Coast Salish Freedom Fighters: From Alberta Tar Sands to the Salish Sea: Live in Seattle Day 2

Coast Salish Freedom Fighters: From Alberta Tar Sands to the Salish Sea, Day 2

Update Dec. 4, 2024: Indigenous Leaders say the community was not notified of Alberta tar sands spill for nine months.

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/12/03/news/contamination-fort-chipewyan-dock-acfn-chief-transport-canada

Alberta tar sands

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Nov. 8, 2024

Watch Day 2 video by Govinda https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giH3RP2S1Fw

Watch 'The Extraordinary Salish Sea' video introduction

SEATTLE -- The dead birds floating in the Alberta tar sands tailing ponds, the man camps linked to missing and murdered Indigenous girls, and the increased oil tankers in the Salish Sea -- are all parts of the dirty oil of the Trans Mountain pipeline pouring out of Alberta's dirty tar sands, bound for oil tankers in the Salish Sea.

"We are not just activists, we are revolutionaries and we're radical and militant and we want to keep it that way, we don't want to get soft in our older years," said Kanahus Manuel, Secwepemc and Ktunaxa, describing her family's struggle to protect their land and stop the Trans Mountain pipeline.

Lakota Matt Remle: When Standing Rock's Burials were Bulldozed, They Went After the Banks

Standing Rock 2016: Defending the Water

Lakota Matt Remle: When Standing Rock's Burials were Bulldozed, They Went After the Banks

"They didn't have a permit -- and they still don't have a permit to be operating, that's why we shifted focus to the financial institutions, and launched a very targeted campaign." -- Matt Remle, Hunkpapa Lakota

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, November 2024
Watch Video by Govinda 

SEATTLE -- Speaking at the Salish Sea Assembly, Matt Remle, Hunkpapa Lakota from Standing Rock, describes how the Dakota Access Pipeline used Standing Rock's map of burial places against them, and brought in attack dogs as the pipeline bulldozed their sacred burial place.

Remle, whose Lakota name is Wakíƞyaƞ Waánataƞ (Charging Thunder,) said it was then that they made the decision to target the banks and financial institutions that funded this pipeline, the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Live from The Salish Sea Assembly in Seattle Day 1

Live From the Salish Sea Assembly in Seattle

Watch Day 1 video by Govinda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp2VHfE_pq8

Watch 'The Extraordinary Salish Sea' video introduction

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Nov. 6, 2024

updated 

SEATTLE -- The Salish Sea Assembly welcomes everyone on Wednesday evening. "There's a fire going outside, and fresh salmon is being cooked," Govinda said as the gathering began.

The Warrior Song began the gathering.

Paul Chiyokten Wagner: Protectors of the Waters, From the Salish Sea to Standing Rock

Paul Chiyokten Wagner

Paul Chiyokten Wagner: Protectors of the Waters, From the Salish Sea to Standing Rock

Protectors of the Waters: Paul Chiyokten Wagner speaks on carrying forward the sacred way of life, from the Salish Sea to Standing Rock

"Our people hold the road map to paradise. Our people have that memory within us."

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Nov. 11, 2024

SEATTLE -- The Protectors of the Salish Sea baked camas on their ancestral island for the first time in one-hundred years, occupied the Washington State Capitol, and  journeyed to Standing Rock to build warm structures for the elders to brace against the blizzards, said Paul Chiyokten Wagner, WSANEĆ (Saanich) sharing the history from the Salish Sea to Standing Rock and beyond.

Coast Salish Water Warriors, The Salish Sea Assembly, Day 3

'State of Emergency for the Salish Sea' 

in Seattle, Day 3

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Nov. 8, 2024

Watch video by Govinda

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct0JKlCZtVc

Watch 'The Extraordinary Salish Sea' video introduction

Water Warrior Patricia Gonzalez, Puyallup, Screen capture Censored News

"All of those waters lead back into one," said Patricia Gonzalez, Puyallup, Water Warriors Council, during the Coast Salish Water Warriors Panel.

"If you ever need healing, just go to the water."

