Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

March 31, 2024

Mohawk Nation News 'Illegal Inception'

Read the article at Mohawk Nation News
 

Hoodwinked By a Fist Full of Dollars -- The Runaway Train of Non-Profits in Indian Country



Hoodwinked By a Fist Full of Dollars -- The Runaway Train of Non-Profits in Indian Country

A billionaire's fortune from the most polluting industries in the U.S. -- aluminum manufacturing and oil drilling -- now quietly funds non-profits in Indian country. This means big money in a few pockets for salaries, homes, and lavish expense accounts.

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, March 31, 2024

While searching for a non-profit's info, we stumbled across this foundation. It funds many in Indian country, and here's where its money comes from.

The money comes from the man who "commandeered the use of an entire element of earth -- aluminum -- through his control of the monopoly aluminum producer Alcoa," according to "The Rise and Fall of Andew Mellon."

At one point, five Fortune 500 companies owed their lineage directly to Andrew Mellon: Alcoa, Gulf Oil, Mellon Bank, Carborundum, and Koppers. He controlled a network of ninety-nine banks. And Alcoa is cited as one of the top air polluters in the U.S. 

Today, the Andrew T. Mellon Foundation shows $7.5 billion. It gives out grant funding for Arizona university projects, Native projects across the U.S. and many more. Most grants range from $500,000 to $90 million.

Censored News year-long investigation into non-profits in Indian country reveals some of those who benefit from the secret process of grant writing.

March 29, 2024

Prayer Horse Ride to Peehee Mu'huh



Photos by Melissa Robles-Dyer


Nanesootuhina Pookoo Goobakatudu


Prayer Horse Ride to Peehee Mu'huh -- Photos by Melissa Robles-Dyer

Photo by Melissa Robles-Dyer

Lakota Youths Raising Voices for Palestine -- 'Our Liberation is Linked'


International Indigenous Youth Council, Oglala Lakota Chapter

Lakota Youths Raising Voices for Palestine

'Our Liberation is Linked'

By International Indigenous Youth Council, Oglala Lakota Chapter
Censored News, March 29, 2024

In a world plagued by injustices and oppression, the youth of the Oglala Lakota Nation raise their voices in support for Palestine. As descendants of a people who have faced centuries of systemic violence and displacement, we intimately understand the pain and suffering inflicted by colonialism and genocide.

Just as our ancestors fought to preserve our way of life and sovereignty, we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people as they resist occupation and defend their right to self-determination. The parallels between our struggles are undeniable, rooted in a shared history of dispossession, displacement, and cultural erasure.

The ongoing atrocities committed against the Palestinian people, including the recent escalation of violence and displacement in Gaza, serve as a reminder of the urgent need for global solidarity and action. We refuse to remain silent in the face of oppression and injustice.

Together, we raise our voices to condemn the brutal acts of violence and state-sanctioned discrimination perpetrated by the Israeli government. We demand an end to the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands and the immediate cessation of all forms of violence against civilians.

As Oglala youth, we recognize that our liberation is intricately linked to the liberation of all oppressed peoples around the world. By standing in solidarity with Palestine, we reaffirm our commitment to justice, equality, and human rights for all.

Let us unite in our struggle against colonialism, imperialism, and genocide. Together, we can create a world where every individual and community can thrive in freedom and dignity.

International Indigenous Youth Council, Oglala Lakota Chapter

March 26, 2024

Thacker Pass Protectors File First-Ever 'Biodiversity Necessity Defense' in Nevada Court





Thacker Pass Protectors File First-Ever 'Biodiversity Necessity Defense' in Nevada Court

While pursuing a 'Climate Necessity Defense,' and making allegations that mining company has violated their rights, their attorney said, 'They’re not criminals; they’re heroes.'

By Protect Thacker Pass, Censored News, March 26, 2024

WINNEMUCCA, Nevada — In a first for the American legal system, the lawyers for six people sued by Lithium Nevada Corporation for protesting the Thacker Pass mine are arguing a ‘biodiversity necessity defense.’

The necessity defense is a legal argument used to justify breaking the law when a greater harm is being prevented; for example, breaking a car window to save an infant locked inside on a stifling hot day, or breaking down a door to help someone screaming inside a locked home. In these cases, trespassing is justified to save a life.
.

