Defenders of the Black Hills Camp-out on June 10 – 16th – Idle No More

An Environmental Camp-out will be held from June 10 – 16, 2015, at the Reva Gap Campground on state Highway 20, between the towns of Buffalo and Reva . Board member, Harold One Feather, will be coordinating the event with day trips to where the Keystone XL Pipeline plans on entering South Dakota, to the Bowman-Haley Lake and Shadehill Reservoir which collect the radioactive runoff from the North Cave Hills abandoned uranium mines, and other trips to historic sites. Bring your own camping gear, food, and water. Primitive camping available. Contact Harold at bhdefenders@msn.com, or PO Box 2003, Rapid City, SD 57709.

Environmental Camp-out on June 10 – 16th
Reva Gap Campground

Wopila (Thank you) Prayer Gathering on June 12th
Riley Pass Mine

A Wopila (Thank you) Prayer Gathering is planned for Friday, June 12th, at 10:00 AM (MDST) at the sacred site near the Riley Pass Mine. However, due to high radiation levels at the site, we ask that no children or young adults attend. Dust masks will be available.

The turnoff to the Riley Pass mine, a red gravel road, is about 1.5 miles past Ludlow, SD, on state Highway 85. Follow the gravel road about 5 miles always turning to the left. We will park at the U.S. Forest Service sign and walk up to the sacred site for the Wopila (Thank You) prayers. It is about a quarter mile, uphill walk.

Potluck lunch will follow at the Reva Gap Campground with a presentation by the US Forest Service.

For more information contact Charmaine White Face at bhdefenders@msn.com

Anishinaabe Water Walk 2015 – Idle No More

Join our water walk from Eagle Lake to Shoal Lake in Treaty 3/Ontario along TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline route. 
The Walk will take place beginning on August 3 to 7 2015.

11013118_10155526049270182_5675753880690449735_n.jpg

Hosted by the Grassroots Indigenous Water Defence, we are a group of concerned citizens that want to protect water, land and climate for the future generations.

Our stance is #NoEnergyEast!

Updated poster and details coming soon!

Email: grassrootsindigenous2015@gmail.com

National Election official of Mexico ridicules Indigenous Peoples – Idle No More

Submitted by Tupac Enrique Acosta

MEXICO CITY, DF – In a private telephone conversation whose audio was uploaded to YouTube, the president of the National Electoral Institute (INE), Lorenzo Córdova Vianello, is overheard to ridicule in racist tones the representatives of the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico. President of the INE had recently conducted a session in consultation with Indigenous Peoples regarding the call for the creation of a specific sixth constituency within the national electoral proceedings to allow the Indigenous Peoples to nominate candidates outside of the party structures of the current system.

In the telephone conversation Cordova referred to the consultation on the 23rd of the month. He had called the executive secretary of the electoral body, Edmundo Jacobo, to mock one of the leaders of Original Nations, Hipólito Arriaga Pot from the Otomi Nation.

In translation the voice of Cordova is heard to say: “There was one of them, I am not kidding, I will not lie, I’ll tell you how this bastard spoke,” says Cordova, and then begins to mimic with a deep, mocking voice: “I head Great Chichimeca Nation, come Guanajuato. I say here for deputies, Us not allow your elections. ” Cordova then bursts out laughing.

Screen_Shot_2015-06-01_at_11.11.43_AM.jpg“I do not know if it true that that bastard talks like that, but I am not kidding,” insists Cordova in laughing fits as he continues in the mockery: “Or maybe he saw too much Lone Ranger with that bastard bull, no kidding. ‘I great Chief Sitting Bull, leader Chichimeca great nation, no kidding, no kidding, it was too much.”

Cordova said that the workshops with the indigenous constituencies are more “dramatic” than the meetings he held with the parents of the 43 normalistas from Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, adding that “we should write an INE version of the Martian Chronicles”, referring to the works of science fiction of author Ray Bradbury.

“It is too much, we will either end up in stitches laughing or having to see the psychiatrist, you bastard,” he adds.

Screen_Shot_2015-05-30_at_11.59.28_PM.jpg

Moreover, the INE did not deny the authenticity of the tape. Just today the National Electoral Institute issued a statement in which they announced that a complaint has been filed with the Attorney General (PGR) for “illegal interception of private telephone conversations”.

The INE revealed that the other party in the conversation with Cordova, whose voice was distorted during audio editing, was Jacobo Molina, Secretary General of INE.

“The INE is outraged by such practices and calls on the competent authorities to further investigation,” he said in his newsletter.

Even Cordova regretted that the dissemination of such discussion occurs in a complicated context that does not benefit the electoral institutions within weeks of the election.

Sources:
La Jornada
*******
###
The Red Flags of the Electoral Process in Guerrero, Mexico
**************
Indigenous Peoples Forum on the Impact of the Doctrine of Discovery
MEXICO

IMG_9622.JPG“As Indigenous Peoples we have been marginalized and excluded. They have called us ignorant savages without culture. They have imposed ideas, languages and religions and this is why I believe it is important that we elaborate these issues and we shall make our voice be heard. That our ideas be known and that we will not be diminished.”
Message to the O’otham Nations
Virginia Flores Flores, O’dam

Amah Mutsun Tribal Band: Open Letter to Pope Francis – Idle No More

Valentin Lopez, Chairman Amah Mutsun Tribal Band on April 23, 2015 at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues reasons why Father Serra is guilty of committing ethnocide. It has been clearly documented that Father Serra wanted to destroy Native culture including their communities, their Spirituality, their languages and their way of life leaving the Indigenous people no choice but to accept the Catholic religion.

