Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

August 31, 2012

Cheam Band of Pilalt, BC, create new grassroots radio

Photo: Elizabeth Bernard recording children's stories
for this weekend's broadcast.
Thanks for the wonderful weekend broadcast, Sept. 1 --2, 2012 of the new Pilalt FM in BC. The Cheam Band borrowed radio equipment for their weekend broadcast, which was a fundraiser so they can buy their own broadcast equipment.

It was a great show, with wonderful local Native hosts, children's stories, conversations and a variety of music and live songs. It was inspiring to hear people bringing in food, stopping by to talk, and passing by and blowing their horns in support. Thanks also to Govinda at Earthcycles for providing the technical support.
 
Pilalt FM will be back on the air when they raise enough funds to buy their own radio equipment.

Support grassroots First Nation radio!

Read more, volunteer and offer support:
www.PilaltFM.blogspot.com

Also check Out http://www.facebook.com/pilaltfm

http://www.pilaltfm.blogspot.com


http://www.twitter.com/pilaltfm


the Cheam Band , Sto:lo Village of the Pilalt Tribe

 

http://www.pilaltfm.blogspot.com

http://www.twitter.com/pilaltfm


UPDATE: U.S. ARMY SET TO RAZE INDIAN SCHOOL LANDMARK OVER DESCENDANTS’ OBJECTIONS



U.S. ARMY SET TO RAZE INDIAN SCHOOL LANDMARK OVER DESCENDANTS’ OBJECTIONS

By Louellyn White
Spokesperson for the Coalition of CIS Descendants, Relatives, and Friends
louellyn@gmail.com

Remembering the children who never
came home: Carlisle cemetery
Photo Brenda Norrell
AUGUST 29, 2012 (Carlisle, PA):

CARLISLE, Penn. -- Despite an outpouring of pleas from descendants and relatives of students who attended the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, including a petition with over 600 supporters, the U.S. Army Garrison Carlisle Barracks, home of the prestigious U.S. Army War College, has reaffirmed its plans to raze one of the last standing and culturally significant structures remaining from the legendary boarding school in September or October of this year. Preparation for demolition has already begun with the drilling of holes inside the building.

Joanne Shenandoah (Wolf Clan), Grammy Award-winning Oneida singer, composer and actress gave the following statement: “ Many Iroquois young people were brought toCarlisle and the influence of this era is still felt today. Of course, we all know about the legendary Jim Thorpe. Carlisle also was the place where the Pan Indian Movement was born.  It brought many Native nations together and this is where they began to defend their rights. I feel that this important part of our history [theCarlisle farmhouse] should be told and kept intact for future generations.”

Lt. Col. William G. McDonough III, Garrison Commander of Carlisle Barracks asserted, “The farmhouse is one of dozens of buildings to be demolished and replaced with modern family housing… [they] have structural, foundation, plumbing, and electrical issues… [and] are scheduled for demolition in the coming months.” In response to McDonough, a coalition of Carlisle Indian School Descendants, Relatives and Friends, submitted a letter which refutes most of McDonough’s claims: “This current level of poor and inadequate maintenance is being used by Carlisle Barracks as an excuse for the demolition of the structure, when this deterioration can be directly traced to a failure of maintenance by the United States Army Garrison…it is obvious [they] have failed in [their] regulatory, legal and ethical responsibilities.”

The children who never came home
Carlisle cemetery
Photo Brenda Norrell
McDonough also claims that all relevant agencies and interested parties were contacted regarding the demolition, including 25 federally recognized tribes. The coalition is doubtful that tribes who may have been consulted were informed of the historic and cultural relevance of the farmhouse to the CIIS and given recent research regarding the structure. The coalition has requested a re-initiation of the Section 106 process per the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires consultation with interested parties. In arguing for the historical significance of the building, the Coalition points to a 1918 publication by CIIS that clearly discusses the use of this building for classes and housing by Indian students. The Coalition also points out that there is documented proof that the farmhouse played a role inCarlisle’s Civil War history and was used as a social club for the segregated African American Soldiers during World War II.

This is not the first time tensions between the historical significance and the exigent needs of the U.S. Army War College have resulted in a devastating loss for descendants, most notably in the 1930s was the moving of original graves of 186 children who died at the school to make way for an entrance road.

A nationwide symposium is scheduled for October 5th -6th,Carlisle, PA: Site of Indigenous Histories, Memories, and Reclamations. Descendants have requested that plans for demolition be postponed until after this gathering to give descendants and relatives a chance to visit the site and have their objections heard. Carlisle Barracks will not promise to honor the request, but admit “there is a very good possibility that the farmhouse will still be standing during the scheduled…symposium.”

Sandra L. Cianciulli
Accounting Assistant
COHEN-SELTZER, INC.
520 West Pennsylvania Avenue
Fort Washington, PA  19034
dir phone:  267-434-3036

FAX:  215-542-1282

Alaska Natives ban and oppose chemical dispersants in oil spills


                                                                     
Alaska Tribal and Indigenous Groups Ban and Oppose Use of Chemical Dispersants in Oil Spills

Beluga whales
By Alaska’s Big Village Network Center for Water Advocacy
Posted at Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

ANCHORAGE -- "Alaska Inter-Tribal Council is calling out to all local, public authorities, Tribal governments, and indigenous nations to ban and oppose the use of chemical dispersants in oil spill contingency planning and response to toxic oil spills in all waters of Alaska,” says Delice Calcote, Executive Director of Alaska Inter-Tribal Council  (AITC).

"Food security and customary and traditional subsistence values are central to the Tribes of Alaska. The mission of Alaska Inter-Tribal Council is to protect, promote and enhance customary and traditional subsistence resources for the future generations.”

"Cook Inlet Marine Mammal Council is opposed to adding any additional toxins ( chemical dispersant substances) on top of already toxic oil spills anywhere in Cook Inlet,  says Jess Lanman, Chairman of the Cook Inlet Marine Mammal Council.

