Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

March 11, 2015

O'odham Ofelia Rivas to speak at 'Balance Unbalance' Conference at ASU

.
Balance-Unbalance International Conference
March 4 at 9:19pm · Edited · 
Ofelia Rivas, founder of O'odham Voice against the Wall, will be speaking on panels at the Balance Unbalance Conference at ASU in Tempe, Arizona, to be held March 27 -- 29, 2015.

Censored News
Dutch translation by Alice Holemans, NAIS Gazette

Statement by Ofelia Rivas on Shu-da’g (Water)
Water is life for all life, not just humans.
The physical altering of whole terrains impacts all life.  From the leveling of mountains and hills, to the altering of bodies of water and the pollution of the seas and oceans, to the contamination and damming of the rivers, and the massive destruction caused by the extraction of metals and minerals – these things impact all life.
Mother Earth is altered and destroyed by extensive modern human habitation.  She is altered and destroyed through mass unconscious consumerism.  She is altered and destroyed by the mass extraction of minerals including uranium, silver, and gold. These things alter the quality and quantity of water for all life.
Mother Earth is altered by the massive irresponsibility of humans, and this is speeding up climate change. Our modern society is unbalanced and is driven by instant gratification without regard for the future.
The entire O'odham way of life is based on water. Our ceremonies, songs, and dances all pay homage to water in the form of rain, clouds, and the water animals.  The O'odham continue to exist on this land.  We have been here for hundreds of thousands of years living in balance with Mother Earth. We are a natural part of the world, and we have an obligation to live in balance with Mother Earth.
The O’odham conduct offerings to the sea to raise the clouds, and then we prepare our seeds. We conduct our ceremonies and wait for the rains to come, and then we plant in the water ways all over the land. First the jegos, the great cleansing winds, will arrive; then the rains will come. We plant our seeds in the natural mouth of the desert washes, where water flows only after the rains. We also plant in natural flood areas. We greatly appreciate all the natural water holes, the springs, and the rivers that flow from the mountains. The natural water storage areas of our homelands are being impacted by industry and the great landscape altering that comes with it.
All the desert plants of my homeland live in balance with the water. The ha'san, the giant saguaro, waits for the rains and stores the water in her porous insides. She blooms and produces fruit for the O'odham to harvest, for the animals to eat, and for the sustenance of all life. Many greens like wild spinach, onions, and tubers come up on the land in days after the rain waters come to the lands. Animals such as the deer, the Bighorn Sheep, the Javalina, the Mountain Tortoise, and the Rabbit graze to their fill. The o’odham collect and dry the harvest so that it can be rehydrated to eat throughout the year. 
We consider the continuous destruction of our sacred water by modern society to be genocide against all life.  We, the people of conscience, must no longer allow this oppressive system to contaminate the water that is our life.  John Trudell said that "We are power," that we human beings have the essence of power.  With this power we can stop the destruction.

 From the Balance Unbalance Conference coming up in Tempe, Arizona:
"Very exciting news: Ofelia Rivas, an elder and activist from the Tohono O'odham Nation will be at Balance-Unbalance, she will contribute indigenous knowledge about water, climate, place to the conference. There will also be voices of indigenous youth throughout the entire conference. Here is Ofelia Rivas in a clip (watch above):"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWG8RJgNucc
.


Ofelia Rivas


Ofelia Rivas: Ofelia is the founder of the O’odham VOICE Against the WALL and the O’odham Cultural and Environmental Justice Coalition. She is a representative of the traditional O’odham elders and ceremony leaders, and has represented the O’odham at the World People's Summit on Climate Change in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and as part of the Zapatista La Otra Campaña. She led the successful fight to prevent a toxic waste dump near the O’odham sacred site of Quitovac in Sonora, Mexico. Ofelia advocates for O’odham Rights and Human Rights. Ofelia lives in Ali Jegk village in southern Arizona, on O’odham lands.