Valentin Lopez, Chairman Amah Mutsun Tribal Band on April 23, 2015 at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues speaking in opposition to the canonization of Fray Junipero Serra by Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church, Head of the Vatican State.

Amah Mutsun Tribal Band of Costanoan/Ohlone Indians
Historica.Uy known as ”Sanjuan Bautista Band and Sanj uan Band” Indians of California
PO Box 5272 I Galt. CA 95622

 

February 24, 2015

His Holiness Pope Francis
Casa de Marta
Vatican City Rome
00120
Italy

Re: Open Letter to Pope Francis,

Your Holiness, Pope Francis,

My name is Valentin Lopez and I am the Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. Our historic and
continuous Tribe is comprised of the documented descendants of the indigenous peoples taken to
Missions San Juan Bautista and Santa Cruz in the state of California, United States of America. Our Amah Mutsun Tribe is not a federally recognized Tribe. The Federal Government of the Unites States does not acknowledge our Tribe nor does it provide assistance to our members. We are writing this letter to voice our disbelief and objection to your intent to canonize Franciscan Friar Junipero Serra.

When you were first selected Pope our Amah Mutsun Tribal Council discussed your selection on a number of occasions and we were very optimistic. We were hopeful that you would understand the plight of the indigenous descendant and how they have been ignored and marginalized by society. We applauded your words of peace, justice, truth, and dignity. We were also optimistic that you would understand how our people need to recover from generations of oppression and pain. Your decision to canonize Fr. Serra is a clear message that our re ality of pove rty, suicide, depression, substance abuse, and many other ills will continue to impact the lives of our members for many more years and perhaps many more generations.

Because we believed your papacy would be different we wrote you two letters dated August 29, 2013 and April 25, 2014. In these letters we introduced our Tribe and described our pre-contact history. We also described our ancestor’s experiences at the mission. I told you of how many of our female ancestors were tied together by their thumbs and forced to march to the missions. Once there they were considered the property of the mission. It’s estimated that life expectancy was less than two years at some missions. I also discussed how our current Tribal members continue to suffer from the impact of cumulative emotional and psychological wounding, which is otherwise known as historic trauma. This trauma resulted from the generations of physical and emotional brutality as well as the attempted cultural and spiritual genocide of all California native people. Our ancestors endured this brutality not only during mission times but this legacy continued during the Mexican and American periods. Historic trauma also results from the fact that from mission times to the present our legitimate past and our humanity as indigenous people have never been truly acknowledged by any governmental or religious organization.

The two letters we sent were accompanied by letters from Dr. Donna Schindler, psychiatrist, and Bishop Francis Quinn, Bishop Emeritus of Sacramento California. Dr. Schindler’s letters discussed historic trauma and explained how our members continue to suffer today because of our tragic history starting with the brutalities our ancestors suffered at the missions. Bishop Quinn’s letter, dated May 7, 2014, stated that although the “language of these letters is sometimes very intense, I support the basic message.” In both letters we requested that you offer a mass of reconciliation to the Indigenous people of California, as that would be an important step in our efforts to find healing from our historic trauma.

When you announced recently that you would canonize Fr. Junipero Serra we were in absolute disbelief. It is incomprehensible for us to think that you would canonize a person who is ultimately responsible for the death of approximately 100,000 California Indians and the complete extermination of many Native tribes, cultures and languages. The brutality of Fr. Serra is well documented in his own writings. On July 31, 1775 Fr. Serra wrote a letter to Spanish Governor Fernando de Rivera y Moncado requesting that he punish four Indians for attempting to run away from San Carlos de Borromeo de Carmelo mission. Fr. Serra wrote, “I am sending them to you so that a period of exile, and two or three whippings which Your Lordship may order applied to them on different days may serve, for them and for all the rest, for a warning, may be of spiritual benefit to all; and this last is the prime motive for our work. If Your Lordship does not have shackles, with your permission they may be sent from here. I think that the punishment should last one month.” On July 7, 1780 Fr. Serra wrote a letter to Governor Felipe de Neve to explain his policy of whipping Indians, “That the spiritual fathers [priests] should punish their sons, the Indians, by blows appears to be as old as the conquest of these kingdoms.” This violence, intimidation and terror which was sponsored and ordered by Fr. Serra clearly set the policy and foundation for all future brutal acts at the missions. Obviously, Fr. Serra’s standard for violence against the Indians was the same standard as that used in the conquest of all of the Americas.

There were many horrendous and documented events during the mission period in California. For example, in 1809 a Commander of the Spanish military ordered Spanish soldiers to massacre 200 women and children who refused to continue to march to Mission San Juan Bautista. These women and children were cut into pieces with sabers while the commander ordered that their remains be scattered on the ground; this event is documented. After this atrocity “the priests swore all of the soldiers to secrecy.” While some will argue that Junipero Serra himself was not directly responsible for this massacre, there is no dispute that he is responsible for creating the system that allowed these types of inhumane and depraved events to occur. Furthermore, to remove him from the consequences of the missions would be the same as removing the leaders of terrorist groups, or military aggressors who acted in the name of religion of any era, including the terrorist groups of today, from the actions of their followers.

