Indigenous Sovereignty

Inside The Indigenous ‘Land Back’ Movement In Colombia

May 3, 2025 Lital Khaikin, Waging Nonviolence. Strategize! Colombia, Indigenous Sovereignty, Land Back Movement, Putamayo

Sharing a border with Ecuador and Peru, the southern Colombian department of Putumayo takes its name from the Quechua term for “gushing river.” For some, its landscapes are a sacred doorway to the Amazon rainforest, a world unfathomably greater than the human. For others, however, this land looks more like oilfields and military bases, optimized waterflood assets and strategic trafficking corridors. This difference in worldview is at the heart of peacebuilding in Putumayo and the Indigenous struggle to reclaim ancestral territories across the Amazon basin.

US Intends To Proceed With Arizona Copper Mine, Justices Told

April 24, 2025 Crystal Owens, Law 360. Educate! Arizona, Copper Mine, Indigenous Sovereignty, Oak Flat, Sacred sites, Supreme Court

The U.S. government says there has been no doubt that it intends to proceed with a land exchange in Arizona for a planned multibillion-dollar copper mine, telling the U.S. Supreme Court that its recent notice of publication of a final environmental impact statement for the project does not constitute urgent review. There is nothing about the 60-day notice, which was filed in an Arizona federal court and published in the Federal Register on April 17, that supports claims by the Apache Stronghold that there may have been some uncertainty about the federal government's intent to move forward with the land transfer, the government told the high court in a Monday letter.

As Federal Environmental Priorities Shift, Native American Nations Plan

March 31, 2025 Alyssa Kreikemeier, Resilience. Create! Environment, Indigenous Sovereignty, Native Americans, Water

Long before the large-scale Earth Day protests on April 22, 1970 – often credited with spurring significant environmental protection legislation – Native Americans stewarded the environment. As sovereign nations, Native Americans have been able to protect land, water and air, including well beyond their own boundaries. Their actions laid the groundwork for modern federal law and policy, including national legislation aimed at reducing pollution. Now the Trump administration is seeking to weaken some of those limits and eliminate programs aimed at improving the environments in which marginalized people live and work.

NDN Collective Completes Landback Deal In Alaska

November 20, 2024 NDN Collective. Create! Alaska, Indigenous Sovereignty, Landback Movement, Sacred sites

Cordova, AK –Last week, NDN Collective through our community development arm, NDN Holdings, finalized a LANDBACK deal with the Eyak Community Land Trust in Alaska and transferred title to two acres of land back to the Eyak people. In October 2021, NDN Collective was made aware of an opportunity to purchase land along Eyak Lake on the southern coast of the state. NDN Holdings purchased the land and began working with the Eyak community to transfer ownership. As of this week, the two acre property will now be wholly owned by Eyak Community Land Trust, which was established in collaboration with Native Conservancy, and be used by the community to host cultural and ecological education workshops.

Building Global Indigenous Power Post US Elections

November 14, 2024 Janene Yazzie, NDN Collective. Resist! climate crisis, COP29, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Sovereignty

As Indigenous Peoples, organizers, and as an organization, we have been clear about the threats we face. Our Peoples are on the frontlines confronted with the worst aspects of American politics and identity; white supremacy, settler colonialism, resource exploitation, environmental destruction, forced assimilation, political violence, and an ongoing genocide. This is why at NDN Collective we will always stay committed to Defend, Develop, and Decolonize. Protecting rights, building collective power, and organizing for systemic change is our pathway to liberation.

Navajo Nation: We Will Block Your Trucks

September 7, 2024 Comrade Oak, Orinoco Tribune. Resist! Blockade, Indigenous Sovereignty, Navajo nation, Uranium

On July 30, 2024, mining company Energy Fuel Resources smuggled two trucks carrying uranium ore across the Navajo border and through Navajo land. Navajo President Buu Nygren attempted to stop these trucks with the Navajo Police Force, but the fugitives ultimately escaped. Tribal members in the area are protesting and demanding the mine be shut down. The Navajo, Havasupai, and Ute Nations are being poisoned. Toxic uranium saturates their land, drinking water, and homes. Southwestern indigenous tribes lived on top of uranium deposits for centuries without issue. They called it leetso, or “yellow dirt.” Cancer rates in this area were so low that some believed the Navajo were immune.

Apache Stronghold On Journey Of Prayer To The Supreme Court

August 31, 2024 Apache Stronghold, Popular Resistance. Resist! Apache Stronghold, Indigenous Sovereignty, Legal System, Oak Flat, Sacred sites, Supreme Court

On July 11th, 2024, the Apache Stronghold started the journey of prayer to the Supreme Court to stop the shattering of human existence and to protect Mother Earth. We have traveled, held ceremonies and gathered prayers from Tribes, Communities, Churches, and people in support of saving Oak Flat and religious freedom and protections for all. We began in the Northwest, Westcoast, South, mid-west to the East to gather in Washington DC at the Supreme court on September 11. We are appealing a lower court ruling that would have allowed the total destruction of Oak Flat by allowing the land to be transferred to Resolution Copper, a foreign owned company, owned by BHP and Rio Tinto.

Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs Close Road To LNG Trucks

August 26, 2024 Brent Patterson, Peace Brigades International-Canada. Resist! Canada, Coastal Gas Link, Indigenous Sovereignty, Pipelines

Gitanyow Hereditary Chief Watakhayetsxw (Deborah Good) says: “As of tonight, I am closing the Cranberry Connector from 11 kilometers to 31 kilometres. ...I am closing the road and I will keep it closed. There will be no trucks permitted through the territory. No LNG equipment will be permitted through the territory." The Nass Forest Service Road, Highway 13, Nisga’a Highway and Cranberry Connector appear to be interchangeable names for the same road. Simogyet Watakhayetsxw of the Lax Ganeda, or the Raven Frog clan, adds: “The BC government, the federal government, defending PRGT. I am putting you on alert. There will be no trucks on my territory. And I will defend the territory as best I can.”