Speaking Schedule



We are honored to share in the knowledge and wisdom of:
Friday, March 27

10:30am

1:30pm

Registrations for the three day program are now open with a limited number of one day tickets and tickets to Keynote presentations will also be available at the door: http://www.balance-unbalance2015.org

The intersections between nature, art, science, new technologies, aid agencies and society are formed with the goal of developing cross-disciplinary initiatives using innovative art and technology to advance ecological awareness and sustainability practices to inspire wide-ranging community engagement in the face of unprecedented environmental challenges. Previous conferences have produced collaborations with the Red Cross as a competition for musical works in support of their global campaigns on Climate Change.  A second iteration of this competition has just taken place (http://bit.ly/17ziFuv ).  The 2013 conference witnessed the forming of a project to address the complexity of moving entire communities in the Pacific Island country of Vanuatu who are affected by rising sea levels. A short documentary film on the progress of this project will be shared with this years conference.


Happy to share this video with the conference that I did with Ofelia Rivas on Old Pascua Yaqui. -- Brenda, Censored News
Home » Nieuws » * OFELIA RIVAS, O’ODHAM ZAL SPREKEN OP DE INTERNATIONALE CONFERENTIE : ‘ BALANCE UNBALANCE’
* OFELIA RIVAS, O’ODHAM, ZAL SPREKEN OP DE INTERNATIONALE CONFERENTIE : ‘ BALANCE UNBALANCE’
Vertaald door: NAIS: www.denaisgazet.be
Ofelia Rivas, stichter van ‘O’odham Voice against the Wall’, zal het woord voeren op de ‘Balance Unbalance’ conferentie die in de Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Arizona zal doorgaan van 27 tot 29 maart 2015
Ofelia Rivas is een Elder en activist van de Tohono O’odham Nation.

Verklaring over Shu-da’g (water) door Ofelia Rivas
Water is leven voor ‘t leven, niet enkel voor mensen.
De fysieke beïnvloeding van terreinen heeft een impact op alle leven.
Van de nivellering van de bergen en heuvels, tot het beïnvloeden van waterlopen en de pollutie van de zeeën en de oceanen, tot de besmetting en afdamming van de rivieren, en de massieve verwoesting die door extractie van metalen en mineralen veroorzaakt wordt – al deze zaken hebben een impact op alle leven.
Moeder aarde is veranderd en verwoest door de uitgebreide moderne menselijke bewoning.
Ze is veranderd door de massale consumptiedrang. Ze is veranderd en verwoest door de massale extractie van mineralen zoals uranium, zilver en goud. Al deze zaken veranderen de kwaliteit en de kwantiteit van het water voor alle leven.
Moeder Aarde is veranderd door de massieve onverantwoordelijkheid van mensen, en dit is wat de klimaatverandering bespoedigd.
Onze moderne samenleving is uit balans en wordt gedreven door onmiddellijke voldoening zonder aan de toekomst te denken.
De levenswijze van de O’odham is gebaseerd op water.
Onze ceremonies, liederen en dansen brengen ode aan het water onder de vorm van regen, wolken, en de waterdieren.
De O’odham zullen stand houden op dit land. Wij leven hier reeds honderdduizend jaren in balans met Moeder Aarde.
De O’odham brengen offerandes naar de zee, zodat ze kan opstijgen naar de wolken, en dan maken we onze zaden klaar.
Wij houden onze ceremonies en wachten tot de regen komt, en dan planten we onze zaden over ons hele land.
Eerst zullen de ‘jegos’, de grote zuiverende winden komen; en dan komt de regen.
Wij planten onze zaden in de natuurlijke mond van de woestijn beekjes, waar er enkel water is na de regenval. Wij planten onze zaden ook in natuurlijke overstromingsgebieden.
Wij hebben een grote waardering voor al de natuurlijke waterputten, de bronnen en de rivieren die uit de bergen naar omlaag stromen.
Nu worden de natuurlijke wateropslagplaatsen van onze thuislanden beïnvloed door industrie en de grote verandering van het landschap dat het met zich meebrengt.
Al de woestijnplanten in mijn thuisland leven in balans met het water.
De h’san, de reusachtige Saguaro, wacht op de regens en slaat het water op in haar poriën.
Ze bloeit en produceert fruit voor de O’odham om te oogsten, voor de dieren om te eten, en voor het in stand houden van alle leven.
Vele groenten zoals wilde spinazie, ajuin, en knolgewassen schieten op uit de grond nadat de regenwaters naar het land gekomen zijn.
Dieren zoals herten, Bighorn schapen, de javelina, de berg schildpad en het konijn grazen er naar hartenlust.
De O’odham verzamelen en drogen de oogst zodat het ’t hele jaar door gegeten kan worden.
Wij beschouwen de voortdurende destructie van ons sacraal water door de moderne samenleving als genocide tegen alles wat leeft.
Wij, het volk van het geweten, mogen niet langer dit beklemmende systeem dat het water dat ons leven is besmet toelaten.
John Trudell zei : “We are the power,” mensen hebben de kracht.
En met deze kracht kunnen we de verwoesting stoppen.

