Lakota Nick Estes 'The Age of the Water Protector and Climate Chaos' Bioneers video

 

Nick Estes' talk at this year's Bioneers Conference is now online.

Nick Estes, Ph.D. (Kul Wicasa/Lower Brule Sioux), Indigenous Rights activist, scholar, writer, co-founder of The Red Nation organization and author of Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance, describes the Anishinaabe people’s resistance to the “Line 3” pipeline in Minnesota that would devastate their lands and livelihood, the outsized impact frontline Indigenous communities are having in fighting climate change and resisting extractive industries, the importance and effectiveness of Earth-centered approaches to fighting for Climate Justice, and the overarching goal of being “good ancestors of the future.”

This talk was delivered at the 2022 Bioneers Conference.

Nick Estes, Ph.D. (Kul Wicasa/Lower Brule Sioux), is Assistant Professor of American Studies at the University of New Mexico and a member of the Oak Lake Writers Society, a group of Dakota, Nakota and Lakota writers. In 2014, he was a co-founder of The Red Nation in Albuquerque, NM, an organization dedicated to the liberation of Native people from capitalism and colonialism. He serves on its editorial collective and writes its bi-weekly newsletter. Nick Estes is also the author of: Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance.

Big Mountain's John Benally Passes to Spirit World

John Benally at home in Big Mountain. Photo by Brenda Norrell.

Big Mountain's John Benally Passes to Spirit World

In memory of John Benally, Dineh, life long resister of relocation on Big Mountain, we share John's words during an interview after the Sundance was bulldozed in 2001. Our sincere condolences to John's family, may his life and perseverance as a resister  be an inspiration to all who struggle. -- Brenda, Censored News.

“We have suffered enough. “The only way to resolve this is to give Navajo back their original land.” -- John Benally

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

BIG MOUNTAIN (2001) -- John Benally sits without food for himself or his dogs near the bulldozed Sundance grounds.

“The only way to resolve this is to give Navajo back their original land.”

John said, too, it is time for Navajos to return to farming. “If we are farmers, we can help people. Opening a mine, you think that is the answer? Forget it, only a few people will work. I know people who have died of black lung.”

Mining on Black Mesa is destroying the air for the plants, animals and people. “This whole relocation should be investigated,” he said of Peabody Coal's mine on Black Mesa.

“We have suffered enough,” said John Benally. “The only way to resolve this is to give Navajo back their original land.”

John said, too, it is time for Navajos to return to farming. “If we are farmers, we can help people. Opening a mine, you think that is the answer? Forget it, only a few people will work. I know people who have died of black lung.”

Mining on Black Mesa is destroying the air for the plants, animals and people. “This whole relocation should be investigated,” he said.

“We are being neglected by the Navajo government and the Hopi government. I really support the idea of the study. Our kids do not like education because of the relocation effect.

“I do not get food stamps or anything. Its too much harassment to fill out the forms and get food stamps. The interviewer can interrogate you. They should make it easier.”

John said he worked for Peabody Coal Company, just down the dirt road on Black Mesa, for seven years. Now he receives nothing back from the taxes he paid.

“Throughout the year we are harassed, our livestock is impounded and we are intimidated by the Hopi Rangers. The police are monitoring us and we are slandered many times when they say we are trespassers. The Hopi Rangers and Hopi monitors are the trespassers.

“They desecrated our ceremonial Sundance grounds where all people come and pray from the Four Directions.”

Read the full interviews with John and his brother Leonard Benally at Censored News. Big Mountain relocation resister Leonard Benally passed to the Spirit World in 2013. https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/10/big-mountain-warrior-leonard-benally.html

Earl Tulley of Blue Gap said, "John Benally, Nakai Dine'e of Big Mountain journeyed on. He was one of many icons of the Big Mountain resistance to forced relocation by the U.S. government and Peabody Coal Company.

"My clan daddy and comrade. He threw his body under BIA police tire during one of many impoundments.

Condolences to his family and the Big Mountain People. He will be remembered. The work will continue."

Copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News

Sacred Water: Nikki Tulley journeys home to Blue Gap

Take a beautiful water journey with Nikki Tulley, back home to Blue Gap, on the Navajo Nation. Nikki, a PhD student in hydrology, shares her thoughts on sacred water, believing in one's self, and the power of the land, water, home and family.

