A Tour of the Desecration: The Longest Walk is Taking Notes
On February 11, the Longest Walk 2008 embarked on a five-month journey from San Francisco to Washington, DC. This second Longest Walk not only marks the 30th anniversary of the first Longest Walk of 1978, which resulted in historic changes for Native America, but more importantly, it is taking note of the desecration of our environment. The goal of this walk is to bring attention to the massive destruction that is going on all around us. Our world is in peril, and the Native American worldviews that have had to fight for their very existence hold some of the answers to these problems.
By Pathfinder
Earth First! Journal
On February 11, the Longest Walk 2008 embarked on a five-month journey from San Francisco to Washington, DC. This second Longest Walk not only marks the 30th anniversary of the first Longest Walk of 1978, which resulted in historic changes for Native America, but more importantly, it is taking note of the desecration of our environment. The goal of this walk is to bring attention to the massive destruction that is going on all around us. Our world is in peril, and the Native American worldviews that have had to fight for their very existence hold some of the answers to these problems.The original Longest Walk was conducted in response to 11 proposed bills in Congress that would have annulled treaties protecting Native American sovereignty and furthered an American history that has continually chipped away at the very existence of indigenous cultures.“In 1978, our communities faced many hardships, such as nonexistent religious rights and the criminalization of our people who fought for cultural survival. This is why the Longest Walk was necessary,” said Jimbo Simmons of the International Indian Treaty Council.Starting out with just 17 people in San Francisco, the original walk ballooned to 30,000 by the time it reached Washington, to stand at the doors of Congress and defeat those 11 bills. In the following month, participants pushed for the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978. As a result of the walk, indigenous people were granted the federal legislative right to freedom of religion—a fundamental right guaranteed to all other Americans under the US Constitution.“As indigenous peoples in the US, our environment and our cultural survival are directly correlated and are still imperiled today. This is why we must walk once again,” added Simmons.The religions of native cultures are directly intertwined with the land. When the land is in danger, the very existence of our culture is in danger. When you consider the problems we are facing in this country due to global warming, resource extraction, nuclear waste dumping, deforestation and water pollution, you start to see what a great danger we are all in—not just spiritually, but mentally and physically. Once again, it is time to take a stand—or in this case, a walk!The Longest Walk 2008 is taking two routes. The northern route will follow the original route across 11 states and 3,600 miles. The southern route will follow another route across 13 states and 4,400 miles. Both routes will visit sacred sites across the US and promote awareness of sacred sites protection and environmental preservation.In past years, Dennis Banks, the southern route coordinator, has done sacred runs from San Francisco to Washington. During that time, he and others began to notice that sage, a plant sacred to many indigenous cultures, was living amid garbage along the roadways. In the spirit of protecting a sacred plant, we have also launched the Clean Up Mother Earth campaign, where Longest Walk participants clean our country’s highways and roads by collecting debris found along the Longest Walk route. In the first 40 days, we have collected more than 1,000 bags of trash.In addition to this, the walkers are paying attention to the world around them as they go, stopping in communities to talk to the people there. After taking note of the problems we all face from the destruction of our environment, the walkers are going to come together in a Cultural Survival Summit in Washington. Then, once again, they will knock on Congress’s door to tell it the story of the Great Walk and all they saw.What Have We Seen So Far?In Berkeley, California, at the very first steps of the walk, we witnessed treesitters trying to protect a grove of oak trees from development by the University of California-Berkeley (UCB). These oak trees were planted in 1923 on top of an Ohlone Indian burial ground, interestingly enough, to memorialize Californians who died in World War I. These activists have been treesitting now for more than 500 days. The group responsible for the sit has more demands than just saving the trees, though. It wants the repatriation of 13,000 native remains held at UCB’s Phoebe Hearst Museum and an end to UCB involvement in nuclear weapons design and research. In addition, it is demanding the preservation of Strawberry Canyon, a green belt where the grove and stadium are located, which also hosts Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories, an Energy-Department-funded research facility dating back to the Manhattan Project and now slated to expand with a nanotech lab dubbed the “Molecular Foundry.”Only one mile into the walk, there is already a lifetime of work to be done. However, we must venture on to Bakersfield, California. As walker Kaelen Holmes puts it, “The agriculture in California is disgusting. Bakersfield’s oil, agriculture and relative elevation make it one of the most sickeningly polluted places I have ever seen.”If you are wondering where spinach and E. coli met, it was in Bakersfield, where it is a regular occurrence to spread sludge removed from toilet water and industrial sewage on the crops because it’s “nitrogen rich.” Of course, this sludge is also rich in pathogens, heavy metals and pharmaceuticals.Further along the south route, the walk stayed with the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, which is dealing with chromium contamination. According to Marc Lifsher of the Los Angeles Times, “From 1951 to 1969, Pacific Gas and Electric dumped at least 108 million gallons of water laced with hexavalent chromium into the ground around Topock. The utility used the chemical compound, a known carcinogen referred to as chromium-6 and made infamous by the 2000 movie Erin Brockovich, to prevent corrosion and retard the growth of mold in a cooling tower at a compressor station that pushes natural gas through its pipelines.”Walking across the California-Arizona border and into the Grand Canyon to visit the Havasupai Tribe, the group was informed of huge piles of uranium tailings that sit just feet from the Colorado River. These tailings have been affecting the health of the Havasupai since the 1950s uranium boom. They are now trying to deal with the fact that the Bush administration is once again attempting to open that area up to uranium mining.We moved out of the Grand Canyon and into Flagstaff, Arizona, where the Save the Peaks Coalition has been holding the US Forest Service (USFS) at bay for the past seven years in the USFS’s plans to use treated sewage effluent to make fake snow at Arizona Snowbowl, a ski resort on the San Francisco Peaks. This area is completely surrounded by land with a wilderness designation. These same peaks are considered sacred by more than 17 Arizona tribes, and this treated sewer water would literally destroy the power of the medicines gathered on the mountain by those tribes. According to the Hopi, it is also home to the deities known as Kachinas.From Flagstaff, we head to Black Mesa, on the Diné Nations, where the federal government has allowed Peabody Coal to build stripmines and use pristine aquifer water to slurry the coal more than 200 miles to a power generating station. This use of water has led to aquifer depletion and local springs drying up. This coal mining has also polluted local water supplies to the point where animals have been seen to drink from the springs and die overnight.Meanwhile, up in Colorado, the north route has been paying attention, too. Colorado Governor Bill Ritter issued a proclamation that March was Longest Walk Month in Colorado. After Ritter’s proclamation was read on the steps of the Colorado State Capitol, Longest Walkers proceeded in a prayer vigil to Newmont Mining Corporation. They did not back down when Newmont’s security forces called the Denver police. They continued with a drum song and prayer vigil when faced with arrest. Simmons then read to a representative of Newmont the demands of the Western Shoshone: that Newmont and other mining companies halt the destruction. Newmont’s representative declined to comment.We still have a few thousand miles to go. Already, we have witnessed the destruction of the environment in mind-boggling quantities. It looks as though we will be issuing a very large book to Congress when we get to Washington.If you are interested in coming on the walk, helping out in your town or just want more information, visit www.longestwalk.org. For a live broadcast from the northern route, visit www.earthcycles.net. For more information about the northern route, visit www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com.Pathfinder is sitting at his computer wishing he was able to walk, too! But somebody needs to update the website and make sure that Oklahoma is ready for 100 or more walkers. See you in DC!Links to Threatened Sacred Sites•Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska: www.arcticrefugeaction.org•Bear Butte, South Dakota: www.defendblackhills.org•Black Mesa, Arizona: www.blackmesais.org, www.blackmesawatercoalition.org•Cave Rock, Nevada: www.petitiononline.com/caverock•Haskell-Baker Wetlands, Kansas: www.savethewetlands.org•Mauna Kea, Hawaii: www.kahea.org/maunakea•Medicine Lake, California: www.mountshastaecology.org•Mt. Graham, Arizona: www.mountgraham.org•Mt. Shasta, California: www.protectourwaters.org•Mt. Tenabo, Nevada: www.wsdp.org•Petroglyph National Monument, New Mexico: www.sagecouncil.org•San Francisco Peaks, Arizona: www.savethepeaks.org•Shellmounds, California: www.vallejointertribalcouncil.org•Woodruff Butte, Arizona: www.sacredland.org•Yucca Mountain, Nevada: www.wsdp.orghttp://www.earthfirstjournal.org/article.php?id=367
What's Related
www.longestwalk.org
www.earthcycles.net
www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
www.arcticrefugeaction.org
www.defendblackhills.org
www.blackmesais.org
www.blackmesawatercoali...
www.petitiononline.com/...
www.savethewetlands.org
www.kahea.org/maunakea
www.mountshastaecology.org
www.mountgraham.org
www.protectourwaters.org
www.wsdp.org
www.sagecouncil.org
www.savethepeaks.org
www.vallejointertribalc...
www.sacredland.org
www.wsdp.org
http://www.earthfirstjo...
