Mohawk John Kane 'Most censored issue 2012: The truth about UN Indigenous Rapporteur'

Mohawk John Kane: Most censored issue in 2012 was the truth about UN Rapporteur James Anaya

First in a series of the most censored issues of 2012

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

Updated with response from James Anaya

Also see: Censored 2012:
Thai activist says UN Rapporteur
caused extensive harm to the people
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/12/censored-2012-thai-activist-says-un.html

TUCSON, Ariz. -- What was most censored in Indian country in 2012?
John Kane, Mohawk, radio host of Let's Talk Native Pride, said the UN Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples James Anaya was the most censored issue in 2012.
Kane said, "I think the story around James Anaya was the most mischaracterized and one of the most censored stories.
"Who he is, who he met with in his 'whirlwind tour' and his findings were pathetic. The primary observation about the overall condition of Native people was that we needed access to sacred sites?
"Really?
"Poverty, suicides, domestic violence, violence against women, drop out rates, drug and alcohol issues, continued assimilation, puppet tribal governments, real land claims (not just the right to pray on a site) and he comes up with a recommendation for access and control of certain sacred sites.
"I have news for Mr. Anaya, it's all sacred.
"Perhaps he regards only certain parts of his mother sacred but I don't.
"Whatever a Special UN Rapporteur is supposed to be, I am sure he wasn't," Kane told Censored News.
UN Indigenous agenda co-opted in 2012
Ofelia Rivas, O'odham, agreed that Anaya's reports to the United Nations were "watered down." Rivas told Aljazeera's Inside Story in December that Anaya had failed to use the strong language necessary to uphold Indigenous Peoples' human rights.
Earlier, in the spring of 2012, Rivas said the traditional ceremonial O'odham were not invited to present at the UN Rapporteur's special session on Indigenous Issues in nearby Tucson. Rivas also pointed out that one person, who claims to be Cherokee and is misusing a sacred O'odham name for his non-profit, was listed as a presenter.
San Carlos Apache Wendsler Nosie said in his testimony at the same session that in order to attend, Nosie had to temporarily end his boycott of the University of Arizona. The university, along with the Pope, took the lead in constructing telescopes on sacred Mount Graham. Nosie was arrested by the university police as he prayed on the sacred mountain.
Other Native Americas questioned why Ford Foundation funding was used for the Tucson session. Anaya said in the announcement that the purpose of the meeting was for consultation with area Native Americans on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Frauds and embezzlement
Many grassroots Native Americans also cancelled plans to attend the UN session for Indigenous Peoples in New York in the spring of 2012. They said the agenda was controlled by non-Indian frauds and those seeking fame with academic rhetoric.
At the United Nations in Geneva, Alex White Plume of Owe Aku International, Lakota form Pine Ridge, S.D., challenged Indigenous representatives to speak their own Native languages. White Plume questioned whether they can truly represent grassroots Indigenous Peoples if they don't speak their own languages.
As the year grew to an end, Indigenous organizations claiming to represent Indigenous Peoples at the UN were exposed for fraud and embezzlement.
Still other organizations claiming to represent Indigenous Peoples at the UN have been taken over by frauds who secretly obtain large grant funding.
Frauds continue to receive funding based on the suffering of specific Indigenous groups, without notifying those groups. Among those are Yaquis in Sonora, Mexico, who said they were never told of the thousands of dollars in numerous non-profit grants allocated in the US for their projects.
Most Natives here unaware that Anaya lives in southern Arizona
Meanwhile, in southern Arizona, many Native Americans said they were unaware that Rapporteur Anaya has lived in Tucson for 13 years, since he has not maintained contact with traditional Native people here.
Anaya is also professor of Human Rights Law and Policy, at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He has been at the university here since 1999, according to the university website.
Co-hosted session with mining department
In the process of research for this article, Censored News, based in Tucson, was surprised to learn that Anaya had met with businesses involved in extractive industries in or near Indian lands here in November.
Anaya, as UN Rapporteur, co-hosted the session with the Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources at the University of Arizona. The Lowell Institute brags on its website about its upcoming workshop: "This course provides detailed background on the negotiation and acquisition strategies used in financing mineral resource development."
The question remains to Anaya: Were local Native human rights activists told of this meeting before or after it occurred? Were you posed as the UN Indigenous Rapporteur while working in collusion with a university department that promotes mining?
Anaya's press release after the fact: http://unsr.jamesanaya.org/notes/approaches-and-challenges-regarding-extractive-industries-operating-in-or-near-indigenous-territories-discussed-at-conference-in-tucson-arizona
UN Rapporteur James Anaya responds
James Anaya responded to Censored News with the following comment.
However, Anaya did not respond to those who said that Anaya had always identified himself as Chicano until he began working on Indigenous issues at the University of New Mexico. Students at UNM said Anaya stopped saying he was Chicano and began identifying himself as "Indian" at that time.
Anaya told Censored News, "I welcome comments on my work as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I invite all those interested to read my report on my official visit to the United States, which is available at: http://unsr.jamesanaya.org/country-reports/the-situation-of-indigenous-peoples-in-the-united-states-of-america
"Information on me and my mandate from the UN Human Rights Council is available at the same web site.
"The Tucson consultation was one of several such consultations in several locations during my official visit to the United States. Detailed information on the Tucson consultation, including video of the entire conference, is available at: http://www.law.arizona.edu/depts/iplp/UNSRConference/index.cfm
"The more recent meeting on mining hosted by the University of Arizona's Lowell Institute is part of a series of meetings I have had to hear from all concerned, in the context of my study of extractive industries and indigenous peoples. I have had numerous other meetings, in various parts of the world, with indigenous peoples and organizations to hear their views on the subject. I continue to welcome input on this and other aspects of my work. I can be contacted at the following email address: indigenous@ohchr.org