“The federal and state governments need to protect our valuable fisheries and ban the use of chemical dispersants  in oil spill contingency plans everywhere.  We are already concerned about the accumulations of more toxins to the critical habitat of endangered Cook Inlet Beluga Whales with recent increases in oil and gas activities that adversely impacts our traditional hunters and fisherman."

Walt Parker, former chairman of the Alaska Oil Spill Commission says, "The main problem with oil spill response and the contingency plans is massive under-spending by industry, federal and state governments on research to ensure effective removal of oil spills in Arctic and ocean environments.”  The Alaska Oil Spill Commission was formed from the State of Alaska to investigate the wreck of the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Prince William Sound.

"We have been working on the chemical dispersants matter for many years prior to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill tragedy,” says Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, Tribal Liaison for Alaska Wilderness League, former Tribal leader and Arctic health care provider.

“Adding toxic chemical dispersants to a chemical (oil) spill should not be allowed, especially where we harvest foods for our families and friends."

"Center for Water Advocacy's main concern is that while the State of Alaska consistently parades Alaska contingency planning regulation as some of the strongest in the nation, it not only usually fails to uphold them, but , for years, has been attempting to, quietly weaken the contingency planning regulation mostly through administrative processes,” says Harold Shepherd ,CWA Board President. “This includes the use of chemical dispersants rather than relief wells or other more effective spill prevention and clean-up measures. Tribal Communities have good reason for environmental justice and human health concerns from the impacts chemical dispersants to subsistence life ways."

 “Alaska’s Big Village Network supports a ban on chemical dispersants, period!” says   Carl Wassilie, Biologist with Alaska’s Big Village Network.  “There are major gaps in science and knowledge in the use of chemical dispersants in response to an oil spill.   Adding chemical dispersants does NOT clean up spilled oil because the amount of oil spilled remains the same. Oil is just dispersed from the surface of the water to the water column, and can settle in the bottom of the ocean or drift into currents that may carry the oil droplets larger distances.  How does this impact the plankton and filter feeders such as Bowhead whales?  The industry, federal government and state governments have all failed to address to long-term toxic impacts to the human health and environment with use of chemical dispersants.  For example, what are the long-term impacts to the bio-productivity of multiple marine organisms that provide significant economic, cultural and aesthetic uses for Alaskans?  These questions of long-term effects are further exuberated in sea ice conditions of Cook Inlet, the Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Seas.”

Contact:
Carl Wassilie 907-382-3403 Nikos Pastos 907-764-2561
Alaska’s Big Village Network Center for Water Advocacy
Carlwassilie.acyn@gmail.com
nikospastos@hotmail.com

References:

Alaska groups join challenge of EPA oil dispersant rules
Alaska Dispatch | Aug 08, 2012

Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope Resolution 2011 - 06 Opposing Dispersant use in the Arctic

Shell’s Inadequate Oil Spill Response Plans Threaten America’s Arctic
Tuesday, July 10, 2012    EarthJustice Lawsuit

U.S. Government Accountability Office:  Additional Research Needed, Particularly on Subsurface and Arctic Applications
GAO-12-585, May 30, 2012

August 26, 2011,
Impact of Gulf Spill’s Underwater Dispersants Is Examined
By JOANNA M. FOSTER

Earth First! Blockades Florida’s Dirtiest Power Plant on the Heels of Romney's RNC Acceptance Speech

Earth First! Blockades Florida’s Dirtiest Power Plant on the Heels of Romney's RNC Acceptance Speech

APOLLO BEACH, Florida -- In the climax of the 2012 Republican National Convention, protestors with Earth First! have blocked access roads to TECO’s Big Bend coal plant on the eastern shore of Tampa Bay. The environmental action group is citing corporate influence in politics and ecological impacts of fossil fuel dependency as reasons for the disruption.
This year’s RNC was funded by an estimated $55 million in corporate pay-offs, with corporations including the Tampa based-TECO Energy, along with Chevron, Duke Energy and Exxon Mobil.
According to a report by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) last year, Florida is among the dirtiest states in power plant pollution. NRDC found TECO’s Big Bend plant to be in the state's, “top three most polluting smoke stacks.”
Earth First! activists chose this day for their protest in order to highlight Mitt Romney's plan to expand what the group calls the “energy empire” which favors the interest of big donors in oil, gas and coal industries.
Romney’s top energy policy advisor is the wealthiest oilman in the country and according to data analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics, Romney has already raised more from mining interests than Bush or McCain raised from these industries in their entire campaigns.
Locally, TECO's Big Bend plant has a long history of pollution. Along with being declared Florida's number one dirtiest power plant by Florida Consumer Action Network, they were also documented discharging waste into Cobia Bay in Apollo Beach in years past.
But that's not all. TECO has been called one of the nation's worst offenders when it comes to mountaintop removal coal mining. In coal mining regions of the Appalachian Mountains, TECO has ruined entire communities to maximize their profits. Kentucky coalfield resident Doug Justice worked in the coal mines for 22 years and said “I have never seen an outfit treat a community the way TECO Coal has done us.”
In response to the devastation from floods caused be TECO's mining in 2002, Granville Burke of Letcher County, Kentucky, had this to say: “I wish TECO had never started mining above our home. Protection for families like ours is supposed to come from the state and federal regulatory agencies, but instead they look the other way as coal companies destroy entire communities for the sake of profit.”
“Dirty energy becomes dirty politics. We can't afford to stand by and watch it anymore. We have to fight back.” Said Rachel Kijewski, an organizer with the Earth First! movement in Florida.

August 29, 2012

Debra White Plume: Solidarity, Horse Trailers, Lakota Women's Day of Peace



Solidarity Gathering, Horse Trailers, and the Lakota Women’s Day of Peace


by Debra White Plume, writing from the banks of Wounded Knee Creek, 08-29-2012
Posted at Censored News
 
            Owe Aku (Bring Back the Way, a grassroots Lakota nongovernmental organization) hosted a five day Solidarity Gathering at Kiza Park, near Manderson, SD.  Deep Green Resistance, Native Youth Movement, Un-Occupy Albuquerque, Occupy Lincoln, Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, Occupy Wall Street, Radical Resistance, Owe Aku, and Women of the Oglala Lakota Nation co-organized the gathering.

