Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

October 31, 2019

Ancient Warriors aid in defense of the land by Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham

Photo ABC News
"Truck with Trump wall material out of Tucson headed west onto State Highway 86. The same type of dangerous hazardous loads crossing O'odham lands every day. State highway 86 is located in the middle of the Tohono O'odham Nation, federal reservation." -- Ofelia Rivas. Photos above and below by Ofelia Rivas.



Ancient Warriors aid in defense of the land by Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham

By Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham
Censored News

The ancient warriors have aided in defense of the land (this includes all, original people, plants, animals and all sacred elements.)

The natural world has not compromised its original ways of life of powerful peaceful balance and quiet gentle acknowledgment of all.

The continuous genocidal tactics and political alterations of society's protective laws, to destroy and cultivate hate, is the living legacy of these foreign invaders, from the first slaughter of civilization with weapons, diseases, chemicals and technology, we have survived.

The killing of children, women and our relatives the saguaro cactus, we will survive.

Indigenous peoples' destiny to survive is not a written manifesto by man, it is a universal mandate agreed upon by all forces and elements of the universe.

The young people are waiting for direction and leadership to confront the onslaught, yet the survival directives are innate, our knowledge is innate, as John Trudell said it is in our DNA.

The revolution of consciousness starts with an offering, an acknowledgment of all and those ancient warriors will aide.  We are here to conduct our way of life and witness.

Dine' Leoyla Cowboy is National Lawyer Guild's Legal Worker of the Year


Legal Worker Award: Leoyla Cowboy

Leoyla Cowboy is a citizen of the Dine Nation born to the Salt Water Clan (To’dikozhi). Leoyla studied Business Administration and Native American Studies at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She has worked as a grassroots organizer with the Red Nation Coalition in Albuquerque and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Leoyla testified at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights hearing on the criminalization of Indigenous people fighting resource extraction and worked with various groups on dismantling settler colonialism. Currently, she is an organizer for the Water Protector Legal Collective, prison abolitionist, and an active member of the NoDAPL political prisoners support committee.

Watch the video by Carl Williams Leoyla Cowboy dedicates award to Standing Rock prisoners. Accepting the award, Leoyla shares the fight for freedom and justice.
"Our lands are just like our grandmothers, our moms."



Leoyla Cowboy in Jamaica preparing to testify on Standing Rock
political prisoners at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Photo by Brenda Norrell
More at Censored News
Leoyla Cowboy testifies before Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Jamaica in May 2019 by Censored News:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2019/05/water-is-life-political-prisoners.html?fbclid=IwAR1GOa2axsCUN-A4CZWE4e_kfqtgk17rH9-AkrofHm1WoxASqq4uOCz48-U

October 30, 2019

Plaintiffs thank US House for first step Chaco Canyon protection bill



Plaintiffs Thank U.S. House for Passing First-Step Chaco Protection Bill

Industrialized fracking continues to besiege Greater Chaco communities

Contacts: Mario Atencio, Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment, 505-321-9974, mario.atencio@dine-care.org
Kyle Tisdel, Western Environmental Law Center, 575-613-8050, tisdel@westernlaw.org
Rebecca Sobel, WildEarth Guardians, 267-402-0724, rsobel@wildearthguardians.org
Mike Eisenfeld, San Juan Citizens Alliance, 505-360-8994, mike@sanjuancitizens.org
Miya King-Flaherty, Sierra Club, 505-301-0863, miya.king-flaherty@sierraclub.org

SANTA FE, New Mexico — Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act (H.R. 2181), which would withdraw federal minerals from new oil and gas leasing within a 10-mile buffer surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The bill would also provide for the termination of non-producing oil and gas leases within the designated area while acknowledging the Greater Chaco Landscape extends beyond the 10-mile buffer, and recognizes the need for additional health studies on the public health impacts of fracking in the area. Sadly, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continues to approve new fracking in and outside of the proposed protection zone while it works toward updating its outdated resource management plans in defiance of a recent defeat in court centered on the issue.

October 21, 2019

Borderlands: Language and songs as resistance, waiting for the wall to come down



During the Borderlands Panel, Ofelia Rivas shares a painting by Casandra Productions honoring  Jakelin Caal Maquin. Jakelin, 7 years old, died in U.S. Border Patrol custody after being arrested near Lordsburg, New Mexico. Ofelia said Jakelin's death and the separation of migrant children from their parents is a continuation of the U.S. policy of genocide of Indigenous Peoples. Photo by Brenda Norrell.
Language and songs as resistance, waiting for the wall to come down

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

SAN RAFAEL Calif. -- The United States is imprisoning migrant children and separating families. It is building a wall as a symbol of racism and separation and continuing the genocide of Indigenous Peoples in the Americas. The onslaught, however, has not silenced the languages or the songs, it has not killed the spirits.