Silver at the Center for Biological Diversity said that an environmental analysis conducted by the Department of Homeland Security in 2007 concluded that the fence would "...not impede the natural flow of water." It would be "...designed and constructed to ensure proper conveyance of floodwaters and to eliminate the potential to cause backwater flooding on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border."
Further, Customs and Border Protection would "...remove debris from the fence within washes/arroyos immediately after rain events to ensure that no backwater flooding occurs."
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has since exempted the border wall from all environmental laws.
"The callousness displayed by Homeland Security in ignoring warnings to damage a national treasure is mind-boggling," Silver said.
"The border wall does not stop humans, but it will stop jaguars and other wildlife. It is already wreaking havoc on the southern part of Oregon Pipe National Monument."
"The contrast between the report findings and the environmental assessment displays the Bush administration's wholly meaningless approach to environmental analysis," Silver said. "The administration essentially did no analysis at all."
The Park Service report shows several instances in which debris collected in flash floods in south-flowing drainages caused natural resource and infrastructure damage and states that National Monument resources and infrastructure will continue to be impacted, as well as resources and infrastructure on neighboring lands in the United States and Mexico. The report anticipates the following short- and long-term impacts:
Accelerated scour below the pedestrian fence will damage the structural integrity of the vehicle barrier along the U.S./Mexico boundary unless continued maintenance occurs.
Floodwaters will flow laterally along the pedestrian fence and on the patrol road. These flows will result in erosion and scour above and below the foundation wall of the fence, including areas hundreds of feet outside existing drainage channels. As a consequence, the need for routine maintenance and repairs of the patrol road and vehicle barrier will increase..
"While the Bush administration may claim it's taking environmental impacts of the border wall into consideration, building wire mesh fences across washes prone to debris-laden floods is fundamentally flawed," Silver said. "It's time for Homeland Security to lift its embargo on environmental laws. The border fence does not stop humans. Now we have more proof if the wall's destruction of our national treasures.
The National Park Service said short- and long-term impacts expected due to the pedestrian fence include the following:
Accelerated scour below the pedestrian fence will damage the structural integrity of the vehicle barrier along the U.S./Mexico boundary unless continued maintenance occurs.
Floodwaters will flow laterally along the pedestrian fence and on the patrol road. These flows will result in erosion and scour above and below the foundation wall of the fence, including areas hundreds of feet outside existing drainage channels. As a consequence, the need for routine maintenance and repairs of the patrol road and vehicle barrier will increase.
The patrol road associated with the pedestrian fence will change vegetation in OPCNM by changing rainfall retention or runoff along the northern road edge.
Riparian vegetation will change in response to increased sedimentation.
Channel morphology and floodplain function will change over time.
Channelized waters will begin a gullying process that has the potential to transform land surfaces in the affected watersheds.
Read report at:
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/borderlands_and_boundary_waters/pdfs/Flood_Report_July_2008.pdf Arizona Daily Star: Faulty Design turned Border Wall into Dam
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/252889
Photo Credits: National Park Service/Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument flood report 2008
Behind the Razor Wire
Behind the Razor Wire
Incoming message to Censored News, published with permission:
Razor Wire n Walls Bro'z request other reports concerning the Ohio incident. "What I know is what I read out of Indian Country Today (ICT) newspaper. They covered some of the incident in Ohio. But I always like receiving all information about the People. As I was and still concerned about the People." This came from an old Friend from a California prison. I did the cut and paste project to get most of the Censored News concerning the smack down in Columbus, Ohio. Another Bro behind the walls at Salem, Oregon sends this message. "Ive been thinking about this Censored News stuff. They do put out a lot of good news we sure wouldn't see otherwise. Their coverage of the Long Walk Two was pretty extensive. I know that we probably wouldn't see this type of news they provide. Because the "United Snakes" and corrupt america doesn't want to show us that there are still major problems and issues. That People are willing to stand up for. Most of the news we see today in my opinion is tainted by the government and "our sponsers!"
I'm glad to see somebody is out there showing the other side of the stories.
Justin
Note from Censored News: After receiving this request, Censored News gained permission from Michael Lane to publish his official statement to authorities on the attack by Columbus, Ohio police. Earlier, Indian Country Today published an article on the Columbus police attack by relying on the police claims. Although the newspaper quoted one of the victims of the Columbus police attack, Luv the Mezenger, Luv said the newspaper never contacted him. Listen to Earthcycles for Longest Walk Talk Radio interviews with Luv, Michael Lane and Marie Littlemoon, who photographed and video taped the incident. Unprovoked, Michael had a taser pointed at his forehead, from three feet away. Luv was slammed to the concrete face down and tackled by police. Luv was cited and placed in the paddy wagon. Marie's arms were bruised by the police who grabbed her as she documented the attack.
Incoming message to Censored News, published with permission:
Razor Wire n Walls Bro'z request other reports concerning the Ohio incident. "What I know is what I read out of Indian Country Today (ICT) newspaper. They covered some of the incident in Ohio. But I always like receiving all information about the People. As I was and still concerned about the People." This came from an old Friend from a California prison. I did the cut and paste project to get most of the Censored News concerning the smack down in Columbus, Ohio. Another Bro behind the walls at Salem, Oregon sends this message. "Ive been thinking about this Censored News stuff. They do put out a lot of good news we sure wouldn't see otherwise. Their coverage of the Long Walk Two was pretty extensive. I know that we probably wouldn't see this type of news they provide. Because the "United Snakes" and corrupt america doesn't want to show us that there are still major problems and issues. That People are willing to stand up for. Most of the news we see today in my opinion is tainted by the government and "our sponsers!"
I'm glad to see somebody is out there showing the other side of the stories.
Justin
Note from Censored News: After receiving this request, Censored News gained permission from Michael Lane to publish his official statement to authorities on the attack by Columbus, Ohio police. Earlier, Indian Country Today published an article on the Columbus police attack by relying on the police claims. Although the newspaper quoted one of the victims of the Columbus police attack, Luv the Mezenger, Luv said the newspaper never contacted him. Listen to Earthcycles for Longest Walk Talk Radio interviews with Luv, Michael Lane and Marie Littlemoon, who photographed and video taped the incident. Unprovoked, Michael had a taser pointed at his forehead, from three feet away. Luv was slammed to the concrete face down and tackled by police. Luv was cited and placed in the paddy wagon. Marie's arms were bruised by the police who grabbed her as she documented the attack.
Protest EPA's environmental racism
US EPA’s Administrator Stephen Johnson Is Coming to San Francisco!
PROTEST US EPA’S ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM, INJUSTICE AND
PRO-POLLUTER POLICIES THAT THREATEN THE HEALTH OF
OUR COMMUNITIES AND OF THE PLANET
From Bradley Angel, Greenaction:
PROTEST US EPA’S ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM, INJUSTICE AND
PRO-POLLUTER POLICIES THAT THREATEN THE HEALTH OF
OUR COMMUNITIES AND OF THE PLANET
From Bradley Angel, Greenaction:
Let’s tell this friend of polluters that he’s not welcome & should resign!
PROTEST FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2008
US EPA Headquarters, 75 Hawthorne, San Francisco
(between 2nd/3rd Streets and Folsom/Howard)
9:30 a.m. Bring Banners and Signs About EPA’s Crimes
Noon: Rally for Environmental Justice and the Planet
Join in Solidarity with the people of Bayview Hunters Point, Navajo communities, Colorado River Indian Tribes, Kettleman City & communities across the U.S. and the world that are being harmed by US EPA policies
Protest EPA’s veto of California’s attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars
Protest EPA’s approval of the proposed Desert Rock Coal-Fired Power Plant on the Navajo Nation in a community already harmed by two dirty coal plants
Protest EPA’s failure to ensure a full and safe cleanup of the toxic and radioactive contamination at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco
Protest EPA’s proposed approval of more PCB and hazardous waste dumping in the San Joaquin Valley farmworker community of Kettleman City
Protest EPA’s failure to close the Siemen’s toxic waste plant on Colorado River Indian Tribes land in Arizona, where EPA has allowed this polluter to operate for almost two decades without proper permits, emitting toxic pollutants and desecrating a sacred mountain.
Protest EPA’s approval of the deadly poison Methyl Iodide as a large scale pesticide fumigant
Sponsored by: Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice * Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment * Dine CARE * Dooda Desert Rock * El Pueblo Para El Aire y Agua Limpio/People for Clean Air and Water * Mohave Cultural Preservation Program * Indigenous Environmental Network * Huntersview Mothers Committee for Health and Environmental Justice * Healthy San Leandro *Global Community Monitor * Californians for Pesticide Reform* Pesticide Action Network* International Indian Treaty Council * Youth United for Community Action * PODER *
Just Transition Alliance * Data Center * POWER * Stop Lennar Action Movement *
For more information contact Greenaction (415) 248-5010
www.greenaction.org greenaction@greenaction.org
PROTEST FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2008
US EPA Headquarters, 75 Hawthorne, San Francisco
(between 2nd/3rd Streets and Folsom/Howard)
9:30 a.m. Bring Banners and Signs About EPA’s Crimes
Noon: Rally for Environmental Justice and the Planet
Join in Solidarity with the people of Bayview Hunters Point, Navajo communities, Colorado River Indian Tribes, Kettleman City & communities across the U.S. and the world that are being harmed by US EPA policies
Protest EPA’s veto of California’s attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars
Protest EPA’s approval of the proposed Desert Rock Coal-Fired Power Plant on the Navajo Nation in a community already harmed by two dirty coal plants
Protest EPA’s failure to ensure a full and safe cleanup of the toxic and radioactive contamination at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco
Protest EPA’s proposed approval of more PCB and hazardous waste dumping in the San Joaquin Valley farmworker community of Kettleman City
Protest EPA’s failure to close the Siemen’s toxic waste plant on Colorado River Indian Tribes land in Arizona, where EPA has allowed this polluter to operate for almost two decades without proper permits, emitting toxic pollutants and desecrating a sacred mountain.
Protest EPA’s approval of the deadly poison Methyl Iodide as a large scale pesticide fumigant
Sponsored by: Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice * Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment * Dine CARE * Dooda Desert Rock * El Pueblo Para El Aire y Agua Limpio/People for Clean Air and Water * Mohave Cultural Preservation Program * Indigenous Environmental Network * Huntersview Mothers Committee for Health and Environmental Justice * Healthy San Leandro *Global Community Monitor * Californians for Pesticide Reform* Pesticide Action Network* International Indian Treaty Council * Youth United for Community Action * PODER *
Just Transition Alliance * Data Center * POWER * Stop Lennar Action Movement *
For more information contact Greenaction (415) 248-5010
www.greenaction.org greenaction@greenaction.org
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Dakota counter genocide celebration in Minnesota
Article by Chris Mato Nunpa Photo by Pioneer Press
On Saturday, August 16, 2008, a group of Dakota Persons, from the Yellow Medicine Dakota Community, with their allies and supporters, are conducting a Counter Event to the Upper Sioux Agency State Park program. They, the Wasicu (or white man), as part of the Sesquicentennial of the state of Minnesota, are planning a living history portrayal (in 1858) in which the 1st Regiment and the settlers in their costumes will be featured. The wasicu woman, a Ms. Terri Dinesen, is the organizer and planner of the event, which event was planned without any consultation with the nearby Dakota Community, the Upper Sioux Community (the BIA name.) Ms. Dinesen talks about "friendships" between the Dakota and Wasicu and how these "friendship" were "proved during the war four short years later (1862)." She mentions the "numerous accounts of non-Dakota being warned or led to safety by Dakota Indians" and how these accounts are "proof of the trust and friendship." Ms. Dinesen doesn't realize that these same Dakota would be considered "traitors" or "sell-outs" as Benedict Arnold was considered a traitor by the colonists. She says nothing about the massive land theft, the broken treaties, resulting in bitterness and resentment for the Dakota; the genocide perpetrated on the Dakota by the Euro-Minnesotans; the bounties, the mass executions; the two concentration camps; the warfare in order for the military and the Euro-Minnesotans to either exterminate or remove the Dakota, and which warfare allowed the Settlers to safely steal Dakota land; the forced marches; and, finally, the forced removal of the Dakota People from their ancient homelands in Minnesota.
So, we, as Dakota People, are having this counter event to feature a Dakota perspective, in which we'll have our posters and banners. In which we'll have educational/informational handouts re: the newspaper ad announcing the bounties on Dakota People, the 1805 Treaty, a pamphlet on the Sesquicentennial with a Dakota perspective; the pictures of Little Crow's scalp, which scalping was done NOT by the Dakota but by the Euro-Minnesotans; and a pamphlet on the Yellow Medicine area with a Dakota perspective.
Different Dakota individuals, as well as our non-Dakota allies and supporters will be talking on our portable microphones. The Upper Sioux Agency State Park event is, to use Waziyata Win's, "Woman of the North" (or Dr. Angela Cavender Wilson), words, "a continuation of Minnesota's myth-making at the Upper Sioux Agency State Park. Just another celebration of 150 Years of lies in Minnesota." To put it another way, "These lies are perpetuated to cover the shameful, disgraceful and dishonorable history that occurred between the Indigenous Peoples and the white man."
Chris Mato Nunpa, Ph.D.Retired, Formerly an Associate Professor of Indigenous Nations & Dakota Studies (INDS)Southwest Minnesota State University Marshall, Minnesota matonunpa@earthlink.net "
On Saturday, August 16, 2008, a group of Dakota Persons, from the Yellow Medicine Dakota Community, with their allies and supporters, are conducting a Counter Event to the Upper Sioux Agency State Park program. They, the Wasicu (or white man), as part of the Sesquicentennial of the state of Minnesota, are planning a living history portrayal (in 1858) in which the 1st Regiment and the settlers in their costumes will be featured. The wasicu woman, a Ms. Terri Dinesen, is the organizer and planner of the event, which event was planned without any consultation with the nearby Dakota Community, the Upper Sioux Community (the BIA name.) Ms. Dinesen talks about "friendships" between the Dakota and Wasicu and how these "friendship" were "proved during the war four short years later (1862)." She mentions the "numerous accounts of non-Dakota being warned or led to safety by Dakota Indians" and how these accounts are "proof of the trust and friendship." Ms. Dinesen doesn't realize that these same Dakota would be considered "traitors" or "sell-outs" as Benedict Arnold was considered a traitor by the colonists. She says nothing about the massive land theft, the broken treaties, resulting in bitterness and resentment for the Dakota; the genocide perpetrated on the Dakota by the Euro-Minnesotans; the bounties, the mass executions; the two concentration camps; the warfare in order for the military and the Euro-Minnesotans to either exterminate or remove the Dakota, and which warfare allowed the Settlers to safely steal Dakota land; the forced marches; and, finally, the forced removal of the Dakota People from their ancient homelands in Minnesota.
So, we, as Dakota People, are having this counter event to feature a Dakota perspective, in which we'll have our posters and banners. In which we'll have educational/informational handouts re: the newspaper ad announcing the bounties on Dakota People, the 1805 Treaty, a pamphlet on the Sesquicentennial with a Dakota perspective; the pictures of Little Crow's scalp, which scalping was done NOT by the Dakota but by the Euro-Minnesotans; and a pamphlet on the Yellow Medicine area with a Dakota perspective.
Different Dakota individuals, as well as our non-Dakota allies and supporters will be talking on our portable microphones. The Upper Sioux Agency State Park event is, to use Waziyata Win's, "Woman of the North" (or Dr. Angela Cavender Wilson), words, "a continuation of Minnesota's myth-making at the Upper Sioux Agency State Park. Just another celebration of 150 Years of lies in Minnesota." To put it another way, "These lies are perpetuated to cover the shameful, disgraceful and dishonorable history that occurred between the Indigenous Peoples and the white man."
Chris Mato Nunpa, Ph.D.Retired, Formerly an Associate Professor of Indigenous Nations & Dakota Studies (INDS)Southwest Minnesota State University Marshall, Minnesota matonunpa@earthlink.net "
Dakota exercise fishing rights
Chris Mato Nunpa: "Dakota exercised their fishing rights on Sunday, July 20, 2008 on Lake Harriet, a lake in the ceded area of our Treaty of 1805."Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5kgLcC7afQor
Chris Mato Nunpa: "Dakota exercised their fishing rights on Sunday, July 20, 2008 on Lake Harriet, a lake in the ceded area of our Treaty of 1805."Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5kgLcC7afQor
Read more by Chris Mato Nunpa on Minnesota's genocide and concentration camps:
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Bad Bear: Walking and running for the sacred places
Carl "Bad Bear" Sampson, 27, Paiute/Shoshone from Reno, Nevada, joined the Peace and Dignity Journeys after completing the Longest Walk 2 on the northern route. Bad Bear said there were about 30 runners on the stretch through Arizona. He ran with the group from the California border at Fort Mojave to the Gila River Pima Maricopa Indian Nation, when temperatures in southern Arizona reached 117 degrees. On the Longest Walk northern route and Peace and Dignity Journeys, Bad Bear used his cellphone to document the journeys in photos and videos. Please click on the arrow below for brief video. Photos and video by Carl Bad Bear Sampson.For more of Bad Bear's Peace and Dignity Journeys photos and videos, go to:
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2008/08/carl-bad-bear-sampson-paiuteshoshone.html
Peace and Dignity runners in Vicam Pueblo, Mexico:
All of our routes will connect on August 13th in Vicam Pueblo, the "capital" of the Yaqui Nation, in Sonora Mexico. From there, we will run through Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica until reaching the Panama Canal on November 14th. At Panama we will connect with the runners that began from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Those runners are currently running through Peru.
The Journeys is based on the Prophecy of the Eagle and Condor. We are currently living in the time when its the responsibility of Indigenous Nations of the Western Hemisphere to re-unite, bring healing to the land, and the peoples of the world.
Shiapo,
Jose Malvido
Northern Coordinator (Alaska-Panana)
Peace and Dignity Journeys
415.377.2502
http://www.peaceanddignityjourneys.com/
Peace and Dignity runners in Vicam Pueblo, Mexico:
All of our routes will connect on August 13th in Vicam Pueblo, the "capital" of the Yaqui Nation, in Sonora Mexico. From there, we will run through Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica until reaching the Panama Canal on November 14th. At Panama we will connect with the runners that began from Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Those runners are currently running through Peru.
The Journeys is based on the Prophecy of the Eagle and Condor. We are currently living in the time when its the responsibility of Indigenous Nations of the Western Hemisphere to re-unite, bring healing to the land, and the peoples of the world.
Shiapo,
Jose Malvido
Northern Coordinator (Alaska-Panana)
Peace and Dignity Journeys
415.377.2502
http://www.peaceanddignityjourneys.com/
Lakotah plan civil disobedience fishing near Rapid City
info@republicoflakotah.com
605-867-1111
505-577-4247
www.republicoflakotah.com
www.russellmeansfreedom.com
Lakotah Plan Civil Disobedience Fishing Event on August 25, 2008
All members of the tribes to the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty have the right to fish within the 1851 Treaty territory, which includes all of South Dakota from the east bank of the Missouri River.
By Republic of Lakotah
LAKOTAH REPUBLIC -- In the tradition of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Russell Means, the Chief Facilitator of the Republic of Lakotah, is organizing a group of Lakotah Indians to enter Sheridan Lake Recreation Area near Rapid City, South Dakota, refuse to pay the admission fee, and fish without paying the license fee. Means claims that Lakotah retained the right to fish and pass in the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty territory and that those rights continue today and backed by Article VI of the Constitution of the united states of America.
The event, which is being billed as the Lakotah Freedom Fishing Day, is about much more than the admission fee or the fishing license fee; it is about getting the South Dakota and United States governments to follow their own laws. Means said, "After having been an occupied nation for over 150 years, we have asked the United States government to leave our country. Meanwhile, until the United States Government leaves Lakotah territory we will take every opportunity to insist it follow its own laws and that its states do the same."
Lakotah have given notice to Larry Long, the Attorney General of South Dakota, of its plans for this event. (A copy of the notice is online at: http://republicoflakotah.com/...) Means said he has not heard from Long yet and does not know if the state plans on allowing the Indians to fish and pass or if the park rangers will issue citations or arrest any of the Lakotah fishermen. Means plans to call in federal marshalls to enforce the treaty rights. Means said, "According to the Civil Right Act, federal marshalls should arrest any state official who tries to stop Lakotah from entering the park and fishing. However, if the United States ignores its own laws to deny Lakotah rights, it will certainly not be the first time."
This historic event is planned for Monday, August 25th, at 1:00 p.m.
Read Notice of Intent to Fish to South Dakota Attorney General:
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2008/08/lakotah-plan-civil-disobedience-fishing.html
605-867-1111
505-577-4247
www.republicoflakotah.com
www.russellmeansfreedom.com
Lakotah Plan Civil Disobedience Fishing Event on August 25, 2008
All members of the tribes to the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty have the right to fish within the 1851 Treaty territory, which includes all of South Dakota from the east bank of the Missouri River.
By Republic of Lakotah
LAKOTAH REPUBLIC -- In the tradition of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Russell Means, the Chief Facilitator of the Republic of Lakotah, is organizing a group of Lakotah Indians to enter Sheridan Lake Recreation Area near Rapid City, South Dakota, refuse to pay the admission fee, and fish without paying the license fee. Means claims that Lakotah retained the right to fish and pass in the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty territory and that those rights continue today and backed by Article VI of the Constitution of the united states of America.
The event, which is being billed as the Lakotah Freedom Fishing Day, is about much more than the admission fee or the fishing license fee; it is about getting the South Dakota and United States governments to follow their own laws. Means said, "After having been an occupied nation for over 150 years, we have asked the United States government to leave our country. Meanwhile, until the United States Government leaves Lakotah territory we will take every opportunity to insist it follow its own laws and that its states do the same."
Lakotah have given notice to Larry Long, the Attorney General of South Dakota, of its plans for this event. (A copy of the notice is online at: http://republicoflakotah.com/...) Means said he has not heard from Long yet and does not know if the state plans on allowing the Indians to fish and pass or if the park rangers will issue citations or arrest any of the Lakotah fishermen. Means plans to call in federal marshalls to enforce the treaty rights. Means said, "According to the Civil Right Act, federal marshalls should arrest any state official who tries to stop Lakotah from entering the park and fishing. However, if the United States ignores its own laws to deny Lakotah rights, it will certainly not be the first time."
This historic event is planned for Monday, August 25th, at 1:00 p.m.
Read Notice of Intent to Fish to South Dakota Attorney General:
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2008/08/lakotah-plan-civil-disobedience-fishing.html
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Gentle Rage: Clyde Bellecourt remembers the birth of the American Indian Movement
By Brenda NorrellCensored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Listen at Earthcycles audio:
http://www.earthcycles.net/
SAN FRANCISCO -- Clyde Bellecourt spoke of the birth of the American Indian Movement forty years ago, remembering his mother’s own legacy and also the time of the end for the priests who were controlling the Sundance, during the 40th Anniversary, “AIM For Freedom,” photo exhibit sponsored by AIM-West.
Read article:
Guatemala Indigenous organizer hacked to death
Antonio Morales, Maya Mam, community organizer assassinated, fought GoldCorp's Montana mining in GuatemalaFree Speech Radio, August 8, 2008
An indigenous and campesino leader in Guatemala has been assassinated, just ahead of national actions to commemorate the International Day of Indigenous People
s। Tim Russo has more from Guatemala.
Antonio Morales, a Guatemalan indigenous leader from the CUC, Committee of Campesino Unity, was attacked and hacked to death yesterday morning as he returned to his home in Colotenango, Guatemala. Morales was a national leader of the CUC, CNOC and Maya Waqib Kej, three of Guatemala’s most important indigenous organizations which have actively opposed large scale mining projects, hydroelectric projects and the privatization of water. Such is the case in San Miguel Iztahuacan, San Marcos where Montana Exploring a subsidiary of Canada’s Goldcorp Inc has spent thousands of dollars on trying to halt a community led plebiscite that poses to threaten Montana’s mining exploration and mineral extraction. Fifty-nine mayors of local villages and towns in the region have unified in opposition to Montana’s mining and the result has been increased military presence in the region to protect Montana’s interests. The CUC, CNOC and Maya Waqib Kej have denounced Morales' death as political intimidation as they prepare massive protests in ten regions throughout Guatemala for today and Saturday in celebration of August 9th’s International Day of Indigennous Peoples। For Free Speech Radio News, this is Tim Russo in Guatemala...
http://www.fsrn.org/content/headlines-package-august-8,-2008/2993
Assassination of Local Anti-Mining Leader Lead
s up to the International Day of Indigenous PeoplesSupport Justice for Indigenous Leaders and the Struggle for Self-determination of Indigenous Communities Throughout Guatemala
NISGUA is sad to report the following piece of news regarding the assassination of Antonio Morales, ex- Municipal council member of Colotenango, Huehuetenango in Western Guatemala. Antonio Morales, a Maya Mam community leader, was killed Thursday morning August 7, 2008.
Just over a month ago, on June 23, 2008 the municipality of Colotenango became one of 26 municipalities to reject mining on their territory through a community referendum. The assassination occurred one day before the International Day of Indigenous Peoples (August 8th). On this day rural communities and organizations were planning mobilizations throughout the country and particularly in Western Guatemala to voice their resistance to mega projects such as hard metal mining and hydroelectric dams, and defend their right to autonomy and self-determination.
Read more:
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2008/08/indigenous-anti-mining-organizer.html
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Ben Carnes: Religious Suppression at San Francisco Peaks
By Ben Carnes
Photo: Ben Carnes, Choctaw, with Govinda Dalton and the Earthcycles bus in the Rockies. Photo Brenda Norrell/Longest Walk 2008
Photo: Ben Carnes, Choctaw, with Govinda Dalton and the Earthcycles bus in the Rockies. Photo Brenda Norrell/Longest Walk 2008
The recent ruling, regarding the sacred San Francisco Peaks, by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in reversing their earlier decision illustrates a pattern of disrespect for the long-standing spiritual traditions of the First Nations. It is an irony that the court would issue their reversal just a few days before the 30th anniversary of the passage of Public Law 95-341, “The American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978”, which was signed into law on August 11, 1978.
The enactment of the Code of Religious Offenses in 1883 outlawed a way of praying by Native people that kept hope alive. Instead of sheepishly abiding by the law, the ceremonies went underground and were conducted in private. It wasn’t until the latter part of the past century that many of the ceremonies began to emerge into the open.
