Indigenous Peoples make urgent appeal for food sovereignty

Indigenous Peoples Make Urgent Appeal for Food Sovereignty
Sunday, November 15, 2009
For Immediate Release

ROME, Italy -- Indigenous Peoples arrived in Rome on Friday to participate in the Global Indigenous Peoples' Food Sovereignty Forum, taking place from November 13th to 16th. The Forum is a part of “People's Food Sovereignty Now!”, the Civil Society Organizations' forum, parallel to the United Nations World Summit on Food Security, from November 16th to 18th at the headquarters of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization.

Indigenous Peoples came from places as diverse as the Amazon rainforest to the Arctic homeland of the Saami to the deserts of Africa, the islands of the Pacific and the mountains of the Himalayas to sound the alarm on the dire effects suffered by their communities from the food crisis. Their communities are the most impacted by hunger and malnutrition, constituting a violation of their right to food. Indigenous knowledge and practices have the potential to improve local and global food security but have not been recognized and have been met with opposition in many cases.

Indigenous representatives shared stories of how they are being impacted by the food crisis. They also identified many causes of food insecurity for Indigenous communities, including the loss of land, territories and resources, the non-recognition and violation of their Indigenous rights, the commodification of genetic resources, environmental pollution and climate change, among others. The representatives stressed the importance of food sovereignty over security, noting their livelihoods and cultures are linked to their lands and territories.

They developed proposals and strategies calling for recognition of their self-determination, their rights and the control of their lands, territories and resources. Indigenous groups called for governments to support their traditional practices, to enable their full and effective participation in all discussion on food security, and to uphold their rights. They also called for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to establish a Working Group with Indigenous Peoples in their Committee on Food Security.

Hasina Kharbhih, a Khasi Indigenous woman from India, noted that, “Our Indigenous communities in Asia and across the rest of the world are really suffering right now. All the responses to this food crisis must ensure our peoples' rights and protect our food sovereignty. There has to be a recognition that we are facing some of the worst effects of the global food crisis, but also that we have so much to contribute from our traditional, sustainable and organic methods, and the need for our full participation in all levels of discussions. Our rights as Indigenous Peoples are not negotiable and can play a large role in solving this food crisis.”

The Forum concludes tomorrow with the adoption of a final declaration containing a number of recommendations which will be read at the UN World Summit on Food Security, on November 17th, 2009.

For more information, please contact;
Ben Powless or Hasina Kharbhih at +1-613-614-4219 (English)
Saul Vicente at +52-55-209-545-01 (Spanish)

MNN: Indigenous Women Position on Canada-US-Mexico Borders

INDIGENOUS WOMEN POSITION ON CANADA-US-MEXICO BORDERS

Mohawk Nation News
http://www.mohawknationnews.com/

MNN. Nov. 12, 2009. AIM-West is hosting a 40th year commemoration in San Francisco on November 24 to 28th, 2009. A major player was from Akwesasne, Richard Oakes when AIM took over Alcatraz Island. The Treaty of Laramie 1868 affirmed that all abandoned federal facilities irrevocably revert to the Indigenous people. Shortly afterwards Oakes was beaten with a pool cue and went into a coma. Not long after recovering he was shot dead. A main topic will be the militarization of the north and south borders on Great Turtle Island. http://www.aimovement.org

Two years ago the Mohawks went to Tohono O’odham [Arizona], an Indigenous community on the US-Mexico border. Censored News wrote on the second anniversary of this trip. http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

Let’s hear it for the Mohawks!

What a great time I had watching this video of the Mohawks ripping out
this [Canada-US] border marker with a backhoe [at Akwesasne]. Reminded me of when the Mohawk Warrior Society came to the Indigenous Border Summit in Tohono O’odham in November 2007. The Mohawks were horrified over the building of the border wall, the CAGE outdoor migrant prison and the federal US spy tower. The Mohawks spotted the US Border Patrol arresting a pitiful group of tiny Mayans, [who had just crossed the desert] mostly women and children. The Mohawks jumped out of the cars and rushed the Border Patrol, who fled like scared dogs with their tails between their knees. Sadly, the pitiful migrants were smashed into the back of the vehicle. They became another group of desperate and hungry Mayans arrested on Tohono O'odham land by the white agents of darkness, the US Border Patrol. –Brenda Norrell, Watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsNap5EyQnk

The Kohtihon’tia:kwenio [Women] of the Kanion’ke:haka [Mohawk Nation] position on the border will be presented at the forthcoming AIM conference.