More by Admin
More from Indigenous
May 15, 2008
Long Walk across St. Louis
Aislyn Colgan 831 295-2555acolgan2002@yahoo.com
http://www.longestwalk.org/
A Native American Spiritual Cross Country Walk For Cultural Survival Marches Across St. Louis
Walkers Hold Prayer Vigil at Gateway Arch and Pay Respect to American Indian Ancestors at Cahokia Mounds
By Aislyn Colgan
ST. LOUIS, IL- Fifty representatives of American Indian tribes from across the country, all members of The Longest Walk 2, walked through St. Louis today on their way from San Francisco to Washington D.C. carrying the message "All life is Sacred, protect Mother Earth." The Longest Walk 2 is a grassroots effort on a national level to bring attention to the environmental disharmony on Mother Earth and the effects of environmental destruction on Native American people; as well as to raise awareness about the need for the protection of sacred sites a
s a means for cultural survival.The walkers started Tuesday, May 13th at West County Mall and walked 15 miles through downtown St. Louis to the Gateway Arch. Walkers held a vigil there expressing a prayer for healing for American Indians and the devastation that followed the westward expansion the arch represents. They then began walking Wednesday from Cahokia Mounds and traveled 35 miles along hwy 40, on their way to Vandalia Lake in Vandalia.The walkers held a ceremony and pow wow this weekend at Cahokia Mounds honoring the Native Ancestors buried there. "We gave thanks to our ancestors that passed on and to ask for their guidance, especially to the younger generation, as we walk on this sacred journey," said Cordell Tulley (Dine, Blue Gap, AZ), a member of the Longest Walk 2.
They will arrive in Washington, D.C. on July 11, 2008, where walkers will bring their concerns to the Federal Government as well as hold a 3 day Cultural Survival Summit to bring attention to the issues of Indigenous People's rights, environmental injustice, protection of sacred sites, cultural survival, youth empowerment, and eroding Native American rights the Longest Walk 2 has encountered along the route.
The 2008 Longest Walk marks the 30th anniversary of the original Longest Walk of 1978 that resulted in historic changes for Native America. In July of 1978, thousands of American Indians, in an affirmation of Tribal Sovereignty, walked from Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay to Washington D.C. They converged on the Nations' capitol to oppose and successfully defeat 11 pieces of legislation in Congress that would have terminated many significant treaties between the federal government and tribes nation wide. Largely due to the impact of the walk and the hard work of many Native American activists, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) of 1978 was passed one month after the walk arrived in D.C. AIRFA states that it is 'the policy of the United States to protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise the traditional religions of the American Indian."
Photos: Gateway Arch St. Louis/Brenda Norrell
Mohawk Nation News: Algonquins land sales fraud
OTTAWA & ONTARIO SETTING UP “NO ’GONQUINS” LAND SALES FRAUD
Mohawk Nation News
April 28, 2008. These colonists are floating over us trying to land, like a ship from outer space. They hover trying to gobble us out of existence. This is about a vast tract of Haudenosaunee land in eastern Ontario. How do we know there were any Indigenous people here? Archaeologists have found evidence of longhouses and burial mounds. Guess what? “No’gonquins” [Algonquins] did not build longhouses or burial mounds. The evidence shows that the pre-historic people who lived here were Iroquois, just like the people who live here today. That’s why Ottawa and Ontario are trying to take control of the burial sites so that no one can see the evidence that proves they’re Haudenosaunee/Iroquois.
Ron “Boner” Williamson, the archaeologist hired by Ontario [Archaeological Services Inc.] states that “All “Archaic peoples are forerunners of the Algonquin people”. Is this a joke! Is he saying that all pre-historic people eventually turn into Algonquins? The colonial governments, corporate investors, mining companies, developers, bankers, military, academics, archaeologists, historians, churches and fake “Indian” communities want our resources. So they’ve set up a huge “twisted history” scam. All the history and maps of the area have been altered. Whole communities of fake Algonquins have been created. Some of the prominent “No’gonquins” are: Doreen Davis, Robert Lovelace, Harold Perry, Paula Sherman and Randy Cota. [List of phony communities available].
Ron “We-have-a-bone-to-pick-with-him” Williamson says that the Algonquins, “occupied the whole area of Ontario”. This lie fades against the facts. The “Archaic People” were divided into two groups, the “Shield Archaic” who are the forerunners of the true Algonquin people and the “Laurentian Archaic” who are the forerunners of the Iroquois. They know that the Haudenosaunee would never give up anything to anybody. We’ve been designated by the natural world to take care of this part of Mother Earth. To push the fake history Mother Joan Holmes has been brought on board. She creates Algonquins and “Metis” from non-native European stock with the stroke of a quill.
Chris “From-the-Germanic-Tribe” Nahrgang has become chief of the newly formed “Kawathra Anishnawbek First Nation, “wannabes” who have become “Sons-of-bees”. They were hatched by Joan “Queen Bee” Holmes. She is the Indian Affairs hired paper “Indian” maker. She imagines herself to be a historian and genealogist. She is neither. She concocts false versions of our history by twisting the interpretations of church records and not by scientific scrutiny.
Joan Ho’lmes is the “registrar” and “membership clerk” who helps band elections go the Indian Affairs way. In the 2005 Kanehsatake Mohawk election she put hundreds of non-native people on the rolls so the results could be in favor of the Indian Affairs nominees. Holmes has a list of signed-up 2,500 wannabe “Algonquins” who are purportedly the same ones listed for each of the 9 newly-created virtual Algonquin communities. Overlap!
The “Shield Archaic” inhabited the Canadian Shield, which is mostly rock with very little topsoil. They were mainly hunters, fishers and gatherers. The climate and rocks did not allow them to bury their dead. They cremated them and left no trace. The true Algonquins are north of the Ottawa River. They support our struggle to bring out the truth. These Algonquins were part of the 1701 Great Peace of Montreal. Ron Williamson with Ministry of Natural Resources maps greatly reduced their land base. This map fantasizes No’gonquin territory as being south of the Ottawa, which, as we all know, is Haudenosaunee territory. The Hurons, who are Iroquois, gave the Confederacy the rights over their land. But they never left. There are quite a few at Six Nations who have married into the Cayuga Nation.
The “Laurentian Archaic” are the “Allegans” who are the ancestors of the Iroquois. They are much older than the Shield Archaic. They live south of the Canadian Shield. The climate and topography allowed us to develop agriculture. Corn was introduced to us from the south and was adapted to the northern climate. This stabilized our communities. We buried people in the ground in ceremonial mounds. These Iroquoian burial mounds exist on our territories, including Eastern Ontario.
