“Precisely at the point that you begin to develop a conscience, you must find yourself at war with your society.” –James Baldwin.
”The primary difference between the western and indigenous ways of life is that we relate to and experience a living universe, whereas western people reduce all things, living or not, to objects.” –Vine Deloria
The very concept and idea that I have anything even remotely resembling any sort of right to be on these territories is a relatively new one for me. As the oldest son of political refugees from Chile (a nation with its own definitive set of entrenched colonizer-derived contradictions) whose ancestry can loosely and lazily be described as Basque/indigenous (Mapuche/Selk’nam)/semetic (both Arab and Ashkenazi Jew)/with probably at least a little bit of African splashed in there who comes from a highly politicized background and whose family came here during what can best be described as a highly politically charged era, I grew up perhaps exceptionally conscious and aware of the fact that we had migrated and sought refuge in a parasitical culture and society built on another collection of stolen lands.
During the earlier parts of my life, my own status as an outsider from someplace far away from here served in many different regards to form my identity and view of self, as for a very long time, I felt an overpowering sense of divestment, alienation and disconnection from much of anything having to do with this place.
At the same time, because my family was not able to return to Chile (without running the great risk of ending up dead, incarcerated, and/or tortured, or some combination of all three) for the first 17 years of my life, I have only ever gone back as a visitor just passing through for a while, and as such, I was therefore not able as a child to ever develop the types of associations, attachments and connections essential on many levels to be able to wholeheartedly claim a place as “home”.
I continue to this day to struggle with the contradiction that the one place I feel I can claim at least some level of tangible ancestral connection to was almost every bit as much a distant and remote abstraction to me as well.
In retrospect, I realize now that my Chilean identity was almost entirely formed in the shadow of our whole experience of exile from Pinochet’s military dictatorship, the traumatized wartorn weariness of my family, and the solidarity movement my family and many others just like ours helped to build. Since my parents even during their most frantically pained moments at the very least knew that they didn’t want to raise a rootless and confused child, from the time of my birth, I was taught to be well-versed in our music, our poetry, our food, our social and political history, as well as many aspects of what is commonly referred to as our “folklore” .
I knew about the mountains and the oceans and the dry desert regions of the north and the lush forest regions of the south, and the “great nothing” regions of the ends of the Earth, but since it was not yet a physical/metaphysical world I had yet had the opportunity to interact with in the ways I typically felt I needed to for a connection to feel real to me as a kid, it remained a great abstraction. As such, while it was “easy” (relatively speaking) to connect with different realities of systematized violence and oppression, for a very long time it remained very difficult for me to feel connected to any land anywhere.
With the birth and growth of Idle No More, now more than ever, lots of settlers are understanding colonialism as a problem, and trying to think through our relationships and obligations to Indigenous peoples, the history of colonization, and what all that means for us as settlers. This shifts colonialism from an “Indian problem” to a “Settler problem.” In spite of the mainstream media, many Canadian settlers are learning that they are implicated in an ongoing colonial relationship. For me that’s encouraging, because I didn’t grow up in a context where colonialism is actually something discussed and debated, where settlers see colonialism as a problem that involves us. I move through some spaces like this now, and they continue to challenge me. This is about how settlers respond to these challenges.
I’m a white, male, educated, cis-gendered, able-bodied, hetero-sexual, middle-class settler, so I basically benefit from every major axis of oppression. What follows is a reflection of my own experience with the politics of colonialism, decolonization, and settler solidarity efforts with Indigenous peoples, over the past few years. I’m drawing on some feminist, queer, trans, and anti-racist writers and activists here too. Even though dynamics are always different and complex, I think there are also some similarities in terms of the way privileged folks (like me) conduct ourselves across these struggles, especially when we’re trying to to prove that we’re good, in spite of our privilege. When I use “we” and “us” I’m talking about other white settlers who benefit from ongoing white supremacy and settler colonialism in Canada. I am glossing over lots of complexities and nuances of colonialism and decolonization. I’m experimenting with monster metaphors in hopes of getting at some of these issues in a different way, but I recognize that this is serious shit. And I want your feedback, critical or otherwise.
Upsettlers, Monarchists, and Manarchists are monsters that plague settlers in Canada, making it difficult for us to grapple with our colonial privilege, engage with other settlers, and effectively support Indigenous struggles. I started out as a Monarchist, had stints as an Upsettler, became a Manarchist, and now I’m trying to avoid relapsing into all three monsters.
