Native Indians

Leonard Peltier Tribunal On Indigenous Rights Begins Today

October 2, 2013 Brenda Norrell, www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Human Rights, Indigenous Rights, Native Indians

The Leonard Peltier Tribunal on the Abuse of Indigenous Peoples Rights begins today in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Lakotas will begin the testimony this morning at the Radisson Conference Center, on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013. The Tribunal, available on Earthcycles livestream, begins with testimony by William Means, Lakota and founder of the International Indian Treaty Council. "Black Hills, from Creation to Annexation to Reclamation," begins the Tribunal. Means is scheduled to speak with Charlotte Black Elk, Oglala Lakota activist and scholar, and Leonard Crow Dog, Lakota spiritual leader. Speakers this morning on the Wounded Knee Massacre include Edgar Bear Runner. "Wounded Knee 1973" speakers include Dennis Banks, Clyde Bellecourt, Madonna Thunder Hawk and Larry Leventhal. The US versus Leonard Peltier, and Peltier's incarceration, trials and appeals, will be discussed during the three day Tribunal before a panel of human rights judges on Oneida Indian land here in Green Bay, Oct. 2 --4.

Native American Tribes Seek Help from UN, World Court

September 18, 2013 Bethania Palma Markus, www.truthout.org Create! Environment, Government, Indigenous Rights, Native Indians

After setting out from their homes in Manitoba and upstate New York, respectively, teams from the Dakota and Onondaga nations in full traditional dress marched through Lower Manhattan on their way to the United Nations building on August 9, 2013. The Dakota had traversed thousands of miles and an international border on a horseback "Unity Ride" to plead with the international governing body for help. The march signified what the Dakota and Onondaga consider a state of emergency: desecration of their way of life, ongoing environmental destruction and their home governments' inability or unwillingness to do anything about it. "We're doing this for all mankind, not just our own people," said Dakota Chief Gus High Eagle. "In the next 10 years, what's going to happen? Are we going to have any clean water?"

Extensive Flooding In Navajo Nation, Assistance Needed

September 17, 2013 ICTMN Staff, www.indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com Organize! Environment, Native Indians

As many as 50 chapters have requested assistance in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, the Navajo Nation said, with 22 people evacuated in Chinle, 40 evacuated or rescued in Many Farms and Rock Point, and 20 homes damaged in Tonalea, Arizona. Chinle residents were returning home on Friday September 13. Even with floodwaters subsiding, however, homes were still plagued by mud, rain, mold and infestation, according to reports. The Nation is looking for volunteers to help in shelters and other flood-recuperation efforts, according to a statement issued on Friday September 13. Between 50 and 80 homes are within the flash flood areas, and many families had been displaced, the Nation said. Volunteers can contact the Navajo Nation Department of Emergency Management Emergency Operation Center at 505-371-8415, 505-371- 8416, 505-371-8417.

Victory: Judge Halts Tar Sands ‘Megaloads’ Through Nat’l Forest

September 16, 2013 Andrea Germanos, www.commondreams.org Resist! Energy, Environment, Native Indians, Tar Sands

Marking at least a temporary victory for the Nez Perce Tribe and environmental activists, a federal judge on Friday halted shipments of giant tar sands equipment dubbed 'megaloads' that pass through a national forest in Idaho. The ruling is a continuation of a three-year battle to protect "a scenic Idaho roadway that cuts through the homeland of the Nez Perce Tribe and runs alongside two federally protected rivers," Reuters reports. “This is a win for all who cherish the esthetic, spiritual and recreational values of the Lochsa and Clearwater Rivers,” Kevin Lewis, Conservation Director of Idaho Rivers United, which filed the lawsuit along with the Nez Perce to stop the shipments, said in a statement.

Navajo Nation Split On Coal Deal

September 8, 2013 Staff, www.america.aljazeera.com Educate! Energy, Environment, Native Indians

"It's just about money. Nobody cares whose health is going down or who has health problems," she said. Tribal lawmakers voted Monday to form a limited-liability company that would run the mine, located near Farmington, N.M. The tribe said it will decide by next July 1 whether to purchase the mine from the Australian firm for about $85 million. Navajo President Ben Shelly must sign off on the creation of the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. Lawmakers said it would be part of a transition to renewable energy production in the future, though critics of the mine purchase don't believe that. Tribal officials estimate the tribe could turn a profit of at least $200 million every year, which would represent a major increase in revenue for a native government dealing with a 40 percent poverty rate and high unemployment.