March 24, 2024

Hualapai Run to Save Sacred Spring -- Navajo Nation Agrees to Dig into Hualapai Sacred Spring for Lithium


Hualapai Run to Save Sacred Spring -- Navajo Nation Agrees to Dig into Hualapai Sacred Spring for Lithium

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, March 24, 2024

Hualapai runners and walkers trekked more than 200 miles over six days from western Arizona to the Phoenix to save their Sacred Spring from open-pit lithium mining. Hualapai runners were joined at the Arizona Capitol with support from O'odham and Dine' on Tuesday.

The Navajo Nation's transitional energy company agreed to destroy the Sacred Spring of Hualapai and lead the project to dig into the earth for lithium, in another fake green act.

Morton County Sheriff's Letter to President-Elect Trump Accused Water Protectors of Bogus Crimes


Militarized police raid and clear water protector camps at Standing Rock. Photo by Rob Wilson, used with permission at Censored News.


An officer can be seen needlessly tearing open the side of this structure in the Oceti Sakowin Camp as camps were raided and cleared. Photo by Rob Wilson, used with permission at Censored News.

Morton County Sheriff's Letter to President-Elect Trump Accused Water Protectors of Bogus Crimes 

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, March 24, 2024

BISMARCK, North Dakota -- The Morton County Sheriff's Department sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump which accused Standing Rock water protectors of crimes that there was no evidence of -- crimes water protectors were never charged with. The letter urges Trump to stop the protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

After taking office, President Trump signed an executive order to expedite approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline on Jan. 24, 2017. The Oceti Sakowin Camp of Standing Rock water protectors camps was cleared by law enforcement on Feb. 23, 2017.

In the letter to President-elect Trump after the election, Morton County accused water protectors of crimes that there was no evidence of, and crimes that no water protectors were charged with. The letter is revealed in Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier's second deposition, in the current federal case, North Dakota v. USA.

March 23, 2024

The Kirchmeier File at Standing Rock --'The Perfect Storm' was the Perfect Human Rights Disaster


Police attack water protectors clear north camp on Oct. 27, 2016. Screenshot by Censored News

Police attack Standing Rock water protectors with tear gas and batons, Oct. 27, 2016. Screenshot by Censored News, video by Unicorn Riot media.

Inside the Machine: Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier reveals the machinery behind the law enforcement buildup, ensuring the pipeline success at Standing Rock

'The Perfect Storm' was the perfect human rights disaster

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, March 23, 2024

In the typical "good ole boy" style, Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier claims he was honoring water protectors rights to free speech, and just trying to keep the peace, in his deposition in the current case, North Dakota v. United States of America.

Kirchmeier, however, also reveals that only a couple of his sheriff's deputies were trained in the use of less-than lethal weapons. He also reveals that among the first people that he called on for backup was Paul Laney, president of the North Dakota's National Sheriffs Association.

Kirchmeier also says they don't deal in Treaties at the Sheriffs Department.
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March 22, 2024

Federal Audit Questions $80 Million in Navajo Nation's Virus Relief Expenditures


Bitahnii Wilson, Dine', raised his own funds and distributed water and food as the coronavirus began to spread. Bitahnii  said, "Being and doing the Work for the Great Spirit is a physical prayer in action because we all have His-or Her Divine Presence within every individual and everyone we assist and help upon mother earth and under universal father sky, every day that we wake up we're given free will to do as we choose to spread the labor of love, and praise to the Great Spirit, Creator, Almighty, God. For me, this is the only way to live and be in Hozho!"

Federal Audit Questions $80 Million in Navajo Nation's Virus Relief Expenditures

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, March 22, 2024

A federal audit review questions $80 million in expenditures of CARES Act Funds by the Navajo Nation government, according to a letter from the U.S. Inspector General in May. The audit review questions hardship claims, whether enterprises are separate from the tribe, monthly fuel charges, and the fraudulent cashing of duplicate checks.

An independent review for the U.S. Inspector General's Office states that documents are needed to verify whether tribal entities are separate legal and tax entities, and documentation is needed to show payroll, vendor receipts and hardship payments.