Following your announcement that you were going to canonize Serra, I reflected on what I believed to be the definition of a “Saint.” I have always thought that the Catholic Church considered someone a saint only when that person followed Jesus Christ and lived his/her life according to Christ’s teaching. Frankly, I see no similarities between Serra and Jesus Christ. The latter never used military enforcers or corporal punishment to get people to follow his teaching, nor did he use beatings and whippings. Jesus Christ never considered people to be property or turn them into slaves. Jesus Christ never considered anyone to be a heathen, a pagan, or a savage. At no time did Jesus Christ ever say that a man had no soul, nor did Jesus Christ ever teach that the end results justified the means.

We often hear that the times were much different when Fr. Serra first came to California and that we cannot use today’s standards to judge his actions. The Amah Mutsun completely agrees. The Catholic Church should not use today’s standards to judge Fr. Serra. Instead, the Catholic Church should judge Fr. Serra against the times and the words that Jesus Christ spoke when he was on earth; over 1,750 years before the time of Serra. Serra should have known that to follow Jesus Christ’s footsteps meant that he needed to have understanding and love for others and that no one could or should ever be forced to accept Jesus Christ. We read that Jesus came in peace and he was often attacked. Fr. Serra came in the name of Jesus, but yet he brought soldiers and was prepared to attack. How Fr. Serra is worthy of public veneration based upon actions most people would consider to be evil is unfathomable.

Many of Serra’s actions were acceptable to the Catholic Church based on the Diversas Bull of 1452 and other related bulls. These bulls, which promoted the conquest, colonization, and exploitation of nonChristian nations, specifically granted the Pope’s blessing “to capture, vanquish, and subdue the Saracens, pagans, and other enemies of Christ and put them into perpetual slavery and take all their possessions and their property.” In 1493 Pope Alexander VI issued a law granting Spain’s dominion over all lands that Columbus had located.

On October 23, 2013 the Religious Sisters of Charity wrote to you and asked you to publicly repudiate and rescind the Diversas Bull of 1452, the Caetera Bull of 1493, and other related bulls. To date, the Catholic Church has refused to do this. How could the Catholic Church remove the words and life of Jesus Christ to define sainthood and replace the definition of sainthood with papal bulls that sanctioned Christian enslavement, power and Spain’s dominion over all lands that Columbus had located? The Amah Mutsun have no doubt that Serra’s canonization is based on these papal bulls and not the words and actions of Jesus Christ. We join the Sisters of Charity in asking you, Holy Father, to repudiate and rescind the Bulls referenced above.

We must add that until these bulls are rescinded we can only conclude that the Catholic Church considers many of our ancestors, current members and future descendents to be the enemies of Christ. We do not believe Jesus Christ believes us to be his enemy; we’d like the church to explain this paradox.

On August 29, 2013, tribal leaders from four mission tribes, Rudy Ortega, Tribal Administrator and Tribal Spiritual Leader, Tataviam Tribe, Mel Vernon, Captain, Mission San Luis Rey Tribe, Ray Hernandez, Chumash, and our Amah Mutsun Tribe, and Dr. Schindler met with Bishop Gerald Wilkerson of San Fernando Pastoral Region and Bishop Edward Clark, Regional Bishop, Archdiocese of Los Angeles. At these meetings we told them of the need for the church to tell the truth regarding Fr. Serra and the Mission period. We also made them aware of the impact of historic trauma on our members. Following this meeting we sent the Bishops a letter, dated May 30, 2013, documenting the 12 points we discussed at our meeting. We offered specific recommendations on how the church could help our tribal members heal from our historic trauma. We also offered to help the church establish positive relationships with the descendants of the Indians taken to the mission. We ended the letter by saying we look forward to working with the Bishops. No response to this letter was ever received.

On December 20, 2013, we met with Mr. Ned Dolejsi, Executive Director, California Catholic Conference. At our meeting we shared with him our letter to Bishops Wilkerson and Clark. We also requested that Dr. Schindler and I be allowed to speak at the next quarterly all Bishops Conference to inform the attendees that there are surviving tribes from the mission period and that the truth needs to be told regarding the history of the California missions. Shortly after our meeting Mr. Dolejsi notified Dr. Schindler that our request was denied. This denial reinforced what we’ve believed for generations, the Catholic Church does not acknowledge our Tribes or our humanity.

On December 11, 2012, Bishop Garcia of the Monterey Diocese held a mass of reconciliation for the
indigenous peoples and their descendents taken to Mission San Juan Bautista. At this mass Bishop
Garcia apologized for events of the past that were hurtful and expressed “a desire for a new relationship
that promotes common spiritual growth, honesty, mutual respect and a desire to forgive and be
forgiven for past wrongs.” Prior to this mass our Tribal Council decided that we should “acknowledge”
this apology versus to “accept” the apology. We felt that for the apology to be sincere it had to be
followed up by specific actions that demonstrated the church’s sincerity. When you announced that
you were going to canonize Serra we realized that although Bishop Garcia apologized, the church does
not understand our history, nor does it understand the great pain and suffering it has caused.

On September 14, 1987, Pope John Paul stated in a speech that was directed to indigenous peoples that “The early encounter between your traditional cultures and the European way of life was an event of such significance and change that it profoundly influences your collective life even today. That encounter was a harsh and painful reality for your peoples.” He then added “At the same time, in order to be objective, history must record the deeply positive aspects of your people’s encounter with the culture that came from Europe. Among these positive aspects, I wish to recall the work of the many missionaries who strenuously defended the rights of the original inhabitants of this land. They established missions throughout this southwestern part of the United States.”

