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Indigenous Rights

An Open Letter To President Joe Biden: Free Leonard Peltier

Mr. President, If you can pardon your son, why can’t you free the Indigenous political prisoner Leonard Peltier? The 80-year-old man, a leader of the American Indian Movement, has been imprisoned for 48 years. He suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, and a heart condition. The FBI framed Leonard Peltier in retaliation for the historic 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee. Three years of violence followed this courageous stand for Indigenous rights, with over 60 AIM members and supporters murdered. Despite a large FBI presence, nothing was done to stop these murders and even more numerous assaults.

Removing Hydropower Dams Can Restore Ecosystems

A free-flowing river supports abundant fish and wildlife, provides drinking water, and other intangible recreational benefits. But humans have sought to block rivers with dams for millennia. While dams have provided benefits like hydroelectricity and water storage, they have also been ecologically disastrous. Besides blocking fish migrations, these human-made structures can destroy seasonal pulses of water that keep ecosystems in balance. Some dams—especially those used for power—can deplete water in streams, leaving entire stretches of river bone dry.

We Don’t Want Our Islands To Be Used To Kill People

For the past few weeks I have been on the road in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Australia at the invitation of groups such as Te Kuaka, Red Ant, and the Communist Party of Australia. Both countries were shaped by British colonialism, marked by the violent displacement of native communities and theft of their lands. Today, as they become part of the US-led militarisation of the Pacific, their native populations have fought to defend their lands and way of life. On 6 February 1840, Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi) was signed by representatives of the British Crown and the Māori groups of Aotearoa.

NDN Fund’s Loan Leads To #LANDBACK In Alaska

Rapid City, SD – NDN Fund, the impact investing arm of NDN Collective, today announced the closing of a loan with Qizhjeh Vena – an Alaska Native Women-led 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working in the Bristol Bay area. The $750,000 loan from NDN Fund will allow Qizhjeh Vena to purchase Koksetna Wilderness Lodge and surrounding land on Lake Clark, located at the outlet of the Chulitna River in Chulitna Bay. The lodge will serve as a cultural preservation and revitalization center, and act as the gateway to a sanctuary for wildlife, and interrelated habitats. This historically important land and retreat center is located 120 air miles southwest of Anchorage, within the Lake Clark National Park that protects the headwaters of the Bristol Bay home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon runs.

Boston Rally Demands: Indigenous Peoples Day Now!

Boston, Massachusetts - Nearly 200 Indigenous protesters and their allies gathered outside Park Street Station in Boston on Oct. 12 to demand that Massachusetts immediately designate the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day. An Indigenous-led coalition of United American Indians of New England (UAINE), the North American Indian Center of Boston (NAICOB), Cultural Survival, the New Democracy Coalition, Workers World Party-Boston and Italian Americans for Indigenous Peoples Day organized the Oct. 12 action, which bolsters the longstanding effort to demolish the cult glorifying Christopher Columbus, whose lifework was characterized by conquest, slavery and genocide.

Diverse Coalition Urges Supreme Court To Protect Oak Flat

A coalition of tribal nations, Catholic bishops, states, legal scholars, and diverse religious organizations asked the Supreme Court yesterday to protect the Apache sacred site at Oak Flat from destruction by a multinational mining giant. In Apache Stronghold v. United States, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to stop the federal government from transferring Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, a foreign-owned mining company that plans to turn the site into a massive mining crater, ending Apache religious practices forever

Indian Fighting Today: Gibson, Dunn And Crutcher

The business of Indian Hating is a lucrative one. It’s historically been designed to dehumanize Native people so that it’s easier to take their land. ‘Kill the Indian, save the man,” manifest destiny, and “merciless Indian savages” are all phrases which underscore the deep hatred of the American Empire for Indigenous peoples. After all, this is our land, indakiingimin, the very land to which we belong., And to make America, it’s important to steal it. That’s pretty much history — a lot of theft: land, cultural items and people. And where possible, the laws themselves. It starts with hating and expands to war. Welcome to the modern Indian Wars. Some of them are in the courtroom.

‘No Indians Allowed’: An Open Letter To The Rapid City Community

For those who have been following the news, they will remember the Grand Gateway Hotel and may have heard about the recent bankruptcy filing. This resulted in a delay in justice and accountability. By filing for bankruptcy, the owners of the Grand Gateway Hotel have bought themselves time and halted the federal civil rights lawsuit against them. While justice is delayed, we are still fighting and holding the owners accountable to our people. This is not over. As we work to challenge the systems and injustices our people face on a daily basis, we also reflect on the impacts such blatant racism has on our community.

