Blackfire to perform at Indigenous Border Summit!

Blackfire will perform at the Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit of the Americas II, Saturday night, November 10, 2007. The Border Summit will be held Nov. 7 - 10, 2007, at San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation (near the Tucson International Airport.)
The Border Summit welcomes the Navajo family band whose voices have proclaimed Indigenous Peoples' rights around the world.
Border Summit website:
http://indigenousbordersummitamericas2007.blogspot.com/

Censorship spreads with fear and greed

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

The bad news is that censorship is increasing. The good news is that people around the world are fighting back online and publishing their own news.
One of the most censored topics is Indigenous Peoples' rights, especially those stated in the recently adopted United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the right of mobility in ancestral territories, regardless of national borders.
Those topics will be the focus of the Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit of the Americas II next week, Nov. 7 - 10, 2007, at San Xavier on Tohono O'odham land, near South Tucson.
Although the border summit may be censored by mainstream newspapers, you can either attend or listen online: http://www.earthcycles.net/
The Censored Blog has a running poll of the most censored topics. American Indian readers feel the most censored topic on the list, by far, is the silencing of traditional and grassroots' voices by those in power. They write to say that their own "puppet tribal government" has increased the oppression of their traditional people. By silencing or ignoring their ceremonial leaders, tribal governments, fashioned after the US system, continue to enter into leases and corporate agreements that put the future of seven generations at risk.
Following this censored topic, readers voted the most censored issue is the nuclear, uranium and coal genocide of Indigenous Peoples, which is the result of international corporate profiteering, political vice, death squads and censorship.
Next in line, readers voted the most censored issues are Leonard Peltier, border deaths and racism in border news reporting, Zapatista gatherings along the US/Mexico border and the Indian delegations from the north in Venezuela.
Online, Victor Rocha at Pechanga Net (http://www.pechanga.net/) has continued to publish the censored issues, along with the U.N. OBSERVER & International Report (http://www.unobserver.com/) NarcoNews (http://www.narconews.com/) and CounterPunch (http://www.counterpunch.org/.)
Scroll down to read more about censored issues (http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/), including Homeland Security waiving all federal laws to build the border wall. Major newspapers, and even alternative presses, have censored this case: Two priests, Fr. Louie Vitale and Fr. Steve Kelly, are serving 5-month prison sentences for protesting US torture inflicted at Abu-Ghraib, Guantanamo and Afghanistan. The priests knelt in prayer outside of Fort Huachuca in Arizona.
The arrests of Maoris in New Zealand follows the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Maoris are among the Indigenous Peoples' engaged in struggles for their ancestral lands around the world. New Zealand is now leading the world in oppression of Indigenous Peoples. The mainstream news coverage of the police storm tactics and imprisonment of some Maori without bail, has been biased and one-sided. In Australia, few news reporters have reported fairly on the struggle for Aboriginals' rights.
Thanks to all of you for reading.
brendanorrell@gmail.com

Sonoran pronghorns, between bombs and border walls

Sonoran Pronghorn 

The Sonoran Pronghorn can run 60 miles per hour, but can it outrun an out-of-control Bush Administration building border walls

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

Nov. 1, 2007

AJO, Arizona – The Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge visitor center looks like a typical national park office from the outside. Inside, however, the mysteries unfold of the Sonoran Desert, the endangered Sonoran pronghorn, and the delicate complexion of the desert ecosystem.

In this sleepy town of used clothing stores and Mexican auto insurance offices, the wildlife refuge visitor center is an oasis of natural wonders.

Straddling the wildlife refuge is the refuge’s evil non-biological twin: the Barry M. Goldwater Airforce Range, known as the Bombing Range.

In this area, a small herd of the rare and endangered Sonoran pronghorn roam. Beyond the US/Mexico border, in the state of Sonora, Mexico, a larger herd roams. Fences are the biggest threat to the survival of pronghorns, according to US Fish and Wildlife.

Pronghorns, the fastest animal in North America, do not jump, they run into walls and fences when panicked.

With the Bush Administration declaring that it is “God of the Universe,” and that no federal laws apply to border wall construction, border walls and barriers in all sizes and shapes are suddenly appearing, without public input or environmental assessment.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff waived all federal laws protecting the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area in October, located to the east of here on the Arizona border. Chertoff disavowed a federal court ruling temporarily halting construction at San Pedro, which is a World Heritage Natural Area, designated by the United Nations.

The San Pedro fiasco was the third time the Real ID Act of 2005 was used to eradicate all federal laws that get in the way of building the US/Mexico border wall. The Real ID Act was first used in San Diego in 2005, then at the Barry Goldwater Range. Among the laws waived: the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.