Idle No More Calls For Mass Action On October 7, 2013

September 8, 2013 Krystalline Kraus, www.rabble.ca Organize! First Nations, Idle No More, Native Indians

Idle No More organizers recently attended and participated in an important meeting of sixty Indigenous land defenders and their allies representing front line struggles from across Canada. The meeting named by organizers “Building Unity to Action” took place on August 17, 2013 in Toronto, Ontario on the traditional Anishinaabe Territory of the New Credit First Nation. This was a strategic & tactical planning meeting organized by Idle No More-Toronto and Defenders of the Land to crystallize a plan for fall action. One of the primary outcomes of this historic meeting was consensus by all participants to collectively put out a call to all Native and non-Native supporters to join in a mass day of action on Oct 7th, 2013. This day marks the 250th Anniversary of the British Royal Proclamation, which lead to the founding of this country they call Canada - a country founded on indigenous lands.

Native Americans Take Lead In Tar Sands Resistance

September 1, 2013 IPS, www.iede.co.uk Organize! Energy, Environment, Native Indians, Tar Sands

Native American tribes in the United States have taken the lead in opposing the expansion of the Athabasca Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada, engaging in civil disobedience to the point of arrest and attempting to physically block shipments of construction equipment from passing through their native lands. Native opposition is based on concern over the environmental destruction associated with the expansion and with the related Keystone XL Pipeline. The pipeline would convey oil from the tar sands through Canada and the United States to southeastern Texas. As previously reported by IPS, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation says the expansion of the world's third largest crude oil deposit so far has caused significant damage to the ecosystem, including the disappearance of bugs, decline in the numbers of migratory birds, elevated rates of certain types of cancers, and the possible extinction of caribou herds.

Eight Hottest Environmental Battlegrounds in Indian Country

August 30, 2013 Terri Hansen, www.indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com Organize! Energy, Environment, Native Indians

Corporate interests have been gobbling up indigenous land and rights since contact more than 500 years ago. Today, American Indians are still fighting to maintain their stewardship and the integrity of the land. From the uranium invasion of the Grand Canyon, to the trashing of sacred places in the name of renewable energy, here are some of the most environmentally embattled hot spots in Indian country. These are just a few of the battles being fought to preserve the environment against corporate interests in Indian country. Follow even more conflicts below.

History Of Abusive Treatment Of First Nations People

August 26, 2013 Paul Hanley, www.thestarphoenix.com Educate! Indigenous Rights, Native Indians

For a lifelong Saskatchewanian whose ancestors immigrated to this province in its early days, reading James Daschuk's Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life is like finding that diary. We knew in a general way that the indigenous people of this province were mistreated; now Daschuk's painstaking research fills in the province's ugly backstory with awful detail, down to the level of communities and families we may know. Essentially, the book is an account of the diseases that swept the Canadian plains from the point of European contact at the end of the 17th century to the imposition of the reserve system at the end of the 19th.

A Sovereign Indigenous Movement to Heal Mother Earth

August 17, 2013 Deni Leonard, www.occupy.com Educate! Indigenous Rights, Native Indians

The young members of the Indigenous Tribes and First Nations have the energy and knowledge to begin the journey to heal Mother Earth. They carry the messages from their ancestors and await, through community respect, the authority of their Tribal Governments to begin the Sovereign Movement to Heal Mother Earth. Hear the ending of a new poem, called "A Blessing," from the first Navajo Poet Laureate, Professor Luci Tapahonso, which she wrote for a class of Tribal college graduates: “May we fulfill the lives envisioned for us at our birth. May we realize that our actions affect all people and the earth. May we live in the way of beauty and help others in need. May we always remember that we were created as people who believe in one another. We are grateful, Holy Ones, for the graduates, as they will strengthen our future. All is beautiful again."

Two Row Wampum Epic Canoe Trip Kick Off Festival On July 27

July 25, 2013 Staff, www.honorthetworow.org Organize! Native Indians

In partnership with the Onondaga Nation, Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON) has begun developing a major statewide educational campaign to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first treaty between the Haudenosaunee and European settlers. In the spirit of the Two Row Wampum, and as concerned peoples of Nations bound by the “Two Row” and scores of subsequent treaties signed on our behalf and subsequently betrayed in our names, we are committed to reinvigorating this powerful vision and renewing this mutual commitment beginning next year and continuing throughout 2013. We will begin with a cultural and educational festival near Albany on Saturday, July 27 and the flotilla will set off the following morning. We will paddle between 9 and 15 miles each day and camp along the route.

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