Red Road Cancun: Indigenous Voices Live from Cancun

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
Photo: Ben Powless, Mohawk/IEN

(NOV 29, 2010) The Indigenous Environmental Network is broadcasting live from the Cancun Climate Summit. Red Road Cancun, http://www.redroadcancun.com/, webcast by Earthcycles, offers the world the voices of Indigenous Peoples.

These are the voices that polluting corporations and governments do not want to be heard. As profiteers push for carbon market scams and seizures of land and water rights, IEN is providing an online platform for Indigenous voices to halt threats to Indian lands, water and forests.

At the Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, in Cochabamba, Bolivia, in April, more than 35,000 people gathered at the invitation of President Evo Morales. The majority were Indigenous Peoples. There were 17 working groups which produced declarations, culminating in the Peoples Agreement. It calls for new standards for greenhouse emissions and recognition of the rights of Mother Earth. The Peoples Agreement upholds the rights of Indigenous Peoples and states that corporations and governments are to be held accountable in court for pollution.

Ofelia Rivas, O’odham, was cochair of the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples in Cochabamba. Rivas, from the US/Mexico border region, is an independent grassroots Indigenous delegate. Rivas is among those taking the Declarations of the People from Cochabamba to Cancun.

Rivas will also be carrying another document, "In Defense of Water," from the National Indigenous Congress which met on the Yaquis' Vicam Pueblo, Sonora, Mexico, in November. Yaquis are among those whose water rights are under attack by the government of Mexico.

In Defense of Water begins with: “Water, our Mother and Father, is that which gives us life, along with the Earth, Fire, and Air. It is the foundation of our lives and of the existence of everything that is born and that is alive; and it is not something that you can buy and sell in the way that capitalism destroys our Mother Earth.”

In Cancun, Indigenous Peoples and campesinas are also arriving by caravans from throughout Mexico, with protests and marches planned for Mexico City and Cancun.

IEN said world leaders will again meet for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 16 & CMP 6) to discuss climate change and collaborate on finding answers for many multi-level questions on how to deal with mitigation, restoration, and prevention of further damage.

The Red Road Cancun webcast will include the stories of Native Americans suffering from coal mines and power plants. IEN will share stories of communities standing up to threats from industries who want their forests to "offset" their pollution.

“We will be highlighting stories from communities that are taking real and effective action to address the climate crisis. Communities that are protecting their forests from being logged; that are shutting down polluting industries in their own back yard, or that are creating small-scale renewable energy projects,” IEN said.

Red Road Cancan will webcast noon to 1 pm CST, and recast at 5 pm CST daily, Nov. 29—Dec. 10, 2010.
http://www.redroadcancun.com/

Watch live streaming video from abyayalanexus at livestream.com

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Vicam Pueblo: In Defense of Water, National Indigenous Congress 2010

NATIONAL INDIGENOUS CONGRESS

DECLARATION OF VÍCAM
IN DEFENSE OF WATER, THE EARTH, AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
English translation by Sal Baldenegro and Wenona Benally
Espanol: http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2010/11/vicam-pueblo-en-defensa-del-agua.html
Censored News
Photo 1: Sonora coastline Photo 2 National Indigenous Congress 2010 on Yaqui Pueblo copyright Ofelia Rivas, O'odham
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GATHERED IN THE HOMELAND OF THE YAQUI, THE PEOPLES, TRIBES, AND NATIONS OF THE PURÉPECHA, NAHUA, WIXÁRIKA, COCAPAH, O'ODHAM, YAQUI, MAYO-YOREME, MIXTECO, TRIQUI, TZOTZIL AND OTOMÍ, IN COOPERATION WITH MEXICAN CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS, AND WITH VARIOUS COUNTRIES OF THE AMERICAS, ASIA, AND EUROPE TO CELEBRATE THE FIRST NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL FORUM IN DEFENSE OF WATER, AND RECOGNIZING THAT:

1. WATER, OUR MOTHER AND FATHER, IS THAT WHICH GIVES US LIFE ALONG WITH THE EARTH, FIRE, AND AIR. IT IS THE FOUNDATION OF OUR LIVES AND OF THE EXISTENCE OF EVERYTHING THAT IS BORN AND THAT IS ALIVE; AND IT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN BUY AND SELL IN THE WAY THAT CAPITALISM DESTROYS OUR MOTHER EARTH.

