Sacred sites

People Are Protesting The Desecration Of A Historic Black Cemetery

August 29, 2020 Kristina Gaddy, Washington City Paper. Resist! Development, Maryland, Sacred sites, Systemic Racism

This summer, on an industrial and commercial section of River Road near the Capital Crescent Trail in Bethesda, you can regularly find area musician Brian Farrow in the roadway playing “Potter’s Hornpipe,” a song written by Black composer Francis Johnson in 1816 in honor of a destroyed African American cemetery. Nearby, protestors hold signs that say “Black Ancestors Matter” and “Black Lives Matter from Cradle to Grave,” while Marsha Coleman-Adebayo of the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition and Macedonia Baptist Church leads chants of “Save Moses Cemetery!”

Self-Storage Removes Evidence From Cemetery And Denies Archeologist Access

August 27, 2020 the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition, Popular Resistance. Educate! Development, Maryland, Sacred sites, White Supremacy

Bethesda, MD -- Over 100 dump trucks removed hundreds of cubic feet of soil containing evidence of burials in Moses Cemetery from the disputed site along River Road. Photographs were taken of site managers removing bottles and other glass features, common in African and African American burials, from the cemetery and ignoring objects shaped like headstones (see below.) The community maintains that the company is out of compliance in several essential areas. The Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition (BACC) has been protesting Bethesda Self-Storage Company's excavation to build a large storage facility on top of Moses Cemetery.

Blackfeet Federation Seeks Permanent Protection For Badger Two Medicine

July 22, 2020 Clara Caufield, Native Sun News. Create! Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Sacred sites, Treaties

Recently, the Blackfeet Tribal Council, MT announced its goal of securing permanent Federal government for the Badger Two Medicine area, sacred site to them. Specifically, they are seeking a new type of federal legislation that would authorize and establish a Cultural Heritage Area, the Badger Two Medicine, 130,000 acres within the Lewis-Clark National Forest area, to be co-managed by the Tribe and USFS. “Badger Two Medicine is a heart and soul spiritual place to the Blackfeet people. It is where we still come together to help one another,” explained Earl Person. “Without it, our people will be weakened.” Old Person, now 91 a nationally recognized Tribal Leader spent more than 60 years in Tribal politics, most often serving as Tribal Chairman.

The Supreme Court Ruling On Oklahoma Was Welcome, But…

July 14, 2020 Nick Estes, NBC News. Create! Indigenous Sovereignty, Oklahoma, Sacred sites, Treaties

The U.S. legal system from the Supreme Court on down delivered a suite of rulings over the past week that have reaffirmed Indigenous land rights and environmental protections. From the Virginias to the Dakotas, they pushed back on the industrial development that would have further imperiled tribal lands and the environment. On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that 3 million acres of eastern Oklahoma — including most of Tulsa — remain American Indian reservation land. Last Monday, the court also denied a Trump administration request to allow the construction of the long-delayed northern leg of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would carry slurry crude from the Alberta tar sands to Nebraska.

Black Hills Treaty Defender Faces Felony Charges

July 13, 2020 Dalton Walker, Indian Country Today. Resist! Indigenous Activist, Indigenous Rights, Sacred sites, Trump

The leader of an Indigenous-led advocacy organization, who spent the holiday weekend in jail after defending his people’s unceded territory in the Black Hills, called the serious charges he’s facing “bullshit.”Nick Tilsen, Oglala Lakota, president and CEO of NDN Collective, is charged with multiple offenses, including two felonies, related to the July 3 Mount Rushmore protest that ended with 20 treaty defenders — 19 adults and one juvenile — in jail, according to the Pennington County Sheriff's Office. One counter-protester was also jailed, and additional arrests may happen as the video is being reviewed along with additional interviews, according to the sheriff’s office.