The Kaianereh’ko:wa-Great Law territory is the eastern half of Onowaregeh, Turtle Island. The Laurentian Archaics came about 11,000 years ago. Before that the “Palaeo”, “Folsom” and “Clovis” were in the area, who are also our ancestors. [Alan D. McMillan, Native Peoples and Cultures of Canada. 1995, p. 61] The Algonquins were in the plains area in the Lake of the Woods, which is where Ontario and Manitoba come together. Their ancestors are a later group of Palaeo, the “Plano Palaeo”. Then about 3000 B.C. there was a climate change that forced the Shield Archaic to migrate south to the head waters of the Mississippi. They followed it down to where the Missouri drains into the Mississippi and then went on to the northwest into Montana where they stayed there for a while. Then they followed the Missouri back down to the Mississippi. At that point they wanted to cross east over to the other side of the river. They knew there was a race of people there who were giants, the ancient mound builders, the Allegans, who are Iroquois. We gave permission for them to cross. After they started crossing, we noticed there were more than we had bargained for. Our people started to become fearful of being overtaken. A fight started lasting for 100 years.
“Bone-Head” Williamson is making the false claim that the “Serpent Mounds” and “Petroglyf Park” near Peterborough are Ojibway. These petroglyfs are similar to those found at Safe Harbor in Pennsylvania at the mouth of the Chesepeake Bay. An archaeologist found that the people that lived nearby and some of the symbols might relate to the Lenape who are Algonquin. The area is in fact the ancestral homeland of the Susquehannock in origin, who are Iroquois. [Donald A. Cadzo (1934) Petroglyfs in Susquehanna River near Safe Harbor Pennsylvania. 2001]
“White-Bone” Williamson invents Algonquin land as being from the southern tip of Georgian Bay to the farthest eastern convergence point of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers. This is where the Kanehsatake Mohawk community is located. There is presently a 250 sq. mi. claim to this Mohawk land being made by squatters, Canada and the Sulpician Order. The oldest treaty in Canada is the 1701 Great Peace of Montreal which covers the Nan-Fan Treaty area. [Map attached] The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources uses the Ontario Archaelogical Society to promote its fake maps of the reconfigured treaty areas from Haudenosaunee to bogus Algonquin lands. For example, they’ve taken the NanFan Treaty area and cut it down to less than one-third of the original mass. The Nanfan area is 1200 miles by 2400 miles stretching past Lake Michigan all the way to the east coast of Turtle Island, south to Florida and north to Hudson’s Bay. This 1701 treaty with the British was meant to protect us from encroachment by the invaders. The French were out to destroy, kill and rob us. Most of our villages and people were annihilated or we were enslaved. This was followed in August 1701 by the Great Peace of Montreal to regulate peaceful trade and commerce with the French and their native allies, the Hurons and Algonquins. The Williams Treaty area of 1923 covers south central Ontario, which is also being officially designated by Ontario as Algonquin land. All of this is remains Haudenosaunee Territory. In 1701 the Confederacy took over trusteeship of Huron lands because they broke the Great Peace. Huron land is north of Kincardin Ontario, north of Hawkesbury Ontario to Mattawa on the Ottawa River by Parry Sound. This is now designated as Algonquin land for the fraudulent land claims settlement. The Neutrals, who were Iroquoian, also gave stewardship of their original homeland over to the Six Nations. It was from Kincardon Ontario to Hawkesbury Ontario to south of Lake Erie.
Ontario is creating fake maps of fake treaty areas and trying to give the land over to the fake Algonquins. They are really settlers who have signed up to be “no-gonquins” and a few who may feel they have some native ancestry. The fake Algonquins cannot lay claim to a huge land mass they never inhabited. The original Algonquins came to our villages during the winters and left in the spring. In the past this hospitality was known as the “bowl and spoon” relationship where we take care of each other. Anyone who disputes these facts is threatened. At the May 10, 2008 archaeological conference at Trent University in Peterborough Ontario, the seat of misinformation, William "Dried-up-old-bone" Woodworth of Michigan emailed a questioner who had been sent there by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. He had asked about their lack of consultation with the true Indigenous people and their false maps on the burial mounds. This expert told the Indigenous attendee, “You have no inherent “right” given your own ancestry and education, both native and non-native… I know enough about you to discredit you very quickly.”
The Jesuits tried to say we conquered the Hurons and Eries and annihilated them. We did not wipe ourselves out! For 400 years the Jesuits have tried to hide their genocidal tactics. Only people like Joan Holmes can look at their records. They were Catholic mercenaries and missionaries on the side of the French. They brought in troops to slaughter us, to bring diseases, alcohol, education and religion to break us down and reduce our population to less than 10%. There was no “conquest” and no “acquired rights”! We need to fight these “boogie men”. The Mississaugas are now trying to pass themselves off as “Neutrals”. We think they should call themselves the “Biased”! Hey, church and state, the world is not flat! This program of lies is well planned and has been going on for a long time. The unethical conduct of these operatives must be investigated. Charges for criminal fraud should be laid against them. Kahentinetha Horn, MNN Mohawk Nation News www.mohawknationnews.com NanFan & 1701 Great Peace of Montreal map 1200 mi x 2400 mi
CONNECTING THE DOTS ON “SEWER RATS”, THEIR FAKE MAPS & CLAIMS 1). Joan Holmes & Ron Williamson testified at Ipperwash Enquiry on OPP murder of Dudley George2). Joan Holmes & Robert Lovelace [the fake Algonquin] 3). Robert Lovelace & Chris Reid [the “class action” pro bono ambulance chaser]4). Robert Lovelace, Chris Reid, & Kris Nahrgang [the newly created Algonquin chief]5). Chris Reid & Joan Holmes [who set up the fraud]6). Chris Reid & Kris Narhgang [who pat each other on the back]7). Kris Nahrgang, Ron Williamson & William "Bill" Woodworth [who promote lies about Iroquois burial mounds] 8). David Donelly, Heather Bastien, Luc Laine, Kris Nahrgang, Barb Harris, Cecil Sault [who are on Ron Williamson's First Nations Founding Circle that promotes MNR fake maps and fraudulent land claims]9). Ron Williamson & David Donelly [who phonies that create anything fake]10). David Donnelly & Chris Reid [this ambulance chaser pops up everywhere]11). Joan Holmes & Mike "Jesuit" Swinwood [the Jesuit connection]12). Dr. Thomas H.B. Symonds [another Jesuit connection] From activities of M. Ricci SJ in 1584 to other Jesuits until 1721, ...... 1576-1578 edited by Thomas H.B. Symons with the assistance of Stephen Alsford 13). Joan Holmes & David Donnelly [everybody knows Mother Joan]14). Heather Bastien, David Donnelly, Kris Narhgang, Luc Laine, Ron Williamson [the awesome cesspool foursome} http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/anthropology/faculty.htmJoan Vastokas contact info: VASTOKAS, Joan (Prof. Emeritus) joan.vastokas@sympatico.caRomas Vastokas contact info: VASTOKAS, Ron (Prof. Emeritus) romas.vastokas@lrs.ltRon Williamson, Archaeological Services Inc., http://www.archaeologicalservices.on.ca/MAILING ADDRESS: 528 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2P9 PHONE NUMBER: (416) 966-1069Fax: (416) 966-9723 rwilliamson@archaeologicalservices.on.caKris Narhgang info@spiritofthestone.ca RR # 4 Burleigh Falls, On. K0L 2H0 (705)654- 4661William " Bill" Woodworth thambos@rogers.com Toronto, On. (416)504-7753Luc Laine luclaine50@hotmail.com 1360 Rue Des Charmes Laval, Qc. H7P 3R7 (450) 963-9208David Donnelly david@gilbertslaw.ca 416.703.1100 x 250 The Flatiron Building, 49 Wellington Street East, Toronto, Canada M5E 1C9Heather Bastien heather.bastien@sympatico.ca 535 Chief Thomas Martin Wendake, QC. G0A 4V0 (418) 843-5366David Sanford aka "Grey Eagle" celebritytalents@bellnet.ca (416) 850-2489Susan Jamieson University of Trent Anthropology Office: