Mexican Military and Police Use Drug War to Attempt to Enter Zapatista Territory
They Claimed to Be Looking for Marijuana Plants; Local Civilians Drove them Away
By The Good Government Council
La Garrucha, Chiapas, Mexico
June 2008
Reposted from www.narconews.com/
DENUNCIATION
ACT OF PROVOCATION
From the Road to the Future Good Government Council (Junta de Buen Gobierno El Camino del Futuro)
To the people of Mexico and the world, to the comrades in the Other Campaign in Mexico and the world, to the national and international news media, to human rights defenders, to the honest non-governmental organizations
The Road to the Future Good Government Council makes the following denunciation:
1. A column was sighted consisting of a military convoy and public safety police, municipal police, and judicial agents at 9:00 in the morning southeastern time; there were 2 big trucks and 3 small trucks of soldiers, 2 public safety trucks, 2 municipal police trucks, an anti-riot tank, and a truckload of judicial agents.
2. All in all there were around 200 provocateurs.
3. Before entering the town of Garrucha, the headquarters of the Caracol, about 30 meters from the edge of the town, 3 trucks from the convoy stopped and 4 soldiers got out of a truck as if to outflank the town of Garrucha by using the road to our collective cornfield. The people reacted and organized themselves to eject the convoy. The soldiers immediately got back in their truck and continued along the road. Those in front were intimidating the people, taking photos and filming them as they waited for the other provocateurs.
4. Arriving at the spot where the soldiers from Patiwitz were stationed, another military convoy joined the column, which continued on its way to engage in another provocation.
5. They arrived at Rancho Alegre, a community known as Chapuyil.
6. They got out of the trucks and headed for the town of Hermenegildo Galeana, where all the people are Zapatista support bases, accusing the townspeople of growing marijuana in their fields.
7. People throughout the Zapatista area of Garrucha, including the autonomous authorities, are witness to the fact that no such fields exist. The Zapatistas here work in their cornfields and banana plantations. They are willing to struggle for freedom, justice, and democracy and resist any provocation whatsoever.
8. Around 100 soldiers, 10 public security police, and 4 judicial agents headed for the town of Galeana. All the repressors painted their faces to confuse people and to avoid being recognized in the hill country. They walked for a while on the road and then went into the hills on their way to the town.
9. The federal column was guided by a person named Feliciano Román Ruiz, who is known to be from the Ocosingo municipal police.
10. The townspeople of Galeana ––men, women, girls, and boys–– organized themselves to eject the troops, come what may.
11. They met up with the troops in the middle of the road and the melee began. All the Zapatista women, men, boys, and girls told the soldiers in no uncertain terms, “Go back to where you came from, you aren’t needed here. We want freedom, justice, and democracy ––not soldiers.”
12. The soldiers said, “We came here because we know there’s marijuana here and we’re going on ahead come hell or high water.” That’s when the people took out their machetes, shovels, rocks, slingshots, ropes and whatever was at hand, and drove them back.
13. The soldiers said, “Well, this time we’re not going any further, but we’ll be back in two weeks and we’re going in there come hell or high water.”
14. They took another road down to the village of Zapatista support bases called San Alejandro where 9 vehicles with 40 soldiers and 10 policemen were waiting for them.
15. On their way down, they trampled the cornfield, which is the town’s only food source.
16. In the Zapatista town of San Alejandro, the 60 repressive agents took up their positions, ready for a confrontation.
17. The people reacted and used everything at hand to drive back the federal forces.
18. Soldiers from Toniná, Patiwitz, and San Quintín participated in the confrontation.
19. People of Mexico and the world, we want to tell you that it won’t be long before another confrontation occurs, provoked by (President Felipe) Calderón and (Governor) Juan Sabines and Carlos Leonel Solórzano, the municipal president of Ocosingo, who’ll call out their dogs from all the forces of repression. We are not drug dealers. As you know, we are brothers and sisters of Mexico and the world. It’s clear that they’re coming for us Zapatistas. All three levels of the bad government are coming after us, and we’re ready to resist them if that’s what’s necessary, just as our slogan says: We’ll live for our homeland or die for freedom.
20. People of Mexico and the world, you know that our struggle is a peaceful, political one. As it says in the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, it’s a peaceful, political struggle known as the Other Campaign. Just look where the violent provocation is coming from.
