Peoples Movements Assembly: Supai Guardians of Grand Canyon

The Havasupai Tribe "Guardians of the Grand Canyon"
by The Peoples Movements Assembly, Southwest Organizing Tour
http://peoplesmovementsassembly.blogspot.com/2011/06/meaning-of-community.html
The Southwest organizing tour of the peoples' Movements Assembly (part of the US Social Forum II), organized by Southwest Workers Union from San Antonio, Texas visited Havasupai Tribe at the bottom of the Grand Canyon on the South rim. Supai village has been at the present site since getting removed from the North rim due to Roosevelt making it a National Park and have been 'Guardians of the Grand Canyon" since before the ice age. The Supai village lives off the waters of the creek that is the lifeline of the Havasupai. Yet the creek and the purity of the water is threatened by uranium mining. The uranium trailings contaminate the water.

We visited Carletta Tilousi, council member for the tribe, and Edmund Tilousi, vice chairman of the tribal council. The educated us about the issues and challenges facing the people who have lived at the canyon for tens of thousands of years, because of development, tourism, the national park and mining. The tribal government is in charge of health,solid waste, water, housing, education, community economic development and works with q 12 millions dollar budget.

Ruben Solis Garcia, Reynaldo Padilla Teruel, & Nicole Soto Rodriguez presented at the Community meeting between the tribal government and the community residents. Solis connected the uranium issue facing the Havasupai Tribe and the uranium mining in South Texas and the contamination of drinking water.

The SW PMA tour team hiked 8 miles down thw grand canyon to reach the supai village, but we joined Carletta Tilousi in the helicopter on the way out of the Grand Canyon. We said goodbye to Supai Village but we all said "we will be back."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXxWIEyfKk0

Native American Justice Struggle, Peoples Movements Asembly Tour
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/06/native-american-justice-struggles.html
(Interviews with IEN's Jihan Gearon and Wahelah Johns of Black Mesa Water Coalition.)

Havasupai: Peoples Movements Assembly SW Organizing Tour:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/06/havasupai-peoples-movements-assembly.html