Colombia's 9,000 protesters in danger

Indigenous protesters in Colombia under siege
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
We have received news of a stand-off between the Colombian police and a 9,000 strong assembly of workers and peasants in Colombia in the region of Cauca. The workers and peasants are in grave danger as the state is moving in to dislodge them from the Pan-American highway that they have blockaded in the South-West of the country. There has been a wave of mobilisations of the indigenous peasants in Colombia in the last week to coincide with the 512 anniversary of the arrival of the Spanish colonisers. It also coincides with a strike wave, including some 18,000 sugar cane workers, who have declared their solidarity with the indigenous communities. The striking workers of the juridical system, however, seem to have reached an agreement with the government in the last few days. Uribe, the president of Colombia has declared a state of emergency and sent in the para-militarises and the police. Already 35 indigenous activists have been injured in the area, of whom two seriously. Security forces have attacked the unarmed indigenous protesters with everything from machetes to long-range rifles. The indigenous groups are calling for international solidarity. Send protest letters to your local Colombian embassy. See a list here.
Reposted from: http://www.marxist.com/indigenous-protesters-colombia-under-siege.htm

In the Spirit of Big Mountain at Alcatraz Island: 'We Discovered ColumBUSH!'

In the Spirit of Big Mountain at Alcatraz Island: “We Discovered ColumBUSH!”

By Bahe Katenay

Sheep Dog Nation Rocks

Photo: 1978 Longest Walk by Beverly Powless

October 14, 2008 When the opportunity came along for me to take time off work and go to the San Francisco Bay Area, I decided that I have to attend the Sunrise ceremony to honor the Longest Walk participants from 1978 and 2008, and join my indigenous relatives and other non-Native allies. I particularly wanted to remember and honor my mother, Zhonnie Chii Diil’ Katenay, who passed on into the spirit world eleven months ago. My mom has been on Alcatraz Island before for two “Thanksgiving holiday” events. My dad, Jon Keediniihii, told me before I went to the Bay Area and Alcatraz that, he went once but my mom had been to Alcatraz twice: “It has been years ago that we took a boat filled with mostly Indian people and we went out to ‘a small piece of earth’ that was situated in the middle of a large bay. The people made a fire and everyone gathered in a circle around that fire, and your mom was asked to do a prayer for that special gathering of nations. Mom made a beautiful and strong prayer as she always did. After the ceremonies on ‘that little land,’ the late Arlene Hamilton told us that a family from the Berkeley hills had invited us to a feast, and so we all went up into the hills that were across from the city of San Francisco. That was how my travel went back then with Arlene and your mom. Now, it is good to hear that the Indians are still returning to ‘that little piece of land’ to do the ceremonies.”
Read article:
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2008/10/in-spirit-of-big-mountain-at-alcatraz.html

BAHE UNCENSORED

Read also Bahe Katenay's article, censored by Indian Country Today in 2004, on oil and gas drilling in Navajos' sacred place of origin Dinetah.

Bahe said, “Gas reserves are drilled in places where White Shell Woman was found by Talking God and places where she did her Kinalda (puberty ceremony). Places where the Twin Warrior Gods made their divine deeds are alsodesecrated with drilling, piping, wells and recreation activities. The Dine’ have lost these lands and their ‘puppet’ tribal government have refused to fight for a claim to this area,” Katenay said. Read the censored article:

http://bsnorrell.tripod.com/id104.html

Indigenous Women Remove Columbus Barrier in Denver Photos

Special thanks to the blog, "Fire Witch Rising," for allowing the Censored News to repost these photos. Thirteen Indigenous women delivered the Treaty of Transformation to the organizers of the Columbus Day Parade in Denver on Saturday. Also read the article by Mano Cockrum, Hopi/Navajo, and find out what the pro-Columbus group did with the Treaty. Describing the courageous action of the Indigenous women as shown in the photos above, Fire Witch wrote, "Protesters head for the barricades to confront the Ugly Americans commemorating a slave-trading, Indian-killer. A delegation of 13 Indigenous women tear down the barricades and take a Treaty of Transformation to the hate speech organizers. The confrontation is accomplished without arrests, and the Transform Columbus Day Alliance leaves the tedious losers to finish their creep show in front of no one. Abolish Columbus Day, fools. Cuz now ya'll are just REALLY embarrassing yourselves," Fire Witch wrote. Double click on images to enlarge. Photos copyright Fire Witch Rising. See more photos and reporting from the scene at the website, Fire With Rising:

http://www.firewitchrising.blogspot.com/

Alcatraz Sunrise, photos by Bad Bear Sampson

More photos

Special thanks to Carl Bad Bear Sampson, Paiute/Shoshone from Nevada, for the photos of the Alcatraz Sunrise Gathering on Monday, Oct. 13, 2008. Bad Bear also documented the Longest Walk Northern Route, and Peace and Dignity Journeys in Arizona 2008, with his cellphone. Bad Bear, second from left in photo two in red sweatshirt, is photographed with other members of the Longest Walk Northern Route 2. See more photos of walkers from Nevada and California, along with walkers Aislyn, Harry and Edmund, at the Alcatraz Ceremony:

More photos of Longest Walk Northern Route at Alcatraz