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

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

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

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

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

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

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

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

Water Protectors Awaken Global Movement of Pipeline Resistance and Divestment

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ARKANSAS DIAMOND PIPELINE LOCKDOWN MONDAY

Water protector Tyler Hamilton was arrested Monday. Tyler is being held without bail in the Pope County jail in Russellville, Arkansas. Tyler is being charged with 3 misdemeanors and one felony (criminal mischief in the second degree). The arresting officer stated that this class D felony charge is being pursued by the prosecuting attorney as a direct result of time and money lost by Diamond Pipeline.

Water Protectors Inspire New Resistance Camps, Global Divestment in Dakota Access Pipeline

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

Because of the water protectors who stood on the frontlines and were shot with rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons in freezing weather, who locked down and went to jail and were abused in jail, the movement is now a rallying point for the world.

Divestment in the banks funding the Dakota Access Pipeline is one of the victories of the water protectors who camped at Standing Rock.

An Indigenous Women's Delegation to Norway was announced today, carrying the voices of the water protectors at Standing Rock to Europe, and urging divestment in Dakota Access Pipeline.

The delegates to Norway include Dr. Sarah Jumping Eagle (Oglala Lakota and Mdewakantonwan Dakota living and working on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation); Wasté Win Young (Ihunktowanna/Hunkpapa of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Former Tribal Historic Preservation Officer); Tara Houska (Anishinaabe, tribal attorney, National Campaigns Director of Honor the Earth, former advisor on Native American affairs to Bernie Sanders); Autumn Chacon (Diné/Navajo writer and performance artist); and Michelle Cook (Diné/Navajo, human rights lawyer and founding member of the Water Protector Legal Collective at Standing Rock) - with the support of Delegate organizer Osprey Orielle Lake (Executive Director of the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network, WECAN) and Tanyette Colon (documentary filmmaker). Read more at Censored News http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2017/03/indigenous-womens-divestment-delegation.html

Now, throughout the United States new camps are fighting other pipelines and water protectors are rising with the same fortitude, dedication and courage to protect the water, rivers, land and sacred places.
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Photo courtesy Arkansas Rising

On Monday, Tyler Hamilton was arrested as he locked down to halt the Diamond pipeline in Arkansas. Water protectors on the border of Texas and Mexico are battling the Trans Pecos pipeline owned by Dakota Access Pipeline, Energy Transfer Partner owner Kelcy Warren.

In Oklahoma, a new camp is rising on Choctaw land. In Iowa, water protectors have created the Little Creek Camp. In Florida, water protectors are battling the Sabal Trail pipeline. New water protector camps are rising as the KXL pipeline from the dirty oil tarsands in Alberta, Canada, again threatens the Ogallala Aquifer and heartland.
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Sicangu Lakota youth Destiny Wilcuts locked down to halt Trans Pecos
pipeline on Texas border during January.

The movement is intensifying as farmers, ranchers and small families are now having their lands seized by eminent domain for private pipelines -- as President Trump pushes the agenda of big oil over people and their land rights.

Indigenous Sami Lead Way for Divestment

Sami with Water Protectors at Standing Rock Camp

"In an act of international solidarity between indigenous peoples, the Sami parliament in Norway has persuaded the country’s second largest pension fund to withdraw its money from companies linked to a controversial oil project backed by Donald Trump," The Guardian in London reports.
After lobbying by the Sami parliament, Norway’s local authority pension fund KLP announced it would sell of shares worth $58m in companies building the pipeline.

Seattle, Davis and Santa Monica withdrawing billions from Wells Fargo
Bloomberg reports Wells Fargo and Company shareholders will vote next month on whether to require the bank to adopt policies to help protect indigenous groups after protesters targeted its role in financing the Dakota Access pipeline.

On Feb. 7, Seattle severed its relationship with Wells Fargo, leading the way for other cities.

The Nation reports, "Now, inspired by the Seattle model, campaigners in cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Bellingham, Raleigh, Albuquerque, and even Berlin, are bringing DAPL divestment to their communities."

"As of late February, officials in two other California cities, Davis and Santa Monica, had also pledged to bail on future banking contracts with Wells Fargo. Davis will be withdrawing its $124 million account from the bank; Santa Monica plans to take its $1 billion elsewhere as well."

