Fifteen-year-old Chumash receives death threats in California town

Fifteen-year-old Chumash receives death threats in California town

Backlash to opposing mascots exposes racism in coastal California town

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

CARPINTERIA, Calif. – A 15-year-old Chumash youth received death threats because he urged his high school to eliminate sports mascots which are degrading and mock Native Americans and their culture.

After those deaths were reported to police in this small coastal town, 90 minutes north of Los Angeles, police took no action and said the death threats were not credible.

Mark Anquoe, Kiowa from Oklahoma and member of the American Indian Movement, said it is inexcusable for police not to take death threats of a student seriously.

Speaking on Red Town Radio, Anquoe said it is surprising with the number of shootings in schools in the United States, such as Colombine, that this death threat was not taken seriously.

“You would think a death threat made to a student would be investigated and disciplinary action would be taken,” Anquoe said of the youth, whose name is not published here because he is a minor.

“The Indian people in this tiny community are vastly outnumbered. You saw this one young person stand up when he felt his people were being dishonored and this was the price that is being paid for speaking up,” Anquoe said.

“It didn’t fall into their legal definition of what a threat is,” said Corine Fairbanks, Lakota and member of the American Indian Movement, living in Santa Barbara near Carpinteria.

Fairbanks said the high school here was one of the last schools in the area to be desegregated. “It has a history of being really resistant to change.”

The area is home to the Chumash people and the federally recognized Santa Ynez and state recognized Chumash near Malibu.

Fairbanks said the issues came to the forefront after the Chumash youth was disturbed by the mascot. When he received an assignment to explore “Be the change you want to see in the world,” he chose to take on the challenge of exposing the degrading images of sports mascots.

After taking the issue to the school board, the "Warriors" mascot was removed. However, what followed revealed that the racism in the United States which is often believed to be confined to pockets, like in the south or in bordertowns around Indian Nations in the west, was manifested in this central coastal California.

A fierce reaction followed from some residents in the city of Carpinteria, joined by some alumni and some of the students. They formed an organization, “Warrior spirit will never die,” and opposed the young man’s efforts and those who supported him.

The virulent opposition even went on to recall a school board member who supported the Chumash youth. The organization followed with intimidation and harassment of the youth, his family and those who allied themselves.

Anquoe said what happened in Carpinteria makes it clear that some people believe that Indians should be involved only as a matter of token diversity, and only so long as they keep quiet. Indians are seen as a “good luck charm,” for a sport’s team.

“As soon as a real flesh and blood Indian stands up and says, ‘I deserve to be treated like a human being.’ You see this huge crazy maniacal backlash from the citizens in this little town.”

Anquoe said the backlash to this one young man standing up in Carpinteria has rallied widespread support from the American Indian Movement and AIM California Indians.

Red Town Radio host Brenda Golden, Muscogee from Oklahoma, sent a message to those who want to honor American Indian culture: Don’t make fun of our culture.

Anquoe said young American Indians in public schools are affected deeply when they see signs that say” Scalp the Indians,” “Kill the Indians,” and watch Indians burned in effigy.

Fairbanks said some in the area attempt to say they are honoring Native Americans with mascot images. She points out, however, that the war bonnet and other symbols are primarily Plains style, while the Chumash in this area have a different culture.

Fairbanks said public schools receive tax dollars to teach the truth. It is time to put away the Hollywood images and mascots, she said.

“It doesn’t honor the Chumash people.”

Further, Anquoe said the backlash has been so serious that Indian people have been forced to move out of town and move out of school districts. Similar situations are happening all over the country, as people put forth the images of “clown Indians.”

Anquoe said one of the reasons that people in the United States put out these ridiculous images is because they do not want to deal with the “uncomfortable truths” of the real history of American Indians in this country.

With the image of mascots revealing this dark side of racism in America, Anquoe said Americans have to face and teach the real history of American Indians.

UPDATE: You can email the Carpinteria School Board at:

Terry Hickey Banks tbanks@cusd.net Lou Panizzon lpanizzon@cusd.net Alex Pulido apulido@cusd.net
Leslie Deardorff ldeardorff@cusd.net Beverly Grant bgrant@cusd.net
The 1st three board members still seem to be in favor of retaining the imagery; the latter two already voted for removal. It will be revoted on 3-17-09.