Navajo women in solidarity with Palestine oppose Navajo president's visit to Israel

Louise Benally/Photo Brenda Norrell

Navajo women in solidarity with Palestine oppose Israel's genocidal practices, say Navajos don't need Israeli chemicals to grow food



By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/12/navajo-women-in-solidarity-with.html
French translation by Chris Prat
http://www.chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=1286

Navajo women in solidarity with Palestine oppose Navajo President Ben Shelly’s visit to Israel this week and spoke out against the ongoing genocidal policies of Israel and Shelly’s longterm human rights abuses at home.

Navajo women said Shelly and Israel are part of the war machine. Working with sustainable agriculture, Navajos said that Shelly does not need to go to Israel to learn how to use chemicals to grow food.

Louise Benally, Dine’ resisting forced relocation at Big Mountain, Arizona, said, "Ben should stay in Israel, to learn how to farm, they are only puppets for the war machines."

"Is he learning how to farm food, or weapons of mass destruction?" Benally and other Dine’ on Black Mesa say the Navajo Nation government is a puppet government of the US, which abandoned them for coal mining and power plant dollars.

Working with sustainable agriculture, Janene Yazzie, Navajo, said Shelly does not need to go to Israel to learn how to use chemicals to grow food.

“To hear that our president believes the apartheid government of Israel has more to offer than the Dine’ people in his homeland fighting against his policies is hurtful and unbelievably ignorant.”

Yazzie points out that Shelly’s visit to Israel this week is the latest in a long list of human rights violations, which includes schemes to sell out Navajo water rights, and sending armed Swat teams to intimidate Navajos at public forums.

Janene Yazzie said:
It should not shock or surprise us that our Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly has taken an unexpected trip to visit Israel, a government that has committed itself to carrying out genocidal practices against its population of indigenous Palestinian peoples.

"In communities across our nation there is a struggle to localize food production by returning to traditional methods of farming and irrigation suitable to our climate, our soils, our native foods, and the values of our culture," Yazzie said.

"Instead of visiting these projects or investing in them President Shelly has gone to Israel to learn about 'Fertigation,' a method that is dependent on the use of chemical fertilizers." 

Read more of her statement at: http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/12/navajo-janene-yazzie-solidarity-with.html
Angela Davis, Navajo, points out that the Navajo Nation has used genetically modified seeds for years at its commercial farm, Navajo Agricultural Products Industry, and promoted Monsanto on NAPI's website.

Davis said, "If Ben Shelly cares so much about agriculture, then he should stop buying genetically modified seeds from Monsanto. He also says he identifies similar problems with radiation contamination in Israeli water, while ignoring his own people who are sick and dying from radiation in their water from uranium mining that he supports!

"He also sees similarities with Israeli peoples' struggles in their homeland and shares their leader's concerns. He's like Benjamin Natanyaho, a dictator that commits genocide of oppressed people in their own occupied territories. We have more in common with the Palestinians than the Zionist regime of Israel. Ben Shelly is a liar and I don't believe his visitation intentions are in the best interest of the people."