2. THE EARTH, THE WATER, AND EVERYTHING THAT IS BORN TO THEM BIND OUR ANCESTRAL LANDS AND ARE INSEPARABLE, EVEN WHEN NEO-LIBERALISM IN ITS DESIRE FOR PROFITS SEEKS TO DESTROY THE EARTH IN ORDER TO MAKE THE EARTH’S ELEMENTS INTO PRIVATE COMMODITIES;

3. THE MAJOR CORPORATIONS, BOTH NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT, SEEK TO APPROPRIATE OUR LAND AND THE RESOURCES OF OUR NATION, GENERATING LAWS, POLICIES, AND ACTIONS TOWARD THE CAPITALIST PRIVATIZATION OF THE WATERS, RIVERS, BEACHES, SEAS, LAKES, SPRINGS, LAND, FORESTS, MINERALS, PLANTS, AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE;

4. IN THIS CONFERENCE OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THE AMERICAS, HAVING TAKEN PLACE ON THE 11TH, 12TH, 13TH AND 14TH DAYS OF OCTOBER, 2007, IN THIS LAND OF THE YAQUI TRIBE, WE HAVE AGREED TO REJECT COLONIALISM AND CAPITALIST EXTERMINATION IMPOSED BY THE TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS AND THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL ENTITIES WHO ARE COMPLICIT WITH THE SUPERPOWERS OF THE WORLD.

WE ALSO HAVE AGREED TO REJECT THE DESTRUCTION AND PILLAGING OF MOTHER EARTH THROUGH THE OCCUPATION OF OUR LAND FOR THE PURPOSES OF INDUSTRY, MINING, AGRICULTURE, TOURISM, URBANIZATION, AND DEVELOPMENT IN ADDITION TO PRIVATIZATION OF THE WATER, THE EARTH, THE FORESTS, THE SEAS AND THE COASTS, BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, THE AIR, THE RAIN, TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, AND EVERYTHING ELSE WHICH COMES FROM MOTHER EARTH, AS WE ARE OPPOSED TO THE APPROPRIATION OF THE LAND, COASTS, WATERS, SEEDS, PLANTS, ANIMALS, AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF OUR PEOPLES FOR THE PURPOSE OF PRIVATIZING THEM.