21. Comrades of the Other Campaign in Mexico and other countries, we ask you to be on the alert because the soldiers said they’ll be back in two weeks. We don’t want war. We want peace with justice and dignity. But we have no other choice than to defend ourselves, resist them, and eject them when they come looking for a confrontation with us in the towns of the Zapatista support bases.
22. All we can tell you is to look and see where the provocation is coming from. We’re now informing you of what’s going on, hopefully in time.
That’s all we have to say.
RESPECTFULLY YOURS,
La Junta de Buen GobiernoElena Gordillo Clara Claribel Pérez LópezFreddy Rodríguez López Rolando Ruiz Hernández
Click here for more from The Other Journalism with the Other Campaign
June 6, 2008
Mohawk Nation News: Land Displacement Targets Six Nations
THE REGGAE SONG SAYS: “YA HAVE TO KNOW WHERE YER COMIN' FROM TO KNOW WHERE YER GOIN’”
LAND “DISPLACEMENT” PROCESS TRIES TO DO IN 6 NATIONS
By Kahentinetha Horn
Mohawk Nation News
June 6, 2008. When is the abuse going to stop? This document says “For discussion purposes only”, but it looks like a “done deal”. It is illegal because it never went to the people as specified by international law. The Haudenosaunee position has been consistent since day one. Resistance to colonialism! Canada knows full well we would never give up our sovereignty and our possessions. The negotiators for Six Nations got this so called “draft” on May 14th 2008 and never told us about it. It was released to the press to go into affect in September 2008. It’s beginning to look like Canada and Ontario sent in non-native ambulance chaser, Aaron Detlor, to set up this “shell” company, first called “HDI” and now called a “trust." At the same time Detlor set up vulnerable people to stand at the front lines while he takes his name off the injunction and other legal documents. He doesn’t want to be around when the colonists come down on the Six Nations people with subpoenas, injunctions, warrants, arrests, the police and the army.
Read article:
Mohawk Nation News
See: “ Six Nations
LAND “DISPLACEMENT” PROCESS TRIES TO DO IN 6 NATIONS
By Kahentinetha Horn
Mohawk Nation News
June 6, 2008. When is the abuse going to stop? This document says “For discussion purposes only”, but it looks like a “done deal”. It is illegal because it never went to the people as specified by international law. The Haudenosaunee position has been consistent since day one. Resistance to colonialism! Canada knows full well we would never give up our sovereignty and our possessions. The negotiators for Six Nations got this so called “draft” on May 14th 2008 and never told us about it. It was released to the press to go into affect in September 2008. It’s beginning to look like Canada and Ontario sent in non-native ambulance chaser, Aaron Detlor, to set up this “shell” company, first called “HDI” and now called a “trust." At the same time Detlor set up vulnerable people to stand at the front lines while he takes his name off the injunction and other legal documents. He doesn’t want to be around when the colonists come down on the Six Nations people with subpoenas, injunctions, warrants, arrests, the police and the army.
Read article:
Mohawk Nation News
See: “ Six Nations
Young Warriors and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Young Warriors and the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Navajo Michelle Cook, 23, recently returned to the Navajo Nation from the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York. Michelle also was recently was a member of a peace delegation to Iran.
Prepared by Michelle Cook
N.Y.C 2008
At the seventh session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, over 3,000 indigenous peoples, non-governmental organizations, and intergovernmental agencies gathered to discuss some of the greatest concerns and challenges facing indigenous peoples and communities. These include but are not limited to human rights violations, racial discrimination, health, education, political and international borders, migration, access to water and its privatization, the military industrial complex, lands and natural resources, women, and children. The special theme of this years Forum was Climate, Bio-Cultural Diversity and Livelihoods
Indigenous youth were very active within the UNPFII's working collectively on numerous interventions and statements.The indigenous youth found that we in particular are vulnerable to and suffer from a wide range of human rights violations.
In our conversations we spoke to our experiences that include the inability to speak indigenous languages as seen in English only policies of the United States, the inability to identify and be recognized as a people as with the Puyuma of Taiwan, to environmental degradation as seen in the nuclear pollution and chemical exposure of indigenous communities in Russia.