Secretive U.S. Marshals Team Wasn't Deployed to Standing Rock -- Was at Wounded Knee


U.S. government sharpshooters take aim at occupiers of Wounded Knee, 1973.

Secretive U.S. Marshals Team Wasn't Deployed to Standing Rock -- Was at Wounded Knee

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, March 21, 2024
Updated 

The U.S. Marshals secretive Special Operations Group, was not deployed to Standing Rock during the resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline, but it headed up the police response at Wounded Knee, firing repeatedly on those who occupied it.

The State of North Dakota pressed the U.S. Marshals Service to reveal why its Special Operations Group was not deployed to Standing Rock. The questioning came during the current federal court case, North Dakota v. United States of America. The state is seeking $38 million from the U.S., accusing federal agencies of failing to clear the camps and failing in their response.


March 21, 2024

Hualapai Run to Arizona Capitol to Protect Sacred Spring from Lithium Mining

 

Hualapai runners arrived at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix on Tuesday, running from Peach Springs to save their sacred spring from lithium mining. Photo by Lorraine Herder.

Hualapai Run to Arizona Capitol to Protect Sacred Spring from Lithium Mining

Listen 'How did Nuclear Weapons Get on Our Rez'


How Did Nuclear Weapons Get on My Reservation?

MINOT, North Dakota -- A member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation digs into a decades-long mystery: how 15 intercontinental ballistic missiles came to be siloed on her ancestral lands.

March 19, 2024

Indigenous Testify on Dakota Access Pipeline Before Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Germaine Tremmel, Standing Rock, Lakota testifying from the Oceti Sakowin camp.
Screenshot Censored News.


Lakota leaders testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in December of 2016.


Indigenous Testify on Dakota Access Pipeline Before Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Censored News is republishing the testimony before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in December 2016, which describes the brutality of law enforcement, and failures of the U.S. government at Standing Rock. The current case in federal court, North Dakota v. U.S., omits the brutality of excessive force by law enforcement, critical injuries, and destruction of the sacred.

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, December 19, 2016

WASHINGTON -- Lakota leaders testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, describing the excessive force and brutality of law enforcement during attacks on water protectors defending the water from construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock in North Dakota. The attacks resulted in critical injuries, the targeting of women, the destruction of cultural sites, and the violation of human rights, and international rights.

"Presently in the United States of America, our people have no civil rights," Cheyenne River Chairman Harold Frazier, Lakota, South Dakota, testified before the commission.

"In 1968, the U.S. passed the Indian Civil Rights Act, it only protects our people from tribal governments."

March 18, 2024

Hualapai Runners Arriving at Arizona Capitol: Protecting Sacred Spring from Lithium Mining

Hualapai runners arrive at the capitol in Phoenix tomorrow, Tuesday, as they protect their sacred springs from lithium mining. Arizona State Capitol, March 19, 2024, 1 to 4 pm.

 

March 17, 2024

FBI Informants Reported Rumors, Third-hand Information, During Standing Rock Resistance, FBI Agent Testifies

Standing Rock Water Protectors 2016, Photo by Rob Wilson


FBI Informants Reported Rumors, Third-hand Information, During Standing Rock Resistance, FBI Agent Testifies


By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, March 17, 2024

BISMARCK, North Dakota -- The FBI informants at Standing Rock often provided third-hand information and rumors, and some were just reporting information from telephone calls, and e-mails, and were not at the camps.

The only FBI weapons investigation was the one resulting from the handgun brought to camp by the FBI's paid informant Heath Harmon, FBI testimony reveals in the current federal case.

"Some of the informants may have never entered the camp, but obtained their information by telephone or e-mail or third-hand," said FBI Special Agent Robert 'Bob' Perry. Perry was in executive management in the FBI's Minneapolis office and responsible for the Dakotas.

March 16, 2024

Standing Rock -- BIA top cop can't dodge questions in court deposition


Standing Rock, Aug. 12, 2016, Photo Jon Eagle, Sr, Censored News

BIA head of law enforcement tried to dodge questions about involvement at Standing Rock, but his e-mails made it impossible. 