Listen to this radio show at Red Town Radio:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/RedTownRadio

Press statements by Mark Anquoe and Corine Fairbanks
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/search?q=Carpinteria

Read more:
http://www.indianz.com/board/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=36124

Obama: Stop the Peabody Mine Expansion on Black Mesa

By Bahe Katenay

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Old, the Young, the Coming Generation, and Relatives:

As we speak, there exist a state of fear and anxiety in a traditional community at Big Mountain in the heart of Black Mesa. And as we speak, the federally deputized officers of the BIA Hopi Agency Police and Rangers are patrolling this region where a few traditional elders continue to live and also resist federal mandates to relocate. I want to bring your attention to one particular situation that is an example of the wide-spread acts of injustice, human rights violation, religious intolerance, and threats of property destruction.

Dineh resister and elder, Pauline Whitesinger, has stood her ground since 1977 when the BIA tried to build a range unit fence within the lands partitioned to the neighboring tribe, the (modern and progressive) Hopis. Pauline still believes in the old ways by upholding aboriginal rights and treaty rights and because of BIA-Hopi restriction on new contruction and her deteriorating ceremonial hogan, she replaced and rebuilt a new hogan. The BIA Indian police are constantly taken photographs of her residence, her neighbors that come to see her, her non-Indian volunteer helpers, and her grandchildren that come to visit. The police do not attempt to talk to her or answer to her concerns and requests.

This area known as the Hopi Partitioned Lands still has Dineh residents and has been made an isolated area, and this is allowing the federal government to do as they please with these last, traditional peoples. Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr. has even made numerous comments that the Dineh resistance at Big Mountain "a lost cause and a closed case" meaning that these Dineh are to never be thought of, again. Meaning that these Dineh, who are my Big Mountain relatives, need to be erased from the state of the Navajo Nation and perhaps, Pauline is right when she says, "we are in way of Peabody, profit, revenues, and industrial jobs."

The last few elder resisters and their few supporters (native or non-natives) will continue to provide the much needed humanitarian aide to our surviving history: traditional Dineh living and maintaining on their ancestral and sacred homelands. However, we all need to act in the best means possible and stop the daily Gestapo tactics and the potential demolishment of a sacred hogan or earth lodge. We all need to prevent any harm that may be committed on our elders or their helpers and most of all, prevent this growing hostility from getting out-of-hand.

All legal recourses are no longer an option since this is a challenge against a U.S. Executive Order, and The Peoples are the only option to bring about attention, focus and restoration.

I have attached a petition with addresses of officials and I am making a plead to you all, my relatives, to sign it and either send it directly to the listed officials or send them to the Black Mesa Indigenous Support. This situation is very urgent. These elders are very old now and they truly deserve much honor. They have lived in a way that, we or our future generations may never see humans live in this country. These traditional elders must live their naturally-given, old life in peace and harmony, Hozhon goh. Yaa'at'eeh goh.

I apologize for the long list of officials, but it has become long because of so many years of ignorance and because certain, minor sectors of society believed that these Elders would have been defeated already.

Thank you for your time.
Sincerely and In the Spirit of Chief Barboncito,
Bahe Y. Katenay (Naabaahii Keediniihii)
Dineh of Big Mountain

"A very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky."
The words of Crazy Horse (As remembered by Ohiyesa, Charles A. Eastman).

STOP THE PEABODY COAL MINE EXPANSION ON BLACK MESA IN THE TERRITORIES OF THE DINEH (NAVAJO) and HOPIS IN ARIZONA, U.S.A.The Sovereign Nation of the Big Mountain Dineh
VIA Black Mesa, Navajo Indian Reservation, Arizona, U.S.A.
March 2009

Dear Mr. President Barrack Obama, and
Madame Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton,
Copies to:
Mrs. Katherine Smith & Mrs. Pauline Whitesinger, Big Mountain Sovereign Dineh,
Selected Kimongwis of the Independent Pueblo of Hotevilla,
Mr. William Means , International Indian Treaty Council,
President Joe Shirley, Jr., The Navajo Nation,
Mr. Roman Bitsuie, The Navajo-Hopi Land Commission,
Office of the Hopi Tribe’s Office of Hopi Lands,
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Phoenix Area Agency
Department of the Interior, Office of Surface Mining