Indigenous youth in many parts of the world also are experiencing blatant state sanctioned genocide and are legally denied fundamental rights to life as illustrated in the ongoing human rights crisis resulting from the Armed Forces Special Powers Act of the North Eastern Region of India. Under the authority of this legislation indigenous youth, women, men, and children of Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya, and the whole region of North Eastern Indian are routinely brutally, viciously, and legally murdered at the behest of the Indian government by the hands of the Indian army. Indigenous youth from this region request that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act be immediately repealed, that political prisoners such as Irom Chanu Sharmila be released, and that the international community condemn this genocidal legislation that allows the murder of innocent people and simultaneously denies them judicial remedies and recourse to justice.
Testimony from the Middle East concerning Balochistan an area divided between Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, depicted yet another instance of cultural oppression of the indigenous peoples and youth in Iran. Ms. Monireh Sulimani an exiled Baloch from west Balochistan who works for an NGO, Balochistan Peoples Party, http://www.balochpeople.org/ said, "I have all my family in Balochistan besides mom, dad and my two younger sisters. Life in Balochistan is hard, people live under hard conditions, since most Baloch adhere to Sunni Islam and Iran is a Shia Islamistic country Baloch people are treated as third class citizens. My desire and hope I to be able to see that my cousins back in Balochistan be entitled to the fundamental rights, human rights, and right to identity".
Additionally, the situation of young Balochistan members of the Voice of Justice of the Young People's Society a Baloch cultural association was shared. Mr. Ya'qub Mehrnehad, a student, journalist and civil activist, was tried in secret and convicted to death for an unknown offence in February 2008. He has allegedly been tortured and is currently on facing the death penalty without access to his family members or a lawyer. His younger brother, Ibrahim Mehrnehad, is also in jail and was also denied access to his family or to a lawyer.
From Turtle Island (United States) Marcus Briggs one of the youngest speakers of the Muskogee language delivered the Indigenous Youth Statement on Language stating, "Language is not used solely as mean of communication, rather it encompasses intricate complexities of our identity. Language is essential in shaping our worldviews as indigenous young people, and we do not deserve, nor can we afford to walk this earth without the opportunity to embrace our own language…and right here in the United States where 'English only" legislation denies our existence as indigenous peoples". Upon hearing these words the indigenous peoples of the Permanent Forum rejoiced, the people shook rattles, and from the balcony war cries could be heard, everyone let out a roars of approval and admiration.
Another indigenous youth Mr. Jorge Quilaqueo a Machi (Shaman/Healer) of the Mapuche people of the lands now known as Chile gave his intervention stating, "We the young Mapuche who, with the help of our good ancestral spirits recommend to this Forum of the United Nation that it intercede with the State of Chile so that the latter will respect Human rights, the rights of my Autonomous Mapuche Nation and our former Parliament and Treaties, and so that it will stop attacking our Mother Earth…We are not terrorists for defending what belongs to us and to our grandparents. The State of Chile uses the tool of terrorism because it is afraid and because it knows full well that we, the Mapuche, are the owner and administrators of the territory as established by our Parliaments in peace agreements signed by the former Mapuche chiefs. So it was willed by our Father Creator". Many indigenous youth in the way of their ancestors continue to articulate rights using a western rights based systems but also using a discourse of spiritual rights and responsibilities based within indigenous legal systems and indigenous customary law.
Michael Paul Hill a Chiricahua Apache singer and spiritual activist delivered the intervention on behalf of the Lipan Apaches Women Defense stating, "on behalf of the Apache land defenders from El Calaboz ranchería, El Polvo village (Redford) and the San Carlos Apache Communities. We as Indigenous border communities with traditional territories along the now US/MEX border corridor, along with our non-indigenous neighbors in the southwestern border region of United States and northern Mexico, stand against the political and physical walls, barricades, and fencing that the United States is constructing at this very moment… There are currently over 18,000 U.S. soldiers occupying our border communities with a buildup of up to 75,000 by 2010, and an estimated 8-10,000 Mexican soldiers currently deployed in the border towns and villages positioned for crackdowns on civil society indigenous protests against the construction of a Berlin-style wall which is dissecting Yaqui, O'odham, Opata, Mayo, Cocopah communities along the border. Indigenous women are particularly targeted by violence that militarization culture imposes on the U.S.-Mexico conflict region evidenced by the 4000+ disappeared and murdered women of Juarez and other border towns… We respectfully request that the UNPFII consider our recommendations to take an intersectional approach to climate change that involves consideration of militarization, industrialization, gender, and environmental degradation in the U.S.-Mexico militarized zone of occupation and conflict. ??Ahi'i'e Ussn, ahi'i'e diyini, ahi'i'e shimaa £ebaiyé T'nde-Nnee', ahi'i'e shitaa Sumá Ndé-Nneé"(http://lipanapachecommunity/ defense.blogspot.com/).