KOHTIHON’TIA:WENIO BORDER POSITION TO:

The Invaders of the Western Hemisphere, all their criminal agencies and departments, their international terrorist allies and the useless United Nations [the Kaianerehkowa supercedes their Charter and the Constitution of the US].

RE: Inherent right of Rotino’shonni:onwe to traverse Indigenous lands of Onowaregeh, Great Turtle Island, and beyond without hindrance from invading aliens.

PREAMBLE:

Creation placed us on Great Turtle Island. We cannot forfeit ourselves or our territory. We survived mass murder, chemical and biological warfare, starvation, physical and mental torture, lies, ignorance and genocide.

According to Wampum 44 of the Kaianereh’ko:wa, we, the Kohtihon’tia:kwenio [Women] hold the land, water and air of Onowaregeh for the future generations.
Canada, US, Mexico and all the other colonists are corporate franchises of Europe, not governments.

a] WHEREAS the Kaianereh’ko:wa [Great Law of Peace] and the Guswentha [Two Row Wampum Agreement] provide that we are free, autonomous and equal; we reject these artificial capitalist borders created by corporations that illegally divide up our lands and steal our resources; they can’t be sovereign because they are foreigners.

b] WHEREAS we reject these colonists making unlawful restrictions on our freedom.

c] WHEREAS the UN Charter requires its members to respect the principles of equality and self-determination of all peoples; and to resolve differences peacefully.

d] WHEREAS these foreign franchises have ascribed to the internationally recognized standards for respecting political, economic and human rights of the People as set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Prevention of Genocide, United Nation Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other international legal instruments.

e] WHEREAS General Assembly Resolution 1541 [XV] requires the informed consent of the people before they are included in another state; and the international Court of Justice affirmed this Resolution in the Western Sahara case. We have never legally or voluntarily become part of the squatter society.

f] WHEREAS according to Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Sections 1 and 2, every nation has a right to its nationality; and no foreigners can restrict our travel, trade and commerce throughout the Western Hemisphere.

g] WHEREAS it is universally illegal for these foreigners to usurp our inherent sovereignty over ourselves, our territories, resources, air and water.

h] WHEREAS foreign invaders cannot make demands for us to carry foreign passports or identity; they must respect our relationships and agreements.

i] WHEREAS the Red Card and the Haudenosaunee Passport identifies a person as Rotino’shonni:onwe, Six Nations, of Onowaregeh; we are free to pass and re-pass by land, water or air on our territories; we are free to carry on all relationships with whomever we chose without interference; no foreigners shall extort taxes, duties or fees from us.

j] WHEREAS these foreigners and their military backed regimes must provide redress for the violations of our rights; and stop threatening, harassing and punishing us in their illegally imposed judicial-prison system.

k] WHEREAS torture is premeditated, systemic and scientific to break down our dignity, social fabric and foment terror; and these detentions violate fundamental human rights and morality.

l] WHEREAS the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of their life, freedom or possessions; we demand that these usurpers stop murdering and detaining our people for crossing their imaginary line.

m] WHEREAS the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been adopted by a majority of 144 states; international law has affirmed that all Indigenous peoples are to be treated as equals; and we accordingly claim our inherent sovereignty, human rights and fundamental freedoms without being subjected to forced assimilation, destruction of our culture and undermining of our nations.

WE, THE KOHTIHON’TIA:KWENIO INFORM YOU THAT THIS IS FULL AND FAIR NOTICE THAT:

Canada, US, Mexico and other colonial franchises and agents cease violating our authority; disrespecting our nations; cease and desist violating our laws; deal with us as nations as required under both our laws and international law; any individual or foreign entity wishing to discuss any issues with our nations must go through proper diplomatic channels, which are the Governor General of Canada and the Presidents of the US and Mexico.