The organizations sent representatives to attend the SG to strengthen relationships and form new alliances among the diverse groups that work on social justice issues, environmental justice, and preserving traditional cultures of Native Nations people.  Training topics included White Allies Working with Red Nations, Nonviolent Direct Action, Media Justice, Sacred Water Protection, and many workshops designed to improve organizing skills and to close the gap between people of different races and geographical locations.  Owe Aku has hosted Unite to Fight training camps since 2005, with hundreds of participants completing the four to six day learning experiences.  Organizing and skill building for activists are the training emphasis, as well as building solidarity, and focusing on a specific issue that participants decide and want to follow up on with direct action. Colonization of the Lakota people including the use of alcohol and the predatory practices of Nebraskan government and the town of White Clay, Nebraska was one of the major issues, as well as the impacts of the Keystone XL oil pipeline proposed for this area by TransCanada, Inc.

Training in ‘Decolonization and Social Change’ took place each day so individuals could spend time and effort with facilitators and other participants. The difficulty in working for social change while being faced with colonization of the Lakota people was a major topic.

“Colonization and cultural genocide through the education system is going on right now, our children go to school and are not taught about being Lakota, their Lakota identity is not reinforced,” said Victorio Camp, organizer for Owe Aku.  In the workshops on effective organizing and creating intergenerational and interracial alliances, one young man stated, “I hate, because I fear losing everything I love. Being here among all ages and races is helping me to let go of that and learn to work toward solidarity.”

Folks came from Florida, California, New York, Canada, and all over the Great Plains. “We’ve been neglecting our white allies for so long, because our people have been through so much trauma caused by whites. We have to teach our white allies how to help us. I heard the war cry of the Lakota women “we want to live” all the way to my little island in Canada, and I came here. I learned how allies need to work together,” said Sasheen, a First Nations woman.

Non-violent direct action workshops took place daily, led by T.R. McKenzie of Deep Green Resistance Great Plains Region, with Red Roots training by Vic Camp and Olowan Martinez.  “We are here to learn from our native allies, their families, and to stand with them in the work they do to seek justice in environmental issues and in their work to stop the genocide going on in White Clay, Nebraska,” said McKenzie. “We will go to White Clay to support our women relatives in their Women’s Day of Peace,” said Vic Camp, “as they go there to express themselves.”

The Unite to Fight training camps include an action component so participants can put their skills into motion. The direct action of this Solidarity Gathering included the Lakota Women’s Day of Peace in White Clay.

White Clay, a town of 14 residents, borders the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. A few grocery stores, two diners, a gas station, a ranch store and four off sale beer joints are in town. Since the bodies of Oglala Lakota Ron Hard Heart and Wallace Black Elk were found outside White Clay several years ago, the Lakota people have marched on White Clay many times, questioning why there has been no resolution to these two unsolved murders among many crimes over the years.  The four beer joints sell about four million cans of beer annually, yet the owners know that the Pine Ridge Reservation has laws to prohibit the sale of alcohol. The Nebraska Liquor Commission (NLC) grants their licenses, although they are aware of the laws.  

Nebraskans for Peace and others have taken the issue to the NLC several times over the past decade, the movie The Battle of White Clay has been done; the Oglala Sioux Tribe has filed a lawsuit against major beer distributors. Olowan Martinez, Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge, organized the most recent march to White Clay this past June and the Lakota Women’s Day of Peace on August 26. “I wanted to bring people together to walk to White Clay, for the women to come together with their children, and our DGR allies to let the bar owners know that we want them to stop selling alcohol to our people. They don’t care that our people suffer with alcoholism, that we have high suicide rates, they turn our young people over, and there is a can of beer under their dead body. Our tribal police are hurting and tired of cutting our young people down from that rope. We have mourned enough. This liquid genocide must end,” says Martinez.

The Lakota Women’s Day of Peace was not about an individual’s choice to drink, there are dozens of social service offices on the reservation to deal with that. The street people who drink around the clock in White Clay are not the cause of White Clay, they are the result of White Clay!  Rather, it was to put emphasis on the legal and administrative practices of the state of Nebraska that allow deliberate exploitation, smuggling across a state border, unsolved murders and other crimes in a town of 14 people. There is no church there, no school, no public restroom, no police station, nor any other civic amenities; the post office is inside a grocery store. A dozen abandoned buildings throughout the town lurch and tilt and look ready to fall over, some have been standing like that for twenty years.  Elders recall the bars that used to be there, but all have burned down at least once, never to be rebuilt. The owners replaced their bars with off sale beer joints. I read somewhere that all White Clay needs is a place to sell your blood at, then it can officially be considered skid row.

About two hundred fifty people met at noon at Billy Mills Hall parking lot in Pine Ridge Village, and after a prayer, walked to White Clay in the 100-degree heat. The children wore or carried horse, eagle, and bumblebee puppets made at Kiza Park during the SG, and the allies carried the 20-foot tall Lakota Woman puppet.  The Elk Nation Singers led the walk, along with Lakota men who carried staffs and flags. Cars caravanned behind the walkers, who were met at the Nebraska border by four Sheridan County Police units and 8 officers, who sealed off the road behind us with their police units. Within 30 minutes, several Oglala Sioux Tribal Police arrived, and parked their units at the reservation border.

The people stood in a circle in the middle of town, and young men burned sage. Guest speakers included Arlette Loud Hawk, Tokala Kit Fox Warrior Society Whip Bearer; Michelle Tyon of the Cante Tinzan (Brave Heart) Prisoner Project; Olowan Martinez, Oglala Lakota; Eileen Janis, Sweetgrass Suicide Prevention Project; and I. The Nebraska Highway Patrol formed a barricade across the road on the south side of White Clay with their eight to ten police units and about twenty state troopers.