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, March 17, 2024

BISMARCK, North Dakota -- The head of BIA law enforcement tried to avoid answering questions about his involvement with the massive police response at Standing Rock, during the resistance to Dakota Access Pipeline -- but his e-mails in a court deposition made it impossible for him to deny it.

Darren Cruzan, BIA director of Justice Services in Washington, was present during briefings with Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier and law enforcement.

March 15, 2024

Standing Rock: FBI had up to 10 informants during the resistance to DAPL




Standing Rock: FBI had up to 10 informants in the camps during the resistance to Dakota Access Pipeline

The FBI's special agent in charge, reveals in his lengthy deposition, his search for the motivation of Standing Rock Water Protectors to make their stand -- and he fails to find the most obvious -- The Protection of the Sacred

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, March 15, 2024

In a new court case, the State of North Dakota claims it didn't have enough resources during the Standing Rock resistance to Dakota Access Pipeline, and wants the U.S. to pay up. The testimony reveals that the FBI had up to 10 informants, not just FBI informant Heath Harmon, in the water protectors camps.

March 13, 2024

SunZia 'Green' Energy Project Threatens Sacred Places of Tohono O'odham and San Carlos Apache




San Pedro River photo Robin Silver

Another so-called 'green energy' project threatens the sacred places of Tohono O'odham and San Carlos Apache

Update: The Tohono O'odham Nation and San Carlos Apache Nations filed for a restraining order against Interior Sec. Deb Haaland, Interior Dept., and BLM, on March 13 in Tucson federal court. Haaland's bulldozers are now tearing through sacred places in the San Pedro Valley for a transmission line for another fake green energy project destroying sacred places.

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, March 12, 2024

TUCSON -- A so-called 'green' energy project plans to plow through Tohono O'odham and San Carlos Apache sacred and historical places in the San Pedro Valley in Arizona. The transmission line of 'renewable energy' from wind farms in central New Mexico would cut through Arizona and continue on to California. The SunZia transmission line is now being fought in federal court.

O'odham Urgent Call to Action: Stop SunZia Bulldozers Threatening O'odham Cultural Area and San Pedro River


SunZia bulldozing San Pedro Valley for transmission line

Update: Tohono O'odham and San Carlos Apache Nations filed for an injunction on Wednesday:

TUCSON -- San Carlos Apache and Tohono O'odham Nations filed for an injunction to halt bulldozers and the SunZia transmission line from destroying a large region of sacred places and history in the San Pedro Valley east of Tucson. 

“Every single one of us has a history to this place. We’ve driven through there, we have connections, we’ve prayed, you know, all that matters. Our human lives matter,” said Vernelda Grant with the San Carlos Apache Tribe.

March 12, 2024

Indigenous Confront U.S. on Uranium Exploitation, at Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Hearing in D.C.




INDIGENOUS LEADERS CONFRONT U.S. GOVERNMENT ON ITS URANIUM EXPLOITATION POLICIES AT INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS HEARING IN D.C.


Diné (Navajo), Ute Mountain Ute, Havasupai, Oglala Lakota, and Northern Arapaho Tribal Members Give Powerful & Moving Testimonies 

on How the NRC, EPA and BIA Violate Indigenous 

Communities’ Human Rights


By New Mexico Environmental Law Center, Censored News, March 12, 2024


ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico —Members of five different Native American tribes provided moving and powerful testimony on the devastating health, environmental and cultural impacts from the uranium industry during a thematic hearing convened by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on Wednesday, February 28, 2024.


The thematic hearing, “Impacts of Uranium Exploitation on the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the United States,” was held at the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C., and included testimony from Edith Hood and Teracita Keyanna, Diné (Navajo) tribal members from the Red Water Pond Road Community Association (New Mexico); Anferny Badback and Yolanda Badback, Ute Mountain Ute tribal members from White Mesa Concerned Community (Utah); Carletta Tilousi of the Havasupai Tribal Government (Arizona); Big Wind Carpenter of the Northern Arapaho Tribe (Wyoming); and Tonia Stands (Oglala Lakota), Buffalo Magpie Organizing (South Dakota). Eric Jantz, Legal Director at the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, also provided testimony as legal counsel.


