Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights
Showing posts with label federal court. Show all posts
Showing posts with label federal court. Show all posts

August 14, 2026

U.S. Manufactured Crimes and Spied on Peaceful Protesters During Minneapolis Metro Surge, New Court Filing Reveals


Tipis stand at Mni Owe Sni (Coldwater Spring), a sacred site for the Dakota and other tribes, across from the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building on Tuesday in Minneapolis.Kerem Yücel | MPR News, Feb. 11, 2026.

U.S. Manufactured Crimes and Spied on Peaceful Protesters During Minneapolis Metro Surge, New Court Filing Reveals

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, August 14, 2026

MINNEAPOLIS -- While Dakotas were praying at a sacred spring for those held in federal detention at the Whipple building in Minneapolis -- the U.S. government was spying on, and stalking, the Whipple watchers, a new court document reveals.

The government is now refusing to release all of its documents on its surveillance of those watching the Whipple building. The Whipple building is on the site of a former concentration camp, where Dakota and Ho Chunk were imprisoned, suffered and died.

May 10, 2025

Federal court halts destruction of Oak Flat

Photo courtesy Becket Law

BREAKING: Federal court halts destruction of Oak Flat

Judge blocks feds’ rush to transfer Indigenous sacred site to foreign mining giant for destruction

A federal court just temporarily blocked the federal government from giving an Indigenous sacred site, Oak Flat, to a Chinese-owned mining giant for destruction. The ruling comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to hear an Apache group’s appeal to protect the site.

By Becket Law, Censored News, May 9, 2025

WASHINGTON – A federal court today blocked the U.S. government from plowing ahead with plans to hand over the Western Apaches’ most sacred site at Oak Flat to a multinational mining giant for destruction.

In Apache Stronghold v. United States, the federal government recently announced that as early as June 16, 2025, it would transfer Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, a Chinese-owned mining company that plans to turn the site into a massive mining crater, ending Apache religious practices forever.

July 9, 2024

Deb Haaland doesn't care about the yellow-billed cuckoo: Tohono O'odham and San Carlos Apache make appeal in letter

 

Yellow-billed cuckoo. Photo National Geographic

Deb Haaland doesn't care about the yellow-billed cuckoo: Tohono O'odham and San Carlos Apache make appeal in letter

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, July 9, 2024

SAN PEDRO VALLEY, Arizona -- Deb Haaland doesn't care about the yellow-billed cuckoo. She doesn't care about the migratory birds traveling north who enjoy the water and trees here. Haaland doesn't care that the bulldozers for SunZia's transmission line, taking wind energy to California, are destroying an ancient village site of the ancestors of San Xavier O'odham.

The federal court failed to stop her, so Tohono O'odham and San Carlos Apache Nations appealed to Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, in a letter on Monday.

January 26, 2024

Live: Biden Genocide Case in Federal Court Oakland, California


Outside the federal court in Oakland, California the case is underway naming President Biden and cabinet members complicit with genocide. Photo AROC Free Palestine Twitter/X


Photo by San Francisco Chronicle. On the street as federal court was underway.


LIVE COVERAGE: In Federal Court in Oakland, California, U.S. Attorneys and Palestinians said today: Biden is Complicit in Genocide

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Jan. 26, 2024
Video of court hearing now available:

OAKLAND, California -- The final testimony concludes now in today's hearing of President Biden's complicity with genocide. The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of Palestinians in U.S. federal court in Oakland, California.

The Center for Constitutional Rights said Biden has failed to uphold the Genocide Convention. "Not only has the U.S. failed to prevent, but has actively advanced the gravest of crimes."

Biden and cabinet members sought today to halt the case from moving forward in U.S. federal court. However, Senior District Judge Jeffrey S. White consistently overruled Biden's attorney and allowed the testimony today.

Dr. Barry Trachtenberg, Wake Forest University’s presidential chair of Jewish history in North Carolina, and a scholar on the Holocaust and genocide, testified for the plaintiffs as an expert scholar.

June 5, 2019

Humanitarian Aid is Not a Crime: Doctors and nurses support Scott Warren, as the UN and Amnesty International voice global support







Humanitarian Aid is Not a Crime: Doctors and Nurses Support Scott Warren, as the UN and Amnesty International Echo Support and Urge Charges be Dropped

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

TUCSON -- Doctors and nurses supported Scott Warren outside the courtroom on Tuesday, as the United Nations and Amnesty International voiced support for the humanitarian work and dropping the charges.
"Humanitarian aid is not a crime," was resounded in and outside the courtroom, and in voices around the world.

September 7, 2016

Federal Judge Refuses to Protect Burial Places -- TRO granted in part Sept. 6, 2016


Two persons locked down to DAPL machinery today and stopped construction.
Burial places remain in the path of DAPL bulldozers


Standing Rock Chairman David Archambault said, "Today's denial of a temporary restraining order against Dakota Access Pipeline west of Lake Oahe puts my people's sacred places at further risk of ruin and desecration.We are disappointed that the U.S. District Court's decision does not prevent DAPL from destroying our sacred sites as we await a ruling on our original motion to stop construction of the pipeline."