WE MAKE THE FOLLOWING PRONOUNCEMENT:
FIRST, WE OPPOSE THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE EL NOVILLO DAM AQUEDUCT BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, THE STATE GOVERNOR, AND THE BILLIONAIRE CARLOS SLIM, THAT AIMS TO BRING ALMOST ALL OF THE WATER OF THE YAQUI RIVER TO THE MUNICIPALITY OF HERMOSILLO TO BE USED BY DEVELOPERS, TOURISTS, AND BIG AGRIBUSINESSES, WHEN THE EXECUTION OF SAID PROJECT WILL STRIP THE YAQUI TRIBE OF THEIR WATER WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT, ANNULLING THEIR SOVEREIGNTY AND THEIR HISTORICAL RIGHT TO THE YAQUI RIVER BASIN, PROVOKING THE DESTRUCTION OF THE LAND AND THE EXTERMINATION OF THE TRIBE IN ADDITION TO THE PROFOUND EFFECT ON THE ECOLOGICAL EQUILIBRIUM OF THE SOUTH OF SONORA AND THE RUIN OF FARMERS IN THE YAQUI VALLEY.
SECOND, WE REJECT THE DISPOSSESSION AND PRIVATE APPROPRIATION OF THE WATER, RIVERS, WASHES, SPRINGS, DEEP WATERS, LAKES, ESTUARIES, COASTS, SEAS, BEACHES, AND EVERYTHING THAT BINDS THE LAND OF OUR PEOPLES AS WELL AS THE CONSTRUCTION OF AQUEDUCTS AND DAMS FOR THE PURPOSES OF HOARDING THE WATER FOR COMMERCIAL USES. WATER IS FUNDAMENTAL TO LIFE, AND SO WE STRONGLY OPPOSE THE HOARDING OF WATER BY PRIVATE INTERESTS WHO CONSIDER IT AS A COMMODITY TO BE BOUGHT AND SOLD. WE OPPOSE ALL LAWS, REGULATIONS, AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES INTENDING TO PRIVATIZE WATER.
THIRD, WE AFFIRM OUR HISTORIC RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION AS INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, NATIONS, AND TRIBES, RESPECTING THE DIFFERENT WAYS OF OUR PEOPLES ACCORDING TO THEIR ORIGINS, HISTORY, AND ASPIRATIONS.
FOURTH, AHEAD OF THE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION, WE SAY THAT THIS HISTORIC STRUGGLE, JUST LIKE THE ONES BEFORE IT, COST OUR PEOPLE MUCH BLOOD AND WE GAINED LITTLE OR NOTHING IN RETURN FOR THE SACRIFICES THAT WERE MADE BY OUR GRANDFATHERS TO BUILD AND LIBERATE THE COUNTRY OF ALL MEXICANS, SINCE THE SUCCESSIVE CONSTITUTIONS OF 1824, 1857, AND 1917 DID NOT EVEN RECOGNIZE OUR EXISTENCE.
FIFTH, WE ARE PUTTING OUT A CALL TO STRENGTHEN THE SOVEREIGNTY OF OUR PEOPLES TO DEFEND THE EARTH, THE LAND, THE MOUNTAINS, THE WATERS, THE NATURAL AND SPIRITUAL BEINGS AS WELL AS OUR CULTURES, AND TO STRENGTHEN OUR GOVERNMENTS, OUR COUNCILS, AND OUR TRADITIONAL AUTHORITIES UNDER THE PRINCIPLE OF LEAD BY OBEYING.
SIXTH, WE REJECT THE GOVERNMENTAL AND PARAMILITARY REPRESSION UNLEASHED UPON OUR PEOPLES, ESPECIALLY TOWARD THE TRIQUI PEOPLE OF OAXACA, THE COMMUNITIES OF THE CARACOLES AND JUNTAS DE BUEN GOBIERNO ZAPATISTAS OF CHIAPAS, THE NAHUA COMMUNITY OF SANTA MARÍA OSTULA, MICHOACÁN, AND THE TZOTZIL COMMUNITY OF MITZITÓN, CHIAPAS; WE ALSO OPPOSE THE FORCED DISPLACEMENT OF THE AUTONOMOUS MUNCIPALITY OF SAN JUAN COPALA AND THE MILITARIZATION OF THE TRIQUI REGION, CALLING ALL THE TRIQUI WOMEN, MEN, BOYS, GIRLS, AND ELDERS TO REBUILD THE UNITY OF THEIR PEOPLE WITHOUT THE INTERFERENCE OF ORGANIZATIONS AND WITHOUT THE INTRUSION OF OUTSIDE INTERESTS THAT PROVOKE CONFRONTATION AMONG THE TRIQUI PEOPLE.
SEVENTH, WE DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF OUR BROTHERS IN STRUGGLE WHO THE GOVERNMENT HAS IMPRISONED IN ORDER TO SILENCE THEIR VOICES.
EIGHTH, WE COMMEND THE COURAGEOUS EFFORTS OF THE NAHUA COMMUNITY OF SAN SALVADOR ATENCO AND MAINTAIN OUR UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT OF THEIR RESISTANCE IN OPPOSITION TO THE CONTINUED EFFORTS THAT SEEK TO DISPOSSESS THEM OF THEIR LAND.
NINTH, WE CALL ON ALL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES TO CONTINUE BUILDING AND STRENGTHENING THE NATIONAL INDIGENOUS CONFERENCE AS THE HOME OF OUR PEOPLES.

VÍCAM, LAND OF THE YAQUI TRIBE, 21 NOVEMBER 2010

YOURS SINCERELY

PARTICIPANT PEOPLES, TRIBES, AND NATIONS OF THE INAUGURAL NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON THE DEFENSE OF WATER

BOLIVIA: Cancun should not be Copenhagen Part II

Cancun Climate Summit: Even before the summit begins, the World Bank and corporate governments are scheming, targeting forests for carbon credit scams and the Earth for more pollution

By World Peoples Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth
Censored News http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
Photo 1: IEN Bolivia
CANCUN, Mexico -- (November 27, 2010) – At the next meeting of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 16), which begins November 29th in Cancun, Mexico, the 192 member states must agree on a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. However, on November 24th, the President of the Ad-Hoc Working group on Long-Term Action issued a new document that attempts to legitimize the “Copenhagen Accord,” which the United Nations merely “took note of” last December in Denmark. Read more ...
http://pwccc.wordpress.com
Live webstream from the Indigenous Environmental Network's Red Road Cancun begins Monday, Nov. 29, 2010:
http://www.redroadcancun.com

