Indigenous Alliance opposes militarization of border

Indigenous Peoples Day in Tucson
By Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras

TUCSON -- On Thursday, August 9, 2007 the Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras (Indigenous Alliance Without Borders) convened a press conference and public forum to commemorate International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, commemorated annually since 1994, in recognition of the first United Nations working group on indigenous issues in Geneva, 1982.

Militarization of the southern border and how immigration and Homeland Security policies impact indigenous border communities, and further jeopardize the unity of indigenous communities with ties across the border, were major topics of discussion


Yaqui ceremonial leaders Julian Hernandez and Jose Matus, Yaqui director of the Indigenous Alliance without Borders, addressed how such policies affect their community’s ability to maintain their traditions and ceremonies.

This was followed by a general discussion on how such policies violate the human rights of indigenous peoples on traditional indigenous lands, and calls for united action in protecting indigenous self-determination and the rights of the indigenous peoples whose lives and dignity are endangered in crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

Shannon Rivers, Akimel O’odham from Gila River, pledged such action in joining with the public to address such issues through tribal councils.

Kat Rodriquez, Co-Chair of the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice and the Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras, a partner in the Southwest Network’s “Border Campaign for Global Justice” also invited participants to join the Southwest Network in an upcoming Border Peoples Conference in response to a Border Governor’s Conference to be held in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora September 27-29.

Indigenous Day speakers included Michelle Cook, Dine’, Youth Representative for the Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras and University of Arizona Native Scholar; Shannon Rivers, Akimel O’odham indigenous community activist; Julian Hernandez, Yaqui ceremonial leader in Barrio Libre community of South Tucson; Kat Rodriguez, Co-Chair of the Southwest for Environmental and Economic Justice; Tupac Enrique Acosta, Director of Tonatierra in Phoenix; and Jose Matus, Yaqui ceremonial leader and Director of Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras.

The event brought together local indigenous community leaders and social activists, non-indigenous activists and concerned members of the public to consider current obstacles to indigenous border justice, environmental protection of our southern indigenous borderlands, and the economic, social, and cultural survival of indigenous peoples both locally and around the world.

The event also brought attention to the history of indigenous peoples in gaining recognition of their issues in the United Nations. Participants noted that while the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) has served and continues to serve as an important tool for indigenous peoples in voicing their issues, the Forum alone will not provide solutions to the obstacles that indigenous peoples now face.

As Michelle Cook, recent representative of the Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras at the UNPFII in May, stated, “I learned that although the United Nations is an important tool for the world’s indigenous people, it will neither bring justice nor true freedom by itself. True freedom will come from the people.”

The upcoming decision on the United Nations Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was also addressed at the event. A vital instrument for protecting the rights of indigenous peoples internationally, the Declaration was adopted by the Human Rights Council in 2006.

However, consideration and action on the Declaration by the UN General Assembly was deferred due to concerns by African states. In concluding the panel, the Declaration was read by Tupac Enrique Acosta of Tonatierra. Acosta stated that just as the importance of indigenous peoples’ issues did not begin with the U.N. General Assembly’s declaration of an International Day of the World’s Indigenous “People,” the adoption or non-adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the General Assembly will not change the fact that the rights stated within this Declaration are and will continue to be the “inherent” rights of indigenous peoples everywhere.

Photos by Brenda Norrell/Indigenous Alliance panel: Michelle Cook, Shannon Rivers, Julian Hernandez, Kat Rodriquez, Tupac Enrique Acosta; Photo 2: Jose Matus addresses group; Photo 3: Kat Rodriquez

Please contact the Alianza at alianza@indigenasinfronteras.org if you are interested in joining in action for indigenous rights at the Border Peoples Conference in Puerto Peñasco (Rocky Point) which is less than two hours south of the border at Lukeville, Arizona, on the coast.