As the Chairman of the Amah Mutsun I can honestly say we fail to recognize any “positive aspects” of our cultural oppression, physical decimation and destruction of our traditional societies. We do not believe that the missions worked to improve our living conditions. Instead we were enslaved, beaten, raped, and in many cases had life expectancies of less than two years? Do the positive aspects of the mission system include its long term legacy: tribal poverty, suicide, physical abuse, substance abuse, identity issues, not to mention the church’s denial of our humanity, our culture and our spirituality? Do the positive aspects of the mission system include the church continuing to hold land that was traditionally the land of our ancestors while most current day descendants of those taken to the missions have no tribal land?

In the year 2000, Pope John Paul II issued a diverse apology on behalf of the Catholic Church. In his apology Pope John Paul said, “Whenever the truth has been suppressed by governments and their agencies or even by Christian communities, the wrongs done to the indigenous peoples need to be honestly acknowledged … The Church expresses deep regret and asks forgiveness where her children have been or still are party to these wrongs … The past cannot be undone, but honest recognition of past  injustices can lead to measures and attitudes that will help to rectify the damaging effects for both the indigenous community and the wider society.”

The Amah Mutsun assert that the truth of Fr. Serra’s destruction of our Tribal culture, spirituality, and lives continues to be intentionally suppressed and never honestly acknowledged by the Catholic Church. Interestingly, Pope John Paul also said, “An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie [that is] guarded.” The Amah Mutsun believe that for Fr. Junipero Serra to be canonized, the Catholic Church must create an excuse for his brutal actions and for the devastating mission system that he created.

Speaking on behalf of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, we would like you to know that should you go forward with your announced intentions to canonize Serra, please know that we rescind the request we made in our letters to you for a mass of reconciliation. The canonization of Serra will be a clear message to our Tribe that the church does not care about our true history or our historic trauma. Furthermore, please know that if Fr. Serra is canonized, the Amah Mutsun reject the diverse apology offered by Pope John Paul to all indigenous people as our Tribe can only conclude that his apology, which was an apology ostensibly on behalf of the catholic church, was meaningless and insincere.

A book titled A Cross of Thorns, The Enslavement of California’s Indians by the Spanish Missions, by author Elias Castillo, will be released soon. The book is the result of more than six years of research and study of original documents including eyewitness accounts by early travelers, records kept by the friars, and historic letters by church and government authorities in Alta California and Mexico. A Cross of Thorns describes the brutality of Serra and the dark and violent reality of mission life. Castillo wrote, “Even a fellow Franciscan, Fr. Antonio de la Conception Herra, wrote in 1799 that The treatment of the Indians is the most cruel I have ever read in history. For the slightest things they receive heavy floggings, are shackled, and put in the stocks, and treated with so much cruelty that they are kept whole days without a drink of water.” In 1820, the last Spanish Padre Presidente of the missions, Father Mariano Payeras, worriedly wrote his superior in Mexico City that they, “had to come up with an alibi when people started asking where all the Indians had gone. Unless they had an excuse, the Franciscans would be subjected to scorn and scandal. Wrote Payeras: All we have done to the Indians is consecrate them, baptize them and bury them.” It is also our belief that in addition to canonizing Serra based on Bulls, you are also basing his canonization on the alibi created by the Franciscans and not the reality of his actions. The publisher of this book, Linden Publishing Inc., provided the enclosed copy of A Cross of Thorns; we hope that by reading this book you will have a new understanding of Fr. Serra and the California Missions.

It’s important for you to know that our Amah Mutsun Creation story tells us that Creator very specifically selected our people to live on the lands of our traditional tribal territory that we know as Popouloutchum. Creator unambiguously gave our Tribe the responsibility of taking care of Mother Earth and all living things. This is true for all Native American tribes. Our people worked hard to please Creator and to fulfill our obligations. At first contact with Europeans our Tribe, as all other tribes of California, were already civilized; we actively managed the landscape, we were subject to authority, and we had laws. We had a well-developed and sophisticated culture and we were very spiritual. All of our songs were prayer songs and all of our dances were prayer dances. Our people continually prayed so  that they lived their life with their heart, mind, body and soul. They prayed for balance in their life, their family and their world. They prayed for their relationship with Mother Earth, with other human beings and with Creator.

Father Boscana, a Franciscan Scholar, and mission priest, who wrote of the Indians near San Juan Capistrano stated that “the Indians of California may be compared to a species of monkeys.” He was incorrect. Our ancestors were not monkeys, they were not pagan, they were not heathens, and they were not savages. Our members believe that Creator will harshly judge those responsible for the events at the missions that led to the death of so many of our ancestors and the destruction of our culture. This particularly includes Fr. Serra, who you now intend to canonize.

The Amah Mutsun again ask, Holy Father, that if you choose to go forward with the naming of Junipero Serra as a Saint, that before doing so you rescind Pope John Paul’s apology to Native Americans. At the very least, please rescind his apology to the Amah Mutsun. In addition, should you go forward with your plans to canonize Junipero Serra we rescind our request that you offer a mass of reconciliation to the descendants of those taken to the California missions. The Amah Mutsun would consider that apology as being the same as knocking someone down and then apologizing by saying, “I’m sorry I knocked you down, now let me kick you.” To this we must say, “No thank you.”

