Western Shoshone youth ready to run across America -- again!

PUYALLUP INDIAN NATION, Wash. -- Carl "Bad Bear" Sampson, Western Shoshone, walked and ran across America in 2008, on the Longest Walk northern route. Tonight, Bad Bear was on the Puyallup Indian Nation, and joined a Puyallup canoe family for a family dinner. Bad Bear and Chris Francisco, Navajo from Shiprock, N.M., and route coordinator, were at the Puyallup Tribe Kwawachee Center. They are preparing for the Longest Walk northern route for diabetes. The walk is to raise awareness of diabetes and encourage healthy eating and living. The walkers and runners will leave Portland, Ore., in two weeks, running through Idaho, Montana and the Dakotas, on their way to DC., where they will meet the southern route. Photo 1: Carl Bad Bear Sampson by Marie Littlemoon. Photo 2: Bad Bear and Ellyn photo by Chris Francisco. Photo 3: Puyallup canoe family by Chris Francisco.
More info:
http://www.earthbornproductions.com/

Please consider sharing a pot of hot soup or coffee, or maybe some hot Indian tea, when the walkers and runners pass through the cold north. They'll also be needing places to sleep at night. They'll be sharing their stories with you:

Northern Route: Chris Francisco, (503) 515-6239 indigenouswalkabout@yahoo.com

Wikileaks Peru: US Ambassador targeted Indigenous activists, promoted mining

Deadly mining in Peru, deadly for Indigenous Peoples 2015

Diplomats protecting mining interests of Barrick, Newmont, BHP: US, Canada, Australia, UK, Switzerland and South Africa

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

(Feb. 1, 2011) The arrogance of the US and its cheerleading for corporate copper mining in Peru is obvious in two cables just released from Wikileaks. The diplomatic cables reveal the US promoting multi-national corporations, while targeting Indigenous activists and their supporters.

The new cables reveal that a core group of diplomats formed an alliance with mining companies to promote and protect mining interests globally. The diplomats were from the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, Switzerland and South Africa.

While rallying for copper mining in Peru, US Ambassador J. Curtis Struble failed to point out in the cables the torture and murder of Indigenous activists by mining companies, near the border of Peru and Ecuador. Struble failed to reveal the long-term destruction to Mother Earth and poisoning of the land, water and air from copper mining.

Further, Struble named names, while promoting the mining corporations. Struble targeted specific NGOs and urged the rotation of teachers and those supporting Indigenous activists out of Peru.

Peru activist Nicanor Alvarado Carrasco, coordinator of the Vicarate for the Environment, is among those defending the land. Nicanor said the mining company Minera Majaz, a subsidiary of the British Montericco Metals, is operating illegally on their territories.

“This mine company is a threat to the environment and to people’s rights to food and water,” said Nicanor in an interview.

"This is a moment for the world citizens to show that world citizenship exists. You from the North can help stop illegal mining companies, like Monterrico Metals, from contaminating our land, killing peasant leaders, and from torturing the active Minera Majaz opposition,” Nicanor said.

Struble, the former Ambassador to Peru, however, had only insults for Indigenous Peoples struggling to protect their land. Struble was US Ambassador in Lima in 2005 when he wrote the cables.

While seeking sympathy for the copper mining company, Struble targets those defending the land.

Struble said in one cable: “The anti-mining forces in action in Majaz represent a strange group of bedfellows indeed -- the Catholic church, violent radical leftists, NGOs, ronderos and perhaps narcotraffickers. These organizations are competing for a leadership role but in some cases also cooperate. The extent to which the church is tied into the ronderos and radical left is both controversial and still open to question. Unlike recent conflicts in Southern Peru (e.g., Tintaya) the protests in Majaz are not aimed at forcing a redistribution of royalties or more generous economic support from a mine. Northern Peru has a reputation for being more anti-mining than the South, where the industry is better developed and more of the local populations see benefits from the activity. The objective of protesters in Majaz is to kill the project while it is in the exploration phase -- before, presumably, a pro-mine constituency can develop in the area."

Ambassador Struble does not seem to have a clue why the people who live on the land want the mining halted, or the impacts for future generations.