at No comments:

Video Apaches 'Protect Oak Flat' by Paper Rocket Productions




PROTECT OAK FLAT: SAVING APACHE SACRED GROUNDS

from  

.

WATCH VIDEO
https://vimeo.com/120753081
Dutch translation by Alice Holemans, NAIS Gazette
For nearly a decade, Resolution Copper Mining, a subsidiary of British-Australian mining conglomerate Rio Tinto, had unsuccessfully sought ownership of Oak Flat Campground.
Yet, on December 19, 2014, with the help of Senator John McCain, the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2013 resurfaced within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and was successfully passed by the Senate and signed off by President Obama .
The new legislation will open up Oak Flat for copper mining.
As part of the deal, Resolution Copper will swap roughly 7.8 square miles of land scattered across Arizona for roughly 3.8 square miles of Tonto National Forest, which includes Oak Flat.
Resolution Copper is required to work with the U.S. Forest Service to do an environmental impact study, however, they are guaranteed to get the land, regardless of what the study shows.
Also, the company has chosen a cheaper method of extraction called block cave mining. The aftermath of the mining will result in a crater two miles wide and up to 1,000 feet deep, destroying the surface of the land as well as generate nearly a cubic mile of mine waste
Protect Sacred Sites
Special Thanks to:
Wendsler Nosie Sr.
John Mendez
Naelyn Pike
And all our Apache and Diné Relatives
Ahé éhé

Home » Nieuws » * VIDEO APACHES ‘PROTECT OAK FLAT’ DOOR PAPER ROCKET PRODUCTIONS.
* VIDEO APACHES ‘PROTECT OAK FLAT’ DOOR PAPER ROCKET PRODUCTIONS.
 Protect Oak Flat: Saving Apache Sacred Grounds
Door: Paper Rocket Productions
 Vertaald door NAIS: www.denaisgazet.be

Oakflat.jpg
BEKIJK DE VIDEO HIER:
 Resolution Copper Mining, een dochteronderneming van ‘British- Australian mining conglomeraat Rio Tinto’, heeft al zo’n 10-tal jaren, zonder succes, geprobeerd om eigenaar te worden van ‘Oak Flat Campground.’

Op 19 december 2014 dook er plots, met de hulp van de republikeinse Senator John McCain, de Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2013’ op in de National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) op, werd goedgekeurd door de senaat en ondertekend door president Obama.
De nieuwe wetgeving opent Oak Flat voor koperontginningen.

Als deel van de overeenkomst zal Resolution Copper ongeveer 7.8 vierkante mijl land, verspreid over Arizona wisselen voor ongeveer 3.8 vierkante mijl van Tonto National Forest, en dus ook Oak Flat.

Resolution Copper wordt verzocht om samen met de US Forest Service te werken aan een studie om de impact op het milieu te onderzoeken, maar ongeacht de uitkomst van de studie hebben ze alvast de garantie gekregen dat ze het land mogen hebben.