It was not until the Civil Rights era of the 1960’s that Native people began to demand their rights to follow their traditions and spirituality. Those demands threatened the governments control over the natural resources that were held in its’ trust. The 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties caravan culminated in the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington, D.C. In traveling across the country from the West Coast, they held “Red Ribbon” hearings in Indian country and from the concerns voiced by Native people; they formulated a Twenty-point position paper. The Twenty-points included:
1. RESTORATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL TREATY-MAKING AUTHORITY:
(The 1871 Indian Appropriations Act ended treaty-making with the First Nations)
2. ESTABLISHMENT OF TREATY COMMISSION TO MAKE NEW TREATIES:
3. AN ADDRESS TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE & JOINT SESSSIONS OF CONGRESS:
4. COMMISSION TO REVIEW TREATY COMMITMENTS & VIOLATIONS:
5. RESUBMISSION OF UNRATIFIED TREATIES TO THE SENATE:
6. ALL INDIANS TO BE GOVERNED BY TREATY RELATIONS:
7. MANDATORY RELIEF AGAINST TREATY RIGHTS VIOLATIONS:
8. JUDICIAL RECOGNITION OF INDIAN RIGHT TO INTERPRET TREATIES:
9. CREATION OF CONGRESSIONAL JOINT COMMITTEE ON RECONSTRUCTION OF INDIAN RELATIONS:
10. LAND REFORM AND RESTORATION OF A 110-MILLION ACRE NATIVE LAND BASE:
11. REVISION OF 25 U.S.C. 163; RESTORATION OF RIGHTS TO INDIANS TERMINATED BY ENROLLMENT AND REVOCATION OF PROHIBITIONS AGAINST "DUAL BENEFITS":
12. REPEAL OF STATE LAWS ENACTED UNDER PUBLIC LAW 280 (1953):
13. RESUME FEDERAL PROTECTIVE JURISDICTION FOR OFFENSES AGAINST INDIANS:
14. ABOLITION OF THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS BY 1976:
15. CREATION OF AN "OFFICE OF FEDERAL INDIAN RELATIONS AND COMMUNITY RECONSTRUCTION:
16. PRIORITIES AND PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSED NEW OFFICE:
17. INDIAN COMMERCE AND TAX IMMUNITIES:
18. PROTECTION OF INDIANS' RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND CULTURAL INTEGRITY:
19. NATIONAL REFERENDUMS, LOCAL OPTIONS, AND FORMS OF INDIAN ORGANIZATION:
20. HEALTH, HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND EDUCATION:
(For more info: http://www.aimovement.org/ggc/trailofbrokentreaties.html)
Although, the majority of these points dealt with re-establishing treaty relations and sovereignty, a demand for the respecting our spirituality was made. The only response by then President Nixon was “Get those Goddamn Indians out of there!”
Profit – exploitation of Native resources – was at stake and the government wasn’t going to have it. It is no different in the case of the San Francisco Peaks and when the executive branch of the government exerts its influence upon the judicial branch to change it’s ruling, the myth of a democratic and freedom loving America is revealed.
When the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) was passed, many thought that a new dawn had appeared on the horizon, and many closed doors were opened to Native people in the public institutions: public schools, prisons, and military, ie. began to openly practice their First Amendment rights. Or they at least had a law to stand upon when their rights were infringed, but it changed when the Supreme Court denied a Native American Church member the right to use Peyote as a religious practice (Employment Division, Oregon Department of Human Resources v. Smith). By this time, a number of cases found that the AIRFA could not provide the protections they believed they had.
A congressional bill was drafted and named the “Native American Free Exercise of Religion Act” to provide enforcement mechanisms to the toothless AIRFA. The bill did not make it through Congress intact.
Another movement was created to pass the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993”. “In 1997, part of this act was overturned by the United States Supreme Court because it overstepped Congress's power to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio wanted to enlarge a church in Boerne, Texas. But a Boerne ordinance protected the church as a historic landmark and did not permit it to be torn down. The church sued, citing RFRA, and in the resulting case, City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997), the Supreme Court struck down the RFRA, stating that Congress had stepped beyond their power of enforcement. In response to the Boerne ruling, Congress passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) in 2000.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_Freedom_Restoration_Act)
In the past 125 years since the Code of Religious Offenses, it seems that every step gained by Native people are lost when the government changes the rules of the game. It is when corporate interests in natural resources and tourists dollars are affected by the protection of our sacred lands, the courts will rule in the favor of profit.
The Flagstaff city council has a proposed contract to provide sewage water to Snowbowl for making snow out of pee. The Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce (COC) has an ongoing campaign “Reclaim the Peaks” in opposition to the “Save the Peaks Campaign” by Native people and their allies. Rachel Tso, Dineh, has called for a boycott of business’s that are members of the COC. She hopes the economic effect might be felt by the COC and they would rescind the sale of wastewater to Snowbowl. (http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/)
For more information this issue and to download a banner to show your support, got to: http://www.savethepeaks.org/
The enactment of the Code of Religious Offenses in 1883 outlawed a way of praying by Native people that kept hope alive. Instead of sheepishly abiding by the law, the ceremonies went underground and were conducted in private. It wasn’t until the latter part of the past century that many of the ceremonies began to emerge into the open.
It was not until the Civil Rights era of the 1960’s that Native people began to demand their rights to follow their traditions and spirituality. Those demands threatened the governments control over the natural resources that were held in its’ trust. The 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties caravan culminated in the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington, D.C. In traveling across the country from the West Coast, they held “Red Ribbon” hearings in Indian country and from the concerns voiced by Native people; they formulated a Twenty-point position paper. The Twenty-points included:
1. RESTORATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL TREATY-MAKING AUTHORITY:
(The 1871 Indian Appropriations Act ended treaty-making with the First Nations)
2. ESTABLISHMENT OF TREATY COMMISSION TO MAKE NEW TREATIES:
3. AN ADDRESS TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE & JOINT SESSSIONS OF CONGRESS:
4. COMMISSION TO REVIEW TREATY COMMITMENTS & VIOLATIONS:
5. RESUBMISSION OF UNRATIFIED TREATIES TO THE SENATE:
6. ALL INDIANS TO BE GOVERNED BY TREATY RELATIONS:
7. MANDATORY RELIEF AGAINST TREATY RIGHTS VIOLATIONS:
8. JUDICIAL RECOGNITION OF INDIAN RIGHT TO INTERPRET TREATIES:
9. CREATION OF CONGRESSIONAL JOINT COMMITTEE ON RECONSTRUCTION OF INDIAN RELATIONS:
10. LAND REFORM AND RESTORATION OF A 110-MILLION ACRE NATIVE LAND BASE:
11. REVISION OF 25 U.S.C. 163; RESTORATION OF RIGHTS TO INDIANS TERMINATED BY ENROLLMENT AND REVOCATION OF PROHIBITIONS AGAINST "DUAL BENEFITS":
12. REPEAL OF STATE LAWS ENACTED UNDER PUBLIC LAW 280 (1953):
13. RESUME FEDERAL PROTECTIVE JURISDICTION FOR OFFENSES AGAINST INDIANS:
14. ABOLITION OF THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS BY 1976:
15. CREATION OF AN "OFFICE OF FEDERAL INDIAN RELATIONS AND COMMUNITY RECONSTRUCTION:
16. PRIORITIES AND PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSED NEW OFFICE:
17. INDIAN COMMERCE AND TAX IMMUNITIES:
18. PROTECTION OF INDIANS' RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND CULTURAL INTEGRITY:
19. NATIONAL REFERENDUMS, LOCAL OPTIONS, AND FORMS OF INDIAN ORGANIZATION:
20. HEALTH, HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND EDUCATION:
(For more info: http://www.aimovement.org/ggc/trailofbrokentreaties.html)
Although, the majority of these points dealt with re-establishing treaty relations and sovereignty, a demand for the respecting our spirituality was made. The only response by then President Nixon was “Get those Goddamn Indians out of there!”
Profit – exploitation of Native resources – was at stake and the government wasn’t going to have it. It is no different in the case of the San Francisco Peaks and when the executive branch of the government exerts its influence upon the judicial branch to change it’s ruling, the myth of a democratic and freedom loving America is revealed.
When the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) was passed, many thought that a new dawn had appeared on the horizon, and many closed doors were opened to Native people in the public institutions: public schools, prisons, and military, ie. began to openly practice their First Amendment rights. Or they at least had a law to stand upon when their rights were infringed, but it changed when the Supreme Court denied a Native American Church member the right to use Peyote as a religious practice (Employment Division, Oregon Department of Human Resources v. Smith). By this time, a number of cases found that the AIRFA could not provide the protections they believed they had.
A congressional bill was drafted and named the “Native American Free Exercise of Religion Act” to provide enforcement mechanisms to the toothless AIRFA. The bill did not make it through Congress intact.
Another movement was created to pass the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993”. “In 1997, part of this act was overturned by the United States Supreme Court because it overstepped Congress's power to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio wanted to enlarge a church in Boerne, Texas. But a Boerne ordinance protected the church as a historic landmark and did not permit it to be torn down. The church sued, citing RFRA, and in the resulting case, City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997), the Supreme Court struck down the RFRA, stating that Congress had stepped beyond their power of enforcement. In response to the Boerne ruling, Congress passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) in 2000.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_Freedom_Restoration_Act)
In the past 125 years since the Code of Religious Offenses, it seems that every step gained by Native people are lost when the government changes the rules of the game. It is when corporate interests in natural resources and tourists dollars are affected by the protection of our sacred lands, the courts will rule in the favor of profit.
The Flagstaff city council has a proposed contract to provide sewage water to Snowbowl for making snow out of pee. The Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce (COC) has an ongoing campaign “Reclaim the Peaks” in opposition to the “Save the Peaks Campaign” by Native people and their allies. Rachel Tso, Dineh, has called for a boycott of business’s that are members of the COC. She hopes the economic effect might be felt by the COC and they would rescind the sale of wastewater to Snowbowl. (http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/)
For more information this issue and to download a banner to show your support, got to: http://www.savethepeaks.org/
Listen to Ben Carnes speak on Leonard Peliter, Standing Deer, Smashed Ice and more with Earthcycles in the Rocky Mountains, from the Longest Walk Northern Route:
March 30, 2008 audio:
Columbus, Ohio, attack on Long Walkers described in detail
Michael Lane's detailed account of Columbus police attack
Photo: Michael Lane and family by Brenda Norrell
Video of attack by Long Walker Marie Littlemoon
Video of attack:
COLUMBUS, Ohio --Michael Lane, Menominee with a degree in law, describes in detail the Columbus, Ohio police attack on the Longest Walkers on the northern route. Lane, who walked with his Maori wife and three children, arrived from New Zealand to join the walk in Kansas. The Columbus, Ohio, police attack was the only attack on the Long Walk. The Columbus mayor apologized and an internal police investigation was launched.
Michael Lane describing attack: "I was therefore rather surprised to be slammed against the side of the van by two officers and then to be looking directly at the front end of a taser gun."
Michael Lane describing attack: "I was therefore rather surprised to be slammed against the side of the van by two officers and then to be looking directly at the front end of a taser gun."
Michael Lane's statement:
(Posted with permission from Michael Lane)
The Longest Walk 2: Northern Route
Incident Report of Interaction With Columbus Police Department
The Longest Walk 2: Northern Route
Incident Report of Interaction With Columbus Police Department
This statement is a true and correct account of the interaction between The Longest Walk 2: Northern Route and the Columbus, Ohio Police Department. My name is Michael Lane. On the day in question I was driving point, and responsible for the coordination and safety of the Walkers.
We began the Walk on the western end of Columbus, near the beltway. We walked a few miles down the main road without incident. Upon turning into a three lane road going eastward I made the call to take the right hand lane, as we had done in a number of other cities. After a mile or so, a police cruiser pulled up and demanded that the Walkers go on the sidewalk. After some internal consultation via walkie talkie, the Walkers did move to the sidewalk. Soon thereafter another vehicle approached and attempted to interfere with a support vehicle. I pulled over and had my wife drive so that I could talk to the police while the Sacred Staffs continued on. When approaching the Walkers I saw a police officer grab the arm of the driver of the support car, nearly causing an accident. At almost the same time another officer was yelling at our Security to not stop a vehicle at a small intersection while the Walkers continued across. The officer then ran up to one of the Security, Luv (Rudolfo Villalobos) and physically grabbed him from behind with the intent of shoving him aside. At this time the Walkers had crossed the street, and Security carried on.
I went to the patrol car and attempted to talk to the officers, but they took off down the road. I then proceeded to return to the Walkers and was about two blocks behind. Another support vehicle came up and gave me a ride. I saw two more police vehicles. I tried to engage one of them in a conversation and said that if this continued they would be creating an international incident. The officer said he did not know anything about that but that his superior officer was arriving. I next noticed that a number of police vehicles and officers had swooped down upon the two support vehicles. I got out of the vehicle I was riding in and the Walkers were told to carry on.
I went up to the lead support vehicle that was being driven by my wife. I saw approximately four officers standing by the driver door of the two support vehicles as well as a number of other officers. I approached the driver side of the door and attempted to explain what the Walk was about and that my wife was just driving because I had tried to talk to the police a few blocks back. I said if they needed to talk to someone then they were to talk to myself. At that time, as there was a paddy wagon I feared that they were going to try and arrest my wife, a fear that was confirmed later. At no time did I use threatening language or in any way attempted to get physical with any police officer.
I was therefore rather surprised to be slammed against the side of the van by two officers and then to be looking directly at the front end of a taser gun. The officer pointing the taser gun at my head was approximately 3 feet away with the gun about a foot or so away. I know that it was pointed at my head because the front end was not in any way slanted. The officer with the taser was standing to my left at a 45 degree angle. Within a second or two the officers holding me jumped to my right and when I looked over, Luv was being thrown to the ground. I continued trying to talk to the police, and an officer identified himself as a Lieutenant.
We walked to the sidewalk while Luv was being arrested. I continued to explain that we were a spiritual Walk and had walked through many cities in the same manner without incident. He repeatedly said we needed a parade permit and were a threat to public safety as well as ourselves. I told him that we had been liaising with a Mr. Cull in the Ohio Department of Transportation and had his phone number on my cell phone. I was not allowed to get my cell phone to verify this, and it was clear that he did not believe me. While we were talking, the mother of three of the five children in the rear support vehicle came up to the vehicle as her children were crying. She was physically manhandled, as was another elderly Walker who came to her aide. I said to the Lieutenant that things were getting out of hand and that he needed to control his officers. After another minute of this kind of verbal exchange, he indicated that he was going to arrest the drivers of the two support vehicles and impound the vehicles, as well as Luv, but was thinking perhaps we could reach some kind of compromise. He looked at the Driver’s License of those driving the support vehicles and was surprised to see that my wife’s license was from New Zealand. I reiterated that the Walk had people from all over the US and other parts of the world. The Lieutenant than said that he would not arrest the drivers of the support vehicles and impound the vehicles and would only issue Luv a summons, if we agreed to only walk on the sidewalk and stop at all intersections until clear of vehicles. I told him that we could walk on the sidewalk but that we could not stop the Staffs at each intersection as we had a Ceremony whenever we stopped the Staffs. It was unfeasible for everyone to form a circle at each intersection. Another minute of back and forth on the issue and then he asked if we could just walk to a certain park (I forget the name) and sort things out there. I agreed.
I then jumped into the lead vehicle and we drove down to catch up with the Walkers. I briefly indicated to the Walkers via the passenger window to keep going to that park. In going ahead I was surprised to see another group of approximately 15 – 20 officers with a number of cars and paddy wagons. I asked my wife to pull over and I asked to speak to someone in charge. An officer indicated he was and I asked what was going on as a deal had been made with their Lieutenant. He said that they had just been told that and were standing down. It was clear that the intent was to blockade the sidewalk and arrest the Walkers.
We drove a little further and saw a closer park then the one agreed to. We decided to have the Walkers stop there instead. I flagged down an officer to relay that message. The Walkers stopped there, and with some assistance from the Department of Justice and the Ohio Department of Transportation, an agreement was reached whereby two bicycle officers would ride along so we could have continuous motion through intersections.
In closing, one of my daughters (aged 9) was in the rear support vehicle when the taser gun was pointed at my head. She indicated to me that she was afraid I was going to be shot with a gun. She had no way of knowing it was not a regular gun and that if shot at point blank range in the head that my chances of dying were less then if it were a bullet. I could only give her a hug and tell her I was alright. It was of course not alright that she had to go through that for what at worse could be classified as jaywalking. In addition, she also said that one of the officers had told the children in the car that they would be taken to some social services place, causing the children considerable distress.
We began the Walk on the western end of Columbus, near the beltway. We walked a few miles down the main road without incident. Upon turning into a three lane road going eastward I made the call to take the right hand lane, as we had done in a number of other cities. After a mile or so, a police cruiser pulled up and demanded that the Walkers go on the sidewalk. After some internal consultation via walkie talkie, the Walkers did move to the sidewalk. Soon thereafter another vehicle approached and attempted to interfere with a support vehicle. I pulled over and had my wife drive so that I could talk to the police while the Sacred Staffs continued on. When approaching the Walkers I saw a police officer grab the arm of the driver of the support car, nearly causing an accident. At almost the same time another officer was yelling at our Security to not stop a vehicle at a small intersection while the Walkers continued across. The officer then ran up to one of the Security, Luv (Rudolfo Villalobos) and physically grabbed him from behind with the intent of shoving him aside. At this time the Walkers had crossed the street, and Security carried on.
I went to the patrol car and attempted to talk to the officers, but they took off down the road. I then proceeded to return to the Walkers and was about two blocks behind. Another support vehicle came up and gave me a ride. I saw two more police vehicles. I tried to engage one of them in a conversation and said that if this continued they would be creating an international incident. The officer said he did not know anything about that but that his superior officer was arriving. I next noticed that a number of police vehicles and officers had swooped down upon the two support vehicles. I got out of the vehicle I was riding in and the Walkers were told to carry on.
I went up to the lead support vehicle that was being driven by my wife. I saw approximately four officers standing by the driver door of the two support vehicles as well as a number of other officers. I approached the driver side of the door and attempted to explain what the Walk was about and that my wife was just driving because I had tried to talk to the police a few blocks back. I said if they needed to talk to someone then they were to talk to myself. At that time, as there was a paddy wagon I feared that they were going to try and arrest my wife, a fear that was confirmed later. At no time did I use threatening language or in any way attempted to get physical with any police officer.
I was therefore rather surprised to be slammed against the side of the van by two officers and then to be looking directly at the front end of a taser gun. The officer pointing the taser gun at my head was approximately 3 feet away with the gun about a foot or so away. I know that it was pointed at my head because the front end was not in any way slanted. The officer with the taser was standing to my left at a 45 degree angle. Within a second or two the officers holding me jumped to my right and when I looked over, Luv was being thrown to the ground. I continued trying to talk to the police, and an officer identified himself as a Lieutenant.
We walked to the sidewalk while Luv was being arrested. I continued to explain that we were a spiritual Walk and had walked through many cities in the same manner without incident. He repeatedly said we needed a parade permit and were a threat to public safety as well as ourselves. I told him that we had been liaising with a Mr. Cull in the Ohio Department of Transportation and had his phone number on my cell phone. I was not allowed to get my cell phone to verify this, and it was clear that he did not believe me. While we were talking, the mother of three of the five children in the rear support vehicle came up to the vehicle as her children were crying. She was physically manhandled, as was another elderly Walker who came to her aide. I said to the Lieutenant that things were getting out of hand and that he needed to control his officers. After another minute of this kind of verbal exchange, he indicated that he was going to arrest the drivers of the two support vehicles and impound the vehicles, as well as Luv, but was thinking perhaps we could reach some kind of compromise. He looked at the Driver’s License of those driving the support vehicles and was surprised to see that my wife’s license was from New Zealand. I reiterated that the Walk had people from all over the US and other parts of the world. The Lieutenant than said that he would not arrest the drivers of the support vehicles and impound the vehicles and would only issue Luv a summons, if we agreed to only walk on the sidewalk and stop at all intersections until clear of vehicles. I told him that we could walk on the sidewalk but that we could not stop the Staffs at each intersection as we had a Ceremony whenever we stopped the Staffs. It was unfeasible for everyone to form a circle at each intersection. Another minute of back and forth on the issue and then he asked if we could just walk to a certain park (I forget the name) and sort things out there. I agreed.
I then jumped into the lead vehicle and we drove down to catch up with the Walkers. I briefly indicated to the Walkers via the passenger window to keep going to that park. In going ahead I was surprised to see another group of approximately 15 – 20 officers with a number of cars and paddy wagons. I asked my wife to pull over and I asked to speak to someone in charge. An officer indicated he was and I asked what was going on as a deal had been made with their Lieutenant. He said that they had just been told that and were standing down. It was clear that the intent was to blockade the sidewalk and arrest the Walkers.
We drove a little further and saw a closer park then the one agreed to. We decided to have the Walkers stop there instead. I flagged down an officer to relay that message. The Walkers stopped there, and with some assistance from the Department of Justice and the Ohio Department of Transportation, an agreement was reached whereby two bicycle officers would ride along so we could have continuous motion through intersections.
In closing, one of my daughters (aged 9) was in the rear support vehicle when the taser gun was pointed at my head. She indicated to me that she was afraid I was going to be shot with a gun. She had no way of knowing it was not a regular gun and that if shot at point blank range in the head that my chances of dying were less then if it were a bullet. I could only give her a hug and tell her I was alright. It was of course not alright that she had to go through that for what at worse could be classified as jaywalking. In addition, she also said that one of the officers had told the children in the car that they would be taken to some social services place, causing the children considerable distress.
--Michael Lane
.
Videos of Columbus Ohio Police attacking Long Walkers
Watch the video of the attack:
Watch the video of the attack:
Video and photos by Marie Littlemoon
Listen to Michael Lane on Earthcycles on this video:
Part II
Rachel Tso: Boycott Flagstaff Chamber Businesses
Rachel Tso: Boycott Flagstaff Chamber Businesses
Rachel Tso urges boycott of Flagstaff Chamber businesses after federal court reverses ruling and gives green light to sewer water snow on sacred San Francisco Peaks
Dear Community,
I am deeply saddened and disgusted by the recent ruling allowing the Snowbowl Ski Resort to contaminate the holy San Francisco Peaks with strained sewage water.However, this whole issue has an Achilles heel that can stop Snowbowl's proposed development: the sale of the wastewater by the Flagstaff City Council to Snowbowl. If we can get the Flagstaff City Council to recognize how detrimental their sale of the water to Snowbowl is and to cancel their contract, then it's all over. We can do this by boycotting all businesses that are members of the Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce. The Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce is spearheading the disgusting "Reclaim the Peaks" campaign and has been instrumental in convincing the City Council to approve the sale of wastewater. Both the City Council and the Chamber completely discount all of the money that comes to Flagstaff from the reservation residents, they seem to only want the money coming from rich, skiing Phoenicians. The Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce doesn't even try to hide their racism towards their Native neighbors with their "Reclaim the Peaks" campaign and rhetoric. Every business that is a member of the Chamber is supporting the "Reclaim the Peaks" campaign and the pollution of the sacred San Francisco Peaks through their required dues. The money you spend as a customer of any of those businesses is then supporting this repulsive campaign. Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce businesses usually have a sticker placed near the entrance announcing their membership and I usually ask as well. If they are members, I let them know that I am not giving them any business until they renounce their membership and stop paying dues to the Chamber and walk out. There are plenty of other businesses in Flagstaff that do not support the Chamber so it's not too hard to do my shopping and restaurant patronizing in Flagstaff's friendly places. If the Chamber loses enough income they will not be able to continue their despicable actions. Hopefully, through a boycott of these businesses the Flagstaff City Council will be forced to recognize the contributions of Native Americans in Flagstaff and act responsibly and respectfully by rescinding the sale of the wastewater. Please join me in boycotting all businesses that are members of the Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce.Save the Peaks!
In Respect,
Rachel Tso
Contact Flagstaff officials to voice your opinion
Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce Directory from www.flagstaffchamber.com
Julie Pastrick President / CEO jpastrick@flagstaffchamber.com
Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce 101 W. Route 66 Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (928) 774-4505 Fax: (928) 779-1209Flagstaff Mayor and City Council Members:
Mayor Sara Presler spresler@ci.flagstaff.az.us (928) 779-7600
Vice- Mayor Al White awhite@ci.flagstaff.az.us (928) 607-4932
Karla Brewster kbrewster@ci.flagstaff.az.us (928) 779-7600
Scott Overton soverton@ci.flagstaff.az.us (928) 779-7600
Rick Swanson rswanson@ci.flagstaff.az.us (928) 779-7600
Coral Evans cevans@ci.flagstaff.az.us (928) 779-7600
Joe Haughey jhaughey@ci.flagstaff.az.us (928) 779-7600
Rachel Tso urges boycott of Flagstaff Chamber businesses after federal court reverses ruling and gives green light to sewer water snow on sacred San Francisco Peaks
Dear Community,
I am deeply saddened and disgusted by the recent ruling allowing the Snowbowl Ski Resort to contaminate the holy San Francisco Peaks with strained sewage water.However, this whole issue has an Achilles heel that can stop Snowbowl's proposed development: the sale of the wastewater by the Flagstaff City Council to Snowbowl. If we can get the Flagstaff City Council to recognize how detrimental their sale of the water to Snowbowl is and to cancel their contract, then it's all over. We can do this by boycotting all businesses that are members of the Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce. The Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce is spearheading the disgusting "Reclaim the Peaks" campaign and has been instrumental in convincing the City Council to approve the sale of wastewater. Both the City Council and the Chamber completely discount all of the money that comes to Flagstaff from the reservation residents, they seem to only want the money coming from rich, skiing Phoenicians. The Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce doesn't even try to hide their racism towards their Native neighbors with their "Reclaim the Peaks" campaign and rhetoric. Every business that is a member of the Chamber is supporting the "Reclaim the Peaks" campaign and the pollution of the sacred San Francisco Peaks through their required dues. The money you spend as a customer of any of those businesses is then supporting this repulsive campaign. Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce businesses usually have a sticker placed near the entrance announcing their membership and I usually ask as well. If they are members, I let them know that I am not giving them any business until they renounce their membership and stop paying dues to the Chamber and walk out. There are plenty of other businesses in Flagstaff that do not support the Chamber so it's not too hard to do my shopping and restaurant patronizing in Flagstaff's friendly places. If the Chamber loses enough income they will not be able to continue their despicable actions. Hopefully, through a boycott of these businesses the Flagstaff City Council will be forced to recognize the contributions of Native Americans in Flagstaff and act responsibly and respectfully by rescinding the sale of the wastewater. Please join me in boycotting all businesses that are members of the Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce.Save the Peaks!
In Respect,
Rachel Tso
Contact Flagstaff officials to voice your opinion
Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce Directory from www.flagstaffchamber.com
Julie Pastrick President / CEO jpastrick@flagstaffchamber.com
Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce 101 W. Route 66 Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (928) 774-4505 Fax: (928) 779-1209Flagstaff Mayor and City Council Members:
Mayor Sara Presler spresler@ci.flagstaff.az.us (928) 779-7600
Vice- Mayor Al White awhite@ci.flagstaff.az.us (928) 607-4932
Karla Brewster kbrewster@ci.flagstaff.az.us (928) 779-7600
Scott Overton soverton@ci.flagstaff.az.us (928) 779-7600
Rick Swanson rswanson@ci.flagstaff.az.us (928) 779-7600
Coral Evans cevans@ci.flagstaff.az.us (928) 779-7600
Joe Haughey jhaughey@ci.flagstaff.az.us (928) 779-7600
Saturday, August 9, 2008
SICKO: Ottawa hosts warmongers trade show
"SECURE CANADA 2008", OR “SICKO CAN”
Ottawa hosts warmongers trade show
by Iako’ha:kowa of Sharbot Lake, Haudenosaunee Territory and Mohawk Nation News Staff
August 4, 2008. War is illegal. Did Canada forget? In 1989 there was a ban on military trade shows in Ottawa. Now the industry is going to sneak one on us. War or fascism is preceded by techniques to PSYCHE out the opponents or victims to scare everybody into hopeless despair. One way is to parade military and despotic hardware in front of the public to get us use to it. Hitler, Mouselini and Stalin all used this tactic.
TV ads are recruiting youth into the military; video war games extol death and destruction; air shows mesmerize children and glamorize bomber planes that kill people; and military trade shows promote the war industry. Soon only innocent human beings will be killed. It’s called “low level warfare” designed to attack the unarmed people.This "Pukey Canada 2008" trade show for war makers is the height of absurdity, at Ottawa's Lansdowne Park on September 30 to October 1st. It’s about cutting edge "remote warfare" to help their military and police agents of repression in their quest for global domination and control.
There they can buy all the lethal trinkets they need to kill, control or maim us from afar without getting their fingers dirty. Exhibitors will show off toxic toys for domestic control such as uav's [remote unmanned flying objects that shoot s..t at people] and all manner of satellite spy ware. This “Nauseating Canada” trade show will feature C4ISR “gizmos” to "command, control, communications and computer based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance". They hope to have domestic repression of Turtle Island in place by 2010. As if!