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

CANNON BALL, North Dakota -- Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault said he is disappointed that a federal judge in Washington failed to protect burial places today.
"We're disappointed at the decision," Chairman Archambault said after a federal judge failed to grant a temporary restraining order where burial places and sacred places have been identified.
"We know there are sacred sites."
Chairman Archambault said the federal judge's ruling puts the burial places and sacred places at risk of more destruction by Dakota Access Pipeline.
The court documents reveal that the area bulldozed, and now vulnerable to more destruction, was one of the most significant discoveries in North Dakota in years.
The site holds an "extraordinary concentration of graves, including burials of important chiefs" directly in and adjacent to the pipeline's route.
Red Warrior Camp said, "There was absolutely no victory in the courtroom today. The judge stopped construction on the east side of the Missouri River for 20 miles. "Well, we have never even had any actions on the east side of the Missouri, and all that east of the Missouri construction is mostly done."
"The judge allowed DAPL to continue construction where we are at, destroying sacred sites west of 1806 as of today. That is why water protectors went there to shut down construction. We honor them. It's very simple."
"There are people who want to witness history, not really caring if the pipeline is built. Then there is this whole other movement of people who traveled thousands of miles to actually make history, by stopping this pipeline by any non-violent means necessary."
"Why did we come here? The water called us together. Now, the damage they've done to the sacred sites cannot be undone."
"Stay unarmed and non-violent, but let's stay together and stop this pipeline!" Red Warrior Camp said.
AP reports, "U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said Tuesday that work will temporarily stop between State Highway 1806 and 20 miles east of Lake Oahe, but that work will continue west of the highway because he believes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lacks jurisdiction on private land."
On Saturday, Dakota Access Pipeline bulldozers tore into the earth of a major sacred site where cultural items and burials are located on the west side of Lake Oahe, which Judge Boasberg refused to protect today.
Judge Boasberg, it turns out, is also a judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Native Americans protecting the burial place were attacked by Dakota Access Pipeline security and attack dogs on Saturday. Six people, defending burial places were bitten by vicious dogs, dozens were pepper sprayed, and some were assaulted by DAPL private security and construction workers.
Afterwards, the Morton Co. Sheriff's Office released a statement of false accusations, accusing the protectors of violence. In doing so, the Sheriff's office exposed the corruption in law enforcement in North Dakota, which is protecting the energy industry, and facilitating the destruction of Mother Earth, in violation of the ethics of their offices.
Chairman Archambault said today that the pipeline company provoked the water protectors on Saturday.
Mainstream media, who have refused to be present to cover the news, published and broadcast the lies of the Morton Co. Sheriff's office on Saturday.
Once again, the victims were victimized first by law enforcement and, then by the media which refuses to be present and ascertain the facts.
.

Read more on today's court decision and watch video below:
http://www.keloland.com/news/article/news/the-latest-judge-grants-short-work-stop-on-4-state-pipeline

March 13, 2015

Defending Medicine Lake from Industrial Geothermal Desecration

Indigenous Nations Rallied to Protect Medicine Lake from Industrial Scale Geothermal Desecration
 Indigenous Nations’ appeal in Ninth Circuit Court concerned desecration and contamination of California sacred area and water in midst of record drought


By Morning Star Gali                                    
Censored News
French translation by Christine Prat

SAN FRANCISCO -- March 12, 2015) Today the Pit River Tribe, Native Coalition for Medicine Lake Highlands Defense, Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center, Save Medicine Lake Coalition, Medicine Lake Citizens for Quality Environment, with their attorney Deborah A. Sivas of the Stanford Environmental Law Clinic and supporters, optimistically exited the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today following oral arguments in Pit River Tribe vs. US Bureau of Land Management, Department of Interior, Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, & Calpine Corporation, Defendants-Appellees.

Known to the Pit River people, lead defendants in the case, as “Saht Tit Lah,”, the Medicine Lake Highlands are used for healing, religious ceremonies, and tribal gatherings. Pit River, Wintun, Karuk, Shasta and Modoc Nations hold the Medicine Lake Highlands sacred, and have used the Highlands for spiritual purposes for untold generations.

“Medicine Lake is a sacred place and it needs to be protected at all costs,” said Pit River Tribal Chairman Mickey Gemmill. “We’re trying to preserve our culture and Medicine Lake is part of the beginning of our people. If we allow these corporations to come in and frack, we could lose that chance to bring back that part of our culture. So we’re asking the Calpine Corporation to step back and leave the Medicine Lake Highlands alone.”
Representatives of Native Nations and environmentalist supporters came before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on March 12th in San Francisco, to bring their case that energy leases were renewed illegally by federal agencies in 1998 for industrial development on national forest lands in the Medicine Lake Highlands, a near-pristine area about 30 miles northeast of Mount Shasta that has been designated a Native American Traditional Cultural District. The Native American and environmental plaintiffs assert that industrial energy development would desecrate and pollute the area and pose unacceptable risks to California’s largest fresh water aquifer. Contrary to the National Environmental Policy Act and other laws, the federal agencies never evaluated the threshold question of whether industrial geothermal development is even appropriate for this landscape.
“What was never considered is whether development is even appropriate for the Medicine Lake Highlands in the first place, given the area’s high benefit in holding California’s largest pure underground aquifer," said Michelle Berditschevsky, senior conservation consultant for the Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center (her legal commentary can be found here).   

“Geothermal development in the surrounding national forest would increase traffic, noise, water and air pollution and would fragment wildlife habitat, turning the remote landscape into an industrial wasteland and threatening a reliable source of pure water,” said Janie Painter, executive director of the Medicine Lake Citizens for Quality Environment, consisting of Medicine Lake cabin owners and recreationalists.

“The struggle to protect the sacred Medicine Lake Highlands has been a long one, but over the years, we have only learned more and more about the importance of the landscape to Native Americans and California more generally,” said Deborah Sivas, Director of the Stanford Environmental Law Clinic, which represents the Pit River Tribe and environmental organizations in the lawsuit. “I was happy to see that the court understood our arguments that the Tribe has a deep, abiding connection to the area.”
“It was great to see such a big turnout by tribe members at the hearing. We were gratified to represent the tribe and fight for the future of the Medicine Lake Highlands in the 9th Circuit,” said Jason George, a certified Law student in the Stanford Environmental Law Clinic.

