Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

December 31, 2020

Speaking Truth to Power: Dakota Waziyatawin on Indigeneity Rising Radio Minneapolis


Speaking Truth to Power: Dakota Waziyatawin on Indigeneity Radio Minneapolis

Speaking truth to power: Waziyatawin: The U.S. took the Dakota, Lakota and Nakota land by fraud and theft. The land is the key to justice. She also speaks on the construction of earth lodges, The radio show is in the archives in the dropdown menu. https://www.kfai.org/player/

Indigeneity Rising

Join Host Roy Taylor (Pawnee Nation, Oklahoma Enrolled) on Wednesday, December 30, 2020 at 1:00 P.M. Central Standard Time, as he welcomes to the program for the first time, WAZIYATAWIN ("Woman Of The North") aka Angela Wilson née Cavender.
They will be in KFAI Fresh Air Radio "Studio Stronghold" (virtual remote broadcast/streaming/FaceBook LIVE), to discuss, remember and commemorate the Dakhóta Peoples during this month of December ("Cold Moon").
Waziyatawin is Dakota, Pezihutazizi Otunwe-Yellow Medicine Village (Upper "Sioux") from Minnesota. She is an academic, author, activist by education, training and inclination. Waziyatawin is a leading Indigenous intellectual and a sought after speaker on many topics including Indigenous Womens' roles, recovering Indigenous Knowledge and the Dakota Peoples story culturally and historically. She has been a vocal opponent of the State of Minnesota Sesquicentennial Celebration. Her background includes writing or editing six books including her Ph.D thesis, "REMEMBER THIS! DAKOTA DECOLONIZATION AND THE ELI TAYLOR NARRATIVES."
She is the Daughter of Professor Mato Nunpa, formerly of Minnesota Southwest State University. Waziyatawin has a Ph.D in History from Cornell University. She was a tenured Professor at Arizona State University in Tempe, and Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples at the Indigenous Governance Program, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
You won't want to miss this extraordinary conversation with one of Indian Country's most insightful, provocative and compelling thinkers and presenters.
1:00 P.M. Central Standard Time USA/ -6 UTC & GMT
LIVE Every Wednesday
KFAI Fresh Air Community Radio & Media
Broadcast at 90.3 FM-HD Minneapolis-St. Paul
Streaming/ON DEMAND at KFAI.org

December 29, 2020

Facebook shields Wounded Knee Massacre photos on anniversary, subverting history



By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

WOUNDED KNEE. This photo on the Anniversary of the Massacre of Wounded Knee was shielded by Facebook today, in itself making a profound statement about the lack of truth in history in the U.S. and Facebook's role in subverting history and blocking the truth from view.

Facebook shields from view this image of the Massacre of Wounded Knee today. At the same time, Facebook glorifies the wealth and pomp of the so-called Royal Family of England -- whose riches were derived from the torture, murder, rape, and violent theft of land of Indigenous Peoples around the world. This history is shielded from view by history books and those who attempt to forget and erase history.


December 28, 2020

Horrifying video of Navajo Oneida man being repeatedly tasered for praying at Petroglyphs

Darrell House, Navajo Oneida, was walking through the Petroglyphs at the Piedra Mercado trail when he was repeatedly tasered by park rangers.



Water Protector ascends tripod blocks Enbridge pipeline


LIVE! Emma risking her wellbeing for future generations, as Minnesota law enforcement
protects a Canadian multinational corporation.


Emma Harrison was arrested today after her bold stance for the water. "I'm doing this because Line 3 embodies everything wrong with the world. Profits for a few over the well-being of communities near and far, present and future. Stopping Line 3 is a tangible way to fight for the world I want to live in."

December 26, 2020

'Never forget' Solidarity with Riders and in Remembrance of History


Remembrance of the Dakota 38 above the home of Robert Free in
Seattle today. Photos courtesy Robert Free.

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln ordered the execution, by hanging, of 38 Dakota Sioux prisoners in Mankato, Minnesota. Most of those executed were holy men or political leaders of their camps. None of them were responsible for committing the crimes they were accused of. Coined as the Largest Mass Execution in U.S. History. (Brown, Dee. BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE. New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1970. pp. 59-61)



'Never forget' Solidarity with Riders and in Remembrance of History

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

SEATTLE -- The Dakota 38 are remembered today in a tribute above the home of Robert Free in Seattle, so that history will not be forgotten and the reality of Lincoln as president will be known.

 "The reason we're doing it is we have to keep these things alive and in memory," said Robert Free.