The lands now known as the U.S Mexican border has been traditionally owned and occupied by numerous indigenous peoples for centuries. There are over thirteen self-identifying indigenous peoples including but not limited the Yaqui, Tohono O'odham, and the Lipan Apache. Within the past ten years the border has emerged as the United States and Mexico most misunderstood and obscured human rights crisis. For those communities whose lands lie on the edges of the empire it is clear that the conditions of racial discrimination and land grabbing have worsened remarkably. Without immediate direct action and intervention by both civil societies, the governments, and the United Nations the construction of the wall will cause irreparable harm to indigenous peoples residing there and hemispheric biological diversity.
The indigenous youth additionally expressed deep concerns with states falsely accusing indigenous youth activists as terrorists. This is an alarming emerging issue within the discourse of indigenous youth justice and must be critically examined on all levels as well as its implications for the indigenous rights movement as a whole.
Contrary to these false allegations, indigenous youth representatives firmly maintain that indigenous youth activists are not terrorists, but peoples, with the right of self-determination. Indigenous youth are rights holders within domestic and international law and will continue to advocate for, further articulate, and expand rights concerning our situations and cases within the international arena and United Nations system.Participating and witnessing the indigenous youth in action at the Permanent Forum was impressive and inspirational. Indigenous youth are working towards the full realization of our rights as articulated within the recently adopted United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous peoples and youth are still waiting for all of these rights to be felt fully and effectively realized on the ground.
Despite the diverse and distinct challenges we face as indigenous youth we stood and worked together for our people and our values. I am confidant that the indigenous youth will continue to challenge all forms of institutionalized and legalized racism being strong for the challenges ahead. Indigenous youth are crafting the abilities to work within the United Nation system to defend cultural, economic, social, and political rights. Developing the capacity to lead indigenous nations into beautiful sustainable futures.
Photo: Michelle Cook/Courtesy photo
Navajo Michelle Cook, 23, recently returned to the Navajo Nation from the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York. Michelle also was recently was a member of a peace delegation to Iran.
Prepared by Michelle Cook
N.Y.C 2008
At the seventh session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, over 3,000 indigenous peoples, non-governmental organizations, and intergovernmental agencies gathered to discuss some of the greatest concerns and challenges facing indigenous peoples and communities. These include but are not limited to human rights violations, racial discrimination, health, education, political and international borders, migration, access to water and its privatization, the military industrial complex, lands and natural resources, women, and children. The special theme of this years Forum was Climate, Bio-Cultural Diversity and Livelihoods
Indigenous youth were very active within the UNPFII's working collectively on numerous interventions and statements.The indigenous youth found that we in particular are vulnerable to and suffer from a wide range of human rights violations.
In our conversations we spoke to our experiences that include the inability to speak indigenous languages as seen in English only policies of the United States, the inability to identify and be recognized as a people as with the Puyuma of Taiwan, to environmental degradation as seen in the nuclear pollution and chemical exposure of indigenous communities in Russia.
Indigenous youth in many parts of the world also are experiencing blatant state sanctioned genocide and are legally denied fundamental rights to life as illustrated in the ongoing human rights crisis resulting from the Armed Forces Special Powers Act of the North Eastern Region of India. Under the authority of this legislation indigenous youth, women, men, and children of Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya, and the whole region of North Eastern Indian are routinely brutally, viciously, and legally murdered at the behest of the Indian government by the hands of the Indian army. Indigenous youth from this region request that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act be immediately repealed, that political prisoners such as Irom Chanu Sharmila be released, and that the international community condemn this genocidal legislation that allows the murder of innocent people and simultaneously denies them judicial remedies and recourse to justice.