Debra Sivas, Director of the Stanford Environmental Law Clinic, is available to discuss the legal case at (650) 723-0325 ordsivas@stanford.edu: The court arguments may be archived at:  http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/media/https://www.youtube.com/user/9thcirc/videos
*Photos of morning Tribal Ceremony and march available upon request   




COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE : L’AFFAIRE DE MEDICINE LAKE EN APPEL DEVANT LA COUR DU 9ĆØme CIRCUIT, DES NATIONS AUTOCHTONES SE RASSEMBLENT POUR LA PROTECTION DU SITE SACRE
12 mars 2015
Par Medicine Lake,
Morning Star Gali
protectmedicinelake@gmail.com
www.protectmedicinelake.org
Photos Becky White
Egalement publiĆ© sur 
Indigenous Action Media
Et sur Censored News
Traduction Christine Prat

Des Nations Autochtones se rassemblent pour protĆ©ger Medicine Lake d’une profanation gĆ©othermique Ć  l’Ć©chelle industrielle
L’appel des Nations Autochtones devant la Cour du 9ĆØme Circuit porte sur la profanation et la contamination d’une zone sacrĆ©e de Californie et de son eau, en plein record de sĆ©cheresse

SAN FRANCISCO, Californie – 12 mars 2015. Ce jour, la Tribu de Pit River, la Coalition Autochtone pour la DĆ©fense des Hauteurs de Medicine Lake, le Centre d’Ecologie Bio rĆ©gional du Mont Shasta, la Coalition Sauvez Medicine Lake, les Citoyens de Medicine Lake pour la QualitĆ© de l’Environnement, accompagnĆ©s de leur avocate Deborah A. Sivas de la Clinique de Droit de l’Environnement de Stanford, Ć©taient optimistes en sortant de la Cour d’Appels du 9ĆØme Circuit, suite Ć  l’audience des arguments oraux dans l’affaire ‘Tribu de Pit River contre le Bureau d’AmĆ©nagement du Territoire des Etats-Unis, le MinistĆØre de l’IntĆ©rieur, le Service des ForĆŖts, le MinistĆØre de l’Agriculture, et Calpine Corporation’, la partie civile et les parties adverses.
Les Hauteurs de Medicine Lake, connues par les gens de Pit River, principale partie civile, sous le nom de « Saht Tit Lah », sont utilisĆ©es pour des cĆ©rĆ©monies religieuses et de guĆ©rison et pour des rassemblements tribaux. Les Nations de Pit River, Wintun, Karuk, Shasta et Modoc considĆØrent les Hauteurs de Medicine Lake comme sacrĆ©es et les ont utilisĆ©es pour des raisons spirituelles depuis d’innombrables gĆ©nĆ©rations.
« Medicine Lake est un site sacrĆ© et doit ĆŖtre protĆ©gĆ© Ć  tout prix », dit le PrĆ©sident Tribal de Pit River, Mickey Gemmill. « Nous essayons de prĆ©server notre culture et Medicine Lake fait partie des origines de notre peuple. Si nous autorisons ces entreprises Ć  venir fracturer, nous pourrions perdre toute chance de restaurer cette partie de notre culture. Donc nous demandons Ć  Calpine Corporation de se retirer et de laisser les Hauteurs de Medicine Lake tranquilles. »
Des reprĆ©sentants de Nations Autochtones et leurs soutiens Ć©cologistes se sont prĆ©sentĆ©s devant la Cour d’Appel fĆ©dĆ©rale du 9ĆØme Circuit le 12 mars Ć  San Francisco pour dĆ©fendre leur position selon laquelle des baux aux entreprises d’Ć©nergie ont Ć©tĆ© illĆ©galement renouvelĆ©s par des administrations fĆ©dĆ©rales en 1998, pour promouvoir le dĆ©veloppement industriel sur les territoires de forĆŖts nationales sur les Hauteurs de Medicine Lake, une zone quasiment vierge situĆ©e Ć  environs 48 km du Mont Shasta, qui a Ć©tĆ© classĆ© District Culturel Traditionnel AmĆ©rindien. Les plaignants Autochtones et Ć©cologistes affirment que le dĆ©veloppement industriel profanerait et polluerait la rĆ©gion et poserait des risques inacceptables Ć  la plus grande nappe aquifĆØre d’eau potable de Californie. En contradiction avec la Loi sur la Politique Nationale Environnementale et d’autres lois, les administrations fĆ©dĆ©rales n’ont jamais Ć©valuĆ© le point crucial de savoir si le dĆ©veloppement gĆ©othermique industriel Ć©tait appropriĆ© Ć  ce paysage.
« Ce qui n’a jamais Ć©tĆ© pris en compte, c’est si le dĆ©veloppement est tout simplement appropriĆ© pour les Hauteurs de MĆ©dicine Lake, Ć©tant donnĆ© que la rĆ©gion possĆØde la plus grande nappe aquifĆØre d’eau pur de Californie » dit Michelle Berditschevsky, experte-conseil pour la prĆ©servation de l’environnement du Centre d’Ecologie Bio RĆ©gional du Mont Shasta (voir soncommentaire lĆ©gal en anglais).
« Le dĆ©veloppement gĆ©othermique dans la forĆŖt nationale alentours augmenterait la circulation, le bruit, la pollution de l’eau et de l’air, et fragmenterait l’habitat des espĆØces sauvages, transformant ce paysage isolĆ© en friche industrielle et menaƧant une source sĆ»re d’eau potable » dit Janie Painter directrice exĆ©cutive de Citoyens de Medicine Lake pour la QualitĆ© de l’Environnement, association de propriĆ©taires de bungalows Ć  Medicine Lake et d’adeptes des loisirs au grand air.
Devant les marches du tribunal, les plaignants et les avocats ont rencontrĆ© la presse et environs 100 supporters, dont une caravane Intertribale de jeunes du Nouveau-Mexique et d’Arizona qui avaient fait le voyage pour avoir un aperƧu de la procĆ©dure Ć  la Cour d’Appel du 9ĆØme Circuit.
« La lutte pour protĆ©ger les Hauteurs sacrĆ©es de Medicine Lake a Ć©tĆ© longue, mais au fil des annĆ©es nous en avons appris de plus en plus sur l’importance du paysage pour les AmĆ©rindiens et la Californie en gĆ©nĆ©rale » dit Deborah Sivas, Directrice de la Clinique de Droit de l’Environnement, qui reprĆ©sente la Tribu de Pit River et les organisations Ć©cologiques dans l’affaire. « J’ai Ć©tĆ© heureuse de constater que la cour comprenait nos arguments selon lesquels la Tribu a une connexion profonde, durable et respectueuse avec la rĆ©gion. »
« C’Ć©tait magnifique de voir tant de membres de tribus Ć  l’audience. ƇƠ nous honorait de reprĆ©senter la tribu et de nous battre pour l’avenir des Hauteurs de Medicine Lake devant la Cour du 9ĆØme Circuit » dit Jason George, un Ć©tudiant en droit Ć  la Clinique de Droit de l’Environnement de Stanford.