Robert, whose tipi was at Alcatraz, was at the Occupation of Wounded Knee, in the fishing rights struggle in the northwest, on the Trail of Broken Treaties and at the BIA takeover in Washington. Today, struggling with cancer and disabled, Robert spoke with descendants of the Dakota 38 before volunteers put up the remembrance.

December 25, 2020

Zapatistas Sup Galeano: How Defensa Zapatista tried to explain Zapatismo’s mission and other happy reasoning to Esperanza





PART THREE: THE MISSION
How Defensa Zapatista tried to explain Zapatismo’s mission and other happy reasoning to Esperanza 

By Sup Galeano (Marcos)

Translations

“All right, I’m going to explain something very important to you. But don’t take notes—just keep it in your head. You might leave the notebook laying around anywhere, but you have to carry your head with you all the time.”

Defensa Zapatista paced back and forth, just like the late SupMarcos used to do when he was explaining something really important. Esperanza was sitting on a tree stump, over which she had wisely placed a piece of plastic tarp to cover the damp wood which was covered in moss, mushrooms, and dry twigs.

December 24, 2020

US Border Patrol surrounds migrant aid camp on Christmas Eve


Read article: 

http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/122420_nmd_christmas_eve/border-agents-horseback-surround-no-more-deaths-camp-just-before-christmas/

As the US Border Patrol surrounds the humanitarian aid camp at Arivaca, Arizona, on Christmas Eve, we honor those unsung heroes, like Byrd, the gentle poet and children's book author who offers up the space for the medical aid camp for migrants, and those volunteers who risk arrest and lengthy court battles, to rescue sick and dying migrants trying to walk to a better life. Some have walked across countries, many are Indigenous, and all are in need of water, food, medicine and help. -- Brenda, Censored News


The Food Angels: Holding the World in Balance

The Food Angels: Lakota serve up gourmet

The Food Angels: Meals for Relatives COVID-19 Rapid City Community Response in South Dakota: Lakota volunteers cook homestyle gourmet meals, and deliver to those in quarantine. Meals and photos by Stephanie Eare Savoy, Lucy Seda, Rebecca Kidder, Cynthia Robertson, Lonnie Jeffries, and Laura Schad, with special thanks to founder Natalie Stites Means, organizer Jean Roach, and all cooks, drivers and donors. 

Read more https://m.facebook.com/groups/241540140621481?group_view_referrer=search

December 22, 2020

OAK FLAT -- Land Grab Suddenly Halted of Apache Sacred Land

  


FOREIGN MINERS’ GRAB OF APACHE SACRED LAND SUDDENLY HALTED

U.S. HISTORIC PRESERVATION AGENCY FINDS U.S. FOREST SERVICE VIOLATED NATIVE AMERICANS’ RIGHTS IN OAK FLAT SACRED LAND CRISIS

Rio Tinto and BHP’s Notorious Land Grab Must Be Reversed

The U.S. Must Stop Violating Native American Religious Freedom and Human Rights


Dr. Wendsler Nosie, Sr., Apache Stronghold, apaches4ss@yahoo.com
Michael V. Nixon, J.D., michaelvnixon@yahoo.com
Dec. 17, 2020
Censored News


OAK FLAT, Apache Sacred Land – On the eve of the sixth anniversary of the passage of a notorious Congressional rider that was stuffed into a defense appropriations bill at the midnight hour by special foreign interests, the U.S. Forest Service was forced to halt its ramrodding of the Oak Flat land grab.

The December 2014 rider to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2015 set up the legal shortcuts for the Anglo-Australian corporate capture of Native American sacred land which would be totally destroyed by the massive copper mine proposed to be imposed there.

On Tuesday, December 15, 2020, the President’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) responded to the request of the San Carlos Apache Tribe and issued a formal report of its five-month investigation of the Forest Service’s conduct of the legal process required by Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).

December 21, 2020

Winter Solstice and the Red-Tailed Hawk




Late Autumn Sun Over Foster Flood Plain

WINTER SOLSTICE -- Tale of the Red-Tailed Hawk

By Lloyd Vivola
Censored News

Like the turning of the seasons, the cycles of life and death are nothing new to a biosphere which for the time being is also home to a virus that is causing much grief and disruption seemingly without exclusion. It makes its presence among us known in the name of a global pandemic, thus in a manner that sets it apart from the likes of so many other calamities, natural and man-made, as so categorized by modern societal bias; events that are no less riddled with suffering and unrest for those who happen to stand in the path at any given time or place.

December 19, 2020

Native leaders pass from coronavirus, while Trump rushes to mine sacred lands

Native leaders pass from coronavirus, while Trump rushes to mine sacred lands

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

Trump is rushing with the energy hatchet and targeting sacred lands with mining and drilling, as the coronavirus spreads through Indian country. The virus is claiming the lives of treasures in Indian country -- grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters and leaders.

