Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

September 26, 2023

White Mesa Ute Spiritual Walk and Protest of Uranium Mill: Oct. 7, 2023




Annual White Mesa Ute Spiritual Walk Draws Attention to Threats from Nearby Uranium Mill 

White Mesa Concerned Community

protectwhitemesa.org 



What: A rally and spiritual walk to protect the White Mesa Ute community’s health, water, air, land, culture, and sacred sites from the nearby White Mesa uranium mill and show community opposition to the mill operating as an international dumping ground for radioactive waste from around the world. The protest and walk are sponsored by the White Mesa Concerned Community and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. All supporters are welcome.


September 23, 2023

Standing Rock: Federal Appeals Court Hears Case of Law Enforcement Brutality at Backwater Bridge



From L to R: Center for Protest Law and Litigation (CPLL) Executive Director Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Michael Avery with National Police Accountability Project, CPLL Senior Counsel Rachel Lederman, Standing Rock water protector and attorney Wašté Win Young, Co-Counsel Melinda Power, CPLL attorney Amanda Eubanks outside the courthouse in St. Louis.

Standing Rock: Federal Appeals Court Hears Case of Law Enforcement Brutality at Backwater Bridge 

By Brenda Norrell
Copyright Censored News
Sept. 19, 2023

ST LOUIS -- A federal appeals court heard arguments in the class action lawsuit filed for excessive force at Backwater Bridge at Standing Rock by water protectors who suffered critical injuries. The issues argued included whether water protectors were free to leave, whether law enforcement feared for their lives, and whether the use of munitions, bean bags filled with shot, and water sprayed on water protectors in temperatures below freezing, were justified or legal.

Rachel Lederman, lead counsel for water protectors, told the Eighth Circuit Appeals Court's three-member panel of judges, that the district court based its decision in favor of law enforcement are disputed.

“The story defendants have put forth to justify their use of force is hotly disputed."

Lederman an attorney with the Center for Protest Law and Litigation, said that a jury should decide whether it was objectionably reasonable for officers to bombard hundreds of individuals with high-pressure water hoses, impact munitions, explosives, and chemical agents for ten hours, causing serious injuries, for the people that were allegedly causing problems.

Bias in the Newsrooms: TigerSwan's Planted Articles


Police confront protesters with a rubber bullet gun during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota. Photo by Stephanie Keith/Reuters

Bias in the newsrooms: TigerSwan's 'planted' articles:

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Sept. 23, 2023

The bias and racism in bordertown newsrooms, since the beginning of paper, has been obvious to anyone who spent time there. It is comparable to the current neglect and biased coverage by Nevada media on Native issues including the lithium mines, bombing range and nuclear genocide.

There is another factor, revealed in the internal files of TigerSwan, now public. It is the "placement" of stories in newspapers, which are often void of facts, and most certainly to promote the interests of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Mohawk Nation News 'Time to Go Home'


Read this powerful new article from Mohawk Nation News on MNN:
https://mohawknationnews.com/blog/2023/09/22/time-to-go-home/
 

September 19, 2023

MNN 'Mohawk Mothers: No Safeguard Order at this Time'

MOHAWK MOTHERS: NO SAFEGUARD ORDER AT THIS TIME

PRESS RELEASE – COURT UPDATE

Mohawk Nation News

RE: QUEBEC SUPERIOR COURT FOR DECLARATORY RELIEF AND TO OBTAIN A SAFEGUARD ORDER, CASE #500-17-120468-221: Kaheninetha et al v. SQI, McGill University, et all.; and Intervenors Independant Spedical Interlocateur for Missing Children & Unmarked Graves…. 

Shé:kon

We have learned that at this stage that Justice Gregory Moore is not able to issue a safeguard order to halt excavation work in zone #11 of the former Royal Victoria Hospital. The Judge relied on the Expert Panel’s mapping report which authorized excavation work in zone #11 if there is careful monitoring of the work and if it is limited to this area. We consider that the Expert Panel must be involved in overseeing the investigation to adapt it to the findings on the ground.

September 18, 2023

Standing Rock -- Appeals Court to Hear Excessive Force Lawsuit at Backwater Bridge Tuesday






Standing Rock -- Appeals Court to Hear Excessive Force Lawsuit at Backwater Bridge Tuesday

Update: Federal appeals court hears excessive force, class action lawsuit, for injured at Backwater Bridge at Standing Rock

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/09/federal-appeals-court-heard-arguments.html

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Sept. 19, 2023

Three hundred water protectors were injured on the night of November 20, 2016, at Backwater Bridge at Standing Rock. Twenty-six were seriously injured and taken by ambulance to nearby hospitals. Guy Dull Knife III was one of them. On Tuesday, an excessive force lawsuit filed against Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier and others will be argued before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.