TO PROTECT OUR PHYSICAL INTEGRITY AND LEGAL RIGHTS, WE DEMAND THAT:

1] Canada, US, Mexico and all other franchises, corporations and agents cease violating our inherent rights and laws, ancient customs, traditions and agreements.

2] Murder and torture violate internal and international laws and the principles of the Kaianereh’ko:wa and Guswentha;

4] Should they continue to breach our rights, we shall take measures to correct the injustices.

5] It is not acceptable to abuse people on any basis. Colonial lawlessness must end.

KOHTIHON’TIA;KWENIO of Kanion’ke:haka fo the Rotini’shonni:onwe.

Kahentinetha MNN Mohawk Nation News, www.mohawknationnews.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com Note: Your financial help is needed and appreciated. Please send your donations by check or money order to “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Or go to PayPal on MNN website. Nia:wen thank you very much. Go to MNN BORDER category for more stories; New MNN Books Available now!

MOHAWK CASES: Canada was challenged the Supreme Court of Canada – Kanion’ke:haka Kaianereh’ko:wa Kanon’ses:neh v. Attorney General of Canada and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario, Court File: 05-CV-030785.

This constitutional jurisdiction issue was brought before the Supreme Court of the United States [No. 05-2005] in re: Kanion’ke:haka Kaianereh’ko:wa Kanon’ses:ne, Non-party, Petitioner/Movant/Appellant, The Canadian St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians, Plaintiffs, Respondents v. The State of New York, Defendants, Respondents. Petition for Writs of Certiorari and Quo Warranto with Prohibition and Mandamus in Aid to Prevent Genocide. Rules 17.1 and 20.1.

CONTACT AIM – 415-577-1492 415-577-1492 eltony@earthlink.net San Francisco Bahai Center, 170 Valencia Center.

O'odham Solidarity Apartheid in America at 6:30 pm live

WATCH LIVE: 'O'odham Solidarity: Apartheid in America, Surviving Occupation in O'odham lands,' with Ofelia Rivas, O'odham and Ward Churchill, at 6:30 pm. Arizona time, Friday, Nov. 13, 2009
MCNN - live streaming video powered by Livestream

Photo: 'Apartheid in America' dinner

'Apartheid in America: Surviving Occupation in O'odham lands'
Preparing the squash for dinner. Angie Ramon, Tohono O'odham, and family prepare squash, and popovers, for tonight's dinner. Watch livestream of the O'odham Solidarity Event 'Apartheid in America,' tonight, Friday, Nov. 13, beginning at 6:30 pm:
http://www.livestream.com/earthcycles
(Photo Brenda Norrell)
FRIDAY NIGHT IN TUCSON (Nov. 13, 2009)
O'odham Solidarity Event, with Ofelia Rivas, O'odham, and Ward Churchill, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson, 4831 E. 22nd St., begins with dinner at 6:30 p.m. Broadcast live on the web at: www.livestream.com/earthcycles
Fundraiser for O'odham Solidarity Project: Suggested $10 to $20, but no one will be turned away.
http://www.solidarity-project.org/

40th Anniversary of the Occupation of Alcatraz, Berkeley

40th Anniversary of the Occupation of Alcatraz Program
"YOU ARE ON INDIAN LAND"

Host: Richie Richards
Type: Education - Workshop
Network: Global
Date: Friday, November 20, 2009
Time: 10:00am - 5:00pm
Location: Bancroft Hotel - across the street from Hearst Museum
Street: 2680 Bancroft Way Berkeley, CA 94704 (510) 549-1000
City/Town: Berkeley, CA
Phone: 5106437649
Email:
rrrichards75@berkeley.edu

On Friday, November 20th 2009, Richie Richards the Native American Education Specialist for the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley proudly hosts the 40th Anniversary of the Occupation of Alcatraz Program. The event will honor and commemorate the original efforts and intentions of the student-based occupation that took place in 1969; which was to protest the social conditions Native Americans were being subjected to in both urban areas and on reservations. Alcatraz provided a national forum for their voices to be heard and we want to continue that conversation with this event.

*Opening: Richie Richards will discuss the agenda and speakers.

