CONSENSUAL DECISION MAKING PROCESS
Mohawk Nation News
http://www.mohawknationnews.com
MNN. Oct. 31, 2009. The meetings in Kahnawake to set up a justice system are supposedly based on the decision making process of the Rotino’shonni:onwe. [Wampums 5 to 11, Kaianereh’ko:wa]. Our ancestors brought rational thinking to a principle. To keep our identity, we have to be free in body, mind and energy. We have to make up our own mind based on all the facts. There are many similarities in the nature based philosophies of all Ongwehonwe on Onowaregeh [Great Turtle Island] and beyond. These are the basic principles of our decision making process.
GOAL. The decision must be in the best interests of all the people. Consensus does not mean that all agree but that all understand the decision.
NOTE. Whatever ideas are put into the process, the needs and attitudes of each is considered and complements the decision. The individual has a duty to be directly involved, and to bring their ideas into the discussion within their clan. The final decision will be fully satisfactory to some, satisfactory to others and relatively satisfactory to the remainder, and will reflect elements from each group. This is a slow careful process requiring the reaching of a full understanding by each individual and not a decision made by a leader.
WAR CHIEF. Presides over the meeting to make sure that collective rational thought and behavior are followed.
CLANS. The people are divided into three clans: Bear, Wolf and Turtle. Each have 3 chiefs for a total of 9.
ASSISTANT WAR CHIEF. Each clan selects a temporary spokesperson called an Assistant War Chief.
WELL-KEEPER announces the subject for discussion and passes the issue over the Council Fire.
The three clans deliberate.
Then the Assistant War Chief either reports or asks questions or reports a final decision. If the Clans disagree or there is an error or the proceedings are irregular, the Assistant War Chief calls attention to it on behalf of his clan. They once again deliberate.
The issue is then passed by all three clans.
THREE CRITERIA.
When an issue is discussed, the clans consider the short term and long term pros and cons of the issue. Three criteria must be met:
1.PEACE. Does it preserve the peace that is already established?
2.RIGHTEOUSNESS. Is it morally correct? And
3.POWER. Does it preserve the integrity of the nation? What does it do for the present and how does it affect the future seven generations from now?
DURING DELIBERATIONS.
Each must follow the criteria of peace, righteousness and power at all times. Persons are asked throughout the process if they fully understand. If not, the process stops until this is accomplished. One cannot simply be stubborn and refuse to understand as they will be questioned.
Every Person has a responsibility to expand and exercise their minds. The forces of life have given the human being the potential to use the mind to create a better life through peace, power and righteousness.
In the decision-making process:
-all opinions have to be considered;
-all must be completely reasonable;
-all should come with an open mind;
-all must fully understand the other’s viewpoint;
-each participant cannot repeat a position once it has been fully explained and understood;
-if a person does not agree with the views that have been stated, they must fully explain their dissenting views;
-no one can impose their will nor make decisions for another;
-all must understand the viewpoint and agree of their own free will; and
-if there is no consensus, the consensus is to retain the status quo.
The Chiefs and the War Chief who preside over the meeting make sure that the Kaianereh’ko:wa and collective rational thought and behavior are followed.
All human beings are capable of rational thought, which leads to solving even the most difficult problem. The underlying philosophy is that human beings are loving, caring and wish to interact in a positive way. People cannot think clearly when they are in psychological plain, or have feelings of rage or lose hope. The process must bring us from despair to hope. We have to resist being manipulated or having decisions made for us or pacifying us. We all have a responsibility to develop our minds. To think is to create a sane world for the present and future generations, a world safe from the emotional, irrational behavior controlled by fear, hatred, greed, jealousy, suspicion and conflict. The main obstacle to our survival is fear.
We are a distinct nation with our own law, government, people and territory. We have to always assert this.
Kahentinetha MNN Mohawk Nation News, www.mohawknationnews.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com Note: Your financial help is needed and appreciated. Please send your donations by check or money order to “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Or go to PayPal on MNN website. Nia:wen thank you very much. Go to MNN BORDER category for more stories; New MNN Books Available now!