"On the night of November 20-21, 2016, law enforcement shot unarmed, nonviolent water protectors with impact munitions, flash-bang explosives, and freezing blasts of water over the course of ten hours, seriously injuring Appellants and many others," states the federal class-action, civil rights lawsuit Dundon v Kirchmeier.

Wašté Win Young, Water Protector and former Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for Standing Rock, reflected on the significance of the case.

“I was born and raised on Standing Rock. It’s my home. The law enforcement that attacked us were our neighbors. It was surreal. Even now, when I cross that bridge I remember the people who got maimed, fell through ice, sprayed with water and chemicals, injured by those who are supposed to protect us. There are several images imprinted in my mind from November 20, 2016."

"I remember law enforcement indiscriminately aiming water canons at a group of Native American individuals who were praying on their knees, while other law enforcement personnel shot tear gas and projectiles into the crowd where I was standing."

"I nearly choked on the tear gas. It is my hope that the rule of law will prevail against the law enforcement who blatantly disregarded the constitutional and civil rights of hundreds of peaceful protestors," Waste Win Young said.





Photo by Rob Wilson

New York: The Great March on Wall Street is Underway: 120 Climate Defenders Arrested So Far in Front of Federal Reserve

                      The Great March on Wall Street is Underway
Now! "Arrest the real criminals!" the voices echoed. Police loudspeaker: "Since you have refused to disperse, you will be arrested." Climate Defenders now. "We want a future." Young people in action.



"Lock it down!" the voices call out. The sign says, "Scientists to Biden: End Fossil Fuels" Now in New York


Now in Manhattan: Mass arrests of climate activists on Wall Street, Manhattan, New York. Follow Climate Defenders on Twitter/X https://twitter.com/ClimateDEF

New York Communities for Change said the Federal Reserve is shut down after more than 1,000 "people are hitting the streets in Wall Street in the pouring rain to demand that the banks stop financing fossil fuels. We’re in the belly of the beast and we’re about to shut it down."

September 15, 2023

Dine' Marcus Mitchell Shot in the Eye at Standing Rock -- Holding the Cops Responsible


Militarized police at Standing Rock: Weapons of brutality: 12-gauge shotgun filled with bean bag shot or tear gas and two tasers. Photo by Rob Wilson 2016.

Marcus Mitchell, Dine', (second from left) with his attorneys before giving his deposition on Friday in Albuquerque. Photo by Dr. Michelle Cook, Dine', director Divest Invest Protect.

At Standing Rock, law enforcement officers were armed with so-called non-lethal weapons, including shotguns loaded with bean bags, as shown here with the orange butt and forearm on the left. Photo by Rob Wilson, Standing Rock, 2016.


Dine' Marcus Mitchell Shot in the Eye at Standing Rock -- Holding the Cops Responsible

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
Sept. 15, 2023


ALBUQUERQUE -- Dine' Marcus Mitchell, water protector who was shot in the eye at Standing Rock, said now is the time to hold the cops responsible, after giving a deposition in the federal case today. 

"We interrogate the police officers, we weigh them, we measure them and we hold them accountable for the horrendous acts of violence they have committed against us," Marcus said.

Marcus filed a federal civil lawsuit against North Dakota law enforcement agencies after being subjected to excessive violence while peacefully protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline in January 2017. The North Dakota District Court earlier dismissed the case, but the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision.

"Today was the first day that I've ever come face to face with law enforcement that shot me in the face, resulting in permanent eye loss in my left eye. Basically, what happened was they asked me every single question about my life, from third grade all the way up to a couple weeks ago. They showed me a picture of me at Crow Dog's Paradise dancing," Marcus said.

The photo shown to Marcus during the deposition was one that he was unaware of, and was taken at the annual Lakota Sun Dance.


MNN 'Judge to Make Decision Monday'

JUDGE TO MAKE DECISION MONDAY 

Mohawk Nation News

PRESS RELEASE 

Please post & circulate immediately.

 

MNN. Sep. 15/23. September 14, 2023. Quebec Superior Court, District of Montreal. Oral submissions by Kahnistensera vs SQI, McGill et al. Judge will make a decision next Monday: REGARDING 20 T0 70 FALSE POSITIVES  FLAGGED BY THREE DOGS & GPR [ground penetrating radar]. Mohawk Mothers. face ‘denialism’, ‘disbanding’ of Expert Panel, and other questionable actions.