Canada’s First ‘Prisoner Of Conscience’ Is An Indigenous Land Defender

August 23, 2024 Taylar Dawn Stagner, Grist. Resist! Canada, Coastal Gas Link, Fossil Fuels, Indigenous Sovereignty, Pipelines, Political Prisoner

In 2019, construction began on a natural gas pipeline that would cut through the unceded homelands of the Wet’suwet’en Nation in western Canada. Wet’suwet’en land and water protectors were forbidden from coming near the construction area operated by Coastal Gaslink, owned by TC Energy. However, the project was met almost immediately with resistance and gained international attention due to the tribe’s use of traditional law. Under Wet’suwet’en law, the pipeline trespassed on Wet’suwet’en land. With no treaty signed with Canada or Britain, Wet’suwet’en argue that their laws are still applicable — a political status recognized by the Canadian supreme court — and they have the right to evict Coastal Gaslink, and its pipeline, from its homelands.

Urgent Call To Action To Revoke The Snowbowl Memorandum Of Agreement

August 15, 2024 Robin Silver, Popular Resistance. Resist! Arizona, Environment, Indigenous Sovereignty, Sacred sites, Snowbowl

Flagstaff, Arizona - Environmental and cultural advocates are expressing outrage following the approval and signing of the Snowbowl Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) by the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation (ACHP), and the United States Forest Service (USFS). This agreement has been established without the incorporation of critical scientific monitoring provisions on the San Francisco Peaks Traditional Cultural Property (TCP), disregarding the recommendations of indigenous Tribes, involved scientist, and respected elders.

Utah’s Development Plans Threaten My Navajo Homeland

July 26, 2024 Mark Maryboy, In These Times. Educate! Bear's Ears, Indigenous Sovereignty, Navajo, Sacred sites, Utah

My Navajo homeland is the great expanse of land between four sacred mountains in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. It is our place of origin and Navajo spiritual traditions are rooted here. Even when we were forcibly removed from our homeland by the federal government’s army in the 19th century, our spiritual and cultural connection to these lands has never been extinguished. Utah Navajos still make use of this historic homeland, which is now known as the 1.35-million-acre Bears Ears National Monument, designated by President Obama in 2016. It is where we practice our ceremonies; gather herbs, firewood and cedar poles; hunt for game; rejuvenate our spirits and caretake our sacred places.

Judge Orders Railway To Pay Washington Tribe For Trespassing

June 29, 2024 Gene Johnson, AP. Resist! BNSF, Indigenous Sovereignty, Legal System, Oil Trains, Railroads, Washington State

Seattle, WA — BNSF Railway must pay nearly $400 million to a Native American tribe in Washington state, a federal judge ordered Monday after finding that the company intentionally trespassed when it repeatedly ran 100-car trains carrying crude oil across the tribe’s reservation. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik initially ruled last year that the railway deliberately violated the terms of a 1991 easement with the Swinomish Tribe north of Seattle that allows trains to carry no more than 25 cars per day. The judge held a trial earlier this month to determine how much in profits BNSF made through trespassing from 2012 to 2021 and how much it should be required to disgorge.

Ireland, Spain And Norway To Formally Recognize Palestinian Statehood

May 23, 2024 Diego Ramos, Scheer Post. Educate! Indigenous Sovereignty, Ireland, Israel, Norway, Palestine, Spain

Ireland, Spain and Norway will formally recognize a Palestinian state on May 28, a milestone diplomatic decision that hopes to bring resolution to the conflict in Gaza. “We must be on the right side of history,” Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said amongst the announcements with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Harris, speaking at a news conference in Dublin, said he hopes the decision would “offer hope and encouragement to the people of Palestine at one of their darkest hours.” Sánchez addressed the Spanish Parliament, stating: We hope that our recognition and our reasons contribute to other western countries following this path, because the more we are, the more strength we will have to impose a ceasefire, to achieve the release of the hostages held by Hamas, to relaunch the political process that can lead to a peace agreement.

Tribal Groups Want Full Ninth Circuit Court To Rehear Oak Flat Appeal

April 30, 2024 Crystal Owens, Law 360. Resist! Indigenous Sovereignty, Legal System, Oak Flat, Sacred sites

An Apache nonprofit is asking the Ninth Circuit's entire 29-judge panel to review its lawsuit that seeks to block a copper mining company from destroying a sacred Indigenous religious site, arguing that an en banc hearing is warranted given the appellate court's latest split decision on the land transfer. In a 268-page petition for a special en banc rehearing, the Apache Stronghold on Monday argued that Ninth Circuit panels have now twice tried to define "substantial burden" in the case's context, and, given the vast power it holds over the lives of Native Americans, unique circumstances warrant a full-court review.

Apache Stronghold: Ninth Circuit Ruling Does Not Advance Mine

March 4, 2024 Apache Stronghold, Popular Resistance. Resist! Indigenous Sovereignty, Legal System, Mining, Oak Flat, Sacred sites

San Carlos Apache Reservation, Ariz.– While the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling Friday, March 1, 2024 against the non-profit citizens group Apache Stronghold is extremely disappointing, the ruling does not clear the way for construction of the Resolution Copper Mine. “The culturally and environmentally devastating Resolution project is no closer to construction today than it was before the appeals court ruling,” San Carlos Apache Tribe Chairman Terry Rambler said. “The Tribe will continue to fight construction of the project that would have devastating impacts to the Tribe’s culture, the environment and Arizona’s drinking water supplies.”

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