For more details: Horn, Kahentinetha. The Confusion Between the Great Law and the Handsome Lake Code. Mohawk Issues for Dummies Series. #2. The Longhouse Conflict in Iroquois Communities. MNN Mohawk Nation News. 2007. $20.
Hall, Karonhiaktajeh. Gayanerekowa. The Great Law of Peace As Brought to the Confederacy of the Iroquois By Dekanawida the Peacemaker. Ohontsa. 1993. $20. 6 hour video available. Book & video. $80.
October 31, 2009
More than 200 bodies recovered at Arizona/Sonora border
October 30, 2009
Contact: Kat Rodriguez: 520.770.1373
Total of Recovered Remains on the Arizona-Sonora Border Reaches 206 despite continued claims of Border Enforcement Success
Contact: Kat Rodriguez: 520.770.1373
Total of Recovered Remains on the Arizona-Sonora Border Reaches 206 despite continued claims of Border Enforcement Success
By Kat Rodrigquez, Derechos Humanos
Photo by Brenda Norrell (Walkers arrive at San Xavier on Tohono O'odham land Oct. 31, 2009, with crosses in memory of the migrants who died in the Sonoran Desert.)
Arizona -- The final number of bodies recovered on the Arizona-Sonora border for the fiscal year that began on October 1, 2008 and ended September 30, 2009 is 206, reports Coalición de Derechos Humanos. The data, which are compiled from medical examiner reports from Pima, Yuma, and Cochise counties, are an attempt to give a more accurate reflection of the human cost of failed U.S. border and immigration policies. The final count includes 141 males, 33 females, 5 minors, and approximately 99, or 48% of unknown identity. Countries represented in the final count include México, Guatemala, and Ecuador.
This figure is higher than last year's total of 183 remains recovered, but the true total number of deaths on the border is impossible to calculate, particularly as the number of remains recovered in neighboring states is not available.
"In looking at the data from this year, an alarming piece that jumps out immediately is the staggering increase in the number of remains of unknown gender. Two years ago, that number was 5, then 19 last year, and this year we are at 31, an incredible 15% of the total recovered." says Kat Rodriguez, Coordinator of Coalición de Derechos Humanos.
Unknown gender indicates that not enough of the remains were recovered to determine gender, and without DNA, it is impossible to know even this basic information about the individual, making identification and return to their families even more difficult. The dramatic increase in these unknown gender cases are a troubling indicator or what might be to come, as people are pushed out into more and more isolated areas, making rescue and detection less likely, and the likelihood of death more certain.
There is information to suggest that the migration flow patterns are shifting due to the Funnel Effect, which has been documented by the Binational Migration Institute*. The high number of skeletal remains recovered this year, 36 (17.5% of total) support this likely shift in migration flow, and it is possible that the long periods of time before being recovered indicates that people are crossing in more isolated and desolate areas, with less chance of rescue or discovery. It is unknown how many remains are currently near the border but have not yet been discovered, and it is possible that some of these remains will never be recovered.
"Every year we total up the human cost of militarization and wonder when our government will acknowledge that these deaths are the direct effects of border militarization and immigration policies." continued Rodriguez. "As we watch politicians and many of the large immigrant rights groups negotiate on what they deem viable politically in discussions around immigration reform, we call on all people of conscience to denounce policies of militarization and enforcement.
"We must not waver in our opposition to any reform that will continue to militarize our communities. Doing so is not only being untrue to our commitment to human rights and dignity, but an affront to the thousands of men, women and children who have died on our borders, and the families who suffer the agony of their deaths or the bitter anguish of never knowing what has become of their loved ones."
The complete list of recovered bodies is available on the Coalición de Derechos Humanos website: http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net/ This information is available to anyone who requests it from us and is used by our organization to further raise awareness of the human rights crisis we are facing on our borders.