REPEAL “THE NAVAJO-HOPI LAND SETTLEMENT ACT OF 1974” (P.L. 93-531): IT ENFORCES THE METHODS OF GENOCIDE BY POPULATION REMOVAL AND COAL MINING EXPANSIONSThe Sovereign Nation of the Big Mountain Dineh is located in northeastern Arizona on Black Mesa and is part of ancient indigenous shared-territories. Members of this nation were affected by the 1974 legislation to relocate from certain partitioned areas, but have rather chose to resist this policy and try to: maintain their ancestral and treaty lands, keep cultural practices, value universal-granted freedom, conduct their ancient rights to ritual ceremonies, and preserve their sacred sites. The proclamation of these Dineh in 1979 states that through divine creation they were, “provided with the Ni’tliz’ (sacred stones) as offerings and the Dzil leezh (sacred mountain soil Bundle) representing the universe. With prayers and songs we offer the Ni’tliz to the trees, to the hills, to the wind, and the thunder beings in the sacred rain. The Dzil Leezh is our power to live close to our mother the Earth and father Sky. These are our sacred ways to survive in this universe and to communicate with the unseen forces in the Natural life.”
As you may be aware that, the relocation of thousands of Dineh (Navajos) and Hopis has been in process since 1977 after 1.8 million acres was partitioned and that, the Dineh elder leaders at Big Mountain began their resistance to U.S. government court orders to vacant areas partitioned to the official and federally-recognized, Hopi tribe. These traditional Dineh communities still
continue to resist the harsh relocation policies and coal mining encroachment to this day. Despite a few elders are now left, they continue to reaffirm their ancestral land rights which are contrary to all court decisions related to the fore mentioned communities from 1974 to 1998.
U.S. Judicial System has had a vital role in this land rights issue ever since energy companies of the southwestern United States became interested in exploring the coal reserves of Black Mesa in northeastern Arizona. In 1962, there was a well-orchestrated rush to establish an Indian Land Claims on the behalf of the Hopi tribe and which was guided by a Peabody Coal Company attorney, and this allowed Peabody to acquire mining leases. The U.S. courts and corporate attorneys eventually, thereafter, help created the relocation and land-partitioning policies which only made way for coal exploration. None of these court rulings were based on proving that an actual “land dispute” did exist between the Dineh and Hopis.
Big Mountain on Black Mesa is the only place in the United States where two Indian nations can still define cultural coexistence and shared territories, and now have become endangered aboriginal peoples. The U.S. courts have ordered continued pressure on the remaining traditional Dineh and keep the areas sealed and isolated. The United States is allowing this tragedy and genocide to be sustained under the guise that relocation are on voluntary basis and that Indian police are being used rather than state authorities to carry out enforcements. These traditional resisters hold great knowledge and wisdom of ancient information and natural existence that are irreplaceable, and it is the world society’s responsibility to stop the United States and its largest coal-producer, Peabody Energy, from executing this human and mega-environmental destruction.
Additional documentations (www.blackmesais.org) of human rights violation and religious intolerance are as follows:
 Limitation or complete denial of: crop cultivation and livestock husbandry, community and religious activities, access to or maintenance of water wells, and elder residents’ safety needs to attain wood fuels for heating and cooking,
 Forced relocation to foreign settings that does not support or replace loss culture and religions,
 Deliberate breaking up of family and clan structures,
 Controlled national media that portray the Big Mountain story as a result of legitimate and humane court decisions,
 Peabody mines create: daily detonation that causes micro-quakes, depletion of pristine aquifers that causes subsidence and fissure zones, and massive emissions of coal dust and engine exhaust.
We the undersigned hereof state our demand that the United States cease all forcible relocation enforcements on the Dineh, and reverse the decisions made for Peabody Coal Company’s Life of the Mine Permit on Black Mesa.
It will be furthered recommended that:
 Indigenous peoples’ inherent rights to their homelands be recognized and respected,
 Traditional tribal communities be allowed to reinstate and restore the inexorable ties to fundamental existence and spiritual practices,
 There must be serious reviews about the conclusion that Black Mesa coal is the primary source for energy, and that being reviewed in the context of global concerns for greenhouse gas emissions,
 Acknowledge that indigenous being has sustained all human cultures’ moral obligations throughout the ages, and it is much more crucial in this technological era that the demands and rights of indigenous peoples be received with greater human understanding.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
SIGNATURE
PRINT NAME
DATE
OCCUPATION
COUNTRY