Watch out, unarmed protestors! You could be used as practice targets of these newly equipped gunslingers. 20 of the 58 exhibitors are members of the “Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries” CADSI known as the “merchants of death”. They are Boeing Aerospace, Canadian Center for Unmanned Vehicle Systems, Canadian Defence Review, Commissionaires, Dessau, ESRI Canada, Frontline Robotics, Green Hills Software, Harris Canada, Inc., Meggitt, M/ACOM Tyco Electronics, and Technopole Defense. [Excuse us, since when has Canada been attacked? Where are the imaginary enemies? They are the enemies of the people.] L3 Mas, CAE and General Dynamics Canada are on the CADSI board. L3 Communications Holdings Inc. is on the "list of 38 companies that the Canadian Securities and Exchange Commission fingered as involved in 'put options' profiteering on 911".
Who are these “Wannabee Big Shots”?: Frontlines Robotics, [CADSI member] based in Ottawa, has offices in Israel. Jeremy “Jiminy Jim” James is the president and ceo. They work with InRob Tech that specializes in military robots and remote controlled vehicles. They can kill men, women and babies without getting a scratch.
Their "perimeter security" are robots that guard anything from nuclear reactors to military bases. GreenHills Software, a US outfit, has offices in Ottawa. They work with CAE, IBM, Lockheed Martin (F35 Joint strike fighters), Toshiba, Raytheon, Toyota (Prius), Ford (Lincoln Aviator), Northrop Grunman (Airbus 380), Nera Wireless Networking and many other companies. They'll be at the “RealTime & Embedded Computing [How-to-Slaughter] Conferences” in Ottawa and Montreal at the end of August. Technopôle Defence & Security, [CADSI member] based in Quebec City is a professional business network.
They set up trade shows and bring together butchers like "technology integrators, producers and suppliers, private and public research and development centres, universities and other educational institutions and government departments and agencies" that are researching more ways to kill people. Technopole's members include SNC, TEC, DRDC, General Dynamics Canada, Universite Laval, CGI, Thales Systems, and lesser known companies like Telops, Analytical Systems, Opto Security, Black Coral, Creaform, RoboMotio, Gentec and Cargolution. Canada Economic Development is their main partner and funder.
Why aren’t there any trade shows on how to defend ourselves from these homicidal maniacs? Black Coral of Ottawa "specializes in map enabled technologies" to help their “hired guns”, like police and military agencies, during "emergencies" and "terrorist events" [which they’ll create!]. If they’re so smart, why did the Winnipeg cops shoot and kill an Indigenous man who had a cell phone in his hand and not a knife?
Black Coral's advisory board consists of three men with long police or military careers. Phil "He aint my Brother" Murray, former Commissioner of the RCMP, was a member of the Research Advisory Committee on the “Ipperwash Commission of Inquiry into Aboriginal Relations with the Police”. It carefully studied the OPP murder of Indigenous demonstrator, Dudley George, on how to get away with it without being questioned.
Creepy Phil seems to have a sinister interest in Indigenous people. Phil is a Member of the Advisory Panel for the “Cornwall Commission of Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse” by police, church, city, judiciary, Childrens Aid and other public bodies.
Jim "Freaky James" Fraser is retired from the US military where he trained police assassins on SWAT tactics. He is a member of the Fort Benning Georgia “Officer Candidate Hall of Fame”.
Fort Benning is famous for the “School of the Americas” (SOA) that sets up “death squads” in third world regimes. They teach advanced brutality and torture.
Jim’s specialty is creating “terrorist events”. These insane guys create dire situations so they can use their evil toys.
Bob "Sleeps-Hanging-Upside-Down-from-a-Technopole" Fischer, a past President of CADSI, was in the Canadian military before going to General Dynamics Canada. He became Vice President Business Development and Government Relations. He is now the current Chairman of the “Canadian NATO Industry Advisory Group”.
The “St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency” of New York State is boogying up to the Sec Can trade show. They say they "act as a liaison between your firm, local municipalities, financing sources and governmental agencies".
In other words, they’re going there to party with “war-like minds”! These sadistic ghouls could be offering a space in NYS to make tools of repression? St. Lawrence County is near the Mohawk community of Akwesasne. These perverts want to boost the economy with a military buildup. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Canada Chapter will be promoting their own “show within a show”, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. Imstat president, Tom Last, could run the UAV's by remote control from their lab in Carleton Place just outside of Ottawa.Well Known Big Shots/Bigots: CAE of Montreal has a current annual revenue of over $1.2B [which can kill an awful lot of people].
They get a lot of research and development money, a term for “corporate welfare” or money from the government. They specialize in civil and military simulations for full flight training, such as for the C130 Hercules and many fighter planes plus helicopters, as well as commercial jets. CAE will hold a special shareholders meeting on August 13 at the Hotel Bonaventure in Montreal. They have 2 boards, one in Canada and another in the US, made up mostly of retired military. [Geez! They should be stopping these terrorists from coming over the border instead of inviting them!] Marc "Wants to Kill Other People's Children" Parent, previously of Bombardier, is on both CAE boards. He’s the Group President, Simulation Products and Military Training & Services. Morbid Marc is on the board at CADSI and the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC). Another noxious CAE director is James "who-blows-out-missile-exhaust” Hankinson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ontario Power Generation Inc. CAE announced at a July 8 air show in the UK that it had $128 million in new contracts. They’re making a flight simulator for Bombardier's Montreal training center.
Lurking In The Shadows: Oxford educated David "Living-High-on-the-Hog" Luxton thinks he’s a major driving force in Ottawa's make-war industry. [see photo at flickr.com]. He was in the Canadian military. He’s been a bureaucrat, advisor in the Privy Council where Canada 's laws are drafted, Director and Registrar of Copyright and Industrial Design for Canada. ”Warped” Luxton is founding president and ceo at Allen Vanguard, an Ottawa based electronics manufacturer of terrorist gadgetry for their mercenaries. They used to test their bomb suits, robots and other CBRNE [chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive] stuff at MREL's facility near Sharbot Lake where they loved simulating mangled corpses. Then MREL was shut down by protesters in the summer of 2007. Allen Vanguard has plants in Pembroke Ontario and other places. Ken Deane, the OPP sniper who shot and killed Dudley George, was hired by Allen Vanguard as a security guard after being kicked out of the OPP. He died in a car "accident" on the 401 just before he was to testify at the Ipperwash Inquiry.”Canker Sore” Luxton is also founding president of Def [Death] Sec, an Ottawa investment company for the military industry. Luxton and Ken Murray founded Simunition which specializes in police and military "reality training" with "projectiles" like paint ball.
They teach cops how to overcome their fears and shoot to kill. War Monger Luxton is on the board of CADSI. Though his companies may not be exhibiting at the Sec Can trade show, he'll be hanging around looking over the projectiles. Luxton supports the elite cartel that doesn’t like Indigenous and people of color, want to plunder the Earth's riches and set up a global government. Like his buddies, he's locked into a “terrorkillhigh” adrenalin mindset, who needs to get it off regularly.
That’s no excuse for his inhumanity. Someone should get him into “war monger rehab” in a remote Indigenous community quick!Look out for shadowy Frenchman, Marcel "Mortal-Liquidateur" Picciotto, president and ceo of Thales Systems Canada based in Montreal with offices in Ottawa. [CADSI board for 3 years]. Thales, a French company had sales of $12 billion in 2007. They specialize in C4ISR for armies, navies, air forces and anybody with the cash. Thales have just renewed their deal with NATO to expand communications and logistics in Afghanistan. [Whoa! Who wants to keep this war going and why? It’s big bucks for someone! High taxes for the rest!Thales makes flight control systems for Bombardier and other plane builders and control systems for railways. Just in time for the Olympics,
Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp. has launched its Thales contact-less fare collection system. [Are non-payers disintegrated?] JeanMarc Gardin, Vice President and Managing Director of Thales remarked, "China represents a huge opportunity for us..." These incestuous companies work together on ‘genocide’ projects.
These “glorified gunmen” fancy themselves to be an elite bunch. They use their sadistic delusions to siphon a lot of money from the public purse. Indigenous people constantly resist the theft of our freedom. We are defenders of the land and the Earth's riches. We stand in the way of big military plans for the St. Lawrence/Great Lakes region. We all have minds to think and untapped abilities and creativity that can resolve overwhelming dilemmas. No one person has ALL the answers. Each can contribute a piece to the puzzle. Our sense of isolation and alienation in Western society is designed to make us feel alone and vulnerable. There is much strength in our ties to the Earth and each other. We need to work together to stop these ruthlessly demented demons.
Iakoha'ko:wa kittoh@storm.ca
Eagle Watch, Haudenosaunee Territory
Notes and Sources
COALITION TO OPPOSE THE ARMS TRADE
http://coat.ncf.ca/ARMX/ContactCity.htm
MOHAWKNATIONNEWS http://www.mohawknationnews.com/
Secure Canada 2008 Exhibitor List
http://www.securecan.ca/exhibitor_list/
CITY OF OTTAWA SEND THEM A MESSAGE TO CANCEL THE SHOWMayor Larry O'Brien and CouncillorsCity of Ottawa, 110 Laurier Avenue West,Ottawa, K1P 1J1Phone them at (613) 580 2400 or 1 866 261 9799.Larry.OBrien@ottawa.ca, Alex.Cullen@ottawa.ca, Bob.Monette@ottawa.ca, Clive.Doucet@ottawa.ca, Diane.Deans@ottawa.ca, Diane.Holmes@ottawa.ca, Doug.Thompson@ottawa.ca, Eli.ElChantiry@ottawa.ca, Georges.Bedard@ottawa.ca, Glenn.Brooks@ottawa.ca, Gord.Hunter@ottawa.ca, Jacques.Legendre@ottawa.ca, Jan.Harder@ottawa.ca, Kitchissippi@ottawa.ca, Maria.Mcrae@ottawa.ca, Marianne.Wilkinson@ottawa.ca, Michel.Bellemare@ottawa.ca, Peggy.Feltmate@ottawa.ca, Peter.Hume@ottawa.ca, Rainer.Bloess@ottawa.ca, Rick.Chiarelli@ottawa.ca, Rob.Jellett@ottawa.ca, Shad.Qadri@ottawa.ca, Steve.Desroches@ottawa.ca, susan.scott@ottawa.ca, Sukuen.Tam@ottawa.ca,Doug MooreA/Director, Real Property Asset Management (RPAM) BranchCity of Ottawa110 Laurier Avenue West Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1J16135802424 x413017 6135602718Mail Code: 2686 douglas.moore@ottawa.caCADSI Canadian Association of Defence and Security IndustriesList of Merchants of Deathhttps://www.defenceandsecurity.ca/public/index.asp?action=profiles THE EXHIBITORS WILL BE STAYING AT: Les Suites Hotel, Ottawa, 130 Besserer Street, Ottawa, K1N 9M9 http://www.lessuites.com/Frontline Robotics Inc. 6968 McKeown Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K4P 1A2Tel: +1.613.739.2687 Toll Free: 866.450.2687 (within North America)Fax: +1.613.821.4729info@FrontlineRobotics.com http://www.frontlinerobotics.com/Inrob Tech http://www.inrobtech.com/Green Hills Software Canada, Ltd., 555 Legget Drive, Suite 304, Ottawa, Ontario Canada K2K 2X3 Tel: 613.271.2115 Fax: 613.271.2121http://www.ghs.com/Technopôle Defence & Security, Sonia Lebel,Building 200, Office 103, South Site, DRDC Valcartier,2459, PieXI Blvd North, Quebec, Quebec Canada G3J1X5Tel: 4188442454 Fax: 4188442739Email: sonia.lebel@technopoleds.orgWebsite: http://www.technopoleds.org/Black Coral, 25 Holland Ave, Suite 200, Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4R9 . Canada Sales Office: 221 W. Park Avenue . Tallahassee . Florida . 323021774 . USAinfo@blackcoral.net http://www.blackcoral.net/General Dynamics Canada http://www.gdcanada.com/"Canada's C4ISR System Integrator"General Dynamics Canada3785 Richmond Rd, Ottawa, Ontario K2H 5B7Tel.: +1 613 5967000 Fax: +1 613 5967396and expanding to a huge new space at 350 Legget in Kanata Research Park, just down the street from GreenHills Software.General Dynamics Canada31 Millbrook Avenue Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B2V 0A2Tel.: +1 902 4063701 Fax: +1 902 4043119General Dynamics Canada102068th Avenue N.E. Calgary, Alberta, T2E 8P2Tel.: +1 403 2956700 Fax: +1 403 7301197St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency80 State Highway 310, Suite 6, Canton, New York 13617(315) 3799806http://www.slcida.com/ info@slcida.comAssociation for Unmanned Vehicle Systems InternationalAnne Healey, Executive Director, AUVSICanada60 Queen Street, Suite 1206, Ottawa, ON K1P 5Y7Tel: 6132347542 Fax: 613 232 1142healey@auvsicanada.org http://www.auvsicanada.org/CAE INC., Ms. Nathalie Bourque,8585 CôtedeLiesse, St Laurent, Quebec Canada H4L 4X4Tel: (514) 7345788 Fax: (514) 7345718Email: nathalie.bourque@cae.com Website: http://www.cae.com/ALLENVANGUARD CORPORATION5459 Canotek Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1J 9M318004299198 16137498343http://www.allenvanguard.com/ http://www.integratir.com/overview.asp?ticker=t.vrsdavid.luxton@allenvanguard.com,Photo of David Luxton http://www.flickr.com/photos/77536533@N00/2474185541Def SecDEFSEC Corporation, David Luxton304131 Wurtemburg St., Falling Waters BuildingOttawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 1J2Tel: 613 769 5353http://www.defsec.ca/ (nothing there)dluxton@defsec.ca (613) 7895136Luxton is also contact person for Ottawa Security Clusterhttp://securitycluster.com/About_Us/ExCom.htmlThales Canada Inc7190 FrederickBanting Street, Suite 100StLaurent, Quebec H4S 2A1Contact: Hélène Fortier Manager, Communications +1 514 832 2935Thales Canada Inc.David W. Spagnolo, 1 Chrysalis Way, Ottawa, Ontario Canada K2G 6P9Tel: (613) 7237000 Fax: (613) 7235600Email: Dave.Spagnolo@ca.thalesgroup.com Website: www.thalesgroup.com/canada
Here are some emails for the gentry all grouped together for easy use:info@afceaottawa.ca, rvp_canada@rogers.com, kstewar6@csc.com, claude.gelinas@sun.com, rick@electricstrategies.com, info@defsec.ca, dluxton@defsec.ca, sandra.freeman@sympatico.ca, mmcarthur@ocri.ca, chenderson@lumosenergy.com, SFANJOY@welchandco.ca, mrayat@ocri.ca, david.mcinnes@mdsinc.com, jjames@frontlinerobotics.com, mzipparo@ghs.com, nknudsen@sympatico.ca, bruce.lazenby@hotmail.com, michael_scott@rogers.com, david.luxton@allenvanguard.com, nathalie.bourque@cae.com, chris.stellwag@cae.com, andrew.arnovitz@cae.com, sonia.lebel@technopoleds.org,info@blackcoral.net, phil@philmurray.ca, jhfraser@ix.netcom.com, healey@auvsicanada.org, victoire.lebarazer@thalesgroup.com, caroline.philips@thalesgroup.com, Dave.Spagnolo@ca.thalesgroup.com, inquiries@ca.thalesgroup.com, info@gdcanada.com, Amy.MacLeod@gdcanada.com,
See Category "Canada"
Ottawa hosts warmongers trade show
by Iako’ha:kowa of Sharbot Lake, Haudenosaunee Territory and Mohawk Nation News Staff
August 4, 2008. War is illegal. Did Canada forget? In 1989 there was a ban on military trade shows in Ottawa. Now the industry is going to sneak one on us. War or fascism is preceded by techniques to PSYCHE out the opponents or victims to scare everybody into hopeless despair. One way is to parade military and despotic hardware in front of the public to get us use to it. Hitler, Mouselini and Stalin all used this tactic.
TV ads are recruiting youth into the military; video war games extol death and destruction; air shows mesmerize children and glamorize bomber planes that kill people; and military trade shows promote the war industry. Soon only innocent human beings will be killed. It’s called “low level warfare” designed to attack the unarmed people.This "Pukey Canada 2008" trade show for war makers is the height of absurdity, at Ottawa's Lansdowne Park on September 30 to October 1st. It’s about cutting edge "remote warfare" to help their military and police agents of repression in their quest for global domination and control.
There they can buy all the lethal trinkets they need to kill, control or maim us from afar without getting their fingers dirty. Exhibitors will show off toxic toys for domestic control such as uav's [remote unmanned flying objects that shoot s..t at people] and all manner of satellite spy ware. This “Nauseating Canada” trade show will feature C4ISR “gizmos” to "command, control, communications and computer based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance". They hope to have domestic repression of Turtle Island in place by 2010. As if!
Watch out, unarmed protestors! You could be used as practice targets of these newly equipped gunslingers. 20 of the 58 exhibitors are members of the “Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries” CADSI known as the “merchants of death”. They are Boeing Aerospace, Canadian Center for Unmanned Vehicle Systems, Canadian Defence Review, Commissionaires, Dessau, ESRI Canada, Frontline Robotics, Green Hills Software, Harris Canada, Inc., Meggitt, M/ACOM Tyco Electronics, and Technopole Defense. [Excuse us, since when has Canada been attacked? Where are the imaginary enemies? They are the enemies of the people.] L3 Mas, CAE and General Dynamics Canada are on the CADSI board. L3 Communications Holdings Inc. is on the "list of 38 companies that the Canadian Securities and Exchange Commission fingered as involved in 'put options' profiteering on 911".
Who are these “Wannabee Big Shots”?: Frontlines Robotics, [CADSI member] based in Ottawa, has offices in Israel. Jeremy “Jiminy Jim” James is the president and ceo. They work with InRob Tech that specializes in military robots and remote controlled vehicles. They can kill men, women and babies without getting a scratch.
Their "perimeter security" are robots that guard anything from nuclear reactors to military bases. GreenHills Software, a US outfit, has offices in Ottawa. They work with CAE, IBM, Lockheed Martin (F35 Joint strike fighters), Toshiba, Raytheon, Toyota (Prius), Ford (Lincoln Aviator), Northrop Grunman (Airbus 380), Nera Wireless Networking and many other companies. They'll be at the “RealTime & Embedded Computing [How-to-Slaughter] Conferences” in Ottawa and Montreal at the end of August. Technopôle Defence & Security, [CADSI member] based in Quebec City is a professional business network.
They set up trade shows and bring together butchers like "technology integrators, producers and suppliers, private and public research and development centres, universities and other educational institutions and government departments and agencies" that are researching more ways to kill people. Technopole's members include SNC, TEC, DRDC, General Dynamics Canada, Universite Laval, CGI, Thales Systems, and lesser known companies like Telops, Analytical Systems, Opto Security, Black Coral, Creaform, RoboMotio, Gentec and Cargolution. Canada Economic Development is their main partner and funder.
Why aren’t there any trade shows on how to defend ourselves from these homicidal maniacs? Black Coral of Ottawa "specializes in map enabled technologies" to help their “hired guns”, like police and military agencies, during "emergencies" and "terrorist events" [which they’ll create!]. If they’re so smart, why did the Winnipeg cops shoot and kill an Indigenous man who had a cell phone in his hand and not a knife?
Black Coral's advisory board consists of three men with long police or military careers. Phil "He aint my Brother" Murray, former Commissioner of the RCMP, was a member of the Research Advisory Committee on the “Ipperwash Commission of Inquiry into Aboriginal Relations with the Police”. It carefully studied the OPP murder of Indigenous demonstrator, Dudley George, on how to get away with it without being questioned.
Creepy Phil seems to have a sinister interest in Indigenous people. Phil is a Member of the Advisory Panel for the “Cornwall Commission of Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse” by police, church, city, judiciary, Childrens Aid and other public bodies.
Jim "Freaky James" Fraser is retired from the US military where he trained police assassins on SWAT tactics. He is a member of the Fort Benning Georgia “Officer Candidate Hall of Fame”.
Fort Benning is famous for the “School of the Americas” (SOA) that sets up “death squads” in third world regimes. They teach advanced brutality and torture.
Jim’s specialty is creating “terrorist events”. These insane guys create dire situations so they can use their evil toys.
Bob "Sleeps-Hanging-Upside-Down-from-a-Technopole" Fischer, a past President of CADSI, was in the Canadian military before going to General Dynamics Canada. He became Vice President Business Development and Government Relations. He is now the current Chairman of the “Canadian NATO Industry Advisory Group”.
The “St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency” of New York State is boogying up to the Sec Can trade show. They say they "act as a liaison between your firm, local municipalities, financing sources and governmental agencies".
In other words, they’re going there to party with “war-like minds”! These sadistic ghouls could be offering a space in NYS to make tools of repression? St. Lawrence County is near the Mohawk community of Akwesasne. These perverts want to boost the economy with a military buildup. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Canada Chapter will be promoting their own “show within a show”, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. Imstat president, Tom Last, could run the UAV's by remote control from their lab in Carleton Place just outside of Ottawa.Well Known Big Shots/Bigots: CAE of Montreal has a current annual revenue of over $1.2B [which can kill an awful lot of people].
They get a lot of research and development money, a term for “corporate welfare” or money from the government. They specialize in civil and military simulations for full flight training, such as for the C130 Hercules and many fighter planes plus helicopters, as well as commercial jets. CAE will hold a special shareholders meeting on August 13 at the Hotel Bonaventure in Montreal. They have 2 boards, one in Canada and another in the US, made up mostly of retired military. [Geez! They should be stopping these terrorists from coming over the border instead of inviting them!] Marc "Wants to Kill Other People's Children" Parent, previously of Bombardier, is on both CAE boards. He’s the Group President, Simulation Products and Military Training & Services. Morbid Marc is on the board at CADSI and the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC). Another noxious CAE director is James "who-blows-out-missile-exhaust” Hankinson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ontario Power Generation Inc. CAE announced at a July 8 air show in the UK that it had $128 million in new contracts. They’re making a flight simulator for Bombardier's Montreal training center.
Lurking In The Shadows: Oxford educated David "Living-High-on-the-Hog" Luxton thinks he’s a major driving force in Ottawa's make-war industry. [see photo at flickr.com]. He was in the Canadian military. He’s been a bureaucrat, advisor in the Privy Council where Canada 's laws are drafted, Director and Registrar of Copyright and Industrial Design for Canada. ”Warped” Luxton is founding president and ceo at Allen Vanguard, an Ottawa based electronics manufacturer of terrorist gadgetry for their mercenaries. They used to test their bomb suits, robots and other CBRNE [chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive] stuff at MREL's facility near Sharbot Lake where they loved simulating mangled corpses. Then MREL was shut down by protesters in the summer of 2007. Allen Vanguard has plants in Pembroke Ontario and other places. Ken Deane, the OPP sniper who shot and killed Dudley George, was hired by Allen Vanguard as a security guard after being kicked out of the OPP. He died in a car "accident" on the 401 just before he was to testify at the Ipperwash Inquiry.”Canker Sore” Luxton is also founding president of Def [Death] Sec, an Ottawa investment company for the military industry. Luxton and Ken Murray founded Simunition which specializes in police and military "reality training" with "projectiles" like paint ball.
They teach cops how to overcome their fears and shoot to kill. War Monger Luxton is on the board of CADSI. Though his companies may not be exhibiting at the Sec Can trade show, he'll be hanging around looking over the projectiles. Luxton supports the elite cartel that doesn’t like Indigenous and people of color, want to plunder the Earth's riches and set up a global government. Like his buddies, he's locked into a “terrorkillhigh” adrenalin mindset, who needs to get it off regularly.
That’s no excuse for his inhumanity. Someone should get him into “war monger rehab” in a remote Indigenous community quick!Look out for shadowy Frenchman, Marcel "Mortal-Liquidateur" Picciotto, president and ceo of Thales Systems Canada based in Montreal with offices in Ottawa. [CADSI board for 3 years]. Thales, a French company had sales of $12 billion in 2007. They specialize in C4ISR for armies, navies, air forces and anybody with the cash. Thales have just renewed their deal with NATO to expand communications and logistics in Afghanistan. [Whoa! Who wants to keep this war going and why? It’s big bucks for someone! High taxes for the rest!Thales makes flight control systems for Bombardier and other plane builders and control systems for railways. Just in time for the Olympics,
Beijing Mass Transit Railway Operation Corp. has launched its Thales contact-less fare collection system. [Are non-payers disintegrated?] JeanMarc Gardin, Vice President and Managing Director of Thales remarked, "China represents a huge opportunity for us..." These incestuous companies work together on ‘genocide’ projects.
These “glorified gunmen” fancy themselves to be an elite bunch. They use their sadistic delusions to siphon a lot of money from the public purse. Indigenous people constantly resist the theft of our freedom. We are defenders of the land and the Earth's riches. We stand in the way of big military plans for the St. Lawrence/Great Lakes region. We all have minds to think and untapped abilities and creativity that can resolve overwhelming dilemmas. No one person has ALL the answers. Each can contribute a piece to the puzzle. Our sense of isolation and alienation in Western society is designed to make us feel alone and vulnerable. There is much strength in our ties to the Earth and each other. We need to work together to stop these ruthlessly demented demons.