Idle No More is the current manifestation of widespread Indigenous resurgence. Historically, alongside Indigenous resistance and resurgence efforts against colonialism, imperialism, and genocide, there has always been support from some Settler peoples who recognize the immorality of the situation facing Indigenous peoples. This is most true today as millions of Settler peoples are stepping up alongside of Indigenous peoples in the Idle No More movement but there have been questions arising from how to be a good ally in this movement and friction has resulted.
Many Settler peoples are wanting to help and to learn more about why we are in this situation and what is an ethical way of engagement with these issues, and with the INM movement itself.
Panelists Robyn Heaslip, Ian Ki’laas Caplette, John Swift, and Natasha Bob will be engaging this question in a livestream panel addressing these areas of contention in the hopes of bringing further awareness to the ethical engagement of Settler peoples in the INM movement and in Indigenous resurgence.
**NOTE: The term “Settler” does not desrcibe a particular “race” of people and is meant to describe those peoples who are not Indigneous peoples to the lands they live in.
Occasionally, Unsettling America will select and showcase featured artists for their contributions to the discourse of decolonization. Today’s featured artists are Jesus Barraza and Melanie Cervantes of Dignidad Rebelde:
Dignidad Rebelde is a graphic arts collaboration between Oakland-based artist-activists Jesus Barraza and Melanie Cervantes. We believe that art can be an empowering reflection of community struggles, dreams and visions. Following principles of Xicanisma and Zapatismo, we create work that translates people’s stories into art that can be put back into the hands of the communities who inspire it.
We recognize that the history of the majority of people worldwide is a history of colonialism, genocide, and exploitation. Our art is grounded in Third World and indigenous movements that build people’s power to transform the conditions of fragmentation, displacement and loss of culture that result from this history. Representing these movements through visual art means connecting struggles through our work and seeking to inspire solidarity among communities of struggle worldwide.
Dignidad Rebelde’s graphic art is of the highest quality and versatility – our art is for museums, collectors’ exhibitions, community and cultural centers, individual homes, political rallies and more. We are committed to advancing the acceptance of people’s art as quality art, and to nurturing a model of art-making grounded in collaboration with community organizations and other networks of artists.
It is with great honor that I get a chance to speak with you even though it’s a written message that someone has to read.
I’m saddened that we have to call this a Day of Mourning, but we must take every opportunity to remind this nation when it comes to keeping their word about treaties, about human rights, about the environment, about excess pollution – that it has failed miserably on all of those concerns. Also want to remind the major religions that speak about peace and love and brotherhood and are celebrating this thing called Thanksgiving, that we the native people of this land realistically overall have nothing to truly be thankful about regarding the arrival of the pilgrims.
And I would also like to remind the major various religions of this country that in all their teachings it says you reap what you sow. And if that is a true statement, if that is the law given by the Creator, then you have to only look around at the news of the day to see that that statement is coming to pass. This country is not keeping its solemn word under god that it gave regarding our treaties. And they don’t keep their own Scriptures that say not to bear false witness or lie. They’ve tried to keep us from honoring our fathers by destroying our culture. They violated their word where it says “thou shalt not kill”, violated every one of their commandments regarding our people in this land. And they will truly reap what they sow.
I also want to say that in the spirit of compassion and reason, and fairness, and forgiveness, that its never too late to turn things around. Actually I should say that’s not quite correct, it can be too late. There’s an old Cheyenne saying that a nation is never destroyed until the hearts of its women are on the ground. And if you look around you will see the decline of America. And it is entirely possible that that teaching is not far off. One thing as a people that we do have to be thankful for and thankful to the Creator only, we are still alive we are still a people. And we still know who we are, we still have a commitment to the Creator to protect this land, we still have a commitment to protect the laws of nature that were given unto us, to our ancestors. We are probably the only people on this continent that would be better off if this whole system fell apart. Because we possess the knowledge, the teaching and the culture to live in harmony with that which the Creator has given us.
I want to encourage all the young people, to always remember your health and the health of the earth are the most important things that you possess. And that self-discipline is the most important thing that you can learn. And taking responsibility for ourselves and our future is the most empowering thing that we can do. Right now you are listening to my words the words of a man in prison for 30 something years. A man who has had limited contact and yet I am able to speak to you now. And the reason I am saying this is because with all the freedom that you do possess you could do so much more. Educate yourself to our true history, educate yourself to what is really going on today, and educate yourself as to what needs to be done to make a better tomorrow for yourselves and your children’s children, our future generations.