* The complete BMI study, The "Funnel Effect" & Recovered Bodies of Unauthorized Migrants Processed by the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, 1990-2005, is available on the Derechos Humanos website: http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net/images/pdfs/bmi%20report.pdf
Coalición de Derechos Humanos
P.O. Box 1286 Tucson, AZ 85702
Tel: 520.770.1373 520.770.1373
Fax: 520.770.7455
http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net/
Arizona -- The final number of bodies recovered on the Arizona-Sonora border for the fiscal year that began on October 1, 2008 and ended September 30, 2009 is 206, reports Coalición de Derechos Humanos. The data, which are compiled from medical examiner reports from Pima, Yuma, and Cochise counties, are an attempt to give a more accurate reflection of the human cost of failed U.S. border and immigration policies. The final count includes 141 males, 33 females, 5 minors, and approximately 99, or 48% of unknown identity. Countries represented in the final count include México, Guatemala, and Ecuador.
This figure is higher than last year's total of 183 remains recovered, but the true total number of deaths on the border is impossible to calculate, particularly as the number of remains recovered in neighboring states is not available.
"In looking at the data from this year, an alarming piece that jumps out immediately is the staggering increase in the number of remains of unknown gender. Two years ago, that number was 5, then 19 last year, and this year we are at 31, an incredible 15% of the total recovered." says Kat Rodriguez, Coordinator of Coalición de Derechos Humanos.
Unknown gender indicates that not enough of the remains were recovered to determine gender, and without DNA, it is impossible to know even this basic information about the individual, making identification and return to their families even more difficult. The dramatic increase in these unknown gender cases are a troubling indicator or what might be to come, as people are pushed out into more and more isolated areas, making rescue and detection less likely, and the likelihood of death more certain.
There is information to suggest that the migration flow patterns are shifting due to the Funnel Effect, which has been documented by the Binational Migration Institute*. The high number of skeletal remains recovered this year, 36 (17.5% of total) support this likely shift in migration flow, and it is possible that the long periods of time before being recovered indicates that people are crossing in more isolated and desolate areas, with less chance of rescue or discovery. It is unknown how many remains are currently near the border but have not yet been discovered, and it is possible that some of these remains will never be recovered.
"Every year we total up the human cost of militarization and wonder when our government will acknowledge that these deaths are the direct effects of border militarization and immigration policies." continued Rodriguez. "As we watch politicians and many of the large immigrant rights groups negotiate on what they deem viable politically in discussions around immigration reform, we call on all people of conscience to denounce policies of militarization and enforcement.
"We must not waver in our opposition to any reform that will continue to militarize our communities. Doing so is not only being untrue to our commitment to human rights and dignity, but an affront to the thousands of men, women and children who have died on our borders, and the families who suffer the agony of their deaths or the bitter anguish of never knowing what has become of their loved ones."
The complete list of recovered bodies is available on the Coalición de Derechos Humanos website: http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net/ This information is available to anyone who requests it from us and is used by our organization to further raise awareness of the human rights crisis we are facing on our borders.
* The complete BMI study, The "Funnel Effect" & Recovered Bodies of Unauthorized Migrants Processed by the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, 1990-2005, is available on the Derechos Humanos website: http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net/images/pdfs/bmi%20report.pdf
Coalición de Derechos Humanos
P.O. Box 1286 Tucson, AZ 85702
Tel: 520.770.1373 520.770.1373
Fax: 520.770.7455
http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net/
Flagstaff 'Outta Your Backpack' grand opening concert
Taala Hooghan Infoshop/Outta Your Backpack Media Grand Opening of New Location! Sunday, Nov. 1st
Photo: Fence on Black Mesa
The event is also a benefit for Black Mesa Indigenous Support (http://www.blackmesais.org/)
Free open house and veggie BBQ at 3PM
Show starts at 6PM, $3-6 sliding scale donation, all ages
At 11 S. Mikes Pike in Downtown Flagstaff (In the white warehouse near the south side bus transfer station)
With performances by:
Broadcast Live (Hip Hop indie rock from New York)
Radmilla Cody (Traditional Dine' vocalist)
Evan Greer (Folk/punk from Massachusetts)
Discotays (Awesomeness from New Mexico)
Shining Soul (Hip Hop from Phoenix)
Capoeira workshop/demo
Outta Your Backpack Media short films
Speakers and various issues and more!