Iakoha'ko:wa kittoh@storm.ca
Eagle Watch, Haudenosaunee Territory
Notes and Sources
COALITION TO OPPOSE THE ARMS TRADE
http://coat.ncf.ca/ARMX/ContactCity.htm
MOHAWKNATIONNEWS http://www.mohawknationnews.com/
Secure Canada 2008 Exhibitor List
http://www.securecan.ca/exhibitor_list/
CITY OF OTTAWA SEND THEM A MESSAGE TO CANCEL THE SHOWMayor Larry O'Brien and CouncillorsCity of Ottawa, 110 Laurier Avenue West,Ottawa, K1P 1J1Phone them at (613) 580 2400 or 1 866 261 9799.Larry.OBrien@ottawa.ca, Alex.Cullen@ottawa.ca, Bob.Monette@ottawa.ca, Clive.Doucet@ottawa.ca, Diane.Deans@ottawa.ca, Diane.Holmes@ottawa.ca, Doug.Thompson@ottawa.ca, Eli.ElChantiry@ottawa.ca, Georges.Bedard@ottawa.ca, Glenn.Brooks@ottawa.ca, Gord.Hunter@ottawa.ca, Jacques.Legendre@ottawa.ca, Jan.Harder@ottawa.ca, Kitchissippi@ottawa.ca, Maria.Mcrae@ottawa.ca, Marianne.Wilkinson@ottawa.ca, Michel.Bellemare@ottawa.ca, Peggy.Feltmate@ottawa.ca, Peter.Hume@ottawa.ca, Rainer.Bloess@ottawa.ca, Rick.Chiarelli@ottawa.ca, Rob.Jellett@ottawa.ca, Shad.Qadri@ottawa.ca, Steve.Desroches@ottawa.ca, susan.scott@ottawa.ca, Sukuen.Tam@ottawa.ca,Doug MooreA/Director, Real Property Asset Management (RPAM) BranchCity of Ottawa110 Laurier Avenue West Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1J16135802424 x413017 6135602718Mail Code: 2686 douglas.moore@ottawa.caCADSI Canadian Association of Defence and Security IndustriesList of Merchants of Deathhttps://www.defenceandsecurity.ca/public/index.asp?action=profiles THE EXHIBITORS WILL BE STAYING AT: Les Suites Hotel, Ottawa, 130 Besserer Street, Ottawa, K1N 9M9 http://www.lessuites.com/Frontline Robotics Inc. 6968 McKeown Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K4P 1A2Tel: +1.613.739.2687 Toll Free: 866.450.2687 (within North America)Fax: +1.613.821.4729info@FrontlineRobotics.com http://www.frontlinerobotics.com/Inrob Tech http://www.inrobtech.com/Green Hills Software Canada, Ltd., 555 Legget Drive, Suite 304, Ottawa, Ontario Canada K2K 2X3 Tel: 613.271.2115 Fax: 613.271.2121http://www.ghs.com/Technopôle Defence & Security, Sonia Lebel,Building 200, Office 103, South Site, DRDC Valcartier,2459, PieXI Blvd North, Quebec, Quebec Canada G3J1X5Tel: 4188442454 Fax: 4188442739Email: sonia.lebel@technopoleds.orgWebsite: http://www.technopoleds.org/Black Coral, 25 Holland Ave, Suite 200, Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4R9 . Canada Sales Office: 221 W. Park Avenue . Tallahassee . Florida . 323021774 . USAinfo@blackcoral.net http://www.blackcoral.net/General Dynamics Canada http://www.gdcanada.com/"Canada's C4ISR System Integrator"General Dynamics Canada3785 Richmond Rd, Ottawa, Ontario K2H 5B7Tel.: +1 613 5967000 Fax: +1 613 5967396and expanding to a huge new space at 350 Legget in Kanata Research Park, just down the street from GreenHills Software.General Dynamics Canada31 Millbrook Avenue Dartmouth, Nova Scotia B2V 0A2Tel.: +1 902 4063701 Fax: +1 902 4043119General Dynamics Canada102068th Avenue N.E. Calgary, Alberta, T2E 8P2Tel.: +1 403 2956700 Fax: +1 403 7301197St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency80 State Highway 310, Suite 6, Canton, New York 13617(315) 3799806http://www.slcida.com/ info@slcida.comAssociation for Unmanned Vehicle Systems InternationalAnne Healey, Executive Director, AUVSICanada60 Queen Street, Suite 1206, Ottawa, ON K1P 5Y7Tel: 6132347542 Fax: 613 232 1142healey@auvsicanada.org http://www.auvsicanada.org/CAE INC., Ms. Nathalie Bourque,8585 CôtedeLiesse, St Laurent, Quebec Canada H4L 4X4Tel: (514) 7345788 Fax: (514) 7345718Email: nathalie.bourque@cae.com Website: http://www.cae.com/ALLENVANGUARD CORPORATION5459 Canotek Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1J 9M318004299198 16137498343http://www.allenvanguard.com/ http://www.integratir.com/overview.asp?ticker=t.vrsdavid.luxton@allenvanguard.com,Photo of David Luxton http://www.flickr.com/photos/77536533@N00/2474185541Def SecDEFSEC Corporation, David Luxton304131 Wurtemburg St., Falling Waters BuildingOttawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 1J2Tel: 613 769 5353http://www.defsec.ca/ (nothing there)dluxton@defsec.ca (613) 7895136Luxton is also contact person for Ottawa Security Clusterhttp://securitycluster.com/About_Us/ExCom.htmlThales Canada Inc7190 FrederickBanting Street, Suite 100StLaurent, Quebec H4S 2A1Contact: Hélène Fortier Manager, Communications +1 514 832 2935Thales Canada Inc.David W. Spagnolo, 1 Chrysalis Way, Ottawa, Ontario Canada K2G 6P9Tel: (613) 7237000 Fax: (613) 7235600Email: Dave.Spagnolo@ca.thalesgroup.com Website: www.thalesgroup.com/canada
Here are some emails for the gentry all grouped together for easy use:info@afceaottawa.ca, rvp_canada@rogers.com, kstewar6@csc.com, claude.gelinas@sun.com, rick@electricstrategies.com, info@defsec.ca, dluxton@defsec.ca, sandra.freeman@sympatico.ca, mmcarthur@ocri.ca, chenderson@lumosenergy.com, SFANJOY@welchandco.ca, mrayat@ocri.ca, david.mcinnes@mdsinc.com, jjames@frontlinerobotics.com, mzipparo@ghs.com, nknudsen@sympatico.ca, bruce.lazenby@hotmail.com, michael_scott@rogers.com, david.luxton@allenvanguard.com, nathalie.bourque@cae.com, chris.stellwag@cae.com, andrew.arnovitz@cae.com, sonia.lebel@technopoleds.org,info@blackcoral.net, phil@philmurray.ca, jhfraser@ix.netcom.com, healey@auvsicanada.org, victoire.lebarazer@thalesgroup.com, caroline.philips@thalesgroup.com, Dave.Spagnolo@ca.thalesgroup.com, inquiries@ca.thalesgroup.com, info@gdcanada.com, Amy.MacLeod@gdcanada.com,
See Category "Canada"
Peace and unity march against border wall in Tigua region
From: Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr.
jay@villadelrio.com
Afternoon folks,
The border wall has not yet been built in Texas. But it is coming ... unless we build a wall of opposition. The dates will be August 27-31. Here is a breakdown of the August 27-31protest march against the border wall.August 27 (Wed). Kick off cultural event in Fort Hancock.August 28 (Thu). From Fort Hancock, walk to Alamo Alto. August 29 (Fri). From Alamo Alto, walk to Tornillo, hold community event. End in Fabens. August 30 (Sat).From Fabens, walk to San Elizario, hold community event. End in SanYsleta del Sur with the Tiguas community.
August 31(Sun). Morning ceremony in San Ysleta del Sur .
Then to El Paso. After arriving in El Paso, a bi-naional event will be held in Anapra, Chihuahua and Sundland Park, NM. You know! It was not many years ago that we called an "iron curtain" something immoral and inhumane, something that only cruel and hateful people would do to their fellow man, a product of a totalitarian enemy. So, from the Pacific Coast to the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, from both sides of the border we invite all citizens of good will, organizations, faiths and media to join us in this peaceful and united protest against the border. wall. Below this update are two letters. Of any city along the US-Mexico border, El Paso is the one with the deepest and longest history, some four centuries of human struggle and quest to preserve peace and unity. Yet, the far away powers of greed and callous seem to condemn each generation of El Pasoans to more division and oppression. The border wall is the latest assault against this community. 56 miles of "iron curtain" is the longest stretch of the proposed border wall against any populace along the entire US-Mexico border. While hundreds of miles of border wall has been constructed along the southern 1950 miles of US, of all the border cities, no other city or community is subject to as many miles of border wall. In solidarity, we cannot allow that to happen to them. We must join them in solidarity to oppose this assault against their community. We can show solidarity in many ways. Join the march, forward this information, donate to the event, post the event on blogs, and encourage the media to not allow such an historic event to be suppressed at the national level. So, please feel free to join us and liberally share this information with others.In solidarity against the border wall.
Border Ambassadors
Connecting the Dots
Making a difference~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr.(830)768-0768
(830)734-8636 (cell)
US-Mexican Peace and Unity March
"One Community United Against the Wall"
To the Residents of the Borderlands,
The people of the border share and are united by a history, a language, a culture. While this land may be separated by an international boundary, the people cannot be divided. As construction begins on the proposed border wall, it stands to not only further divide the land but to divide the people.
We of the border are one community. We are all affected when our neighbors are displaced from their homes, are all affected by waves of violence, by unemployment and anti-immigrant measures. As the borderlands experience a difficult time, we cannot be passive and simply hope for change. We cannot allow our community to be parted and so it is for ourselves and our future that we must stand together in an act of solidarity.
As the border wall cuts the land, it cuts the communities of the border and tries to create differences among them. This wall, imposed upon us by those who do not live here, is said to be a form of "security" but there can be no security when division and hate are created.
It's time that we mobilize to stop the building of the wall!
We are urging you to join the Peace and Unity March against the wall. On Wednesday evening, August 27, marchers will gather at Ft. Hancock for a cultural event to celebrate the beginning of the March. On Thursday August 28, the participants will walk to Alamo Alto. Friday, August 29, the march will stop to rest and a community event in Tornillo and end the day in Fabens. The march will continue Saturday, August 30, an will make a rest stop in San Elizario for a community action, to continue to Socorro. After a morning ceremony in Ysleta del Sur on Sunday, August 31, the march will continue to El Paso. A binational act in Anapra/Sunland Park will end the protest.
Those wishing to take part in the march can do so in a number of ways. Marchers are invited to participate for the entire five days, for any shorter amount of time or for the nightly events only. Donations of food, water, and transportation are needed along with monetary contributions. Whether or not you take part in any other way, everyone can help the march by publicizing it and discussing the issues with your friends, family, and neighbors.
Now is the time to act, now is the time to create the change we want to see. With this march, we will show the world that we are one community united against the wall: one voice speaking out for peace.
Join the march! Let us know if you are willing to participate in any way.
Carlos Marentes
On behalf of the Planning Group
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
soymechista@gmail.com
chamucos00@hotmail.com
jay@villadelrio.com
Afternoon folks,
The border wall has not yet been built in Texas. But it is coming ... unless we build a wall of opposition. The dates will be August 27-31. Here is a breakdown of the August 27-31protest march against the border wall.August 27 (Wed). Kick off cultural event in Fort Hancock.August 28 (Thu). From Fort Hancock, walk to Alamo Alto. August 29 (Fri). From Alamo Alto, walk to Tornillo, hold community event. End in Fabens. August 30 (Sat).From Fabens, walk to San Elizario, hold community event. End in SanYsleta del Sur with the Tiguas community.
August 31(Sun). Morning ceremony in San Ysleta del Sur .
Then to El Paso. After arriving in El Paso, a bi-naional event will be held in Anapra, Chihuahua and Sundland Park, NM. You know! It was not many years ago that we called an "iron curtain" something immoral and inhumane, something that only cruel and hateful people would do to their fellow man, a product of a totalitarian enemy. So, from the Pacific Coast to the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, from both sides of the border we invite all citizens of good will, organizations, faiths and media to join us in this peaceful and united protest against the border. wall. Below this update are two letters. Of any city along the US-Mexico border, El Paso is the one with the deepest and longest history, some four centuries of human struggle and quest to preserve peace and unity. Yet, the far away powers of greed and callous seem to condemn each generation of El Pasoans to more division and oppression. The border wall is the latest assault against this community. 56 miles of "iron curtain" is the longest stretch of the proposed border wall against any populace along the entire US-Mexico border. While hundreds of miles of border wall has been constructed along the southern 1950 miles of US, of all the border cities, no other city or community is subject to as many miles of border wall. In solidarity, we cannot allow that to happen to them. We must join them in solidarity to oppose this assault against their community. We can show solidarity in many ways. Join the march, forward this information, donate to the event, post the event on blogs, and encourage the media to not allow such an historic event to be suppressed at the national level. So, please feel free to join us and liberally share this information with others.In solidarity against the border wall.
Border Ambassadors
Connecting the Dots
Making a difference~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr.(830)768-0768
(830)734-8636 (cell)
US-Mexican Peace and Unity March
"One Community United Against the Wall"
To the Residents of the Borderlands,
The people of the border share and are united by a history, a language, a culture. While this land may be separated by an international boundary, the people cannot be divided. As construction begins on the proposed border wall, it stands to not only further divide the land but to divide the people.
We of the border are one community. We are all affected when our neighbors are displaced from their homes, are all affected by waves of violence, by unemployment and anti-immigrant measures. As the borderlands experience a difficult time, we cannot be passive and simply hope for change. We cannot allow our community to be parted and so it is for ourselves and our future that we must stand together in an act of solidarity.
As the border wall cuts the land, it cuts the communities of the border and tries to create differences among them. This wall, imposed upon us by those who do not live here, is said to be a form of "security" but there can be no security when division and hate are created.
It's time that we mobilize to stop the building of the wall!
We are urging you to join the Peace and Unity March against the wall. On Wednesday evening, August 27, marchers will gather at Ft. Hancock for a cultural event to celebrate the beginning of the March. On Thursday August 28, the participants will walk to Alamo Alto. Friday, August 29, the march will stop to rest and a community event in Tornillo and end the day in Fabens. The march will continue Saturday, August 30, an will make a rest stop in San Elizario for a community action, to continue to Socorro. After a morning ceremony in Ysleta del Sur on Sunday, August 31, the march will continue to El Paso. A binational act in Anapra/Sunland Park will end the protest.
Those wishing to take part in the march can do so in a number of ways. Marchers are invited to participate for the entire five days, for any shorter amount of time or for the nightly events only. Donations of food, water, and transportation are needed along with monetary contributions. Whether or not you take part in any other way, everyone can help the march by publicizing it and discussing the issues with your friends, family, and neighbors.
Now is the time to act, now is the time to create the change we want to see. With this march, we will show the world that we are one community united against the wall: one voice speaking out for peace.
Join the march! Let us know if you are willing to participate in any way.
Carlos Marentes
On behalf of the Planning Group
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
soymechista@gmail.com
chamucos00@hotmail.com
O'odham VOICE Against the WALL celebrates victory halting hazardous dump in Quitovac
(Double click on letter to enlarge)
O'odham VOICE A
gainst the Wall celebrates a victory!
gainst the Wall celebrates a victory!The hazardous waste dump planned by Mexico for the O'odham ceremonial place of Quitovac, Sonora, Mexico, was halted. The above letter from the US EPA confirms that Mexico is no longer seeking a permit for the area in the state of Sonora, Mexico. (Please double click the letter to enlarge.) The area is 40 miles south of the US/Mexico border in O'odham territory. The area was permitted without the knowledge of the O'odham people who live there and hold ceremonies there. Earlier, the US EPA said US factories in Mexico would be able to dump hazardous waste at the planned site instead of returning the waste to the country of origin, the U.S., for disposal, as required by law.
O'odham VOICE
Against the WALL
O'odham Rights Cultural and Environmental Justice Coalition
www.tiamatpublications.com/odham_solidarity_project.html
"Our sacred lands is O'odham"
(Photos: O'odham gather in Quitovac/Photo Ofelia Rivas; Photo 2: O'odham protest hazardous dump in Sonora, Mexico/Photo Ofelia Rivas) Please double click to enlarge letter and photos.
Against the WALLO'odham Rights Cultural and Environmental Justice Coalition
www.tiamatpublications.com/odham_solidarity_project.html
"Our sacred lands is O'odham"
(Photos: O'odham gather in Quitovac/Photo Ofelia Rivas; Photo 2: O'odham protest hazardous dump in Sonora, Mexico/Photo Ofelia Rivas) Please double click to enlarge letter and photos.
O'odham gathering in Quitovac to halt the dump in March 2008
Ofelia Rivas, "The placement of this toxic dump in Sonora, very close to one of the O’odham’s most sacred sites, is yet another blatant example of the environmental racism that characterizes the dominant culture. The toxic waste that will be put into this dump, should we fail to stop its construction, will be generated primarily by the maquiladoras along the border. These factories, made possible by NAFTA, are violating the human rights of those who work in them, and are now seeking to violate the sacred waters of Quitovac, all to satiate the consumer sickness and the greed of the US corporations who profit from the human misery and environmental destruction that they wreak. The placement of this toxic dump in Sonora, very close to one of theO’odham’s most sacred sites, is yet another blatant example of the environmental racism that characterizes the dominant culture. The toxic waste that will be put into this dump, should we fail to stop its construction, will be generated primarily by the maquiladoras along the border. These factories, made possible by NAFTA, are violating the human rights of those who work in them, and are now seeking to violate the sacred waters of Quitovac, all to satiate the consumer sickness and the greed of the US corporations who profit from the human misery and environmental destruction that they wreak."
Read article at:
Friday, August 8, 2008
Court reversal on San Francisco Peaks magnifies collpase of US democracy
Photo Save the Peaks
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Bending under pressure from the Bush Administration, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an earlier decision which halted plans to make sewer water into snow for San Francisco Peaks, sacred to 13 Native American Nations.
On San Francisco Peaks, medicine men hold ceremonies and gather medicine plants for healing.
The federal court's decision to reverse the earlier ruling magnifies the reality of the collapse of both U.S. democracy and the separation of powers in the United States three branch government. The separation of powers was designed to prevent the executive branch from interfering in the decisions of the high court.
Further, the federal court's decision violates U.S. federal laws and the recently adopted U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, pointedly Article 12 which states Indigenous Peoples have the right to carry out their ceremonies and culture.
In Flagstaff, the Save the Peaks Coalition released a statement after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued the long awaited ruling Friday in the case to protect the environmental and cultural integrity of Arizona's San Francisco Peaks. "The split decision overturned a previous court ruling and has temporarily denied attempts by tribes and environmental groups to stop Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort from expanding development and making fake snow from treated sewage effluent on the holy mountain."
"The cultural survival of more than 13 Indigenous Nations is directly intertwined with the environmental integrity of the holy San Francisco Peaks," said Jeneda Benally, a volunteer with the Save the Peaks Coalition. "Today's decision not only places these ways of life in peril but sets the stage for an ecological and public health catastrophe. We have no choice but to uphold our commitment to protect the holy San Francisco Peaks," continued Benally.
The United States Forest Service manages the San Francisco Peaks as public land and has faced multiple lawsuits by the Navajo Nation, Hopi, White Mountain Apache, Yavapai Apache, Hualapai, and Havasupai tribes, as well as the Sierra Club, Flagstaff Activist Network, Center of Biological Diversity, and others after it initially approved the proposed ski area development in 2005.
The Coalition pointed out that in the most recent ruling, the Court found that using reclaimed sewer water to make snow for skiing on an admittedly sacred site posed no 'substantial burden' on the Plaintiffs' exercise of religion in this case. According to the Court, the "only effect of the proposed upgrades is on the Plaintiffs' subjective, emotional religious experience. That is, the presence of recycled wastewater on the Peaks is offensive to the Plaintiffs' religious sensibilities...the diminishment of spiritual fulfillment - serious though it may be - is not a 'substantial burden' on the free exercise of religion." The Court dismissed Plaintiffs' religious beliefs as calling them mere "damaged spiritual feelings."
American Indian Nations primary arguments focused on religious issues by utilizing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which they had hoped would provide the necessary legal protection where other laws such as the American Religious Freedom Act have failed.
"The opinion is unfortunate and, in my opinion wrong," stated Howard Shanker, who represents Navajo Nation, Havasupai Tribe, White Mountain Apache Nation, Yavapai-Apache Nation, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, and the Flagstaff Activist Network. "The Court places itself in the position of judging the legitimacy of Native American beliefs and practices. It becomes the arbiter of religion which is not the proper role for the courts. The evidence clearly shows that the Peaks are important to 13 of the Tribes in the southwestern United States and that using sewer water to make snow on them constitutes a significant burden on the Tribe's ability to practice their religion."
"In this country Native Americans have no First Amendment rights when it comes to government land use decisions," stated Howard Shanker, who is also running for Congress in Arizona's Congressional District 1. "The federal government likely holds thousands of acres of land that Tribes hold sacred. This case was the last, best chance for the Tribes to be able to provide some legal protection to those lands. In a nation that prides itself on religious liberty, it is unconscionable that Native American beliefs are not respected under the law or the Constitution. We anticipate petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court for review of this matter," said Shanker.
"This ruling sets a negative precedent that impacts the future of Native American religious practice," said Francis Tso of the Save the Peaks Coalition. "We will seek to reverse this appalling decision."
The three dissenting Judges from the en banc Court argued that, "Religious exercise, invariably, and centrally, involves a 'subjective' spiritual experience." The dissenting judges further provided that, "The majority's misunderstanding of the nature of religious beliefs and exercise as merely "subjective" is an excuse for refusing to accept the Indians' religion as worthy of protection under RFRA." As noted by the dissent, "RFRA was passed to protect the exercise of all religions, including the religions of American Indians. If Indians' land-based exercise of religion is not protected by RFRA in this case, I cannot imagine a case in which it will be. I am truly sorry that the majority has effectively read American Indians out of RFRA."
"This decision is a painful affirmation of the lack of protection for our religious freedom," said Alberta Nells with the Youth of the Peaks. Nells continued, "It is a bitter reminder that not all citizens are equal in this country, but just as the civil rights movement did not give up when courts delivered blow after blow, we will not give up until our rights are fully upheld. We, the youth, will continue to stand up for our cultural survival."
"Federal land management policies are inconsistent when addressing Native American religious practice relating to sacred places. This case underscores the fact that we need legislative action to guarantee protection for places held holy by Native American tribes", stated Klee Benally of the Save the Peaks Coalition. "The deeply held religious beliefs of hundreds of thousands of citizens of this country have been trumped by a single for profit private business operating on public lands. What I keep wondering is 'How is that considered justice?'" continued Benally.
Environmental groups argued that the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act. "Eight of eleven judges decided to completely ignore the issue of 'What happens if a child were to eat this snow?'" said Rudy Preston of the Flagstaff Activist Network and a plaintiff in the case. Preston continued saying that, "The court dismissed the whole health issue on a procedural error thereby refusing to comment on the true health impacts of this fake snow, which has been proven to contain harmful pharmaceuticals and personal care productions, on our children. The court has obviously cast off this responsibility, and we will continue to demand accountability for our children and the land."
Environmental groups are concerned with the health hazards of using treated sewage effluent to make this snow, and are committed to continuing to challenge this ruling. "We obviously disagree with ruling-snowmaking with sewage is still plainly a bad idea," said Taylor McKinnon, Public Lands Director with the Center for Biological Diversity, "We'll keep fighting along side our partners. This ruling only emboldens our resolve."
The U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states in Article 12: "Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest, practice, develop, and teach their spiritual and religious traditions, customs and ceremonies; the right to maintain, protect, and have access in privacy to their religious and cultural sites; the right to the use and control of their ceremonial objects; and the right to the repatriation of their human remains."
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Bending under pressure from the Bush Administration, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an earlier decision which halted plans to make sewer water into snow for San Francisco Peaks, sacred to 13 Native American Nations.
On San Francisco Peaks, medicine men hold ceremonies and gather medicine plants for healing.
The federal court's decision to reverse the earlier ruling magnifies the reality of the collapse of both U.S. democracy and the separation of powers in the United States three branch government. The separation of powers was designed to prevent the executive branch from interfering in the decisions of the high court.
Further, the federal court's decision violates U.S. federal laws and the recently adopted U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, pointedly Article 12 which states Indigenous Peoples have the right to carry out their ceremonies and culture.
In Flagstaff, the Save the Peaks Coalition released a statement after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued the long awaited ruling Friday in the case to protect the environmental and cultural integrity of Arizona's San Francisco Peaks. "The split decision overturned a previous court ruling and has temporarily denied attempts by tribes and environmental groups to stop Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort from expanding development and making fake snow from treated sewage effluent on the holy mountain."
"The cultural survival of more than 13 Indigenous Nations is directly intertwined with the environmental integrity of the holy San Francisco Peaks," said Jeneda Benally, a volunteer with the Save the Peaks Coalition. "Today's decision not only places these ways of life in peril but sets the stage for an ecological and public health catastrophe. We have no choice but to uphold our commitment to protect the holy San Francisco Peaks," continued Benally.
The United States Forest Service manages the San Francisco Peaks as public land and has faced multiple lawsuits by the Navajo Nation, Hopi, White Mountain Apache, Yavapai Apache, Hualapai, and Havasupai tribes, as well as the Sierra Club, Flagstaff Activist Network, Center of Biological Diversity, and others after it initially approved the proposed ski area development in 2005.
The Coalition pointed out that in the most recent ruling, the Court found that using reclaimed sewer water to make snow for skiing on an admittedly sacred site posed no 'substantial burden' on the Plaintiffs' exercise of religion in this case. According to the Court, the "only effect of the proposed upgrades is on the Plaintiffs' subjective, emotional religious experience. That is, the presence of recycled wastewater on the Peaks is offensive to the Plaintiffs' religious sensibilities...the diminishment of spiritual fulfillment - serious though it may be - is not a 'substantial burden' on the free exercise of religion." The Court dismissed Plaintiffs' religious beliefs as calling them mere "damaged spiritual feelings."
American Indian Nations primary arguments focused on religious issues by utilizing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which they had hoped would provide the necessary legal protection where other laws such as the American Religious Freedom Act have failed.
"The opinion is unfortunate and, in my opinion wrong," stated Howard Shanker, who represents Navajo Nation, Havasupai Tribe, White Mountain Apache Nation, Yavapai-Apache Nation, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, and the Flagstaff Activist Network. "The Court places itself in the position of judging the legitimacy of Native American beliefs and practices. It becomes the arbiter of religion which is not the proper role for the courts. The evidence clearly shows that the Peaks are important to 13 of the Tribes in the southwestern United States and that using sewer water to make snow on them constitutes a significant burden on the Tribe's ability to practice their religion."
"In this country Native Americans have no First Amendment rights when it comes to government land use decisions," stated Howard Shanker, who is also running for Congress in Arizona's Congressional District 1. "The federal government likely holds thousands of acres of land that Tribes hold sacred. This case was the last, best chance for the Tribes to be able to provide some legal protection to those lands. In a nation that prides itself on religious liberty, it is unconscionable that Native American beliefs are not respected under the law or the Constitution. We anticipate petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court for review of this matter," said Shanker.
"This ruling sets a negative precedent that impacts the future of Native American religious practice," said Francis Tso of the Save the Peaks Coalition. "We will seek to reverse this appalling decision."
The three dissenting Judges from the en banc Court argued that, "Religious exercise, invariably, and centrally, involves a 'subjective' spiritual experience." The dissenting judges further provided that, "The majority's misunderstanding of the nature of religious beliefs and exercise as merely "subjective" is an excuse for refusing to accept the Indians' religion as worthy of protection under RFRA." As noted by the dissent, "RFRA was passed to protect the exercise of all religions, including the religions of American Indians. If Indians' land-based exercise of religion is not protected by RFRA in this case, I cannot imagine a case in which it will be. I am truly sorry that the majority has effectively read American Indians out of RFRA."
"This decision is a painful affirmation of the lack of protection for our religious freedom," said Alberta Nells with the Youth of the Peaks. Nells continued, "It is a bitter reminder that not all citizens are equal in this country, but just as the civil rights movement did not give up when courts delivered blow after blow, we will not give up until our rights are fully upheld. We, the youth, will continue to stand up for our cultural survival."
"Federal land management policies are inconsistent when addressing Native American religious practice relating to sacred places. This case underscores the fact that we need legislative action to guarantee protection for places held holy by Native American tribes", stated Klee Benally of the Save the Peaks Coalition. "The deeply held religious beliefs of hundreds of thousands of citizens of this country have been trumped by a single for profit private business operating on public lands. What I keep wondering is 'How is that considered justice?'" continued Benally.
Environmental groups argued that the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act. "Eight of eleven judges decided to completely ignore the issue of 'What happens if a child were to eat this snow?'" said Rudy Preston of the Flagstaff Activist Network and a plaintiff in the case. Preston continued saying that, "The court dismissed the whole health issue on a procedural error thereby refusing to comment on the true health impacts of this fake snow, which has been proven to contain harmful pharmaceuticals and personal care productions, on our children. The court has obviously cast off this responsibility, and we will continue to demand accountability for our children and the land."
Environmental groups are concerned with the health hazards of using treated sewage effluent to make this snow, and are committed to continuing to challenge this ruling. "We obviously disagree with ruling-snowmaking with sewage is still plainly a bad idea," said Taylor McKinnon, Public Lands Director with the Center for Biological Diversity, "We'll keep fighting along side our partners. This ruling only emboldens our resolve."
The U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states in Article 12: "Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest, practice, develop, and teach their spiritual and religious traditions, customs and ceremonies; the right to maintain, protect, and have access in privacy to their religious and cultural sites; the right to the use and control of their ceremonial objects; and the right to the repatriation of their human remains."