Debra Sivas, Directrice de la Clinique de Droit de l’Environnement de Stanford, est Ć  votre disposition pour discuter des aspects juridiques de l’affaire : (650) 723-0325 ou dsivas@stanford.edu


VidĆ©o de l’audience:

January 22, 2015

VIDEO: Northern Paiute Wesley Dick: Traditional Tule Violations Dismissed

.



Thank you to Northern Paiute Wesley Dick for sharing his story of winning his federal case of traditional tule gathering for ancestral crafts.
On the Longest Walk northern route, the Earthcycles/Censored News Long Talk Radio, interviewed Wesley, descendant of Wovoka's family, at home in 2008.
Now, with Wesley's creation of this new video, he shares this struggle. Wesley said of winning his important federal case, "It is a win for all Indians."

January 8, 2015

Banning of Native American books, Mexican American Studies, goes to federal court

The banning of Mexican American Studies, and Chicano and Native American books, in Tucson schools, exposes Arizona's white privilege government


By Brenda Norrell
Censored News original
English/Dutch

The banning of Chicano and Native American authors, and the Mexican American Studies program, in Tucson Public Schools, proceeds before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday.

The lawsuit is sure to attract more attention since the defendant, former Superintendent John Huppenthal, has recently claimed that a song by Rage Against the Machine is an instrument to overthrow the government.

The United States Court of Appeals 9th Circuit Court will hear oral arguments in the lawsuit on Monday, Jan. 12, 2015, regarding the elimination of Mexican American Studies in Arizona’s Tuscon Unified School District.  The plaintiffs, including Tuscon teachers and students state that the elimination of Mexican American Studies in public schools is discriminatory, unconstitutional and a violation of the First Amendment. 
The banned books include
'Rethinking Columbus,'
essays by some of
the most famous Native
American authors.

Outrage was the response to the news that Tucson schools has banned books, including the book "Rethinking Columbus," with an essay by award-winning Pueblo author Leslie Marmon Silko, who lives in Tucson, and works by Buffy Sainte Marie, Winona LaDuke, Leonard Peltier and Rigoberta Menchu.

Among the authors in 'Rethinking Columbus' is Rosalie Little Thunder, Lakota, who passed to the Spirit World after the book was banned. Little Thunder was a voice for the buffalo at Yellowstone. 

All books and materials of the forbidden Mexican American Studies classes were seized from the classrooms, in an act by school officials that traumatized students.

Acoma Pueblo Professor, Author and Poet Simon Ortiz told Censored News, "I am very stunned and very shocked and very pissed off the Tucson Unified School District would ban Mexican American Studies and books like Rethinking Columbus: The Next Five Hundred Years that includes works by Indigenous (Native) authors Leslie Marmon Silko, N. Scott Momaday, Winona LaDuke, Buffy St. Marie, Joy Harjo, Wendy Rose, Joseph Bruchac, Jimmie Durham, Peter Blue Cloud, Luther Standing Bear, Gail Trembly, Jose Barreiro, Phillip Martin, Suzanne Shown Harjo. 

"The banning explicitly and pointedly shows it is not only Mexican American Studies and people and so-called illegal immigrants that are targeted but Indigenous studies and people as a whole," said Simon J. Ortiz, Regents Professor, at the Arizona State University Department of English, American Indian Studies.

In a statement today, People Power said, "The defendant, TUSD Superintendent, John Huppenthal, has criticized the Mexican American Studies Program as ‘a promotion to overthrow the U.S. government’.  Huppenthal’s most recent attack came on his last day in office as Superintendent, stating that a TUSD Mexican-American history class was in violation of Arizona’s legislature because of their use of the song 'Take the Power Back' by Rage Against the Machine in the classroom.  

