'Oyate' The Struggle at Standing Rock -- World Premiere at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

Phyllis Young says Hunkpapa are the people pushed to the edge. "As the people on the edge, we are the Ambassadors to the outside world."

By Chase Iron Eyes

Lakota People's Law Project

“Oyate!!” Beautiful. Important. Phyllis Young and Chase Iron Eyes are in this Movie! “My greetings to you from the Standing Rock Nation. Today, I invite you to experience something wonderful: Next week, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is hosting the online world premiere of “OYATE” — a brand new feature documentary film produced by Films with a Purpose and Irrelevant Media, in association with the Lakota People’s Law Project. Big Sky has graciously also made the movie available for viewing online at the same time, and you can purchase your ticket to watch today.

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Lakota Law, looks it me, and Phyllis Young in “OYATE!” Please click (below) to watch the trailer for this heartfelt and skillfully done documentary, and purchase your tickets for the premiere on the same page.
We wanted to make sure you have the opportunity to watch this special premiere with us! Please note that the film will be available through Big Sky for a limited time. I urge you to purchase your ticket right now, then mark your calendar to remind yourself the streaming window opens on Feb. 25 at 9 a.m. PST. After that, you'll have about three days to start watching and another 24 hours to finish.

Now that you’ve got all those important details, let me tell you a little more about our involvement and what you’ll see. In the wake of the protests at Standing Rock in 2016 and ‘17, our Lakota Law team worked closely with producers Brandon Jackson, Emil Benjamin, Sandra Evers-Manly, and Jennifer Martel of the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Sioux tribes, to tell this powerful story of resistance. You’ll spend time with Phyllis Young, me and my daughter Tokata, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland of the Laguna Pueblo People, and many more powerful Native voices.

As you know, our #NoDAPL struggle at Standing Rock became an inflection point for human rights and environmental justice, a rallying cry for Indigenous people everywhere to take a stand against centuries of land theft, imposed poverty, and cultural erasure. “OYATE” successfully communicates our thoughts, as Indigenous activists, organizers, and politicians, on that complicated history.

Lakota Law aided the filmmakers by providing exclusive interviews, archival footage, and perspective. The directors did a fantastic job of using a blend of storytelling tools to weave all elements harmoniously and to fully immerse you in our worldviews. The end result is a thing of beauty, ambitious in scope and, at the same time, personal and intimate. I think you’ll very much enjoy watching, and I hope you’ll find it illuminating. You may gain new understanding of our struggles for sovereignty and justice — and you’ll even meet some rez dogs! So, please watch the trailer, and then join us for this exciting premiere. I can’t wait to hear your feedback.

Wopila tanka — thank you, and happy watching.
Chase Iron Eyes
Co-Director & Lead Counsel
The Lakota People’s Law Project
Lakota People's Law Project
Lakota Law
Lakota People's Law Project
547 South 7th Street #149Bismarck, ND 58504-5859

Director: Brandon Jackson, Emil Benjamin
Producer: Brandon Jackson, Emil Benjamin, Jennifer Martel, Sandra Evers-Manly
2021, USA -- 91 minutes

WORLD PREMIERE

Screening at the Wilma, Thu Feb 24th @ 5:45 pm
Streaming Fri Feb 25 - Mon Feb 28
In the wake of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, Indigenous people across the nation are using their newfound platform to shed light on the wide array of injustices committed against them in an effort to wake up the world and embark upon the process of decolonization. Following key figureheads of the #NODAPL movement, OYATE weaves together the story of colonization and the battle for decolonization that continues after the news cameras have stopped rolling.
Website: http://www.oyatefilm.com
Watch film trailer

https://www.bigskyfilmfest.org/festival/films-2022-view/oyate_2022

San Carlos Apache, Running in from the East, Running for the Stronghold

O'odham Stronghold: Prayer Run Phoenix to Oak Flat

O'odham Stronghold  Runners in Phoenix today, Thursday, Feb. 17, 9 am, at Van Buren and 48th St. The first rest stop is Papago Park. Photo by Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham. 

Running for the Ancestors, Running for the Apache Stronghold. In Phoenix, runners are demanding a halt to the excavation of hundreds of Hohokam graves that are being carelessly and recklessly excavated for a housing project. The Phoenix New Times reports there are 1,000 structures and about 700 graves of O'odham ancestors at the site in central Phoenix.