Save the Peaks: Struggle to protect San Francisco Peaks continues
WHAT: Prayer Vigil
WHEN: Saturday, August 9th, 2008
TIME: 1pm
WHERE: Buffalo Park in Flagstaff, AZ
For more information please call 928-380-8014
TIME: 1pm
WHERE: Buffalo Park in Flagstaff, AZ
For more information please call 928-380-8014
(Photo credit: Larry Smith 2007)
Integrity of San Francisco Peaks
Tribes & Environmental Groups Affirm Commitment to Protect Holy Mountain
Contact: Jeneda Benally, Save the Peaks Coalition
coalition@savethepeaks.org
(928) 380-8014
http://www.savethepeaks.org/
coalition@savethepeaks.org
(928) 380-8014
http://www.savethepeaks.org/
August 8, 2008, Flagstaff, AZ -- The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a long awaited ruling today in the case to protect the environmental and cultural integrity of Arizona's San Francisco Peaks. The split decision overturned a previous court ruling and has temporarily denied attempts by tribes and environmental groups to stop Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort from expanding development and making fake snow from treated sewage effluent on the holy mountain.
"The cultural survival of more than 13 Indigenous Nations is directly intertwined with the environmental integrity of the holy San Francisco Peaks," said Jeneda Benally, a volunteer with the Save the Peaks Coalition. "Today's decision not only places these ways of life in peril but sets the stage for an ecological and public health catastrophe. We have no choice but to uphold our commitment to protect the holy San Francisco Peaks," continued Benally.
The United States Forest Service manages the San Francisco Peaks as public land and has faced multiple lawsuits by the Navajo Nation, Hopi, White Mountain Apache, Yavapai Apache, Hualapai, and Havasupai tribes, as well as the Sierra Club, Flagstaff Activist Network, Center of Biological Diversity, and others after it initially approved the proposed ski area development in 2005.
In the most recent ruling, the Court found that using reclaimed sewer water to make snow for skiing on an admittedly sacred site posed no 'substantial burden' on the Plaintiffs' exercise of religion in this case. According to the Court, the "only effect of the proposed upgrades is on the Plaintiffs' subjective, emotional religious experience. That is, the presence of recycled wastewater on the Peaks is offensive to the Plaintiffs' religious sensibilities…the diminishment of spiritual fulfillment – serious though it may be – is not a 'substantial burden' on the free exercise of religion." The Court dismissed Plaintiffs' religious beliefs as calling them mere "damaged spiritual feelings."
Tribes' primary arguments focused on religious issues by utilizing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which they had hoped would provide the necessary legal protection where other laws such as the American Religious Freedom Act have failed.
"The opinion is unfortunate and, in my opinion wrong," stated Howard Shanker, who represents Navajo Nation, Havasupai Tribe, White Mountain Apache Nation, Yavapai-Apache Nation, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, and the Flagstaff Activist Network. "The Court places itself in the position of judging the legitimacy of Native American beliefs and practices. It becomes the arbiter of religion which is not the proper role for the courts. The evidence clearly shows that the Peaks are important to 13 of the Tribes in the southwestern United States and that using sewer water to make snow on them constitutes a significant burden on the Tribe's ability to practice their religion."
"In this country Native Americans have no First Amendment rights when it comes to government land use decisions," stated Howard Shanker, who is also running for Congress in Arizona's Congressional District 1. "The federal government likely holds thousands of acres of land that Tribes hold sacred. This case was the last, best chance for the Tribes to be able to provide some legal protection to those lands. In a nation that prides itself on religious liberty, it is unconscionable that Native American beliefs are not respected under the law or the Constitution. We anticipate petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court for review of this matter," said Shanker.
"This ruling sets a negative precedent that impacts the future of Native American religious practice," said Francis Tso of the Save the Peaks Coalition. "We will seek to reverse this appalling decision."
The three dissenting Judges from the en banc Court argued that, "Religious exercise, invariably, and centrally, involves a 'subjective' spiritual experience." The dissenting judges further provided that, "The majority's misunderstanding of the nature of religious beliefs and exercise as merely "subjective" is an excuse for refusing to accept the Indians' religion as worthy of protection under RFRA." As noted by the dissent, "RFRA was passed to protect the exercise of all religions, including the religions of American Indians. If Indians' land-based exercise of religion is not protected by RFRA in this case, I cannot imagine a case in which it will be. I am truly sorry that the majority has effectively read American Indians out of RFRA."
"This decision is a painful affirmation of the lack of protection for our religious freedom," said Alberta Nells with the Youth of the Peaks. Nells continued, "It is a bitter reminder that not all citizens are equal in this country, but just as the civil rights movement did not give up when courts delivered blow after blow, we will not give up until our rights are fully upheld. We, the youth, will continue to stand up for our cultural survival."
"Federal land management policies are inconsistent when addressing Native American religious practice relating to sacred places. This case underscores the fact that we need legislative action to guarantee protection for places held holy by Native American tribes", stated Klee Benally of the Save the Peaks Coalition. "The deeply held religious beliefs of hundreds of thousands of citizens of this country have been trumped by a single for profit private business operating on public lands. What I keep wondering is 'How is that considered justice?'" continued Benally.
Environmental groups argued that the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act. "Eight of eleven judges decided to completely ignore the issue of 'What happens if a child were to eat this snow?'" said Rudy Preston of the Flagstaff Activist Network and a plaintiff in the case. Preston continued saying that, "The court dismissed the whole health issue on a procedural error thereby refusing to comment on the true health impacts of this fake snow, which has been proven to contain harmful pharmaceuticals and personal care productions, on our children. The court has obviously cast off this responsibility, and we will continue to demand accountability for our children and the land."
Environmental groups are concerned with the health hazards of using treated sewage effluent to make this snow, and are committed to continuing to challenge this ruling. "We obviously disagree with ruling—snowmaking with sewage is still plainly a bad idea," said Taylor McKinnon, Public Lands Director with the Center for Biological Diversity, "We'll keep fighting along side our partners. This ruling only emboldens our resolve."
The Save the Peaks Coalition will continue their commitment to unify tribes, environmentalists, and all people who care about religious freedom, the health of our communities, and the natural environment.
###
Bush Administration controls Ninth Circuit Court, reverses decision on San Francisco Peaks
The Ninth Circuit fell prey to the heavy hand of the Bush administration and reversed its earlier ruling preserving sacred San Francisco Peaks from the making of articificial snow from toilet water. The Peaks, sacred to 13 Native American Indian Nations, are a sacred place where medicine men carry out ceremonies and collect medicine plants for healing. --Censored NewsText of Ninth Circuit ruling (click here)
August 8, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Oliver Bernstein, Sierra Club, 512-477-2152
Robert Tohe, Sierra Club, 928-606-9420
Howard Shanker, 1-877-848-9300
Tribes, Environmental Organizations to Continue Effort to Protect Vulnerable Population, Sacred Mountain from Ski Resort Development and Pollution
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. –Arizona’s sacred San Francisco Peaks and the neighboring tribal communities were denied environmental justice today in a split decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, ruling in favor of the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort in its efforts to expand and contaminate the area.
“The court failed to consider the claims of the impacts to human health form coming into contact with the treated waste from reclaimed water and did not take seriously the tribes’ legal claims because of a court technicality,” said Andy Bessler with the Sierra Club in Flagstaff, Arizona. “The decision leaves unaddressed water quality issues, since the Court failed to decide if using reclaimed water on the Peaks was safe for the environment or for human health.”
The San Francisco Peaks, north of Flagstaff, Arizona, are sacred to 13 tribes and are important spiritual and geographic boundaries. The tribes had brought legal claims under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the National Environmental Policy Act against the U.S. Forest Service from implementing a snowmaking proposal using reclaimed water to make artificial snow on the Peaks.
Attorney Howard Shanker represented the tribes and the Sierra Club, and he said, “The opinion is unfortunate and, in my opinion wrong. The Court places itself in the position of judging the legitimacy of Native American beliefs and practices. It becomes the arbiter of religion which is not the proper role for the courts. The evidence clearly shows that the Peaks are important to 13 of the Tribes in the southwestern United States and that using sewer water to make snow on them constitutes a significant burden on the Tribe’s ability to practice their religion.”
The Sierra Club agrees with the minority’s dissention, which read, “In so holding, the majority misstates the evidence below, misstates the law under RFRA and misunderstands the very nature of religion.” (from page 39 of decision). The Sierra Club will consult with co-plaintiffs to determine next steps following this misinformed ruling.
“The Sierra Club will continue to support our tribal partners to bring as much protection to the Peaks as possible and will continue to educate the public about the importance of protecting sacred lands located on public lands, from irresponsible developments like artificial snowmaking,” said Sierra Club Environmental Justice organizer Robert Tohe.
More on next page
Background:
The preliminary March ruling was one of the most important in recent years under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. In addition to finding that the snowmaking plan would have desecrated this sacred area, the court decided that the U.S. Forest Service failed to fully disclose the risks posed by human ingestion of artificial snow.
Tribes involved in the lawsuit include Navajo, Yavapai-Apache, White Mountain Apache, Hopi, Havasupai, and Hualapai. Since the first major expansion of the “Snowbowl” ski areas occurred more than twenty-eight years ago, tribes have been involved in court battles over the San Francisco Peaks.
###
Breaking news articles ...
Appeals court gives green light to Snowbowl snowmaking
Bizjournals.com, NC - 2 hours agoThe Arizona Snowbowl can go ahead with plans to upgrade its operations, including making artificial snow, following release of a ruling Friday by the Ninth ...
Ninth Court sides with Snowbowl in San Francisco Peaks dispute
Arizona Daily Star, AZ - 5 hours agoBy Howard Fischer The operators of Snowbowl are entitled to use recycled sewage to make snow on the San Francisco Peaks despite objections of several Native ...
Snowmaking OK'd at Snowbowl resort
AZ Central.com, AZ - 5 hours agoby Michael Kiefer - Aug. 8, 2008 11:10 AM A federal court of appeals on Friday ruled that using reclaimed wastewater to make artificial snow at a Flagstaff ...
Appeals court says snowmaking OK on Ariz. Snowbowl
Tucson Citizen, AZ - 5 hours agoAP PHOENIX — A federal appeals court has approved snowmaking using reclaimed wastewater at the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort north of Flagstaff. ...
Photo: Longest Walk at San Francisco Peaks/Photo credit Save the Peaks
U.N. celebrates International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples
Dear Friends,
August 9th is the 14th International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, and we hope you will join us in celebrating a particularly momentous year in indigenous rights. Among the milestones this year, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in a near-unanimous vote, and the governments of Australia and Canada formally apologized for their egregious forced-assimilation policies. The event is being celebrated at the United Nations today with presentations by a range of UN dignitaries from UNESCO and the UN Development Programme, as well as chair the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (and Cultural Survival board member) Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Ban's statement, released before the event, acknowledges indigenous peoples' "marginalization, their extreme poverty, the expropriation of their traditional lands and other grave human rights abuses" and also makes special mention of the disappearance of indigenous languages (you can read the text of all the day's presentations here: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/news_internationalday2008.html). One of the people being honored at this year's UN event is Marcos Xukuru, chief of the Xukuru people of Pernambuco, Brazil, who has been waging a desperate campaign for his people's land rights. His father was assassinated for a similar effort, and Marcos himself recently survived an assassination attempt that killed two of his colleagues. The chief has asked us for help, and we are donating a portion of the proceeds from this weekend's Cultural Survival Bazaar to his defense fund and coordinating a meeting between Chief Marcos and the Wampanoag Nation, which has some parallels with the Xukuru. Watch for more on the Xukuru in our upcoming enewsletter.
In the meantime, we hope you will help support the Xukuru by coming to the Provincetown bazaar this weekend. We also hope you will continue to support our ongoing work. As the Xukuru's situation makes clear, even though this was a banner year for indigenous rights, there is far more to do, and we can't do it without you.
Our work is possible because of people like you. Please join Cultural Survival and take part in our efforts to ensure that the world's indigenous peoples' rights to their lands, languages, and cultures are respected, protected, and fulfilled. Together we are making a difference! Sincerely,
Ellen L. Lutz Executive Director
Cultral Survival
August 9th is the 14th International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, and we hope you will join us in celebrating a particularly momentous year in indigenous rights. Among the milestones this year, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in a near-unanimous vote, and the governments of Australia and Canada formally apologized for their egregious forced-assimilation policies. The event is being celebrated at the United Nations today with presentations by a range of UN dignitaries from UNESCO and the UN Development Programme, as well as chair the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (and Cultural Survival board member) Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Ban's statement, released before the event, acknowledges indigenous peoples' "marginalization, their extreme poverty, the expropriation of their traditional lands and other grave human rights abuses" and also makes special mention of the disappearance of indigenous languages (you can read the text of all the day's presentations here: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/news_internationalday2008.html). One of the people being honored at this year's UN event is Marcos Xukuru, chief of the Xukuru people of Pernambuco, Brazil, who has been waging a desperate campaign for his people's land rights. His father was assassinated for a similar effort, and Marcos himself recently survived an assassination attempt that killed two of his colleagues. The chief has asked us for help, and we are donating a portion of the proceeds from this weekend's Cultural Survival Bazaar to his defense fund and coordinating a meeting between Chief Marcos and the Wampanoag Nation, which has some parallels with the Xukuru. Watch for more on the Xukuru in our upcoming enewsletter.
In the meantime, we hope you will help support the Xukuru by coming to the Provincetown bazaar this weekend. We also hope you will continue to support our ongoing work. As the Xukuru's situation makes clear, even though this was a banner year for indigenous rights, there is far more to do, and we can't do it without you.
Our work is possible because of people like you. Please join Cultural Survival and take part in our efforts to ensure that the world's indigenous peoples' rights to their lands, languages, and cultures are respected, protected, and fulfilled. Together we are making a difference! Sincerely,
Ellen L. Lutz Executive Director
Cultral Survival
Thursday, August 7, 2008
US EPA: Department of Environmental Racism
Desert Rock power plant air permit from U.S. EPA is environmental racism
From Bradley Angel
Greenaction
To US EPA staff that claim you support Environmental Justice,
Please do not EVER claim US EPA is a friend of EJ. Never.
This permit issuance was expected, but is a disgrace.
You and anyone else at EPA who thinks you support EJ should hold a press conference on the steps of the agency, denounce the agency’s racism from Navajo Land to Gila River Indian Community to the Colorado River Indian Tribes to Kettleman City and beyond, and quit.
Your continued participation in EPA’s racist and outrageous actions provides greenwashing of the EPA’s environmental racism.
I hope you all think long and hard about this, and whether you can sleep at night knowing that EPA has permitted a facility that will poison people, cause elders and families to be evicted from their homes, damage or wreck an important cultural site, and contribute to climate change and global warming. Wayne Nastri’s quote that “These analyses make CERTAIN that the existing air quality will not deteriorate as a result of the plant” is quite simply crap and a lie.
You and I know that a giant coal fired power plant will clearly harm air quality.
Shame on EPA and all of its staff that are complicit and remain silent in the face of EPA’s racism and injustice.
Bradley Angel
From Bradley Angel
Greenaction
To US EPA staff that claim you support Environmental Justice,
Please do not EVER claim US EPA is a friend of EJ. Never.
This permit issuance was expected, but is a disgrace.
You and anyone else at EPA who thinks you support EJ should hold a press conference on the steps of the agency, denounce the agency’s racism from Navajo Land to Gila River Indian Community to the Colorado River Indian Tribes to Kettleman City and beyond, and quit.
Your continued participation in EPA’s racist and outrageous actions provides greenwashing of the EPA’s environmental racism.
I hope you all think long and hard about this, and whether you can sleep at night knowing that EPA has permitted a facility that will poison people, cause elders and families to be evicted from their homes, damage or wreck an important cultural site, and contribute to climate change and global warming. Wayne Nastri’s quote that “These analyses make CERTAIN that the existing air quality will not deteriorate as a result of the plant” is quite simply crap and a lie.
You and I know that a giant coal fired power plant will clearly harm air quality.
Shame on EPA and all of its staff that are complicit and remain silent in the face of EPA’s racism and injustice.
Bradley Angel
Human Rights Training in Canada, where KI chiefs were imprisoned in 2008
KITCHENUHMAYKOOSIB INNINUWUG (KI) where six chiefs went to prison for defending the land from drilling
Human Rights Training for Indigenous Peoples, First Nations and Community Members
“Using the United Nations system to defend Indigenous Peoples’ Human Rights and hold Countries Accountable”
August 25 – 27, 2008
Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) Nation, Ontario Canada
KI Community Hall
Presented by the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC)
Monday, August 25th, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Meet & Greet Reception & Radio Presentation
Tuesday, August 26, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Opening Prayer: Local Elder (TBA)
Opening Address: KI Chief & Council
Introduction to Training Session: Director KI Lands & Environment Unit
Wednesday, August 27, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Lunch will be served both days
TRAINING TOPICS PRESENTERS
• Overview of UN and OAS Human Rights • Ron Lameman (Beaver Lake Cree, Canada),Systems and opportunities for involvement Executive Director, Confederacy of Treaty 6 • Human rights mechanisms including the UN First Nations, IITC Board of Directors Committee on the Elimination of Racial • Francisco Cali (Mayan Nation, Guatemala), Discrimination, Human Rights Council, Member, UN Committee for the Elimination of Special Rapporteurs and Committees Racial Discrimination, IITC Board President • How to do a human rights complaints/urgent • Andrea Carmen (Yaqui Indian Nation, Arizona actions to the UN and OAS USA), IITC Executive Director• Strategies for Implementing the UN • Alberto Saldamando, Human Rights Attorney, Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous IITC General Counsel Peoples; Self Determination, Treaties, • Ben Powless (Mohawk Nation, Canada),Environment, Subsistence/Food Sovereignty International Youth Representative and • Free, Prior and Informed Consent Activist Translation: Eno Chapman & Bruce Sakakeep
For more information contact:
Laura Calmwind, (416) 986-9856, laura@coo.org
Human Rights Training for Indigenous Peoples, First Nations and Community Members
“Using the United Nations system to defend Indigenous Peoples’ Human Rights and hold Countries Accountable”
August 25 – 27, 2008
Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) Nation, Ontario Canada
KI Community Hall
Presented by the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC)
Monday, August 25th, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Meet & Greet Reception & Radio Presentation
Tuesday, August 26, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Opening Prayer: Local Elder (TBA)
Opening Address: KI Chief & Council
Introduction to Training Session: Director KI Lands & Environment Unit
Wednesday, August 27, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Lunch will be served both days
TRAINING TOPICS PRESENTERS
• Overview of UN and OAS Human Rights • Ron Lameman (Beaver Lake Cree, Canada),Systems and opportunities for involvement Executive Director, Confederacy of Treaty 6 • Human rights mechanisms including the UN First Nations, IITC Board of Directors Committee on the Elimination of Racial • Francisco Cali (Mayan Nation, Guatemala), Discrimination, Human Rights Council, Member, UN Committee for the Elimination of Special Rapporteurs and Committees Racial Discrimination, IITC Board President • How to do a human rights complaints/urgent • Andrea Carmen (Yaqui Indian Nation, Arizona actions to the UN and OAS USA), IITC Executive Director• Strategies for Implementing the UN • Alberto Saldamando, Human Rights Attorney, Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous IITC General Counsel Peoples; Self Determination, Treaties, • Ben Powless (Mohawk Nation, Canada),Environment, Subsistence/Food Sovereignty International Youth Representative and • Free, Prior and Informed Consent Activist Translation: Eno Chapman & Bruce Sakakeep
For more information contact:
Laura Calmwind, (416) 986-9856, laura@coo.org
http://www.kitchenuhmaykoosib.com/
PHOTO: At the Indigenous Environmental Network Conference on Western Shoshone land in July, Sam McKay (seated second from right) was among six Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug chiefs who served time in jail for protecting the land from mining in Ontario, is second from right. KI is an Aboriginal community in the Boreal Forest of Ontario. Six chiefs were jailed for refusing to comply with an October, 2007 court ruling that allows Platinex Inc., a Toronto-based mineral exploration company, to begin drilling on KI traditional lands without protest or obstruction. KI established a peaceful protest camp at the Platinex exploration site.
PHOTO: At the Indigenous Environmental Network Conference on Western Shoshone land in July, Sam McKay (seated second from right) was among six Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug chiefs who served time in jail for protecting the land from mining in Ontario, is second from right. KI is an Aboriginal community in the Boreal Forest of Ontario. Six chiefs were jailed for refusing to comply with an October, 2007 court ruling that allows Platinex Inc., a Toronto-based mineral exploration company, to begin drilling on KI traditional lands without protest or obstruction. KI established a peaceful protest camp at the Platinex exploration site. Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Longest Walk in DC, photos by Morning Star Gali
Longest Walk in D.C. Photos by Morning Star Gali. Please double click to enlarge. More photos at: http://www.longestwalk.org/Publishing Censored News
The uncensored online news revolution
By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
It has been hard to keep up with all the censored news lately, there's so much of it. It is good to see the Mohawk women speaking out, as Canada emerges as a forerunner in the violations of human rights and attacks on Indigenous Peoples. Four countries -- Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia -- failed to vote in favor of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. After the adoption of the Declaration, New Zealand police launched a brutal attack on the Maori leaders of the sovereignty movement. The abuses of Indigenous Peoples in all four countries span the centuries. In Australia, children were stolen, raped and disappeared. In Canada and the United States, children were tortured, raped and murdered in Canada's residential schools and U.S. boarding schools.
But the brutality is not restricted to history. Today, Native people are ticketed by police and sent to prison at far greater rates than non-Natives for the same offenses. The prisons are filled with Native youths.
The US military deploys schemes of manipulation and false patriotism, relying on the high rates of unemployment and lack of opportunities in this racist society, to send Native youths to their deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are deemed expendables by the US government, just as Indigenous lands are deemed "sacrifice zones" for coal mining, power plants, oil and gas drilling and toxic and nuclear dumping. This is the reason for publishing Censored News.
Read more uncensored news at:
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report at the Hague/
Uncensored international news, including coverage of US torture and the need for President Bush to be held responsible for war crimes
Mohawk Nation News
Following the best writer's advice, "Write what you know," no one does it better than Kahentinetha Horn and the Mohawk grandmothers who publish Mohawk Nation News
Narco News/
Covers the reality of the US backed drug trafficking in the Americas, focuses on Mexico, Central and South America, including coverage of the Zapatistas and Indigenous Peoples resistance, with upcoming coverage to include the US presidential race ...
CounterPunch Widely read alternative daily news, high quality columns; "Slow Food Nation Gains Momentum," and "The Anthrax Cover-Up" are among the latest columns.
Pechanga Net
Victor Rocha, Pechanga Indian Nation, publishes what others fear, or can not publish because of their advertisers or publishers, in Indian country (See Native News category)
Indymedia Self published alternative news from around the world
Looking for someone or an issue on Censored News? Try the "search" in the upper left corner of this blog.There's also a "Blog archive" on the left side.
Shelley Brant: Open letter to Canada and First Nation Leaders
An Open Letter to Canada and All First Nation Leaders…..
By Shelley Brant
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory
August 6, 2008
The recent questionable killing of yet another First Nations man, Craig McDougall 26 by police in Winnipeg has led me to write this letter:
How many more inquiries and bodies is it going to take???? How many more unimplemented recommendations???? How many more police lies and cover-ups supported by the governments in this so called great country before people wake up to the truth????? How many more planted weapons in the media and on our own people?????
This is the list of First Nations people killed by police across Canada and some have led to inquiries and some haven’t and is probably not even a complete list:
Frank Paul, a 47-year-old Mik’maq man - Vancouver- Vancouver police officer dragged the man, soaking wet and unconscious, from the downtown holding cells and dumped him in an alley across town. - Paul had died of hypothermia accelerated by acute alcohol poisoning. Dudley George, aged 38, - Ipperwash - Ontario - was killed by a police sniper during a Native land protest at Ipperwash Provincial Park. Craig McDougall 26 - Winnipeg - shot 4 times by police while on a cell phone with his girlfriend.Matthew Dumas, an 18-year-old Anishnabe, - Winnipeg - was pepper-sprayed, shot twice and killed by a Winnipeg Police officer.Dennis St. Paul - Norway House Cree Nation reserve - Winnipeg - shot and killed by the RCMP.Donald Miles - Winnipeg - shot and killed by police.Howard Fleury - Winnipeg - shot and killed by police.John Joseph Harper - Winnipeg - shot and killed by police.Helen Betty Osbourne 16 - The Pas- police complicity in the murder case of Cree teen The Pas Manitoba.Neil Stone child 17 - Saskatoon - inquiry was released, stating that the Saskatoon police investigation into the 1990 freezing death of the 17-year-old - Saskatoon.Rodney Naistus and Lawrence Wegner - Saskatoon- whose bodies were also found on the outskirts of town in February, 2000 Geronimo Fobister at the Anishnabe - Ontario - reserve of Grassy Narrows Lorraine Jacobsen 40 - British Columbia - on a Kwagiutl reserve at Alert Bay - shot and killed by police.Gerald Chenery, a Nisga’ man - Vancouver - was shot 12 times and killed by two Vancouver cops Michael Langan , Metis 19 - Winnipeg- Death by police taser
You stepped into Iraq with the U.S. because of a dictator who was killing his own people, yet there is no difference between mustard gas and police bullets, they are both a permanent means of death, which makes you no better!!!!!
Perhaps someone should invade Canada and come to the aid of the First Nations people in this country who are at the mercy of it’s governments and their police forces, just as Canada comes to the aid of people in other countries for the same reasons.
I will say right now that I am ashamed to live in a country so full of hatred and racism, to the point where you can’t even trust the very people who are suppose to protect you which are the police not to shoot to kill because you are a First Nations person. There is case after case after case of First Nations people being killed by police who lie and cover up their deaths, only for the ugly truth to come out later yet they get exonerated and you would like people to think these are isolated incidents. They are not, they are country wide and you turn a blind eye because it might stain your quaint reputation. Well I am here to tell you: your secret is out and now we know why the U.N Declaration of Indigenous Rights did not get signed by Canada don’t we. It’s because in Canada we are not considered humans so therefore why should we have any rights that might empower us??????
It is quite apparent that the lives of First Nations people mean nothing in this country and I am ashamed to say it also doesn’t mean a lot to the Native leaders of this country either. If it did the people would not be left on their own to speak out on police killings or attempts, yet they remain silent, all except one group decrying the deaths of two recent First Nations men in Winnipeg. My point???? This going on all across Canada and where is the public outcry from the First Nations leaders???????? It’s going on right here in Ontario, where is the public outcry from the First Nations leaders?????? Have we become so colonized and politicized that the human lives of our own people boil down to who they are???? Does one life means more than another????? Are we so afraid that we might not get a vote or that the government might deny us something that we can’t even speak out and stand up for what is wrong in this country together, even when life and death is at stake?????? Silence means consent as far as I am concerned and if we have lost the meaning and value of human lives, the lives of our own people then we have completely lost who we are as a people. We might as well quit the nation talk and quit the cultural talk and quit the talk about who we are as a people because they are just words, your actions as leaders of all the nations across this country tell me there is nothing left worthy of fighting for. The only things left are an illusion and come from the outside, which has no meaning when it comes to being a First Nations person in this country. I will stand here today and say that I am no longer proud to be a Mohawk woman whose leaders can’t even stand up and do what’s right for their own people and that goes for the rest of the leaders across the country too.
I hang my head in shame at both this country and the First Nations leaders it has produced who would rather be silent than stand together with their own people who are systematically being killed by the police in this country!!!!!!!!!
Canada you can take your apology and stick it where the sun don’t shine because they are just mere words that mean nothing and perhaps in another 100 years rather than do something about the deaths of First Nations people at the hands of police now, you can apologize again!!!!!!