"The Arizona ethnic studies ban prohibits curriculum that 'promotes the overthrow of U.S. government or the Constitution, resentment towards any race or class, and/or advocates ethnic solidarity instead of individualism.'  The plaintiffs argue that the legislation is vague and is a violation of their Constitutional and Civil Rights.

"In the years following The Civil Rights Act of 1964, educators began to advocate for the inclusion of the history and accomplishments of ethnic minorities in school curriculum. Up until 1970, much of the U.S. educational curriculum had been essentially Eurocentric, foundationally highlighting European migrants accomplishments. The histories of most American minorities were omitted, and even the earliest Americans- Indigenous Peoples, were absent in many educational history books. 

"The TUSD Mexican American Studies Program successes include, increasing college readiness and raising the graduation rate of Hispanic/Latino students to 94%, combating the national statistic of the high 54% drop-out rate of Hispanic/Latino students.

"Georgina Perez, an El Paso Librotraficante activist and founder of Tu Libro, an organization dedicated to the distribution of free bilingual and banned books to disenfranchised children, will travel San Francisco to speak on a panel at the Ethnic Studies Solidarity summit and teach-in on the Saturday leading up to the oral arguments. Perez, who advocates for the inclusion of Ethnic Studies in Texas, states: “Mexican American–Indigenous Studies is being attacked in Arizona and Texas, and this affects all our children. This is the only scientifically proven program that closes the achievement gap for the Xicano/Latino demographic… the denial of effective education is a denial of our human and civil rights.” The panel discussion, “Contemporary Ethnic Studies” will also include, Tony Diaz, founder ofLibrotraficante, an organization prompted by the Arizona legislation banning Mexican American Studies, Liana Lopez, co-host ofNuestra Palabra Radio, and co-producer Brian Parras.

"On Monday, Mission and Bay Area Aztec Danzantes will conduct a ceremony at sunrise at the courthouse and a press conference is scheduled on the courthouse steps after oral arguments," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States, said of Rethinking Columbus, "The original edition made educational history by introducing a startling new view of Columbus … In the revised edition we get even richer material, a marvelous compendium of history, literature, original sources, commentary … an exciting treasure for teachers, students, and the general public."
       


Previous article by Censored News:

Banned book includes Leslie Marmon Silko, Buffy Sainte Marie and Winona LaDuke

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/01/banning-of-books-signals-revolution-in.html
Translation in French:

UPDATE Jan. 18, 2012:
'Custer Huppenthal's Last Big Lie about Seized Books, by Censored News:

TUCSON -- Outrage was the response on Saturday to the news that Tucson schools has banned books, including "Rethinking Columbus," with an essay by award-winning Pueblo author Leslie Marmon Silko, who lives in Tucson, and works by Buffy Sainte Marie, Winona LaDuke, Leonard Peltier and Rigoberta Menchu.

All books and materials of the now forbidden Mexican American Studies classes were seized from the classrooms. This follows the 4 to 1 vote on Tuesday by the Tucson Unified School District board to succumb to the State of Arizona, and forbid Mexican American Studies, rather than fight the state decision.

Students said the books were seized from the classrooms and out of their hands after the vote banning Mexican American Studies, including a book of photos of Mexico. Crying, students said it was like Nazi Germany and they have been unable to sleep since it happened.

The banned book, "Rethinking Columbus," includes work by many Native Americans, as Debbie Reese of Nambe Pueblo reports. The book includes:

Suzan Shown Harjo's "We Have No Reason to Celebrate"
Buffy Sainte-Marie's "My Country, 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying"
Joseph Bruchac's "A Friend of the Indians"
Cornel Pewewardy's "A Barbie-Doll Pocahontas"
N. Scott Momaday's "The Delight Song of Tsoai-Talee"
Michael Dorris's "Why I'm Not Thankful for Thanksgiving"
Leslie Marmon's "Ceremony"
Wendy Rose's "Three Thousand Dollar Death Song"
Winona LaDuke's "To the Women of the World: Our Future, Our Responsibility"

All books in the Mexican American Studies classrooms were seized. The reading list includes two books by Native American author Sherman Alexie and a book of poetry by O'odham poet Ofelia Zepeda.

Jeff Biggers writes in Salon:

The list of removed books includes the 20-year-old textbook “Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years,” which features an essay by Tucson author Leslie Silko. Recipient of a Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas Lifetime Achievement Award and a MacArthur Foundation genius grant, Silko has been an outspoken supporter of the ethnic studies program.

Biggers said Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest," was also banned during the meeting this week. Administrators told Mexican-American studies teachers to stay away from any class units where “race, ethnicity and oppression are central themes."

Other banned books include “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” by famed Brazilian educator Paolo Freire and “Occupied America: A History of Chicanos” by Rodolfo AcuƱa, two books often singled out by Arizona state superintendent of public instruction John Huppenthal, who campaigned in 2010 on the promise to “stop la raza.” Huppenthal, who once lectured state educators that he based his own school principles for children on corporate management schemes of the Fortune 500, compared Mexican-American studies to Hitler Jugend indoctrination last fall.

Bill Bigelow, co-author of Rethinking Columbus, writes:

Imagine our surprise.
Rethinking Schools learned today that for the first time in its more-than-20-year history, our book Rethinking Columbus was banned by a school district: Tucson, Arizona ...

As I mentioned to Biggers when we spoke, the last time a book of mine was outlawed was during the state of emergency in apartheid South Africa in 1986, when the regime there banned the curriculum I’d written, Strangers in Their Own Country, likely because it included excerpts from a speech by then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela. Confronting massive opposition at home and abroad, the white minority government feared for its life in 1986. It’s worth asking what the school authorities in Arizona fear today.