*Keynote Speaker, Dr. LaNada War Jack (formerly LaNada Means), was a student leader here at UC Berkeley and organized the Third World Strike- which ultimately led to the development of the Ethnic Studies Program at Cal. Dr. War Jack along with Richard Oakes, co- organized the take-over of Alcatraz in November, 1969. LaNada will discuss motivating factors of the Occupation during her presentation.

*Honored Guest Speaker, Dr. Lehman Brightman (President of the United Native Americans, Inc.), who will discuss the founding of UNA Inc., his role as First Director of Ethnic Studies here at UC Berkeley, and his participation in the Occupation. Dr. Brightman presented at the 40th anniversary of Ethnic Studies at SFSU and may speak about this presentation as well.

* Ilka Hartmann (German photographer from the occupation), will present a slide show of her photographs and her experiences as a non-Native participant on Alcatraz. Ilka Hartmann has taken some of the more famous photos of the Occupation as well as photos from past demonstrations of human rights and equality.

* Students from local universities will present contemporary research and statistics in regards to the current situation of Native Americans in education. Students from UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, and DQ-University have agreed to come present.

*Healthy lunch will be provided to occupation speakers and elders who attend, free of charge at Hearst Museum patio. Lunch will be provided by Friendly Natives Catering: bluemaiz@yahoo.com

Please RSVP by sending contact information to Richie Richards at naes-pahma@berkeley.edu. This event is meant to bring together old friends and create new networks.

*Time and Agenda are currently in development and is subject to change- due to growing interest.

Save Glen Clove Sacred Place

Save Glen Cove Sacred Place (Calif.) Special thanks to Mary-Ann for the photos.

"Historically Glen Cove has been a traditional meeting place where services such as burials were performed for over one hundred local California Indian tribes. The sacred cove contains human remains, shell mounds, and other artifacts. Glen Cove continues to be a spiritually important area to the local Native Communities. The site was first documented in archaeological records in 1907 by an archaeologist from the University of California at Berkeley and, according to a 1988 report by Novato Archaeological Resource Service, is at least 3,500 years old. Many of the sacred items unearthed from the site in previous years remain illegally housed in the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley which houses over 13,000 ancestral remains and over 200,000 sacred objects.
Proposed development - The Greater Vallejo Recreation District (GVRD) and the City of Vallejo are currently proposing to develop a park with trails and amendments that would desecrate this site. Preserving and protecting this sacred place in the way those who created it meant it to be is a legal right under the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and is an essential part of Indigenous cultural survival."
Read more:
http://www.vallejointertribalcouncil.org

Apartheid in America

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Photo: Splitting the Sky, Mohawk

TUCSON -- Racism in America did not disappear when Barack Obama became president. Native American homelands are still targeted by corporations and some tribal governments, targeting Native homelands for coal mining, power plants, oil drilling and toxic dumps.

The Four Corners region, homelands of the Navajo, Ute and Apache, and Lakota lands in South Dakota, were selected by the United States as National Sacrifice Zones, where the US poisoned the people, land, water and air, leaving behind strewn radioactive waste, poisoned rivers, cancer alleys and trails of deaths and broken hearts.

At the border, Indigenous Peoples in their homelands are still oppressed, harassed, detained and abused by the US Border Patrol and Native American tribal governments who have been coopted by Homeland Security. Here, too, on Tohono O'odham landis a cancer alley from copper mining that released radioactive uranium into the groundwater.

There is a rising anger, heard across America in coffeehouses and small town cafes, about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. People of color, including American Indians, Hispanics and Afro-Americans, are still considered "expendables" and targeted in TV commercials, and by recruiters, to enlist and die.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are based on the lies of politicians. These are wars where mercenaries killed without consequence. Torture and secret renditions were carried out in violation of the Geneva Conventions, crimes which Obama must aid in holding Bush and Cheney accountable for.

Splitting the Sky, Mohawk, attempted a citizens arrest of war criminal George Bush in Canada.

Still, in America as American Indians and persons of conscience prepare for a month of actions in November, there is a "shhhh" hush in the US over the continued CIA kidnappings, secret renditions and US-sponsored torture. People of color continue to be recruited and sent to die in a war that, in the end, will only profit US war profiteers and the politicians they bankroll.