Shelley Brant
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory
Longest Walk photos by Takeo Koshikawa
Photos by Takeo Koshikawa. The Longest Walk in D.C. Long Walkers celebrate to the sounds of Keith Secola's NDN Kars; activist and actor Danny Glover on Longest Walk drum; Shannon Rivers from Gila River as master of ceremonies at the powwow and concert in D.C. More photos at: www.longestwalk.org/ (Please double click on photos to enlarge)Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Who's pushing dope to destroy Indigenous youth?
WHO’S PUSHING DOPE TO DESTROY INDIGENOUS YOUTH?
By Karakwine and MNN Staff
Mohawk Nation News
http://www.mohawknationnews.com/
Aug. 4, 2008. Drug abuse in Indigenous communities is not random. Someone wants us to be pacified and to push us to have a total social breakdown. They want our brains, morals and ambition destroyed. They want our Indigenous youth to be criminalized and minimized. Drug abuse creates misfits and society dropouts who are supposed to be discarded and discredited. It stops us from campaigning for our social and political rights. The colonists want us to shut up. They don’t want to acknowledge their obligation to us. They don’t want to admit they are on stolen land. It’s an old strategy. Going back to the 1830s Britain was the world’s major drug trafficker. The Europeans were jealous of the Chinese. They had so many beautiful items like silk, porcelain, spices, etc. Britain only had wool to trade, which the Chinese did not need. The Europeans had to get silver to trade with China. They also had tobacco from Turtle Island. To increase demand for tobacco they cut it with opium from India. Before long, huge numbers around the trading ports in Canton [the modern city of Guangzhou] were addicted. Silver began draining out of China and ruining the economy. The Chinese emperor passed a law forbidding the import of opium. They wrote to Queen Victoria asking her to control her nationals and stop the illegal trade. The Chinese announced all opium would be seized and burned. U.S. traders ignored the ban and brought in a shipment to Canton. It was confiscated and burned in public. The Americans got the British to declare war on China. The “Opium War” was to defend the “right” of drug dealers. The Chinese were not warlike. They did not have a big army to defend themselves from the British. The British won the war and forced the Chinese to give them a lot of land around Hong Kong. This has since been returned to them. China was forced to make opium legal along with unrestricted propagation of Christianity. The affect was devastating. A lot of research was done on how a few were able to defeat a population of millions through drugs. In the end the Chinese regained their independence. We Indigenous People of Turtle Island are in the midst of this same kind of struggle. Shouldn’t we ask why is the U.S. in Afghanistan? It is the source of over 90% of the world’s opium! Does somebody want the whole world to be stoned! In the 1940’s, British writer Aldous Huxley, who wrote “Brave New World”, went to the U.S. He recruited Allen Watts who became the guru of a nationwide Zen Buddhist cult in California in the 1950s and 1960s. He founded the “Pacifica Foundation” which sponsored two radio stations that pushed the “Liverpool sound”. This was the British imported “hard” rock twang of the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and the Animals. They also pioneered “acid rock” and eventually “psychotic punk rock”. In 1943 LSD was developed by Albert Hoffman, a chemist at Sandoz A.B. – a Swiss pharmaceutical owned by banker, S.G. Warburg. [He’s a Federal Reserve shareholder]. British and U.S. intelligence were directly involved. The book “Aquarian Conspiracy” described how new age philosophy was blended with the promotion of the drug culture. “The introduction of major psychedelics in the 1960s was largely attributable by the Central Intelligence Agency CIA’s investigation for possible military use”. It was codenamed “MK Ultra”.In the 1960s kids in the U.S. were protesting against the Vietnam War. The U.S. establishment did not know what to do. On May 4, 1970, the National Guard shot four kids at Kent State University in Ohio. They were protesting against the U.S. invasion of Cambodia ordered by President Nixon. The shooting was meant to quell the demonstrations against the war. It didn’t work. To divert the youth, a humongous drug movement was started. The 1968 mega concert at Woodstock in Sullivan County New York was part of the drug and “free love” movement sponsored by companies like Capitol Records. In New York City the “Ed Sullivan Show” displayed these groups nationwide to promote the drug culture. For the U.S. to continue its warmongering it had to corrupt and destroy its opposition, the youth. According to recently released CIA documents, Allen Dulles, the then head of the CIA, purchased over 100 million doses of LSD – most of which flooded the streets of the USA during the late 1960s. [Illuminaticonspiracyarchives.com]. The plan is for every instinct for survival to be controlled by drugs. The drugs produced naturally by the body are being replaced by drugs being manufactured by the multi-national corporations. Today, as a result of 911, the climate of fear has been promoted over the U.S. and Canada. The kids are told that fear can be shut out by going into this false artificial world created by drugs, pills and music. The kids lose touch with reality and are not able to understand or cope with social abuse. Today multi-national corporations and pharmaceuticals have control of recording companies, music, radio stations, television programming, films, mainstream news [msn] and advertising [almost total mind control]. A common theme is U.S. based “ghetto rap”. They are producing these themes for the vulnerable minds of the young people to confuse and control them. The kids learn to switch into rap and drug culture talk. Computers, games and cell phones are programmed to take them into this world. It is normal for people to react when there’s a problem. Often they blame people improperly like their fathers, mothers, girlfriends, boyfriends or people around them. The drugs divert them so their critical thinking doesn’t develop to a level where they can understand complex issues. Drugs create a rift between older generations and young people and to break up families. When people are emotionally hurt by broken families, they can’t think straight. This leaves them insecure, paranoid and open to manipulation by big business. Drugs have replaced the residential school program as a means of committing genocide. The difference is that they’ve persuaded our youth to commit the crimes on themselves. Anyone who wants to get out of it can if they are determined. Elders are there to counsel them. While they are off the drugs they start talking to them and get them back into reality and with their families. After treatment they need help and support and to occupy themselves. It’s an uphill battle for these counselors. Drugs are being flooded into Indigenous communities to stop people from thinking or asking questions. The colonists want to be able to lure us into giving up everything we have. In the majority of cases the youth experiment with drugs and then reject it. They get on with their lives. The oldest and the youngest are not involved. Those escaping it are able to stay in school. They are taught to deal with enticement from other kids and dealers. In any society the youth in between are vulnerable. Many of our elders know there’s hope for this generation. Marijuana is many times more powerful than it was in the 1960s. Other drugs are even more dangerous. Some, like chrystal meth, cause brain damage after one shot. The teachers and medical personnel get children on Ritalin and other drugs. Some parents use it to shoot up. It’s vicious! Those Indigenous people who are bringing drugs into our communities have been colonized into wanting power and control over us. Thus, the push for more powerful drugs onto our people! For this plan to be effective, they need to keep us idle and spaced out. Some government or police agents or medical personnel who say they are fighting drugs are actually promoting drugs. The whole dirty business keeps a few people rich. In some cases the dealers are co-opt to become “snitches” in exchange for protection. They purportedly supply information on us and are free to provide drugs to the community to weaken and destroy us. They’re never busted when there’s a “crack down” or a raid! Why? There are people in every Indigenous community who are fighting it. The battle will be won. We have the power to say “no” when somebody offers us drugs. We have to finish school and get a job. We all have to help our communities. Our indigenous youth are smart, dignified, respectful of elders and not prone to act without thinking. We are not “terrorists”. We are builders. Our young people are relearning our languages, ceremonies and carrying them on. We are defenders of Turtle Island. That’s who we are! Karakwine and MNN Staff Contact katenies20@yahoo.com Mohawk Nation News
www.mohawknationnews.com/
By Karakwine and MNN Staff
Mohawk Nation News
http://www.mohawknationnews.com/
Aug. 4, 2008. Drug abuse in Indigenous communities is not random. Someone wants us to be pacified and to push us to have a total social breakdown. They want our brains, morals and ambition destroyed. They want our Indigenous youth to be criminalized and minimized. Drug abuse creates misfits and society dropouts who are supposed to be discarded and discredited. It stops us from campaigning for our social and political rights. The colonists want us to shut up. They don’t want to acknowledge their obligation to us. They don’t want to admit they are on stolen land. It’s an old strategy. Going back to the 1830s Britain was the world’s major drug trafficker. The Europeans were jealous of the Chinese. They had so many beautiful items like silk, porcelain, spices, etc. Britain only had wool to trade, which the Chinese did not need. The Europeans had to get silver to trade with China. They also had tobacco from Turtle Island. To increase demand for tobacco they cut it with opium from India. Before long, huge numbers around the trading ports in Canton [the modern city of Guangzhou] were addicted. Silver began draining out of China and ruining the economy. The Chinese emperor passed a law forbidding the import of opium. They wrote to Queen Victoria asking her to control her nationals and stop the illegal trade. The Chinese announced all opium would be seized and burned. U.S. traders ignored the ban and brought in a shipment to Canton. It was confiscated and burned in public. The Americans got the British to declare war on China. The “Opium War” was to defend the “right” of drug dealers. The Chinese were not warlike. They did not have a big army to defend themselves from the British. The British won the war and forced the Chinese to give them a lot of land around Hong Kong. This has since been returned to them. China was forced to make opium legal along with unrestricted propagation of Christianity. The affect was devastating. A lot of research was done on how a few were able to defeat a population of millions through drugs. In the end the Chinese regained their independence. We Indigenous People of Turtle Island are in the midst of this same kind of struggle. Shouldn’t we ask why is the U.S. in Afghanistan? It is the source of over 90% of the world’s opium! Does somebody want the whole world to be stoned! In the 1940’s, British writer Aldous Huxley, who wrote “Brave New World”, went to the U.S. He recruited Allen Watts who became the guru of a nationwide Zen Buddhist cult in California in the 1950s and 1960s. He founded the “Pacifica Foundation” which sponsored two radio stations that pushed the “Liverpool sound”. This was the British imported “hard” rock twang of the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and the Animals. They also pioneered “acid rock” and eventually “psychotic punk rock”. In 1943 LSD was developed by Albert Hoffman, a chemist at Sandoz A.B. – a Swiss pharmaceutical owned by banker, S.G. Warburg. [He’s a Federal Reserve shareholder]. British and U.S. intelligence were directly involved. The book “Aquarian Conspiracy” described how new age philosophy was blended with the promotion of the drug culture. “The introduction of major psychedelics in the 1960s was largely attributable by the Central Intelligence Agency CIA’s investigation for possible military use”. It was codenamed “MK Ultra”.In the 1960s kids in the U.S. were protesting against the Vietnam War. The U.S. establishment did not know what to do. On May 4, 1970, the National Guard shot four kids at Kent State University in Ohio. They were protesting against the U.S. invasion of Cambodia ordered by President Nixon. The shooting was meant to quell the demonstrations against the war. It didn’t work. To divert the youth, a humongous drug movement was started. The 1968 mega concert at Woodstock in Sullivan County New York was part of the drug and “free love” movement sponsored by companies like Capitol Records. In New York City the “Ed Sullivan Show” displayed these groups nationwide to promote the drug culture. For the U.S. to continue its warmongering it had to corrupt and destroy its opposition, the youth. According to recently released CIA documents, Allen Dulles, the then head of the CIA, purchased over 100 million doses of LSD – most of which flooded the streets of the USA during the late 1960s. [Illuminaticonspiracyarchives.com]. The plan is for every instinct for survival to be controlled by drugs. The drugs produced naturally by the body are being replaced by drugs being manufactured by the multi-national corporations. Today, as a result of 911, the climate of fear has been promoted over the U.S. and Canada. The kids are told that fear can be shut out by going into this false artificial world created by drugs, pills and music. The kids lose touch with reality and are not able to understand or cope with social abuse. Today multi-national corporations and pharmaceuticals have control of recording companies, music, radio stations, television programming, films, mainstream news [msn] and advertising [almost total mind control]. A common theme is U.S. based “ghetto rap”. They are producing these themes for the vulnerable minds of the young people to confuse and control them. The kids learn to switch into rap and drug culture talk. Computers, games and cell phones are programmed to take them into this world. It is normal for people to react when there’s a problem. Often they blame people improperly like their fathers, mothers, girlfriends, boyfriends or people around them. The drugs divert them so their critical thinking doesn’t develop to a level where they can understand complex issues. Drugs create a rift between older generations and young people and to break up families. When people are emotionally hurt by broken families, they can’t think straight. This leaves them insecure, paranoid and open to manipulation by big business. Drugs have replaced the residential school program as a means of committing genocide. The difference is that they’ve persuaded our youth to commit the crimes on themselves. Anyone who wants to get out of it can if they are determined. Elders are there to counsel them. While they are off the drugs they start talking to them and get them back into reality and with their families. After treatment they need help and support and to occupy themselves. It’s an uphill battle for these counselors. Drugs are being flooded into Indigenous communities to stop people from thinking or asking questions. The colonists want to be able to lure us into giving up everything we have. In the majority of cases the youth experiment with drugs and then reject it. They get on with their lives. The oldest and the youngest are not involved. Those escaping it are able to stay in school. They are taught to deal with enticement from other kids and dealers. In any society the youth in between are vulnerable. Many of our elders know there’s hope for this generation. Marijuana is many times more powerful than it was in the 1960s. Other drugs are even more dangerous. Some, like chrystal meth, cause brain damage after one shot. The teachers and medical personnel get children on Ritalin and other drugs. Some parents use it to shoot up. It’s vicious! Those Indigenous people who are bringing drugs into our communities have been colonized into wanting power and control over us. Thus, the push for more powerful drugs onto our people! For this plan to be effective, they need to keep us idle and spaced out. Some government or police agents or medical personnel who say they are fighting drugs are actually promoting drugs. The whole dirty business keeps a few people rich. In some cases the dealers are co-opt to become “snitches” in exchange for protection. They purportedly supply information on us and are free to provide drugs to the community to weaken and destroy us. They’re never busted when there’s a “crack down” or a raid! Why? There are people in every Indigenous community who are fighting it. The battle will be won. We have the power to say “no” when somebody offers us drugs. We have to finish school and get a job. We all have to help our communities. Our indigenous youth are smart, dignified, respectful of elders and not prone to act without thinking. We are not “terrorists”. We are builders. Our young people are relearning our languages, ceremonies and carrying them on. We are defenders of Turtle Island. That’s who we are! Karakwine and MNN Staff Contact katenies20@yahoo.com Mohawk Nation News
www.mohawknationnews.com/
Honoring the walkers, photos by Morning Star
The Longest Walk march to the US Capitol on July 11, 2008. Please double click to enlarge. Photos by Morning Star Gali. More photos at: http://www.longestwalk.org/Monday, August 4, 2008
Day of Mourning for the US Media: Revolution for truth
Day of Mourning for the US Media
A revolution for truth
By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
Today is a day of mourning for the U.S. media. In case you missed its passing, columnist Roberto Rodriguez' article "Questions journalists never ask," serves as a memorial. Rodriquez' column also points out that it wasn't just the integrity of the U.S. media that died, but U.S. democracy, now on the fast track to Nazi-style dictatorship. The Bush administration and its team of multi-national corporate profiteers continue co-opting the U.S. Congress, military, police and commerce. So here's the Censored News challenge to U.S. journalists: Walk out for truth. Just get your personal items together, shut down the computer and walk out! It is as easy as that to bring about a revolution for truth.
Questions journalists never ask
More at: http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
A revolution for truth
By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
Today is a day of mourning for the U.S. media. In case you missed its passing, columnist Roberto Rodriguez' article "Questions journalists never ask," serves as a memorial. Rodriquez' column also points out that it wasn't just the integrity of the U.S. media that died, but U.S. democracy, now on the fast track to Nazi-style dictatorship. The Bush administration and its team of multi-national corporate profiteers continue co-opting the U.S. Congress, military, police and commerce. So here's the Censored News challenge to U.S. journalists: Walk out for truth. Just get your personal items together, shut down the computer and walk out! It is as easy as that to bring about a revolution for truth.
Questions journalists never ask
More at: http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Roberto Rodriguez: Questions journalists never ask
Columnist Rodriguez asks hard questions on Iraq, torture, impeachment, border xenophobia and US spyingCOLUMN OF THE AMERICAS
AUG. 4, 2008
QUESTIONS JOURNALISTS NEVER ASK
BY ROBERTO RODRIGUEZ
Having recently returned from a national journalism conference, I was reminded how most national mainstream journalists nowadays fail to ask the most basic of questions of powerful corporate executives or government officials. This is especially true in regards to issues of war and peace, where many journalists and commentators seemingly continue to act as government stenographers at best, and cheerleader sat worst.
Since 911 of 2001, many journalists have begun to fear that being watchdogs of freedom will brand them as disloyal and anti-American.
Here are some questions you will most likely not hear in the next few months from mainstream journalists.
(Here are excerpts from the column)
Questions for President Bush:
• If everything you warned about regarding Iraq was demonstrably false, why should you – or anyone who has supported your policies – be believed about anything regarding Iran or anything else for that matter?
• If the United States is the only nation ever to use nuclear weapons in wartime against civilian populations, where does this nation get its moral authority on this issue?...
Questions for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
• By taking impeachment hearings "off the table," did you not unilaterally disarm Congress in your effort to end the Iraq War and to hold the president accountable for starting an illegal, immoral and unnecessary war? ...
Questions for John McCain:
• You voted to prohibit U.S. military personnel from utilizing torture ("enhanced interrogation techniques"), yet you sided with the president to exempt the CIA from this prohibition. Doesn't this loophole render the prohibition meaningless? ...
Questions for Barack Obama:
• One of your steadfast positions in the primaries was your opposition to granting immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated with the White House in spying on Americans without warrants. Why have you now changed positions?
• The president and vice president have amassed unprecedented executive power. Will you reverse this, including ceasing the practice of signing statements that thwart the intent of Congress?
• You appear to believe that the Afghan War is a "just war." How long are you prepared to stay there? How much money and how many lives are you prepared to lose?
Questions for CNN's Lou Dobbs & Other anti-Immigrants:
• You are always quick to point out that you have nothing against legal immigrants. However, on "the street," this disdain [and the accompanying hate crimes] is focused on brown peoples. How do you and the people you have stirred up, distinguish between "legal" and"illegal" immigrants without resorting to racial profiling?
• Every evening, you tie the notion of broken borders and illegal immigration to the future of this nation. Do you honestly believe that your nightly obsession is contributing to a more perfect union?
Read full column:
http://web.mac.com/columnoftheamericas/Site/ColumnoftheAmericas/Entries/2008/8/4_QUESTIONS_JOURNALISTS_NEVER_ASK.html
Rodriguez can be reached at XColumn@gmail.com or
Column of the Americas, PO BOX 85476 - Tucson, AZ 85754
International Day of Indigenous Peoples in Tucson August 10, 2008
Contact: Jose R. Matus (520) 979-2125
International Day of the World Indigenous Peoples Community Event & Fundraiser
Join Us on SUNDAY, AUGUST 10, 2008
IN SUPPORT OF THE WORLD INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, INDIGENOUS RIGHTS AND IMMIGRANT RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN TUCSON AND SOUTHERN ARIZONA U.S.- MEXICO BORDER REGION!
ARMORY PARK SENIOR CENTER
205 SOUTH 5TH AVENUE
TUCSON, ARIZONA
6:00 pm
Tucson—The Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras, in a joint community partnership with the Coalición de Derechos Humanos and the Borderlands Theaters –Indigenous Community Standing In Circle Group, invite the community to commemorate International Day of the World Indigenous Peoples on Sunday, August 10, 2008. The official day recognized by the United Nations is August 9, and was first celebrated in 1994 at the beginning of the International Decade of the World Indigenous Peoples.
The event will begin at 6:00pm at the Armory Park Center. A regional Indigenous speaker forum will feature Indigenous leaders from throughout the Southwest who will speak about various issues affecting Indigenous communities, and the importance of World Indigenous Peoples Day, which serves as an anchor event in furtherance of collective and individual interest on our long range social justice movement sustainability.
There will be food available, and music provided by local bands: Francisco Gonzalez Harocho Harp music and Francisco Gonzalez Jr. Classical music and a Tohono O’Odham Chicken Scratch Band will provide the dancing music. The event is free and open to the community.
The Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras has celebrated and recognized International Day of the World Indigenous Peoples since 2004 as part of our commitment to promote respect for Indigenous individual and collective rights, cultural rights and identity, rights to education, health, employment, language, and others. The Coalición de Derechos Humanos is a community organization that works to promote respect for human/civil rights and fights the militarization of the Southern Border region.
All proceeds will go to benefit the Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras and the Coalición de Derechos Humanos, for the enhancement and promotion of Southern Border and Social Justice Movement in the U.S.-México Border region.
International Day of the World Indigenous Peoples Community Event & Fundraiser
Join Us on SUNDAY, AUGUST 10, 2008
IN SUPPORT OF THE WORLD INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, INDIGENOUS RIGHTS AND IMMIGRANT RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN TUCSON AND SOUTHERN ARIZONA U.S.- MEXICO BORDER REGION!
ARMORY PARK SENIOR CENTER
205 SOUTH 5TH AVENUE
TUCSON, ARIZONA
6:00 pm
Tucson—The Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras, in a joint community partnership with the Coalición de Derechos Humanos and the Borderlands Theaters –Indigenous Community Standing In Circle Group, invite the community to commemorate International Day of the World Indigenous Peoples on Sunday, August 10, 2008. The official day recognized by the United Nations is August 9, and was first celebrated in 1994 at the beginning of the International Decade of the World Indigenous Peoples.
The event will begin at 6:00pm at the Armory Park Center. A regional Indigenous speaker forum will feature Indigenous leaders from throughout the Southwest who will speak about various issues affecting Indigenous communities, and the importance of World Indigenous Peoples Day, which serves as an anchor event in furtherance of collective and individual interest on our long range social justice movement sustainability.
There will be food available, and music provided by local bands: Francisco Gonzalez Harocho Harp music and Francisco Gonzalez Jr. Classical music and a Tohono O’Odham Chicken Scratch Band will provide the dancing music. The event is free and open to the community.
The Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras has celebrated and recognized International Day of the World Indigenous Peoples since 2004 as part of our commitment to promote respect for Indigenous individual and collective rights, cultural rights and identity, rights to education, health, employment, language, and others. The Coalición de Derechos Humanos is a community organization that works to promote respect for human/civil rights and fights the militarization of the Southern Border region.
All proceeds will go to benefit the Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras and the Coalición de Derechos Humanos, for the enhancement and promotion of Southern Border and Social Justice Movement in the U.S.-México Border region.
Mohawk women file demand for rule of law
MOHAWK WOMEN FILE DEMAND: CANADA MUST RESPECT THE 'RULE OF LAW'
Mohawk Nation News
Aug. 4, 2008. The following “Letter of Demand” was sent to the Attorney General of Canada. We are reminding them to fulfill their obligation to us as our historic allies to protect our rights. Canada Border Services Agents has illegally erected facilities in the midst of our community of Akwesasne and is illegally interfering with our right to live peacefully among our people. In particular, criminal assaults have been conducted against members of our community, including the assault against Kahentinetha and Katenies on June 14th 2008 at the “Cornwall Ontario” check point. According to the Canadian Constitution Canada is governed by the rule of law and everyone is equal before the law. This means that Canadian officials must obey the law, just like everyone else. When they commit an assault they should be charged with an assault under the Criminal Code just like anyone else who commits an assault. According to Federal Court of Canada rules, the Attorney General must answer this letter by August 22, 2008.
LETTER OF DEMAND
Date: July 23, 2008
WITHOUT PREJUDICE
TO: Hon. Robert Douglas Nicholson
Minister of Justice & Attorney General of Canada
284 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8
613-941-6900 nicholson.r@parl.gc.ca
TAKE NOTICE THAT ON JUNE 14, 2008, KAHENTINETHA AND KATENIES, MEMBERS OF THE KANION’KE:HAKA/MOHAWK NATION, WERE ASSAULTED, BRUTALIZED, ARRESTED AND DETAINED ILLEGALLY AT THE CORNWALL BORDER.
The following are the facts giving rise to this incident.
1.On June 14, 2008 Sakowaiaks and Kahentinetha went to Akwesasne to pick up Katenies. Kahentinetha is a 68 year old grandmother. Katenies is 43 years old and also a grandmother.
2.At approximately 2:00 pm they were passing through the Canadian border control on the Cornwall portion. Akwesasne is a small community. The Canada-U.S. border has been placed in the middle of the Mohawk community. The people have to cross the border many times a day for groceries or to visit relatives.
3.Katenies, Kahentinetha and Sakowaiaks went through the border and were told to wait under the canopy. They sat there peacefully for an hour surrounded by guards. Some Mohawk elders showed up to witness. Several other vehicles were searched and released. Only Indigenous people were stopped. Eventually a platoon of about a dozen guards marched towards the car, all wearing leather gloves, flack jackets and all kinds of equipment hanging about their waist. One officer, Maurice Saucier [Badge #16121], was on the cell phone throughout directing operations during the attack on Kahentinetha and Katenies.
4.At approximately 3:00 pm Katenies was dragged violently from the back seat of the car by a gang of hefty young men and women. They knocked her down, pinned her to the ground, and forced their knees into her head and back. They handcuffed her and smashed and rubbed her face into the pavement. Sakowaiaks still remembers the sound of flesh hitting the pavement. She received bleeding scrapes and bruises on her face, shoulders, arms and legs. Katenies’ was taken into the customs building and later to Ottawa. She was not given any medical attention. She was not allowed to call her mother and her mother was not permitted to see her or speak to her. Katenies was held incommunicado for three days until she appeared in Cornwall court on June 17, 2008.
5.There were no warrants or charges out for Kahentinetha. Her ID and car keys had already been taken. Katenies’ has not been returned. Also missing are documents that were in the trunk and the shoes taken from Kahentinetha’s feet.
6.It was only after the assault on Katenies began that Kahentinetha was ordered to get out of the car. She saw what they were planning to do to her. Kahentinetha heard Maurice Saucier tell the other agents to “Take her out”. On June 14th 2008 she was afraid for her life if she got out of the car. She was right and continues to be afraid.
7.She was handcuffed, assaulted and imprisoned. Once in the cell, the attack continued. Some of the officers deliberately tightened the handcuffs she was wearing several times. This cut the circulation to her hands. The pain shot up her arms and she experienced flashes of light and pains in the middle of her chest and back. She cried for help. The guards ignored her and tightened the handcuffs more. They yelled threats at her and kept ordering her to bend down. A man stood behind her and had his hands on her pants. She received scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs.
8.Frank Horn, a Cornwall lawyer, and his son Kanatase, happened to be waiting in the line at the border. [613-935-8882]. They wouldn’t let him see his sister, Kahentinetha, until they took off the cuffs and gave her a chair to sit on. When he saw her, he immediately insisted on calling an ambulance. The Akwesasne Police stood and watched in silence. The ambulance took her to Cornwall Community Hospital and the Ottawa Ontario Heart Institute. She remained in hospital for 5 days in the trauma unit and intensive care unit. Since that time she had a relapse and was hospitalized at the Anna Laberge Hospital in Chateauguay Quebec.
9.The medical record confirms that despite excellent physical condition Kahentinetha had a trauma induced heart attack. Her recovery will take a long time. Part of her heart was killed. Her health will never be the same. Both women are now recuperating in the company of their children and grandchildren.
10.None of these women is associated with any kind of criminal activity.
11.The video footage of the assaults on Kahentinetha and Katenies on June 14th 2008 have been confiscated by Canada‘s Department of “National Defense”. We are informed the only way to obtain these videos is to “waive our rights”. .