In January, Chertoff used Real ID to direct the construction of a double-layered border wall on the Goldwater range, detrimental to the pronghorns and other wildlife. Instead of a vehicle barrier, which would have been less harmful to wildlife, Chertoff mandated a double-layered fence.

The US Congress passed the REAL ID Act of 2005 as Division B of the act, “Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005.” This legislation was touted as an act to deter terrorism.

Critics, however, say it was manipulated fear-mongering, aimed at producing a tool to eliminate all federal laws for the purpose of corporate profiteering and far-reaching government control.

For endangered species, the Read ID is a real nightmare, the equivalent of open season on biological treasures.

Endangered species were not the only obstacles Homeland Security disregarded to build border walls and border barriers. The Bush Administration and Homeland Security dug up American Indian ancestors from their final resting places. Border wall contractor Boeing dug up the ancestors of the Tohono O’odham in Arizona, to build a border barrier in 2007.

Earlier, Kumeyaay in California protested construction of the border wall, saying it would “plow through the graves" of their ancestors. Although it violated the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act and American Indian Religious Freedom Act, construction continued.

At Cabeza, now there is the magic and wonder. Visitors are told that the Sonoran Desert has more species than any other arid region in the world. The cryptobiotic “skin” of the desert is composed of algae, bacteria and lichen. Like a human skin, it is delicate and wounds can take generations to heal. If you pour water on it and wait, it will turn green.

Unique on this planet is the pronghorn -- Antilocapra americana – which means “American antelope goat.” However, it is neither an antelope nor a goat. “The pronghorn is the only surviving member of an ancient family dating back 20 million years. The Sonoran Pronghorn (A. a. sonorensis) is one of five subspecies in western North America.

“It is perhaps America’s most endangered mammal,” according to Cabeza.

The Sonoran pronghorn is found only here in the United States, in the area around Ajo, south of Phoenix, near the border. It is also found in the state of Sonora, Mexico. In the United States, there are about 100 Sonoran pronghorns, while in Mexico, one herd numbers 15 to 20, while another herd numbers 300 to 400 pronghorns.

“They never learned to jump over even low barriers,” Cabeza says.

Here at Cabeza, an enclosure for breeding is an attempt to ensure the herds survival. The recovery plan includes a captive breeding program and transplant strategy. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife says that in 2002, after a lack of rainfall and “land use activities,” the Ajo herd dwindled to 21 pronghorn.

However, after capturing seven pronghorns in Mexico for the Arizona herd in 2004, four died of reactions to the capture and another died of a medical problem. After the capture myopathy (resulting from overexertion in the capture), the program was shut down. Still, two survived to live in the 640-acre natural environment on the refuge, fenced to keep out predators. An Arizona Sonoran male pronghorn was captured and placed with the two females. New fawns have been seen outside the enclosure.

However, there’s the lingering question of the bombs. As the visitor center’s video rolls, the speaker tells how the Airforce and its bombers have the right to airspace above the wildlife refuge. The refuge controls only the natural resources on the ground.

“Now, how does that work?” I ask the staff. “Are the pronghorns being bombed?”

The explanation went like this: The Airforce bombers only turn around in the airspace over the wildlife refuge. Further, the bombers do not engage with ground targets if pronghorns are in the area on the rest of the bombing range.

It is an interesting concept, but seems pretty bizarre, considering how pronghorns dart around at 60 miles per hour. This desert bombing range -- 1.3 million acres -- is also home to desert bighorn sheep, desert tortoises and a cornucopia of biological life.

Recently, I asked a wildlife official in Arizona about the migration of the pronghorns and how a border wall would affect their migrations since they run with lightning speed and slam into walls when panicked.

The official said that the United States does not really want their US Sonoran pronghorns migrating south of the border to Mexico because of the busy traffic on the Mexican highway running along the border to the south. The United States also has some questions about the grazing and adaptation of the US pronghorns, should they elect to give up their US citizenship and join the larger crowd of pronghorns south of the border. (This all had the sound of “No way I’m telling you the truth, because if Homeland Security finds out, I’m finished.”)

This wildlife official said the US Sonoran pronghorns have adapted to the rainfall and grasses here and to their bombing neighbors.

With Cabeza’s 391 plant species and 300 kinds of wildlife, Cabeza is also home to the endangered Lesser long-nosed bats. The Lesser long-nosed bats caused a stir around the new non-functional Boeing border spy tower in Arivaca.

With the spy tower's layers of radar and microwave transmissions, high-tech equipment and generator, questions were raised about the effect on the bats' hunting abilities, since the bats use echolation (bouncing sound) to hunt. The spy tower is being protested as a violation of privacy. At one time there was hope that environmental laws might save the day.

However, the bats, along with the pronghorns and jaguars along the border of Arizona, are now facing the heavy hand of power that is slam-dunking all environmental laws to construct the US/Mexico border wall.