OFFICIAL CONTACT INFO:
U.S. President Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Phone Numbers:
Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 FAX: 202-456-2461 U.S. Secretary of State Clinton Public Communication Division: PA/PL, Rm. 2206 U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, D.C. 20520 202-647-6575 Bureau of Indian Affairs Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington DC 20240 Office of Surface Mining Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington DC 20240 PHOENIX AREA OFFICE: Bureau of Indian Affairs P.O. Box 10 Phoenix, AZ 85001 P: 602/379-6600 F: 602/379-4413 Hopi Agency Bureau of Indian Affairs P.O. Box 158 Keams Canyon, AZ 86034 P: 520/738-2228 F: 520/738-5522
Navajo Nation Office of the President Joe Shirley, Jr. Communications Director George Hardeen
georgehardeen@opvp.org Phone: (928) 871-7917 Cell: (928) 309-8532 Staff Assistant Gloria Bowman gbowman@opvp.org Phone: (928) 871-7915 Fax: (928) 871-7005 Administrative Assistant Desiree Etsitty Phone: (928) 871-7916 Fax: (928) 871-7807
Hard Rock Chapter P.O. Box 20 Kykotsmovi, AZ 86039 Phone: (928) 725-3730/3732 Fax: (928) 725-3731 E-mail: hardrock@navajochapters.org
Forest Lake Chapter P.O. Box 441 Pinon, AZ 86510 Phone: (928) 677-3252/3347 Fax: (928) 677-3320 E-mail: forestlake@navajochapters.org
Black Mesa Chapter P.O. Box 189 Pinon, AZ 86510 Phone: (928) 309-7056 E-mail: blackmesa@navajochapters.org (To traditional Dineh or Hopi Kimongwis, or other Communiqué to Sovereign Dineh.) ATTN: TRADITIONAL ELDERS
Black Mesa Indigenous Support P.O. Box 23501
Flagstaff, Arizona 86002 Email: blackmesais@riseup.net

Indigenous Alliance without Borders Statement on Southern Border Indigenous Peoples Issues

Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras
P.O. Box 826 Tucson, Arizona
www.indigenasinfronteras.org
Contact: Jose R. Matus, Project Director, Tel: 520 979-2125, jrmatus@aol.com

Photo: Alianza 2008/by Brenda Norrell

Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras Statement on Southern Border Indigenous Peoples Issues

TUCSON -- The Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras (Indigenous Alliance Without Borders) located in Tucson, brought together individual members of the Tohono O'odham Nation, Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Gila River Indian Community, White Mountain and Lipan Apache, along with indigenous organizations from Tucson and Phoenix at a regional consultation and strategy meeting on Southern Border Indigenous Peoples issues. At this gathering, on Feb. 14, an indigenous led transnational initiative focusing on issues of the US-Mexico border region was launched, and strategic plans made to proactively promote recognition and respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras will spearhead the development of this first ever southern border transnational collaboration of Indigenous Peoples to collectively address the militarization of the US-Mexico border, to promote indigenous rights of mobility and passage, and pursue southern border rights legislation and recognition for traditional ceremonial leaders, language keepers and cultural ambassadors.

Working through the Alianza Indigena, the organizing initiative will collectively address anti-immigrant legislation and border enforcement policies of the region which have violated Indigenous Peoples rights across the borderlands of the southern US border with Mexico. The Alianza Indigena also commits to collectively support the current Lipan Apaches Woman Defense fight against eminent domain in the Texas-Coahuila corridor and opposes the building of the border wall.

Our goal is to create a strategic collaboration among southern border nations of Indigenous Peoples and unite with northern border indigenous Nations including the Dakota-Nakota-Lakota 7 Council Fires of South Dakota engaged in similar issues along the US-Canada border. The Alianza Indigena shall facilitate and intervene collectively to support efforts to preserve traditional intra-tribal and inter-tribal relations and practices across the region, looking to affect long term systemic changes in favor of Indigenous Peoples Rights along the US-Mexico border.