In this letter, we have talked about the need for healing. We are well aware, however, that it is important not only for our Tribe to heal, it is important for all perpetrators to heal. This includes the Catholic Church, and other governments and individuals who have caused harm and loss to the California Indians. There can be no doubt that our efforts to begin to work on this healing were clearly rejected by the Catholic Church.

The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band sends this letter with our hope and prayers that you will reevaluate your decision to canonize Junipero Serra and that you reevaluate the Church’s relationship with the descendants of all California Indians taken to the missions. 

kansireesum – With our heart,

Valentin Lopez, Chairman
Amah Mutsun Tribal Band
(916) 743-5833

 

Download The Official Letter From The Amah Mutson Tribal Band

Please consider sending a letter of support and solidarity to:

His Holiness Pope Francis Casa de Marta

Vatican City Rome 00120
Italy
*** 
CC a copy to:
Valentin Lopez, Chairman Amah Mutsun Tribal Band

PO Box 5272  I Galt. CA 9562
February 24, 2015
 (916) 743-5833 Email: vjltestingcenter@aol.com

Walk to End Violence – Idle No More

On March 28 David James Taylor, Missisauga Ojibway from Curve Lake First Nation, along with a group of people from various nations will begin a walk to Ottawa to bring awareness to the over 1200 murdered and missing Indigenous women in Canada. Their goal is to take their concerns to Parliament Hill and insist the Federal Government call for an inquiry into this issue.

The walk is designed to take approximately 4-5 months, weaving its way through communities across the country bringing awareness and creating a space for Aboriginal, and non-Aboriginal communities to build connections through sharing of stories, teachings, and culture.

 

The Walk will begin at 6am – Saturday March 28, 2015, at Mile ‘0’ in Beacon Hill Park, Victoria BC, with a Sunrise Ceremony conducted by members of Songhees, Ojibway, and Mohawk Territories. Everyone is welcome!

To find out more information, see how you or your community can participate, and to follow this journey please check out or contact the following:

Email – walk4hope03@gmail.com
Website – walkingforourlostrelations-cree8.nationbuilder.com  
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/walkingforourlostrelations

Idle No More at the Toronto Climate, Justice and Jobs March – Idle No More

Wanda Nanibush – March for Climate, Justice & Jobs Launch


Wanda_Meme_V2.jpgI want to first acknowledge that we are on the territory that is governed by the one dish with one spoon treaty, which is a treaty that defines this land as a space that we need to share and take care of for all. This is also the territory of the Mississaugas and the Haudenosaunee, previously there’s also the Ouendat and the Seneca, so I want to acknowledge all those people. I also want to acknowledge the 90,000 Indigenous Peoples that currently call Toronto their home. Lastly, I want to acknowledge all of the land in Canada as Indigenous land, and I want to acknowledge it as shared territory with all of the nations who’ve come here.

Today, I want to talk about Indigenous people’s role in this struggle. We are at the forefront of this struggle, because we’re the first ones who experience all the detrimental effects of climate change. We are also a source of strategy for thinking about climate action because we know the land intimately, and we’ve been at the forefront of thinking about climate change since well before scientists even becamtar_sands1.jpege involved. So I think we need to put Indigenous rights at the centre of this movement.

As Indigenous people are putting their bodies on the line across this country trying to stop things like the oil sands, trying to bring attention to the flooding of their lands when you do hydroelectric dams, trying to bring attention to the fact that 70% of all uranium is on Indigenous territory globally, so when we look at nuclear as an option, it’s not a great option for us––so there’s all this knowledge that Indigenous people have that can really benefit our strategies going forward.

We as Idle No More have put forward the voices of women, the voices of two-spirited people, and the voices of youth. This has really galvanized voices that haven’t been part of this thinking or a part of democracy in Canada. Idle No More has been really amazing at raising the question of democracy and how we’re going to run this country, and whose voices are really going to be at the table, to the forefront of all of our struggles. I think all the struggles do come together under Indigenous rights.

We are here for you, in defense of the land, will you stand with us, in defense of our rights? Thank you. Miigwech. Wanda Nanibush – Beausoleil First Nation, Idle No More Organizer

What Can You Do? How Can You Help? Where Can You Join?

melina_meme.jpgCanada’s ready for a new kind of climate movement. On July 5th, we’re marching for climate and economic justice in Toronto, Canada. RSVP for the March for Jobs, Justice and the Climate at jobsjusticeclimate.ca.

The march on July 5th will call for a justice-based transition to a clean-energy economy in Canada, and is expected to attract thousands of people in Toronto on the eve of the Climate Summit of the Americas and Pan American Economic Summit. A justice-based transition ensures that those most impacted by the climate crisis – Indigenous, racialized, poor and working people – are the first to benefit from this new economy.

“Our communities deserve justice and cannot continue to be sacrifice zones. Even in the heart of the tar sands, communities are organizing to be part of the new renewable energy economy. Everyone and every roof can be a part of the solar solution. Panel by panel we will show politicians what true leadership is,” said Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Lubicon Cree member and a Greenpeace climate campaigner. 

The mobilization will demonstrate massive growing public support for a new economy that honours Indigenous rights, creates thousands of climate-friendly jobs, tackles inequality and stops runaway climate change. 

DSC_2636.jpg

“It is morally indefensible for us to continue to pursue an economic growth strategy that brings our climate closer to an irreversible tipping point. Canada needs an energy economy that respects Free Prior and Informed consent of Indigenous frontline communities and creates good, clean jobs for workers, and on July 5th we’re going to hit the streets of Toronto to demand it,” said Clayton Thomas Muller, a campaigner with 350.org.