September 13, 2023

Lakota Nick Estes: Oceti Sakowin is Our Seat of Power -- Free Leonard Peltier


Rally for Clemency for Leonard Peltier. Photo by Nick Estes

https://twitter.com/i/status/1701665475984261523

Lakota Nick Estes: Oceti Sakowin is Our Seat of Power -- Free Leonard Peltier

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, September 13, 2023

While hundreds rallied outside the White House on Tuesday, urging clemency and freedom for Leonard Peltier on his 79th birthday, Nick Estes, Lakota, spoke of the seat of power of the people, and the reason to free Leonard Peltier.

"We are here again, in the belly of the beast saying what we have said since 1978, that the FBI has waged a reign of terror against the American Indian Movement and social movements who are fighting for freedom, for justice, and more importantly treaty rights."

"This is not the seat of power in Indian country. Look around you, all of our relatives that came from the communities from across the country. We have the wild Oglalas who are here, that is the heart of Oceti Sakowin territory, that is the seat of power, for our nation Oceti Sakowin, not the White House, not Congress."

September 12, 2023

MNN: MOHAWK MOTHERS RETURN TO COURT AS MCGILL/SQI DRILL HOLES AT ROYAL VICTORIA HOSPITAL



MOHAWK MOTHERS RETURN TO COURT AS MCGILL/SQI DRILL HOLES AT ROYAL VICTORIA HOSPITAL
Posted on September 12, 2023




Mohawk Nation News





MOHAWK MOTHERS SOON SETTING OUT FOR ANOTHER DAY IN MONTREAL COURT


September 12th, 2023, “Mohawk Mothers Return to Court Thursday As McGill and SQI Drill Holes At Royal Victoria Hospital” Tio’tià:ke (Montreal) –

The Mohawk Mothers held a press conference at the corner of Pine and Peel Sts. on September 12, 2023, at 2:30 p.m.

The Kahnistensera filed an Emergency Motion to halt drilling and excavation at the Royal Victoria Hospital site, which will be heard on Thursday, September 14 at the Montreal. Superior Court. The Emergency Motion details breaches to the Settlement Agreement by McGill and the SQI that the Mohawk Mothers repeatedly raised in direct talks about the way they are handling the archaeological investigation ordered by the Quebec Superior Court to search for unmarked graves of victims of medical experiments.

Just Released: "Mining the Sacred: Indigenous Nations Fight Lithium Gold Rush at Thacker Pass"


Dean Barlese is charged by Lithium Americas of Canada for protecting the sacred massacre site of Peehee Mu'huh, Thacker Pass in northern Nevada.
Watch now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLO7ClVtlBA

Cree Journalist Brandi Morin said, "We are taking back the narrative and this story about North America’s largest lithium mine being constructed while violating sacred Indigenous territories is told from the Native perspective. The 'green' energy revolution isn’t what you think it is!"
IndigiNews Media and The Real News
Go watch!
Follow Native journalist Brandi Morin, who came from Canada, and covered this powerful story.

"In Nevada’s remote Thacker Pass, a fight for our future is playing out between local Indigenous tribes and powerful state and corporate entities hellbent on mining the lithium beneath their land. Vancouver-based Lithium Americas is developing a massive lithium mine at Thacker Pass, but for more than two years several local tribes and environmental organizations have tried to block or delay the mine in the courts and through direct action.

"The Thacker Pass Project is backed by the Biden administration, and companies like General Motors have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the project, looking to capitalize on the transition to a 'green energy economy,' for which lithium is essential. While it is a vital component in the manufacturing of electric vehicles and batteries, though, there’s nothing “green” about mining lithium. Ending our addiction to fossil fuels is urgently necessary, but the struggle of the local tribes around Thacker Pass reveals the dark side of a “green revolution” that prioritizes profits and consumption over everything (and everyone) else." -- Mining the Sacred

September 11, 2023

Yaqui Disappeared and Assassinated Not Included in New UN Human Rights Report


Tomas Rojo, spokesman for Vicam Yaqui Traditional Authority, assassinated


Yaqui Disappeared and Assassinated Not Included in New UN Human Rights Report

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Sept. 11, 2023

Tomas Rojo was someone I knew. In his gentle way, he explained how Traditional Vicam Yaqui were protecting the Yaqui River water from being stolen for an aqueduct for the city of Hermosillo. Tomas was the spokesman for Traditional Vicam Yaqui, and they maintained a highway blockade for years to protect their water.

Tomas was bludgeoned to death and left in the desert.

Nearby, Loma de Bacum Yaqui were going for a cow for a traditional feast, when 10 community members were disappeared. They were traditional security guards opposing a gas pipeline in their village.