Native American Protesters Blocked The Road Leading To Mount Rushmore

July 4, 2020 Ashley Collman, Business Insider. Resist! Indigenous Rights, Sacred sites, Treaty, Trump

A group of mainly Native American protesters blocked the road leading up to Mount Rushmore for three hours before President Donald Trump gave a speech at the national monument Friday night. When they refused to disband, the protesters faced off with the South Dakota National Guard, which shot close-range shells at their feet and sprayed some protesters with pepper spray, according to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. By 7 p.m., 15 protesters who refused to leave the road had been arrested. Trump went on to give a divisive speech at Mount Rushmore, saying the country was under siege by "far-left" fascists waging "a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children."

Tribal Leaders Call Bears Ears Opening An ‘Unlawful Action’

February 9, 2020 Joaqlin Estus, Indian Country Today. Resist! Indigenous culture, Mining, Sacred sites, Trump

Trump administration opens southern Utah national monument lands to development including grazing, mining, and oil and gas development Thursday the Trump administration announced it was opening two national monuments to development. The culturally and geologically significant Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante monuments will be available for cattle grazing, mining, and oil and gas development. Five tribes had formed a coalition in 2015 to promote protection of the Bears Ears region; dozens more tribes have expressed support for their effort. In a prepared statement, Shaun Chapoose, Ute, co-chair of the Bears Ears Intertribal Coalition and representative of the Ute Indian Tribe Business Committee, said the coalition is united in opposition to the administration’s management plan for the two monuments.

Former San Carlos Apache Tribe Chair Walking To Traditional Lands To Protest Copper Mine

November 28, 2019 Emma Gibson, Arizona Public Media. Resist! Environment, Indigenous Rights, Mining, Sacred sites

The former chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe will walk to his tribe's traditional lands near Superior, where Resolution Copper plans to build a large underground mine. Wendsler Nosie Sr., who was the chairman from 2006-2010, wrote in a letter to the U.S. Forest Service he's starting his 44-mile walk from the San Carlos Apache Tribe's reservation Thursday to Oak Flat. Oak Flat is a sacred site that sits inside the Tonto National Forest east of Phoenix. He said he wants to raise awareness about the environmental and religious impacts of the mine. "I have to vacate where you put my family as prisoners of war where you've instructed us, even programmed us, that this is where we originated from," Nosie said in reference to his conversation with the Forest Service.

Activists Camped At Hawaii’s Mauna Kea Face Government Opposition

July 28, 2019 By Aída Chávez, The Intercept. Resist! Decolonize, Hawaii, Indigenous Rights, Sacred sites

On July 17, police in riot gear arrested at least 33 Native Hawaiian elders, or kupuna, for peacefully blocking construction of a massive telescope on sacred land on the dormant volcano of Mauna Kea. The arrests came after the kupuna — some of whom use canes or wheelchairs — were blocking the road to the summit. Shortly after the arrests, Hawaii Gov. David Ige signed an emergency order to give law enforcement more authority to remove activists on Mauna Kea, close roads, and ensure delivery of materials to the construction site. According to a state spokesperson, the activists were released right away and charged with “obstruction of government operations.”

Housing Board Uses Armed Police To Remove Defenders Of African Cemetery

December 8, 2018 Dr. Marsha Coleman Adebayo and Dr. Laurel Hoa, Popular Resistance. Resist! Housing, Racism, Sacred sites

Bethesda, MD — The Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) called in armed police to remove peaceful protesters from its monthly board meeting on Wednesday. This was the first meeting since County Executive Marc Elrich appeared before the board last month to express his support for Macedonia Baptist Church’s (MBC) efforts to protect Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda. Protesters have peacefully demonstrated every month at these meetings for the last two years trying to stop the desecration of their ancestors.