Again I want to say I am just an ordinary man caught up in extraordinary circumstances. There is nothing that I have done or said that you cannot do or say and much better because you possess more freedom than I do. We need each other. If I am ever to be free, I need you. And the truth is, none of us are truly free right now, because any people who is afraid of their government, is not free. We all need to be warriors of one. Each needs to know how to defend themselves on any level. And as I’ve said before we need to recapture the freedoms we’ve lost and protect the ones we still have.
In closing I want to encourage each and every one of you to stand up in your own way in whatever way you can for what’s right, try to right what’s wrong and know that in my heart and in whatever way I can help you, that I will be with you. We need each other, you need each other, and we need the help of all peoples to correct this great damage that is taking place throughout the earth. Our battle is not with a race a people or a color, our battle is with ignorance and greed that is ruling the governments of men today.
Again I want to thank you and in the spirit of crazy horse and all those beautiful people that have stood up for what’s right in the past, and the ones standing up now. Stay strong and support one another,
Modern residents would hardly recognize the Bay Area as it was in the days of the Ohlones. Tall, sometimes shoulder-high strands of native bunch-grasses…covered the vast meadowlands and the tree-dotted savannahs. Marshes that spread out for thousands of acres fringed the shores of the Bay. Thick oak-bay forests and redwood forests covered much of the hills…
…Packs of wolves hunted the elk, antelope, deer, rabbits, and other game. Bald eagles and giant condors glided through the air. Mountain lions, bobcats, and coyotes—now seen only rarely—were a common sight. And of course there was the grizzly bear…These enormous bears were everywhere, feeding on berries, lumbering along the beaches, congregating beneath the oak trees during the acorn season, and stationed along nearly every stream and creek during the annual runs of salmon and steel head.
-from The Ohlone Way
On Columbus Day, 2012, the people of Oakland awoke to find a few dozen banks and other parasitic entities vandalized. Paint was splattered all over the walls, glass littered the ground, and the windows of the City Hall were being repaired that sunny morning. This was the first time in recent memory where the holiday was commemorated with destruction, disdain, and disorder directed at the fine and noble institutions of capitalism and colonialism.
Downtown was abuzz with chatter about what had happened the previous night. The mayor and the rest of the city bureaucracy felt bereaved, having had the windows and doors of their fair temple smashed once again. They complained to the media, lamenting the fact that on Columbus Day, in front of City Hall, there was supposed to be a fan rally for the Oakland A’s wherein all the problems of the world could momentarily be forgotten. Unfortunately for them, no one walking downtown that day could forget so easily. There was still anger in the atmosphere, lingering on despite all hope for the contrary.
The world that grew from the Spanish Missions, the world that created the rows of houses, the paved roads, and the electric lights of the metropolis was attacked the night before Columbus Day. The colonial world, the old world, the linear virus that extends in all directions: this was the target. Before the virus created this metal, glass, and concrete landscape, the land that is now downtown Oakland was a vast marshland filled with countless mammals, birds, and fish. These marshes sustained human life and enabled the Ohlone, Miwok, and other tribes of the area to live without an empire, exterminatory wars, or hunger. The Bay Area was a giant cauldron of life before colonization, just as it is now largely a cauldron of death.
Let us look no further than the image of Alan Blueford chalked on the bricks in front of City Hall and let us remember how he was killed by a psychopathic police officer while he was on the ground screaming. Let us not forget the indifference of City Hall towards his death or the cold words of Ignacio De La Fuente, the aspiring fascist dictator of the city. And let us not forget that there will be no prosecution of the cop who killed Alan Blueford. This is the system of death, and for just under an hour on the evening of October 7th it was assaulted by the chaotic forces of life.
But let us be clear, the forces of life are small, and they are enmeshed within the system of death. Our counterforce is stuck paying rent, working, and stealing whatever we can in order to survive. Our time is mostly out of our hands, and what little extra there is of it is spent trying to combat our enemy.
On Friday, October 5th, a small group of people met at the Montgomery BART station on Market Street in downtown San Francisco. This city, the center of colonial expansion in the Bay Area, is host to the consulates of various nation-states. The small group of people, numbering just over thirty, stepped out onto the streets and marched to the Canadian consulate, handing out fliers explaining how the US, Mexico, and Canada are engaged in an exterminatory war against the earth and its inhabitants, determined to extract as many resources from the soil as possible before their system eats itself.