12.Some of the CBSA officers had the following badge numbers: 17012; 16320; 16511; 16121; and 16275; Some of those involved and responsible for border issues are Alain Jolicoeur, President of CBSA 613-952-3200; Lance Markel, District Director CBSA 613-930-3234; Hon. Stockwell Day, Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness 613-995-1703 day.s@parl.gc.ca; Dave MacKenzie, Parliamentary Secretary, Public Safety, 613-995-4432 mackenzie.d@parl.gc.ca; Akwesasne Mohawk Police 613-575-2250 ext. 2400; and Louis Mitchell, Mohawk Security 613-932-5183, 613-575-2340;
13.We have reason to believe that the Canadian “state” conspired to kill us. These assaults appear to have been carried out by the Canada Border Security Agency, Canada Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, Akwesasne Mohawk Police Services and Mohawk Security Officers, all agencies of the Canadian government. The courts of “Canada” are presently issuing false charges and attempting to serve warrants on Kahentinetha and Katenies.
Demand for Relief:
14. The individuals who assaulted the three women must be charged, tried and punished.15.Full and complete undoctored copies of the video footage of this event.16.Full disclosure of all files and official communications concerning the cases of Kahentinetha and Katenies.17.$10 million for physical, psychological and punitive damages and such other relief as this court may deem fit.
Deadline for settlement:
18.An order that all Canadian government agencies will respect the time delays set out in the rules of court.
From:
Kahentinetha, Bear Clan __________________
kahentinetha2@yahoo.comj
Katenies, Bear Clan ______________________
katenies20@yahoo.com
% Box 991, Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada J0L 1B0, 450-635-9345
Address for service: for the purposes of this proceeding only, service to be made % Julio Peris, 625 Rene-Levesque West, Suite 900, Montreal Quebec H3B 1R2 – 514-933-4656 Fax 514-933-9587.
PLEASE NOTE : As can be seen, it’s becoming critical for legal actions to be taken to protect our rights. We have no funds. Canada is hiring costly law firms to suppress our rights. If you can donate anything to our cause, it will be greatly appreciated. Donate to: PayPal, http://www.mohawknationnews.com/, or “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Nia:en/Thank you very much.
Mohawk Nation News
Aug. 4, 2008. The following “Letter of Demand” was sent to the Attorney General of Canada. We are reminding them to fulfill their obligation to us as our historic allies to protect our rights. Canada Border Services Agents has illegally erected facilities in the midst of our community of Akwesasne and is illegally interfering with our right to live peacefully among our people. In particular, criminal assaults have been conducted against members of our community, including the assault against Kahentinetha and Katenies on June 14th 2008 at the “Cornwall Ontario” check point. According to the Canadian Constitution Canada is governed by the rule of law and everyone is equal before the law. This means that Canadian officials must obey the law, just like everyone else. When they commit an assault they should be charged with an assault under the Criminal Code just like anyone else who commits an assault. According to Federal Court of Canada rules, the Attorney General must answer this letter by August 22, 2008.
LETTER OF DEMAND
Date: July 23, 2008
WITHOUT PREJUDICE
TO: Hon. Robert Douglas Nicholson
Minister of Justice & Attorney General of Canada
284 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8
613-941-6900 nicholson.r@parl.gc.ca
TAKE NOTICE THAT ON JUNE 14, 2008, KAHENTINETHA AND KATENIES, MEMBERS OF THE KANION’KE:HAKA/MOHAWK NATION, WERE ASSAULTED, BRUTALIZED, ARRESTED AND DETAINED ILLEGALLY AT THE CORNWALL BORDER.
The following are the facts giving rise to this incident.
1.On June 14, 2008 Sakowaiaks and Kahentinetha went to Akwesasne to pick up Katenies. Kahentinetha is a 68 year old grandmother. Katenies is 43 years old and also a grandmother.
2.At approximately 2:00 pm they were passing through the Canadian border control on the Cornwall portion. Akwesasne is a small community. The Canada-U.S. border has been placed in the middle of the Mohawk community. The people have to cross the border many times a day for groceries or to visit relatives.
3.Katenies, Kahentinetha and Sakowaiaks went through the border and were told to wait under the canopy. They sat there peacefully for an hour surrounded by guards. Some Mohawk elders showed up to witness. Several other vehicles were searched and released. Only Indigenous people were stopped. Eventually a platoon of about a dozen guards marched towards the car, all wearing leather gloves, flack jackets and all kinds of equipment hanging about their waist. One officer, Maurice Saucier [Badge #16121], was on the cell phone throughout directing operations during the attack on Kahentinetha and Katenies.
4.At approximately 3:00 pm Katenies was dragged violently from the back seat of the car by a gang of hefty young men and women. They knocked her down, pinned her to the ground, and forced their knees into her head and back. They handcuffed her and smashed and rubbed her face into the pavement. Sakowaiaks still remembers the sound of flesh hitting the pavement. She received bleeding scrapes and bruises on her face, shoulders, arms and legs. Katenies’ was taken into the customs building and later to Ottawa. She was not given any medical attention. She was not allowed to call her mother and her mother was not permitted to see her or speak to her. Katenies was held incommunicado for three days until she appeared in Cornwall court on June 17, 2008.
5.There were no warrants or charges out for Kahentinetha. Her ID and car keys had already been taken. Katenies’ has not been returned. Also missing are documents that were in the trunk and the shoes taken from Kahentinetha’s feet.
6.It was only after the assault on Katenies began that Kahentinetha was ordered to get out of the car. She saw what they were planning to do to her. Kahentinetha heard Maurice Saucier tell the other agents to “Take her out”. On June 14th 2008 she was afraid for her life if she got out of the car. She was right and continues to be afraid.
7.She was handcuffed, assaulted and imprisoned. Once in the cell, the attack continued. Some of the officers deliberately tightened the handcuffs she was wearing several times. This cut the circulation to her hands. The pain shot up her arms and she experienced flashes of light and pains in the middle of her chest and back. She cried for help. The guards ignored her and tightened the handcuffs more. They yelled threats at her and kept ordering her to bend down. A man stood behind her and had his hands on her pants. She received scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs.
8.Frank Horn, a Cornwall lawyer, and his son Kanatase, happened to be waiting in the line at the border. [613-935-8882]. They wouldn’t let him see his sister, Kahentinetha, until they took off the cuffs and gave her a chair to sit on. When he saw her, he immediately insisted on calling an ambulance. The Akwesasne Police stood and watched in silence. The ambulance took her to Cornwall Community Hospital and the Ottawa Ontario Heart Institute. She remained in hospital for 5 days in the trauma unit and intensive care unit. Since that time she had a relapse and was hospitalized at the Anna Laberge Hospital in Chateauguay Quebec.
9.The medical record confirms that despite excellent physical condition Kahentinetha had a trauma induced heart attack. Her recovery will take a long time. Part of her heart was killed. Her health will never be the same. Both women are now recuperating in the company of their children and grandchildren.
10.None of these women is associated with any kind of criminal activity.
11.The video footage of the assaults on Kahentinetha and Katenies on June 14th 2008 have been confiscated by Canada‘s Department of “National Defense”. We are informed the only way to obtain these videos is to “waive our rights”. .
12.Some of the CBSA officers had the following badge numbers: 17012; 16320; 16511; 16121; and 16275; Some of those involved and responsible for border issues are Alain Jolicoeur, President of CBSA 613-952-3200; Lance Markel, District Director CBSA 613-930-3234; Hon. Stockwell Day, Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness 613-995-1703 day.s@parl.gc.ca; Dave MacKenzie, Parliamentary Secretary, Public Safety, 613-995-4432 mackenzie.d@parl.gc.ca; Akwesasne Mohawk Police 613-575-2250 ext. 2400; and Louis Mitchell, Mohawk Security 613-932-5183, 613-575-2340;
13.We have reason to believe that the Canadian “state” conspired to kill us. These assaults appear to have been carried out by the Canada Border Security Agency, Canada Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, Akwesasne Mohawk Police Services and Mohawk Security Officers, all agencies of the Canadian government. The courts of “Canada” are presently issuing false charges and attempting to serve warrants on Kahentinetha and Katenies.
Demand for Relief:
14. The individuals who assaulted the three women must be charged, tried and punished.15.Full and complete undoctored copies of the video footage of this event.16.Full disclosure of all files and official communications concerning the cases of Kahentinetha and Katenies.17.$10 million for physical, psychological and punitive damages and such other relief as this court may deem fit.
Deadline for settlement:
18.An order that all Canadian government agencies will respect the time delays set out in the rules of court.
From:
Kahentinetha, Bear Clan __________________
kahentinetha2@yahoo.comj
Katenies, Bear Clan ______________________
katenies20@yahoo.com
% Box 991, Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada J0L 1B0, 450-635-9345
Address for service: for the purposes of this proceeding only, service to be made % Julio Peris, 625 Rene-Levesque West, Suite 900, Montreal Quebec H3B 1R2 – 514-933-4656 Fax 514-933-9587.
PLEASE NOTE : As can be seen, it’s becoming critical for legal actions to be taken to protect our rights. We have no funds. Canada is hiring costly law firms to suppress our rights. If you can donate anything to our cause, it will be greatly appreciated. Donate to: PayPal, http://www.mohawknationnews.com/, or “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Nia:en/Thank you very much.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Underreported Indigenous Struggles: Mining, toxic dumps and destruction
Photo 1: Portest of Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Tucso.
Photo Brenda Norrell 
Photo 2: Indigenous Environmental Network's Protecting Mother Earth Confeence on Western Shoshone lands in August. Photo Brenda Norrell
Underreported Indigenous Struggles
Photo 2: Indigenous Environmental Network's Protecting Mother Earth Confeence on Western Shoshone lands in August. Photo Brenda Norrell
Underreported Indigenous Struggles
Reposted from:
Underreported Struggles #16
Indigenous peoples and farmers faced multiple attacks in Guatemala last month; while in Brazil, the government began preparing to station military forces on indigenous lands circling the border. In Canada, the Takla Lake First Nation continued blocking access roads on their territory, and in Fafak, 46 West Papuans were arrested, beaten, and humiliated for holding a flag-raising ceremony.
Meanwhile, Indigenous People in Guam, Papua New Guinea, Peru, India, America, Bolivia and elsewhere, positioned themselves to resist a series of new development projects that threaten to devastate their lands, contaminate their waters, and help destroy their way of life.
Underreported Struggles #16, July 2008 July 30
Brazil army to permanently occupy indigenous territories
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a decree last week to permanently station the military on every indigenous reserve along the border. The indigenous peoples are concerned the army will start taking their lands, influencing their cultures, terrifying them with surprise maneuvers, and raping their women — none of which is unprecedented.
July 29 Tribal group refuses to abandon homes for Vedanta
The Dongria Kondh, and indigenous people from the Indian state of Orissa, have stated they have no intention of abandoning their land for a controversial mining project headed by Vedanta. The Indian Supreme court is currently deciding whether or not the mine can proceed. If it does, the Kondh will face displacement from their traditional lands.
July 25 46 arrested for raising West Papua Independence flag
In the early hours of Saturday, July 19th, Indonesian police arrested 46 people at a flag raising ceremony in Fafak state. According local reports, the Indonesian Police attacked the group, “beating them, kicking them with boots and torturing the demonstrators. The men in the group were then stripped to their underwear before being taken to the Police compound. Two women were included in those arrested.”
July 22 China’s Colonizing Africa, While We Talk Charity
“From Nigeria in the north, to Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Angola in the west, across Chad and Sudan in the east, and south through Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique,” writes Andrew Malone, “China has seized a vice-like grip on a continent which officials have decided is crucial to the superpower’s long-term survival.”
July 21 Popular Assembly Held to Prohibit Uranium Mining
The Indigenous Municipality of Tilcara, in northern Argentina’s Quebrada de Humahuaca district, has ratified legislation that prohibits open-pit metal mining, as well as the storage, use, sale, production, extraction and transportation of dangerous substances used in the mining process. Tilcara announced its decision on July 8, in the final days of a popular assembly that convened in response to Argentina’s expanding uranium industry.
Listen to audio from the Protecting Mother Earth Conference
At Earthcycles.net you can listen to discussions from the 15th Indigenous Environmental Network Protecting Mother Earth Conference, held July 17 — 20, 2008, on Newe Segobia (Western Shoshone) lands, at South Fork, Nevada.
July 20
Canada’s Cameco targets Lakota homelands with uranium mining
Cameco, the company that just bought 500 tons of Iraqi yellow cake via the US and transported to Montreal, has targeted the Lakota homelands. “To Cameco, it’s about financial profit. To us, it’s about wasting and destroying water, and deadly contaminants that can never be contained or cleaned being released into the environment. Many generations of the future will be impacted by lethal contaminants, our generations will become stricken with fatal diseases.”
July 19 Residents of Ni’lin continue to fight Israel’s efforts to take their land
Ni’lin’s story is one of incremental dispossession. Since the 1940’s, Israel has been slowly expropriating sections of land held by this agragiran community. And now they’ve had enough. “In the beginning of May they launched a popular campaign to stop the dispossession, and despite the brutal attempts to suppress the uprising – which has included a curfew and shootings that have left close to 200 people injured — they are unwilling to bow down. This is no minor feat, since the annals of history suggest that it is extremely rare for a whole town to stand up as one person and practice daily acts of disobedience, particularly when confronted with such a violent response.”
July 18 Barriere Lake Algonquins Return to Ottawa
The Barriere Lake Algonquins are once again back in Ottawa for a three day protest. Camping out on Victoria Island, the community, alongside Montreal and Ottawa activists, has organized a panel discussion, a series of protests, marches, and events including a panel discussion, film screening, and poetry show. Last time the Algonquins came to Ottawa, they peacefully occupied MP Lawrence Cannon’s office, demanding the end of a March coup d’etat the government enacted on their reserve.
Tohono O’odham Demand Halt to Construction of Border Wall
On Thursday, July 10, the O’odham Solidarity Project issued a call to mobilize against the proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall. With the April 1st announcement by the Department of Homeland Security suspending thirty six federal laws to finish the wall by the end of the year, the O’odham way of life, their traditions, religious practices, sacred sites, and pilgrimage routes are now threatened.
July 17 Semai Forest Preserved Temporarily from Logging
Spectacular Rafflesia flowers and Rajah Brooke Birdwing butterflies are among the highlights of a Semai nature reserve in Perak State, Malaysia, that has faced the threat of logging for years. Last week, the state government issued a stop-work order to prevent any more logging, at least temporarily, in the vicinity of the Bukit Kinta Forest Reserve.
July 14 Bolivians Declare Emergency Over Brazil Dams
Indigenous People, local communities and labour groups in Bolivia and Brazil have declared an emergency in response to the Madeira River Hydroelectric Complex, a series of four dams along the Madeira river… Once completed, two of the dams would “flood and otherwise devastate Bolivian communities upstream, forcing the relocation of 300 known communities, as well as possibly destroying the territory of uncontacted indigenous communities.”
July 11 Federal police occupy Mexican village in toxic waste fight
For the past two weeks, some 200 troops from Mexico’s elite Federal Preventive Police (PFP) have occupied the village of Zimapán, Hidalgo, the scene of protests over a toxic waste site that the Spanish firm Befesa is scheduled to open this month.
Indigenous people mark the return of Cape York land
Yesterday, Lama Lama elders and many from the younger generations attended an historic Ceremony which marked the return of 110,000 hectares to its indigenous owners. A large portion of the land has been categorized as a national park,which will be co-managed by the State Government and the Lama Lama people.
Arizona tribes oppose land swap for mining
Arizona tribes are against allowing mining near sacred Apache sites. The tribes testified at a Senate hearing on Wednesday on S.3157, which authorizes a land swap between the federal government and Resolution Copper Co. Resolution would be able to open a copper mine on the land it receives. The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona testified against the bill, citing concerns by the San Carlos Apache Tribe. The copper mine would be located near a sacred site called Apache Leap.
July 10 Peru: Matsés indigenous people say no to oil exploration
The Matsés, a tribe of 2,500 people in the remote Peruvian Amazon, have rejected plans by the Peruvian government to explore for oil on their land. The government has created five exploration “lots” overlapping Matsés territory, and signed deals opening them to two companies, Pacific Stratus Energy and Occidental Oil & Gas of Peru. “No adequate process of consultation was carried out during the creation of these lots, not as the lots were being auctioned, nor when the contracts were signed between the oil companies and the Peruvian government.”
(more news here and here)
Indigenous Communities Oppose Deep Sea Mining
During the last week of June, indigenous representatives from the Bismark Sea region of Papua New Guinea held a three day gathering to discuss deep sea mining and what dangers they may face as a result of this experimental mining process. After three days of talks, the representatives emerged as the Bismarck Solomon Seas Indigenous Peoples Council, with a plan to oppose Nautilus’ and any other deep sea mining project in their territories until their concerns are heard and properly addressed.“Crackdown on Local Citizens Opposing Goldcorp’s “Marlin Mine Escalates in San Marcos, Guatemala
Tensions have increased in recent days in San Miguel Ixthauacán, located in the western highlands of Guatemala, as local opponents to the Canadian company Goldcorp’s profitable “Marlin” mine have received nine new arrest warrants, contributing to an escalating climate of tension for human rights defenders and community organizers in the region.
Guatamelan Campesinos Face Kidaps, Multiple Attacks
Rights Action has sent a media alert concerning the safety of members belonging to the National Committee of CUC (the Campesino Unity Committee) and more than 100 Maya Keqchi families from the Alta Verapaz region of Guatemala. Since June 30, they’ve faced multiple attacks and kidnappings by paramilitaries associated with the bio fuel agribusiness, Ingenio Guadelupe.
Six Nations Halt Construction at Five SitesOn Monday, about 150 Six Nations People stopped construction at a numb
er of development projects in Brantford, ignoring last month’s court injunction that prohibits ‘native protests.’ “Our people have been patient and today our patience has run out,” said Butch Thomas, a Seneca sub-chief. “Any new development in this area or on our land has got to stop. Today is the first day of taking back our territory.”
July 9 Indigenous Peoples’ Declaration on G8 Summit
Prior the G8 Summit in Japan this year indigenous peoples from around the world gathered in Ainu Mosir. This is the official declaration they have prepared.
July 6 Takla Lake Escalates Blockade
In response to the Canadian government’s continued refusal to deal with their concerns, the Takla Lake First Nation has blockaded a second access road to their traditional territory. “The situation is urgent”, states Chief Dolly Abraham. “We need to sit down with the Province and with all mining companies in our Territory if any exploration is to be allowed this year. “We will keep the blockade up until several urgent issues are meaningfully dealt with.”
July 4 Bear Butte bar gets nod for liquor license
The 3-2 vote came after about an hour and a half of testimony from representatives of Target Logistics — a Boston-based company that intends to buy the embattled campground — and Native Americans, concerned citizens and other activists who support a development buffer or an alcohol ban near Bear Butte.
Activists protest ‘violation’ of fishing rights
MEMBERS of the Taotaomona Native Rights Group protested at Matapang Beach Park in Tumon yesterday as they waved the Guam flag and carried signs to appeal to the community, stating that their fishing rights as an indigenous people are being violated. “We have been deprived to fish freely or to hunt freely. If we are caught, we are cited as committing an ‘offense.’ We are arrested, charged fines, even face the threat of jail. These injustices imposed against us is totally wrong!”
Mi’kmaq and Maliseet Say NO to Uranium mining
With Canada’s Uranium boom in overdrive, more and more indigenous peoples are being threatened by the scourge that is the uranium industry. The latest threat, according to Ruth Levi, President of the Mawiw Council of First Nations, concerns the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet on the east coast. Ruth says the two Nations “are experiencing growing frustration with the approach of industry and government toward achieving development and self-sufficiency in the province.”
Videos
Penusah Tana: The Forgotten Struggle
Penusah Tana: The Forgotten Struggle, is the story of the forest-dwelling Penan tribe of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. Historically, the Penan maintained a harmonious relationship with the rainforest, one that could have went on forever. Today, however, the Penan’s relationship is nearing its end, along with the rainforest itself. The Algonquins of Barriere Lake
The Algonquins of Barriere Lake is a 41-minute documentary that illustrates the Algonquin community’s decades-long struggle to have their land and resource rights recognized by Canada and the Province of Quebec.
Photo by Rita Willaert
Originally posted at Intercontinental Cry.org
Underreported Struggles #16
Indigenous peoples and farmers faced multiple attacks in Guatemala last month; while in Brazil, the government began preparing to station military forces on indigenous lands circling the border. In Canada, the Takla Lake First Nation continued blocking access roads on their territory, and in Fafak, 46 West Papuans were arrested, beaten, and humiliated for holding a flag-raising ceremony.
Meanwhile, Indigenous People in Guam, Papua New Guinea, Peru, India, America, Bolivia and elsewhere, positioned themselves to resist a series of new development projects that threaten to devastate their lands, contaminate their waters, and help destroy their way of life.
Underreported Struggles #16, July 2008 July 30
Brazil army to permanently occupy indigenous territories
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a decree last week to permanently station the military on every indigenous reserve along the border. The indigenous peoples are concerned the army will start taking their lands, influencing their cultures, terrifying them with surprise maneuvers, and raping their women — none of which is unprecedented.
July 29 Tribal group refuses to abandon homes for Vedanta
The Dongria Kondh, and indigenous people from the Indian state of Orissa, have stated they have no intention of abandoning their land for a controversial mining project headed by Vedanta. The Indian Supreme court is currently deciding whether or not the mine can proceed. If it does, the Kondh will face displacement from their traditional lands.
July 25 46 arrested for raising West Papua Independence flag
In the early hours of Saturday, July 19th, Indonesian police arrested 46 people at a flag raising ceremony in Fafak state. According local reports, the Indonesian Police attacked the group, “beating them, kicking them with boots and torturing the demonstrators. The men in the group were then stripped to their underwear before being taken to the Police compound. Two women were included in those arrested.”
July 22 China’s Colonizing Africa, While We Talk Charity
“From Nigeria in the north, to Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Angola in the west, across Chad and Sudan in the east, and south through Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique,” writes Andrew Malone, “China has seized a vice-like grip on a continent which officials have decided is crucial to the superpower’s long-term survival.”
July 21 Popular Assembly Held to Prohibit Uranium Mining
The Indigenous Municipality of Tilcara, in northern Argentina’s Quebrada de Humahuaca district, has ratified legislation that prohibits open-pit metal mining, as well as the storage, use, sale, production, extraction and transportation of dangerous substances used in the mining process. Tilcara announced its decision on July 8, in the final days of a popular assembly that convened in response to Argentina’s expanding uranium industry.
Listen to audio from the Protecting Mother Earth Conference
At Earthcycles.net you can listen to discussions from the 15th Indigenous Environmental Network Protecting Mother Earth Conference, held July 17 — 20, 2008, on Newe Segobia (Western Shoshone) lands, at South Fork, Nevada.
July 20
Canada’s Cameco targets Lakota homelands with uranium mining
Cameco, the company that just bought 500 tons of Iraqi yellow cake via the US and transported to Montreal, has targeted the Lakota homelands. “To Cameco, it’s about financial profit. To us, it’s about wasting and destroying water, and deadly contaminants that can never be contained or cleaned being released into the environment. Many generations of the future will be impacted by lethal contaminants, our generations will become stricken with fatal diseases.”
July 19 Residents of Ni’lin continue to fight Israel’s efforts to take their land
Ni’lin’s story is one of incremental dispossession. Since the 1940’s, Israel has been slowly expropriating sections of land held by this agragiran community. And now they’ve had enough. “In the beginning of May they launched a popular campaign to stop the dispossession, and despite the brutal attempts to suppress the uprising – which has included a curfew and shootings that have left close to 200 people injured — they are unwilling to bow down. This is no minor feat, since the annals of history suggest that it is extremely rare for a whole town to stand up as one person and practice daily acts of disobedience, particularly when confronted with such a violent response.”
July 18 Barriere Lake Algonquins Return to Ottawa
The Barriere Lake Algonquins are once again back in Ottawa for a three day protest. Camping out on Victoria Island, the community, alongside Montreal and Ottawa activists, has organized a panel discussion, a series of protests, marches, and events including a panel discussion, film screening, and poetry show. Last time the Algonquins came to Ottawa, they peacefully occupied MP Lawrence Cannon’s office, demanding the end of a March coup d’etat the government enacted on their reserve.
Tohono O’odham Demand Halt to Construction of Border Wall
On Thursday, July 10, the O’odham Solidarity Project issued a call to mobilize against the proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall. With the April 1st announcement by the Department of Homeland Security suspending thirty six federal laws to finish the wall by the end of the year, the O’odham way of life, their traditions, religious practices, sacred sites, and pilgrimage routes are now threatened.
July 17 Semai Forest Preserved Temporarily from Logging
Spectacular Rafflesia flowers and Rajah Brooke Birdwing butterflies are among the highlights of a Semai nature reserve in Perak State, Malaysia, that has faced the threat of logging for years. Last week, the state government issued a stop-work order to prevent any more logging, at least temporarily, in the vicinity of the Bukit Kinta Forest Reserve.
July 14 Bolivians Declare Emergency Over Brazil Dams
Indigenous People, local communities and labour groups in Bolivia and Brazil have declared an emergency in response to the Madeira River Hydroelectric Complex, a series of four dams along the Madeira river… Once completed, two of the dams would “flood and otherwise devastate Bolivian communities upstream, forcing the relocation of 300 known communities, as well as possibly destroying the territory of uncontacted indigenous communities.”
July 11 Federal police occupy Mexican village in toxic waste fight
For the past two weeks, some 200 troops from Mexico’s elite Federal Preventive Police (PFP) have occupied the village of Zimapán, Hidalgo, the scene of protests over a toxic waste site that the Spanish firm Befesa is scheduled to open this month.
Indigenous people mark the return of Cape York land
Yesterday, Lama Lama elders and many from the younger generations attended an historic Ceremony which marked the return of 110,000 hectares to its indigenous owners. A large portion of the land has been categorized as a national park,which will be co-managed by the State Government and the Lama Lama people.
Arizona tribes oppose land swap for mining
Arizona tribes are against allowing mining near sacred Apache sites. The tribes testified at a Senate hearing on Wednesday on S.3157, which authorizes a land swap between the federal government and Resolution Copper Co. Resolution would be able to open a copper mine on the land it receives. The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona testified against the bill, citing concerns by the San Carlos Apache Tribe. The copper mine would be located near a sacred site called Apache Leap.
July 10 Peru: Matsés indigenous people say no to oil exploration
The Matsés, a tribe of 2,500 people in the remote Peruvian Amazon, have rejected plans by the Peruvian government to explore for oil on their land. The government has created five exploration “lots” overlapping Matsés territory, and signed deals opening them to two companies, Pacific Stratus Energy and Occidental Oil & Gas of Peru. “No adequate process of consultation was carried out during the creation of these lots, not as the lots were being auctioned, nor when the contracts were signed between the oil companies and the Peruvian government.”
(more news here and here)
Indigenous Communities Oppose Deep Sea Mining
During the last week of June, indigenous representatives from the Bismark Sea region of Papua New Guinea held a three day gathering to discuss deep sea mining and what dangers they may face as a result of this experimental mining process. After three days of talks, the representatives emerged as the Bismarck Solomon Seas Indigenous Peoples Council, with a plan to oppose Nautilus’ and any other deep sea mining project in their territories until their concerns are heard and properly addressed.“Crackdown on Local Citizens Opposing Goldcorp’s “Marlin Mine Escalates in San Marcos, Guatemala
Tensions have increased in recent days in San Miguel Ixthauacán, located in the western highlands of Guatemala, as local opponents to the Canadian company Goldcorp’s profitable “Marlin” mine have received nine new arrest warrants, contributing to an escalating climate of tension for human rights defenders and community organizers in the region.
Guatamelan Campesinos Face Kidaps, Multiple Attacks
Rights Action has sent a media alert concerning the safety of members belonging to the National Committee of CUC (the Campesino Unity Committee) and more than 100 Maya Keqchi families from the Alta Verapaz region of Guatemala. Since June 30, they’ve faced multiple attacks and kidnappings by paramilitaries associated with the bio fuel agribusiness, Ingenio Guadelupe.