Mohawk Nation News 'McGill McCord Museum: Stolen Wampum Belts'


 Mohawk Nation News 'McGill McCord Museum: Stolen Wampum Belts"

https://mohawknationnews.com/blog/2024/03/12/mcgill-mcccord-museum-stolen-wampum-belts/

March 11, 2024

Judge Tosses Out One Claim Against Thacker Pass Protectors, Five Claims Remain




Judge Tosses One Claim Against Thacker Pass Protectors
Rejects 'Unjust Enrichment' Claim, But Five Other Claims Proceed in Ongoing Lawsuit Over Spring 2023 Protests

By Protect Thacker Pass, Censored News, March 11, 2024

WINNEMUCCA, Nevada — A judge has dismissed an “unjust enrichment” charge filed against seven people sued for protesting the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada, but allowed five other charges to move forward.

Klee Benally ''Architect of Annihilation: Oppenheimer’s Deadly Legacy of Nuclear Terror'



Architect of Annihilation: Oppenheimer’s Deadly Legacy of Nuclear Terror




As an ode to the toxic Hollywood industry, and white politics of the Oscars, Censored News is republishing Klee Benally's two articles on the movie 'Oppenheimer,' which received 7 Oscars from the bowels of the industry last night. Klee, Dine', passed to the Spirit World in December. -- Censored News

Published 8 months ago, on July 20, 2023

Read our quick and dirty review of the movie here.

By Klee Benally, Indigenous Action/Haul No!
Contributions by Leona Morgan, Diné No Nukes/Haul No!
Translation into French by Christine Prat

Printable posters (PDFs): 11″x17″ color, 11″x17″ black & white
The genocidal colonial terror of nuclear energy and weapons is not entertainment.

To glorify such deadly science and technology as a dramatic character study, is to spit in the face of hundreds of thousands of corpses and survivors scattered throughout the history of the so-called Atomic age.

March 10, 2024

'A quick and dirty review of the movie Oppenheimer' by Indigenous Action




As an ode to the toxic Hollywood industry, and white politics of the Oscars, Censored News is republishing Klee Benally's two articles on the movie 'Oppenheimer,' which received 7 Oscars from the bowels of the industry last night. Klee, Dine', passed to the Spirit World in December. -- Censored News

A quick & dirty review of the movie Oppenheimer

By Indigenous Action
Translation into French by Christine Prat

Published 8 months ago on July 20, 2023

We watched this movie after arguing with social media pro-nuke apologists who accused us of being ill-informed as not having viewed Christopher Nolan’s biopic, so excuse the mess… (and if you haven’t already, read our initial post here for the context).

'The Mountain' A Beautiful Documentary about the Zapatista Epic




The Mountain: a beautiful documentary about the Zapatista epic


Published in La Jornada
March 8, 2024
By Gilberto López y Rivas
En espanol

The documentary The Mountain, directed by Diego Enrique Osorno, documents the maritime journey, from Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico, to the Concello de Balona port, in Galicia, Spain, in the middle of the pandemic, of Squadron 4-2-1 Zapatista of National Liberation (EZLN), four women, two men and one non-binary person, elected in community assemblies for the transcendent task of representing and testifying, in the Europe of the people, that another world is possible.

March 9, 2024

Simon Ortiz: The Power of Words and Sacred Spaces


Simon Ortiz: The Power of Words and Sacred Spaces

Today -- Simon Ortiz at Tucson Festival of Books

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, March 9. 2024

TUCSON, Arizona -- Simon Ortiz, Acoma Pueblo, is among the great poets and storytellers at this year's Tucson Festival of Books. The icons of Southwest poetry and literature join poets and authors from across the nation, today and Sunday.

Through the years here in Tucson, Simon's voice has sounded out the beauty and the struggles, and memories of the sacred spaces. At the Tucson Poetry Festival, celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2007, the theme was home and Simon gave voice to the power of home.

March 8, 2024

International Uranium Film Festival on Navajo Nation 2024: Photos by Born for Bear Media

Norman Patrick Brown, Cleo Otero, Larry Foster, and Bobby Mason, at the International Uranium Film Festival in Window Rock, on the Navajo Nation, on Thursday. Photo by Born for Bear Media.