Testimony from the Middle East concerning Balochistan an area divided between Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, depicted yet another instance of cultural oppression of the indigenous peoples and youth in Iran. Ms. Monireh Sulimani an exiled Baloch from west Balochistan who works for an NGO, Balochistan Peoples Party, http://www.balochpeople.org/ said, "I have all my family in Balochistan besides mom, dad and my two younger sisters. Life in Balochistan is hard, people live under hard conditions, since most Baloch adhere to Sunni Islam and Iran is a Shia Islamistic country Baloch people are treated as third class citizens. My desire and hope I to be able to see that my cousins back in Balochistan be entitled to the fundamental rights, human rights, and right to identity".
Additionally, the situation of young Balochistan members of the Voice of Justice of the Young People's Society a Baloch cultural association was shared. Mr. Ya'qub Mehrnehad, a student, journalist and civil activist, was tried in secret and convicted to death for an unknown offence in February 2008. He has allegedly been tortured and is currently on facing the death penalty without access to his family members or a lawyer. His younger brother, Ibrahim Mehrnehad, is also in jail and was also denied access to his family or to a lawyer.
From Turtle Island (United States) Marcus Briggs one of the youngest speakers of the Muskogee language delivered the Indigenous Youth Statement on Language stating, "Language is not used solely as mean of communication, rather it encompasses intricate complexities of our identity. Language is essential in shaping our worldviews as indigenous young people, and we do not deserve, nor can we afford to walk this earth without the opportunity to embrace our own language…and right here in the United States where 'English only" legislation denies our existence as indigenous peoples". Upon hearing these words the indigenous peoples of the Permanent Forum rejoiced, the people shook rattles, and from the balcony war cries could be heard, everyone let out a roars of approval and admiration.
Another indigenous youth Mr. Jorge Quilaqueo a Machi (Shaman/Healer) of the Mapuche people of the lands now known as Chile gave his intervention stating, "We the young Mapuche who, with the help of our good ancestral spirits recommend to this Forum of the United Nation that it intercede with the State of Chile so that the latter will respect Human rights, the rights of my Autonomous Mapuche Nation and our former Parliament and Treaties, and so that it will stop attacking our Mother Earth…We are not terrorists for defending what belongs to us and to our grandparents. The State of Chile uses the tool of terrorism because it is afraid and because it knows full well that we, the Mapuche, are the owner and administrators of the territory as established by our Parliaments in peace agreements signed by the former Mapuche chiefs. So it was willed by our Father Creator". Many indigenous youth in the way of their ancestors continue to articulate rights using a western rights based systems but also using a discourse of spiritual rights and responsibilities based within indigenous legal systems and indigenous customary law.
Michael Paul Hill a Chiricahua Apache singer and spiritual activist delivered the intervention on behalf of the Lipan Apaches Women Defense stating, "on behalf of the Apache land defenders from El Calaboz ranchería, El Polvo village (Redford) and the San Carlos Apache Communities. We as Indigenous border communities with traditional territories along the now US/MEX border corridor, along with our non-indigenous neighbors in the southwestern border region of United States and northern Mexico, stand against the political and physical walls, barricades, and fencing that the United States is constructing at this very moment… There are currently over 18,000 U.S. soldiers occupying our border communities with a buildup of up to 75,000 by 2010, and an estimated 8-10,000 Mexican soldiers currently deployed in the border towns and villages positioned for crackdowns on civil society indigenous protests against the construction of a Berlin-style wall which is dissecting Yaqui, O'odham, Opata, Mayo, Cocopah communities along the border. Indigenous women are particularly targeted by violence that militarization culture imposes on the U.S.-Mexico conflict region evidenced by the 4000+ disappeared and murdered women of Juarez and other border towns… We respectfully request that the UNPFII consider our recommendations to take an intersectional approach to climate change that involves consideration of militarization, industrialization, gender, and environmental degradation in the U.S.-Mexico militarized zone of occupation and conflict. ??Ahi'i'e Ussn, ahi'i'e diyini, ahi'i'e shimaa £ebaiyé T'nde-Nnee', ahi'i'e shitaa Sumá Ndé-Nneé"(http://lipanapachecommunity/ defense.blogspot.com/).