Update: O'odham Way of Life does not include digging up human remains, by Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham elder

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2022/02/phoenix-oodham-way-of-life-does-not.html

Run for the Ancestors. Run for the Stronghold.

Prayer Run to Oak Flat

By Marina Thomas - Running Deer

Akimel O’odham

oodhamstronghold@gmail.com

Last year for Apache Stronghold’s 7th Annual March to Oak Flat, as a result of the increase in tribal support across Arizona, it came to Vanessa Nosie that the prayer to Oak Flat should come in from all four directions.

We ran in from the West, nearly 90 miles from the Salt and Gila River confluence -- a colorful group of both indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, coming together to pray for the protection of the land and water.

On March 1, 2021, the day after the closing ceremony, the Biden Administration had rescinded the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), blocking a land transfer from the US Forest Service to Resolution Copper, temporarily halting the mining project.

Just days after the relieving news, one of the runners, whom I’d never met prior, reached out to notify me of the discovery of human remains that were being excavated in a current construction zone in her neighborhood.

I’d go on to research about the excavation, learning that the City of Phoenix began excavating an ancient city that archeologists refer to as LA CIUDAD, clearing ground for a new “holistic” living community.

In the process of this excavation, hundreds of Hohokam remains were being unearthed along with the homes, tools, and other remnants of what true holistic living looked like in the Sonoran Desert.

While we, the descendants of these ancestors, learned of the excavation and reached out to the city to halt the project, we were ignored and the project moved forward.

As of today, over one thousand remains have been removed and more excavation is required for the continued development for the upcoming Edison Eastlake Community.

This year, the run to Oak Flat from the West will start at the desecration site of our ancestors in Phoenix.

As part of Resolution Copper’s mining project, it is planned that the waste tailing site to hold over 1.3 billion tons of toxic waste will be contained within the mountain's tributaries -- where our ancestors also rest. It is our responsibility, as descendants of these incredible human beings who lived and worked harmoniously with the Earth, to do everything in our power to protect who we are and where we come from.

This year, we will run to Oak Flat from start to finish with the ancestors in our prayer.

The run begins at 401 N. 20th Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85006 on Feb. 17, 2022.
Share the love, please help organizers provide water and nutritious snacks.

Hundreds of Hohokam graves are now being recklessly excavated

In the news: Phoenix New Times reports that there are about 1,000 structures and about 700 graves here in this Hohokam village. 

https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/phoenix-public-housing-construction-unearths-hohokam-ancient-graves-11810900

Contact:

By Marina Thomas - Running Deer

Akimel O’odham

oodhamstronghold@gmail.com

Running in from the north to Oak Flat: Brophy Native American Club in Flagstaff is off and running

 

By Russ McSpadden on Twitter.

By Russ McSpadden on Twitter: "The students of the Brophy Native American Club have begun their 188-mile run to Oak Flat from Flagstaff at the base of the San Francisco peaks. By the end of the day, they will drop off the Mogollon Rim to the East Verde River." Earlier, Russ said, "I'll be joining the students of the Brophy Native American Club as they run 188 miles from Flagstaff to Oak Flat starting Thursday. The run is a prayer & a protest. You can meet them to march the last 4 miles Saturday at 10 am at the Magma Ave Trail Head in Superior." Today's video on Twitter. https://twitter.com/i/status/1494319816370393101

"Just a little chilly out here." Photo credit Brophy Native American Club of Flagstaff, Arizona.
Running to the Apache Stronghold at Oak Flat on Thursday.