Nikki with her father, Earl Tulley, cofounder of Dine' Citizens Against Ruining our Environment,
and longtime human rights champion. Nikki visits with nieces and nephews as she reflects on her journey from her home in Blue Gap to the University of Arizona.

https://research.arizona.edu/stories/navajo-hydrologist-aims-safeguard-resources-her-people

Divided Ninth Circuit Appeals Court leads Apache Stronghold to Supreme Court

Divided Ninth Circuit Appeals Court leads Apache Stronghold to Supreme Court

By Apache Stronghold

Censored News

Friday, June 24, 2022

Updated June 25, 2020

French translation by Christine Prat

https://chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=7179

SAN CARLOS, Arizona – Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision ruled that the request for a preliminary injunction to halt the land exchange of Oak Flat be denied. Apache Stronghold—a coalition of Apaches, other Native peoples, and non-Native allies, which is represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty—has vowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court immediately.

 

The Preliminary Injunction would have stopped Resolution Copper, a foreign owned mining company, from gaining control over Oak Flat through a land exchange, until the court case, Apache Stronghold vs. the U.S. was decided. The court ruled that Apache Stronghold's case against the United States had no likelihood of winning.

 

Run for Freeedom: Battle of the Little Bighorn, Greasy Grass

 

Navajo Deaths Increase from COVID, with Variants Spreading

Dine' pick up supplies at a food bank on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, on May 20, 2020, three months after COVID began to spread rapidly. Credit: Getty Images

Navajo Deaths Increase from COVID, with Variants Spreading

Brenda Norrell
Censored News
July 23, 2022

Navajo deaths from COVID-19 increased on Wednesday. Three Dine' died from COVID. The variant omicron and the subvariant BA.2 are present. There is uncontrolled spread in 60 Navajo communities, the Navajo Department of Health reports today.

The Indian Health Service reports a rapid increase of COVID cases in Navajo, Phoenix, California, Billings, and Tucson service areas.

Wet’suwet’en Members Sue Police, Coastal Gaslink and Private Security for Targeted Harassment Campaign

Photo taken June 22, 2022 09:58 am of RCMP C-IRG 4 and Forsythe 427 outside Gidimt’en Checkpoint. Forsythe parks 24/7 here and at the bridge. RCMP check in with them multiple times a day/night.

Wet’suwet’en Members Sue Police, Coastal Gaslink and Private Security for Targeted Harassment Campaign

Press Statement

Unceded Wet’suwet’en Yintah (Smithers - BC), June 22, 2022 – Members of the Gidimt’en Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation have filed a notice of civil claim against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, B.C.’s Minister of Justice, Coastal Gaslink Pipeline LTD., and private security contractor Forsythe. The lawsuit follows months of targeted harassment and intimidation, through which hundreds of police and private security personnel have attempted to coerce Wet’suwet’en people into abandoning homes and village sites on unceded Wet’suwet’en territory.

Living Under Surveillance by O'odham Ofelia Rivas

In her cornfield, wind damage from a low flying helicopter. Photo copyright Ofelia Rivas.
.

Ofelia's corn before damage by the surveillance heliopter. Photo copyright Ofelia Rivas.

Living Under Surveillance

By Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'Odham

Censored News

As a protector of the lands, I refuse to walk with my heart smashed on the ground. This life is now 24 hours, 7 days and all western 365 calendar days, under the real-time video Elbit System surveillance tower.

During my early morning walk to my traditional O’odham seeds garden during the quiet hours, the mechanical gears break the silence as the surveillance camera follows my movement in my yard.

The next disturbance is the border patrol trucks traveling at high speed on the eroded pavement.

RUN4SALMON: Winnemem Wintu are running for the salmon

Run4Salmon

RUN4SALMON -- Winnemem Wintu are running for the salmon

Run4Salmon 2022 Schedule:
— June 25-July 2: Run4Salmon Teach Week
Online educational content of highlights and activities to prepare for the journey. Content posted daily at 8am PST on Facebook and Instagram.
— July 8: Run4Salmon 2022 Begins
— July 31: Run4Salmon 2022 Ends

Press release and photos by Run4Salmon

Censored News

MOUNT SHASTA, California -- For the seventh year in a row, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, along with a collective of Indigenous women, activists, and allies will embark on Run4Salmon, a 300-mile Prayer Journey to restore salmon to the Mount Shasta area.

Led by Chief Caleen Sisk of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, Run4Salmon is a ceremonial way of restoring salmon to their ancestral home waters. It is a journey of 300 miles, starting on Mount Shasta, and ending at the shores of the Pacific Ocean. It follows the path of what was once a ‘salmon run’--from the spawning beds of Chinook salmon on the upper McCloud River, down the Sacramento River, through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and into the San Francisco Bay.