The Elk Nation Singers offered honor songs, war songs, prayer songs. Deep Green Resistance went into direct action, with members helping five people to form a human blockade across the highway.  Tribal members and allies from the Solidarity Gathering circled into a ‘no surrender line’ around the blockade, and AIM Grassroots formed a line north of the DGR blockade. Young tribal members walking into town from the north began to yell, folks ran to see what was happening, three adult men at the Arrow Head Inn beer joint were yelling and trying to hit the youth, and a Nebraska policeman grabbed the youth and put him in his unit. One of the men at Arrow Head Inn was heard yelling, “Jungle bunny go back where you came from,” to a tribal youth. “White bitches,” he said about the DGR women. A youth peeked in the cop car asking why he had the 14-year-old boy in there, the officer sprayed pepper spray into his face, and at many people nearby. The officer started to pull out, bumping people out of his way, until several young men stood in front of the car and wouldn’t move till the boys’ mother could get there. Medics from the SG were doing eyewashes of the pepper spray victims, including a ten-year boy, Wakinyan Conroy.  The police car injured a woman when he bumped her; the Pine Ridge Hospital sent an ambulance.  The Tribal Police entered White Clay and helped stop a verbal assault in front of the Arrow Head Inn between its owner, his friends, and organizers.

An intoxicated woman had yelled, “You wanna fight?” for an hour or so, shoving people. We asked her to join us, she refused. She was intoxicated, saying a bar owner gave her beer to ‘raise hell’ so many of us older women asked the Nebraska police why they did not arrest her. “She’s not breaking any law,” the Sheriff said.  When she began swinging her fist at people, and spitting on people, a Tribal Police Officer yelled at the Sheriff to arrest her, so finally he placed her in a Sheridan County Police car.

Several men from AIM Grassroots and Oglala tribal members formed a line near the DGR blockade and did not move for several hours. The Sheridan County Police and the Nebraska State Troopers did not know what to do! Finally they decided to take the DGR blockade to jail in Rushville, after receiving several phone calls from Nebraska residents that they could not get through the town of White Clay.  A truck pulling a horse trailer backed into town. Tom Cheyenne, Tom Poor Bear, and Alex White Plume spoke and said the DGR blockade was there to send a statement to the world that they supported the Lakota women to bring attention to the predatory practices of the Nebraska Liquor Commission, the Nebraska government, and Sheridan County toward the people of Pine Ridge Reservation, so to support DGR’s effort, the people would let the police take DGR.  By this time, it was getting dark out. The five individuals on the blockade were carried enmasse into the horse trailer, placed into piles of animal dung and driven thirty miles to Rushville, followed by their attorney Lisa Adams, where they were given citations and released on personal recognizance.  The Sheridan County Attorneys Office stated that criminal charges are pending and will be issued by August 31.  Many folks are discussing police misconduct and many civil rights violations that took place.

The rest of us returned to Kiza Park, went through debriefing, ate an evening meal, and waited for the arrested and their legal team to return. When they returned, they were given medial care by our medics, with one being taken to the hospital.  There was sadness that violence was done to our group by drunken, paid-off Indians, the Nebraska police and troopers, but there was also great comfort, expressed by many Lakota women who said they felt so loved by the male relatives who came to support, that there was hope to end the exploitation of our people by White Clay and its puppet masters, and that more work will continue, in solidarity. (Video footage is available of the incidents mentioned in this article).


 

White Clay: Real reporters work on Sunday


Coverage of the White Clay protest tells its own story about the state of the news and the times we live in

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

Photo 1: Joey Feaster 3: Deep Green Resistance.

On Sunday, Lakotas and Deep Green Resistance protested the White Clay, Neb., liquor stores, on the border of Pine Ridge, S.D. These liquor stores profiteer decade after decade, causing misery, suffering and death.

The news coverage of this important protest reveals the state of the news industry and the times we live in.
Debra White Plume, Lakota, describes the puppet masters of White Clay and the day's events in her article, "Solidarity Gathering, Horse Trailers, and the Lakota Women's Day of Peace." White Plume describes the arrest of five who locked down on the street.
"By this time, it was getting dark out. The five individuals on the blockade were carried en masse into the horse trailer, placed into piles of animal dung and driven thirty miles to Rushville, followed by their attorney Lisa Adams, where they were given citations and released on personal recognizance." Read article: http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/08/debra-white-plume-solidarity-horse.html
Here's one of the best news articles about what happened at White Clay, during the Women's Day of Peace, as women united against genocide.

Keven Abourezk writes in the Lincoln Journal Star, "Activist criticizes use of horse trailer to remove White Clay protesters."

Abourezk writes, "A protest in the Nebraska border town of Whiteclay ended Sunday after officers used a horse trailer to move five protesters to a nearby town."
http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/activist-criticizes-use-of-horse-trailer-to-remove-whiteclay-protestors/article_a84c8684-9a72-5c49-9847-ed9b5d70f59e.html

However, it is sad to see the national Native American newspapers are continuing their pattern of relying on plagiarism, rewrites and phone calls -- rather than having a news reporter present.
The reporters play this game: They wait for others to cover an event, then spin off a story based on other's hard work. They add some brief phone calls, and then lift a photo from activists' webpages or videos, to make it appear they were present. In other words, they sit at home and let others do the work for them and reap the benefits by way of a paycheck.

There's no excuse for national editors not to assign local Native freelance writers to cover events in the Pine Ridge area. The main reason is laziness on the part of the editors, not a lack of funds. Working with freelancers isn't as easy as having a national armchair journalist make a few phone calls, and lift a few photos.

Meanwhile, AP's article, as it appeared around the country, continues the AP style of turning everyone who protests into a criminal. The AP style is to focus on arrests and the police, rather than human rights issues. There's no excuse for AP not to add the comments of those protesting, since the press statements are easy to find online. There's also no excuse for newspapers to publish AP articles that butcher the truth of the event. http://www.omaha.com/article/20120827/NEWS/120829760/1687#5-arrested-in-whiteclay-protest

Ruth Moon, at the Rapid City Journal, reported the White Clay protest in an ethical way in this article. Moon begins with the reasons for the protest. "This 'Women’s Day of Peace' is a way for tribal women to take control and protest alcoholism in Whiteclay and on the reservation, said Olowan Martinez, who organized the event." The Rapid City Journal also had a photographer present:
http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/more-than-march-protest-whiteclay-liquor-sales/article_0d413ea3-c0d0-5783-86a8-f121b040e580.html

It is always difficult to get news reporters out to cover any event on a Sunday. It is one of the secrets of the newsrooms. No one ever wants to do it. Once there, it is even more difficult to prevent new
s reporters from turning every protest into a crime scene, by presenting American Indians, and any other activists, as criminals.

