Helena, Montana: Round Dance to Honor Long Walk 3

Round Dance to Honor Long Walk 3 Northern Route
Time Friday, March 11 at 4:30 pm - March 12 at 1:00pm
Location: Sheridan Hall 501 Euclid Avenue Helena, Montana 59601
Created By Sacred Whisper Society, Timothia Kay Smith Earhart, Gordon Wesley Plain Bull Jr.

The Sacred Whisper Society in Coalition with the Helena Indian Alliance will be sponsoring a Round Dance to Honor the Sisters and Brothers who are Walking to promote awareness to Diabetes! Pilamaya aloh.

Lakota Elders, Warrior Societies, Now Occupy Porcupine Elderly Meals Center

Cante Tenza Okolakiciye - Strong Heart Warrior Society
Free & Independent Lakota Nation
Box 512, Hill City, South Dakota 57745 605-454-0449 or
605-517-1547 lakotaoyate.net

March 4, 2011 Contact: Duane Martin Sr. 605-517-1547 or 605-454-0449

LAKOTA ELDERS, WARRIOR SOCIETIES, NOW OCCUPY PORCUPINE ELDERLY MEALS CENTER – WILL STAY UNTIL DEMANDS ARE MET

Audio interviews of elders and warriors can be found at http://audioboo.fm/CanteTenza

Porcupine Elderly Meals Building, Pine Ridge Reservation, SD – After
four years of abuses and calls for remedy from the Bureau of Indian
Affairs(BIA) Oglala Tribal Government, Lakota elders with support from
the Strong Heart Warrior Society, United Urban Warrior Society, and
Rapid City AIM- Grassroots have peacefully taken over, and now occupy,
the Elderly Meals Building in the Porcupine Community of Pine Ridge
Reservation.

The occupation occurred as a result of human rights and civil rights
abuses, including physical assault, of Lakota elders at the center,
the illegal selling of drugs and alcohol from the building by center
staff, refusal of Oglala tribal government officials to take action,
and the use of the tribal judicial office to attack and penalize
elders and advocates who spoke out against abuse, graft, and
corruption occurring in the elderly meals program and throughout
complicit tribal government officials.

The elders and warrior societies are demanding the removal of all
current center staff, the construction of a new, sanitary building,
restoration of healthy meals, expansion of elderly meals to those home-
bound, and an investigation into the graft and corruption in the
program and those complicit tribal officials.

Respected Lakota elders including Lorraine White Face Eagle Elk,
Cecilia Martin, Elizabeth Young Bear, and Enoch Brings Plenty issued
the following statement:

"The former president and the cook have discriminated against the
elders at the Porcupine Elderly Meals Center. Elders are demanding
them to be removed immediately.

The Elders will be leading this occupation with the support and
protection of three warrior societies - the Strong Heart Warrior
Society, United Urban Warrior Society, and Grassroots AIM.

I, Enoch Brings Plenty, as president of the Meals for the Elderly
Program at Porcupine, will try my best to please the Elders in my
district as best as I can -to bring back honesty, trust and integrity.
This is why these three warrior societies are here with us. They are
going to teach our children how to protect and remain free with the
elders of our oyate. Hoka hey!"

In support of the elder’s statement, the Strong Heart Warrior Society
said, “The elders have exhausted all legal remedies that they possibly
can and now they face the critical mass. So it is now their urgency to
request these warrior societies to step up and give them that
opportunity to regain control for what is rightfully theirs.”

The Oglala Tribal Council, which has been at the center of controversy
for years over graft and corruption in their ranks, continues to
publicly state there is no problem with Pine Ridge Reservation elders.
Activists have noted numerous incidents of retaliation and dirty
tricks in order to penalize elders and advocates from speaking out and
making these abuses public.

The occupation is planned until the demands are met. While State and
Federal officials have been slow to respond to this crisis, the South
Dakota Governor’s Office is now aware of the situation, as is the U.S.
Justice Department.
###

The Oglala Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation in southwestern South Dakota
is the size of the state of Connecticut. Due to decades of abuse,
corruption and colonial enforcement, Pine Ridge faces epidemic rates
of suicide, alcohol and drug abuse, elder abuse, and poverty. Life
expectancy for Lakota men is below 40 years of age. Nearly ¾ of the
Lakota people have lost their language, and the traditional language
is on the verge of extinction in Pine Ridge. The reservation has one
of the highest rates of unsolved murders. These unsolved deaths are
widely attributed to violent retaliation against those seeking an end
to corruption and assertion of traditional Lakota sovereignty.