Mohawk Nation News 'Canada's Indian Day School Torture System'

Posted on June 20, 2022

 

CANADA’S INDIAN DAY SCHOOL TORTURE SYSTEM

Please post & distribute.

Listen to audio at MNN https://mohawknationnews.com/blog/2022/06/20/canadas-indian-day-school-torture-system/

00:00

00:00

Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

 MNN. June 20, 2022. This letter was sent to “Deloitte, the Indian Day Schools Class Action Claims Administrator, P.O. Box 1775, Toronto, ON, Canada M5C 0A2m Tel. 1-888-221-2898 www.indiandayschoolsclaims.com

Honoring Heroes Leroy Jackson, Cate Gilles and Tomas Rojo -- as Canada's Mining Industry Implodes

Old-growth Ponderosa pines; Tomas Rojo; Vicam Yaqui International Water Forum in Sonora;
Photo in front of Navajo Nation Council chambers by Cate Gilles.

Honoring Heroes Leroy Jackson, Cate Gilles and Tomas Rojo -- as Canada's Mining Industry Implodes

Brenda Norrell

Censored News

French translation by Christine Prat

https://chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=7163

In memory of three of my friends, I've written about the world mining conference in Toronto this week.

The majority of the mining corporations -- linked to the murders of Indigenous Peoples around the world who are defending their land -- are based in Canada.

While Indigenous People protested, it was surprising to see four Native people in Canada have joined the boards of directors of notorious mining companies; companies blasting and ripping into the earth for gold, silver, cobalt, nickel, copper, lithium, and other veins of the earth.

Remembering and honoring my friends Leroy Jackson, Cate Gilles and Tomas Rojo

Leroy Jackson, Dine', fought the cutting of the old-growth Ponderosa yellow pines in the Chuska and Tsaile mountains, and the Navajo tribal logging operation. Leroy was cofounder of Dine' Citizens Against Ruining our Environment, Dine' CARE.

Leroy lived his struggle.

Since I was a reporter for Associated Press at the time, Leroy's interviews reached around the world. One of Leroy's most effective tools protecting the tall yellow pines on the Navajo Nation, and shutting down the tribe's logging operation was his sense of humor.

Leroy was found dead in the mountains near Taos after his life was threatened on the Navajo Nation.

Cate Gilles, reporter, covered the Navajo and Hopi areas and the truth about Peabody Coal on Black Mesa. She was among the first to expose the danger of radiation from uranium mining in the Grand Canyon, and the threat of contamination for the Havasupai in their homeland, after she received a degree in environmental journalism.

Cate was found hanged in Tucson while working for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe.

Tomas Rojo, Yoeme (Yaqui), in Vicam Pueblo, Sonora, Mexico, was kidnapped and brutally murdered last year.

Tomas was the spokesperson for the Traditional Authority of Vicam, as they fought to protect their water in the Yaqui River from the theft by the Independence Aquaduct for the City of Hermosillo.

Vicam Yaqui held major highway blockades for years blocking commercial traffic to the U.S. and resisted the state and federal governments, military, ranchers, and cartels.

Vicam hosted international water forums and the Zapatistas international gathering.

It was an honor to know all three, and the beauty of their work, sacrifices and service to the people, water and earth.

TORONTO -- In the Snake Bed: Indigenous Assassinated while Mining Corporations Lure Natives

At the Toronto conference, Dore Copper mining board member Martha Manuel; Clean Air Metals mining board member Shannin Metatawabin; Inclusive mining founder Rosario Astuvilca-Roja; Newmont-Goldcorp board member Matthew Coon Come, KWG chromite mining board member Fiona Blondin, and reporter Alisha Hiayat.

Western Shoshone Carl Bad Bear Sampson protests Newmont gold mining, Longest Walk 2008. Photo by Brenda Norrell.

While Indigenous are being assassinated defending their land and water from mining -- global mining corporations lure Natives at world mining conference in Toronto 

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

French translation by Christine Prat:

https://chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=7197

Updated June 28, 2022

TORONTO -- While Indigenous are being assassinated around the world defending  their homelands from mining, the world's largest mining conference was held in Toronto, June 13 -- 15.

As Indigenous gathered with the mining industry at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, around the world Indigenous protest the loss of lives, land and clean rivers.

Chief Wayne Moonias of Neskantaga First Nation said mining contaminated their rivers. His community hasn’t had drinking water for 27 years.

“My 24 year old daughter never had clean drinking water."