Acting as organizational hub, the Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras will serve to implement proactive strategies of the Indigenous Peoples regionally, collectively address issues in accord with the principles of Article36 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 13th, 2007, which states:

Article 36
1. Indigenous peoples, in particular those divided by international borders, have the right to maintain and develop contacts, relations and cooperation, including activities for spiritual, cultural, political, economic and social purposes, with their own members as well as other peoples across borders.
2. States, in consultation and cooperation with indigenous peoples, shall take effective measures to facilitate the exercise and ensure the implementation of this right.
The Alianza Indigena further commits to bringing forward these issues to the appropriate agencies and venues of the United Nations system, in particular the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples.

The militarization of the US-Mexico border which began in 1990, has threaten the survival of our indigenous culture, family ties and social networks, and our rights of mobility and passage have suffered restrictions and policies creating dangerous conditions. We are subjected to being turned away, stopped, detained and harassed by immigration officials on both sides of the border.

The cultural and religious ties between our Indigenous Nations and communities on both sides of the US-Mexico border precede the imposition of the international boundary between the countries by millennia. These ties present a cultural mandate that must continue and will continue in spite of the great difficulties of today's political climate and economic realities.

Currently, there are eight tribal nations that experience border crossing problems even if the US-Mexico border does not physically divide their traditional territories. As nations of Indigenous Peoples, the ability to conduct traditional ceremonies is essential for the continuity, healing and security of our mind and body, family and community. For some of these ceremonies to be held, it is necessary for participants and ceremonial leaders to travel and return across the nation-state boundaries in order to fulfill these spiritual obligations.

In the context of the continental movement redefining the relationship between the Indigenous People and government states in the hemisphere, Professor Jack D. Forbes, Powhatan-Delaware and Professor of Native American Studies at the University of California. Davis comments: "First, we can seek legislation which will amend the immigration laws of the U.S. and Canada so that First Nations People are able to have free movement everywhere in North America, as the
original nations of this continent."

The Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras, founded in 1997, was created by and for Indigenous Peoples to address border issues of the southern US border with Mexico. The Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras consists of individual tribal members from eight southern border indigenous nations with relatives in Mexico. We seek to increase public awareness regionally and nationally on how anti-immigrant legislation and border enforcement policies daily affect the lives of Indigenous Peoples.

The Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras also urges President Barack Obama and his administration to hold Indigenous Consultation Hearings in the Southern US-Mexico border region, in order to gain a direct understanding from indigenous Peoples regarding land and cultura.

Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras Supports the National Human Rights March to Challenge Sheriff Joe Arpaio

The United States government is failing to protect the human rights of Indigenous peoples to practice their own spiritual beliefs.

The Alianza Indigena is here in solidarity because people of color continuously face abuse of authority and violation of human and civil rights by current and proposed U.S. anti-immigrant legislation and border enforcement policies and practice.

The Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras, call on Maricopa County Government to stop Joe Arpaio racist tactic, abuse of authority and violation of human rights against people of color. No Human Being is illegal! Institutional racism is evident in the policing and enforcement of immigration laws, widely reported racial profiling and rampant law enforcement abuses of due process. Stop Arpaio.

The way and the only way, to stop the evil are for all people of color to unite in claiming a common and equal right to food and basic survival.
l issues, and dialogue in the traditional community setting about alternatives to present US border policies such as the wall.

Turn the tide in Phoenix: March against hate

Zach de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine Calls on Fans to Turn the Tide Against Hate, Join March in Phoenix, Arizona.

Famous Lead Singer to Join Thousands to Denounce Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Out of Control Intimidation and Humiliation
Who: National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Puente Arizona, and Zach de la Rocha
What: March to Stop the Systematic Persecution of Migrants and Latinos in AZ.
Where: March Start Location for Feb 28th: 300 E Indian School Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85012
When: March to Stop the Hate in Phoenix to be held 9:00 am on February 28.
"Recently the nation witnessed the ritual humiliation of migrants in a spectacle evocative of some of the most horrific episodes of human history," explains Pablo Alvarado, Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. "People across the country are outraged at the shameful violations of human rights perpetrated by the Maricopa County Sheriffs and they are being moved to action."
In the last month Sheriff Joe Arpaio intensified his on-going escalation of attacks against Latinos by segregating the county jail and parading undocumented migrants shackled in a chain-gang into "tent city."
He erected and surrounded the tent with an electric fence in a grotesque display of human degradation.Zach de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine responded to the news by saying, "To witness what is happening in Arizona and remain neutral is to be implicated in human rights violations that are occurring right here on US soil against migrants. History will not be kind to Joe Arpaio. He will be remembered with other infamous sheriffs like Bull Connor who subjugated and terrorized communities for shortsighted political gain. I hope everyone will join me in protesting Sheriff Joe."
More details can be found at www.ndlon.org

