Black Mesa Water Coalition in solidarity: Global Day of Action for Maoris
In the spirit of Tino Rangatiratanga, we as Indigenous Peoples of the Americas are calling for International Indigenous solidarity with Indigenous Maori brothers and sisters of Aotearoa (New Zealand) who currently being detained by the Crown and Prime Minster of New Zealand under the guise of "Anti-terrorism law". On October 15, 2007-New Zealand police raided the homes and community spaces across Aotearoa (North Island and Christchurch) under New Zealand anti-terrorism legislation. Seventeen arrests have been made; among those who were arrested and questioned are vocal community leaders of Indigenous Peoples rights movement, environmental justice and peace activists. The Terrorism Suppression Act 2002 is in response of U.S. 9/11 events. It is still unclear what conditions can be defined as "terrorism". This act has given the grounds to allow over 300 police raids, invasion of privacy, relinquishing civil liberties of Maori citizens and could easily be used against those engaging in political or industrial protest action. In September 2007 the UN General Assembly adopted the, UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a non-binding declaration protecting the human, land and resources rights of the world's 370 million indigenous people, despite opposition from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. The vote in the assembly was 143 in favor and four against. Eleven countries, including Russia and Colombia, abstained "A violation of human rights to one group of Indigenous Peoples is a violation to all Indigenous Peoples worldwide. Indigenous Peoples have struggled and resisted for hundreds of years against countless forms colonialism and oppression through man-made laws and government regimes whose objective has been to dehumanize and ignore Indigenous Peoples right to live." Black Mesa Water Coalition, Wahleah Johns "As Indigenous Peoples here in the Southwestern United States when we stand up to protect our Mother Earth--when we stand against contaminated snow making on our sacred mountain, or we stand against the extraction of fossil fuels from our lands, or the taking of water from beneath our people -- when we stand up for our basic human rights, will we soon be labeled as terrorists? This is what is happening to our Maori brothers & sisters!" Black Mesa Water Coalition, Enei Begaye What: Please join us locally to observe the Global Day of Action at the "Cultivating the Seeds of Tomorrow Fundraiser Benefit". This event is dedicated to the human rights struggle in New Zealand, come by and learn what you can do to help. Who: Members of Black Mesa Water Coalition and Native Movement Collective
When: October 27, 2007 7 pm-12pm
Where: 113 S. San Francisco Flagstaff, AZ
###Tena koutou katoaIn a wave of massive state repression, 300+ Police, in many casesarmed, raided houses around Aotearoa / NZ on October 16th making 17arrests. Search warrants were carried out in Auckland, Whakatane,Ruatoki, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington and Christchurch.Police are also seeking up to 60 people for questioning. The arresteesare all activists in the Tino Rangatiratanga / Mana Motuhake, peaceand environmental movements.Ka whawhai tonu matou ake ake ake!
For a History on Tuhoe see http://www.conscious.maori.nz/news.php?item.28.6
For more info see http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/nzterror.htm
October 24, 2007
Blackwater at the border
The small town of Potrero on the California/Mexico border was where one of the first f
ires broke out on Sunday (see photo) before the whole county became engulfed in fires. Potrero, southwest of Campo, is where the first person died in the San Diego fires. Potrero is also where Blackwater is planning to build a border training camp. (Photo of smoke from Potrero area fire, known as the Harris fire, viewed from a hilltop south of Campo on Sunday afternoon/Brenda Norrell)
Blackwater's run for the border
Salon
October 23, 2007
The notorious security contractor has plans for a military-style complex near the U.S.-Mexico border. Critics worry the firm's "mercenary soldiers" could join the U.S. Border Patrol.
By Eilene Zimmerman
There are signs that Blackwater USA, the private security firm that came under intense scrutiny after its employees killed 17 civilians in Iraq in September, is positioning itself for direct involvement in U.S. border security. The company is poised to construct a major new training facility in California, just eight miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. While contracts for U.S. war efforts overseas may no longer be a growth industry for the company, Blackwater executives have lobbied the U.S. government since at least 2005 to help train and even deploy manpower for patrolling America's borders. Blackwater is planning to build an 824-acre military- style training complex in Potrero, Calif., a rural hamlet 45 miles east of San Diego. The company's proposal, which was approved last December by the Potrero Community Planning Group and has drawn protest from within the Potrero community, will turn a former chicken ranch into "Blackwater West," the company's second-largest facility in the country. It will include a multitude of weapons firing ranges, a tactical driving track, a helipad, a 33,000-square-foot urban simulation training area, an armory for storing guns and ammunition, and dorms and classrooms. And it will be located in the heart one of the most active regions in the United States for illegal border crossings.
