In the News: Casinos and Blood Money

Navajo Family Fights New Casino and Obama: Too Little, Too Late
By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

In today's news, Calvin Johnson, Navajo, writes about the Scott Family's fight against the Navajo Nation's plan for a new casino, east of Flagstaff.

Traditional Navajos have a saying: "Gambling will steal the future from the children."

While some Indian Nations in the US have used their revenues generously for charities and the betterment of their own people, in Arizona that has not always been the case.

The Scott family's statement of opposition comes as the National Congress of American Indians announced its support for the Tohono O'odham Nation's plan to build a casino in Glendale, in the Phoenix region.

However, NCAI should talk to the Tohono O'odham people, who are living in desperate poverty despite the Tohono O'odham's longtime lucrative Desert Diamond Casino near Tucson.

Tohono O'odham are desperate for housing and jobs, even food, and question where the millions of dollars in revenues are going from the casino.

Anyone who drives by the packed casino, then drives through the Tohono O'odham Nation, can see that something is extremely wrong.

Reporters covering Indian issues know that one of the most censored issues is the extensive needs in southern Arizona Indian communities, where there are lucrative casinos.

In other news, President Obama announced he will give $125,000 of his Nobel Peace Prize award to the American Indian College Fund.

First of all, no amount of money can ever bring back a mother's son or daughter killed in these wars, wars based on the lies of politicians. The Nobel Peace Prize for a warmonger is essentially blood money, blood money which continues the deceit of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Further, the American Indian College Fund receives a mediocre rating on the charity rating charts. In simple language this means that the people who operate the American Indian College Fund spend far too much money on themselves, and too little on American Indian scholarships.

(The chief executive officer received compensation of $213,000 in 2008 and nearly $2 million was spent on fundraising.)

President Obama's announcement comes as the Obama administration declared a winter storm emergency in South Dakota for the storm in December, months after the disaster. Lakotas, repeatedly blasted by winter storms, pleaded for aid in January and February and were ignored. Cheyenne River Sioux in central South Dakota were without electricity for weeks and water for more than six days. Indian Nations and individuals rallied to their aid with online campaigns to deliver aid and buy propane. A telephone campaign, that was organized online, urging CNN to cover the disaster in the Dakotas resulted in less than a minute of news.

Read more on Censored News Homepage:
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

References:
Navajo Family Stands Strong Against Casino:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2010/03/navajo-family-stands-strong-against.html

Update 2024

Tax records for the American Indian College Fund are now online at Propublica.

The salary for CEO, Cheryl Crazy Bull, in 2023 was $400,000.

https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521573446

Copyright Censored News: Content may not be used without written permission, or any way for revenues.

Navajo Family Stands Strong Against Proposed Twin Arrows Casino

Navajo Family Stands Strong Against Proposed Twin Arrows Casino

Navajo Nation violating the fundamental individual rights, human rights, homesite and grazing rights says family

By Calvin Johnson, Navajo
caljohnson2006@yahoo.com

LEUPP, Ariz. -- According to the Associated Press released Wednesday, March 3, 2010, “the Navajo Nation announced it was planning a $180 million green and environmentally friendly resort and casino," east of Flagstaff directly in the back yard of Scott’s Family homestead.
The AP also reports that the “resort-casino will feature a golf course, hotel rooms and a store selling native arts and crafts.”
“I was not surprised to hear that the Navajo Nation is proceeding with this casino even with the inaccurate reporting and very strong objections of our whole family,” said Rena Abeyta.
“First it was 100 acres, now it is 300 acres, this 'donation of land' has never been approved by us.”
Betty Scott, the matriarch of the family said, "My daughters have a homesite lease out here, my son has a homesite lease and we all have been overlooked by the chapter. The Navajo Nation keeps saying I am the only one that lives here, that’s not true.”
The Scott Family is made up of over 61 members from aunts and uncles to great grandchildren. They have 4 approved home site leases and additional pending near the proposed site of the casino. The total count of the number of homesites in the immediate area has been overlooked by the Navajo Nation, including Leupp Chapter. To date, the Scott family say that the Navajo Nation is proposing the casino without any paperwork such as the Marketing Study, Environmental Impact Study, Social Impact Study, Cultural Impact Study, Archaeological Studies, and last but not least, the approval of the Scott Family.
Furthermore, Abeyta said, “The Navajo Nation is and will be violating our fundamental individual rights, human rights, homesite and grazing rights which entitles us to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness if the proposed casino continues.”
“Our family and I will continue to say no to the proposed casino and the all mighty Navajo Nation will not force us to move nor will our rights be violated for the sake of money,” said Betty Scott.