Myka Jaymalin, with Anakbayan Filipino youths, said that Canada is home to 75 percent of the world’s mining companies. She said that between 2001 and 2019, at least 300 environmental defenders were killed in the Philippines.

Kirsten Francescone, Latin America Program Coordinator for Mining Watch Canada, said, “They are engaging in practices that are destroying the environment. They’re committing environmental and human rights crimes.”

Meanwhile, the mining corporations hosting and attending the Toronto conference  have a long history in Indian country, including Rio Tinto's Resolution Copper, now targeting Apaches sacred Oak Flat, and Newmont, which devastated Western Shoshone lands with gold mining.

Cameco, which mined uranium near Pine Ridge, pushed for more uranium mining in Toronto.

The agenda of the mining conference, shown below in the Indigenous Program, reveals the industry's strategy on how to avoid honoring Indigenous rights. Mining corporations now target Indigenous lands around the world and are linked to murders  of land defenders -- from South Africa and Australia to the Americas.

The U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was one of the topics in the Indigenous Peoples Program in Toronto.

The agenda, however, of mining corporations is clear: It is to make as much money as possible, attract as many investors as possible, and avoid compliance with as many environmental laws as possible while mining gold, copper, silver, lithium and uranium.

The rapid addition of Natives to the boards of directors since the fall of 2021 is among the new strategies of mining corporations, whose agenda is to seize the land, gouge out the earth, rip out her veins, deplete and poison the water, and made profits.

The diverse topics in Toronto ranged from iron ore mining in Ukraine, to the use of  social media, luring young people with a program for youths.

Greenwashing, and the push for electric vehicles

Electric vehicles are part of the ongoing greenwashing. The mining of lithium and other metals for batteries is now targeting Indigenous lands and water, and resulting in cruel working conditions in mines around the world for children.

The Toronto conference identified critical minerals, including scandium, lithium and gallium, for electrification and energy storage for electric vehicles. Rio Tinto was among the presenters.

Paiutes in Nevada are battling to protect the sacred Thacker Pass, the Paiute massacre site, from a planned lithium mine. Hualapai in northwest Arizona are also battling a planned lithium mine on their ancestral land west of Flagstaff. Havasupai on their ancestral land in the Grand Canyon are battling uranium mining. Barona Band of Mission Indians are protesting new lithium mining near the California Mexico border.

Bingham open pit copper mine near Salt Lake City, Utah, operated by Rio Tinto. 

Rio Tinto: Sexual Assaults

Rio Tinto is the owner of Resolution Copper, now targeting Apaches Sacred Oak Flat with a copper mine east of Phoenix.

In Toronto, Rio Tinto discussed its report, of its own "workplace culture" that was published in February. Rio Tinto mine workers reported sexual assault, harassment, racism, bullying and other forms of discrimination throughout the company.

'By location, employees in Australia (52 percent) and South Africa (56 percent) were the most likely to experience bullying.

'Of those surveyed, 28 percent of women and 7 percent of men reported having been sexually harassed at work. Twenty-one women reported actual or attempted rape or sexual assault,' National Jeweler reports.

"Of those who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander in Australia, 40 percent of men and 32 percent of women said they experienced racism." 

In Toronto, CBC reports that miners and First Nations from northwestern Ontario led a discussion on First Nations' consent in mining projects.

The chiefs of Long Lake #58, and Animbiigoo Zaagi'igan Anishinaabek, joined representatives of Greenstone Gold Mines on one panel, CBC reports.

While mining was cutting and scraping out the earth, Chief Theresa Nelson of   Animbiigoo Zaagi'igan Anishinaabek, praised Greenstone mining.

In October 2021, four gunmen shot and killed South African anti-mining activist Fikile Ntshangase in her home.

From Award-Winning Environmentalist to Newmont Gold Mining Board

Cree Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come was among the speakers in the Indigenous Program in Toronto. Coon Come earlier served as Chief of the Assembly of First Nations in Canada.

Coon Come also led the Cree’s fight against the massive James Bay hydroelectric development project in Quebec and was awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 1994.

The Goldman Prize said the Hydro Quebec, If completed, would have consisted of more than 30 dams and 600 dikes, blocking nine major rivers.

Now, Coon Come is on the board of Newmont gold corporation, after serving on the board of Goldcorp. Coon Come was appointed to Goldcorp's board in July of 2017. Goldcorp is now owned by Newmont. The gold mining corporations have been protested for abusing human rights, and the land and water, on Western Shoshone land and globally.