Read more ...
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/10/23/blackwater_border/index.html?source=newsletterer/index.html?source=newsletterer/index.html?source=newsletter
ires broke out on Sunday (see photo) before the whole county became engulfed in fires. Potrero, southwest of Campo, is where the first person died in the San Diego fires. Potrero is also where Blackwater is planning to build a border training camp. (Photo of smoke from Potrero area fire, known as the Harris fire, viewed from a hilltop south of Campo on Sunday afternoon/Brenda Norrell)Blackwater's run for the border
Salon
October 23, 2007
The notorious security contractor has plans for a military-style complex near the U.S.-Mexico border. Critics worry the firm's "mercenary soldiers" could join the U.S. Border Patrol.
By Eilene Zimmerman
There are signs that Blackwater USA, the private security firm that came under intense scrutiny after its employees killed 17 civilians in Iraq in September, is positioning itself for direct involvement in U.S. border security. The company is poised to construct a major new training facility in California, just eight miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. While contracts for U.S. war efforts overseas may no longer be a growth industry for the company, Blackwater executives have lobbied the U.S. government since at least 2005 to help train and even deploy manpower for patrolling America's borders. Blackwater is planning to build an 824-acre military- style training complex in Potrero, Calif., a rural hamlet 45 miles east of San Diego. The company's proposal, which was approved last December by the Potrero Community Planning Group and has drawn protest from within the Potrero community, will turn a former chicken ranch into "Blackwater West," the company's second-largest facility in the country. It will include a multitude of weapons firing ranges, a tactical driving track, a helipad, a 33,000-square-foot urban simulation training area, an armory for storing guns and ammunition, and dorms and classrooms. And it will be located in the heart one of the most active regions in the United States for illegal border crossings.
Read more ...
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/10/23/blackwater_border/index.html?source=newsletterer/index.html?source=newsletterer/index.html?source=newsletter
Scooby the dog, evacuating the San Diego fires
Scooby is among the animals fleeing the San Diego fire with their human friends. Scooby and his friends evacuated and are waiting near the California/Arizona border, waiting to hear if their homes have been burned. Photo Brenda NorrellSan Diego evacuees to Schwarzenegger: Stop bragging & shut up!
Another message from evacuees to politicians: Stop comparing the fires to the aftermath of Katrina
San Diego evacuees fleeing the fires have a message for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, following appalling television news broadcasts centered on his praise: "Stop bragging and shut up!"
San Diego fire evacuees at the California/Arizona border are still waiting to hear if their loved ones are safe and if their homes have burned. The last thing they want is to watch news coverage of the governor bragging about himself and others "kissing up" to him for political reasons.
To Gov. Schwarzenegger, one evacuee said, "If you going to glorify yourselves for something you didn't do right, there's something wrong with that."
The evacuees also said it is unfair to compare the fires' disaster to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"San Diego has beautiful weather and everyone has a car. Even the teenagers have their own vehicles. It is unfair to compare the victims of Katrina to the victims in San Diego. San Diego residents have the advantage of being able to get in their cars, travel to the shelters, then go about as they please in the days.
"They don't have sewage at their feet," the evacuee said remembering the floods after Hurricane Katrina. Evacuees pointed out that some San Diego shelters are even providing yoga, massage and health food for evacuees.
"Where else would that happen except in southern California."
They said there's a great deal of wonderful humanitarian aid and charitable giving going on, like at Viejas. News reports should focus on those, and exactly what is burning now and when people can return to their homes, rather than glorifying politicians, including President Bush, evacuees said.
A careful examination of the facts is likely to show that few state officials were working on Sunday afternoon and little was done at the crucial moments to prevent widespread disaster, between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Sunday. That is the time when a few fires were first fanned by hurricane-force winds in San Diego County, signaling a pending, large scale disaster.
The leaves and grasses were extremely dry from the drought. Here's the latest from Democracy Now! on how the Bush administration censored the reports on global warming:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/24/1525214
Indigenous Border Summit responds to human rights crisis
Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit of the Americas, Nov. 7 -- 10, focuses on human rights and right of mobility
By Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
SAN XAVIER, TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION (Arizona) -- A human rights crisis for Indigenous Peoples living along borders in the Americas threatens their survival, with rapidly expanding militarization and new laws which limit their mobility in their ancestral territories.