Cante Tenza Okolakiciye also known as the Strong Heart Warrior Society
of the Lakota Nation is an ancient Lakota warrior society as well as a
broad-based civil rights movement that works to protect, enforce and
restore treaty rights, civil rights, and sovereignty of Native people
and their communities across Turtle Island. In addition to activist
efforts to protect the land and people, each year Cante Tenza collects
and freely distributes shoes, winter coats, school supplies, food, and
other support to Oglala Lakota elders, children and families.
www.lakotaoyate.net “Lakota Oyate” on Facebook

Long walkers speak to Nez Perce youths about diabetes

Photo by Longest Walk 3 northern route

More photos of walkers and students: http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2011/03/photos-long-walkers-speak-to-nez-perce.html

Chris Francisco said on Thursday, March 3, 2011: "We visited the elementary, junior high and high schools in Lapwai, Idaho. It was a pleasure to speak to the kids about the dangers of diabetes, especially the elementary students. They had a lot of questions and they listened very well. Thank you for allowing us to speak in your schools. Aho!"

The Longest Walk northern route is preparing to set out in the direction of Missoula, Montana.

On Friday, Chris said, "Today is our day off from all the hard work we put in and we are going to continue to enjoy the Nez Perce community. They're beautiful people. The young people have been running laps for us during their PE hour and the community have been walking on their own time to help add on miles for us cross the Lolo Pass. The Lolo Pas is dangerous and narrow from we heard so that will helps us get across safely. Aho!!!!"
Update Friday night: Chris said, "Hello everyone. We will be in Missoula on Saturday and have places to stay. But we will need a support vehicle because one driver left us in Lapwai. So we have only 2 support vehicles now and need another for our gear and supplies. We still need gas cards or gas money. We have a Pay Pal account on our site and facebook. We'll keep you updated."

Long Walk 3 northern route website: http://earthbornproductions.com/LWNR3.html

Wikileaks reveals illegal Peru mahogany exports in US stores

By Survival International
http://www.survivalinternational.org

Peru’s government has secretly admitted that 70-90% of its mahogany exports were illegally felled, according to a US embassy cable revealed by Wikileaks.

Furthermore, Peru’s government is aware that the illegal timber is being ‘laundered’ using ‘document falsification, timber extraction outside the concession boundaries and links to bribes’.

The revelation will embarrass several US DIY stores, who have all admitted to Survival that they continue to import Amazonian hardwoods. Home Depot, Lowe’s and Lumber Liquidators have all confirmed they use the timber in their products.

Then-US ambassador to Peru James Struble quoted ‘unofficial INRENA estimates’ in the 2006 cable. (INRENA was the government’s Natural Resources Institute).
The ambassador’s comments paint a damning picture of Peru’s forestry mismanagement. According to the cable, the US imported 88% of Peru’s mahogany exports in 2005, highlighting its significant role in the country’s extensive illegal logging trade. The majority of Peru’s endangered mahogany remains destined for US shores today.

The news comes just weeks after illegal logging in Peru made international headlines after it emerged that loggers have infiltrated protected areas inhabited by uncontacted tribes, forcing them to flee across the border into Brazil.

The loggers pose a grave threat to uncontacted Murunahua Indians who could be wiped out by diseases brought by outsiders or face inter-tribal warfare if they are pushed off their lands.

Survival is urging the Peruvian government to ensure that the Murunahua’s land is properly protected.

Survival’s Director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘The ambassador’s cable shows the alarming extent to which the authorities were aware of illegal logging in Peru, did not admit it, and did little to stop it. It beggars belief that five years on we are still seeing systematic illegal logging and a complete failure to safeguard land inhabited by vulnerable tribes. Consumers in the US and Europe simply can’t rely on documents that purport to show Peruvian mahogany is sustainably sourced, as these are clearly not worth the paper they’re written on.’

Notes to Editors: The Murunahua reserve lies just across the border from where the Brazilian uncontacted Indians were photographed recently. It is home to an unknown number of uncontacted Murunahua Indians. Some Murunahua individuals, however, have been contacted in recent years and live outside the reserve.