VIDEO Mark Maracle Mohawk Warrior Society

Mark Maracle, Mohawk Warrior Society, speaks on the Great Law, the imaginery border and the colonizers who destroyed civilization. AIM West video 2009. (Part I)

Watch Part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60rXzpEk1RQ&feature=related

AIM Women's Leadership: Infiltration and stalking by US agents

Women in the American Indian Movement share the stories of their lives

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

SAN FRANCISCO -- Women in the American Indian Movement shared stories of lives lived with great courage, as federal agents stalked them and attempted to intimidate them, during the AIM International Conference this week. The AIM Women’s Leadership panel brought together five AIM women to share their life stories. Anne Begay, Navajo, was among them. Begay is the mother of Kathy Peltier, the daughter of Leonard Peltier. Begay spoke of her Dine’ family, a medicine family of men and women medicine people, who provided her with a childhood of structure, rich with history and culture. After returning from the Longest Walk in 1978, Begay took her daughter Kathy to the park one day. Her daughter was about two years old at the time. “This gentleman sat down next to me, with shiny shoes.”

He began to question her. “Who’s her father?” “None of your business,” Begay told him. He persisted with his questions and referred to the murder of Anna Mae Aquash. He said, “Well, we know who you are. And if you’re smart, you’ll know what we did to Anna Mae can happen to your daughter too.” “So, for all those years, it has been terrifying,“ Begay said, “to know that they can do that to my daughter.” Speaking on the panel, Yvonne Swan, Colville from Washington State, spoke of being under government surveillance in the 1970s, because Leonard Peltier was her friend, and Bill Kunstler was her lawyer. Swan spoke of learning to become aware of the men “with shiny shoes,” and men in suits, parked in unmarked cars. She trained her children to watch for these men, and once her son was grabbed by one of them, but was able to get away. During her fight against corporate mining, she also watched for those federal agents that stalked members of the American Indian Movement. “The government is merely a screen for the rich corporations,” Swan said. “They have the money to buy people off, they have the money to send people in to disrupt. “But don’t ever underestimate the power of the people.” Opening the panel discussion, Swan said the voices on the panel were coming from the hearts and spirits of the women. “We’re survivors of abuse as women, as is Mother Earth, as is Grandmother Moon.” Speaking of the importance of the American Indian Movement, Swan said she takes her actions seriously and holds herself accountable. “We’re caretakers, we are up against the destroyers.” “We are told to not take more than we need, because there are future generations that are coming that will be hungry.” Swan pointed out that the Six Nations model of governance became the model for the US Bill of Rights. However, the US removed the aspects of the Six Nations governance that gave US women power and leadership. Ultimately, the US tortured and imprisoned women in the US as they fought for their right to vote.

Swan also pointed out the role of the Pope that resulted in American Indians being called “Savages.” Madonna Thunderhawk, Lakota, said the struggles are intergenerational, the struggles for the “land, water, our people, the children.” “The work continues, the struggle continues.” Thunderhawk said she has continued to struggle since the 1960s in South Dakota, because this is what the movement taught her. “I learned not to just sit back and complain.” Thunderhawk said she appreciated seeing the youths present at the conference, and that Clyde Bellecourt’s talks always fire her up. Corine Fairbanks of Santa Barbara, Calif., AIM, spoke of watching out for personal egos and those on Facebook who pose as traditional Indians, but are actually New Agers. Fairbanks also spoke of disruptions, with people carrying out the work of federal agents by spreading negative comments. Speaking on infiltration, Fairbanks pointed out that even small groups of peace activities are targeted for infiltration by US agents. Morning Star Gali, Pit River, born in the AIM Oakland house, said organizing within the movement has been an honor. “For me, the movement was always grounded in a place of spirituality and love, that was the movement I was raised in.” Morning Star spoke of bullying and abuse. She encouraged women to support one another. “We’re survivors, we’re survivors of rape, we’re survivors of abuse.” .