We also have a new website! Check it out and visit often as its a work in progress!
http://www.taalahooghan.org/
We still need volunteers & donations! Volunteer meetings every Friday at 6:30PM at Mikes Pike location. Heres some goods were looking for right now: Kitchen towels; folding chairs; folding tables; large garbage & recycling cans/ cleaning supplies (rags,etc;) electric stove and exhaust fan; large storage shelves
From Flaglive: Grassroots Groundswell
The Táala Hooghan Infoshop has created a vibrant arts and music-oriented community in the two years of its existence. With regular free markets to live concerts and encouraging independent media and film projects among youth, the Infoshop has its hands full. So they’ve moved into a bigger space downtown south of the tracks and are having a party to celebrate, which will double as a benefit for Black Mesa Indigenous Support. There will be live music by Broadcast Live, Evan Greer, Radmilla Cody, Discotays and Shining Soul. Also show up for a capoeira demo and workshop as well as speakers and food. 11 S. Mikes Pike. Open house at 3 p.m. Show at 6 p.m.www.myspace.com/taalahooghan. infoshop@gmail.com
Taala Hooghan - Infoshop & Youth Media Arts Center
www.myspace.com/taalahooghan
Leonard Peltier's artwork at Berkeley
La Peña Cultural Center and Polu Manu Productions proudly presents:The artwork of Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier
The highly-praised artwork of Native American activist, political prisoner and six time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Leonard Peltier - curated by Bird Levy Strain of Polu Manu Productions, SF - will be exhibited in Berkeley's La Peña theater from October 19 until November 30, 2009.
The exhibit can be viewed either during show times (with admission ticket only) or by appointment; call 510-849-2568 510-849-2568. Opening Reception Date: Friday, Nov. 13. 6:30 - 8pm
Navajo activist Chelsea Chee wins young activist award
For details, contact:
Lynne Hollander Savio707-823-7293
Mobile: 707-703-9829savio@sonic.net
http://www.savio.org (Photo Chelsea Chee)
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ACTIVISTS WIN MARIO SAVIO YOUNG ACTIVIST AWARDS
Two young leaders who have been tackling the problems of climate change and environmental justice in different but complementary ways have been awarded this year's Mario Savio Young Activist Award. Each will receive $6,000, half for their projects and half to use as they wish.
Chelsea Chee, a 25-year old Navajo woman, Youth Organizer for the Black Mesa Water Coalition in Arizona, has been working to engage Indigenous youth of the Southwest in implementing climate change solutions. Through Chelsea’s leadership young Indigenous peoples are actively reorienting their tribal governments, schools, and communities towards a "greener' future. This means opposing fossil fuel extraction, encouraging sustainable living, and promoting a green job opportunities. Her efforts have resulted in the creation of numerous Indigenous youth groups throughout the rural Southwest and the passage of the Navajo Nation Green Economy legislation.
Timothy DenHerder-Thomas, 22, a senior at Macalester College in Minnesota, has devised practical new programs that focus on organizing for ecological innovation and sustainable community development. After establishing a revolving fund that helps students implement campus sustainability practices and recaptures the savings created (now over $100,000), Timothy has gone on to organize Summer of Solutions, a program that trains youth leaders to partner with local groups in developing community projects around energy efficiency, sustainable food production and urban design, and green industry.
"Chelsea and Timothy strike us as representing two key aspects of the climate debate--the need for those communities most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, though least responsible for it, to have a strong voice in the debate and the need to build bridges across class divides and challenge the system from within," stated Lynne Hollander Savio, Chairperson of the awards program. "Chelsea has had to struggle against great odds -- a vast territory, little money, and tribal history and cultural values, while Timothy has been exceptionally creative and ingenious in developing new, self-sustaining projects."
The awards for leadership ability, creativity, and integrity, were presented last night at the 13th annual Mario Savio Memorial Lecture, delivered this year by journalist Naomi Klein at the University of California Berkeley campus. Both the Lecture and the Young Activist Award, which is given to a young person with a deep commitment to human rights and social justice and a proven ability to transform this commitment into effective action, honor the late Mario Savio, who came to public notice in 1964 when students at Berkeley rebelled against restrictions on political activity at the University. Their protest drew nationwide attention and stirred activism by college students across the country. Savio's words to his fellow students sparked a non-violent sit-in and the arrest of over 800 protestors, the largest mass arrest in U.S. history up till that time. They have also been quoted frequently in movies and recordings.