Coon Come's salary and benefits from Newmont gold mining are shown below.

Source: https://www.salary.com/research/executive-compensation/matthew-coon-come-board-member-of-newmont-goldcorp-corp-de

Natives Join Boards of Mining Companies

Dore Copper Mines, Clean Air Metals, and KWG Resources added Natives to boards in the fall of 2021. Newmont-Goldcorp added a Native board member in 2017.

 

In Toronto, the Indigenous Program included Martha Manuel, Neskonlith Band, Secwepemculecw, British Columbia. Manuel is now on the board of directors for Doré Copper Mines.

Martha Manuel, daughter of Indigenous activist and national leader George Manuel, worked for New Gold Inc. until 2020. 

Announcing Manuel's addition to the board in August, Doré said it plans to restart the Chibougamau mining camp. Doré Copper Mining Corp. is a copper-gold explorer and developer in the Chibougamau area of Québec, Canada.

Indigenous Program speakers included Shannin Metatawabin, on the board of Clean Air Metals. Metatawabin is Cree / Inninow from Fort Albany (Pethtabeck) First Nation of the Mushkegowuk Cree Nation.

Clean Air Metals appointed Metatawabin in November. Clean Air Metals owns the Thunder Bay North Project, a platinum, palladium, copper, and nickel mining project located near Thunder Bay, Ontario, and the Lac des Iles Mine owned by Impala Platinum.

The Thunder Bay North project is on the traditional territories of the Fort William First Nation, Red Rock First Nation and Biinjitiwabik Zaaging Anishinabek.

The Indigenous Program included KWG Resources board member Fiona Blondin. KWG announced in September that Blondin, Yellowknives Dene First Nation in the Northwest Territories, was selected as director of the company.

Now, KWG Resources is exploring chromite, used in making stainless steel, in the James Bay Lowlands of Ontario. It is part of mineral-rich area known as the Ring of Fire.

Indigenous program facilitator Lana Eagle, White Cap Dakota, is a consultant promoting mining.

Gold mining in Venezuela and Brazil results in murder, rape and disease. The situation in the Yanomami territory in Brazil is catastrophic and now resembles a war zone. “Yanomami under Attack” documents violence, sexual abuse and high rates of malaria and mercury poisoning among the Yanomami as a result of the illegal mining, Survival International reports.

World mining conference Toronto 2022

THE AGENDA

The Indigenous Program 

https://www.pdac.ca/convention

Partnerships, participation, and ESG-I: Canada and the emerging global paradigm for Indigenous communities and the mining industry (IN PERSON)

Chair: Sandra Gogal, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP Toronto, Canada

Monday, June 13, 2022, 11:45 AM - 1:15 PM

Speaker(s):
Modertor

John Hibble, Coeuraj, Toronto, Canada

Sandra Gogal, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, Toronto, Canada

Camilla Lott, Vale, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Mark Podlasly, University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business, Vancouver, Canada

Sharon Singh, Bennett Jones LLP, Vancouver, Canada

Saga Williams, AS Williams Consulting, Curve Lake First Nation, Canada

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FPIC and collaborative consent: Navigating UNDRIP the right way (IN PERSON)

Chair: Sandra Gogal, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, Toronto, Canada

2:45 PM - 4:15 PM

Speaker(s):
Moderator
Sandra Gogal, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, Toronto, Canada

Chad Norman Day, Tahltan Central Government, Smithers and Telegraph Creek, Canada

Chief Judy Desmoulin, Longlake #58 First Nation, Canada

Grand Chief Jackson Lafferty, Tłı̨chǫ Government, Behchoko, Canada

Chief Theresa Nelson, Animbiigoo Zaagi'igan Anishinaabek First Nation, Canada

Angela Bigg, Rio Tinto -Diavik Diamond Mines Inc., Yellowknife, Canada

Daniel Gagné, Greenstone Gold Mines, Geraldton, Canada

Eric Lamontagne, Greenstone Gold Mines, Geraldton, Canada

Winter Bailey, Rio Tinto Diavik Diamond Mine, Yellowknife, Canada

(Agenda) June 21 2021 was a historic day as Canada marked the 25th anniversary of National Indigenous Peoples Day and Bill C-15: An Act respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, received royal assent.

Through the development of an Action Plan over the next two years, the Bill will outline a road map for ensuring Canadian laws are consistent with the principles of UNDRIP.

As we are approaching one year since the adoption of the Bill, a panel of speakers will comment on the development of the Action Plan and what we can expect for it’s implementation.