Standing Rock former Chairman Jesse Jay Taken Alive in North Dakota died from the virus. Taken Alive helped preserve the Lakota language. Jesse's wife Cheryl, of nearly 46 years, died from the virus just weeks before.

December 18, 2020

Diné Hataałii ask for apology and funding from Navajo Nation



Statement by the Diné Hataałii Association

December 16, 2020

We write in support for the original first responders, the Diné Hataałii and traditional practitioners and spiritual leaders of the Navajo Nation. Spiritual leaders and traditional practitioners are sought out in times of illness, hardship, fear and anxiety and that has remained true during the COVID-19 pandemic.

December 16, 2020

Tohono O'odham Care Packages Arrive for Elders on Border


By Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham 
O'odham Voice Against the Wall
Censored News

To Friends and Supporters that immediately responded to our request. These Elders live in remote areas of O'odham lands. Due to political boundaries, food and supplies and virus essentials are not available.

Bioneers Day 4: Healing Ecosystems & Uprooting Racism






Bioneers Conference 2020 Day 4
Beyond the Great Unraveling -- Weaving the World Anew

By Bioneers
https://bioneers.org/

The fourth and final day of the Bioneers 2020 Conference was a reminder of the ways in which humanity interacts with the natural world, to its benefit as well as to its detriment.

"By elevating ourselves above her, separating and isolating ourselves from nature, by refusing to understand nature as a living entity, we bring our own ruin," said Mari Margil of the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights. "And in taking ourselves down, we seem intent on taking everything else down with us." 

December 11, 2020

Federal judge rejects fracking lease in Utah's Unitah Basin





Federal Judge Rejects Approval of Federal Oil, Gas Leases in Utah

Decision Comes Ahead of Biden’s Promised Leasing Ban

By Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity, (801) 300-2414, tmckinnon@biologicaldiversity.org
Liam Kelly, National Parks Conservation Association, (213) 814 8666, lkelly@npca.org
Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians, (303) 437-7663, jnichols@wildearthguardians.org
Caitlin Miller, Earthjustice, (317) 797-4394, cmiller@earthjustice.org
Censored News
December 11, 2020

SALT LAKE CITY— A federal judge overturned the Trump administration’s plan to lease more than 60,000 acres of public land for fracking in northern Utah’s Uintah Basin, including areas near Dinosaur National Monument, ruling that the Bureau of Land Management violated the law by refusing to consider alternatives to leasing all 59 parcels.

“This is a strong rebuke of Trump’s disastrous fracking frenzy across our public lands, which is destroying the climate, wildlife and frontline communities,” said Taylor McKinnon, a senior campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. “President-elect Biden’s ban on new federal fossil fuel leasing can’t come soon enough.”
Biden has pledged to ban new oil and gas leasing on federal public lands and waters when he takes office Jan. 20.

"The Court rejected BLM’s attempt to abuse its power by refusing to consider reasonable alternatives to its action,” said Caitlin Miller, an associate attorney at Earthjustice who argued the case. “This is another resounding blow to the agency’s lease everything no matter the consequences attitude.”

In September 2018 environmental groups sued the Bureau easing more than 115,000 acres of public land in western Colorado and northern Utah for oil and gas extraction without adequate environmental protections. The suit said the December 2017 and June 2018 lease sales violated federal environmental laws by failing to evaluate plan alternatives that would minimize impacts to sensitive public lands.

The leased area includes land near Dinosaur National Monument, where more than 300,000 visitors a year come to experience the expansive views, untouched landscape and dark night skies.

“Developing this landscape surrounding Dinosaur National Monument for oil and gas would degrade local air quality, both within the park and nearby communities, as well as threaten the park’s dark night skies, exceptional views and fragile habitat,” said Cory MacNulty, southwest associate director for the National Parks Conservation Association. “We are heartened to see that BLM is being held accountable to comply with the law -- as it should have done from the start.”

“This is a victory for the American West’s iconic parks and monuments, as well as another win for climate and clean air,” said Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians’ climate and energy program director. “Importantly, it’s another stinging rejection of the Trump administration’s illegal attempts to sell out our legacy of public lands to the oil and gas industry.”

Thursday’s ruling applies only to the Utah leases because the suit was divided into separate Colorado and Utah lawsuits.