Roberto Rodriguez, professor at University of Arizona, is also among the nation's top Chicano and Latino authors on the Mexican American Studies reading list. Rodriguez' column about this week's school board decision, posted at Censored News, is titled: "Tucson school officials caught on tape 'urinating' on Mexican students." http://drcintli.blogspot.com/

Rodriguez responded to Censored News on Sunday about the banning of his books at Tucson schools.

"The attacks in Arizona are mind-boggling. To ban the teaching of a discipline is draconian in and of itself. However, there is also now a banned books list that accompanies the ban. I believe 2 of my books are on the list, which includes: Justice: A Question of Race and The X in La Raza. Two others may also be on the list," Rodriguez said.

"That in itself is jarring, but we need to remember the proper context. This is not simply a book-banning; according to Tom Horne, the former state schools' superintendent who designed HB 2281, this is part of a civilizational war. He determined that Mexican American Studies is not based on Greco-Roman knowledge and thus, lies outside of Western Civilization.

"In a sense, he is correct. The philosophical foundation for MAS is a maiz-based philosophy that is both, thousands of years old  and Indigenous to this continent. What has just happened is akin to an Auto de Fe -- akin to the 1562 book-burning of Maya books in 1562 at Mani, Yucatan. At TUSD, the list of banned books will total perhaps 50 books, including artwork and posters.

"For us here in Tucson, this is not over. If anything, the banning of books will let the world know precisely what kind of mindset is operating here; in that previous era, this would be referred to as a reduccion (cultural genocide) of all things Indigenous. In this era, it can too also be see as a reduccion."

The reading list includes world acclaimed Chicano and Latino authors, along with Native American authors. The list includes books by Corky Gonzales, along with Sandra Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street;” Jimmy Santiago Baca’s “Black Mesa Poems,“ and L.A. Urreas’ “The Devil’s Highway.“ The authors include Henry David Thoreau and the popular book “Like Water for Chocolate.”

On the reading list are Native American author Sherman Alexie's books, “Ten Little Indians,“ and “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven.“ O’odham poet and professor Ofelia Zepeda’s “Ocean Power, Poems from the Desert” is also on the list.

DA Morales writes in Three Sonorans, at Tucson Citizen, about the role of state schools chief John Huppenthal. "Big Brother Huppenthal has taken his TEA Party vows to take back Arizona… take it back a few centuries with official book bans that include Shakespeare!"

BANNED MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDIES READING LIST
Curriculum Audit of the Mexican American Studies Department, Tucson Unified School District, May 2, 2011.
High School Course Texts and Reading Lists Table 20: American Government/Social Justice Education Project 1, 2 - Texts and Reading Lists

Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (1998), by B. Bigelow and B. Peterson

The Latino Condition: A Critical Reader (1998), by R. Delgado and J. Stefancic

Critical Race Theory: An Introduction (2001), by R. Delgado and J. Stefancic

Pedagogy of the Oppressed (2000), by P. Freire

United States Government: Democracy in Action (2007), by R. C. Remy

Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History (2006), by F. A. Rosales

Declarations of Independence: Cross-Examining American Ideology (1990), by H. Zinn

Table 21: American History/Mexican American Perspectives, 1, 2 - Texts and Reading Lists

Occupied America: A History of Chicanos (2004), by R. Acuna

The Anaya Reader (1995), by R. Anaya

The American Vision (2008), by J. Appleby et el.

Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years (1998), by B. Bigelow and B. Peterson

Drink Cultura: Chicanismo (1992), by J. A. Burciaga

Message to Aztlan: Selected Writings (1997), by C. Jiminez

De Colores Means All of Us: Latina Views Multi-Colored Century (1998), by E. S. Martinez

500 Anos Del Pueblo Chicano/500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures (1990), by E. S. Martinez

Codex Tamuanchan: On Becoming Human (1998), by R. Rodriguez

The X in La Raza II (1996), by R. Rodriguez

Dictionary of Latino Civil Rights History (2006), by F. A. Rosales

A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present (2003), by H. Zinn

Course: English/Latino Literature 7, 8

Ten Little Indians (2004), by S. Alexie

The Fire Next Time (1990), by J. Baldwin

Loverboys (2008), by A. Castillo

Women Hollering Creek (1992), by S. Cisneros

Mexican WhiteBoy (2008), by M. de la Pena

Drown (1997), by J. Diaz

Woodcuts of Women (2000), by D. Gilb

At the Afro-Asian Conference in Algeria (1965), by E. Guevara

Color Lines: "Does Anti-War Have to Be Anti-Racist Too?" (2003), by E. Martinez

Culture Clash: Life, Death and Revolutionary Comedy (1998), by R. Montoya et al.

Let Their Spirits Dance (2003) by S. Pope Duarte

Two Badges: The Lives of Mona Ruiz (1997), by M. Ruiz

The Tempest (1994), by W. Shakespeare

A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America (1993), by R. Takaki

The Devil's Highway (2004), by L. A. Urrea

Puro Teatro: A Latino Anthology (1999), by A. Sandoval-Sanchez & N. Saporta Sternbach

Twelve Impossible Things before Breakfast: Stories (1997), by J. Yolen

Voices of a People's History of the United States (2004), by H. Zinn

Course: English/Latino Literature 5, 6

Live from Death Row (1996), by J. Abu-Jamal

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven (1994), by S. Alexie

Zorro (2005), by I. Allende

Borderlands La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1999), by G. Anzaldua

