Lakota Nick Estes 'The Age of the Water Protector and Climate Chaos' Bioneers video

 

Nick Estes' talk at this year's Bioneers Conference is now online.

Nick Estes, Ph.D. (Kul Wicasa/Lower Brule Sioux), Indigenous Rights activist, scholar, writer, co-founder of The Red Nation organization and author of Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance, describes the Anishinaabe people’s resistance to the “Line 3” pipeline in Minnesota that would devastate their lands and livelihood, the outsized impact frontline Indigenous communities are having in fighting climate change and resisting extractive industries, the importance and effectiveness of Earth-centered approaches to fighting for Climate Justice, and the overarching goal of being “good ancestors of the future.”

This talk was delivered at the 2022 Bioneers Conference.

Nick Estes, Ph.D. (Kul Wicasa/Lower Brule Sioux), is Assistant Professor of American Studies at the University of New Mexico and a member of the Oak Lake Writers Society, a group of Dakota, Nakota and Lakota writers. In 2014, he was a co-founder of The Red Nation in Albuquerque, NM, an organization dedicated to the liberation of Native people from capitalism and colonialism. He serves on its editorial collective and writes its bi-weekly newsletter. Nick Estes is also the author of: Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance.

Big Mountain's John Benally Passes to Spirit World

John Benally at home in Big Mountain. Photo by Brenda Norrell.

Big Mountain's John Benally Passes to Spirit World

In memory of John Benally, Dineh, life long resister of relocation on Big Mountain, we share John's words during an interview after the Sundance was bulldozed in 2001. Our sincere condolences to John's family, may his life and perseverance as a resister  be an inspiration to all who struggle. -- Brenda, Censored News.

“We have suffered enough. “The only way to resolve this is to give Navajo back their original land.” -- John Benally

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

BIG MOUNTAIN (2001) -- John Benally sits without food for himself or his dogs near the bulldozed Sundance grounds.

“The only way to resolve this is to give Navajo back their original land.”

John said, too, it is time for Navajos to return to farming. “If we are farmers, we can help people. Opening a mine, you think that is the answer? Forget it, only a few people will work. I know people who have died of black lung.”

Mining on Black Mesa is destroying the air for the plants, animals and people. “This whole relocation should be investigated,” he said of Peabody Coal's mine on Black Mesa.

“We have suffered enough,” said John Benally. “The only way to resolve this is to give Navajo back their original land.”

John said, too, it is time for Navajos to return to farming. “If we are farmers, we can help people. Opening a mine, you think that is the answer? Forget it, only a few people will work. I know people who have died of black lung.”

Mining on Black Mesa is destroying the air for the plants, animals and people. “This whole relocation should be investigated,” he said.

“We are being neglected by the Navajo government and the Hopi government. I really support the idea of the study. Our kids do not like education because of the relocation effect.

“I do not get food stamps or anything. Its too much harassment to fill out the forms and get food stamps. The interviewer can interrogate you. They should make it easier.”

John said he worked for Peabody Coal Company, just down the dirt road on Black Mesa, for seven years. Now he receives nothing back from the taxes he paid.

“Throughout the year we are harassed, our livestock is impounded and we are intimidated by the Hopi Rangers. The police are monitoring us and we are slandered many times when they say we are trespassers. The Hopi Rangers and Hopi monitors are the trespassers.

“They desecrated our ceremonial Sundance grounds where all people come and pray from the Four Directions.”

Read the full interviews with John and his brother Leonard Benally at Censored News. Big Mountain relocation resister Leonard Benally passed to the Spirit World in 2013. https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/big-mountain-warrior-leonard-benally.html

Earl Tulley of Blue Gap said, "John Benally, Nakai Dine'e of Big Mountain journeyed on. He was one of many icons of the Big Mountain resistance to forced relocation by the U.S. government and Peabody Coal Company.

"My clan daddy and comrade. He threw his body under BIA police tire during one of many impoundments.

Condolences to his family and the Big Mountain People. He will be remembered. The work will continue."

Copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News

Sacred Water: Nikki Tulley journeys home to Blue Gap

Take a beautiful water journey with Nikki Tulley, back home to Blue Gap, on the Navajo Nation. Nikki, a PhD student in hydrology, shares her thoughts on sacred water, believing in one's self, and the power of the land, water, home and family.

Nikki with her father, Earl Tulley, cofounder of Dine' Citizens Against Ruining our Environment,
and longtime human rights champion. Nikki visits with nieces and nephews as she reflects on her journey from her home in Blue Gap to the University of Arizona.

https://research.arizona.edu/stories/navajo-hydrologist-aims-safeguard-resources-her-people

Divided Ninth Circuit Appeals Court leads Apache Stronghold to Supreme Court

Divided Ninth Circuit Appeals Court leads Apache Stronghold to Supreme Court

By Apache Stronghold

Censored News

Friday, June 24, 2022

Updated June 25, 2020

French translation by Christine Prat

https://chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=7179

SAN CARLOS, Arizona – Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision ruled that the request for a preliminary injunction to halt the land exchange of Oak Flat be denied. Apache Stronghold—a coalition of Apaches, other Native peoples, and non-Native allies, which is represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty—has vowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court immediately.

 

The Preliminary Injunction would have stopped Resolution Copper, a foreign owned mining company, from gaining control over Oak Flat through a land exchange, until the court case, Apache Stronghold vs. the U.S. was decided. The court ruled that Apache Stronghold's case against the United States had no likelihood of winning.

 

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