Media contact:

Graham Reeder, 350.org, Canada communications coordinator: 647-880-0786   graham@350.org

(Photo Credit for Tar Sands image above, Kris Krug)

 

#INMroots Spring Actions from the Aamazon to the Arctic – Idle No More

Welcome to #INMroots Number Eight!   The goal of the #INMroots newsletter is to share news stories that promote Indigenous rights and sovereignty and the protection of land and water. The newsletter will share our stories and actions, and honour resistance, while celebrating the world that we are protecting.

INMroots-_8.jpgWe are all invited to add to this newsletter. Post your story now! The deadline for the next newsletter is midnight on Sunday May 24th. We will accept all submissions that are connected to Indigenous and environmental issues as long as they do not condone or promote violence or lateral violence or include hate speech.  

 

The next newsletter will be published on Monday June 1st, so check your inboxes!

 

If you see a news story on your social media networks that is worth sharing, please tag #INMroots.

WORLD WIDE

EVENTS

‘Shell No!’ Indigenous Activists To Confront Shell To End Arctic Drilling At Shareholder Meetings In Netherlands And London

Join the Event or Learn More

 

International Two Spirit Gathering

Join the Event or Learn More

 

COMMUNITY

Emergency in Brazil –  Bid to Legislatively usurp the legal rights of the indigenous peoples of Brazil to their land

Read More

 

How Investment Arbitration Threatens State’s’ Sovereignty, Democracy – Ecuadorian Anti-Chevron Update:

Read More

 

Tiny American Indian Tribal Nation involved with International Tribal Diplomacy

Read More

 

Mauna Kea Open Letter Calling Academics to Divest from Thirty Meter Telescope

Read More

 

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Youth Suicide and Self-Harm and the recommendations made by Native Youth

Read More

 

MEDIA

Amazonian Dredging Halted Until Indigenous Are Consulted

Read More

 

Mauna Kea War Crimes Complaint Filed In Canada

Read More and Watch Video

 

Thousands Rally in DC to demand Justice for Ecuador

Read More

 

Parents of Missing Mexican Students Begin South America Tour source by teleSUR.

Read More

 

Māori representatives against oil exploration meet with Saami Parliament

Read More

 

High Court Orders Belize to Recognize and Protect Maya Traditional Property and Rights

Read More

 

 Emergency in Brazil

CENTRAL

EVENTS

Anishinaabe Treaty 3 Water Walk

Join the Event or Learn More

 

Indigenous Women Rising Symposium, Orangeville ON: May 23

Join the Event or Learn More

 

We are the Land – Energy and Food Sustainability Conference

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OTTAWA: Time for Reconciliation KAIROS Gathering:  May 29 – June 3

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Cuyahoga River Water Walk: June 22 – 27

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Trail of Tears Walk 2015

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COMMUNITY:

Hornepayne First Nation Elders Council Update

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Support Winnipeg’s Got Bannock

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MEDIA

Grassy Narrows – Injunction against First Nation activist Judy Da Silva dissolved

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Fossil Fuel Extraction Dangers: Native American and Women’s Organizations Request UN Help on Sexual Violence

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Noise, water quality and wells among concerns at Wabigoon gold mine consultations

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Valcourt unsure about details when questioned by MPs on First Nations children, youth

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NORTH

COMMUNITY

Neenanew Oshkapewisak – “The Helpers” Walk from Cochrane to Ottawa

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MEDIA

Nunavut university promoted as voice and inspiration for Inuit culture

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Critics voice concerns over privatization of First Nations drinking water

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Mauna Kea Sky

SOUTH

MEDIA

Havasupai Tribe and Allies Fight to Stop Uranium Mining Near Grand Canyon

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Environmental groups, Ute Tribe worried about radon emissions from uranium mill, ask state to intervene

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Young Diné Walk Another 350 Miles in Prayer for People, Land, Culture

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EAST

EVENTS

NATIVE-IMMIGRANT presents: Beadworks: Visions of Peace Art Show– CALL FOR ARTISTS

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MEDIA

Enbridge oil pipeline over Grand could devastate Six Nations water

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Tories Kill Bill Urging ‘Harmony’ Between Canadian Law And First Nations

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Indigenous people are already criminalized and Bill C-51 hasn’t even passed yet

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Seal Meat Meals Give Montreal’s Homeless Inuit Taste Of Home

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WEST

EVENTS

Red Jam Slam Radio Festival

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COMMUNITY

Unist’ot’en Camp – Late Spring Camp Update

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MEDIA

No pipeline approval from First Nations without safeguards: Grand Chief

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Alberta doctor that found higher rates of cancer in First Nation communities fired by health board

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Shell gets paddled in Seattle:

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Transgender Aboriginal student president opens up about discrimination

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United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Youth Suicide and Self-Harm and the recommendations made by Native Youth – Idle No More

It was very powerful to watch a group of Teens aged 14-18 from the Seneca Nation who go to Salamanca High School make a recommendation to the Chairwoman of the United Nations Forum.

We in the audience were so powerfully moved that the much of the room rose to stand around the group of teens in support as they talked about their communities being forever changed by kids their age 14-18 committing suicide or making attempts on their lives. In some Indigenous communities the suicide rate can be up to 30 times the national average.