It is sad to see that these, and the other assassinations and disappearances in Mexico, south of the Arizona border, are not included in the new report on militarization to the UN Human Rights Council.

The United Nations has failed to take seriously the epidemic of assassinations and disappearances of Indigenous Peoples, by mining and development corporations based in Canada, the United States and Australia, and to hold the governments, military and law enforcement responsible for their crimes -- including Mexico.

The United Nations and U.S. Government: What their new reports are not telling you

Saguaro cactus recklessly destroyed to build the border wall at Ajo, Arizona. Photo by Laiken Jordahl


The United Nations and U.S. Government: What their new reports are not telling you

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, September 11, 2023
French translation by Christine Prat

There are two new reports: One is the U.S. report on the destruction and violation of laws during the building of the border wall during the Trump era. The new report is by the US government's office that claims to be independent: The Government Accountability Office.


The other new report, making its way to the United Nations Human Rights Council, is the report from the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on the militarization affecting Indigenous Peoples. The final report has some of the powerful testimony and struggles -- but it leaves out some of the greatest tragedies and heartfelt testimony.

Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham, on her homeland. Photo by Jason Jaacks. Ofelia's website is O'odham Solidarity at https://www.oodhamrights.org/

Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham, and founder of O'odham Voice against the Wall, has spent her life on the border in the struggle for human rights and battling the militarization of the border.

Ofelia responded to the two new reports and the murder of her childhood friend, Raymond Mattia, and fellow community member, murdered by the U.S. Border Patrol and law enforcement on May 18. Raymond was shot nine times in a rain of bullets on his front door steps, in Ali-Jegk on the Tohono O'odham Nation.

September 8, 2023

Mediocre Border Wall Report Minimizes U.S. Government Violence and Destruction


An image you will not see in the U.S. government's new border wall construction report: Wildlife halted during migrations by the border wall. Congressman Grijalva calls the border wall a racist stunt and  "symbolic message of  hate." (Image: Skye Islands video/screenshot Censored News)

Mediocre Border Wall Report Minimizes U.S. Government Violence and Destruction


By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, September 8, 2023


A new U.S. report on the border wall construction minimizes the violence and destruction by the U.S. government. The U.S. blew up Tohono O'odham and Apache burial places with dynamite, killed saguaro cacti, destroyed migration paths of endangered species, violated precious water, destroyed sacred sites, and scraped the fragile Sonoran Desert and border ecosystems.

The border report attempts to excuse the United States' failed consultation with Tohono O'odham and Pascua Yaqui Nations, attempts to excuse the waiver and violation of all federal laws, and does not include the U.S. government's own agents' involvement with illegal drug and weapons running across the border.

The 72-page report, released on Thursday, by the Government Accountability Office assessed the destruction caused by building the border wall, from 2017 -- 2021. Although it is defined as an independent government office -- in reality, it is the government reporting on itself. Another fox in the henhouse.

The report states an emergency national security action was used to redirect U.S. military funding to build the border wall -- but it fails to point out that large numbers of U.S. Border Patrol and ICE agents have been arrested for drug running and spotting for the cartels. The report does not include the U.S. government's covert operations known as "gun-walking" across the border which supplies automatic weapons to the cartels in failed attempts to track automatic weapons to the cartels.

September 7, 2023

Protect Appalachia -- Women's Delegation tells UBS Bank: Stop Financing Mountain Valley Pipeline


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Protect Appalachia -- Women's Delegation tells UBS Bank: Stop Financing Mountain Valley Pipeline

“Violence on the Land is Violence on our Bodies”: Appalachian Frontline Women’s Divestment Delegation Highlights Dangers of Mountain Valley Pipeline in Meeting with UBS Bank

By Divest Invest Protect and
The Women's Earth and Climate Action Network International
Censored News
Wednesday, September 6, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, California— On September 6, a delegation of frontline women leaders from Appalachia and advocates met with UBS Bank to highlight concerns of human rights violations along the Mountain Valley Pipeline, as well as environmental harms in the Appalachian region as a result of the pipeline.

During the meeting, the Appalachian Frontline Women’s Divestment Delegation provided testimony and shared stories, data and research on the multiple ways that the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and its construction pose a serious threat to communities, water, air quality and the global climate.

September 5, 2023

Honoring the Ancestors Prayer Relay Run: Ox Sam Camp, Nevada, Sept. 12, 2023


EVERYBODY IS WELCOME & INVITED:

DISCUSSIONS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF PROTECTING MOTHER EARTH & THE EFFECTS THAT THE LITHIUM MINES WILL BRING TO OUR SMALL COMMUNITY AND SURROUNDING AREAS, THE IMPORTANCE OF WHY WE STAND AGAINST THE MAN CAMPS.