Britain Cedes Control Of Chagos Islands But Maintains Pentagon Base

After nearly six decades, the right to self-determination and independence is still being denied to the Indigenous people as the United States prepares for expanding imperialist wars in Asia and Africa.

Long Beach Demands Return Of Puvungna To Indigenous People

Long Beach, CA – On September 28, a crowd of about 20 people, including faculty, students and community members gathered near the Walter Pyramid at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) while the school started an event to celebrate its 75th anniversary. The protesters chanted “land back!” and made chalk art to advocate for the protection of Puvungna, a 22-acre site located on campus, sacred to the Acjachemen and Tongva peoples of California. The university is bound by a 2021 settlement with the tribes and its representatives to return the land to indigenous custodianship by September 2023, but the administration failed to do so and refuses to make progress towards this goal.

NAARPR Southern Regional Organizing Conference 2024 Call To Action

This December 6th-8th, the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression (NAARPR) is convening our inaugural Southern Regional Organizing Conference in Jacksonville, Florida. This conference will bring together progressive forces in the South fighting for Black liberation, Indigenous rights and land sovereignty. We are fighting back against police crimes and political repression to free all those unjustly incarcerated as well as defending all progressive movements fighting for a just society. NAARPR, which arose out of the movement to Free Angela Davis, was refounded in 2019 with well over two dozen branches and affiliate organizations nationwide.

Northern Ontario First Nations Say No To Nuclear Waste Project

Nine northern Ontario First Nations signed a joint letter to the head of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization on Friday, voicing their opposition to nuclear waste burial in the region. “Our Nations have not been consulted, we have not given our consent, and we stand together in saying ‘no’ to the proposed nuclear waste storage site near Ignace,” their letter reads, in part. “We call on you to respect our decision.” In November, the NWMO is expected to issue a final decision on the chosen site of a deep repository to bury Canada’s most radioactive nuclear waste. The 20-year-long process has narrowed options to either a site near Ignace and Wabigoon First Nation, or burying it nearby where the nuclear energy was produced.

Apache Stronghold Takes Case Against Copper Mine To The Supreme Court

After a two-month pilgrimage across the nation, Apache Stronghold formally presented its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday in a final bid to stop a massive copper mine from obliterating one of the Apache peoples' most sacred sites. The high court was the last hope for the group after the full 29-justice 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to review the case. Opponents of the mine say the case will be a test of how the court and the government view the religious rights of Indigenous people. Apache Stronghold in April asked the full Ninth Circuit panel to review its lawsuit against the U.S. and Resolution Copper. That move followed an opinion issued by a panel of 11 appeals court judges that ruled narrowly against Apache Stronghold in March, about a year after oral arguments.

Oglala Sioux Tribe Wins Legal Case Against Powertech Uranium Mine

Powertech (now a subsidiary of enCore Energy) planned to start mining uranium in the southwestern Black Hills in 2009. Thanks to the Oglala Sioux Tribe, the BHCWA and its allies, and you — they are not mining and its 2024. And this decision means that they won’t be anytime soon. In the Press-Release open from the Oglala Sioux Tribe they state: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) has ruled in favor of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in a case involving a proposed uranium mine in Fall River and Custer Counties, South Dakota. The EAB sent the EPA’s Underground Injection Control (UIC) permits for the proposed Powertech Dewey-Burdock uranium mine, owned by parent company enCore Energy, back to EPA Region 8 (located in Denver, CO) to reconsider the permitting decision.

Global Indigenous Leaders Condemn New Zealand Treatment Of Māori

A collective of global Indigenous leaders and environmentalists have expressed their extreme concern regarding the Treaty Principles Bill as the New Zealand government presents it to the cabinet. They express their solidarity with Māori and call upon the government to act in good faith and with respect for the treaty “upon which the legitimacy of their existence rests”, Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The statement of solidarity was endorsed at the Protecting Mother Earth Conference, held by The Indigenous Environmental Network and supported by the Indigenous embassy Tonatierra in Eastern Cherokee Nation (co-existent with North Carolina) 1-4 August 2024.

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