International Uranium Film Festival on Navajo Nation 2024 Photos by Born for Bear Media, Mason Photography


Day 1, Thursday, of the International Uranium Film Festival in Window Rock on the Navajo Nation, March 7 -- 8, 2024

Photographer Bobby Leonard Mason, actor Joseph Runningfox, his son Chaco and Director/Writer Lech Majewski of the film ‘Valley of the Gods.’ Photo by Born for Bear Media.

International Uranium Film Festival, Window Rock, Navajo Nation, March 7 --8, 2024



"Uranium has only meant death for our people and death for the land," Klee Benally, Dine', in athe video of the multi media project, 'Transmutations: Visualizing Matter | Materializing Vision.' Shown Thursday at the International Uranium Film Festival in Window Rock on the Navajo Nation.
Watch the expanded film, 1 hour and 22 minutes, and a separate video interview with Klee on the project's website https://www.transmutationsproject.com/

Friday, at 4 pm, 'Downwind'
Full schedule





Oregon's Fusion Center Spied on Activists -- Violated Oregon's Law on Surveillance


Rogue Climate

Fusion Centers, where law enforcement agencies share information, have been secretly violating rights and laws. The first Native American Tribe to join a law enforcement Fusion Center was the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona, enabling it to share surveillance with state and federal agencies. The Fusion Center in North Dakota, during the resistance to Dakota Access Pipeline, secretly engaged in surveillance of water protectors. -- Censored News


Civil Liberties Defense Center Crosses Important Hurdle in Case Against Oregon Dept. of Justice

Government Overreach on Activist Surveillance Again


By Civil Liberties Defense Center, Censored News, March 8, 2024

After the events of September 11, 2001, a total of 79 Fusion Centers were created throughout the United States, with the purported goal of helping law enforcement agencies coordinate and share information with each other.

March 6, 2024

Global Mining Convention Protested in Toronto


Global Mining Convention Protested in Toronto

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News
Photos courtesy Mining Injustice Solidarity Network

Mining Injustice Solidarity Network said, "Hundreds out in Toronto to disrupt the gala for PDAC, Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, the world’s biggest mining convention."

"We’re not going to let them give each other awards while we’re witnessing Canadian mining destroy, kill and colonize across Turtle Island and around the world."

March 5, 2024

U.S. Federal Court Grants Expedited Appeal in Biden Gaza Genocide Case



Today, March 5, Israel again opened fire on starving Palestinians going for flour.


On Eve of Israeli Assault on Rafah, Court Grants Expedited Appeal in Biden Gaza Genocide Case

By Center for Constitutional Rights, Censored News
Contact: press@ccrjustice.org

Lower Court Declared Israeli Assault Plausible Case of Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza; Meanwhile Mass Starvation Increases

SAN FRANCISCO February 28, 2024 – Late yesterday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion to expedite the appeal of Palestinians and Palestinian-Americans suing U.S. officials for their failure to prevent – and complicity in – Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

March 2, 2024

Supai, Ute, Dine', Arapaho, and Lakota Testify on Uranium Exploitation before Inter-American Commission on Human Rights





Edith Hood, Dine' from Red Water Pond Road community (Live screenshot by Censored News)


Havasupai, Ute, Dine', Arapaho, and Lakota Testify on Uranium Exploitation before Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News

WASHINGTON -- "There was no respect for the people living on these lands, and certainly no respect for Mother Earth," Edith Hood, Dine' from Red Water Pond Road community, told the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

"The government was aware of the risks and the dangers but failed and neglected to inform our people," testified Hood, who lives down the road from Church Rock, New Mexico, the site of the worst radioactive spill in U.S. history.

Dine', Havasupai, Northern Arapaho, Oglala Lakota and White Mesa Ute testified on uranium exploitation by the United States on Wednesday, during the session, "Impacts of Uranium Exploitation on Indigenous Peoples' Rights."

The BIA, EPA and Nuclear Regulatory Commission praised themselves, and attempted to cover-up the legacy of death from uranium mining, strewn radioactive waste, and deadly uranium mills in Indian country.