Listen to Martin Luther King, when he spoke out against the Vietnam War. Listen to Buffy Sainte Marie tell how she was censored and driven out of the music industry in the US because of her songs during the Vietnam War.

What is happening now is not new, it is what happens when all good men and women become complacent.

The world is watching and it does not like what it sees.

November events, see details at Censored News: http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

Thurs. Nov. 12: Protest in Gallup, N.M., to halt new uranium mining in Navajo homelands

Nov. 13 (Friday) Tucson: O'odham Solidarity Event 'Apartheid in America' with Ofelia Rivas, O'odham living on the border, and Ward Churchill. Concert by Resistant Culture. (Live broadcast www.livestream.com/earthcycles )

Nov. 13 -- 15: Santa Barbara AIM: Symposium on Race and Racism, keynote speaker John Trudell

Nov. 14 --15: Tucson: Southwest Weekend to End Torture, with protest at Fort Huachuca to halt US torture training

Nov. 11 -- 23: UK/Ireland: Indigenous Environmental Network: United Kingdom Tar Sands Tour: Bloody oil: the struggle against the Tar Sands

Nov. 23 --27: San Francisco/Alcatraz: AIM West: West Coast Third Annual Conference, speakers and more (Live broadcast: http://www.livestream.com/earthcycles )

Race and Racism: John Trudell speaks in Santa Barbara

SYMPOSIUM ON RACE AND RACISM @ UCSB

INDIGENOUS SYMPOSIUM ON RACE AND RACISM at University California Santa Barbara
This WEEKEND!
November 13th-15th, 2009

Key Note Address by

John Trudell, Lakota Activist, Writer and Musician

Following recent events surrounding the Carpinteria High School mascot vote, the UCSB Nexus Newspaper, the lack of an Indigenous/Native American Indian Studies department at UCSB and low enrollment, students are organizing this Symposium to address race and racism affecting local Indigenous communities, especially in the areas of education.

Sessions will be on racism regarding mascots, sacred sites, and education, including religious and identity persecution effecting urban and rural communities. The Symposiums goal is to bridge conversation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous, academic and traditional knowledge, and tribal nations and organizations, in addressing historic and contemporary issues and solutions facing our nations today.

Event is Free, donations of $5.00 per meal is requested.

For more information and registration, please contact: Monique Sonoquie at sonoquie@hotmail.com or (805) 403-6744


Tentative Schedule-
November 13th and 14th, 2009

FRIDAY Student Resource Center Building
4:00-4:50 Sessions 1 American Indian Movement Santa Barbara Community Activism-Mascot/Holidaze CR1
5:00-5:50 Sessions 2 Manolo Callahan (Chicano/UCSB ) Decolonial Methodologies and Epistemologies CR1
6:00-6:50 Dinner
7:00-7:50 Sessions 4 Deana Dartt-Newton (Chumash, U of W) Museum and Mission Representation MPR
8:00-9:00 Session 5 Film Gold Greed and Genocide, Monique Sonoquie (Chumash) Environmental Racism MPR

SATURDAY Student Resource Center Building
9:00 -9:30 Registration Continental Breakfast SRC
9:30-10:25 Session 6 Keshan Lara (Yurok, ASU ), The Human Way MPR
10:30-11:25 Session 7 Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole/Muskogee/Dine' Nations), Images and Mascots MPR
11:30-12:25 Keynote John Trudell (Lakota) Indigenous Race and Racism MPR
12:30-1:25 Lunch Salads, Beans and Sandwiches SRC
1:30-2:25 Session 8 Stan Rodriguez (Kumiai Community College) Borders Crossing Us, Cut in Half MPR
2:30-3:25 Session 9 Liz Garcia (Chumash/Native Youth Resource Center) AlterNative Education MPR
3:30-4:25 Session 10 Laura Wass (Mt. Maidu/Many Lightings/AIM) Indigenous Academia MPR
4:30-5:25 Session 11 FuiFuiLupe Niumeitoulu (UCB, Tongan) Building Indigenous Sisterhood SRC
5:30-6:25 Dinner
6:30-8:30 Session 12 Film In the Light of Reverence/ Caleen Sisk Franco (Winnemem Wintu) Spiritual Racism MPR