Responding to this crisis, the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation will host the Indigenous Peoples Border Summit of the Americas II, Nov. 7- 10, with support from the International Indian Treaty Council.
Mike Flores, Tohono O'odham summit organizer, said, "It is necessary for Tohono O'odham and other Indigenous Peoples of the border regions to collectively address the adverse impacts that are increasingly occurring on tribal lands. The Border Summit of the Americas II will provide us the opportunity to do just that," Flores said.
San Xavier District Chairman Austin Nunez joins Flores in welcoming Indigenous Peoples to the Border Summit on Tohono O'odham land, located near South Tucson.
"Welcome," Nunez said, "Our community is pleased to be hosting this year's conference."
The Border Summit will host a human rights workshop by the International Indian Treaty Council. The summit will be broadcast live on the Internet at http://www.earthcycles.net/ as was done in 2006.
From the southern Andes to the northern Arctic, corporations intent on seizing natural resources have increased the oppression and displacement of Indigenous Peoples, resulting in their forced mobility across national borders. Further, free trade agreements, mining and exploitative development have forced Indigenous Peoples into exile in the Americas, displaced from their lands where they farmed, hunted or fished for survival.
In the United States, corporate profiteering for private migrant prisons, experimental spy technology, poorly trained border agents, privatized security and new laws for immigration threaten the right of mobility in ancestral territories.
The human rights crisis at the southern border of the United States and Mexico has resulted in over 4,000 migrant deaths in recent years, including deaths of women from Guatemala on Tohono O'odham tribal land in Arizona who died walking with their children in 2007.
Migrants, including Indigenous Peoples from Mexico and Central America, die of dehydration and severe temperatures while walking in search of a better life. The Border Summit speakers will include Tohono O’odham Mike Wilson, who puts out water for migrants on tribal land.
“No one should die for want of a drink of water,” Wilson said.
The privatization of prisons, including the T. Don Hutto Residential Center and Raymondville migrant tent encampment, both near Austin, Texas, reveals the sinister motivation of profiteering from the plight of migrants. Hutto imprisons migrant and refugee infants and children. Speakers will include Jay Johnson-Castro, Sr., of Texas, among those organizing protests against the prisons.
In May, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for migrants, Jorge Bustamante, was denied entrance into Hutto, and Johnson-Castro helped organize the human rights protests that followed.
The border wall and border vehicle barriers along the southern border have resulted in the removal of ancestors’ remains of the Tohono O'odham and Kumeyaay from their final resting places. Further, the barrier wall on Tohono O'odham land is a barrier interfering with an ancient annual ceremony.
Since ceremonial leaders from Mexico often lead ceremonies in the United States, new immigration laws threaten the survival of ceremonies, culture and languages. Because many Indian people are born at home, or lack funds for visas and passports, crossing the border has become a harsh ordeal.
Further, at both the northern and the southern borders of Canada and Mexico, federal border agents ransack and violate ceremonial items.
Speakers on the right of mobility at the northern border include a delegation of Mohawks, including Mohawk Women Title Holders.
With the increased militarization and surveillance at the borders, the dangers from speeding border agents, aerial vehicle crashes and abuse and harassment by border agents increase.
Women, children and elderly along the border are most often the victims of oppression and suffer most often from the lack of food, safe drinking water and medicines.
With the militarization and oppression increasing for Indigenous Peoples around the world, the Border Summit of the Americas invites Indian people to offer their testimony while receiving information and training on human rights.
The International Indian Treaty Council will present a human rights training, following the United Nations adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The US will be examined by the UN Committee for Racial Discrimination (CERD) Committee in March of 2008, in Geneva, Switzerland.
“This workshop will provide information as to how Indigenous Nations, tribes and organizations can use this historic opportunity to inform the CERD Committee on the true state of racial discrimination in this country and how it affects Indian Nations, Peoples and communities. This information will be very important to help the UN CERD experts get a more accurate picture of racial discrimination in the US and hold the US accountable to their obligations under international human rights law,” IITC said.
“An additional focus will be on strategies to defend our human rights, border rights, and protecting our sacred sites and traditional land rights using the newly-adopted UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples from the local to the international levels.”
More information:
bordersummt2007@yahoo.com
http://indigenousbordersummitamericas2007.blogspot.com/
By Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
SAN XAVIER, TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION (Arizona) -- A human rights crisis for Indigenous Peoples living along borders in the Americas threatens their survival, with rapidly expanding militarization and new laws which limit their mobility in their ancestral territories.