Struble said US and Canadian Ambassadors, and a delegation of diplomats, met with the mining companies to discuss the opposition to mining.

"Consensus among the companies is that radical forces (Communist Party-Patria Roja, drug traffickers and rural defense committees--ronderos) are increasingly active in rural communities, seeking to target mining operations throughout the country."

The US and Canadian Ambassadors meeting with mining companies included: Antamina, Newmont (Minera Yanacocha), Minera Quellaveco, Barrick, BHP Billiton (Tintaya mine). The diplomats were from the US, Canada, the Swiss Charge, the new Australian Consul General, and the British Embassy Trade and Investment. "A representative from the South African Embassy, which forms part of this diplomatic mining group, was unable to attend," the cable said.

Their goal was to improve the climate for investments and security around mines, the cable said.

Three of these countries -- US, Canada and Australia -- at this meeting in Peru were among the four countries who voted against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples when it was adopted by the UN General Assembly. New Zealand was the fourth.

In today’s London Guardian, Tim Webb points out that the mining company in Peru is part-owned by a British FTSE 100 company. In a second cable, Struble advocates for the removal of teachers and Catholic bishops and teachers to new posts away from "conflictive mining.”

Diplomats were urged to persuade the Peruvian government and church to "rotate" such professionals out of sensitive areas.

In the second cable, an executive from Anglo American's Minera Quellaveco reportedly blamed Oxfam America and Friends of the Earth for largely “fomenting anti-mining attitudes” at the meeting, it was alleged.

A spokesman for Oxfam America said that while such NGOs tried to make sure companies treated communities "justly", they only did so through legal channels and never advocated violence, the Guardian reported.

Meanwhile, in the United States, two of the mining companies that diplomats met with to promote and protect, continue to destroy sacred lands. Western Shoshone have been fighting mining by Newmont and Barrick mining in their homelands. Currently before the US federal court is Barrick's plan for an open pit gold mine on sacred Mount Tenabo.

Peru mining cables:
Cable 1:
http://213.251.145.96/cable/2005/08/05LIMA3571.html
Cable 2: Posted and highlighted by London Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/38881
Today's Guardian article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jan/31/wikileaks-bhp-billiton-peru-mining-communities

Nicanor speaking in Cochabamba, Bolivia, at the World Conference on Climate Change and Mother Earth, in April:

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Crumbs! Cobell Settlement

Is the Cobell settlement another scam?
UPDATE: Attorneys ask judge to more than double their feesBy Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/