OC 130 Lab: OC 127Telephone: (705) 748-1011 x.7627 sjamieson@trentu.caBarb Harris barbaraharris@sixnations.ca(905) 765-8512 1695 Chiefswood Rd. Ohsweken, On. N0A 1M0 (519) 445-2201(519) 445-4208 faxJason J. Annibale LL.B., B.A.H. Associate Phone: +1 416 863 4795 Email: jason.annibale@fmc-law.com 1 First Canadian Place 39th Floor 100 King Street West Toronto, Ontario M5X 1B2Tel.: +1 416 863 4511 Fax: +1 416 863 4592Joan Holmes & Associates research@joanholmes.ca 7 Hinton Ave. North, Suite 200 Ottawa, Ontario,Canada K1Y 4P1 Phone: (613) 722-7675 Fax: (613) 722-0787http://www.amazon.com/Petroglyphs-Susquehanna-River-Harbor-Pennsylvania/dp/0892711000Petroglyphs in the Susquehanna River near Safe Harbor, Pennsylvaniahttp://216.109.125.130/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=Mounds+in+Ontario&fr=yfp-t-501&fp_ip=CA&u=www.scienceclarified.com/Ma-Mu/Mounds-Earthen.html&w=mounds+mound+ontario&d=DsfEG7XiQJa2&icp=1&.intl=us( Mounds in Ontario)http://72.30.186.56/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=Mengwe+Attack&y=Search&rd=r1&fr=yfp-t-501&u=www.stevequayle.com/Giants/N.Am/N.Am.War2.html&w=mengwe+attack+attacks&d=S490IbXiP-BA&icp=1&.intl=ca(LenapeMigration)http://www.wildlandspa.org/Rivers/cp/Part II.pdf ( Lenape, Mengwe & Allegewi)http://72.30.186.56/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=Mengwe+Attack&y=Search&rd=r1&fr=yfp-t-501&u=www.easternshore.com/esguide/hist_susquehannock.html&w=mengwe+attack+attacks&d=HPf0cLXiQAwF&icp=1&.intl=ca ( Susquehannock) IROQUOIS MOUNDS See Category: “Sharbot Lake“ New MNN Books Available Now! The books below, email us: Mohawk Warriors Three - The Trial of Lasagna, Noriega, 20/20$20.00 usd The On-Going Confusion between The Great Law and The Handsome Lake Code$20.00 usd The Agonizing Death of "Colonialism" and "Federal Indian Law" in Kaianere'ko:wa/Great Law Territory $20.00 usd Who's Sorry Now? The good, the bad and the unapologetic Mohawks of Kanehsatake $20.00 usd Rebuilding the Iroquois Confederacy Karoniaktajeh $10 usd Warriors Hand Book Karoniaktajeh $10 usd - Mail checks and money orders to... MNN P.O. Box 991 Kahnawake, QC J0L 1B0 Purchase t-shirts, mugs and more at our CafePress Store http://www.cafepress.com/mohawknews Subscribe to MNN for breaking news updates http://www.mohawknationnews.com/news/subscription.php Sign Women Title Holders petition! http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Iroquois Link to MNN Get the code and banners to link to Mohawk Nation News. http://www.mohawknationnews.com/pg.php?page=promote.html Your Support - Make a contribution to our newsgroup. Secure your online transaction with PayPal®. http://www.mohawknationnews.com/pg.php?page=donate.html Nia:wen, Kahentinetha Horn kahentinetha2@yahoo.com Speaking & Contemporary Native Issues Workshops Katenies katenies20@yahoo.com Manager Stay tuned! www.mohawknationnews.com Please forward this email to a friend!
Mohawk Nation News
April 28, 2008. These colonists are floating over us trying to land, like a ship from outer space. They hover trying to gobble us out of existence. This is about a vast tract of Haudenosaunee land in eastern Ontario. How do we know there were any Indigenous people here? Archaeologists have found evidence of longhouses and burial mounds. Guess what? “No’gonquins” [Algonquins] did not build longhouses or burial mounds. The evidence shows that the pre-historic people who lived here were Iroquois, just like the people who live here today. That’s why Ottawa and Ontario are trying to take control of the burial sites so that no one can see the evidence that proves they’re Haudenosaunee/Iroquois.
Ron “Boner” Williamson, the archaeologist hired by Ontario [Archaeological Services Inc.] states that “All “Archaic peoples are forerunners of the Algonquin people”. Is this a joke! Is he saying that all pre-historic people eventually turn into Algonquins? The colonial governments, corporate investors, mining companies, developers, bankers, military, academics, archaeologists, historians, churches and fake “Indian” communities want our resources. So they’ve set up a huge “twisted history” scam. All the history and maps of the area have been altered. Whole communities of fake Algonquins have been created. Some of the prominent “No’gonquins” are: Doreen Davis, Robert Lovelace, Harold Perry, Paula Sherman and Randy Cota. [List of phony communities available].
Ron “We-have-a-bone-to-pick-with-him” Williamson says that the Algonquins, “occupied the whole area of Ontario”. This lie fades against the facts. The “Archaic People” were divided into two groups, the “Shield Archaic” who are the forerunners of the true Algonquin people and the “Laurentian Archaic” who are the forerunners of the Iroquois. They know that the Haudenosaunee would never give up anything to anybody. We’ve been designated by the natural world to take care of this part of Mother Earth. To push the fake history Mother Joan Holmes has been brought on board. She creates Algonquins and “Metis” from non-native European stock with the stroke of a quill.
Chris “From-the-Germanic-Tribe” Nahrgang has become chief of the newly formed “Kawathra Anishnawbek First Nation, “wannabes” who have become “Sons-of-bees”. They were hatched by Joan “Queen Bee” Holmes. She is the Indian Affairs hired paper “Indian” maker. She imagines herself to be a historian and genealogist. She is neither. She concocts false versions of our history by twisting the interpretations of church records and not by scientific scrutiny.
Joan Ho’lmes is the “registrar” and “membership clerk” who helps band elections go the Indian Affairs way. In the 2005 Kanehsatake Mohawk election she put hundreds of non-native people on the rolls so the results could be in favor of the Indian Affairs nominees. Holmes has a list of signed-up 2,500 wannabe “Algonquins” who are purportedly the same ones listed for each of the 9 newly-created virtual Algonquin communities. Overlap!
The “Shield Archaic” inhabited the Canadian Shield, which is mostly rock with very little topsoil. They were mainly hunters, fishers and gatherers. The climate and rocks did not allow them to bury their dead. They cremated them and left no trace. The true Algonquins are north of the Ottawa River. They support our struggle to bring out the truth. These Algonquins were part of the 1701 Great Peace of Montreal. Ron Williamson with Ministry of Natural Resources maps greatly reduced their land base. This map fantasizes No’gonquin territory as being south of the Ottawa, which, as we all know, is Haudenosaunee territory. The Hurons, who are Iroquois, gave the Confederacy the rights over their land. But they never left. There are quite a few at Six Nations who have married into the Cayuga Nation.
The “Laurentian Archaic” are the “Allegans” who are the ancestors of the Iroquois. They are much older than the Shield Archaic. They live south of the Canadian Shield. The climate and topography allowed us to develop agriculture. Corn was introduced to us from the south and was adapted to the northern climate. This stabilized our communities. We buried people in the ground in ceremonial mounds. These Iroquoian burial mounds exist on our territories, including Eastern Ontario.
The Kaianereh’ko:wa-Great Law territory is the eastern half of Onowaregeh, Turtle Island. The Laurentian Archaics came about 11,000 years ago. Before that the “Palaeo”, “Folsom” and “Clovis” were in the area, who are also our ancestors. [Alan D. McMillan, Native Peoples and Cultures of Canada. 1995, p. 61] The Algonquins were in the plains area in the Lake of the Woods, which is where Ontario and Manitoba come together. Their ancestors are a later group of Palaeo, the “Plano Palaeo”. Then about 3000 B.C. there was a climate change that forced the Shield Archaic to migrate south to the head waters of the Mississippi. They followed it down to where the Missouri drains into the Mississippi and then went on to the northwest into Montana where they stayed there for a while. Then they followed the Missouri back down to the Mississippi. At that point they wanted to cross east over to the other side of the river. They knew there was a race of people there who were giants, the ancient mound builders, the Allegans, who are Iroquois. We gave permission for them to cross. After they started crossing, we noticed there were more than we had bargained for. Our people started to become fearful of being overtaken. A fight started lasting for 100 years.