There’s more disturbing information in the Cabeza literature. Besides Cabeza hosting “a limited desert bighorn sheep hunt,” there’s a note of caution about the live bombs. Cabeza’s information says the military has used this as a gunnery and bombing range since World War II and many types of ordnances remain buried and on the surface.

“You may encounter unexploded ordnance,” Cabeza warns. Visitors are directed not to touch those and report the live bombs to the refuge staff.

Of course, one has to wonder, what does a pronghorn do when it encounters an unexploded bomb.

Wildlife refuges and bombing ranges hardly seem like good neighbors. However, Arizona seems to like the fraternity.

Farther to the west in Arizona, between Yuma and nowhere, the Yuma Proving Ground is where the military tests missiles and long-range weapons. It is right next to another wildlife refuge, the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.

On the 80-mile stretch between Quartzite and Yuma, the only sign of life is Stone Cabin, (literally a stone cabin) where a food vendor sells buffalo burgers. Outside of Quartzite, there were a few scattered campers, stuck here and there in the creosote bushes. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to live there, with no sign of water, electricity or anything else. It looked like the set for a B-rated “end of the world” movie. I was so anxious to get out of that area, that I couldn’t stand the thought of a ten-minute wait for a burger.

“You have to drive through the Proving Ground to get to the wildlife refuge,” I was told, after seeing a military tank with gunnery, painted in murky green camouflage, stopped at a stop sign.

Another time, thanks.

News links:

SAN PEDRO RIVER Environmentalists challenge Chertoff's authority

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/209504

Construction of border fence, and vehicle barriers resumes

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/altss/printstory/local/67601

More on cryptobiotic soil

http://www.nps.gov/archive/care/crypto.htm

Navajo Women Saanii, life sparkling magic

By Brenda Norrell

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

A book came in the mail, "Navajo Women Saanii." This is no ordinary book, for it is written by Betty Reid, Navajo, with photos by Japanese photographer Kenji Kawano.

This book carries me back to when Betty and I lived in a log cabin in the Chuska Mountains on the Navajo Nation. We worked for the Navajo Times, which for a while was the daily Navajo Times TODAY in the early 1980s. Most days, I traveled across Navajoland for stories and usually Kawano was assigned to photograph those stories.

Our lives were filled with Saanii, Navajo women, who showed us how to spin sheep's wool into yarn and make kneeldown bread from fresh ground corn. There was always something for the women to laugh with us about, always a secret to whisper. They always showed us a gentler and more loving way to be. Stepping lightly on Mother Earth, with memories of trading posts and wagons, grinding blue corn and gathering wild tea, they always spoke to us with tenderness.

At home, in the log cabin on the mountain, we fed the woodstove with wood and dug out of deep snow. We drove down the mountain and struggled with computers, copy editors and deadlines. Those were sweet times and this new book, "Navajo Women Saanii" brings it all back, like Navajo women singing.

Some of the women we interviewed during those years are listed in Betty's new book in the section, "Twenty Noteworthy Navajo Women." One of those women was Claudeen Bates-Arthur, who died in 2004. She was the first Navajo Attorney General and the first female Navajo Chief Justice. One sentence Bates-Arthur said during an interview for Navajo Times is always with me. I asked her who made the most difference in her life and why. She said it was her mother. "She was always there for me," Claudeen said.

Another woman on the list of 29, is Annie Dodge Wauneka, who died in 1997. During her last years, she spent a day showing me her sheep and windmill, remembering how she spent her life. It wasn't the Presidential Medal of Freedom for helping eradicate tuberculosis, or the politics and travel, she remembered. It was her family, the sheep and the windmills.

In this book, "Navajo Women Saanii," Betty tells the stories of women living the quiet life of the Beauty Way and women balancing traditional and modern ways, from educators to rodeo riders. She writes of grandmothers, mothers and daughters. She writes for future generations.

"I remember chubby lambs in the spring and watching women snip wool off the sheep and goats by hand as they gossiped and laughed. I remember the flashlights we relied on for light during inky-black winter nights ..." Betty writes."Traditional Dine' (Navajo) elders say we live in the Fifth World. It sparkles with everything magical."

The mountaintop where we lived in Crystal, between the trading post and the lake, was magical. Looking out the front door, we could see all the journeys, the moon rise, the tracks of bobcats, deer and wild turkey in the snow and the changing colors of oak leaves with the breath of winter.

Life sparkled with everything magical.

Ahe'hee', thank you Betty.

.

"Navajo Women Saanii" is published by Rio Nuevo Publishers in Tucson. Betty Reid is a news reporter for the Arizona Republic. Kenji Kawano lives with his family on the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, Arizona.