Learn about the proactive steps majors and juniors are taking to better understand anticipated changes by adopting best practices around engagement.
Hear from legal experts about the development and meaning of FPIC and collaborative consent, where they overlap and how they differ. Witness an open discussion between companies and community partners on their interpretation of meaningful consultation and expectations from project partners.

Economic reconciliation pathways: Reimagining equity participation models (IN PERSON)

Chair: Lana Eagle, Lana Eagle Consulting, Campbell River, Canada Sarah Weber, C3 Alliance Corp. Vancouver, Canada
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Speaker(s):
Moderator
Don Bubar, Avalon Advanced Materials Inc., Toronto, Canada
Abraham Drost, Clean Air Metals, Inc., Thunder Bay, Canada
Frank Hardy, Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek, MacDiarmid, Canada
Dawn Madahbee Leach, National Indigenous Economic Development Board, Birch Island, Canada
Donald McInnes, Vancouver British Columbia, Canada
Joe Moses, Clean Air Metals, Thunder Bay, Canada

(Agenda) The concept of economic reconciliation centres on the fundamental right to self-determination Indigenous peoples have to freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. In recent years this concept has become prevalent in the natural resources sector, to describe resource revenue sharing models in project partnerships, allowing communities to reinvest funds, advance capacity and build generational wealth.

In the fall of 2021, PDAC undertook research to build greater awareness around the economic opportunities associated with Indigenous community partnerships at the exploration phase of the mineral development sequence. The Economic Impacts of Exploration Projects on Indigenous Communities report identifies several opportunities communities and Indigenous businesses can pursue to maximize project investment and create mutually beneficial agreements leading to long-term financial prosperity for all proponents.

This session aims to educate exploration companies, vendors, and other stakeholders about the steps they can take to ensure Indigenous communities and businesses participate fruitfully in mineral exploration. Learn about the unique participation models companies have employed, how these agreements were constructed and the financial tools available at our disposal.
-----------------------------------------------

Claiming your seat: Reflections on accelerating Indigenous representation on corporate boards (IN PERSON)

Indigenous on boards of directors of mining corporations in Canada.

Chair: Rosario Astuvilca-Rojas, CEO & Founder Inclusive Mining, Toronto, Canada (Peruvian, Indigenous ancestry, began her mining career in 1996 at Centromin (Empresa Minera del Centro del Perú) in Perú.

4:30 PM - 5:30 PM

Speaker(s):
Moderator
Alisha Hiyate, The Northern Miner, Toronto, Canada

Fiona Blondin, KWG Resources Inc. Board Member, Cambridge, Canada

Matthew Coon Come, Newmont Board Member, Mistissini, Canada

Martha Manuel, Doré Copper Mining Corp. Board Member, Kamloops, Canada

Shannin Metatawabin, Clean Air Metals Board Member, Belfast, Canada

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Empowering Indigenous entrepreneurs: Increasing industry participation through procurement, employee training and retention (IN PERSON)

Chair: Glenn Nolan, Noront Resources Ltd., Toronto, Canada

11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Speaker(s):
Moderator
Karen Restoule, Shared Value Solutions, Dokis First Nation, Canada

Jason Batiste, Wabun Tribal Council, Mattagami First Nation, Canada

Melanie J. Campbell, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Canada

Chad Norman Day, Tahltan Central Government, Smithers and Telegraph Creek, Canada

Paul Gruner, Tahltan Nation Development Corporation, Yellowknife, Canada
At each stage of the mining supply chain there are opportunities for companies to partner with Indigenous businesses. In this session, we focus on empowering indigenous entrepreneurs by increasing industry participation through procurement, employee training and retention.
------------------------------------

In Sonora, bordering Arizona, José de Jesús Robledo Cruz and María de Jesús Gómez were killed in April 2021 after organizing a campaign against Mexico’s largest gold-mining company Penmont. It wasn’t the first time the married couple had been targeted: In 2017, they were kidnapped and tortured by unknown assailants dressed in army fatigues. When their bodies were discovered last year, a note with the names of 13 other activists was attached to one of them. Nearly three-quarters of the human rights defenders killed in Mexico were protecting land, the environment or Indigenous rights.
https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/more-than-half-of-activists-killed-in-2021-were-land-environment-defenders/

Toronto: Indigenous Peoples Program

Economic reconciliation pathways: Reimagining equity participation models

Chair: Lana Eagle, Lana Eagle Consulting, Campbell River, Canada Sarah Weber, C3 Alliance Corp. Vancouver, Canada