De compagnie heeft ook gekozen voor ‘cave block mining’ wat hen goedkoper uitvalt.
De nasleep hiervan zal resulteren in een krater van twee mijlen breed en tot 1.000 feet diep, waarbij de oppervlakte van het land verwoest wordt en bijna een kubieke mijl aan mijnafval genereren.
Protect Sacred Sites
Special Thanks to:
Wendsler Nosie Sr.
John Mendez
Naelyn Pike
And all our Apache and Diné Relatives
Ahé éhé




.

 .




at 1 comment:

Zapatistas 'Thank you Part III: The Most Expensive Building in the World'

Thank you Part III: The Most Expensive Building in the World Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés. Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano.

Thank you Part III:
The Most Expensive Building in the World
Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés.  Subcomandante Insurgente Galeano.
February-March, 2015
It is the eve of the big day… in the wee hours of the morning. The cold bites under the cover of shadow. On the solitary table that furnishes this small hut (which has no sign but is known to now be the headquarters of the Zapatista Command), there is a handwritten, wrinkled sheet of paper detailing the accounts for the construction of the clinic-school in the Zapatista community of La Realidad. A voice summarizes the gazes, silences, smoke, rage:
The accounts don’t balance. The life of any Zapatista is worth more than Peña Nieto’s white house and the houses of all of the rich in the whole world combined. The entirety of the funds required to construct the huge buildings where the powerful hide in order to organize their thievery and crimes would not be enough to pay for a even a single drop of Indigenous Zapatista blood. That is why we feel that this is the most expensive building in the world.
So must state clearly that what doesn’t appear in the accounts is the blood of our compañero Galeano. All of the papers in the history of the world would not be enough to balance that account.
And so that is how it should appear in those lists that come out in the press where they name the richest people, and where the poorest live. The rich have first names, last names, lineage, and pedigree. But the poor only have a geography and a calendar. So they should say that the most expensive building on the whole planet is in Zapatista La Realidad, Chiapas, Mexico. And that the Indigenous Zapatista girls and boys attend the most expensive school in the world. And that the men, women, boys, girls, elderly, indigenous, Zapatistas, Mexicans, when they get sick in La Realidad, will be treated in the most expensive clinic on earth.
Read more »
at 1 comment:

NEWE Cultural Days at Poo-Ha-Bah Healing Center, Western Shoshone 2015


From Ian Zabarte," Even if you cannot attend, we welcome visitors to stay and share in the healing waters. Donations for the use of the pools are accepted. Hotel rooms are for reserve with a modest cost. Please call to reserve time for either."

 --In Memory of Corbin Harney
at No comments:

March 10, 2015

Zapatistas 'Capitalism Destroys, the People Build'

Capitalism Destroys, the People Build Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés

Capitalism Destroys, the People Build


Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés

The words of the EZLN’s General Command in the voice of Subcomandante Insurgente Moisés in the Zapatista community La Realidad at the presentation of the Zapatista Autonomous School, “Compañero Galeano” and the Autonomous Clinic 26 of October, “Subcomandante Insurgente Pedro” to the Zapatista bases of support, March 1, 2015.
Good morning to everyone, compañeros and compañeras of this zone, in this caracol of La Realidad, Selva Fronteriza zone.
We are here with you today, compañeros, compañeras of this zone, to officially turn over these buildings to the compañeros and compañeras bases of support of this Zapatista community, La Realidad, Nueva Victoria, as it is called in the struggle for us as the Zapatista Army for National Liberation.

Read more »
at No comments:

March 8, 2015

Celebrating Native Women's Voices on International Women's Day

Buffy Sainte Marie, Sarah James, Joye Braun and Amalia Astorga.
Celebrating Native Women's Voices on International Women's Day

 By Brenda Norrell

On International Women's Day, we celebrate the writers, photographers and voices of the women who have made a difference at Censored News. We begin with Margene Bullcreek, Goshute Shoshone, who passed to the Spirit World on March 1, 2015. Margene, who led the fight against the nuclear dump at Skull Valley, exemplified the quiet resistance that spans the decades and truly makes a difference.
Ofelia Rivas, Margene Bullcreek, Marie Randall, Debra White Plume
and Guarijio dance in Sonora.