PRAYERS FOR THE ANCESTORS THAT WERE MASSACRED ON SEPTEMBER 12 1865 WILL BE @5AM. PRAYERS WILL THEN BE CARRIED TO THE FT. MCDERMITT PAIUTE SHOSHONE RES. BY PRAYER RUNNERS WHERE THE DIRECT DESCENDANTS RESIDE.

THE ELDERS KINDLY ASK THAT YOU COME WITH GOOD THOUGHTS & PRAYERS..

NO ALCOHOL...
NO DRUGS...

Bvlbancha Liberation Radio: Live from Houma Lands Today

Michelle Cook, Dine', live at Bvlbancha Radio on Houma Land today
Bvlbancha Liberation Radio live https://www.bvlbancharadio.net/

Photos by Michelle Cook, Dine', with grassroots radio engineer Govinda Dalton on the Houma ancestral lands on the Gulf Coast of Lousiana today.

September 4, 2023

Nevada Ranger Violently Rams and Arrests Climate Protesters at Burning Man Roadblock

A violent ranger, employed by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Nation, plowed into a road barricade where women were chained to the blockade, drew his weapon, and threw a woman to the ground during violent arrests on Sunday.


Ranger Violently Rams and Arrests Climate Protesters at Burning Man Roadblock

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News

Full video of climate protesters' roadblock, protesting Burning Man on the road into the event, and violent arrests by rangers on YouTube https://youtu.be/e8fDM60MS84

Update -- September 5: Burning Man vehicles are making their way out of the mud now. On Monday, 70,000 festival-goers remained stuck in the mud at Burning Man after heavy rains and flooding. They were told to shelter in place, as food and water ran low, and toilets couldn't be cleaned. One death was reported during heavy rain. The road in and out was closed except for ambulances until the ground dried out. The annual event is on BLM land, and the BLM charges Burning Man more than $3 million for the special use fee. The area considers it an economic boost. Washoe County said it brought in $60 million in tourism-related revenues in 2019. However, already this year, the local Sheriff said people are leaving their vehicles and garbage behind in the mud. It is now an ecological mess. https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/05/us/burning-man-storms-shelter-exodus-tuesday/index.html

Ranger crashes through climate protesters roadblock at Burning Man, endangering lives, carries out violent arrests

BLACK ROCK CITY, Nevada (August 27, 2023) – Climate activists shut down the highway leading to the Burning Man Festival on Sunday. "Get off the f--king road," a Ranger yells from his vehicle over a loudspeaker. A Ranger violently rammed the roadblock with his tribal vehicle, where women were chained to the barricade, endangering lives, and then pointed his weapon at protesters at close range.

Mohawk Nation News 'McGill and SQI, Remember You're in Indigenous Country'

MCGILL & SQI, REMEMBER YOU’RE IN INDIGENOUS COUNTRY

MNN. Sun. Sept. 3, 2023

https://mohawknationnews.com/blog/2023/09/04/mcgill-sqi-remember-youre-in-indigenous-country/

https://montreal.citynews.ca/2023/08/31/not-in-good-faith-mohawk-mothers-about-search-for-unmarked-graves-at-former-montreal-hospital-site/

Our brother the eagle landed on the highest point of the McGill Women’s Pavilion on September 3, 2023, with a message! A crew is digging the place in front of this building where three dogs found human remains. The kahnistensera and cultural monitors are staying on the path that leads to the great peace and finding our children, who were the victims of the MKULTRA and other experiments. No one will take us off that path.  

McGill is on the land of the kanienkehaka since time immemorial. No land can be sold, transferred or in any way taken from the original people who have been placed on onowarekeh by creation.  Our mother, turtle island, belongs to the unborn children. All life is dedicated to caretaking the land for the forthcoming happiness and dignity of our children. Intruders who do not live by the way of natural life as created by the kasatenserakowa saoiera have no place on turtle island. 

One of our belated Mohawk brothers, Robbie Robertson, said it perfectly: “In circles we gather. Moonlight fires are healing. Taking us back, make us go back. Beating hearts as one, this is indian county. You’re in indian country." [Robbie Robertson and the “Red Road Ensemble “Stomp Dance”].

Stomp Dance (Unity)

contact: court correspondence th**********@nt*.com mohawknationnews.com box 991, kahnawake Que. Canada J0L 1B0

info: mohawkmothers.ca