Six Nations Halt Construction at Five SitesOn Monday, about 150 Six Nations People stopped construction at a numb
er of development projects in Brantford, ignoring last month’s court injunction that prohibits ‘native protests.’ “Our people have been patient and today our patience has run out,” said Butch Thomas, a Seneca sub-chief. “Any new development in this area or on our land has got to stop. Today is the first day of taking back our territory.”
July 9 Indigenous Peoples’ Declaration on G8 Summit
Prior the G8 Summit in Japan this year indigenous peoples from around the world gathered in Ainu Mosir. This is the official declaration they have prepared.
July 6 Takla Lake Escalates Blockade
In response to the Canadian government’s continued refusal to deal with their concerns, the Takla Lake First Nation has blockaded a second access road to their traditional territory. “The situation is urgent”, states Chief Dolly Abraham. “We need to sit down with the Province and with all mining companies in our Territory if any exploration is to be allowed this year. “We will keep the blockade up until several urgent issues are meaningfully dealt with.”
July 4 Bear Butte bar gets nod for liquor license
The 3-2 vote came after about an hour and a half of testimony from representatives of Target Logistics — a Boston-based company that intends to buy the embattled campground — and Native Americans, concerned citizens and other activists who support a development buffer or an alcohol ban near Bear Butte.
Activists protest ‘violation’ of fishing rights
MEMBERS of the Taotaomona Native Rights Group protested at Matapang Beach Park in Tumon yesterday as they waved the Guam flag and carried signs to appeal to the community, stating that their fishing rights as an indigenous people are being violated. “We have been deprived to fish freely or to hunt freely. If we are caught, we are cited as committing an ‘offense.’ We are arrested, charged fines, even face the threat of jail. These injustices imposed against us is totally wrong!”
Mi’kmaq and Maliseet Say NO to Uranium mining
With Canada’s Uranium boom in overdrive, more and more indigenous peoples are being threatened by the scourge that is the uranium industry. The latest threat, according to Ruth Levi, President of the Mawiw Council of First Nations, concerns the Mi’kmaq and Maliseet on the east coast. Ruth says the two Nations “are experiencing growing frustration with the approach of industry and government toward achieving development and self-sufficiency in the province.”
Videos
Penusah Tana: The Forgotten Struggle
Penusah Tana: The Forgotten Struggle, is the story of the forest-dwelling Penan tribe of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. Historically, the Penan maintained a harmonious relationship with the rainforest, one that could have went on forever. Today, however, the Penan’s relationship is nearing its end, along with the rainforest itself. The Algonquins of Barriere Lake
The Algonquins of Barriere Lake is a 41-minute documentary that illustrates the Algonquin community’s decades-long struggle to have their land and resource rights recognized by Canada and the Province of Quebec.
Photo by Rita Willaert
Originally posted at Intercontinental Cry.org
Friday, August 1, 2008
Family of walkers: Longest Walk northern route
Special thanks to Michael Lane, Menominee, and Sharon Heta, Maori, and daughters for all your sacrifices, love and friendship on the Longest Walk Northern Route -- brendaMichael, Sharon and their daughters arrived on the walk from New Zealand. If you would like to assist the family on their journey, their e-mail is: Michael Lane: wabus44@hotmail.com
(Photo by Brita Brookes)
Longest Walk photos by Morning Star Gali
Longest Walk March to the US Capitol on July 11, 2008. Photos by Morning Star Gali. For more photos: http://www.longestwalk.org/End the war against the Zapatista communities
The zapatistas are not alone!END THE WAR AGAINST THE ZAPATISTA COMMUNITIES
(Photo Marcos and Comandantes in Sonora, Mexico in 2007/Photo Brenda Norrell)
Signed Statement:
We, the organizations, collectives, movements, networks, communities, peoples, families and individuals who are adherents or sympathizers of the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandón Jungle, women, men, children and elders of the entire country declare:1. For almost a year, the harrasment, provocations, repression, militarization and aggressions against the indigenous zapatista communities have been worsening. The military incursion of this past June 4th is only the most visible sign of a strategy that seeks to attack the social base of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) and the heart of indigenous autonomy: the land and territory. We condemn and reject these actions and demand that they stop immediately.2. This new offensive is articulated once again by paramilitary groups and by the State Government of Chiapas, as well as by the Federal Government. It is a political-military strategy that seeks to back zapatismo into a corner. Complicit in this strategy is the silence of the mass media and everyone who remains silent before the repression through which our zapatista sisters and brothers are living. We will not be silent. We demand an immediate halt to this offensive against the zapatista project, which represents an alternative for the peoples of the world.3. Dignified autonomy is constructed in the councils of good government and the autonomous zapatista municipalities in rebellion, which we recognize as one of the most important alternatives for humanity. We join the process of defense of zapatista autonomy, that exists today under increasing risk with this new violent offensive.4. We demand that the Federal and State government halt already the violent actions against the zapatista communities. To all the zapatista support bases, autonomous municipalities and councils of good government, as well as the EZLN itself, today we return to say YOU ARE NOT ALONE. We are with those of you who make up the Other Campaign, and from the entire country we send a message of support and solidarity.5. It is the hour of mobilization and organization in defense and support of the EZLN. Before the drums of war it is necessary to organize now the civil and peaceful response from all the corners of the country.THE ZAPATISTAS ARE NOT ALONE!THE FEDERAL ARMY OUT OF CHIAPAS!LONG LIVE THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN RESISTANCELONG LIVE ZAPATISTA AUTONOMYLONG LIVE THE ZAPATISTA ARMY OF NATIONAL LIBERATION210 Collectives, organizations, communities, networks, movements, and 250 families and individuals from 27 states of the country: AGUASCALIENTES, BAJA CALIFORNIA, BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR, COAHUILA, COLIMA, CHIAPAS, CHIHUAHUA, DISTRITO FEDERAL, DURANGO, ESTADO DE MEXICO, GUANAJUATO, GUERRERO, HIDALGO, JALISCO, MICHOACAN, MORELOS, NUEVO LEON, OAXACA, PUEBLA, QUERETARO, SAN LUIS POTOSI, SINALOA, SONORA, TAMAULIPAS, TLAXCALA, VERACRUZ, YUCATAN, Germany, Argentina, the Spanish State, Basque Country, the United States of America, Sweden and Uruguay.Adherentes individuales de La Otra Campaña en Ensenada- Baja California,A la trinchera-DF,Alianza Zapatista Magonista,A.N.A.A.T.E- Yucatán,Asamblea Nacional de Braceros,Augasquentes de Galicia: centro cultural zapatista,Biblioteca Popular Viviendo la utopía- Nuevo léon,Bibaani – Oaxaca,Bios Iguana-ColimaBrigadas Emiliano Zapata - edomexBrújula Roja-DF,Bloque de Fuerzas Proletarias- edomex,Bloque Popular Revolucionario- Morelos,Borrokan,Caracol de Maíz,Casa del Estudiante Vladimir Ilich Lenin- MichoacánCasa de la Cultura Independiente Benito Juárez-DF,Célula metropolitana Julio Chávez López-DF,Centro de análisis Político e investigaciones sociales y económicas (CAPISE)- Chiapas,Centro de apoyo comunitario trabajando unidos (CACTUS)-Oaxaca,Centro de estudios para el desarrollo rural- Puebla,Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas-Chiapas,Centro de Reflexión Social y Comunicación Alternativa – GuanajuatoCentro Independiente de Noticias- DF,CIOAC Roja – Guerrero,Colectiva Feminista Binacional de Tijuana- Baja California,Colectivo Acertijo-Tlaxcala,Colectivo Arje- Querétaro,Colectivo autónomo Magonista (CAMA)- DFColectivo cuadernos de la resistencia- Jalisco,Colectivo Contra la Represión y la Impunidad del sistema social (CCRISIS)-Guerrero,Colectivo contra la Tortura y la Impunidad (CCTI)-DF,Colectivo Cosme Damián- Baja California,Colectivo Cortamortaja- JalapaColectivo ChicagOtra- Chicago,Colectivo de abogados zapatistas-DF,Colectivo de Apoyo a los zapatistas Gotemburgo-Suecia,Colectivo de Akatingo- Puebla,Colectivo de Cultura Alternativa "Lo de menos"-Colima,Colectivo de Estudiantes- Aguascalientes,Colectivo de Estudios de Derecho Crítico (RADAR),Colectivo de Exmoradores- Proyecto Lenin- Michocán,Colectivos de La Otra campaña en Colima,Colectivo de trabajo sexual del CNUC "mujeres por su dignidad"-Tlaxcala,Colectivo Dignidad rebelde por Huauchinango- PueblaColectivo de la revista el vicionudo comixxx-Puebla,Colectivo de Solidaridad de Barcelona con la rebelión zapatista,Colectivo en rebeldía Suljaa'- Guerrero,Colectivo Espiral 7- Puebla,Colectivo feminista Cihuatlahtolli- Veracruz,Colectivo Guiee Tiqui- Oaxaca,Colectivo Hagamos el Cambio-Colima,Colectivo Héroes de Ocosingo-San Luis Potosí,Colectivo Kahuin- DFColectivo La Semilla –Jalisco,Colectivo la tripulación del Viejo Antonio- Morelos,Colectivo Los Angeles,Colectivo Machetemagazine,Colectivo mentes autónomas,Colectivo Mezcala- JaliscoColectivo Mujeres por un Mundo Nuevo-ColimaColectivo Nuevo Huachichil- San Luis Potosí,Colectivo Nachicocom deSotuta- YucatánColectivo Nixticul - JaliscoColectivo Ollín Mexica- DF,Colectivo Poder Autónomo-Argentina,Colectivo Radio Digna- Baja California,Colectivo Radio Totopo-Juchitá n-Oaxaca,Colectivo 'Red Latina sin fronteras'-SueciaColectivo Resistencia Autónoma -Baja California,Colectivo Rincón Rupestre- Yucatán,Colectivo Roberto Iriarte,Colectivo Sacco y Vanzetti - JaliscoColectivo Salamandra- Puebla,Colectivo Sexto Sol-Oaxaca,Colectivos Unidos de Zumpango-edomex. ,Colectivo Tlacuaches mojaos- VeracruzColectivo Tod@s somos pres@s- OaxacaColectivo Un granito de café-DF;Colectivo Votán Zapata Coyoacán-DF;Colectivo Ya basta- Baja CaliforniaColectivo Zapatista de Oaxaca;Colectivo Zapatista Neza- Edomex,Colectivo Zapateando- GuanajuatoColectivo Zihuatlán-Guerrero,Comisión de Apoyo a la unidad y reconciliació n comunitaria (CORECO)- Chiapas,Comisión de Derechos Humanos y laborales del Valle de Tehuacan-Puebla,Comité Cabañas-DF,Comité de base Ricardo Flores Magón-DF,Comité de Familiares y Amigos de Secuestrados, desaparecidos y asesinados en Guerrero,Comité Estudiantil Metropolitano- DF,Comité Eureka – Guerrero,Comité Verdad, Justicia y Libertad Jacobo y Gloria-DF,Comité por la defensa de los derechos indígenas (CODEDI)-Oaxaca,Comité Promotor de la Otra Campaña Mazatl- Sinaloa;Comunidad de San Pedro Yosotatu-Oaxaca,Consejo autónomo regional de la Zona Costa de Chiapas,Consejo Ciudadano Unihidalguense (Unión Hidalgo)-Oaxaca,Consejo de ancianas y ancianos de Ranchu Gubiña-Oaxaca,Consejo de Ejidos y Comunidades opositoras a la presa La Parota (CECOP)-Guerrero,Consejo de Lucha Pame de Rayón, Tamasopo y Alaquines- San Luis Potosí;Consejo Indígena Popular de Oaxaca-Ricardo Flores Magón (CIPO-RFM),Consejo Nacional Urbano y Campesino (CNUC)-Tlaxcala,Consejo Regional de pueblos indígenas nahuas y nuntaj+yi del Sur de Veracruz,Cooperativa de Medios Libertas Anticorp,Cooperativa de TrabajoAutogestivo"Regeneración"-DF,Cooperativa Huachichil de Coahuila,Cooperativa Materu k´urhinta-Michoacá n,Cooperativa de trabajo hormiga/666ismocrit ico-DF,Coordinadora anticapitalista Ché Guevara- DF,Coordinadora de la sociedad civil de la región de Orizaba- Veracruz,Coordinadora Estatal de Trabajadores de la Educación en Guerrero (CETEG),Coordinadora del Movimiento Amplio Popular-San Luis Potosí,Coordinadora Maxei- Querétaro,Coordinadora Regional de Autoridades comunitarias (CRAC)-Guerrero (Comité Ejecutivo de la Policía comunitaria, casas de justicia y seguridad comunitaria de San Luis Acatlán, Espino Blanco, Zitlaltepec, Comité Ejecutivo de la figura jurídica).Coordinadora valle de Chalco-Edomex,Cuna del Viento- La venta-Oaxaca,Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos Emiliano Zapata-Tamaulipas,Despertar Proletario,Diáspora Vasca,Editorial Lucia Zenteno- OaxacaEscuela de Cultura Popular Mártires del 68-DF,Espacio social y cultural La Karakola-DF,Fanzine Asfixia,Fanzine Germinal,Fanzine prisión demolición,Fanzine por los de adentro,Föreningen 'Cruz del Sur'-Suecia,Föreningen 'Resistencia Vencerá'- Suecia,Föreningen Syd i fokus- Suecia,Frente Cívico Tonalteco- ChiapasFrente del Pueblo,Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra- San Salvador Atenco,Frente Popular Francisco Villa Independiente- UNOPII- DF,Frente Único Estatal de Representantes Sindicales Autónomos (FUERZA)-Guerrero,Galería Autónoma CU,Gruppe B.A.S.T.A- Alemania,Grupo colectivo independiente Binni Cubi-Unión Hidalgo-Oaxaca,Grupo de madres de desaparecidos políticos de Chihuahua,Grupo ETC México,Grupo Salud y Conciencia-DF,Grupo Solidario La venta-Oaxaca,Gubiña XXI AC- Oaxaca,jóvenes en resistencia alternativa- DFJóvenes Lagartos-Coahuila,Jóvenes por el socialismo- Nuevo León,Juventud Comunista de México,Juventudes revolucionarias Libertarias- Tlaxcala,Juventud zapatista con la comandanta Ramona-GuanajuatoKolectivo El rebelde- Yucatánkomal Collective (esténcil)- Estado de MéxicoLaboratorio de Fotografía-DF,La furia de las calles-DF,La neta amorfa- San Luis PotosíLa otra en Coyoacán- DFLa otra juventud Turula- ChiapasLa otra León- GuanajuatoLa otra sur-poniente- DF,La Rabiosa Radio-PueblaLa sexta Querétaro,'Latina' Latinoamerikanska Kooperationsfö reningen- SueciaLa Voladora Radio (Amecameca),Maderas del Pueblo del Sureste- Chiapas,Movimiento de Artesanos Indígenas Zapatistas (MAIZ)Movimiento de Cultura Popular- Yucatán,Movimiento de Lucha Popular (MLP),Movimiento de Unificación y Lucha Triqui (MULT)- Oaxaca,Mujeres de Rincón de Chautla, Mpio. de Chilapa-Guerrero,Mujeres y la Sexta DF-edomex,Municipio Autónomo de San Juan Copala-Oaxaca,Noticias de la rebelión-DF,Okupa TV-DF,Organización Campesina Emiliano Zapata- OCEZ-UNOPI-I- Chiapas,Organizaciones Indias Por los Derechos Humanos de Oaxaca-OIDHO,Organización Zapatista "Educación para la liberación de nuestros pueblos"-DF,Pallasos en Rebeldía de Galicia y Catalunya,Partido de los Pobres,Radio Ñomndaa la palabra del agua-GuerreroRadio Okupa-DF,Radio Zapatista-Californi a,Raza Press and Media Association- California,Red caracol,Red de colectivos de la otra campaña en el Istmo de Tehuantepec- Oaxaca,Red de radios y TV comunitarias indígenas del sureste mexicano,Red de Salud para las comunidades indígenas en resistencia en Chiapas-DF,Red de solidaridad con Chiapas de Vicente López-Argentina,Red de solidaridad con Chiapas- Mendoza-Argentina,Red Mexicana de Acción Frente al Libre Comercio (RMALC),Red Nacional contra la represión y por la solidaridad,Red Unidos Por los Derechos Humanos – Veracruz,Resistencias Enlazando Dignidad Movimiento y Corazón Zapatista (REDMYC)-DFRegeneración Radio-DF,Revista Ce-acatl- DF,Revista Palabras Pendientes DF,Rojos y Anarquistas Skinheads RASH- Guadalajara,Sublevarte Colectivo-DF,Taller autónomo Guadalupe Posada-DF,Taller de Desarrollo Comunitario (TADECO)- GuerreroTaller Integral Arquitect@z- DFTaller Ricardo Flores Magón- DFUnión Campesina Obrera y Popular de Izquierda Independiente (UCOPI-UNOPI- I)-Guanajuato,Unión de Comuneros Náhuatl de Atzacoaloya y sus 15 anexosUnión de Defensa de la raza maya- YucatánUnión de Vecinos y Damnificados 19 de septiembre (Uvyd-19)- DF,Unión Popular Apìzaquense Democrática e Independiente- Tlaxcala,Unidad Obrera y Socialista (UNIOS)-DF,Universidad de la Tierra en Oaxaca,Vänskapföreningen Sverige-Uruguay- Sueciavideo Club Utopía- DFVoces oaxaqueñas construyendo autonomía y libertad (V.O.C.A.L.)Familia Morales Alcocer; Familia Ortega Elorza; Familia Pérez Bustillo; Familia Sánchez Piña (Ricardo Antonio Sánchez Piña, Héctor Ricardo Sánchez, Ma. Esther Piña Soria); La Rueka (Felipe I. Echenique, Carmen García Bermejo; León Felipe Echenique Romero); Abel Miranda, Adriana del Moral Espinosa, África Hernández, Agustina Soto Luna, Aidé Arévalo Picazo, Alejandrino González, Alejandro de la Torre, Alejandro Eguia-lis, Alejandro Reyes, Alfonso Vargas Muñoz, Alfredo Duarte Corte, Alma Idalia Kullick Lackner, Alma Eréndira Sandoval Carrillo, Alfonso Reyes, Alfredo Sabido, Amaranta Ramírez Terrazo, Ambrosio Coctecon, Ana Paola Mendoza García, Ana Patricia Peña Valenzuela, Andrea Patricia Gallegos Alanís, Andrea Sánchez Martínez, Andrés Nájera Hdez., Angel de Jesús Lopez, Angel Fermín García Lara, Angélica Trujillo Hernández, Anselmo A., Antonio Pastro García, Arafat Angulo Perkings, Ari David Salinas Castro, Arelhy Valenzuela Rascón Carlos Cervantes, Arturo Cuevas Manzanares, Arturo Landeros, Aurelio Banda, Azalia Hernández Rodríguez, B lanca Gpe. Durán Fernández, Braulio Candia Perez, Brisceida Aguayo Rivera, Brunilda Pinto, Bruno Firpo, Carla Zamora, Carlos Alegre, Carlos Cacay, Carlos Miguel Luna Zavala, Carlos Omar Hernández Pérez, Carolina Levario Gim, César Silva Montes, Claudio Tejada,Corina Caraza Machorro, Cristina del Carmen Hernández, Daniel Campos Chávez, Daniel Gonzalo Morales Ramírez, David Barrios Rodríguez; David Hernández, David Madrid, David Pérez, David Telic Mtz, Demetrio Romero Juárez, Deyanira Cortés Martínez, Diana Fimbres Delgado, Diana María Rodríguez Vértiz, Diego Canales, Dolores Marisa Martínez Moscoso, Doroteo Arellano Palacios, Dulce María Trejo, Egardo Josefat Badial Velásquez, Edna Estevez Zamudio, Efraín Flores Iglesias, Elia Alicia Crotte Franco; Elizabeth Manjares Cunas, Enrique Espinosa Mancilla, Enrique Vargas, Esmeralda Ochoa Vega, Esther Gallardo, Ezequiel Esteves, F abian Ofendis Aloy, Facundo Raúl Quinteros, Faustino Mendez, Felipe de Jesús Toussaint Loera, Felipe Martínez López, Felipe Reyes Guadalupe, Fernando Escobar Tabera, Fernando Hernández, Fernando Medina "Ictus", Francisco Tomás Reséndiz, G abriel García Martínez, Gaudencio Mejia, Genaro Vázquez, Gerardo León, Germán Cabañas, Geovanni Duran Can, Gustavo Esteva, Guillermo Cassani, Guillermo Villaseñor García, Gustavo García Rojas, Hermelando Salazar, Hilaria Viveros, Hugo Daniel Padilla, Ignacio Salgado, Iker Sagastibeltza Galárraga, Irantzu Sagarminaga, Irma Melchor, Isauro Canxoc, Ismael Bandolero Durán, Ismael Castio, Ismael Ortega, Ismene Figueroa López, Israel Espinosa, Itzel rivera Melgarejo, Ivan R. Leon, Iván Prado, Ivonne del Valle W, Jacinto Robles Pérez, Jagoba Epalza Uriarte, Javier Alejandro Castro, Javier Andrade, Javier Gallardo, Javier Hernández Alpizar, Javier Miranda, Jessica Rivera, Jesús Banda, Jesús Saavedra, Joel Tejeda, Jordi Anguera Aguas, Jorge Alastra, Jorge Arriaga, Jorge García Hernández, Jorge Juárez, Jorge Medina, Jorge Melo Bahena, Jorge Vargas, José Alberto Benítez Oliva, José Armando Sánchez, José Antonio Wong Soto, Josefat Badial Velásquez, José Castañeda, José Luis Ávila, José Luis C H., José Rafael Murúa Manríquez, José Raúl Linares Pérez; José Santos Cervantes, José Teodoro Hernández, Joshua Arale Gómez Jacinto, Josué Vergara; Juan Anzaldo Meneses, Juan Carlos Dávalos Alcántar, Juan Carlos Masón, Juan Javier Reta Némiga, Juan Luis Segura Cortés, Juan Manuel Guti Jime, Juan Manuel Pascual Alarcón Sánchez, Juan M. Moreno, Juan Pablo Narváez del Toro, Juan Pablo Nava Gómez, Juan Sera Real, Julio César Tejeda, Justino Galeana Portillo, Karla Barrios Rodríguez, Kátsica Betsabé Mayoral Landa, Laura Mateo González, Leo Osorio Marza, León Chávez Texeiro; Lilia Erika Lemus Flores, Liliana Galaviz López, Liliana García Sánchez, Luis Blanco Téllez, Luis Carlos Velásquez, Luis Muñoz Vásquez, Luz del Carmen Flores Villalva, Manuel Martínez Morales, Marcelino Guzmán Bomel, Marcelo Santos, Margarita Rosas, Margarita Villanueva, Maria Antonia Mora Brito, Ma. De Jesús Cisneros, María del Carmen Banda, María de la Cruz Jaimes García, Maria del Rocío Juárez Nogueira, Marco Antonio Salazar, María Maraña, Marlen Castro Pérez Maria, Noaly Kullick, María Valdés Valdés, Mario Sánchez, Marifé García López, Marisol Valenzuela Lara, Marlene Hernández López, Marta Piña, Martín González, Mauricio Ocampo Campos, Mayra Ledesma Arronte, Michel Inzunza Beltrán, Miguel Angel Wong Soto, Miguel Jiménez Soto, Miriam Lunar, Mirna Valdés Viveros, MoJairo Guarneros Sosa, Mónica Hernández, Monika Mena, Montserrat Balcorta Sobrino, Monsserrat Sánchez Moreno, Nada Jabalí, Nicolás López Cruz, Nicte-Há Dzib Soto, Oliverio Castillo Canche, Omar Juárez Vazquez, Oralba Castillo Nájera, Pablo Maldonado, Pablo Medrano, Palemon Suastegui, Patricia Parga, Patricia de Oteyza, Paulina Fernández, Petra Toscazo, Piere López, Porfirio Lapa Muñoz, Prisicila Valenzuela Moreno, Quirino Santiago, Rafael Chávez Rivera; Rafael Encarnación Faustino, Rafael Rubén Borbon Sequeiros, Rafael Sevilla Zapata, Ramón Vera Herrera, Raúl Zibechi, Raymundo Flores Delgadillo, René Torres Bejarano; Ricardo Avila Anzures, Ricardo Netzahuatl, Ricardo Ramírez, Rita Schwarzbeck Morales, Roberto Mellado, Rocío Landi, Rocío Vivar Soriano, Rodolfo Chan, Rogelio Hernández, Rogelio Hernández Sánchez, Rogelio Marcial Vázquez, Romeo López Camacho, Rosa María Moreno Ramírez, Rosalba Campos Chávez, Rosalía López Paniagua, Rubén Darío Silva Morales, Saltiel Rodríguez, Samantha Barrón González, Sandra Sánchez Palacios, Santiago Bernabé Socorro, Sara Trejo Ocaña, Sebastián Gómez Pétersen, Sylvia Zamudio Vega, Sonia Vázquez, Susana Etchegoyen, Susana Esmeralda Cervantes Reyes, Tadeo Leyva López, Tito Fernando Piñeda Verdugo, Tonatiuh Ramírez Rocha, Uriel Alonso Santos, Verónica Munier, Vicente Torres Lucena, Víctor Ariel Bárcenas Delgado, Víctor García Olmedo, Víctor Hernández Zamudio, Victor Manuel González, Wendy Pantoja, Xarlo Etxezaharreta, Xavier Pin Vázquez, Ximena Alvarez Heduán.If you wish to add yourself to this declaration send your name and school, state or country, or the complete name of your organization to lista_jra[at]yahoo.com.mxNOTE 1: The majority of those who signed this text are adherents to the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandón Jungle, nevertheless there are also some collectives, organizations and people here who are not.NOTE 2: This is only a small part of who makes up the Other Campaign
Reader comment: The struggle for justice in Brazil
From Micheál Feeney
Dear Brenda,
I just read your article in Counterpunch and hope that you keep on writing and searching for truth.No government in the world knows how to treat its indigenous people. I work with indigenous peoples here in Brazil since 1983 and they continue to suffer from lack of land and perspectives for the future. Here in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul just now the governor, politicians/farmers are furious because Funai,the government body responsible,are starting demarcation processes for the Guarani Kaiow people. It is a long haul and many people get killed in the process.We support the people in their struggle for their land that was taken from them in the 50´s,60´s and 70´s and also for human rights. The farmers are so strong that they can make the justice system backtrack on lands that were ratified by the President of the country.Despite all the difficulties we are committed to supporting these people.Keep up the good work and good luck!
Micheal Feeney
Campo Grande- Mato
Grosso do Sul,Brazil.
Dear Brenda,
I just read your article in Counterpunch and hope that you keep on writing and searching for truth.No government in the world knows how to treat its indigenous people. I work with indigenous peoples here in Brazil since 1983 and they continue to suffer from lack of land and perspectives for the future. Here in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul just now the governor, politicians/farmers are furious because Funai,the government body responsible,are starting demarcation processes for the Guarani Kaiow people. It is a long haul and many people get killed in the process.We support the people in their struggle for their land that was taken from them in the 50´s,60´s and 70´s and also for human rights. The farmers are so strong that they can make the justice system backtrack on lands that were ratified by the President of the country.Despite all the difficulties we are committed to supporting these people.Keep up the good work and good luck!
Micheal Feeney
Campo Grande- Mato
Grosso do Sul,Brazil.
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