“Bone-Head” Williamson is making the false claim that the “Serpent Mounds” and “Petroglyf Park” near Peterborough are Ojibway. These petroglyfs are similar to those found at Safe Harbor in Pennsylvania at the mouth of the Chesepeake Bay. An archaeologist found that the people that lived nearby and some of the symbols might relate to the Lenape who are Algonquin. The area is in fact the ancestral homeland of the Susquehannock in origin, who are Iroquois. [Donald A. Cadzo (1934) Petroglyfs in Susquehanna River near Safe Harbor Pennsylvania. 2001]
“White-Bone” Williamson invents Algonquin land as being from the southern tip of Georgian Bay to the farthest eastern convergence point of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers. This is where the Kanehsatake Mohawk community is located. There is presently a 250 sq. mi. claim to this Mohawk land being made by squatters, Canada and the Sulpician Order. The oldest treaty in Canada is the 1701 Great Peace of Montreal which covers the Nan-Fan Treaty area. [Map attached] The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources uses the Ontario Archaelogical Society to promote its fake maps of the reconfigured treaty areas from Haudenosaunee to bogus Algonquin lands. For example, they’ve taken the NanFan Treaty area and cut it down to less than one-third of the original mass. The Nanfan area is 1200 miles by 2400 miles stretching past Lake Michigan all the way to the east coast of Turtle Island, south to Florida and north to Hudson’s Bay. This 1701 treaty with the British was meant to protect us from encroachment by the invaders. The French were out to destroy, kill and rob us. Most of our villages and people were annihilated or we were enslaved. This was followed in August 1701 by the Great Peace of Montreal to regulate peaceful trade and commerce with the French and their native allies, the Hurons and Algonquins. The Williams Treaty area of 1923 covers south central Ontario, which is also being officially designated by Ontario as Algonquin land. All of this is remains Haudenosaunee Territory. In 1701 the Confederacy took over trusteeship of Huron lands because they broke the Great Peace. Huron land is north of Kincardin Ontario, north of Hawkesbury Ontario to Mattawa on the Ottawa River by Parry Sound. This is now designated as Algonquin land for the fraudulent land claims settlement. The Neutrals, who were Iroquoian, also gave stewardship of their original homeland over to the Six Nations. It was from Kincardon Ontario to Hawkesbury Ontario to south of Lake Erie.
Ontario is creating fake maps of fake treaty areas and trying to give the land over to the fake Algonquins. They are really settlers who have signed up to be “no-gonquins” and a few who may feel they have some native ancestry. The fake Algonquins cannot lay claim to a huge land mass they never inhabited. The original Algonquins came to our villages during the winters and left in the spring. In the past this hospitality was known as the “bowl and spoon” relationship where we take care of each other. Anyone who disputes these facts is threatened. At the May 10, 2008 archaeological conference at Trent University in Peterborough Ontario, the seat of misinformation, William "Dried-up-old-bone" Woodworth of Michigan emailed a questioner who had been sent there by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. He had asked about their lack of consultation with the true Indigenous people and their false maps on the burial mounds. This expert told the Indigenous attendee, “You have no inherent “right” given your own ancestry and education, both native and non-native… I know enough about you to discredit you very quickly.”
The Jesuits tried to say we conquered the Hurons and Eries and annihilated them. We did not wipe ourselves out! For 400 years the Jesuits have tried to hide their genocidal tactics. Only people like Joan Holmes can look at their records. They were Catholic mercenaries and missionaries on the side of the French. They brought in troops to slaughter us, to bring diseases, alcohol, education and religion to break us down and reduce our population to less than 10%. There was no “conquest” and no “acquired rights”! We need to fight these “boogie men”. The Mississaugas are now trying to pass themselves off as “Neutrals”. We think they should call themselves the “Biased”! Hey, church and state, the world is not flat! This program of lies is well planned and has been going on for a long time. The unethical conduct of these operatives must be investigated. Charges for criminal fraud should be laid against them. Kahentinetha Horn, MNN Mohawk Nation News www.mohawknationnews.com NanFan & 1701 Great Peace of Montreal map 1200 mi x 2400 mi
CONNECTING THE DOTS ON “SEWER RATS”, THEIR FAKE MAPS & CLAIMS 1). Joan Holmes & Ron Williamson testified at Ipperwash Enquiry on OPP murder of Dudley George2). Joan Holmes & Robert Lovelace [the fake Algonquin] 3). Robert Lovelace & Chris Reid [the “class action” pro bono ambulance chaser]4). Robert Lovelace, Chris Reid, & Kris Nahrgang [the newly created Algonquin chief]5). Chris Reid & Joan Holmes [who set up the fraud]6). Chris Reid & Kris Narhgang [who pat each other on the back]7). Kris Nahrgang, Ron Williamson & William "Bill" Woodworth [who promote lies about Iroquois burial mounds] 8). David Donelly, Heather Bastien, Luc Laine, Kris Nahrgang, Barb Harris, Cecil Sault [who are on Ron Williamson's First Nations Founding Circle that promotes MNR fake maps and fraudulent land claims]9). Ron Williamson & David Donelly [who phonies that create anything fake]10). David Donnelly & Chris Reid [this ambulance chaser pops up everywhere]11). Joan Holmes & Mike "Jesuit" Swinwood [the Jesuit connection]12). Dr. Thomas H.B. Symonds [another Jesuit connection] From activities of M. Ricci SJ in 1584 to other Jesuits until 1721, ...... 1576-1578 edited by Thomas H.B. Symons with the assistance of Stephen Alsford 13). Joan Holmes & David Donnelly [everybody knows Mother Joan]14). Heather Bastien, David Donnelly, Kris Narhgang, Luc Laine, Ron Williamson [the awesome cesspool foursome} http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/anthropology/faculty.htmJoan Vastokas contact info: VASTOKAS, Joan (Prof. Emeritus) joan.vastokas@sympatico.caRomas Vastokas contact info: VASTOKAS, Ron (Prof. Emeritus) romas.vastokas@lrs.ltRon Williamson, Archaeological Services Inc., http://www.archaeologicalservices.on.ca/MAILING ADDRESS: 528 Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2P9 PHONE NUMBER: (416) 966-1069Fax: (416) 966-9723 rwilliamson@archaeologicalservices.on.caKris Narhgang info@spiritofthestone.ca RR # 4 Burleigh Falls, On. K0L 2H0 (705)654- 4661William " Bill" Woodworth thambos@rogers.com Toronto, On. (416)504-7753Luc Laine luclaine50@hotmail.com 1360 Rue Des Charmes Laval, Qc. H7P 3R7 (450) 963-9208David Donnelly david@gilbertslaw.ca 416.703.1100 x 250 The Flatiron Building, 49 Wellington Street East, Toronto, Canada M5E 1C9Heather Bastien heather.bastien@sympatico.ca 535 Chief Thomas Martin Wendake, QC. G0A 4V0 (418) 843-5366David Sanford aka "Grey Eagle" celebritytalents@bellnet.ca (416) 850-2489Susan Jamieson University of Trent Anthropology Office: OC 130 Lab: OC 127Telephone: (705) 748-1011 x.7627 sjamieson@trentu.caBarb Harris barbaraharris@sixnations.ca(905) 765-8512 1695 Chiefswood Rd. Ohsweken, On. N0A 1M0 (519) 445-2201(519) 445-4208 faxJason J. Annibale LL.B., B.A.H. Associate Phone: +1 416 863 4795 Email: jason.annibale@fmc-law.com 1 First Canadian Place 39th Floor 100 King Street West Toronto, Ontario M5X 1B2Tel.: +1 416 863 4511 Fax: +1 416 863 4592Joan Holmes & Associates research@joanholmes.ca 7 Hinton Ave. North, Suite 200 Ottawa, Ontario,Canada K1Y 4P1 Phone: (613) 722-7675 Fax: (613) 722-0787http://www.amazon.com/Petroglyphs-Susquehanna-River-Harbor-Pennsylvania/dp/0892711000Petroglyphs in the Susquehanna River near Safe Harbor, Pennsylvaniahttp://216.109.125.130/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=Mounds+in+Ontario&fr=yfp-t-501&fp_ip=CA&u=www.scienceclarified.com/Ma-Mu/Mounds-Earthen.html&w=mounds+mound+ontario&d=DsfEG7XiQJa2&icp=1&.intl=us( Mounds in