Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

May 11, 2026

Uranium Ore Truck Collision Endangered Navajos near Shonto on Navajo Nation

Uranium Ore Truck Collision Endangered Navajos near Shonto on Navajo Nation




Uranium ore haul truck struck by car endangered Navajos near Shonto, Arizona on the Navajo Nation. Photo courtesy Navajo Police Dept.

A uranium ore haul truck traveling from a uranium mine in the Havasupai's homeland in the Grand Canyon, to a mill site in the White Mesa Ute's community in Utah, was struck by a vehicle, which exposes the danger from the radioactive haul trucks covered only with tarps. The trucks travel from Energy Fuels Pinyon Plain uranium mine in the Grand Canyon in Havasupai ancestral land, through Flagstaff, and across Navajo and Hopi lands before reaching Energy Fuels mill site on Ute ancestral land in southeastern Utah. The radioactive trucks traveling through the western Navajo Nation pose extreme danger because of the lack of hazardous waste emergency response facilities locally. -- Censored News

Navajo Police Department Kayenta District Responds to Crash Involving Uranium Transport Vehicle Near Shonto, Arizona.

May 10, 2026

Border Wall Construction Destroys 1,000 Year Old Sacred Place of Hia-Ced O'odham


Tohono O'odham Nation: 'Devastating and Entirely Avoidable Loss'

Border Wall Construction Destroys 1,000 Year Old Sacred Place of Hia-Ced O'odham


Democracy Now!
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Construction crews in Arizona who are building President Trump’s expanded border wall have razed a portion of a Native American archeological site in the Sonoran Desert estimated to be at least 1,000 years old. Aerial photos reveal that bulldozers caused extensive damage to a 280-by-50-foot etching in the desert sand known as an intaglio, which holds special significance for the Hia-Ced O’odham people.

Lorraine Marquez Eiler, co-founder of the International Sonoran Desert Alliance and an elder of the Hia-Ced O’odham, says locals informed both the work crews and Border Patrol officials about the significance of the intaglio. “On Thursday, late afternoon, they were still talking about how to protect the area and went home feeling that they were still working together. On Friday, for whatever reason, the contractors bulldozed the area,” says Marquez Eiler. 

Victory for Lakota Youths Protecting Sacred Pe'Sla

 Victory for Lakota Youths 

Protecting Sacred Pe'Sla

"We stopped the drilling, this is a victory for the Oceti Sakowin," Lakota youths said as the drilling rig drove out of sacred land.


Company withdraws from controversial Black Hills exploratory drilling project

By:-May 8, 2026

South Dakota Searchlight

A company that’s being sued for exploratory drilling near a culturally significant site in South Dakota’s Black Hills is withdrawing from the project, according to a letter shared with project opponents.

The opponents include the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance, which posted a copy of the letter and a statement Friday on social media.

May 3, 2026

U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues' Final Priorities -- Climate Change, Women's Rights, and Repressions, 2026

U.N.  Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues' Final Priorities -- Climate Change, Women's Rights, and Repressions, 2026


U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 2026

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, May 1, 2026

NEW YORK -- The priorities of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues included climate change, forced sterilization, repressions and the rights of refugees, as Indigenous Peoples concluded the two-week session on Friday in New York. 

The dialogue on climate change was the first priority in the draft final statement. It recognizes positive efforts led by Australia, First Nations in Canada, and Brazil. The next priority is the recognition of the right of the Arab Emirates just transition work program. The just transition involving minerals and 'green transition' follows as the priority