Indigenous Peoples Day Phoenix, Saturday, March 14, 2009

Nahn-coh-Mahss O'otham Indigenous Peoples Day
COMMUNITY CELEBRATION
In AFFIRMATION of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Adopted by the UN General Assembly September 13, 2007
Saturday March 14th, 2009
Steele Indian School Park
10:00 AM – 8:00 PM

Native American Heritage Coalition
Gathering of the Visions
Jean Chaudhuri Memorial
Memorial Hall
3rd Street and Indian School Road
12:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Continental Confederation of the Eagle and the Condor
Contacts:
Tupac Enrique Acosta: (602) 466-8367
Benjamin Chee (602) 930-6791
Shannon Rivers (480) 220-6766
Email: chantlaca@tonatierra.org
Links:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/declaration.html
http://www.cumbrecontinentalindigena.org

Indigenous Peoples Day
Saturday March 14th
Draft Agenda of Activities

Sunrise Ceremony at Smoadoag Doag
8:00 - 9:30 Xinachtli (Seed) Educational - Cultural Sharing at South Mountain Ecology Center
10:00 Spiritual Run from Smoadoag Doag to Indian School Park
12:00 Arrrival at Indian School Park, Reception by Native American Heritage Coalition
12:00 - 1:00 Lunch
1:00 - 3:30 Gathering of the Visions, Memorial Hall hosted by Native American Heritage Coalition
1:15 - 4:00 Cultural Activities, Games and Arts for children and Youth in the park next to Memorial Hall
3:30 - 5:00 Webcast from Window Rock, North America Regional Indigenous Peoples Caucus, United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Preparatory Meeting
4:30 Community Message of Affirmation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, via webcast to Window Rock, North America Regional Indigenous Peoples Caucus
5:00 Four Season of an Indian Woman's Life, a theatrical presentation authored by Jean Chaudhuri in Memorial Hall
6:00 Dinner
6:30 - 8:00 Video Presentations in Memorial Hall "The Day the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was Adopted" and "Protecting O'Odham Sacred Sites"
8:00 - 9:00 Closing Circle:
Farewells, Announcements, Commitments for the Future:
Indian School Park Plans and Oversight

UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - Public Education Campaign
Indigenous Peoples Studies: Indigenous Peoples Geography Project
Local Community Campaigns
Continental Confederation of the Eagle and the Condor.
**********************
Good Morning Relatives,

We invite to participate in a community wide effort of Indigenous Peoples that will take place at the Phoenix Indian School Park Memorial Hall on Saturday the 14th of March, 2009.
This event, which is part of the sixth annual Nican Tlacah Ilhuitl - Indigenous Peoples Day activities organized by TONATIERRA will culminate with a community forum and feast in AFFIRMATION of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted by the General Assembly on September the 13th, 2007. Commemoration copies of the Declaration will be distributed to the community, traditional cultural activities such as games, singing and dancing, and arts for youth and children will be organized during the afternoon in the Indian School Park.
A traditional spiritual run from Smoadag Doag (South Mountain) will take place in the morning, and a special gathering of the Native American Heritage Preservation Coalition, which led the fight to preserve the Indian School property as a cultural and historic site of the Native American Nations will also be convened during the day. Native American Veterans are being invited, as well as Alumni of the Indian School, surrounding Native American reservation communities, and the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona. The agenda for the event will include special cultural activities to commemorate and honor the special significance of the Indian School site for the Native American alumni, tribes and families.
The event at Memorial Hall will also coincide with the North America Regional Indigenous Peoples Caucus in preparation for the 8th Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues which will be taking place at the same time in Window Rock, hosted by the Navajo Nation. A two way webcast video link via Internet is being set up to connect the two events to create a historic and unique local to global experience at the community grassroots level.
Please contact us to become involved in support of this very unique initiative of the Indigenous Peoples or if you have any questions, and all the best to you.
Tupac Enrique Acosta, Yaotachcauh
Tlahtokan Nahuacalli
TONATIERRA
Email: chantlaca@tonatierra.org