` "There comes a time," he said, "when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part, you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, the people who own it, that unless you're free the machine will be prevented from working at all."
Although condemned by University administrators and public opinion at the time,
the Free Speech Movement has been recognized for some years as having made a positive contribution to university life. On Savio's death, a plaque was installed naming the steps of Sproul Hall where he made his speeches as the Mario Savio Steps. The Free Speech Movement café, commemorating the protest, was opened in the undergraduate library in 1998 and has become a popular campus gathering place. The yearly lecture series which bears his name is co-sponsored by several departments at the university, and has presented such well-known speakers as journalist Molly Ivins, teacher and author Cornel West, and historian Howard Zinn.
For more information, contact Lynne Hollander Savio, savio@sonic.net, 707-823-7293 or 707-703-9829.
Lynne Hollander Savio707-823-7293
Mobile: 707-703-9829savio@sonic.net
http://www.savio.org (Photo Chelsea Chee)
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ACTIVISTS WIN MARIO SAVIO YOUNG ACTIVIST AWARDS
Two young leaders who have been tackling the problems of climate change and environmental justice in different but complementary ways have been awarded this year's Mario Savio Young Activist Award. Each will receive $6,000, half for their projects and half to use as they wish.
Chelsea Chee, a 25-year old Navajo woman, Youth Organizer for the Black Mesa Water Coalition in Arizona, has been working to engage Indigenous youth of the Southwest in implementing climate change solutions. Through Chelsea’s leadership young Indigenous peoples are actively reorienting their tribal governments, schools, and communities towards a "greener' future. This means opposing fossil fuel extraction, encouraging sustainable living, and promoting a green job opportunities. Her efforts have resulted in the creation of numerous Indigenous youth groups throughout the rural Southwest and the passage of the Navajo Nation Green Economy legislation.
Timothy DenHerder-Thomas, 22, a senior at Macalester College in Minnesota, has devised practical new programs that focus on organizing for ecological innovation and sustainable community development. After establishing a revolving fund that helps students implement campus sustainability practices and recaptures the savings created (now over $100,000), Timothy has gone on to organize Summer of Solutions, a program that trains youth leaders to partner with local groups in developing community projects around energy efficiency, sustainable food production and urban design, and green industry.
"Chelsea and Timothy strike us as representing two key aspects of the climate debate--the need for those communities most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, though least responsible for it, to have a strong voice in the debate and the need to build bridges across class divides and challenge the system from within," stated Lynne Hollander Savio, Chairperson of the awards program. "Chelsea has had to struggle against great odds -- a vast territory, little money, and tribal history and cultural values, while Timothy has been exceptionally creative and ingenious in developing new, self-sustaining projects."
The awards for leadership ability, creativity, and integrity, were presented last night at the 13th annual Mario Savio Memorial Lecture, delivered this year by journalist Naomi Klein at the University of California Berkeley campus. Both the Lecture and the Young Activist Award, which is given to a young person with a deep commitment to human rights and social justice and a proven ability to transform this commitment into effective action, honor the late Mario Savio, who came to public notice in 1964 when students at Berkeley rebelled against restrictions on political activity at the University. Their protest drew nationwide attention and stirred activism by college students across the country. Savio's words to his fellow students sparked a non-violent sit-in and the arrest of over 800 protestors, the largest mass arrest in U.S. history up till that time. They have also been quoted frequently in movies and recordings.
` "There comes a time," he said, "when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part, you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, the people who own it, that unless you're free the machine will be prevented from working at all."
Although condemned by University administrators and public opinion at the time,
the Free Speech Movement has been recognized for some years as having made a positive contribution to university life. On Savio's death, a plaque was installed naming the steps of Sproul Hall where he made his speeches as the Mario Savio Steps. The Free Speech Movement café, commemorating the protest, was opened in the undergraduate library in 1998 and has become a popular campus gathering place. The yearly lecture series which bears his name is co-sponsored by several departments at the university, and has presented such well-known speakers as journalist Molly Ivins, teacher and author Cornel West, and historian Howard Zinn.
For more information, contact Lynne Hollander Savio, savio@sonic.net, 707-823-7293 or 707-703-9829.
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