Attorneys in the Cobell settlement jacked up their bill in January, more than doubling it, and the United States is now attempting to buy up Indian lands under the settlement.
Indian land owners, long cheated by the US government, will be receiving peanuts. Individual Indians are expected to receive on the average $1,200, of the $3.4 billion settlement.
Native Americans question if the settlement is no more than another US scam to buy up Indian lands.
Never sell the landVi Waln said she has already received three letters, with increasing offers. Waln is Sicangu Lakota, editor of Lakota Country Times and lives on the Rosebud Indian Nation in South Dakota.
"I got three letters on the Cobell settlement. And I will get more letters offering to buy my fractionated interests. Every time they send me a letter with an offer to buy the fractionated interests they offer more money. Maybe I will sell if they offer me $99.9 million like the Cobell lawyers are getting," Waln said.
"But then again I always tell my family to never sell the land, even if the letter says you own only one acre!"
Attorneys want a big chunk of the pieNow that the US has agreed to the Cobell settlement, the attorneys, including a large number of non-Indian attorneys, are seeking to more than double their fees.
The $3.4 billion class action settlement, Cobell v. Salazar, seeks to resolve claims related to Individual Indian Money (or IIM) accounts and land held in trust by the federal government for the benefit of individual Indians.
The attorneys now say that $99.9 million isn't enough. On Jan. 25, the attorneys asked a presiding judge for far more: $223 million plus $1.3 million in expenses and costs (see court petition below.)
Although some of the attorneys are Native Americans, the majority are not.
Washington solo practitioner Dennis Gingold and a team of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton attorneys told a judge their fees should be more than doubled.
The National Law Journal online reports, "Kilpatrick Chairman William Dorris in Atlanta, who bills at $690 an hour, revealed in court records the hourly rates for nearly 100 current and former partners, associates and counsel in Washington; Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Atlanta, among other cities."
Ben Carnes, Choctaw in Oklahoma, questions why the United States isn't paying the legal fees.
"What is absent to me is why the defendants (US Government) isn't paying the attorney fees, which is what is usually requested in civil actions. Unless the negotiations in the settlement were that their payday came from the plaintiffs.
"There has been an argument that many of the current plaintiffs have passed on since the filing of this case, but that has been going on for more than a hundred years. If there is a fear they won't get money in hand before their deaths, then it disturbs me. One should never give up just so they could be bought out."
What about criminal charges?
Carnes said he views the settlement as a cover-up, aimed at protecting the criminals involved in the theft and fraud of billions of Indian dollars.
"My opinion of the Cobell settlement is that it is a cover-up. There is no doubt that to do an historical accounting would be a monumental undertaking, but the costs would be more than dollars.
"It could cost careers, expose covert illegal activities and where possible, lead to a demand for federal indictments. Someone mentioned that during the Iran-contra hearings evidence was revealed that funding had been diverted from our accounts.
"As to the fractionated lands issue, I was told that the lands purchased would be turned over to the tribal government as a part of the consolidation. Since these entities are created by the federal government, it wouldn't be a far stretch to think that the federal government could 'lease' these lands more easily than dealing with heirs."
"Another aspect I haven't seen mentioned here is that when notices are sent out, and if an heir couldn't be reached, they will lose out anyway. These lands will be purchased at fair market value, but when these lands are gone, they will be gone."
Through the years, whistleblowers, including one at the BLM in Farmington, N.M., exposed the fact that the amounts of oil and gas being extracted from the Aneth, Utah, oil and gas fields on the Navajo Nation, were intentionally underreported to benefit the corporations. Navajos in Aneth had long protested the hundreds of oil and gas wells around their homes that were poisoning their families.
Sweetin' the pie: Indian scholarshipsThe dangling carrot of the offer of Indian scholarships was supposed to sweeten the pie, but American Indians aren't buying that either. They've seen these vague scholarship offers fall by the wayside, or end up with most of the funds going into the pockets of CEOs and for travel, or squandered in more fraud.
Theresa Yarbrough listed many concerns over the settlement.
"The scholarship fund is nothing more than dangling an apple in front of the lead plow horse," Yarbrough said.
The vague wording in the settlement states: "Depending on the level of participation in the land consolidation program, up to $60 million will be set aside to provide scholarships for higher education for American Indian and Alaska Native youth."
The truth is, "up to $60 million," is vague wording and means anything less than this amount.
US seeks to benefit from its crimesYarbrough points out that the United States would never enter into the Cobell settlement, unless it benefits the United States.
In the settlement, as usual, the US states that it has done nothing wrong.
"They agree to settle, they don't believe they have committed any crime or wronged anyone," Yarbrough pointed out.
"Another thing wrong with this is that the settlement allows for a huge amount of the monies to establish a new government program that will be used to buy up fractionated lands. This is nothing more than another land acquisition movement," she said. "Unless the land is returned to the Indians with a land patent, and all mineral and resource rights, it is still property of the United States," she said.
Native Americans point out that the US can not be trusted. Further, they point out that tribal governments are entities manufactured by the US government. When it comes to land, and revenues from energy, many Native Americans feel neither the tribal government nor the US government can be trusted.
Although the settlement says the newly-acquired lands purchased will become a "benefit" to the tribes, beware. The US also considers toxic waste dumps as good economic development for Indian country.
It is the purchase of fractionated interests that is a red flag among many.
"Under the Settlement Agreement, $1.9 billion will fund a Department of the Interior program to buy fractionated interests in trust or restricted land from willing sellers to benefit tribal communities and aid in land consolidation."
Yarbrough said what the government is really saying, with the land acquisition is: "We will benefit from your lands and keep you from leaving it to your heirs."
Grassroots Natives remain uninformedThe settlement comes with many warnings that may never reach the grassroots Native people who live without electricity or Internet. For some, English is a second language. Still, if they don't opt out, they are considered part of the settlement.
"Individuals wishing to keep their right to sue the federal government over mismanagement claims covered by the settlement must exclude themselves from the settlement by April 20, 2011," according to the settlement.
Hush moneyAs with any settlement, this means an end to claims.
"Settlement means just that, once the deal is accepted, the issue is settled, put to rest, and can never be brought up again," Yarbrough said.
Crumbs again for the people
As more is learned about the settlement, it increasingly resembles some of the casino negotiations.
These resulted in casino management companies and the states receiving fortunes from lucrative casinos. The grassroots Native people whose tribes operate lucrative casinos, including the Tohono O'odham, continue to live in desperation, seeking food, homes and jobs, while profits go to casino management companies and large percentages to the states.
MoreUPDATE Feb. 2, 2011: Cobell is holding meetings with land owners:http://64.38.12.138/News/2011/000330.asp
Current payout information for landowners:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/court-ordered-notification-in-34-billion-indian-trust-settlement-to-begin-114639824.html
Attorneys petition for increased fees:"This fee petition is submitted by plaintiffs on behalf of Dennis M. Gingold, Thaddeus Holt and the law firm of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, LLP, including William E. Dorris, Keith M. Harper, Elliott H. Levitas, David C. Smith, Adam H. Charnes, G. William Austin and Justin M. Guilder (collectively, “Class Counsel”) in accordance with the terms of settlement. Work after December 7, 2009 will be the subject of future applications.
Court petition:http://www.indiantrust.com/docs/20110126_petitionbrief.pdf
National Law Journal: Cobell attorneys seek $223 million
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202480032511