Responding to this crisis, the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation will host the Indigenous Peoples Border Summit of the Americas II, Nov. 7- 10, with support from the International Indian Treaty Council.
Mike Flores, Tohono O'odham summit organizer, said, "It is necessary for Tohono O'odham and other Indigenous Peoples of the border regions to collectively address the adverse impacts that are increasingly occurring on tribal lands. The Border Summit of the Americas II will provide us the opportunity to do just that," Flores said.
San Xavier District Chairman Austin Nunez joins Flores in welcoming Indigenous Peoples to the Border Summit on Tohono O'odham land, located near South Tucson.
"Welcome," Nunez said, "Our community is pleased to be hosting this year's conference."
The Border Summit will host a human rights workshop by the International Indian Treaty Council. The summit will be broadcast live on the Internet at http://www.earthcycles.net/ as was done in 2006.
From the southern Andes to the northern Arctic, corporations intent on seizing natural resources have increased the oppression and displacement of Indigenous Peoples, resulting in their forced mobility across national borders. Further, free trade agreements, mining and exploitative development have forced Indigenous Peoples into exile in the Americas, displaced from their lands where they farmed, hunted or fished for survival.
In the United States, corporate profiteering for private migrant prisons, experimental spy technology, poorly trained border agents, privatized security and new laws for immigration threaten the right of mobility in ancestral territories.
The human rights crisis at the southern border of the United States and Mexico has resulted in over 4,000 migrant deaths in recent years, including deaths of women from Guatemala on Tohono O'odham tribal land in Arizona who died walking with their children in 2007.
Migrants, including Indigenous Peoples from Mexico and Central America, die of dehydration and severe temperatures while walking in search of a better life. The Border Summit speakers will include Tohono O’odham Mike Wilson, who puts out water for migrants on tribal land.
“No one should die for want of a drink of water,” Wilson said.
The privatization of prisons, including the T. Don Hutto Residential Center and Raymondville migrant tent encampment, both near Austin, Texas, reveals the sinister motivation of profiteering from the plight of migrants. Hutto imprisons migrant and refugee infants and children. Speakers will include Jay Johnson-Castro, Sr., of Texas, among those organizing protests against the prisons.
In May, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for migrants, Jorge Bustamante, was denied entrance into Hutto, and Johnson-Castro helped organize the human rights protests that followed.
The border wall and border vehicle barriers along the southern border have resulted in the removal of ancestors’ remains of the Tohono O'odham and Kumeyaay from their final resting places. Further, the barrier wall on Tohono O'odham land is a barrier interfering with an ancient annual ceremony.
Since ceremonial leaders from Mexico often lead ceremonies in the United States, new immigration laws threaten the survival of ceremonies, culture and languages. Because many Indian people are born at home, or lack funds for visas and passports, crossing the border has become a harsh ordeal.
Further, at both the northern and the southern borders of Canada and Mexico, federal border agents ransack and violate ceremonial items.
Speakers on the right of mobility at the northern border include a delegation of Mohawks, including Mohawk Women Title Holders.
With the increased militarization and surveillance at the borders, the dangers from speeding border agents, aerial vehicle crashes and abuse and harassment by border agents increase.
Women, children and elderly along the border are most often the victims of oppression and suffer most often from the lack of food, safe drinking water and medicines.
With the militarization and oppression increasing for Indigenous Peoples around the world, the Border Summit of the Americas invites Indian people to offer their testimony while receiving information and training on human rights.
The International Indian Treaty Council will present a human rights training, following the United Nations adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The US will be examined by the UN Committee for Racial Discrimination (CERD) Committee in March of 2008, in Geneva, Switzerland.
“This workshop will provide information as to how Indigenous Nations, tribes and organizations can use this historic opportunity to inform the CERD Committee on the true state of racial discrimination in this country and how it affects Indian Nations, Peoples and communities. This information will be very important to help the UN CERD experts get a more accurate picture of racial discrimination in the US and hold the US accountable to their obligations under international human rights law,” IITC said.
“An additional focus will be on strategies to defend our human rights, border rights, and protecting our sacred sites and traditional land rights using the newly-adopted UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples from the local to the international levels.”
More information:
bordersummt2007@yahoo.com
http://indigenousbordersummitamericas2007.blogspot.com/