Youth for Oak Flat: Spiritual Run in Defense of the Sacred

Watch video below

8th Annual Oak Flat March/Run Feb. 17 -- 20, 2022

. Oak Flat Protectors!   The Apache Stronghold continues the fight to protect Chi'chil Bildagoteel (Oak Flat). Each day that Rio Tinto does not build a copper mine is a victory. This Thursday morning, a delegation from the federal government will be arriving to meet with officials from the San Carlos Apache Tribe to discuss the proposed destruction of sacred land. The Stronghold will meet with them separately, to ensure the religious and spiritual impacts are included in their understanding of the injustice. Please send your prayers for this important meeting.   The Apache Stronghold will host the 8th Annual Oak Flat Run/Walk, February 17-20. Every year, we walk the 45 miles from San Carlos up to Oak Flat over several days. We are led with ceremony and prayer as we walk together in recognition of our responsibility to this earth and Creator. Please read on for details and be in touch with questions, particularly if you have not attended previously. All are welcome. Please share with your friends and family.   You can also support protecting Oak Flat with a tax-deductible donation to the Apache Stronghold.

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In Nevada, Secrets Explode: The Legacies of Julian Assange and Myron Dewey

By Brenda Norrell

Censored News

French translation by Christine Prat

It is here in the Nevada desert where the United States wants to bury its secrets. Its secrets explode here, leaving a trail of death for Shoshone in their homeland at the Nuclear Test Site.

The Nevada desert is where the legacies of Wikileaks Julian Assange, and Paiute Shoshone Myron Dewey, intersect.

It is at Creech Airforce Base where drone military whistleblowers described the faulty intelligence and reckless assassinations by drone pilots carrying out computer surveillance around the world, and the missiles that kill the targets of the U.S. government. The women and children who are killed are ignored. At least one U.S. citizen has been assassinated this way.

Myron Dewey, like Wikileaks, exposed the truths that no one else would. At Standing Rock, Myron photographed police, TigerSwan, and other security operators of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Myron captured their spy cell towers with his drone video. His drone was overhead when Water Protectors were attacked with water cannons and projectiles on Nov. 20, 2016, at Standing Rock.

On Sept. 7, 2016, Myron Dewey posted this photo at Standing Rock, and wrote, "Digital Smoke Signals on the frontlines, documenting why we are Protecting the Water and Water Protectors, Indigenizing Media 'Through Indigenous Eyes' using mobile media and social media to share the truth, prayers and songs, strength and unity. We are the media relatives, mainstream media is silent to Indigenous issues! Picture taken before Morton County Sherriffs dressed up and pretended to be militarized. Officer Mall last 2 to the right, he stole my drone without a warrant. Yes, I did get eventually got back my drone." (Photo property of Myron Dewey estate.)

On the day before he was killed in September, Myron live-streamed from the Fallon bombing range in his homeland of central Nevada. Myron warned of the Navy Seals bombing operations and the plan to expand the range. He also warned of the lithium mining planned for the Paiute Massacre Site at Thacker Pass in northern Nevada.

At the same time that it was exposed that the U.S. had discussed assassinating Julian Assange, Myron Dewey was killed when a truck pulled into his lane and hit him head-on on an isolated dirt road near his family home in Yomba, Nevada, east of Reno.

Assange and Dewey opened the windows to worlds that the United States wanted not just shut, but to be sealed and to disappear into silence.

Dewey documented the evidence of the critical injuries sustained by Water Protectors at Standing Rock in North Dakota: A young woman's arm was blown apart by a law enforcement projectile, two Native Water Protectors were shot in their eyes as peaceful Water Protectors were shot with tear gas, rubber bullets, and projectiles. Others were attacked by the dogs of security operatives.

Myron's evidence shows the local and national sheriff's deputies, local and state police, and National Guard who are responsible. Myron photographed the pipeline's hired spies who were stalking, including TigerSwan, mercenaries hired by the pipeline who operated in North Dakota without a license. Myron photographed their faces and vehicles.

In Nevada, the death trail begins with the massacres of Native people in their ancestral homelands. The death map continues with the atomic bomb testing and the spray of radiation, and resulting cancer, in the Shoshone homelands.

The death trail continues now with the flick on a computer at Creech Airforce Base. With faulty data and reckless carelessness, there is an assassination on the other side of the world.

The spread of death continues with the lithium mining of false green solutions and the vast amounts of water that will be used. The toxins of mining destroy life the natural world as the earth is carved out.

Then there is the bombing, in the Navy Seals bombing range in Myron's homeland, the homeland of Wovoka. The bombing range is death to the natural world and is preparation for deaths beyond the Nevada desert.

Article copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News, content may not be used for any purpose without written permission. Photos are the property of the photographer or their estate.