The bottom line is reporters and editors don't like to get caught in their easy chairs, working as parasites off of others work, and making phone calls and lifting photos. AP also doesn't like to get caught making criminals out of the good guys.

Let them know that you know when they are not present.

Also see Deep Green Resistance's own press coverage:http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/08/white-clay-real-reporters-work-on-sunday_29.html

Brenda Norrell has been a reporter of American Indian news for 30 years. During the 18 years that she lived on the Navajo Nation, she was a reporter for Navajo Times and a stringer for AP and USA Today. After serving as a longtime reporter for Indian Country Today, ICT censored her repeatedly, then terminated her. The result is Censored News, now in its sixth year. She is a contributor to Narco News.
For permission to repost in full: brendanorrell@gmail.com

UNA Celebrating the 42nd Anniversary of the Crazy Horse Mountain Movement

UNA Celebrating the 42nd Anniversary of the Crazy Horse Mountain Movement

By United Native Americans Inc.
Posted at Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

The Battle to Re-Claim the Entire Black hills was started by United Native Americans, On August 29th, 1970, a small group of dedicated young Indians Invaded Mount Rushmore, the so called "National Shrine of Democracy," located in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The Indian people who took part in this out standing feat, did so at the Invitation of the Local Indian people from Rapid City, South Dakota and the Surrounding Reservations. Most of these young Indians were from Different Tribes and Reservations who Volunteered to Help the Sioux in their efforts to force the Federal Government to pay for the illegal taking of their land 94 years ago in 1877. The Invasion started at 8:00PM. Sat. Evening, the 29th of August 1970, when 23 young Indians, most of whom were college students, braved arrest and fines to help the Sioux regain their Sacred Black Hills. By 7:00AM the next Morning after an all night game of hide and seek or (rangers and Indians) most of the protesters had reached the Top of the Mountain near the four faces of the Presidents, where they hung out a large flag, with the Words, "SIOUX INDIAN POWER." And After a Brief ceremony, they renamed the Mountain "Crazy Horse Mountain" in Honor of the Famous war chief "Crazy Horse."
The Principal Leaders of the Invasion were: Lehman Brightman, National President of (U.N.A.) Elizabeth Fast horse, Verna Gannon, Minnie Two Shoes, Chuggy Fast Horse, Chief Lame Deer, & Carrol Swan, who helped coordinate the whole affair. Once all 23 members had reached the top and assembled, they proceeded to Establish a camp and an occupation that would last for approximately three months, or until Severe winter weather forced the withdrawal.
The incredible story behind this invasion and Occupation started five days earlier, when the local Sioux Indian people from Rapid City, South Dakota and the surrounding reservations established picket lines at the base of the monument. But after four days and nights of demonstrations the park authorities were not only not listening, but seemed to think the whole thing was a big joke. That is until the local People invited out of state Indians and National Indian Organizations to Aid them in their heroic endeavor. After taking the mountain and occupying it for a period of ten days or more, most of the college students and others were forced to return to school or their jobs, but by then the movement had caught on and Indian People from Across South Dakota were visiting the Mountain bring Food and Water and Replacing the original invaders by two fold. This was the First Indian uprising in South Dakota since the Sioux Wiped Out Custer in 1876, and suddenly young and old alike were taking new faith, Indians were Fighting Back. During the Second day of the Occupation the park authorities sent a message they wanted to talk with the leaders of the group to determine what they wanted and how long they intended to stay, Lehman Brightman replied, "as long as the grass grows, the water flows and the sunshine's," which didn't seem to please them much.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1169007103369&set=a.1168993383026.2025951.1173715012&type=3&theater

UNA Starting the Crazy Horse Mountain Movement August 29th,1970- The First Indian uprising in South Dakota since the Sioux Wiped Out Custer in 1876.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wd1uLgV7mc&feature=share&list=PLC192C91C0E6A0CBE 
Friend Us On Facebook.com
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View Our Educational Videos on You Tube at
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC192C91C0E6A0CBE&feature=mh_lolz
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'She Speaks' Indigenous Women Speak out against Tar Sands

She Speaks: Indigenous Women Speak Out Against Tar Sands

When: Friday September 21
Doors at 5:30 pm. Program ends at 8:30 pm
Where: Aboriginal Friendship Center – 1607 East Hastings St (corner Commercial) – Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territories
Dinner will be served and childcare on-site.
Feast is sponsored and provided by International Woman’s Caucus on Climate

This is a free event.
Indigenous communities are taking the lead to stop the largest industrial project, the Tar Sands Gigaproject. Northern Alberta is ground zero with over 20 corporations operating in the tar sands sacrifice zone, with expanded developments being planned. The cultural heritage, land, ecosystems and human health of Indigenous communities including the Mikisew Cree First Nation, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Fort McMurray
First Nation, Fort McKay Cree Nation, Beaver Lake Cree First Nation Chipewyan Prairie First Nation, and the Metis, are being sacrificed for oil money in what has been termed a “slow industrial genocide”. Infrastructure projects linked to the tar sands expansion such as the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, Kinder Morgan pipeline, Ontario Line 9 reversal, and the Keystone XL pipeline threaten Indigenous communities across Turtle Island.
Join us to hear from Indigenous women at the front line of defending the land and communities from tar sands development and expansion.
Dinner will be served and childcare on-site. This is a free event.
Download Posters and Flyers:
Full Size / Blue ~ Full Size B/W ~ Handbill Blue ~ Handbill B/W

Featured Speakers:

Ta’Kaiya Blaney is a Sliammon Nation youth who made headlines when she wrote a song to speak up against the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline. Since then, she has been a strong Indigenous youth voice locally and internationally advocating to protect the coast and the land against big oil.
Eriel Tchekwie Deranger is a Dene from the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation of Northern Alberta, Canada. She is currently the Communications Coordinator for Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, who have recently filed a suit against oil giant Shell Oil Canada for their open-pit mining projects.
Suzanne Dhaliwal is the co-founder of the UK Tar Sands Network, which works in solidarity with the Indigenous Environmental network to campaign against UK corporations and financial institutions invested in the Alberta Tar Sands.
Melina Laboucan-Massimo is Lubicon Cree from Northern Alberta. She has been working as an advocate for Indigenous rights for the past 10 years. She has worked with organizations like Redwire Native Media Society and Indigenous Media Arts Society. She has joined Greenpeace as a tar sands climate & energy campaigner.
This event is organized by the Indigenous Environmental Network. IEN is an alliance of grassroots Indigenous Peoples whose mission is to protect the sacredness of Mother Earth from contamination and exploitation by strengthening, maintaining, and respecting traditional teachings and natural laws.
This event is supported by Aboriginal Front Door, Alliance for Peoples Health, Council of Canadians, Indigenous Action Movement, International Woman’s Caucus on Climate,
Mining Justice Alliance, No One Is Illegal – Vancouver Unceded Coast Salish Territories, Occupy Vancouver Environmental Justice Working Group, Pipe Up Network, Purple Thistle Center, Streams of Justice, Tanker Free BC, Western Wilderness Committee.
For more information:
Clayton Thomas Muller: monsterredlight@gmail.com – 613 297 7515
Sheila Muxlow: sheila.muxlow@gmail.com
Harsha Walia: hwalia8@gmail.com or 778 885 0040
Maryam Adrangi: madrangi@canadians.org

August 27, 2012

Photos: White Clay Women's March against Genocide



 

 
Photos by Native Impact. Published with permission at Censored News. Thank you!
Lakota and Deep Green Resistance march in White Clay, Nebraska, today, Sunday, Aug. 26, 2012.
Read and watch videos about the pepper spray, lockdown and arrests at Censored News:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/08/white-clay-protest-pepper-spray-and.html
More incredible photos:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com

 

August 26, 2012

White Clay Protest: Pepper spray and arrests


 



 


By Jessica Garraway / Deep Green Resistance Great Plains
Photos by Deep Green Resistance
More photos:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/08/photos-white-clay-womens-march-against.html

Women of the Oglala Lakota nation along with activists from Deep Green Resistance, AIM Grassroots, Un-Occupy Albuquerque, Occupy Lincoln, and Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center took part in a march from Billy Mills Hall in Pine Ridge into White Clay to protest against the predatory liquor industry present there.
White Clay has a population of 14, yet 4 liquor stores in the town sell 12,500 cans of beer each day. The stores have been documented repeatedly selling to bootleggers, intoxicated people, minors, and trading beer for sexual favors.
“For over 100 years the women of the Oglala Lakota nation have been dealing with an attack on the mind body and spirit of their relatives”, says Olowan Martinez who is a main organizer of the event and resident of Pine Ridge. “The Oglala have been silenced through chemical warfare waged by the corporations who are out to exploit and make a profit off of the suffering and misery of our people. The time has come to end this suffering by any means necessary.”
Debra White Plume, a Lakota activist and resident of Pine Ridge who spoke at the event proclaimed, “A sober Indian is a dangerous Indian. We have to send a message to Nebraska and its citizens that we are not going to tolerate business as usual. This is the Women’s Day of Peace but that peace will soon be over”.
After the march and speeches members of Deep Green Resistance locked down and blockaded the road into White Clay.
Less than a half hour after the lockdown began a police officer rolled down their window and indiscriminately pepper sprayed into a crowd. Up to 12 people were pepper sprayed including the 10 year old son of a Lakota woman who helped organize the march. Also, an elder Lakota woman, Helen Red Feather, reported having her leg hit by a police car in motion. Medics with the protest treated pepper spray injuries.
At 7:39, the five activists who participated in the lock down were hauled off in a horse trailer to the Sheridan County jail in Rushville. They have since been released on their own recognizance.
Today, justice is far from complete, since White Clay continues to enable and enact the destruction of the Oglala Lakota and the people of Pine Ridge. The continued subjugation of the Oglala Lakota of the Pine Ridge Reservation will not end as long as the liquor stores in White Clay continue to operate.
Chants of “As long as it takes!” began by those locked down and the people standing with them in the crowd at the beginning of the lockdown. The struggle continues.
For press inquiries, please contact Jessica Garraway:
Email: garrawaj@riseup.net
Phone: (253) 906-4740

Native people want transparency from non-profits

 
Non-profits are deceiving Indigenous grassroots people, while secretly profiteering
 
 
By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
 
Censored News has received a great deal of information on non-profits who claim to serve Indigenous Peoples, including fraud, theft and deception of grassroots people. Are non-profit financial statements public? Yes, including the salaries of staff.
 
Secretly, some non-profits are putting large amounts of funds into salaries and travel for their own benefit, including the grant writers and staff -- while deceiving grassroots people and keeping these grants secret. Native people are calling for transparency by these non-profits. (Investigate the financial records for yourselves: http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/incorporation-and-legal-structures/nonprofit-financial-statements.html )
 
The key issues for both Native and non-Native operated non-profits are secrecy about staff salaries, the amount of money being pocketed from donations, the placing of family members on payrolls, and secretly creating profitable spin-off consulting firms.
 
Deception and wannabes
 
Traditional Yaqui women in the villages in Sonora, Mexico, said they were never told about grant funding for workshops held there by a non-profit. After being told there was no funding for a workshop, Yaqui women were required to provide the food, and sleep on the floor, while the speakers stayed in pricey hotels. Since they do not speak or read English, or have access to the Internet, they had no way of knowing about large grants being applied for in their names.
 
There are many sinister issues about board control, including non-Indians, wannabes, seizing control of non-profit "Indigenous" boards by holding meetings in foreign countries and refusing to give the longtime board members and founders airline tickets to get there.
 