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 The groups of teens who presented talked about very difficult topics which they see being contributors to youth self-harm and suicide. From the Sami people of the Scandinavian region to North and South America teens talked about the effect of colonization. The loss of their culture, language and climate change, presenting difficulties for indigenous youth to maintain a strong sense of identity.

The lack of empowerment leads to depression. Youth in these areas are also survivors of many types of abuse and bullying. They asked for professional help for those in their communities suffering from Physical and Sexual abuse that lead to feeling that suicide was the only option. The youth made a connection with historical trauma and forced assimilation that youth currently face. The lasting effects from horrific abuses endured by colonization, loss of cultural identity, boarding and residential schools.

This was taken very seriously by the UN Forum who wrote in their draft report about the importance of providing mental health services which are also culturally relevant. The UN also asked to appoint a Special Rapporteur to advocate for Indigenous youth.

All the recommendations can be found here.:

UN Draft Report on the recommendations provided at the UNPFII

http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N15/118/50/PDF/N1511850.pdf?OpenElement

 

Seneca Teen Nathan Abrams speaking with Sara Gepp at the UN after presenting to the forum.

This youth group from Salamanca High School, NY made a difference by providing input to the United Nations which resulted in dispatching the World Health Organization to provide programs to prevent suicide and self-harm and to prioritize dispatching a special rapporteur to advocate for indigenous youth citing the rights which are outlines in the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People or UNDRIP.

If you are a young person having a hard time staying motivated, feeling sad or anxious. Experiencing a sudden drop in interest in thing you enjoy, acting out using drugs & alcohol, Changes in sleep schedule or just wanting to withdraw from life. You can get support to become happy again and survive as our indigenous people have survived many difficult challenges. There is help. You matter. Stay here, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

 

Resources:

If you are looking for help in your community please contact:

http://www.theconnectprogram.org/

 

For Youth check out You Matter:

http://www.youmatter.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

 

In Canada check out Distress Centres in local areas:

http://www.suicide.org/hotlines/international/canada-suicide-hotlines.html

 

For Families check out Women in Wellbriety:

www.wowintl.org

Academics’ Letter to the Partners, Associates, and Affiliated Entities of the Thirty Meter Telescope Project – Idle No More

Open letter to the Partners, Associates, and Affiliated Entities of
the Thirty Meter Telescope Project.

You are representatives of the California Institute of Technology (CalTech), University of California, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, and Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation.

We ask that you divest from the TMT project.

We, the undersigned, are faculty, staff, students and alumni of the University of Hawai`i, their colleagues and members of many diverse academic institutions and public nonprofit organizations who are deeply concerned with the irreparable damage that the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) would have on our communities, cultures, collective futures, and sacred Mauna Kea. With great urgency, we are writing to you in your capacity as trustees, directors, or administrators of institutions who are affiliated with this project and/or the Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory LLC (TIO).

Mauna Kea is a deeply sacred place, the wao akua, realm of the gods, and it is the piko that connects Papahānaumoku, Earth Mother, and Wākea, Sky Father, as well as past and future generations of Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiians). The akua Kāne, god of fresh waters and many things, traverses the mauna, as well as his daughter, Poliʻahu, the akua of the snow, her sisters, Līlīnoe, Waiau, and Kahoupokāne, her companion Kūkahauʻula, and her guardian Moʻoinanea. Mauna Kea is also a critical site of Kanaka ʻŌiwi ka hana ʻoihana kilokilo hōkū, practices associated with observing movements of the stars.

TIO proposes to place an 18-story high industrial complex, with a footprint of over five acres and excavations reaching 20 feet into the ground, on this sacred land. The TMT project has raised numerous concerns. It violates legal protections for Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights, historic properties, Mauna Kea’s fragile ecosystems, and the State of Hawaii’s public land trust. Many of these concerns are currently before the courts and in processes of environmental review. By divesting now, you support efforts towards a lasting reconciliation between the many communities connected to Mauna Kea.

The TMT site is in a Conservation District, where projects that “cause substantial adverse impact[s]” are prohibited. The TMT’s Final Environmental Impact Statement itself reported that UH’s astronomy-industry development has caused “substantial, significant and adverse” impacts on Mauna Kea’s cultural, archaeological, and historical resources and that the TMT would add to those adverse impacts. Notwithstanding this finding, UH obtained a conservation district use permit to build the TMT. The Mauna Kea hui, a collective of ʻŌiwi cultural practitioners and environmentalists who have been striving to protect Mauna Kea for almost twenty years, has challenged this permit and is awaiting a judgment in the state Intermediate Court of Appeals.

The TMT project is the latest in a long line of poor management decisions by the University of Hawai`i. Two state audits in 1998 and 2005 cited that the University failed monumentally in its responsibility to protect the public lands and resources. Under the University’s management, the rare wēkiu bug has suffered habitat loss and incursions by invasive species and many gallons of hydraulic fluid, mercury, and sewage have been spilled and were quickly “absorbed” into highly porous ground, beneath which are flows to aquifers. In 2014, many challenged the University’s proposal to renew its master lease of Mauna Kea (currently ending in 2033). Since 1968, when the University was granted a lease to build “an observatory” on Mauna Kea, the University has allowed industrial astronomy-development, associated support structures, and commercial recreational enterprises to proliferate. Thirteen telescopes now stand on Mauna Kea’s most sacred summit.