Ontario)http://72.30.186.56/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=Mengwe+Attack&y=Search&rd=r1&fr=yfp-t-501&u=www.stevequayle.com/Giants/N.Am/N.Am.War2.html&w=mengwe+attack+attacks&d=S490IbXiP-BA&icp=1&.intl=ca(LenapeMigration)http://www.wildlandspa.org/Rivers/cp/Part II.pdf ( Lenape, Mengwe & Allegewi)http://72.30.186.56/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=Mengwe+Attack&y=Search&rd=r1&fr=yfp-t-501&u=www.easternshore.com/esguide/hist_susquehannock.html&w=mengwe+attack+attacks&d=HPf0cLXiQAwF&icp=1&.intl=ca ( Susquehannock) IROQUOIS MOUNDS See Category: “Sharbot Lake“ New MNN Books Available Now! The books below, email us: Mohawk Warriors Three - The Trial of Lasagna, Noriega, 20/20$20.00 usd The On-Going Confusion between The Great Law and The Handsome Lake Code$20.00 usd The Agonizing Death of "Colonialism" and "Federal Indian Law" in Kaianere'ko:wa/Great Law Territory $20.00 usd Who's Sorry Now? The good, the bad and the unapologetic Mohawks of Kanehsatake $20.00 usd Rebuilding the Iroquois Confederacy Karoniaktajeh $10 usd Warriors Hand Book Karoniaktajeh $10 usd - Mail checks and money orders to... MNN P.O. Box 991 Kahnawake, QC J0L 1B0 Purchase t-shirts, mugs and more at our CafePress Store http://www.cafepress.com/mohawknews Subscribe to MNN for breaking news updates http://www.mohawknationnews.com/news/subscription.php Sign Women Title Holders petition! http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Iroquois Link to MNN Get the code and banners to link to Mohawk Nation News. http://www.mohawknationnews.com/pg.php?page=promote.html Your Support - Make a contribution to our newsgroup. Secure your online transaction with PayPal®. http://www.mohawknationnews.com/pg.php?page=donate.html Nia:wen, Kahentinetha Horn kahentinetha2@yahoo.com Speaking & Contemporary Native Issues Workshops Katenies katenies20@yahoo.com Manager Stay tuned! www.mohawknationnews.com Please forward this email to a friend!
May 9, 2008
On the Longest Walk, the sovereign self
International Indian Treaty Council and Longest Walk present human rights forum
By Brenda Norrell
U.N. OBSERVER and International Report
EDWARDSVILLE, Illinois – The Longest Walk focused on human rights as inherent rights of Indigenous Peoples, as the walkers arrived for prayers at Cahokia Mounds and the St. Louis Arch, the gateway to the west.
For the Longest Walkers on the northern route, it was the gateway to the east, marking the completion of three-fourths of their sacred walk for Mother Earth. Walkers left Alcatraz Island on Feb. 11 and will arrive in Washington D.C. on July 11. Of the 3,600-mile trek, only 860 miles remain.
Lenny Foster: Walking into the futureLenny Foster, Dine’ board member of the International Indian Treaty Council, was one of the original Long Walkers of 1978. Foster recalled hitchhiking to Alcatraz Island in 1969 and how it changed his life.
“When we’re young, we’re idealistic; we want to make things happen. It became a spiritual journey for me.”
Referring to the words and enthusiasm of Southern Ute Adriano Buckskin, 19, on the Longest Walk 2, Foster said, “I rejoice in the youth and I say, ‘Be idealistic.’”
Foster also spoke of the reasons for the Longest Walk 2. “What we are concerned about is saving Mother Earth. We are all concerned about that.” Foster said all people want clean water, clean air and clean earth, but the contamination continues.
Foster said now, more than ever, Native people have the responsibility to be stewards of the earth.
Foster described the birth of the American Indian Movement and the reasons for its creation. “The government put in ‘puppets’ as tribal leaders.” In South Dakota, the Oglala could no longer live under those conditions. Then, with the buildup of large numbers of FBI and other federal agents on Pine Ridge, Lakota and their allies began to assert their rights. The result was the 71-day siege at Wounded Knee.
“The whole world took notice of Indian people,” Foster said.
The stronghold of Wounded Knee in 1973 was a result of the 1890 massacre of elders and children at Wounded Knee. “The Calvary brought in their canons. It was a massacre.”
Foster recalled the 11 firefights at Wounded Knee in 1973, with US agents shooting at the young people there. For him, it was a matter of life and death. Although there were many arrests, there were also many sweat lodge ceremonies held there, he said.
“The Lakota headsmen saw that this would not end there.” Foster said the Lakota headsmen asked that the treaties and the sacred pipes be taken to the international arena. Now, the International Indian Treaty Council is the political arm of the American Indian Movement.
The Longest Walk and the American Indian Movement changed history. “It elevates our awareness of who we are. For so long we have been colonized and brainwashed.” Foster recalled that before the 1970s, few people wore long hair, carried medicine bags, wore ribbon shirts and knew the songs. However, after gaining a voice in the international arena, there was a new era of American Indian rights.
Foster said Navajos view mankind as “Five finger people.”
“It doesn’t matter what color.”
Foster is currently a spiritual leader in U.S. prisons and serves American Indian inmates. His youngest client is 12 years old, in a juvenile facility, and the oldest is 80 years old.
“I’ve handled three death row cases and witnessed one execution of a Native American. Once they’ve served the document of execution, there’s no turning back.” Foster can administer the last rights to those on death row with the sweat lodge and the pipe ceremony.
Although one prison in Florence, Arizona, did allow Foster to administer last rites, U.S. prison officials have refused to allow Native ceremonies to be offered as last rites. Foster described the absurd claims of some prison officials that ceremonies would be used as a means for escape. “That is absurd. There’s a lot of racism.”
When prison officials told Foster he would have to submit to a strip search in order to administer last rites, Foster asked the prison officials, “Did you make the Catholic priest strip down when he came in to administer the last rites?”
Prison officials made other claims about the ceremonies. “They say, ‘When you let the Indian boys sing, they get ‘riled up.’”
Tobacco has been restricted for inmates’ ceremonies with the assertion that prisons are “smoke free environments.” Foster has pressed for prisons to grant an exemption for the use of tobacco in the pipe ceremony. He said the ceremonies give the people hope.
“We are not a throwaway society. We love our people. We have the right to sing our songs; we have the right to have our ceremonies. We are the original people of this land.
“We want our Indian Nations to heal. Foster said prisoners are denied the right to a spiritual healing when their rights to Native spiritual ceremonies are denied.
“That is what it is all about, spiritual healing.”
Foster praised the walkers for their sacrifices on the Longest Walk. He said it is important to pray and offer corn pollen as they walk east. He encouraged the walkers to rely on prayers, sweat lodges and traditional teachings to give hope to the people.
Foster said that he visited Leonard Peltier in federal prison in Lewisburg, Penn., two weeks ago. “He sends his love, his respect and his solidarity. He is glad that this is happening. We know we are under attack.”
When the northern route walks through Pennsylvania in June, Peltier hopes some of the walkers will visit him in prison.
“It would make him feel very good about what is happening out here.”
Foster said sovereignty was given to the people by the Creator and it is important to act and think as sovereigns.
Foster said the place of origin of Navajos or Dine’ is Dinetah, in what is now called northern New Mexico. Although scientists claim Navajos came to this land across the Bering Strait, Foster said they did not. Anthropologists are “just trying to justify the stealing of history,” he said.
Foster said the Longest Walkers represent clans and families from all over. Maori, Mohawk, Paiute, Navajos, Choctaw and the others are representing Indian people and all of mankind.
“The Indian Movement is a beautiful place to be.”