The lands now known as the U.S Mexican border has been traditionally owned and occupied by numerous indigenous peoples for centuries. There are over thirteen self-identifying indigenous peoples including but not limited the Yaqui, Tohono O'odham, and the Lipan Apache. Within the past ten years the border has emerged as the United States and Mexico most misunderstood and obscured human rights crisis. For those communities whose lands lie on the edges of the empire it is clear that the conditions of racial discrimination and land grabbing have worsened remarkably. Without immediate direct action and intervention by both civil societies, the governments, and the United Nations the construction of the wall will cause irreparable harm to indigenous peoples residing there and hemispheric biological diversity.
The indigenous youth additionally expressed deep concerns with states falsely accusing indigenous youth activists as terrorists. This is an alarming emerging issue within the discourse of indigenous youth justice and must be critically examined on all levels as well as its implications for the indigenous rights movement as a whole.
Contrary to these false allegations, indigenous youth representatives firmly maintain that indigenous youth activists are not terrorists, but peoples, with the right of self-determination. Indigenous youth are rights holders within domestic and international law and will continue to advocate for, further articulate, and expand rights concerning our situations and cases within the international arena and United Nations system.Participating and witnessing the indigenous youth in action at the Permanent Forum was impressive and inspirational. Indigenous youth are working towards the full realization of our rights as articulated within the recently adopted United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous peoples and youth are still waiting for all of these rights to be felt fully and effectively realized on the ground.
Despite the diverse and distinct challenges we face as indigenous youth we stood and worked together for our people and our values. I am confidant that the indigenous youth will continue to challenge all forms of institutionalized and legalized racism being strong for the challenges ahead. Indigenous youth are crafting the abilities to work within the United Nation system to defend cultural, economic, social, and political rights. Developing the capacity to lead indigenous nations into beautiful sustainable futures.
Photo: Michelle Cook/Courtesy photo
New Zealand: US Police Point Taser at Kiwi
US police point Taser at Kiwi
Friday 06 June 2008
Friday 06 June 2008
By Stuff
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4575169a10.html
A New Zealander who took his family to join Mohawk, Paiute, Navajos, Choctaw and the American Indians making a symbolic "Longest Walk" across the USA has been threatened by police in Ohio.
Michael Lane - a lawyer who participated in the first "Longest Walk" in 1978 - intervened when police confronted marchers in Columbus Ohio.
Squad cars and paddy wagons pulled up walkers in Columbus, and one held a Taser about a metre from Mr Lane's head.
A journalist accompanying the walkers, Brenda Norrell, reported: "Michael Lane, who arrived on the walk with his wife, Sharon Heta ... and their children from New Zealand, was targeted by police with a Taser.
"As dozens of police came at the walkers, a police officer held a Taser three feet away from Lane's head," she said on independent news websites.
Police had not checked whether the Longest Walk marchers had notified the Ohio Department of Transportation of their route.
Mr Lane, who has a law degree from the Arizona State University, said the worst part of being targeted by a police officer with a Taser was that it terrified his daughters who only knew that a gun was being pointed at their father's head.
He has been accompanied on the 5800km walk by his wife, Sharon Heta, of Tuhoe, and their three children, Merehuka, Ranguitau and TeRuihi.
It started at Alcatraz Island near San Francisco on February 11, and is headed for Washington, DC.
The 1978 walk, in which Mr Lane took part, began with 17 participants in San Francisco and ended five months later with a gathering of tens of thousands of people in Washington.
That walk helped block a congressional effort to annihilate treaties that protect Indian sovereignty, and also helped spur passage of the 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act.
"We are walking to protect sacred sites and protect tribal sovereignty," said Mr Lane. He said the walkers should not be intimidated by police who attempt to tell them where they can walk.
"If we give in to them, we lose sight of who we are."
But Mr Lane said he was not focused on meeting with US politicians when he reaches Washington: "We are not going to be lobbying US Senators and Congressmen, we don't give a hoot what they say."
He said there was a need to protect the tribal sovereignty of Native Americans, because the abrogation of treaties was ongoing.
Today it continued in the form of offering money for Indian land or demanding waivers of sovereignty to build casinos.
Ms Heta said she was walking to raise awareness of the struggle by the Maori people for recognition of their own independent sovereign nation.