Schedule subject to change.
Monique Sonoquie at sonoquie@hotmail.com or (805) 403-6744

Bloody Oil: Indigenous Tar Sands Tour UK/Ireland

United Kingdom Tar Sands Tour: November 11-23
Bloody oil: the struggle against the Tar Sands

By Indigenous Environmental Network

Three indigenous women from Canada are visiting the United Kingdom and Ireland conducting a 10-day tour to raise awareness about the Alberta Tar Sands. Dubbed 'the most destructive project on earth', the Tar Sands are devastating indigenous communities and driving global climate change. British companies such as BP, Shell and the Royal Bank of Scotland are heavily involved. The inspirational young women are working in partnership with UK groups, including Tar sands in focus, to internationalize their campaign supporting Indigenous Peoples Rights and to halt one of the world’s fastest growing causes of climate crisis.
Featuring, from the Indigenous Environmental Network in Canada:
Heather Milton-Lightening, from the Pasqua First Nation in Saskatchewan, has been organizing with the Native Youth Movement since 1995. She is now the Alberta based Tar sands Campaigner for the Indigenous Environmental Network.
Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, a Dene woman belonging to the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation of Northern Alberta, is the Freedom from Oil Campaigner for the Rainforest Action Network.
Melina Laboucan-Massimo, is Lubicon Cree from Northern Alberta. She has been working as an advocate for Indigenous rights for the past 9 years, and currently works for Greenpeace Canada
Bloody Oil: http://www.ienearth.org/docs/tar_sands_and_BP_briefing.pdf
Tar Sands UK / Ireland Speaker Tour Itinerary
13th November – 7-9pm Bristol Arnolfini, C words Festival
3-5pm Bristol Arnolfini, Trapese Collective:Workshop on grassroots activist education and direct action
14-15th – Rossport Solidarity Camp (Ireland)
16th – 7-9pm Science Oxford, ‘Bloody oil’: Canada’s Tar Sands, indigenous rights and climate change’
17th –10am-12pm London: Parliamentary event
2.30pm – RBS action with People & Planet
7-9pm – Speaker meeting, George Pub, 373 Commercial Road, Stepney, London, E1 0LA
18th – 7pm, Climate Justice Now! speaker tour, School of Oriental and African Studies, London
19th – 7pm, Y Plas, Machynlleth, Wales, organised by Centre for Alternative Technology
21-22 Shared Planet conference, Manchester
22nd – 6pm, Speaker meeting and screening of H2Oil, Dancehouse Theatre, Oxford Road, Manchester, organised by Ethical Consumer
Watch the Oxford event live on Monday 7.30pm UK time www.scienceoxfordlive.com/watch-us

AIM-West West Coast Conference, Nov. 23 -- 27, 2009

AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT-WEST TO HOLD ITS THIRD ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN SAN FRANCISCO, THE PUBLIC IS INVITED. EVENT WILL BE BROADCAST LIVE!
(Photo AIM-West Conference 2008/Brenda Norrell)

AIM-WEST invites you to attend its Third Annual West Coast Conference, November 23-27, 2009 in San Francisco, California. This will be an opportunity for all Indian Nations particularly those on the west coast who share common concerns, issues and challenges to come together with a positive vision for the future, and share in council with decisions and solutions, and plan for our coming generations.

The American Indian Movement-WEST, an affiliate of AIM http://www.aimovement.org/ is an inter-tribal national and international organization which seeks to promote the Right to Self-Determination for all Indigenous Nations, and efforts to re-establish our destiny in the Western Hemisphere. AIM-WEST seeks to advance the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007, and calls upon the US Government to sign and ratify the document at the earliest time possible.

At this gathering we will address the honoring of Treaties, Sacred Sites, Human Rights and the Environment, Cultural and Spiritual Freedoms, Youth and Prisoner Rights, Immigration and Mineral Resource exploitation. A special session will also be held on how to organize an AIM chapter in your community, building alliances and coalitions, and the role of its membership, and supporters.