Southern Utes: Kenny Frost and Adriano Buckskin
Kenny Frost, Southern Ute, said when the 1978 Longest Walk began it was because American Indian rights were being threatened. “The walk that you are doing carries the prayers of our elders.”
Frost said the walkers are part of the historic legacy of the Longest Walk. He pointed out that the walkers have only 869 miles left of the 3,600 mile journey, after walking over the Sierra Nevadas and Rocky Mountains.
“Give yourselves a big hand. What you are doing, you should be proud of. You are carrying the prayers and purpose of protecting sacred sites. You are carrying the prayer and purpose that we have not faded away, that we are still alive and well.”
Weldon Austin, Paiute/Shoshone from Fallon, Nevada, said he is walking for the prisoners, the men and women who would be on this walk if they could.
“A lot of them would give their right arm to be here.” Austin remembered the children who visit their parents in prison and the Indian children in foster homes.
“When we get to Washington, every prison will have a sweat when we present our staffs as offerings.”
Adriano Buckskin, 19, Southern Ute from Colorado, said, “I walk for everyone.” Buckskin said he walks for people who are in pain, people who are in prisons and the youths who are entrenched in the society of television and distractions.
“I would die for my people. I am very happy and very honored to be here.”
Buckskin said before he joined the walk, he had never been east of Pueblo, Colorado. Everything now is a first time for him, a new and good memory.
“Each day, I can say this is the first time I woke up here.”
Buckskin said there should be many more youths walking. He recalled asking a young Native if he was proud to be Native. The young man said ‘No, because it is boring.”
Buckskin said some Native youths find being Native is boring because they glamorize what they are seeing on television. Many, too, are “deceived by the trick of emotions.”
Buckskin said he had dreams of what he is now experiencing on the Longest Walk. He hopes to inspire others, particularly the youths, with what he is feeling here.
Buckskin said the Red Road has no end. “The Red Road doesn’t ever stop.”
“I’m walking in my father’s shoes. He walked on the first walk. When I walk, I see unity. We need to unite and step up and get things done.” Buckskin said he feels good to be walking with the walkers.
“You make me proud to be Native.”
Michael Lane: Walking for true tribal sovereigntyMichael Lane, Menominee and one of the original walkers in 1978, said, “We are walking to protect sacred sites and protect tribal sovereignty.” Lane arrived from New Zealand and joined the Longest Walk with his wife Sharon Heta, Maori/Tuhoe Nation, and their three children, Merehuka, Ranguitau and TeRuihi.
Lane said sovereignty is much more than defending casinos.
Describing the walk in 1978, he said, “We walked to protect tribal sovereignty. We walked as sovereign people.” During the original walk, he said, walkers viewed the land they camped on as the sovereign land of the Longest Walk.
Lane said the walkers should not be intimidated by police who attempt to tell them where they can walk. “If we give in to them, we lose sight of who we are.”
Lane said he is not focused on meeting with US elected officials when he reaches Washington D.C. “We are not going to be lobbying US senators and Congressmen, we don’t give a hoot what they say.”
Pointing out the need for the walk to protect tribal sovereignty, he said the abrogation of treaties continues as does genocide under the cloak of manifest destiny. He said the attempt to abrogate treaties never ceased. Today it continues in the form of offering money for Indian land or demanding waivers of sovereignty to build casinos.
The efforts of termination of Indian Nations continues in new forms.
“All of their standards are to divert us into corporations.”
Walking with the staffs, walking for healing at White ClayTomas Reyes, Yaqui, explained the sacred staffs carried by the Longest Walkers. The eagle feathers and sacred items on the staffs were offered as the walkers passed through communities in California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas and Missouri. Reyes said he has learned humility and what it means to be a man and be respectful. Reyes said he continues to learn.
Referring to the four sacred colors, red, black, white and yellow, he said, “They represent the four colors of humankind.” Those four colors also refer to the past of Indigenous Peoples.
“That is our future.
“All people, no matter where they are, are indigenous to some places on this earth, this planet.” On this continent, he said, “For Indigenous Peoples, this is our place of origin.
“I believe we are walking for all Indigenous Peoples across this continent.” Reyes said he grew up with the teaching that one should be on his best behavior when in someone else’s home. However, now people are in the home of Indigenous Peoples, this land, and treat it with disrespect.
“Our people lived a spiritual existence here.”
Reyes, taking care of the staffs since the walkers left Alcatraz, said the Long Walkers have shown great commitment and sacrifice to reach here.
“We need a broad perspective. All of us matter.”
Charles Yellow Bird, from Pine Ridge, S.D., spoke of White Clay, Nebraska, a town comprised of a few alcohol stores, where many Lakota die. Yellow Bird said in this poor area, the white people are becoming millionaires.
“Who is paying for it? The lives of the Lakota. We are making them rich.” Yellow Bird remembered the Nebraskans for Peace and how they would put their lives on the line for the people. He also remembered the people who are “hacked up” in racial violence in South Dakota and Nebraska and how tribal police are placed between white officers and Lakota. Native officers are forced to face off with Native people.
“If anyone was going to get hurt, they wanted us to hurt one another.
“Before I leave this earth, I want to see White Clay off the face of this map, off the face of this earth.” Yellow Bird said we are now faced with the loss of water and the ozone is destroying our skin.
“We are killing ourselves.
“How do you treat your mother?
“This is your mother, you are walking on her. Treat her with respect.”
Photo Brenda Norrell
MORE CENSORED NEWS:
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
By Brenda Norrell
U.N. OBSERVER and International Report
EDWARDSVILLE, Illinois – The Longest Walk focused on human rights as inherent rights of Indigenous Peoples, as the walkers arrived for prayers at Cahokia Mounds and the St. Louis Arch, the gateway to the west.
For the Longest Walkers on the northern route, it was the gateway to the east, marking the completion of three-fourths of their sacred walk for Mother Earth. Walkers left Alcatraz Island on Feb. 11 and will arrive in Washington D.C. on July 11. Of the 3,600-mile trek, only 860 miles remain.
Lenny Foster: Walking into the futureLenny Foster, Dine’ board member of the International Indian Treaty Council, was one of the original Long Walkers of 1978. Foster recalled hitchhiking to Alcatraz Island in 1969 and how it changed his life.
“When we’re young, we’re idealistic; we want to make things happen. It became a spiritual journey for me.”
Referring to the words and enthusiasm of Southern Ute Adriano Buckskin, 19, on the Longest Walk 2, Foster said, “I rejoice in the youth and I say, ‘Be idealistic.’”
Foster also spoke of the reasons for the Longest Walk 2. “What we are concerned about is saving Mother Earth. We are all concerned about that.” Foster said all people want clean water, clean air and clean earth, but the contamination continues.
Foster said now, more than ever, Native people have the responsibility to be stewards of the earth.
Foster described the birth of the American Indian Movement and the reasons for its creation. “The government put in ‘puppets’ as tribal leaders.” In South Dakota, the Oglala could no longer live under those conditions. Then, with the buildup of large numbers of FBI and other federal agents on Pine Ridge, Lakota and their allies began to assert their rights. The result was the 71-day siege at Wounded Knee.
“The whole world took notice of Indian people,” Foster said.
The stronghold of Wounded Knee in 1973 was a result of the 1890 massacre of elders and children at Wounded Knee. “The Calvary brought in their canons. It was a massacre.”
Foster recalled the 11 firefights at Wounded Knee in 1973, with US agents shooting at the young people there. For him, it was a matter of life and death. Although there were many arrests, there were also many sweat lodge ceremonies held there, he said.
“The Lakota headsmen saw that this would not end there.” Foster said the Lakota headsmen asked that the treaties and the sacred pipes be taken to the international arena. Now, the International Indian Treaty Council is the political arm of the American Indian Movement.
The Longest Walk and the American Indian Movement changed history. “It elevates our awareness of who we are. For so long we have been colonized and brainwashed.” Foster recalled that before the 1970s, few people wore long hair, carried medicine bags, wore ribbon shirts and knew the songs. However, after gaining a voice in the international arena, there was a new era of American Indian rights.