Supreme Court Rules Against Hopi Over Sacred Site

November 30, 2018 Alden Woods, Azcentral.com Educate! Indigenous Peoples, Justice System, Sacred sites

Arizona - The Hopi Tribe cannot claim special damage on land controlled by the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Thursday, all but ending an eight-year legal battle and ensuring the ski area can continue using machine-made snow on the state's most popular slopes. The Hopi Tribe's lawsuit was originally about the machine-made snow. Its complaint alleged that Snowbowl's use of treated wastewater to make the snow damaged the San Francisco Peaks, which the tribe considers sacred. Eight years later, the Supreme Court ended up weighing a nuanced legal argument: Whether an appeals court created a new category of "special harm" in public nuisance claims.

Holy Ground Desecrated At Site Of Apache Resistance To Mine

March 20, 2018 By Wendsler Nosie, Sr., Oak Flat Tucson Support. Educate! Indigenous Rights, Mining, Sacred sites

On March 17th, a representative of the Apache Stronghold arrived to Oak Flat, Arizona and found that the four crosses of an Apache holy ground had been intentionally destroyed. Two of the crosses were missing, ripped from the ground and two of the crosses have been left standing, but destroyed with what appears to be an axe. Evidence of large tires driving through the space covered the dirt surrounding and through the site of prayer. Ceremonial eagle feathers were left laying on the ground.

Energy Fuels Completes Drilling Near Grand Canyon

April 7, 2017 Klee Benally, www.haulno.org Resist! Indigenous Rights, Mining, Sacred sites, Uranium

By Klee Benally for Haul No! GRAND CANYON, AZ — Energy Fuels Inc. recently reported that it has completed drilling of it’s uranium mine shaft at Canyon Mine, which is located just miles from the Grand Canyon. The company is now creating a plan based upon results of the drilling before it can resume construction at the site. They have also temporarily fired most of their workers. Energy Fuels threatens that uranium ore extraction could begin at Canyon Mine as early as June 2017. “Energy Fuels is violating Mother Earth, desecrating sacred Red Butte, and now bringing poisonous water laced with uranium out of their mine near the Grand Canyon. It is an outrage to witness careless mine workers spray radioactive pollution over these sacred lands.” stated Klee Benally, a coordinator with Clean Up The Mines and volunteer with Haul No!, “That they are also transporting millions of gallons of this toxic contaminants through Diné Bikeyah (Navajo Nation) without our informed consent, where our communities continue to suffer the effects of the nuclear industry’s deadly legacy, is an outrage.

Grand Canyon Uranium Mine Filling With Toxic Water

March 22, 2017 Alicyn Gitlin and Leona Morgan, www.sierraclub.org Educate! health, Indigenous Rights, Mining, Sacred sites, Uranium

By Alicyn Gitlin and Leona Morgan for Sierra Club. TUSAYAN, Ariz. – The controversial Canyon Mine, located just six miles from Grand Canyon’s South Rim, is filling with surplus water after a wet winter. In an effort to dispose of the water from the bottom of the mine shaft, mine owner Energy Fuels Resources (USA) Inc. is trucking the contaminated water to the White Mesa Mill uranium processing facility near Blanding, Utah and spraying it, into the air and on the adjacent Kaibab National Forest, in an attempt to evaporate it. The Plan of Operations requires that all excess water be retained in holding ponds and be treated on-site. Simultaneously, Energy Fuels has allowed state environmental permits intended to help protect groundwater to expire.

Maryland: African Cemetery Protests Win Government Response

March 22, 2017 Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, www.blackagendareport.com Resist! Development, Gentrification, Racism, Sacred sites

By Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo for Black Agenda Report. Bethesda, Maryland - After months of public pressure and protests, Montgomery County Government has reluctantly suggested to “bring all parties together to address the various concerns that have been expressed and seek a solution that all can agree upon before we move forward.” The suggestion was made in a March 16, 2017, joint letter from County Executive, Isiah Leggett, and Council President, Roger Berliner, issued to Casey Anderson, Chair of the Montgomery County Planning Board. Black Agenda Report has covered this struggle extensively. From outward appearances, the casual observer would never be able to discern the presence of the cemetery as every day hundreds of cars drive over what now is the Housing Opportunity Commission (HOC) apartment parking lot.

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