AIM-WEST extends friendship to all Indians of the Americas and invites the general public to all the following events; “Somos Un Solo Rio”/”We are one River”

Monday, November 23, 10am-5:30pm

Press Conference 10:30 am to 11 am

Opening Ceremonies with MC Bill Means and Madonna Thunder Hawk. San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin St. @ Grove, Koret Auditorium. A panel of special guest speakers, and a film “El Salvador: I Want My People to Live”

Tuesday, November 24, 10am to 5:00pm Location: Bahai’i Center, 170 Valencia Street, SF (near 16th BART Station)

Pre-“Unthanksgiving” Potluck Dinner and special program, starts at 12 noon. Master of Ceremony is Mary Jean Robertson. With guest speakers, drummers and singers, and dance performances by California, El Salvador, Peru, and Traditional Azteca Teo-Kalli. Clyde Bellecourt will offer blessings and a talk on the state of the States. Musical entertainment. Everyone invited to the feast, where the Eagles invite the Condors!

Wednesday, November 25, 10am-5pm Location: Bahai’i Center, 170 Valencia Street, SF

A full day of topics led by a panel of distinguished community organizers: Sacred Sites; Immigration and Border issues; Environment and COP-15 in Copenhagen; Treaties, and Mineral Resource and Mining Extraction; Prisoner Rights and strategy campaign for Leonard Peltier’ Executive Clemency; Federally Recognized, Unrecognized and Disenrollment; Building AIM chapters and defining role of supporters, coalitions, alliances, and capacity building; Youth and International Solidarity with Liberation Movements.

Thursday, November 26, 4am-9am Location: Alcatraz Island 40 Year Anniversary of The Occupation 1969-1971

Annual Sunrise Gathering, Pier #33 Hornblower Alcatraz Tours, purchase tickets online, $14 kids under 5 free! Guests are encouraged to visit local friends and relations. The sunrise program will be broadcast from THE ROCK live on radio KPFA 94.1 starting at 6am to 9am with Miguel Molina, and Co-Anchored by Tony Gonzales of AIM-WEST with Mary Jean Robertson, DJ of KPOO radio.

Friday, November 27, “Native American Day” concert 6pm-10pm

*Sacred Sites demonstration at Glen Cove, stay alert! Call Wounded Knee for more information: 707-557-2140 707-557-2140

AIM-WEST will hold a benefit fundraiser at the Bahai’I Center, 170 Valencia Street in San Francisco! Tickets $10-20 donation, no one turned away.Doors open at 6 pm until 10 pm. Music by Bob Young Project, Local Artists, special guests and much more!! Please bring cans of food for Inter-Tribal Friendship House in Oakland.

The entire event will be broadcast and recorded by Govinda. The audio will be live at http://www.earthcycles.net/ . There will be live streaming video at http://www.livestream.com/earthcycles !

For more information please contact Tony Gonzales ( 415-577-1492 415-577-1492) email: eltonyg@earthlink.net or visit http://www.aimwest.info/

AIM FOR FREEDOM! FREE LEONARD PELTIER!!!!

Uranium mining: Environmental Racism in Navajoland

MULTICULTURAL ALLIANCE FOR A SAFE ENVIRONMENT (MASE)
P.O. Box 65 Grants NM • 505-240-3104
PRESS RELEASE November 12, 2009

CHURCH ROCK, N.M. -- The Navajo Nation’s ban on uranium mining — the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act of 2005 — was reaffirmed by Navajo President Joe Shirley, Jr., and Navajo Nation Council Resource Committee chairman George Arthur as late as July 16th, but Uranium Resources, Inc. (URI) and its New Mexico subsidiary, Hydro Resources, Inc. (HRI), continue to thumb their noses at Navajo law and sovereignty by pressing local leaders to support their unsafe uranium in situ leach (ISL) mines planned for Church Rock and Crownpoint chapters.


Their latest spectacle is an “educational” luncheon for Gallup Chamber of Commerce members and McKinley County Commissioners at a downtown sports bar at noon today. While URI officials will be inside repeating the nonsense that ISL mining is “environmentally benign,” MASE members, including many from the local communities, will be walking peacefully outside to remind the public that the Church Rock-Crownpoint ISL Project will contaminate parts of an aquifer that at least 15,000 people living in the Eastern Navajo Agency depend on as their sole source of drinking water and livestock water.


