Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

October 11, 2022

New Mexico Governor Rescinds 1800s-era Proclamations Targeting Navajo and Apache to be Hunted and Killed


Geronimo and warriors in the Sierra Madres of Mexico in 1886

Public Domain/ New York Public Library, Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection, American History 1880s, C.S. Fly



New Mexico Governor rescinds four genocidal 1800s-era proclamations from 
former New Mexico governors

Article by Brenda Norrell
Censored News
French translation by Christine Prat
Documents at Censored News

SANTA FE, New Mexico -- New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham rescinded governors' orders from the 1800s that targeted Navajos and Apaches to be hunted by militia and murdered. The previous governors orders had never been rescinded, which required an executive order of the governor.

Gov. Lujan Grisham's executive order on Monday, Indigenous Peoples Day, is the result of extensive research by Santa Fe Historian Valerie Rangel, who documented the genocide and appealed to the governor to take action and rescind the orders. Rangel's research led her to the Rare Books section of Huntington Library in Californa.

The vile and racist orders by Gov. Calhoun in his proclamations in 1851 directed Native residents to be excluded from official census counts and authorized militias to “pursue and attack” Indigenous New Mexicans.

October 8, 2022

Mexico's Government Spy Files on Yaqui and Zapatistas in Europe Leaked by Hacker Collective

Mexico's Secretary of Defense spy files include the photos shown above: Zapatistas in their communities; Zapatistas tour in Europe, and aerial images. Mexico's government spy files include profiles on Zapatistas and their supporters, Indigenous movement leaders, professors, farmers, and women leaders.

Mexico's Government Spy Files on Yaqui and Zapatistas in Europe Leaked by Hacker Collective

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

A hacker collective leaked the spy files of Mexico's Ministry of Defense, revealing spying on the Zapatistas and their supporters during the Journey for Life in Europe in 2021. The spy files include Mexico's targeting of both powerful Indigenous women and Indigenous movement leaders in Mexico.

The files were released by the hacktivists Guacamaya.

The leaked files reveal the Mexican government spying on the Yaqui Traditional Authority in Vicam, Sonora, where Vicam Yaqui spokesmen have been kidnapped, imprisoned, and assassinated.

Vicam Yaqui protested the theft of their water for an aqueduct taking Yaqui River water to the city of Hermosillo. Vicam Yaqui have maintained highway blockades for years in defense of their water on a major highway, slowing down the flow of commercial trucks to the U.S. and elsewhere.


Top photo: Vicam Yaqui Spokesperson Tomas Rojo, a soft-spoken agricultural engineer, was kidnapped and brutally murdered in 2021. Tomas was found buried in the desert outside the village. Photo 2: International Water Forum hosted by Vicam Yaqui Traditional Authority in Vicam, Sonora in 2012. Photo by Brenda Norrell, Censored Newshttps://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/11/video-yaqui-foro-internacional-del-agua.html

The new spy files of Mexico's Defense Department on Yaqui in Vicam are especially chilling since the exposure follows a series of assassinations of Vicam Yaqui.


October 6, 2022

Kevin Locke Tȟokéya Inážiŋ Celebration of Life




Service was live on YouTube, Friday, at 10 am Mountain time
Patricia Locke Foundation livestream. It is now available on YouTube.
Beautiful tribute to Kevin, prayers, songs, and memories from his lifelong friends:
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Beautiful tribute to Kevin Locke, live now, Lakota and Baha'i prayers, songs, and memories from his lifelong friends. Memories of his travels around the world, and memories of his mother Patricia Locke who guided him. Good words came in during the live service remembering Kevin's days in Russia, China, Cuba, and around the world. Kevin's wife Ceylan spoke of Kevin's love of his homeland Standing Rock, and how the land, and the songbirds, loved him back. Kevin's three daughters and son remembered him, thankful for those gathered who loved their father.
Playback of livestream available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe8zOHyqi2Y

Black Lodge Singers offering tribute to Kevin at the service today.

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October 4, 2022

Walking the Red Carpet: The Women of Standing Rock


End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock was nominated for an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Social Issue Documentary 2022.

Walking the Red Carpet: The Women of Standing Rock

By Floris Ptesáŋ Huŋká
Censored News

Never in my life did I think I would be on the red carpet attending the Emmys. This life has been a wild ride of hard lows and unbelievable highs. At the heart of it is our earth. So many awards and nominations for films documenting our beautiful earth and the struggles of humanity on her. Speeches made acknowledging the climate crisis we are facing and changes needing to be made. Then the undeniable presence of inequality, inequity, the inhumanity of gross extravagance, and heartbreaking poverty that New York encapsulates so well.

Our struggle we've been fighting not since 2016, since 1492, has been a struggle of virtues and morality. The bottomless pit of wanting and vanity. Where the ultra-rich are seen as the pinnacle of western society for having the most, Lakota concept of greatness is defined by generosity and compassion.

Our presence on that red carpet signified we are still here. The indigenous people. The originals. Though some may have claimed victory in pushing through a pipeline in treaty territory illegally, they have only succeeded in driving another nail into our collective demise. But, we are still here, fighting, growing, bettering ourselves, growing stronger.

I'm thankful for the opportunity to be there, absolutely. Thankful for the generous hearts that made that possible- Shannon and Marc for helping fly us out and my sitters Aunt Karen and Val, the real MVPs that cared for my most precious resources. 
The film wouldn't be possible without the Finns who have been the main funders of the film.

To Ladonna and Pearle, we aren't going to quit, ever. Thank you for your wisdom and gentle guidance and fierce hearts. For all our Water Protectors and land defenders- food sovereignty, revitalization of our original ways is imperative.

Relearning these ways because our children and coming generations are going to need that knowledge for the changes. We can bear the brunt of change for them.

Though there's this feeling that red carpets are only for the elite and exclusive, I hope our people, our youth see themselves in us there that night and know they are deserving and belong anywhere on this continent.



News & Documentary Emmy Awards 2022

Nominee
Emmy
Outstanding Social Issue Documentary
Shannon Kring (director/producer)
Red Queen Media
Fuse

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Oceti Sakowin Camp

End of the Line: Women of Standing Rock
Screenings and trailer at https://www.endofthelinefilm.com/