At the same time, several non-Indian frauds have captured the limelight in the media on human rights issues. This has increased their ability to get grant funding for their own selves. Some profiteers continue to function by threatening lawsuits if exposed.
 
Currently, a number of people who suddenly decided they were Native Americans have placed themselves in the limelight on issues at the United Nations, taking over the agenda and the voice.
 
Also, it is unethical for news reporters to receive secret grant or public relations funding to promote individuals or groups, while posing as an unbiased news reporter.
 
People working in human rights are often very trusting, and sometimes too naive. This has meant that some corrupt individuals at non-profits have found it easy to keep huge salaries and travel expenses secret. Sadly, Indigenous grassroots people are the ones being used.
 
Co-opting with 'green' grants
 
On a related issue, the worst polluters in the United States are attempting to co-op the voices of those most critical of them, by offering "green" grants. The Salt River Project, which operates the dirty Navajo Generating Station on the Navajo Nation -- one of the dirtiest coal fired power plants in the US -- is giving out "green" grants for solar and wind projects, directly to non-profits and to the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority to disperse.
 
Since it is human nature not to want to "bite the hand that feeds you," by way of accepting this grant money, those critical of the dirty coal fired power plant industry are quieted, or co-opted into working with this industry.
 
This dirty coal-fired power plant, Navajo Generating Station, receives its coal from Peabody Coal mine on Black Mesa, where at least 14,000 Navajos were relocated in the so-called Navajo-Hopi land dispute, orchestrated by Peabody Coal, to get at the coal. This power plant and others in the US are a leading cause of the melting of Arctic ice. The result is Native Arctic villages are falling into the sea, and polar bears, walruses and other wildlife are either being displaced or starving to death. Further, the pollution from the power plants on Navajoland causes widespread respiratory and other diseases for Navajos. The media hypes these dirty power plants because they provide electricity to Southwest cities, while many Navajos have no electricity.
 
Transparency
 
Native Americans are calling for transparency from non-profits who claim to serve Indigenous Peoples: Make your financial reports, including salaries, travel budgets and grants, public.
 
 
Non-profit financial statements
http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/incorporation-and-legal-structures/nonprofit-financial-statements.html
Question:
Do 501(c)(3) non-profit corporations have to make their financial statements available to the public?
Answer:
Yes. Non-profit corporations must submit their financial statements, which include the salaries of directors, officers and key employees to the IRS on Form 990. Both the IRS and the non-profit corporation are required to disclose the information they provide on Form 990 to the public. This means that non-profits must make their records available for public inspection during regular business hours at their principal office.
 In addition, a number of websites make these financial statements available including GuideStar ( www.guidestar.org ) and the Foundation Center ( www.foundationcenter.org ). Finally, you can request a Form 990 from a specific non-profit corporation by writing to the IRS, including the name of the organization and the tax year you wish to review:
Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Attn: Freedom of Information Reading Room
1111 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20224

 

August 25, 2012

Mohawk Nation News: Obama, Buffalo Soldier Chief

 

MNN: OBAMA, BUFFALO SOLDIER CHIEF




 

OBAMA, BUFFALO SOLDIER CHIEF

Mohawk Nation News
http://mohawknationnews.com/blog/
MNN. Aug. 23, 2012. US President Obama obeys his masters just like the Buffalo Soldiers. So grand is the illusion of freedom that they don’t’ even know they’re still slaves. According to the myth, the Buffalo Soldiers were freedom fighters.
In 1865 the Civil War was over. US President, Abraham Lincoln, freed the slaves. [Emancipation Proclamation]. White soldiers were deserting because they were terrified of fighting Indians. In 1866 the 10th Cavalry Regiment of Black soldiers was set up at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. Lincoln promised the Blacks their freedom, 40 acres of our land and a mule, which they never got.
Over 150,000 joined, to prove they were just as blood-thirsty as their white masters in stealing from us and murdering us without mercy.

As former victims of racism, the Buffalo Soldiers became the champions of rape, genocide, brutality and mass murder of innocent people. They took pride in killing people who never did anything to them. They forgot all about the help we gave them because slavery is a violation of our Great Law. The Choctaw, Cherokee and Shawnee helped them escape from their slave masters to the north.

We were called “non-reformable savages”. They were told there is a time when it is okay to kill Indians and those who did so were a force for good. With pride and fervor, they attacked us 127 times to try to exterminate us.
Between 1866 to 1890 ten Buffalo Soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for slaughtering our men, women and children. They were at the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890.
General Colin Powell was inspired by these hired thugs. He kept a statue of a Buffalo Solider in his office and called him the “wind beneath my wings”.
Obama is the Buffalo Soldier Commander-in-Chief who brags about murdering, torturing and butchering anyone he chooses.
As a Mohawk Rotiskenrakete said, should a civil war break out in the US, he felt that, “the Buffalo Soldiers would join their masters”. They always do what they’re told. The invaders and forced invaders will probably stand together. The mule and everything they were promised, they will not get!
Today websites are devoted to their exploits for protecting white settlers and starving and killing Indigenous. Every year they celebrate at Fort Riley, Kansas, to remind their white masters, “Look! We’re still here, ready to stand with you”.
Bob Marley confirms this in his song, “Buffalo Soldiers”, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5FCdx7Dn0o
 
MNN Mohawk Nation News kahentinetha2@yahoo.com For more news, books, workshops, to donate and sign up for MNN newsletters, go to www.mohawknationnews.com More stories at MNN Archives. Address: Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0

 