It is often the quiet ones who make the most lasting impact. This was proven by long walkers Sharon Heta, Maori, and her daughters; along with Rebecca Duncan from Round Valley and her granddaughters; and Anishinaabe youth Lisa Peake, all who walked across America on Longest Walk 2 northern route. 

It is the quiet ones, like the Dineh grandmothers, including Bessie and my neighbors in the Chuska Mountains on Navajoland, who tell us of the foundation and the connection.

There is a time for peace and quiet, and there is a time for revolution.

A special measure of love and respect goes out to each of you my friends on our travels with the Zapatistas who looked into the eyes of the Mexican military as they jammed their automatic assault weapons in your faces. 

 I remember each of you in the highlands, and the jungles, of Chiapas. Still I think of the women who die on the long footpaths down the mountains to the clinics, and the women who are terrorized out of their homes and cornfields by the corporations and military, and I remember swimming in the river at La Realidad.

A special message of love to the resisters in Guerrero -- Nahuatl, Zapatistas, women, children, students, mothers -- and throughout Mexico whose courage shines above the murder and onslaught of their oppressors, armed by the US government.

A special measure of love goes out to the traditional women of Big Mountain, including Louise Benally and her mother, and Roberta Blackgoat, who gave us the words, and the direction to move forward with. 

 Marie Randall, Lakota, 94, blocked the tarsands megaloads on Pine Ridge and is a Censored News Hero in Resistance.

 There is a gift that comes from authentic journalism that goes beyond the words. It is the gift of being in the presence of great people. I'm remembering Sarah James, Gwich'in, and Casey Camp, Ponca, at the climate summit in Cancun, and with Carrie Dann on her ranch in Western Shoshone country.

Louise Benally, Flood Wall Street, Boarding School Testimony,
and Jean Whitehorse.
In the midst of the struggles, there is also the beauty. Thank you for your friendship and sharing the Comcaac (Seri) ways, our sister Amalia Astorga, who passed to the Spirit World on the coast of the blue waters of the Pacific. 

 A special message of love to the Yaqui women in Sonora for your resistance, and your laughter making those thin tortillas over the roaring fires.

Love and respect goes out to each of you my friends and sources on the Arizona border, who lost loved ones -- and searched for and found the remains of others loved ones.

I'm remembering those 112 degrees days when we wrapped ourselves in wet towels to keep from passing out as we looked at US spy towers under construction on the Arizona border, and watched the Border Patrol agents talking on their cellphones in their air-conditioned cars, and buying munchies at Three Points. Meanwhile, the profiteers in the Wackenhut/G4S buses snaked along the border to fill their buses with their cash bounty, migrants, for private prisons.

I'm remembering each of you women who got up before dawn, and scrambled the eggs and made the tamales and tortillas in Chiapas and Sonora. I'm remembering those of you who made breakfast during the cold hours before first light as you walked across the west. There are those, too, who struggle a lifetime and never give up in the battle for art and against racism, like my friend Dineh filmmaker Arlene Bowman.

There are those like Western Shoshone Carrie Dann who become symbols of fortitude, the backbone of resistance. Carrie Dann drove over ice at night alone to meet with the long walkers in 2008, and she flew to Bolivia for the Conference on Climate Change and Protection of Mother Earth in 2010.

I'm remembering, too, long ago, on Wind River. My Northern Arapaho friend describing how she walked out into a snowstorm with her baby in her arms, and found work mending fences, so they could both live another day. She said, "You just do what you got to do."

Women writers write, not because they have readers, but because they have to. 

Josephine Mandamin, Big Mountain, O'odham and Zapatistas,
Long Walkers Lisa Peake and Sage.
Kahentinetha at Mohawk Nation News writes and publishes because because she adheres to the Great Law of Peace.

Louise Benally of Big Mountain resists relocation, and speaks out about coal mining and the ongoing genocide of Navajos forced on the Long Walk, because she lives this truth and the truth of her ancestors.

Debra White Plume, Lakota, lives on Pine Ridge and drinks the water that uranium mining poisons and the tarsands Keystone XL pipeline threatens. 