8:00 AM - 9:30 AM

Moderator
Don Bubar, Avalon Advanced Materials Inc., Toronto, Canada
Abraham Drost, Clean Air Metals, Inc., Thunder Bay, Canada
Frank Hardy, Biinjitiwaabik Zaaging Anishinaabek, MacDiarmid, Canada
Dawn Madahbee Leach, National Indigenous Economic Development Board, Birch Island, Canada
Donald McInnes, Vancouver British Columbia, Canada
Joe Moses, Clean Air Metals, Thunder Bay, Canada
The concept of economic reconciliation centres on the fundamental right to self-determination Indigenous peoples have to freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. In recent years this concept has become prevalent in the natural resources sector, to describe resource revenue sharing models in project partnerships, allowing communities to reinvest funds, advance capacity and build generational wealth.
.This is the recording of an in-person session from PDAC 2022 in Toronto, that is available on-demand for our online attendees.
------------------------------

Indigenous Rights Defenders Executed in Latin America in 2021.
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/memoriam-33-indigenous-rights-defenders-murdered-2021-latin-america

Toronto Indigenous Peoples Program

Exploring the social impact of mineral development projects in Indigenous communities (ONLINE)

ONLINE
Chair: Lana Eagle, Lana Eagle Consulting, Campbell River, Canada Michael Fox, Indigenous Community Engagement, Fort William, Canada Glenn Nolan, Noront Resources Ltd., Toronto, Canada

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Speaker(s):
Sabrina Dias, SOOP Strategies Inc., Toronto, Canada

Beverely Russell, Project Manager, Gitanyow Education & Training Institute, Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, British Columbia, Canada

Dorinda Shirey, Gitanyow Elder, British Columbia, Canada

Norma Vazquez, SOOP Strategies Inc., Toronto, Canada

(Agenda) In 2021 PDAC set out to identify anticipated impacts and subsequent increased demands on social infrastructure within host Indigenous communities that are proximal to mineral development projects in Canada.

Using a gendered lens, the Social Impact Study established a set of practical strategies mineral resource development companies can exercise to mitigate or manage the social impacts on host Indigenous communities, as well as to create opportunities for improving situations often found in remote, Indigenous communities.

In this session hear community leaders’ reflections on findings, companies employing GBA+ principles and approaches as part of their permitting process and how these recommendations can be adopted to new projects.
----------------------------------------------

Indigenous cultural awareness: How traditional values, teachings and knowledge have influenced the industry over the years (ONLINE)

ONLINE
Chair: Lana Eagle, Lana Eagle Consulting, Campbell River, Canada

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Speaker(s):
Moderator

Lana Eagle, Lana Eagle Consulting, Campbell River, Canada

Ed Sackaney, Knowledge & Wisdom Keeper, Fort Albany First Nation, Canada

Jason Batiste, Wabun Tribal Council Coeuraj, Mattagami First Nation, Canada

Nalaine Morin, Tahltan Central Government, Smithers, Canada

(Agenda) In this session, Indigenous leaders from across Canada come together to discuss core values, teachings and knowledge and reflect on the impact Indigenous culture has had on the mineral industry. These leaders share how they view resource development and discuss similarities and differences between key cultural pillars.

Company and community leaders identify the factors that lead to strong partnerships and successful long-term relationships. All speakers come together to reflect on what resource development means to them and their thoughts on where the industry is headed.

Photo: Newmont's gold mining on Western Shoshone land. Carrie Dann, Western Shoshone said, "To dig under the earth to get to that gold, to pump out that water to get to that gold, is a crime, it's a crime against humanity, a crime against life, the very life upon which all people depend on, not only people but we have other things out there -- we have the deer, we have the eagle, we have the rabbits, we have all life out there and the gold mining today is going to destroy that, it is destroying that, the life for the future generations is going to be gone."

NEWMONT MINING

Newmont states, "In 2019, Newmont became the world’s leading gold company and a producer of copper, silver, zinc and lead following the transformational acquisition of Goldcorp and its world-class mines, including four operations in Canada."

"Newmont’s 100 percent-owned operating assets in Canada include Éléonore in Quebec and Musselwhite and Porcupine in Ontario as well as the Red Lake operation in Ontario until its sale to Evolution Mining on March 31, 2020. Canadian exploration properties are the Coffee project in the Yukon as well as the Galore Creek joint venture with Teck Resources Limited in British Columbia (B.C.). Our North America regional office is located in Vancouver, B.C." according to Newmont.