August 24, 2012

United Native Americans protest at the Hearst building

By United Native Americans
Posted by Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (8/23)- Native American leaders held a protest outside the Hearst Building on 3rd Street & Market Street at 11:00 AM, in an effort to bring attention to what many are calling a "threat to the heart of the Sioux nation."
Quanah Brightman, United Native Americans Inc. stated,"The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has designated $50,000 for the purpose of purchasing Pe'Sla land. By contributing to the efforts of all Sioux Tribes, we aim to purchase at least some of the tracts, if not all. Many of the Sioux Tribes continue to exsist in poverty and do not have a thriving casino-based economy as the media may have portrayed. Yet, we continue to fight for what is sacred, because it matters... This land was taken from the Sioux Tribes ILLEGALLY in violation of the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868 .Although we believe our sacred places were taken illegally by the United States government, Lastrealindians, Inc. is collaborating with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Great Sioux Nation (the Oceti Sakowin) to centralize fundraising to save one of our most sacred sites, Pe'Sla...." At c.12:00 PM, members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) and the United Native Americans Inc., gathered outside the San Francisco Chronicle to bring further attention to their cause.
In an unprecedented, collective effort, the united Sioux Nation (the Oceti Sakowin) is attempting to buy as much of Pe'Sla as possible, to save it from destruction and ensure that future generations of Lakota, Dakota, Nakota and other Tribal Nations that consider the Black Hills holy, will continue to have access to this vital sacred site to practice their faith on its ceremonial grounds in its natural, pristine state."
Quanah Brightman spoke further saying,"In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, U.N.A. is demanding the Hearst Corporation contribute to the struggling Lakota Sioux Nation whom they have stolen land and precious Natural resources from. Professor Lehman Brightman states that the Hearst Corporation “has never tried to make amends with the Lakota Sioux Nation.” The heir to the Hearst fortune, William Randoph Hearst III, has “not given one red cent to the Sioux Indians. They could easily afford to set up a scholarship program or improve dilapidated housing on Sioux Territory.” Nearly 97% of the Sioux Nation's population lives below Federal poverty levels... The United States Government and the Hearst Corporation can be prosecuted for violations of International Law. Art. VI of The United States Constitution states, “All treaties made, or which shall be made ... shall be the Supreme Law of the Land." U.N.A. believes it is time that punitive damages be paid to the Lakota Sioux Nation for direct violation of the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 & 1868...."
According to Janeen Antoine, "We ask that the Hearst Corporation purchase this land and RETURN it IMMEDIATELY into the hands of the Lakota people, as a part of the reparations of their illegal seizure of Native lands...."
Acording to Quanah Brightman, the organization, "United Native Americans, Inc. (or U.N.A.) was formed in 1968 in San Francisco, California to promote the General Welfare of Native Americans. There are no paid staff or officers in U.N.A. and all work is donated. U.N.A. is not funded and exists solely on the support derived from membership dues, the sale of U.N.A. Merchandise, Tee Shirts, buttons, bumper stickers, and Posters, plus the few donations that have been received... U.N.A was founded by Indians for Indians and is controlled by Indians. U.N.A. has been Labeled a "Militant" organization because of it's Aggressive Stand it has taken and because of the slogan it stresses--"INDIAN POWER", which is defined as Self-Determination, the Right to Run your Own Affairs and to Direct your Own Destiny, which is something Indian People Definitely Need. U.N.A is Definitely an Action Organization and if this means "Militant" then we are Militants. We as Native Americans, in order to perpetuate our Heritage, Exercise Constructive Leadership, and to perfect a Native American Organization which will Respond to the Needs of Native Americans...."
According to its website, the American Indian Movement states as its purpose,"In the 30 years of its formal history, the American Indian Movement (AIM) has given witness to a great many changes. We say formal history, because the movement existed for 500 years without a name. The leaders and members of today's AIM never fail to remember all of those who have traveled on before, having given their talent and their lives for the survival of the people... At the core of the movement is Indian leadership under the direction of NeeGawNwayWeeDun, Clyde H. Bellecourt, and others. Making steady progress, the movement has transformed policy making into programs and organizations that have served Indian people in many communities. These policies have consistently been made in consultation with spiritual leaders and elders.The success of these efforts is indisputable, but perhaps even greater than the accomplishments is the vision defining what AIM stands for... Indian people were never intended to survive the settlement of Europeans in the Western Hemisphere, our Turtle Island. With the strength of a spiritual base, AIM has been able to clearly articulate the claims of Native Nations and has had the will and intellect to put forth those claims...."
While the protest was peaceful and nonviolent, members of the Hearst Corporation called San Francisco police @ 1:30 PM, claiming that the protest was posed a "security risk". While the protest was small, leaders say that they will be spreading the word and continuing to fight.
- Jose Ricardo G. Bondoc
Rosann Forsberg
more information please go to :
Help Save Pe'Sla, the Heart of the Sioux Nation. To make a contribution, go to http://www.indiegogo.com/PeSla-LakotaHeartland?a=1006191
Any amount given, no matter how small, is appreciated.http://www.lastrealindians.com/ 

Auction cancelled for SD land considered sacred
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20120823/us-buying-the-black-hills/
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August 23, 2012

Auction of Pe'Sla cancelled by owners

  PE’SLA AUCTION CANCELLED ON DIRECTION OF OWNERS’ REPRESENTATIVE
 
By Last Real Indians
http://www.lastrealindians.com/

The auction scheduled for August 25, 2012, for the acreage called Reynold’s Prairie, also known as Pe’Sla to the Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation), has been cancelled on direction of the owners’ representative, according to Brock Auction, Co., Inc: http://www.brockauction.com/upcoming.htm
The owners are not commenting as to why the auction has been cancelled. At this time, Lastrealindians, Inc. is consulting with Oceti Sakowin Tribes and attempting to find out more information.
UPDATE: TRIBES OF THE GREAT SIOUX NATION AND LASTREALINDIANS, INC. WILL CONTINUE EFFORT TO SECURE PE’ SLA
Pe Sla has been taken off the auction block. However, the property is publicly listed. The Tribes of the Great Sioux Nation are moving forward on their own behalf with Lastrealindians, Inc. in continuing to raise money to ensure Pe’ Sla will be protected as a sacred site, forever.
Updates will continue as more information becomes available.
Updates forthcoming.
Contact Info:
Lastrealindians, Inc.
4265 45th Street S Ste 111-39
Fargo, North Dakota 58104
Phone: (605) 268-0434
Email: chaseironeyes@gmail.com
Email: cankudutawin@gmail.com