They stood for ten minutes in front of the building while in the sky fighter jets tore through the air during their annual display of fascist technology. After leaving, the group continued to march down the street towards the Mexican consulate near the entrance to the Bay Bridge. As they marched, the people on the sidewalk stared at them and their banners in bewilderment before being distracted by the jets in the air and soon forgetting what they had just seen. Once the group reached the Mexican consulate, a few people read aloud the text of their flier. They were drowned out several times by the terror in the sky. The group dispersed without incident, signaling the start of a long weekend.
The next afternoon, a group of nearly two hundred people met at Justin Herman Plaza on the waterfront in San Francisco. They assembled for an anti-capitalist and anti-colonial march that would make its way through the financial district. Almost immediately, it was clear the police were not going to allow this march to take place. They confiscated a pirate-ship float that had been constructed for the march and destroyed it, they sent in a few old and feeble cops in plain clothes to take pictures of the participants (one of whom was fortunately assaulted and scared away), and declared the march illegal before it had finished walking a single city block. Perhaps knowing their efforts would be cut short, people began hurling paint at the police soon after discovering their presence on the street was a crime. The march lasted ten minutes before being attacked by the police. Twenty people were arrested and taken away to jail. The jets continued to fill the air with terrible noises. The banner that the people had marched behind read RESIST GENOCIDE – DESTROY WHAT IS CIVILIZED.
On the evening of October 7th, people met at Oscar Grant Plaza for a march remembering the anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan by US and NATO forces. Around two hundred people stood in a circle, drank tea, and listened to each other speak their minds about why they were there, where they came from, and what they wanted for the future. It felt like the best parts of the old general assemblies: togetherness, patience, strength. One speaker compared the smashing of windows to slinging rocks at a tank. She did not condemn either tactic. When I heard these words from her mouth, I spent then next twenty minutes realizing that she was correct in her comparison. Both tactics do little damage to their monolithic targets. Smashing bank windows has not brought down capitalism, just as slinging rocks has not freed Palestine. But, just like her, I cannot and will never condemn either tactic. They represent the force of life, desperately lashing against what it knows it cannot immediately stop, but determined to do it just the same. With her words, the speaker reminded me (and possibly others) of the infinite and proud nature of life. The march through downtown was powerful, angry, and left a clear, unmistakable message that could not be ignored as easily as the events of the preceeding days.
I in no way want to glorify or glamorize our inability to effectively destroy the forces and projects of our enemy. We are all caught in a web and other humans have taken the place of the spider. So often we attack each other and leave the web intact. To say we are doing the best we can is an overstatement. We are simply doing what we can, attempting to build off even the smallest success and increase the likelihood that our next efforts will mutate and transcend our past barriers and limitations.
DOWN WITH DEATH
LONG LIVE LIFE
With direct solidarity to:
-The EZLN, the imprisoned fighters, and the autonomous and indigenous communities of Mexico
-The Grand Jury Resistors in the Pacific Northwest of the US
-Those fighting the tar sands and the pipelines in Canada
-The workers of the Foxconn factories in China
-The family, friends, and memory of Alan Blueford, RIP
Compared to the millions in the world at this moment, on their feet fighting and dying daily to decentralize power and uproot imperialism in their communities, struggles in the US are slow or behind the curve even. Comrades in Athens, Cairo, Kabul, Tripoli, South Africa, Mexico, the Congo, and in the Foxcon factories in China are showing us daily that the line of demarcation that separates the tools of genocide from the tools of freedom, the passive spectator with no moral conviction from the person who takes action (unable to shake the responsibility beating in their chest), that line in the sand is drawn with the blood of the guerrilla and the blood of the fascist.
San Francisco 2:00pm Saturday October 6th
Approximately 130 anti-colonialists met at Justin Herman Plaza to shatter the illusions of capitalist consumerism and its required tools of war, using the Columbus Day weekend’s largest influx of people in SF’s recent history. From sports games to music festivals to fleet week, thousands flooded SF that day. A banner was unfurled atop a staircase reading “Fight Genocide, Destroy What Is Civilized” shortly after the first wave of pigs appeared. The speaker’s voice echoed in the plaza as they described the genocide of their people on the continent, periodically interrupted by the roar of military jets overhead.
The march moved through the plaza onto the side streets off of Market St., a vital vein for he blood flow of capital. Snaking through the narrow streets passing boutique shops full of the evidence of other’s misery, the pigs followed suite on the sidewalk between the militants and their desired targets. Marchers, sensing the impending doom, lit fireworks, threw paint bombs at cops, and took hammers to windows in a last ditch effort to meet the expectations of the day. One block away from Market Street, angry police clumsily attacked the back of the march. A melee followed: pigs swinging clubs, comrades getting slammed against street signs. The head of the march stopped not wanting to leave their loved ones behind, one protester hurled their black flag at the enemy. Reckless motorcycle pigs forced the remainder of the militants to run or face arrest, dumping everything into the streets behind them to slow the cops down. Many got away and regrouped later to assess the assault on their comrades. 20 arrests were made, with charges including resisting arrest, unlawful assembly, obstructing an officer, and conspiracy to incite a riot.