Read about the case that led to Yvonne Swan Wanrow becoming a hero for women and Indian rights, in a case involving the sexual abuse of children: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvonne_Wanrow

Watch Parts II, III, IV and V http://www.youtube.com/user/mihoaida

Navajo Jean Whitehorse: Boarding schools, relocation and sterilization

The Occupation of Alcatraz offered Navajo Jean Whitehorse the best education
By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com


SAN FRANCISCO -- Jean Whitehorse, Navajo, endured the US government’s boarding schools, relocation and sterilization. Today, she says the BIA unwittingly gave her the best education that money could buy; not by giving her job training in the San Francisco area, but by placing her near the Occupation of Alcatraz.
At the age of 19, it was the right time and the right place for Whitehorse to learn who she was as an American Indian.
Speaking at the 42nd Anniversary of the American Indian Movement, during the weeklong conference, Whitehorse described her own journey, beginning with the exile of her people, the Navajo or Dine’.
Whitehorse said when Navajos were forced on the Longest Walk, they were removed from their homeland for four years. The government returned Navajos to only ten percent of their land, and only did so because the government felt the land was worthless. Later, oil, gas, uranium and coal were discovered on Navajoland.
Whitehorse, from the Eastern Agency of New Mexico on the Navajo Nation, said she grew up with abuse in boarding schools. The “Board of Education was the ruler. It was to punish you. My whole boarding school experience was all about abuse.”
She said in those days, parents were not able to defend their children. “Back then, our mothers and fathers weren’t there to talk for us. They weren’t there to protect us.”
Next came relocation. Whitehorse was sent to the Bay area to learn a vocation, then was pressured to stay and work. During this time, she went to Alcatraz, two months after the initial takeover in 1969. This came at the time of Black Panthers and protests of the Vietnam War. San Francisco offered an education.
“I had to learn to survive.” From the very beginning, she wanted to go home, she did not know where she was. However, she was told that she was to learn a vocational skill. When she persisted to go home, she was told the BIA would get her a job.
“The longer I stayed here -- they kept me here -- I learned about myself, what it means to be an American Indian.”
Praising the young people who attended the AIM conference, Nov. 22-26, she urged Indian youths to learn their traditions, ceremonies and songs. “Learn your language, that is how you are going to learn to be strong.”
Whitehorse pointed out that Navajo elders say that when the people stop speaking their language, they will stop being identified as who they are as a people.
Urging young people to learn about their real history, she said it is important to know that the land of Navajos is held in trust by the US government and what that means in terms of natural resources.
Whitehorse studied law one year in order to make sure she understood federal Indian law. She discovered the secret of federal Indian law.
“I found out that it is not written to help us. It is written for Congress to use as they please.” She pointed out that Navajo elders are still being relocated because of the coal on their lands.
Besides being a target of relocation, Whitehorse was the target of another well-funded US government program.
It was “Native American sterilization, another genocide, another way to attack us.”
“Some of us were told, ‘You’re unfit to bring your own kind into this world. You’re uneducated, you’re on welfare. Your children are going to be on welfare too.’
“I only had one daughter when they did that to me. Sometimes I wish I had four or five children.”
“I’m very happy that a lot of families have little children,“ she said, urging parents to hold on to their children, and bring them up right.
“Make sure they keep their language.”
After boarding schools, relocation and sterilization, came self-determination.
But, she said, American Indian self-determination does not come easy.
“We have to work at it,“ she said, stressing the need to reunite and be strong. She said the future is in the hands of the youths.
The relocation programs were about removing the young people from the land, so the land could be seized for the resources.
Whitehorse said she stayed in the Bay area for four years, then went home.
“My education is very important to me. When I talk about where I’ve been, where I’m going, I always say, ‘I was here at the right time, at the right place, at the BIA’s expense.’ They sent me here, paid my way around, gave me money to stay. The more I stayed, the more involved I got with the movement on the island.”
Whitehorse said, "Stand up for what's right, even if you are standing alone."
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Listen to more of this presentation, along with a talk by Yvonne Swan, Colville. Recorded by Earthcycles: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/11027639

Watch Jean Whitehorse's presentations at the 2009 AIM West Conference.
Video by Mary Ellen Churchill. Filmed in San Francisco, California, November 23rd, 2009.
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkIRkaBmmwo
Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87C513-G_Xo&feature=related
Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtX7zVc6Zus