A Place to Stand (2002), by J. S. Baca

C-Train and Thirteen Mexicans (2002), by J. S. Baca

Healing Earthquakes: Poems (2001), by J. S. Baca

Immigrants in Our Own Land and Selected Early Poems (1990), by J. S. Baca

Black Mesa Poems (1989), by J. S. Baca

Martin & Mediations on the South Valley (1987), by J. S. Baca

The Manufactured Crisis: Myths, Fraud, and the Attack on America's Public Schools (19950, by D. C. Berliner and B. J. Biddle

Drink Cultura: Chicanismo (1992), by J. A Burciaga

Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States (2005), by L. Carlson & O. Hijuielos

Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing up Latino in the United States (1995), by L. Carlson & O. Hijuielos

So Far From God (1993), by A. Castillo

Address to the Commonwealth Club of California (1985), by C. E. Chavez

Women Hollering Creek (1992), by S. Cisneros

House on Mango Street (1991), by S. Cisneros

Drown (1997), by J. Diaz

Suffer Smoke (2001), by E. Diaz Bjorkquist

Zapata's Discipline: Essays (1998), by M. Espada

Like Water for Chocolate (1995), by L. Esquievel

When Living was a Labor Camp (2000), by D. Garcia

La Llorona: Our Lady of Deformities (2000), by R. Garcia

Cantos Al Sexto Sol: An Anthology of Aztlanahuac Writing (2003), by C. Garcia-Camarilo, et al.

The Magic of Blood (1994), by D. Gilb

Message to Aztlan: Selected Writings (2001), by Rudolfo "Corky" Gonzales

Saving Our Schools: The Case for Public Education, Saying No to "No Child Left Behind" (2004) by Goodman, et al.

Feminism if for Everybody (2000), by b hooks

The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child (1999), by F. Jimenez

Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools (1991), by J. Kozol

Zigzagger (2003), by M. Munoz

Infinite Divisions: An Anthology of Chicana Literature (1993), by T. D. Rebolledo & E. S. Rivero

...y no se lo trago la tierra/And the Earth Did Not Devour Him (1995), by T. Rivera

Always Running - La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. (2005), by L. Rodriguez

Justice: A Question of Race (1997), by R. Rodriguez

The X in La Raza II (1996), by R. Rodriguez

Crisis in American Institutions (2006), by S. H. Skolnick & E. Currie

Los Tucsonenses: The Mexican Community in Tucson, 1854-1941 (1986), by T. Sheridan

Curandera (1993), by Carmen Tafolla

Mexican American Literature (1990), by C. M. Tatum

New Chicana/Chicano Writing (1993), by C. M. Tatum

Civil Disobedience (1993), by H. D. Thoreau

By the Lake of Sleeping Children (1996), by L. A. Urrea

Nobody's Son: Notes from an American Life (2002), by L. A. Urrea

Zoot Suit and Other Plays (1992), by L. Valdez

Ocean Power: Poems from the Desert (1995), by O. Zepeda

Dutch translation by Alice Holemans NAIS, thank you from Censored News!



Home » Nieuws » * BOYCOT VAN NATIVE AMERIKAANSE BOEKEN-MEXICAANSE STUDIES, KOMT VOOR FEDERAAL GERECHTSHOF
* BOYCOT VAN NATIVE AMERIKAANSE BOEKEN-MEXICAANSE STUDIES, KOMT VOOR FEDERAAL GERECHTSHOF
Het verbieden van Mexicaans- Amerikaanse Studies, en Chicano en Native American boeken in de scholen in Tucson, toont de blanke superioriteit van de regering van Arizona.
Door Brenda Norrell – Censored News: www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
Vertaald door NAIS: www.denaisgazet.be
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De boycot van Chicano en Native Amerikaanse auteurs, en het Mexican - American Studiesprogramma, in de openbare scholen van Tucson, zal op maandag in de ‘Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ (hoger beroep) worden behandeld.

De rechtszaak zal nu zeker meer aandacht trekken sinds de beschuldigde, voormalig directeur John Huppenthal, onlangs nog publiekelijk verklaard heeft dat een lied van Rage Against the Machine een instrument is om de regering omver te werpen.

Het ‘Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ zal op maandag 12 januari 2015 de argumenten aanhoren die betrekking hebben op de eliminatie van de Mexicaans -Amerikaanse studies in het Unified School District, Tucson, Arizona.

De aanklagers, waaronder Tucson leerkrachten en studenten stellen dat de eliminatie van de Mexicaanse -Amerikaanse studies in openbare scholen, discriminerend, ongrondwettelijk en een schending van het Eerste amendement van de grondwet zijn. (*)

De reactie op het nieuws dat Tucson scholen boeken hadden verbannen, waaronder ook het boek“Rethinking Columbus”, waarin een essay werd opgenomen dat geschreven werd door Pueblo auteur Leslie Marmon Silko, die in Tucson woont, en werken van Buffy Sainte Marie, Winona LaDuke, Leonard Peltier en Rigoberta Menchu.

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Onder de auteurs in ‘Rethinking Columbus’ vinden we ook Rosalie Little Thunder, die na de verbanning overgegaan is naar de geestenwereld. Little Thunder gaf een stem aan de wilde bizons van Yellowstone.

Alle boeken en teksten van de verboden Mexicaans- Amerikaanse studies werden op een brutale manier uit de klassen verwijderd door de schoolambtenaren. Op een manier die traumatiserend was voor de studenten.