Source: Newmont:

 https://s24.q4cdn.com/382246808/files/doc_downloads/sustainability/regional/BeyondtheMine.CanadaOperations.FINAL.pdf

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Asbestos mine in Quebec: Source: Rabble/Chilanga Cement
"The Terrible Paradox of the Green Energy Transition
https://rabble.ca/environment/the-terrible-paradox-of-t)he-green-energy-transition/

At the world mining conference in Toronto, Peru, Brazil and Canada had their own three days of sponsors. Indigenous in Peru and Brazil continue to be murdered as they defend their land and water from mining. In Canada, there is a trail of cancer and disease from mining. -- Censored News. 

The world's largest mining convention in Toronto this week.

References:

More than half of activists killed in 2021 were land and environment defenders. Article  by Mongaby news

https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/more-than-half-of-activists-killed-in-2021-were-land-environment-defenders/

Survival International: Yanomami under attack by miners in Brazil and Venezuela

https://www.survivalinternational.org/news/12821

Read more: 

Paiute Shoshone Myron Dewey warned of lithium mining the day before he was killed

Paiute Shoshone Journalist Myron Dewey

Paiute Shoshone journalist Myron Dewey warned of lithium mining at the Paiute Massacre Site at Thacker Pass, on the day before he was killed. A truck pulled into his lane, on a dirt road, and hit him head-on.

Dewey was a journalist and drone activist at Standing Rock in North Dakota, 2016 -- 2017, during the resistance to Dakota Access Pipeline. At home in Nevada in September, Myron livestreamed from the Fallon bombing range, warning of its expansion, the day before he was killed in the head-on collision on an isolated road near his family's home in the Paiute homelands at Yomba.

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2021/10/nye-county-sheriff-releases-myron-dewey.html

Lithium future
"The first challenge for researchers is to reduce the amounts of metals that need to be mined for EV batteries. Amounts vary depending on the battery type and model of vehicle, but a single car lithium-ion battery pack (of a type known as NMC532) could contain around 8 kg of lithium, 35 kg of nickel, 20 kg of manganese and 14 kg of cobalt, according to figures from Argonne National Laboratory." -- Nature

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02222-1

Barona Mission Indians and Hualapai Defend Ancestral Lands from Lithium Mining

"Members of the Barona band of Mission Indians and other tribal nations have joined a fight aiming to stop the proposed Sandy Valley lithium mine in Arizona and proposed lithium mining at the Salton Sea in California that could adversely impact Native Americans."

https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/local-tribal-members-join-stand-against-lithium-mining-arizona-and-salton-sea

Mining Companies Strike Gold by Destroying Public Lands: Tohono O'odham cancer is the result of arsenic from copper mining

Contaminated water—polluted by old, closed gold mines in Montana’s Little Rocky Mountains—flows down the peaks toward the Fort Belknap Indian Community’s reservation in September 2021. Cleanup costs at least $3 million annually. 

PHOTO BY KATY SPENCE/MONTANA ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION CENTER

Tohono O'odham Nation on Arizona Border: After a century-old copper-mining facility on the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona closed in 1999, for example, the Department of Health and Human Services found the mine had added enough arsenic to local drinking water to cause nausea — and skin, bladder and lung cancers.

Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, Fort Belknap, North Dakota: Beautiful tree-covered peaks turn to pale yellow slash when toxic gold mining runoff ran down from Montana  -- The contamination came from a gold mine that had operated in the mountains from the 1860s until 1998. The mine used cyanide to extract the gold. The process produced tremendous amounts of toxic runoff, which included not just cyanide but acids created when the rocks were exposed to air. That all made its way into local tap water.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/native-american-indigenous-peoples-mining-mine-cleanup-environmental-justice-epa-bureau-of-land-management

Canada's Ring of Fire: Canada's Mining Push Puts Major Carbon Sink and Indigenous In Crosshairs -- by Mongabay news

• A massive mining project called the Ring of Fire is being proposed in Canada’s Hudson Bay lowlands, a region that houses one of the biggest peatland complexes in the world and is home to several Indigenous communities.
• According to the federal and provincial governments, this region hosts one of the “most promising mineral development opportunities,” which is expected to generate jobs and revenues in the remote region.
• Environmentalists say the proposed development threatens to degrade peatlands, which act as a massive carbon store, and could lead to an increase in emissions; First Nations communities have also voiced concerns about mining impacts on traditional lands and livelihoods
• 
  https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/canada-mining-push-puts-major-carbon-sink-and-indigenous-lands-in-the-crosshairs/
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Article copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News