Each walker is asked to do a minimum of 16km a day, and the group including the New Zealanders is taking a northern route, while a smaller group is taking a southern route between the coasts.
- NZPA
(Note: Kiwi is a person from New Zealand) Photo Michael Lane with daughter on Longest Walk/Photo Brita Brookes
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4575169a10.html
A New Zealander who took his family to join Mohawk, Paiute, Navajos, Choctaw and the American Indians making a symbolic "Longest Walk" across the USA has been threatened by police in Ohio.
Michael Lane - a lawyer who participated in the first "Longest Walk" in 1978 - intervened when police confronted marchers in Columbus Ohio.
Squad cars and paddy wagons pulled up walkers in Columbus, and one held a Taser about a metre from Mr Lane's head.
A journalist accompanying the walkers, Brenda Norrell, reported: "Michael Lane, who arrived on the walk with his wife, Sharon Heta ... and their children from New Zealand, was targeted by police with a Taser.
"As dozens of police came at the walkers, a police officer held a Taser three feet away from Lane's head," she said on independent news websites.
Police had not checked whether the Longest Walk marchers had notified the Ohio Department of Transportation of their route.
Mr Lane, who has a law degree from the Arizona State University, said the worst part of being targeted by a police officer with a Taser was that it terrified his daughters who only knew that a gun was being pointed at their father's head.
He has been accompanied on the 5800km walk by his wife, Sharon Heta, of Tuhoe, and their three children, Merehuka, Ranguitau and TeRuihi.
It started at Alcatraz Island near San Francisco on February 11, and is headed for Washington, DC.
The 1978 walk, in which Mr Lane took part, began with 17 participants in San Francisco and ended five months later with a gathering of tens of thousands of people in Washington.
That walk helped block a congressional effort to annihilate treaties that protect Indian sovereignty, and also helped spur passage of the 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act.
"We are walking to protect sacred sites and protect tribal sovereignty," said Mr Lane. He said the walkers should not be intimidated by police who attempt to tell them where they can walk.
"If we give in to them, we lose sight of who we are."
But Mr Lane said he was not focused on meeting with US politicians when he reaches Washington: "We are not going to be lobbying US Senators and Congressmen, we don't give a hoot what they say."
He said there was a need to protect the tribal sovereignty of Native Americans, because the abrogation of treaties was ongoing.
Today it continued in the form of offering money for Indian land or demanding waivers of sovereignty to build casinos.
Ms Heta said she was walking to raise awareness of the struggle by the Maori people for recognition of their own independent sovereign nation.
Each walker is asked to do a minimum of 16km a day, and the group including the New Zealanders is taking a northern route, while a smaller group is taking a southern route between the coasts.
- NZPA
(Note: Kiwi is a person from New Zealand) Photo Michael Lane with daughter on Longest Walk/Photo Brita Brookes
South Texas: Border wall protestors plan civil disobedience
Some border wall protestors planning a campaign of civil disobedience
By Joey Gomez and Steve Taylor
EDINBURG, June 6 - Some opponents of the border fence are preparing civil disobedience when the bulldozers move into the Rio Grande Valley late next month.
Speaking in an individual capacity, members of the No Border Wall coalition told the Guardian that a number of protests are planned, both locally and nationally. Members of the group made the comments after speaking out against the levee-wall plan at this week’s Hidalgo County Commissioner’s Court meeting.
“There are people ready to do civil disobedience, people who have experience in doing civil disobedience, who are not afraid to do that,” said No Border Wall coalition member Ann Cass.
http://www.riograndeguardian.com/rggnews_story.asp?story_no=20
By Joey Gomez and Steve Taylor
EDINBURG, June 6 - Some opponents of the border fence are preparing civil disobedience when the bulldozers move into the Rio Grande Valley late next month.
Speaking in an individual capacity, members of the No Border Wall coalition told the Guardian that a number of protests are planned, both locally and nationally. Members of the group made the comments after speaking out against the levee-wall plan at this week’s Hidalgo County Commissioner’s Court meeting.
“There are people ready to do civil disobedience, people who have experience in doing civil disobedience, who are not afraid to do that,” said No Border Wall coalition member Ann Cass.
http://www.riograndeguardian.com/rggnews_story.asp?story_no=20
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