More:
The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/17/sami-dakota-access-pipeline-norway-pension-fund-divest
Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-15/wells-fargo-s-dakota-access-financing-prompts-a-shareholder-vote
The Nation:
https://www.thenation.com/article/these-cities-are-divesting-from-the-banks-that-support-the-dakota-access-pipeline/

Cities of Seattle and St. Paul support Standing Rock Sioux Nation 'No Dakota Access Pipeline'

The cities of Seattle and Saint Paul join Indian Nations throughout the country and support Standing Rock Sioux battling the Dakota Access Pipeline

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

As support pours in from Indian Nations throughout North America, two cities -- Seattle and Saint Paul, Minn. -- have passed resolutions of support for the Standing Rock Sioux Nation and its mammoth struggle to halt the Dakota Access Pipeline threatening its water source, the Missouri River.

Seattle Mayor Edward Murray said the City of Seattle is located within the treaty territory of several tribes. The city understands "the importance of outside jurisdictions respecting tribal cultural and natural resources."

Mayor Murray describes how the City of Seattle stood with its neighbors to the north, the Lummi, and came together with Indian Nations and others, to halt the Cherry Point coal port. Finally, the U.S. Corps of Engineers rejected the plan.

Pointing out the unfortunate and inaccurate name of the Dakota Access Pipeline, Mayor Murray hopes the same rejection will occu for the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, and its sacred places and water will be protected for future generations.

In its resolution, the City Council of Saint Paul recognizes the struggle and appreciates the efforts of Chairman Dave Archambault and the response of the world. Further, the Saint Paul Council states there are many residents in Saint Paul from the Sioux Nations. Saint Paul shares its own efforts to honor sacred places within the city.

The resolutions from Seattle and Saint Paul follow.

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Robert Free's dramatic moments with Nelson Mandela

Robert Free's tepee Occupation of Alcatraz 

Freedom Fighters

Robert Free, who was at the Occupation of Alcatraz and the Stronghold of Wounded Knee 1973, shares his dramatic time with Nelson Mandela

By Robert Free

Censored News

At a breakfast with Nelson Mandela in the 90s at Seattle University, with 600 community activists, I held up a sign to 'Free Peltier' as Mandela talked. While attacked and packed off immediately by state department security, I turned and yelled to Mandela, "Madiba! Help me!"

Heading off to jail, the organizers came running to the cops and said Nelson Mandela would not continue speaking until I was returned and allowed to hold my banner to 'Free Peltier.' When I was returned he looked to me and the crowd and said, "There is the gentleman with the banner! I am not afraid of freedom fighters. I am one myself!" and with that he left the stage. 

I had remembered his tribal elder name was Madiba -- a great honor -- to have him call me a freedom fighter. Mandela showed the world how to move with love in his heart and not hate!

Nelson Mandela and Graca Machel at 
Seattle University,
December 1999

I had planned it all and asked the organizers Teledisky, Gates Foundation, Russell investments what Tribal protocol were in place to receive him. This was after I heard that he was coming to Seattle and said that "he would respect the tribes land he was entering. Mandela as a tribal person would follow tribal protocols."

I knew they would not have an idea, so I was asked to put them together: Had a Talking stick carved by Chief Charles Elliott and offered to Mandela by Chief Cecile Hansen's grandson, Duwamish and Alaskan dancers welcome him on arrival. That gave me an invitation and access to his events. Also had the organizers pay for it all, and had Free Peltier carved on the talking stick.

Mandela would not leave to other events. He stated at the arrival at the airport, "I can not leave until I had shaken the hand of every dancer and welcoming natives!"

So he came by and shook the hand of each of us and especially the children and in slow Indian time smiled and spoke and hugged the people saying repeatably, from him and his wife Graca Machel, "Thank you so much! you have made us so very happy!"

Thank you Robert Free for sharing your story with Censored News!

Read more:
Nelson Mandela, said during his visit to Oakland in 1990, "All these letters which I have received described of the conditions of the American Indians here, and I can assure you that they have left me very disturbed." Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_23553867/mandelas-1990-speech-oakland-we-cannot-turn-back?source=pkg

CIA helped jail Mandela
http://www.globalresearch.ca/crocodile-tears-it-was-the-cia-that-helped-jail-nelson-mandela/5360582