Oil and gas operations are the largest human-made source of air and climate pollution in the Uinta Basin, plaguing this once-pristine rural region with air pollution comparable to that of Los Angeles and Denver. Elevated levels of ozone pollution endanger human health, causing asthma attacks, cardiovascular disease and premature death. It’s particularly dangerous for vulnerable populations, including children, seniors and people with respiratory conditions. Air pollution from oil and gas drilling in the region already worsens visibility, stunts vegetation growth and harms delicate ecosystems.

The lawsuit was filed by Rocky Mountain Wild, National Parks Conservation Association, the Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians. The groups are represented by Earthjustice.

Background

Fossil fuel production on public lands causes about a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas pollution. Peer-reviewed science estimates that a nationwide federal fossil fuel leasing ban would reduce carbon emissions by 280 million tons per year, ranking it among the most ambitious federal climate-policy proposals in recent years.

Federal fossil fuels that have not been leased to the industry contain up to 450 billion tons of potential climate pollution; those already leased to the industry contain up to 43 billion tons. Pollution from already-leased fossil fuels on federal lands, if fully developed, would essentially exhaust the U.S. carbon budget for staying below warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Existing laws give presidents the authority to end new federal fossil fuel leasing. Hundreds of organizations have petitioned the federal government to end new onshore and offshore leasing.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association has been the leading voice in safeguarding our national parks. NPCA and its 1.3 million members and supporters work together to protect and preserve our nation’s most iconic and inspirational places for future generations. For more information, visit www.npca.org.

WildEarth Guardians is an environmental nonprofit that works to protect and restore the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West. We envision a future in which communities are empowered to choose the kind of power, jobs, and local solutions that benefit current and future generations — solutions that will also enable us to confront the climate crisis.

Earthjustice is the nation’s premier environmental law organization. We believe that everyone has the right to a healthy environment. Since our founding more than four decades ago, we’ve defended that right by using the power of the law to fight for the earth and its inhabitants.

December 10, 2020

Pfizer vaccine warning, helicopters overhead and dying alone



This US Department of Energy helicopter flying between Red Mesa and Mexican Water on the Navajo Nation today was documented by Censored News using Flight Radar 24. 

Navajos and Lakotas are being infected and dying from the coronavirus at an alarming rate. Something is very wrong.

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
Dec. 9, 2020
French translation by Christine Prat at:

A US Department of Energy helicopter was busy flying over the Navajo Nation today. Censored News documented the US Dept of Energy helicopter over Kayenta, Red Mesa and Mexican Water. It flew out from Farmington, N.M., and landed in Page, Ariz.

Over the past week, three large planes, with their callsigns "Blocked" landed in Page, arriving from Farmington, Mesa and Salt Lake. "Blocked" callsign is most often used for the planes of the U.S. military and U.S. government.

Something is very wrong.

December 6, 2020

Bioneers: Native Land Back Movement Will Change the World -- Cutcha Risling Baldy


Cutcha Risling Baldy; Co-Founder | Native Women's Collective 




By Bioneers
Censored News

The second day of the Bioneers 2020 Conference delivered essential calls to action for a brighter future paired with beautiful performances and a healthy dose of democracy.

Following are some of the ideas and takeaways Bioneers introduced today.

The Bioneers Team

REGISTRATION IS STILL OPEN!

The Bioneers Conference isn't over yet! Tickets are still available at an extremely affordable price. We invite you to join us!

If the live schedule conflicts with your own, we've got you covered: All registrants will be able to access recordings of the sessions for which they registered throughout the month of December.

ACTION ITEMS

Lessons, in Their Own Words:

"At the heart of this decolonization has to be land return. We don't need to think about that as the last step, like after we've decolonized our minds, our curriculums, our statues, our books, our movies, our TV shows, our clothing, then maybe we'll finally get to the return of land. I say let's start with the return of land and know that it's possible, and it's powerful, and that it's going to be the thing that changes the world." -Cutcha Risling Baldy; Co-Founder | Native Women's Collective

BIONEERS: Indigenous Women: Powerful Guidance in Time of Pandemic


Indigenous Women share powerful guidance in times of pandemic, during this year's online Bioneers Conference

Bioneers Conference 2020
Beyond the Great Unraveling -- Weaving the World Anew


Today, the first day of the Bioneers 2020 Conference, presented science that opened our eyes to new possibilities along with ideas and inspiration for transitioning into a new year with strength, perseverance and an unwavering insistence upon amplifying underrepresented voices in important conversations.

"You have power," said activist and organizer LaTosha Brown. "How can you use your agency, our collective power, to make the change that we all deserve?"

