MOHAWK NATION NEWS GUEST EDITORIAL
WHY ARE WE BLUE ABOUT 'BLUE WOLF' AND 'BOLD EAGLE'
CANADA VOTES TO REOPEN DEADLY LEAKING NUCLEAR REACTOR IN UNCEDED ALGONQUIN TERRITORY
By Jennifer Tsun
Algonquin Territory Dec. 14, 2007. When something happens at 6 Nations Iroquois territory, there is usually an echo at Sharbot Lake in Algonquin territory [28 miles north of Kingston Ontario ]. What do these two unconnected places have in common? The struggles are both about our land. Since the Cabot Charter of 1496, the common goal of the colonial system has been and continues to be the elimination of the Ongwehonwe/Nishnaabe people. We are seen as mere impediments to the greedy desire to appropriate all our resources. In mid-September, when the Ardoch and Shabot Algonquins and allies were anticipating an invasion, the 6 Nations were attacked by hundreds of police. Nine men and women were beaten and arrested. They face court appearances in January 2008. We can bet they won’t be tried by a jury of their peers. Instead the judge will be appointed by the very same colonial regime that issued the Cabot Charter saying it was okay to “conquer all non-Christian people”. Same old, same old.
Read commentary ...
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2007/12/nuclear-three-stooges-on-algonquin-land.html
December 13, 2007
December 12, 2007
New security guards oppress at Texas border hearing
Border Wall Protest outside Homeland Security IES hearing in Brownsville, Texas, on Dec. 12. Photo Jay Johnson-Castro.By Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Dec. 12, 2007
BROWNSVILLE, Texas --- There's nothing new about Homeland Security's oppression and silencing of the people. There was, however, a new private security firm on the scene for the so-called Environmental Impact Statement hearing in Brownsville.
Who were those private security guards? They would not identify themselves. "We don't have to tell you who we are," was the response from most of the guards when Texas residents asked. Some of the private security guards said they were hired in a package by Homeland Security, while others said they worked for the company hired to produce the EIS. This company is e2M, headquarted in Denver with offices in San Antonio and San Diego. Read more ... http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-security-guards-oppress-at-texas.html
Photo: Protest in Brownsville/Photo by Jay Johnson-Castro
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Dec. 12, 2007
BROWNSVILLE, Texas --- There's nothing new about Homeland Security's oppression and silencing of the people. There was, however, a new private security firm on the scene for the so-called Environmental Impact Statement hearing in Brownsville.
Who were those private security guards? They would not identify themselves. "We don't have to tell you who we are," was the response from most of the guards when Texas residents asked. Some of the private security guards said they were hired in a package by Homeland Security, while others said they worked for the company hired to produce the EIS. This company is e2M, headquarted in Denver with offices in San Antonio and San Diego. Read more ... http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-security-guards-oppress-at-texas.html
Photo: Protest in Brownsville/Photo by Jay Johnson-Castro
Ninth Circuit hears defense of Sacred Peaks
By Klee BenallySave the Peaks Coalition
coalition@savethepeaks.org
http://www.savethepeaks.org/
Photo by Larry Smith/Lumbee Nation/American Indian Airwaves (click on photo to enlarge)
Precedent Setting Legal Battle Brings Tribal Dignitaries, Religious Leaders & National Environmental Groups to Pasadena, CA Federal Court
Hundreds March for Protection of Sacred Sites & Human Rights
PASADENA, CA – On Tuesday December 11, 2007, a coalition of Native American Nations and environmental justice groups worked together to defend their precedent-setting victory for religious freedom and public health. The Federal Appeals Court in Pasadena, California, heard oral arguments concerning religious freedom violations, environmental destruction and human health dangers associated with the use of treated sewage effluent for snowmaking in proposed ski area development on Arizona's San Francisco Peaks.
The case was argued before 11 Judges with arguments focused on Forest Service violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and substantial burden placed upon Native American religious freedom. This case is viewed as precedent-setting in establishing an interpretation for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which was passed in 1993.
“We are hopeful that we get a majority of the judges to understand that this an important religious rights issue,” said Jack Trope of DNA Legal Services, representing the Hualapai Tribe, Navajo medicine practitioner Norris Nez and Hopi spiritual practitioner Bill Preston. “This law was enacted by Congress to protect religious freedoms and should apply to Native Americans who have land-based religions and sacred sites in the same way that it applies to everyone else,” Trope said. Read article ...
Precedent Setting Legal Battle Brings Tribal Dignitaries, Religious Leaders & National Environmental Groups to Pasadena, CA Federal Court
Hundreds March for Protection of Sacred Sites & Human Rights
PASADENA, CA – On Tuesday December 11, 2007, a coalition of Native American Nations and environmental justice groups worked together to defend their precedent-setting victory for religious freedom and public health. The Federal Appeals Court in Pasadena, California, heard oral arguments concerning religious freedom violations, environmental destruction and human health dangers associated with the use of treated sewage effluent for snowmaking in proposed ski area development on Arizona's San Francisco Peaks.
The case was argued before 11 Judges with arguments focused on Forest Service violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and substantial burden placed upon Native American religious freedom. This case is viewed as precedent-setting in establishing an interpretation for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which was passed in 1993.
“We are hopeful that we get a majority of the judges to understand that this an important religious rights issue,” said Jack Trope of DNA Legal Services, representing the Hualapai Tribe, Navajo medicine practitioner Norris Nez and Hopi spiritual practitioner Bill Preston. “This law was enacted by Congress to protect religious freedoms and should apply to Native Americans who have land-based religions and sacred sites in the same way that it applies to everyone else,” Trope said. Read article ...
BBC World News airs Tohono O'odham border wall show
BBC World Service's Outlook radio program: 'Meet some of the world's most fascinating people'The BBC airs a program from the Tohono O'odham border today, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007. The interviews are with Ofelia Rivas and Angie Ramon. Ofelia talks about the new passport laws and how the border wall is slicing through the O'odham ceremonial route and communities. Ofelia tells how construction of the border wall has already resulted in O'odham ancestors being dug up from their final resting place. Angie remembers her son, 18-year-old Bennett Patricio, Jr., run over and killed by the US Border Patrol. The program is reported by Brenda Norrell and recorded by KXCI Tucson's Amanda Shauger.
Listen to "Nation Divided?" on BBC World News online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/outlook.shtml#Wednes
The show airs on BBC World Service's Outlook program: "Meet some of the world's most fascinating people."
Photo at The Gate on Tohono O'odham land/Brenda Norrell
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