“We’re pretty sure URI/HRI won’t be sharing with local leaders the conclusion of a recent U.S. Geological Survey report,” said Nadine Padilla, MASE coordinator. “The report said,


To date, no remediation of an ISR operation in the United States has successfully returned the aquifer to baseline conditions. Often at the end of monitoring, contaminants continue to increase…1


“They won’t tell you how their neighbors in Texas feel betrayed and exploited,” Padilla said. “Teo Saenz, a Kingsville, Texas, resident who lives near URI’s Kingville Dome ISL mine, had this to say in August 2007 about URI’s ISL practices:


‘I have witnessed firsthand the significant shortcoming of the In Situ Mining as practiced by URI Inc. and the negative environmental impact due to spills, excursions, and the mining company being unwilling and unable to restore the water to baseline conditions.’


“And they aren’t likely to acknowledge that they’ve shut in their Texas ISL wellfields, lost millions of dollars in each of the last two years, and have few prospects of mining with market prices low and little capital to spend in New Mexico,” Padilla said.2


MASE believes that truth is that this is an issue of Environmental Racism. URI/HRI continues to pitch its unpopular mining project despite the fact that 13 Navajo communities, including Church Rock and Crownpoint chapters, and dozens of other local and regional institutions adopted resolutions or made statements opposing new uranium mining between 1995 and 2006. Testifying before Congress on March 13, 2008, President Shirley said, “The Navajo people do not want renewed uranium mining on or near the Navajo Nation. I ask you to respect the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act that places a moratorium on Navajo land and within Navajo Indian Country.”


In the Church Rock area, Navajo families continue to live with the threats of long-term pollution and increased health risks from past uranium mining and milling, including the United Nuclear Corporation uranium mill tailings spill in 1979 — the largest release of radioactive waste in U.S. history that harmed Navajo communities along the Puerco River in New Mexico and Arizona. Cleanup on the highest-priority abandoned mine in Navajo Country, the Northeast Church Rock Mine, started just this summer. And URI/HRI has not committed to a full cleanup of the Old Churchrock Mine, which it acquired from UNC in 1993.


"HRI needs to respect the Navajo Nation ban on uranium mining and listen to the people of this area,” Padilla said. “We don't want their dirty, polluting uranium mines in our communities and we will never allow them to come back. We want renewable energy and green jobs for our families.”

Onkwehonwe remove british border marker

Friday afternoon, October 30 2009 in Kanatakon. Onkwehonwe (Mohawks) removed one of the british land markers that were forced on Onkwehonwe Lands, back in the early 1900s, at the border of the US and Canada.

Let's hear it for the Mohawks!

By Brenda Norrell/Censored News
What a great time I had watching this video of the Mohawks ripping out this border marker with a backhoe. Reminded me of when the Mohawk Warrior Society came to the southern border, at the Indigenous Border Summit in 2007. Horrified over the building of the border wall on Tohono O'odham land, and the CAGE outdoor migrant prison and the federal US spy tower on O'odham land, the Mohawks spotted the US Border Patrol arresting a pitiful group of tiny Mayans, mostly women and children. Without a pause, the Mohawks jumped out of the cars and rushed the Border Patrol, who fled like scared dogs with their tails between their knees. Sadly, the pitiful migrants were smashed into the back of the vehicle and became another group of desperate and hungry Mayans arrested on Tohono O'odham land by the white agents of darkness, the US Border Patrol.
Watch video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsNap5EyQnk

Shut down the School of Americas

Shut down the school where America trains torturers and mass murderers

Mass Mobilization to Shut Down the School of the Americas (SOA/ WHINSEC)!
The military coup by SOA graduates in Honduras has once again exposed the destabilizing and deadly effects that the School of the Americas has on Latin America. The actions of the school’s graduates are unmasking the Pentagon rhetoric and reveal the anti-democratic results of U.S. policies. It is time for a change towards justice.
From November 20-22, 2009, thousands will vigil at the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia, to stand up for justice, to shut down the School of the Americas and to end the oppressive U.S. foreign policy that the school represents.
Read more: http://www.soaw.org/

The School of the Americas (SOA), in 2001 renamed the “Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation,” is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers, located at Fort Benning, Georgia.