Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

May 21, 2016

Pyramid Lake: Eagle Staff Run and Honoring Warriors of 1860









Photos by Carl Bad Bear Sampson and Buck Sampson

Article by Brenda Norrell
Censored News

PYRAMID LAKE PAIUTE NATION -- The Eagle Staff War Memorial Run recounted the Pyramid Lake War of 1860. The nine mile run on Friday, May 20, 2016, ended with a feed for the people. 
Buck Sampson said, "It was the Eagle Staff War Memorial Run for the War Between the Calvary and the Indians at Pyramid Lake in 1860, told by the Indians and their descendants who fought to save the Natives. It was the Indians telling their side of the story of how it all started."
"Two white traders kidnapped two Indian girls, nine and twelve, and raped and molested them for a week. Indians found the girls tied up in their cellar and the Indians killed the five white men there," Sampson told Censored News.
"Volunteers from Virginia City went to Pyramid Lake to teach the Indians a lesson. Some of the warriors stayed back, allowing the women and children to escape to main camps in Nixon, Nevada, at Pyramid Lake."
Sampson said that at Pyramid Lake, they had two wars.
"Indians defeated the volunteers in the first battle. Major Ormsby was killed in the war by Paiute Indians. Native casualties weren't bad compared to the Calvary.
"Then, at the Mudd Lake Massacre in 1865, the Calvary wiped out women and children, and the old men, at Mud Lake."


Copyright Buck and Carl Sampson
Censored News



May 20, 2016

Alert! Dakota Access Pipeline Begins Digging, Support Resistance


Support resistance at Sacred Stone Camp on Standing Rock in Cannonball, North Dakota.
Dakota Access Pipeline has started digging -- without a permit.
Sacred Stone Camp, Dakota, Lakota and Nakota, are calling on warriors to join them in the resistance. Protect sacred water.
Breaking news article at Lakota Voice


URGENT Pipeline Construction in Progress! Call-Out for

Support of Resistance

No Dakota Access in Treaty Territory - Camp of the Sacred Stones at Standing Rock Reservation is calling on you! 

"We will be training to stop this pipeline and have dozens of warriors already on the way. We need tents, tarps, diapers/baby wipes/formula, gas cards, food donations, and money for other logistics. We've received a small amount of grant money to start constructing support structures, but the grassroots community members do not have the resources to supply the rapid influx of people to camp.


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CampoftheSacredStone/
Camp Phone: (701) 301-2238

Sacred Stone Camp

Zapatistas Statement on Aggression Against Alvaro Obregon, Oaxaca

It should come as no surprise that once the exploiters, the profiteers, saw the profits that would come from solar and wind energy -- that the corporations would continue their exploitation, beatings, murders and rapes under the guise of 'clean energy." -- Censored News

JOINT COMMUNIQUE BY THE CNI AND EZLN ON AGGRESSION AGAINST THE COMMUNITY OF ÁLVARO OBREGÓN, OAXACA

NATIONAL INDIGENOUS CONGRESS
ZAPATISTA ARMY FOR NATIONAL LIBERATION
To the media
To the solidarity organizations
To the Human Rights organizations
To the dignified Binizza community of Álvaro Obregón, Juchitán, Oaxaca
Sisters and Brothers
Our peoples, tribes, communities, organizations, and neighborhoods see with rage and indignation how the bad government boasts its total lack of shame, through its political parties of every color, as it continues to attack our peoples and its political parties continue trying to divide our communities. Our voice will not tire of denouncing and shouting, Enough!

May 19, 2016

Independent Film 'Power Lines' Premieres May 21 in Flagstaff, Arizona



Independent Film 'Power Lines' Premieres May 21 in Flagstaff, Arizona

Powerlines: A Diné Relocation Refugee Coming of Age Story

By Klee Benally, writer and director
indigenousaction@gmail.com
www.powerlinesmovie.com
French translation by Christine Prat at:
http://www.chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=2655
Censored News
May 9, 2016

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Independent feature film Power Lines will premiere Saturday, May 21 in Flagstaff at the Orpheum Theatre located at 15 W Aspen Ave, Flagstaff, Arizona. Written and directed by Klee Benally, Power Lines is a coming of age story about a young Diné (Navajo) poet who runs away and finds home.

Doors for the premiere screening open 7:30pm, the event will begin at 8:00pm and will be followed by a Q&A session with cast and crew members as well as a panel discussion on current impacts of coal mining and forced relocation. Poetry and music will also be shared by Sage Bond and slam champion Rowie Shebala.
Tickets for the event are $11 and can be purchased in advance at Rainbow's End, Animas Trading Company and online at orpheumflagstaff.com as well as at the door night of show. A portion of the proceeds from the screenings will go directly to Black Mesa families impacted by recent livestock confiscations.

Halee (Nezbahe Ragdoll) is a 16 year old Diné relocation refugee who uses poetry to escape from her painful past and present. When Halee's abusive father (Tony Skrelunas) crosses a line, her best friend Selma (Kayla Dailey) helps her runaway. Their journey to Halee's homeland takes a turn when she discovers her father has been hiding a secret that has the power to change Halee's life forever.

Power Lines is written, directed, edited, and scored by Klee Benally and filmed with the talents of Outta Your Backpack Media (OYBM) mentors Shelby Ray, Steven Toya esq., Hillary Abe, and Keemara Bahe. OYBM is a Flagstaff based non-profit that offers free filmmaking workshops to Indigenous youth. The film features local Flagstaff actors Nezbahe Ragdoll, Kayla Daily, Tony Skrelunas, Belinda Ayze, Sam Minkler and poetry from by Rowie Shebala and Layla June Johnston.
Power Lines was filmed partially in Las Vegas and throughout Northern Arizona on a limited budget that was completely crowd-funded.

"The social impacts of forced relocation at Black Mesa on the Diné Nation have not been addressed in a feature dramatic narrative before." states filmmaker Klee Benally, "I wanted to share a fictional story that focused on social and cultural impacts that are often ignored."

Benally has produced documentaries including the award winning feature, "The Snowbowl Effect" which addressed ski area desecration of the San Francisco Peaks, which are held sacred by more than 13 Indigenous Nations. Power Lines is his first feature narrative.

"Working in narrative fiction is liberating but also an incredible challenge." states Benally, "Our production team worked hard to to apply a mix of media justice with the rawness of punk rock and a strong independent Do It Yourself ethic. This story and filmmaking process is at once a collective and political journey, and I hope that comes across in an entertaining, challenging, and activating way."

More info and trailer: www.powerlinesmovie.com

*****

Production Company: Indigenous Action Media, Outta Your Backpack Media
Cast: Nezbahe Ragdoll, Kayla Daily, Tony Skrelunas, Belinda Ayze, Sam Minkler

Director-Screenwriter, Editor, Music: Klee Benally

Executive Producers: Princess Benally, Crystal Zevon

Cinematography: Shelby Ray, Hillary Abe, Steven Toya, esq., Klee Benally, Taylor Hall

Sound recordist: Steven Toya, esq.

Production Assistant, Set Design, Catering: Roland Begay

No rating, 75 minutes (Parents please be advised that there is explicit language)

*****

Photos
1. powerlines-PROMO.jpg (left Nezbahe Ragdoll, right Kayla Daily) - credit Klee Benally
2. Powerlines-still1.jpg (left Nezbahe Ragdoll, right Kayla Daily) - credit Steven Toya esq.
3. cast-director.jpg (left to right: Kayla Daily, Sam Minkler, Nezbahe Ragdoll, Belinda Ayze, Tony Skrelunas, Klee Benally - credit Princess Benally

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