U.N. Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Begins in Geneva

U.N. Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Begins in Geneva

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, July 13, 2026

Christine Diindiisi McCleave, PhD, Turtle Mountain Anishinaabe, said commercial industries are using Indigenous medicines for profit, and the psychedelic movement is making money from Indigenous medicines. Traditional medicine is increasingly  targeted by rapidly expanding psychedelic industries. While others profit, Indigenous struggle to maintain their culture. She said extracting Indigenous resources and knowledge is a contemporary form of colonization for global markets. Dr. McCleave represents the Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund.

An Indigenous representative from Ecuador described how Ecuadorian security forces fired projectiles and tear gas at Indigenous on strike in September and October, killing four people, injuring 880 people, and imprisoning 225 people. Indigenous in Ecuador asked the U.N. to help ensure the constitutional rights of those who work in agriculture, and help ensure their protection from harassment and prosecution by the government.

President Trump Slashes Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments for a Second Time

Bears Ears National Monument. Photo by Tim Peterson

President Trump Slashes Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments for a Second Time

The move also defies Intertribal collaborative management at Bears Ears and an Intertribal shared stewardship framework at Grand Staircase-Escalante

For Diné people, this land shapes our way of life. In Diné communities from Navajo Mountain to Aneth, families continue sacred traditions of prayer, harvest medicine gathering, and ceremony. Bears Ears (Shash Jaa’) holds our ancestors’ footsteps and our children’s future. This decision dishonors generations of care and weakens the unity we’ve built to safeguard Bears Ears for everyone.”  --Davina Smith–Idjesa, Dine'

Press statement, Censored News, July 13, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, President Trump attempted to virtually eliminate Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, cutting their boundaries by, combined, almost three million acres. This is a major escalation of unlawful actions taken in his first administration in 2017, when he attempted to cut boundaries for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante by 87% and 45%, respectively. Protections for both monuments were restored by President Biden in 2021.

Inter-Tribal Coalition Members Condemn Reduction of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

 

Grand Staircase photo by Tim Peterson

Inter-Tribal Coalition Members Condemn Reduction of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

“Today’s action threatens to destroy precious cultural places that are part of our histories and identities as Native peoples,” said Georgie Pongyesva, Hopi.

By Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalition

Censored News, July 13, 2026

ESCALANTE, Utah — Members of the Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalition strongly condemn the Trump administration’s actions to virtually eliminate Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and call for the defense and protection of their ancestral lands. In an event at the White House today, the president issued orders cutting the boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by almost three million acres combined. 

“Our Tribes were not informed of or asked about this decision, and that’s unacceptable. The federal government must honor its Trust and Treaty obligations to our Tribes — it is not optional,” said Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalition Coordinator Autumn Gillard, Southern Paiute.

The Threat on O'odham Lands by Ophelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham

Now being released, "Significant Impact: Contesting Surveillance Infrastructure on Tohono O'odham Je'ved" by Ophelia Rivas, Caitlin Blanchielf, and Nina Kolowratnik.

The Threat on O'odham Lands by Ophelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham

By Ophelia Rivas, Censored News, July 12, 2026

O’odham VOICE Against the WALL

4oodhamrights@gmail.com

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security threatens to construct the Metal Wall on 62 miles of Tohono O’odham Nations lands adjacent the United States and Mexico International border. 

The O’odham Way of Life is dismissed in waiving national protective laws, as was done with the 2006 Secure Fence Act Vehicle Barrier and the 2014 Arizona Border Surveillance Technology Plan.