Flagstaff Protest: NAU off sacred Mount Graham

Contact: Robin Silverrsilver@biologicaldiversity.org
(602) 799-3275 (Photo: Mount Graham website: www.mountgraham.org )
Action in support Winona LaDuke's presentation at NAU campus on Feb 1st. Protest rally to stop NAU desecration and extinction on Mount Graham!
When: Tues. February 1.
Gather at 5:00 PM
Walk starts at 6:00 PM
Where: NAU High Country Conference Center located at 201 West Butler Avenue.
Meet outside near Butler Ave and Conference Center main entrance.
Look for banners.
Why: The Mount Graham telescope project desecrates a central Apache religious site. It destroys and fragments the old growth forest heart of an endangered species' critical habitat.
Northern Arizona University is a partner in the projects centerpiece Large Binocular Telescope.
NAU administration has ignored previous attempts to address this issue.
Please join us!
Who: NAU students, faculty and concerned community members. Elders from San Carlos Apache will be in attendance.
This action is being supported by: Center for Biological Diversity, Mount Graham Coalition, and Indigenous Action Media.
Plan: Walk from Conference Center to Winona LaDuke's speech at Ardrey
Auditorium (ticket necessary for admission: http://nau.ticketforce.com/ordertickets.asp?p=432&backurl=default.asp)
Contact: NAU President Haeger and urge him to respect the Apache, to save the Mount Graham red squirrel and to get NAU out of the Mount Graham telescope project.
Phone: (928) 523-3232 Email: John.Haeger@nau.edu
Further Info: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2010/mount-graham-red-squirrel-12-22-2010.html
NAU OFF MOUNT GRAHAM! PROTECT SACRED SITES!
Background:
For the Apache, Mount Graham or Dzil nchaa si' is of central sacred importance to the Western Apache as a geographical landform, as a burial ground, and as home to the Gaahn (mountain spirits). Mount Graham is also sacred in very specific locations. One of these sites is Emerald Peak where the centerpiece Large Binocular Telescope (formerly the Columbus telescope) is now located. NAU is a partner in this telescope which is now visible from the San Carlos reservation.
The Mount Graham Red Squirrel is found nowhere else except on Mount Graham. Only a little more than 200 squirrels now survive. The telescopes destroy and fragment the forested heart of the squirrels' essential spruce-fir habitat. Nearly one third of the spruce-fir was needlessly destroyed recently under the guise of protecting the telescopes from fire.