Mapuche Prisoners Film Festival Benefit Toronto

Public Statement of the Mapuche Political Prisoners of Lebu
(Photo: La Voz Mapuche film)

In light of the difficult situation being carried out in Lebu prison, the Mapuche Political Prisoners of Lebu, deprived of our freedom due to continual attacks and photographic set-ups on the part of the Chilean State on our Peoples and Communities, wish to express the following to the national and international human rights groups, the Red Cross and the community at large:
The Crisis situation that we are living in Lebu prison are deplorable, stressing and agonizing, especially considering that Lebu is one of the most affected cities by the earthquake, where since it hit we have had no electricity, running water or food, and have been completely abandoned by the authorities. There is an emergency sanitary situation, where bread and food is being rationalized. Due to the continued seismic aftershocks, we are sleeping in the backyard on mattresses. Moreover, information is continually being denied of information of what is happening, without having access to the press, news, etc.
Plus, these last few days have been particularly alarming, since there is no bread or food left in the city, nor in the storage areas of prison security. This has been worsened by the continual threats made by prison security, of a natural rising of water that has formed alongside the river that threatens the city.
From Lebu Prison
Mapuche Political Prisoners from Arauco
Distributed By: The Women’s Coordinating Committee Chile-Canada

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IN BENEFIT OF THE MAPUCHE COMMUNITIES IN CONFLICT
The Women’s Coordinating Committee Chile-Canada [Toronto] presents:
Mapuche: The Rebirth of the Warrior
The Second Annual Toronto Mapuche People’s Solidarity Film Festival
March 27th & 28th, 2010 @ Victoria College Campus
University of Toronto (Just East of Museum Station)
In Memory of Our Brothers: Matias Catrileo, Alex Lemun, and Jaime Mendoza Collío, murdered by the repressive forces of the Chilean State.
Film Festival Agenda:
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2010/03/toronto-mapuche-prisoners-film-festival.html

Shame on Brazil: Stop Amazon Mega-Dam

COMMENTARY: Shame on Brazil: Stop the Amazon Mega-Dam Project Belo Monte
By Rebecca Sommer
Special to http://www.huntingtonnews.net/
Photo © Rebecca Sommer (Kayapó Xicrin woman with her child)
International groups expressed in a joint letter their outrage and opposition against Brazil's plan to build Belo Monte, a mega-hydroelectric project.
Belo Monte would be the third largest dam in the world, and the largest development project in the Amazon, that would devastate an extensive area of the Brazilian rain forest, threatening the survival of indigenous peoples, and severely violating their rights.
If constructed, Belo Monte would inundate 500 square km of land and divert most of the Xingu River’s flow through artificial canals. An enormous stretch of the Xingu River’s “Big Ben" would dry out. The letter was signed by 140 organizations, and delivered to president Lula on March 10, 2010.
"The goal of this letter is to publicly denounce the reckless and immoral conduct of the Brazilian government in approving the Belo Monte hydroelectic dam project. This letter demonstrates an emerging movement of a broad coalition of international human rights organizations, indigenous peoples and environmental groups firmly opposing this project. " said Tom Goldtooth, director of the Indigenous Environmental Network.
Plans to build hydroelectric dams on the Xingu river have existed since the 1970s but have repeatedly failed to materialize, partly as a result of fierce pressure from environmental groups, indigenous peoples and local communities of the Xingu Basin, that have fought Belo Monte for more than 20 years on the same grounds that they continue to oppose it now.
"We want to make sure that Belo Monte does not destroy the ecosystems and the biodiversity that we have taken care of for millennia," Megaron Tuxucumarrae, a leader of the Kayapo Indians said. "We are opposed to dams on the Xingu and will fight to protect our river."
Read article:
http://www.huntingtonnews.net/columns/100311-sommer-columnsbrazil.html