Simon Ortiz, Acoma Pueblo, auteur en dichter vertelde Censored News: “ Ik ben met verstomming geslagen, in schok, hoe is ’t mogelijk dat het Unified School District van Tuscon Mexicaanse studie wil bannen en boeken zoals “ Rethinking Columbus’: The Next Five Hunderd Years, waarin werken van inheemse schrijvers zijn opgenomen: Leslie Marmon Silko, N. Scott Momaday, Winona LaDuke, Buffy St. Marie, Joy Harjo, Wendy Rose, Joseph Bruchac, Jimmie Durham, Peter Blue Cloud, Luther Standing Bear, Gail Trembly, Jose Barreiro, Phillip Martin, Suzanne Shown Harjo. 

“ De verbanning toont expliciet en nadrukkelijk dat niet enkel de Mexicaans-Amerikaanse studies en de zogenaamde illegale immigranten het doelwit zijn, maar inheemse studies en het volk in zijn geheel,”aldus Simon J. Ortiz, Regents professor, aan de Arizona State University Department of English-American Studies.

People Power zei vandaag in een verklaring: “ De beklaagde, TUSD directeur John Huppenthal, heeft het Mexicaans- Amerikaans Studie programma bekritiseerd als “een aanzetten tot het omverwerpen van de regering van de Verenigde Staten.”
Huppenthal’s recentste aanval lanceerde hij op zijn laatste dag als directeur, toen hij verklaarde dat de TUSD Mexicaan -Amerikaanse geschiedenis -klas de wetten van Arizona overtreden hebben doordat zij het lied “Take the Power Back” door Rage Against the Machine, in de klas gebruikt hadden.

“ De ban op etnische studies in Arizona verbiedt lesstof die “het omver werpen van de VS regering of de grondwet, wrevel tegenover een ras of klasse, en/of oproept tot etnische solidariteit in plaats van individualisme, bevorderen.”
De eisers zeggen dat de wetgeving vaag is en een schending is van hun grondwettelijke en burgerlijke rechten.

“ In de jaren na de ‘Civil Rigths Act’ in 1964, begonnen opvoeders op te komen voor het invoeren in het school curriculum van geschiedenis en prestaties van etnische minderheden. Tot 1970 bestond het US opvoedkundige curriculum meestal uit Eurocentrische, en het in de verf zetten van de verworvenheden van Europese migranten. De geschiedenis van de meeste Amerikaanse minderheden werd overgeslagen, en zelfs over de vroegste Amerikaanse -inheemse volken was er niets te vinden in de meeste geschiedenisboeken.”

“ Onder de successen van de TUSD Mexicaans -Amerikaanse studies zien we een toenemende bereidheid tot studeren en hogere cijfers van Hispanic/latino studenten, wel tot 94%, dit in strijd met de drop-out cijfers van 54%.

“ Georgina Perez, een Librotraficante activiste uit El Paso en stichter van Tu Libro, een organisatie die zich toelegt op de distributie van gratis tweetalige en verbannen boeken aan gediscrimineerde kinderen, zal naar San Francisco reizen voor een panelgesprek tijdens de Etnische studies solidariteit- top en ‘teach-in’ ter voorbereiding van de argumenten.
Perez die ijvert voor het invoegen van Etnische Studies in Texas zegt: “Mexicaans- Amerikaanse studies worden in Texas en in Arizona onder vuur genomen, en dat heeft een impact op al onze kinderen. Dit is het enige wetenschappelijk bewezen programma dat de demografische kloof voor de Xicano/Latino overbrugt..... het verwerpen van doeltreffende educatie is een verwerping van onze mens- en burgerrechten.”

Aan het panelgesprek, “Hedendaagse Etnische Studies” zullen ook deelnemen: Tony Diaz, stichter van Librotraficante, een organisatie die ontstaan is vanwege de verbanning van Mexicaans- Amerikaanse studies- Liana Lopez, Co-host van Nuestra Palabra Radio en co-producer Brian Parras

In de verklaring lezen we ook dat de ‘Mission and Bay Area Aztec Danzantes’ een ceremonie bij zonsopgang zal uitvoeren voor het gerechtshof waar later op de dag ook een persconferentie gehouden zal worden.
Ondertussen heeft Howard Zinn, auteur van A People’s History of the United States, over ‘Rethinking Colombus’ gezegd: “ De oorspronkelijke editie heeft opvoedkundige geschiedenis gemaakt door een verrassend nieuwe kijk op Columbus... In de hernieuwde editie vinden we nog rijker materiaal, een prachtig handboek van geschiedenis, literatuur, originele bronnen, commentaren... een opwindende schat voor leerkrachten, studenten en het grote publiek.”
Nota van NAIS: Waanzinnig detail: ook The Tempest van William Shakespeare hoort bij de ‘verboden boeken.’

Note from NAIS: Crazy detail: even The Tempest from William Shakespeare is one of the ‘prohibited books’.

(*) Amendement I van de Grondwet van de Verenigde Staten is een onderdeel van de Bill of Rights, die in15 december 1791 werd toegevoegd aan de constitutie. Het artikel verbiedt het Congres om wetten aan te nemen die een staatsgodsdienst creĆ«ren of ƩƩn godsdienst boven een ander plaatsen, het recht op vrijheid van godsdienst verbieden, de vrijheid van meningsuiting of de persvrijheid belemmeren of de vrijheid van vereniging hinderen.
Het amendement zelf legt deze beperkingen expliciet op aan de wetgevende macht, maar in de loop der jaren hebben verschillende rechtbanken bepaald dat de verboden ook gelden voor de uitvoerende en rechterlijke macht. Het Federale Hooggerechtshof besliste dat het Eerste Amendement onder de bepalingen van het veertiende amendement ook van toepassing is op de door deelstaten genomen beslissingen

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