December 3, 2020

Bioneers Conference featuring Native Women


Native Women featured in Bioneers Conference online this weekend and next

Native women are featured speakers at this year's Bioneers Conference, online Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 5 --6, and again next weekend. Tickets are available, and podcasts will be posted afterward. The emerging thinkers and doers include the CEO of Mother Jones and more.


Shaking the world from the ground up, innovative speakers inspire with ideas, movement and conversation.


Bioneers Conference features cutting edge thinkers -- from farmers and poets to authors, organizers, land defenders and tool makers of a new democracy. 

Bioneers said, Bioneers is excited to introduce the 2020 Bioneers Conference: a virtual gathering encapsulating the magic of our annual live conference. Join us live Dec 5-6 and 12-13 or On-Demand through the entire month of December.
This year’s theme is “Beyond the Great Unraveling: Weaving the World Anew.” As we enter into a permanent emergency, it’s much easier to see what’s dying than what’s being born. But since the beginning, Bioneers has been about what’s being born. As always, we’ll be showcasing many of the most visionary and practical solutions afoot today, and many of our greatest visionary innovators, including the greatest people you’ve never heard of.
Now more than ever, we’re profoundly grateful to be able to gather together in community and shine a light on pathways forward and to celebrate each other.

Navajo Council says $300 million must revert to hardship relief -- Navajo government in chaos over unspent federal virus relief funds



Photo: Dine' volunteers Mercury Bitsuie and Uncle Andy Dann raise their own funds and deliver firewood to Dine' in desperate need at isolated homes.

Breaking news: The Navajo Nation asked for major disaster declaration today due to uncontrolled virus spread:
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-health/2020/11/30/arizona-coronavirus-live-news-updates-covid-19-pandemic/6463069002/

CARES Act funds -- The Navajo Nation Council says $300 million in unspent federal virus relief funds must go to hardship relief, direct payments to Dine'. With time running out to spend the $714 million in CARES Act funds, the Navajo government is in chaos. At the same time, there were 310 new cases of coronavirus on the Navajo Nation. Now, 658 Navajos have died from the virus. -- Censored News 

Council affirms November 20 for automatic reallocation of unobligated CARES Funds for Hardship Assistance Program 

By Navajo Nation Council
December 3, 2020 

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — In response to a memorandum issued by the Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President on Nov. 20, Speaker Seth Damon provided further guidance on the reversion of CARES Act monies intended to be deposited into the Hardship Assistance Program established by the Navajo Nation Council.

December 2, 2020

Celebrating Joy: Good News from Indian Country


Navajo and Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief 
Photo by Glenda Tsosie Wheeler, delivering masks and more in Window Rock and Crownpoint this week.

Navajo and Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief
Photo in Pinon by Racquel K. Black

Mniluzahan Camp for Unsheltered Relatives

Mniluzahan Camp for Unsheltered Relatives near Rapid City, South Dakota

San Xavier Farm Co-op, Tohono O'odham Nation

(Above) San Xavier Farm Co-op, Tohono O'odham Nation, free lunch drive through Dec. 2, along the southeast border of Tucson, Arizona.

Gathering Cafe, Minneapolis

(Above) Dine' Chef Brian Yazzie and team cook gourmet for Native elderly, Gathering Cafe, Minneapolis and St Paul, Minn.

Gathering Cafe, meals for elders in Minneapolis. Photos by Dine' Chef Brian Yazzie from Dennehotso, Navajo Nation.

Arctic Village, Alaska

(Above) Photo by our friend Sarah James, Gwich'in, Arctic Village, Alaska. Every major bank has now ruled out funding Arctic drilling:

Native Women and Youth Featured at upcoming Bioneers Conference online


Apache Youth Naelyn Pike of San Carlos is among the featured Native speakers at this year's Bioneers Conference.

 Join Dine' College weaver online


Join Dine' College and speakers on weaving on Zoom.

Female Voices Rock Film Festival


Dine' Volunteers raise own funds, go the distance

Dine' Mercury Bitsuie and his Uncle Andy Dann deliver water, food, supplies and firewood to remote areas of Navajo Nation. Dine' Land and Water https://www.facebook.com/dinelandnwater/

  Photo by Mercury Bitsui
             

(Above) Bitahnii Wilson, Dine' volunteer, delivers new water barrels, water, food and supplies to Navajo and Hopi, raising his own funds. 


Lakota Compassion: Amazing home-cooked gourmet meals, cooked and delivered by Lakota volunteers to those in quarantine in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Meals for Relatives Rapid City COVID-19 Community Response

Photo by Lonnie Jeffries

Photo by Bobbi Jean Jarvinen


Indigenous Rights in Times of Thanksgiving




Dine' Healers Relief

 Photo by Shannonlynn Chester, Dine'