Foster said Navajos view mankind as “Five finger people.”
“It doesn’t matter what color.”
Foster is currently a spiritual leader in U.S. prisons and serves American Indian inmates. His youngest client is 12 years old, in a juvenile facility, and the oldest is 80 years old.
“I’ve handled three death row cases and witnessed one execution of a Native American. Once they’ve served the document of execution, there’s no turning back.” Foster can administer the last rights to those on death row with the sweat lodge and the pipe ceremony.
Although one prison in Florence, Arizona, did allow Foster to administer last rites, U.S. prison officials have refused to allow Native ceremonies to be offered as last rites. Foster described the absurd claims of some prison officials that ceremonies would be used as a means for escape. “That is absurd. There’s a lot of racism.”
When prison officials told Foster he would have to submit to a strip search in order to administer last rites, Foster asked the prison officials, “Did you make the Catholic priest strip down when he came in to administer the last rites?”
Prison officials made other claims about the ceremonies. “They say, ‘When you let the Indian boys sing, they get ‘riled up.’”
Tobacco has been restricted for inmates’ ceremonies with the assertion that prisons are “smoke free environments.” Foster has pressed for prisons to grant an exemption for the use of tobacco in the pipe ceremony. He said the ceremonies give the people hope.
“We are not a throwaway society. We love our people. We have the right to sing our songs; we have the right to have our ceremonies. We are the original people of this land.
“We want our Indian Nations to heal. Foster said prisoners are denied the right to a spiritual healing when their rights to Native spiritual ceremonies are denied.
“That is what it is all about, spiritual healing.”
Foster praised the walkers for their sacrifices on the Longest Walk. He said it is important to pray and offer corn pollen as they walk east. He encouraged the walkers to rely on prayers, sweat lodges and traditional teachings to give hope to the people.
Foster said that he visited Leonard Peltier in federal prison in Lewisburg, Penn., two weeks ago. “He sends his love, his respect and his solidarity. He is glad that this is happening. We know we are under attack.”
When the northern route walks through Pennsylvania in June, Peltier hopes some of the walkers will visit him in prison.
“It would make him feel very good about what is happening out here.”
Foster said sovereignty was given to the people by the Creator and it is important to act and think as sovereigns.
Foster said the place of origin of Navajos or Dine’ is Dinetah, in what is now called northern New Mexico. Although scientists claim Navajos came to this land across the Bering Strait, Foster said they did not. Anthropologists are “just trying to justify the stealing of history,” he said.
Foster said the Longest Walkers represent clans and families from all over. Maori, Mohawk, Paiute, Navajos, Choctaw and the others are representing Indian people and all of mankind.
“The Indian Movement is a beautiful place to be.”
Southern Utes: Kenny Frost and Adriano Buckskin
Kenny Frost, Southern Ute, said when the 1978 Longest Walk began it was because American Indian rights were being threatened. “The walk that you are doing carries the prayers of our elders.”
Frost said the walkers are part of the historic legacy of the Longest Walk. He pointed out that the walkers have only 869 miles left of the 3,600 mile journey, after walking over the Sierra Nevadas and Rocky Mountains.
“Give yourselves a big hand. What you are doing, you should be proud of. You are carrying the prayers and purpose of protecting sacred sites. You are carrying the prayer and purpose that we have not faded away, that we are still alive and well.”
Weldon Austin, Paiute/Shoshone from Fallon, Nevada, said he is walking for the prisoners, the men and women who would be on this walk if they could.
“A lot of them would give their right arm to be here.” Austin remembered the children who visit their parents in prison and the Indian children in foster homes.
“When we get to Washington, every prison will have a sweat when we present our staffs as offerings.”
Adriano Buckskin, 19, Southern Ute from Colorado, said, “I walk for everyone.” Buckskin said he walks for people who are in pain, people who are in prisons and the youths who are entrenched in the society of television and distractions.
“I would die for my people. I am very happy and very honored to be here.”
Buckskin said before he joined the walk, he had never been east of Pueblo, Colorado. Everything now is a first time for him, a new and good memory.
“Each day, I can say this is the first time I woke up here.”
Buckskin said there should be many more youths walking. He recalled asking a young Native if he was proud to be Native. The young man said ‘No, because it is boring.”
Buckskin said some Native youths find being Native is boring because they glamorize what they are seeing on television. Many, too, are “deceived by the trick of emotions.”
Buckskin said he had dreams of what he is now experiencing on the Longest Walk. He hopes to inspire others, particularly the youths, with what he is feeling here.
Buckskin said the Red Road has no end. “The Red Road doesn’t ever stop.”
“I’m walking in my father’s shoes. He walked on the first walk. When I walk, I see unity. We need to unite and step up and get things done.” Buckskin said he feels good to be walking with the walkers.
“You make me proud to be Native.”
Michael Lane: Walking for true tribal sovereigntyMichael Lane, Menominee and one of the original walkers in 1978, said, “We are walking to protect sacred sites and protect tribal sovereignty.” Lane arrived from New Zealand and joined the Longest Walk with his wife Sharon Heta, Maori/Tuhoe Nation, and their three children, Merehuka, Ranguitau and TeRuihi.
Lane said sovereignty is much more than defending casinos.
Describing the walk in 1978, he said, “We walked to protect tribal sovereignty. We walked as sovereign people.” During the original walk, he said, walkers viewed the land they camped on as the sovereign land of the Longest Walk.
Lane said the walkers should not be intimidated by police who attempt to tell them where they can walk. “If we give in to them, we lose sight of who we are.”
Lane said he is not focused on meeting with US elected officials when he reaches Washington D.C. “We are not going to be lobbying US senators and Congressmen, we don’t give a hoot what they say.”
Pointing out the need for the walk to protect tribal sovereignty, he said the abrogation of treaties continues as does genocide under the cloak of manifest destiny. He said the attempt to abrogate treaties never ceased. Today it continues in the form of offering money for Indian land or demanding waivers of sovereignty to build casinos.
The efforts of termination of Indian Nations continues in new forms.
“All of their standards are to divert us into corporations.”
Walking with the staffs, walking for healing at White ClayTomas Reyes, Yaqui, explained the sacred staffs carried by the Longest Walkers. The eagle feathers and sacred items on the staffs were offered as the walkers passed through communities in California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas and Missouri. Reyes said he has learned humility and what it means to be a man and be respectful. Reyes said he continues to learn.
Referring to the four sacred colors, red, black, white and yellow, he said, “They represent the four colors of humankind.” Those four colors also refer to the past of Indigenous Peoples.
“That is our future.
“All people, no matter where they are, are indigenous to some places on this earth, this planet.” On this continent, he said, “For Indigenous Peoples, this is our place of origin.
“I believe we are walking for all Indigenous Peoples across this continent.” Reyes said he grew up with the teaching that one should be on his best behavior when in someone else’s home. However, now people are in the home of Indigenous Peoples, this land, and treat it with disrespect.
“Our people lived a spiritual existence here.”
Reyes, taking care of the staffs since the walkers left Alcatraz, said the Long Walkers have shown great commitment and sacrifice to reach here.
“We need a broad perspective. All of us matter.”
Charles Yellow Bird, from Pine Ridge, S.D., spoke of White Clay, Nebraska, a town comprised of a few alcohol stores, where many Lakota die. Yellow Bird said in this poor area, the white people are becoming millionaires.
“Who is paying for it? The lives of the Lakota. We are making them rich.” Yellow Bird remembered the Nebraskans for Peace and how they would put their lives on the line for the people. He also remembered the people who are “hacked up” in racial violence in South Dakota and Nebraska and how tribal police are placed between white officers and Lakota. Native officers are forced to face off with Native people.
“If anyone was going to get hurt, they wanted us to hurt one another.
“Before I leave this earth, I want to see White Clay off the face of this map, off the face of this earth.” Yellow Bird said we are now faced with the loss of water and the ozone is destroying our skin.
“We are killing ourselves.
“How do you treat your mother?
“This is your mother, you are walking on her. Treat her with respect.”
Photo Brenda Norrell
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