We highlight some of the many reasons the TMT project has met with tremendous public opposition:

1. The University of Hawaiʻi’s mission statement proclaims that it is a “Hawaiian place of learning,” yet it has repeatedly failed to address profound concerns expressed by Kanaka ʻŌiwi over the desecration of their sacred mountain;

2. The Associated Students of the University of Hawai’i (ASUH) passed Resolution 13-14 (November 6, 2013) which states, “the ASUH strongly opposes the appropriation for student and state funds and leases for the construction of any new telescopes on the Northern plateau of Mauna Kea, including the TMT, without further input from stakeholders”;

3. The summit of Mauna Kea is composed of Hawaiian Kingdom national lands, unlawfully controlled by the U.S. after the illegal overthrow of the kingdom, and is now held in trust by the state of Hawai`i. Until the unresolved claims of the Hawaiian nation to their inherent land base are addressed, any development or sublease of these lands further complicates efforts to resolve Hawaiian national claims. We oppose UH’s burdening of these lands with the TMT project;

4. The University of Hawaiʻi expended millions of dollars of State of Hawai‘i taxpayers’ money for the permitting process and attorney fees that should have been borne by TIO, a Delaware company based in California;

5. The University of Hawaiʻi’s master lease over Mauna Kea summit lands will expire in 2033, yet construction on the TMT has begun before the University has secured its extension on the master lease as well as on the sublease to the TMT;

6. Construction has also begun before a decision has been rendered in the ongoing legal appeals of the conservation district use permit and the TMT sublease. If construction activities are allowed to proceed and the court’s decisions uphold the claims of the present appeals, it would result in irreparable harm to these public lands and it would be impossible to return the landscape to its natural state;

7. UH attorneys disingenuously argue the TMT adds a mere “increment” of impact. The TMT is not an increment because it would add the largest structure on the mauna yet. And, further impact is anyway prohibited because, as UH admits, industrial astronomy development has already substantially, adversely impacted Mauna Kea;

8. Contrary to the University’s claim, its desecration of the summit is not merely a “continuation” of Native Hawaiian astronomy traditions. Native Hawaiians revered the summit and did not construct large buildings in this realm of the akua (gods).

Recently, TIO contractors began moving construction equipment to the summit–raising widespread public outcry and triggering a demonstration and vigil on Mauna Kea by ka poʻe aloha ʻāina, those who have a great love for this mountain. As of April 2, thirty-one young people and elders, protectors of the sacred mountain, have been arrested. These arrests are a product of UH/TMT’s disrespect for public processes, the courts, and especially Mauna Kea’s protectors.

Divestment from the TMT project demonstrates respect for the self-determination of Native peoples who are seeking to protect sacred sites. We ask that you divest so that we can stop the construction, bring the machines off the mountain, let the leases to the university expire and the mountain heal.

Me ke aloha pumehana,

Learn More and Sign the Letter Here

Emergency in Brazil – Idle No More

Today, the native peoples of the Amazon and the Amazon itself are in great danger.
On Tuesday 19 May 2015 a bid will be made to legislatively usurp the legal rights of the indigenous peoples of Brazil to their land. The only indigenous land that is still protected by the constitution is today being directly threatened by this law; which will also put in danger the procedure for marking out other native territories.

The reason:
THE CONGRESS OF BRASIL IS ASSAULTING THE LEGAL RIGHTS OF ABORIGINAL PEOPLE!
They are trying to put through reforms that violate the present constitutional rights of native Amazonians in order to satisfy the lobbies of big multinationals. Congress, upon the request of these « country lovers », is seeking to modify article 231 of the constitution in order to pass amendment 215 that will take away from the indigenous, all their rights to their land and transfer them to Congress. The situation is grave; this is a total negation of these people that has the purpose of the multinationals getting their hands on this land so that they can be legally massively deforest the Amazon – the lungs – yours and mine – and of this planet.
We can’t sit by idly and do nothing; we must all stand and say NON TO AMENDMENT 215!!! WE DEMANDE THAT THE AMAZON AND ITS PEOPLE BE PROTECTED!!!

IDLE NO MORE BRASIL, IDLE NO MORE France, IDLE NO MORE Kabylia are calling upon all defenders of the earth, all human beings to mobilise themselves in solidarity with the indigenous people of Brazil who are threatened with immediate extinction. We can’t just sit there and do nothing; we must say NON TO AMENDMENT 215!!!

– Let’s sign the petition !!!
http://www.peticaopublica.com.br/pview.aspx?pi=P2012N22454

-Let’s carry out actions where we say NON TO AMENDMENT 215!!! ..in groups or individually that we photograph and post to the following link #PEC215NÃO

-Let’s send e-mails to:
To write to the Chamber of Deputies of the National Congress of Brazil
http://www2.camara.leg.br/participe/fale-conosco

Other email addresses:
-General coordinator of research, Cristina Neme
Email: luciane.moraes@mj.gov.br
– Coordinator SINESPJC, Rafael Rodrigues de Sousa
Email: rafael.rodrigues@mj.gov.br

Example of mail to send :

“I support all the indigenous peoples and quilombolas in Brazil who are threatened in their existence by the draft amendment PEC 215 since these peoples withdraw all their rights on their territory.
The federation of Brazil has signed the Convention 169 of the ILO concerning indigenous peoples, as such a vote if it occurred in Brazil would be totally illegal and constitute a serious violation of this ratification and international law.
The protection of indigenous peoples in environmental and economic interests of the Brazilian federation.
Also we humans all over the planet we ask the protection of all Indigenous and Quilombola is a definitive rejection of this amendment PEC215 project.
Signature “