Joye Braun, Lakota, blocked the megaload trucks on Cheyenne River Indian lands in South Dakota because she knows the destruction these trucks bring to the water, land and her people.

Ofelia Rivas, O'odham, lives in the traditional O'odham community on the border where border wall builders dug up the O'odham ancestors and built US spy towers, while US Border Patrol agents assault women and children.

For standing up for the rights of nature, and the protection of the air, land and water and the two-legged and four-legged, Josephine Mandamin, Anishinaabe water walker, is remembered on the lands of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara in North Dakota, along with Kandi Mossett. Faith Spotted Eagle is remembered during the resistance in Yankton, South Dakota. 

 The strength of the Mohawk women on the southern border, with the Mohawk Warrior Society, became a touchstone.

 Rosalie Little Thunder, Lakota, was a voice for the buffalo in Yellowstone.

 We celebrate these women, their strength and their words on International Women's Day.

Join us in celebrating all the women writers, photographers, filmmakers, activists, singers, musicians, artists, and translators who make a difference at Censored News. A special thank you to our French and Dutch translators Christine Prat and Alice Holemans.

Carrie Dann and Louise Benally
Photo by Brenda Norrell
Here are some of the Censored News articles and photos by Native American women writers, and interviews with great Native American women who have made a difference.

 In Memory of the Missing and Murdered Women of Canada, and the Indigenous Women Assassinated, Raped or Disappeared by Mining and Development around the World.

Listen and remember: Margene Bullcreek, Goshute Shoshone, audio, interview by Earthcycles and Censored News, Acoma Pueblo, Uranium Forum 2009: http://earthcycles.net/audio/burn09/2009-10-22-17-margenebullcreek.mp3

Mohawk Nation News, publisher Kahentinetha Horn, news website

Natalie Hand: 'Crying Earth Rise Up' packs Sedona Film Festival, Censored News

Lakota Debra White Plume on Sacred Water, Censored News

Ofelia Rivas, founder O'odham Solidarity Project, website:
http://www.solidarity-project.org/

 Louise Benally censored by Indian Country Today, comparing war in Iraq to Navajos forced on the Longest Walk

Buffy Sainte Marie censored by Indian Country Today, describing how she was forced out of the music industry in the US by President Lyndon Johnson, by Censored News

San Carlos Apache Sandra Rambler 'Traditionally Speaking' on Oak Flats 

Jean Whitehorse, Dineh, speaks out on the sterilization of women by the US government, at AIM West San Francisco. Censored News video.

Raquel Arthur, Paiute, speaking out on the theft of Pyramid Lake water rights 2014. Video at AIM West San Francisco, by Earthcycles and Censored News

Lakota grandmother Marie Randall, 94, blocked tarsands megaloads on Pine Ridge. Censored News Hero in Resistance 2014.

Dineh women Flood Wall Street, photographer Robyn Jackson, Dineh, Censored News

Listen: The Best of the Long Talk Radio, Longest Walk Northern Route 2008: Maori, Mohawk, Dineh, Lakota and more, by Earthcycles and Censored News:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/06/long-walk-4-to-alcatraz-listen-best-of.html

 Native American women testify on the abuse in boarding schools in the US and Canada. Madonna Thunder Hawk, Lakota, Yvonne Swan, Confederated Tribes, with more Native American women from across the US and Canada. Live coverage and archives by Earthcycles and Censored News, Green Bay, Oneida land, 2014: http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2014/10/day-3-boarding-school-tribunal-watch.html
.
In memory of Amalia Astorgia, Comcaac (Seri)
Photo Brenda Norrell

Censored News is published by Brenda Norrell, a news reporter in Indian country for 33 years. She began as a reporter at Navajo Times during the 18 years that she lived on the Navajo Nation. She served as a freelance writer for AP and USA Today covering the Navajo Council and federal courts. After serving as a longtime staff reporter at Indian Country Today, she was censored repeatedly and terminated in 2006. Censored News was created because of the censorship at Indian Country Today. Censored News is now in its 9th year with no advertising, grants or sponsors, with 3.8 million pageviews.
at 1 comment:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)