Copyright Censored News

Navajo Janene Yazzie: Solidarity with Palestine

Photo Calvin Johnson, Navajo

Navajo explains why the toxic Navajo president doesn't need to go to Israel to learn how to use chemicals to grow food

By Janene Yazzie
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

It should not shock or surprise us that our Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly has taken an unexpected trip to visit Israel, a government that has committed itself to carrying out genocidal practices against it's population of indigenous Palestinian peoples. I make this argument because our President has illustrated himself to be unfit to make the kind of informed, wise, and strong decisions that promote the inherent rights of our own Dine (Navajo) people; let alone prove himself to be the kind of leader that is concerned or educated about the campaign of genocide waged by Israel.

"The Solar Hogan is a sustainable energy-efficient design centered

 around the traditional Navajo Hogan, retaining the many spiritual and

cultural meanings of our traditional dwellings. Sadly the Solar Hogan design,

praised to be the future of Navajo Nation Housing, has not received any

 support from Navajo Nation agencies since it was first introduced by

 architect Dennis Halloway and Dr. Charles Cambridge in 1989. This is only

 one of the many promising projects promoted by Sixth World Solutions to empower

 communities to utilize local materials, smart technology and innovative design to

 meet the desperate housing needs faced by so many Dine people.

For more information contact Janene Yazzie at Janene.Y@sixth-world.com"

In his official press release he is quoted as saying, “Our trip is also about cultural exchange in this part of the world where the Israeli people co-exist with their neighbors," listing his priorities as "Agriculture, Technology, Tourism, Infrastructure, and Government Services." Meanwhile his actions within the past year alone have shown his complacency in the violation of the Human Rights of our own people through his endorsement of the toxic "Navajo-Hopi Little Colorado River Water Rights Settlement." As part of his campaign to support this bill his "government services" included sending armed swat teams and Navajo Nation people (and in some places state police) to intimidate his own people at public forums and to censure opposition.

His open investment in coal and the policies that support them, as well as his contradiction between rhetoric and actions when it comes to Uranium, all serve to create enormous obstacles to the implementation of plans proposed by Dine entrepreneurs to transform our Nation into one that produces clean energy projects. He has actively tried to discredit, de-legitimize and exclude his own people in important decisions that regard the future of our Nation until we formed overpowering grassroots organizations. Yet still our arguments for social and environmental justice, for investment in sustainable economic development based on clean energy, and localizing food production continue to be met with resistance. To hear that our president believes the apartheid government of Israel has more to offer than the Dine people in his homeland fighting against his policies is hurtful and unbelievably ignorant.

In communities across our nation there is a struggle to localize food production by returning to traditional methods of farming and irrigation suitable to our climate, our soils, our native foods, and the values of our culture. Instead of visiting these projects or investing in them President Shelly has gone to Israel to learn about "Fertigation," a method that is dependent on the use of chemical fertilizers. There are other Dine entrepreneurs such as myself trying to introduce sustainable ways of building energy-efficient homes out of local materials, with waste-water recycling systems that allow us to optimize our use of this precious resource. The underlying conflict in all these issues is that all these grassroots projects employ "alternative methods of development" that empower communities to work together to meet their own local needs. However the projects that have received open support and funding within the past year are based on the unsustainable model of top-down private investments, based on illusions of trickle-down economics.

If President Shelly was really interested in how he could create the kind of development that will really serve the numerous needs of our people he would know that his first priority should be to invest in his own people and become a leader that protects our rights. If he is to represent us on the international level then he needs to become knowledgeable on the unsustainable structures that underlie our current globalized market systems. Lastly, it is imperative that he begin to understand what those of us on the grassroots-level understand; that in order to establish alternative forms of development we have to fight against the status quo of existing systems of power that prevent us from achieving our self-sufficiency. This makes it our responsibility as the largest tribal nation in the U.S. to stand in solidarity with the struggles of Indigenous peoples all over the world who continue to fight removal, exploitation and open acts of genocide on their ancestral lands. I stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine and those Indigenous nations and non-indigenous peoples fighting against continued corporate, religious, and political exploitation. Only when we hold our leaders accountable to their electorates, only when we take a united stand against unsustainable market-practices, and only when we accept that all our homelands are changing from climate change, will we be able to unite around a new vision of how humanity should progress. From my experience returning home to join the resistance inside my nation, this is the true heart of the Dine people, and it is a vision that has not been respected or shared by our President Ben Shelly.

Janene Yazzie
Sixth World Solutions, CEO

Bring Leonard Peltier Home in New York Dec. 14, 2012