The events of Saturday were unique in their political framing: militant decolonization coupled with anti-capitalist struggles pointing to a new trajectory for the Bay Area. The old caricature of the white male anarchist participant withered away as mostly people of color and women stood at the head of the march and diversity revealed itself amongst the mug shots of those arrested. The legacy of US colonialism has left in its wake our disillusioned and displaced populations in its cities. Struggling alongside militant comrades in Oakland’s uprisings, from the Oscar Grant riots to the Occupy street battles, we’ve been finding one another. From these roots the militant analysis of decolonization and race has just recently begun to bear fruit through practice. And as the following day revealed, that fruit can ripen to taste so sweet on our lips.
Lessons were learned regarding planning and infrastructure. There was a misguided assumption that the police force in SF would be spread thin due to the many events taking place that day. The expediency and efficiency of police movements and arrests reveal the opposite of what many had taken for granted, that it was because of these events that police needed to contain any and all disruptive activities quickly. The threat of escalation to a point of uncontrollability by reaching the wider and more densely populated streets was real and thus crushed mercilessly as to protect the capitalist spectacles of the day. March attendance was also lower than anticipated, signaling the need for even more safe inclusion and conversation. Credit must be given to the many legal volunteers who spent sleepless nights maintaining the infrastructure working to ensure the safe return of our stolen comrades.
…..
The fight for freedom must be along material lines over space and land to eliminate borders, prisons, prisons and wars of aggression. The third world is rising and freedom dreams spread like wildfire. We live in a gilded cage but a cage nonetheless. As the struggle here gains momentum through consistency of action and diversity of tactics we find ourselves more and more in step with the third world. As Afghans continue their age-old fight against colonialism, here the people’s target has moved beyond reformist politics to set its crosshairs upon the local vestiges of the international war machine.
Oakland 6:00pm Sunday October 7th
200 dressed in black hoodies and hijabs met at Oscar Grant Plaza for an anti-imperialist march with the memory of the previous day’s battle fresh in their minds, and with loved ones still behind bars. As the speakers began, the direction of their rage gained clarity, toward the systemic destruction of communities here and abroad exemplified in this case by both the repression of the day before and the 11 year occupation of Afghanistan. Toward the forces that ensure the stability of the metropolis at home, making war abroad an inevitable fact of life. Most of the speakers were radicals from the Muslim community who had been disillusioned by non-profit and liberal organizations. One woman pointed out the spinelessness of liberals when she commented that thousands had shown opposition to the war when Bush was in office, but were nowhere to be found once the political pendulum had swung in their direction. She stated, “the anti-war movement was really an anti-Bush movement.” Others articulated the need to expose the mechanisms of genocide that hide in the city: the banks that provide investment capital for the acquisition of more resources, to in turn create more capital, and the university system that directs publicly funded research toward the tools of genocide.
The march moved quickly out of the plaza and onto 14th Street, and with only one unmarked police car sighted, the rebels quickly got to work. Targets hit included:
• Chase Bank – war profiteers
• Berkeley Livermore Labs – research and development for the tools of war
• AT&T – handed over information to intelligence agencies looking to surveil Muslims and suspected activists
• Oakland Tribune – a cog of the propaganda machine that articulates the narrative maintaining the status quo
Hoodies and hijabs moved seamlessly in the streets, coalescing different identities…and the lines between anarchist, Muslim, person of color, and white blurred however temporarily into naked aggression toward the oppressor. It was truly generalized antagonism, where solidarity for particular struggle became agency of those struggles in and of themselves. The multiplying potential of mostly people of color initiated and organized action demonstrated its teeth. And as a result Oakland’s bourgeoise woke up on Columbus day to reap what they had sown so long ago.
They thought they could take everything from us and leave us to die. But we’re alive in the cities, we’re finding each other, and we’re coming for everything.
Around 150 people gathered in Justin Herman Plaza. They were against everything: the military jets making metal of the air, the hordes of tourists thoughtlessly awing at the spectacular display of death above the city, the office towers and malls hanging above the waterfront, the unrestrained and uninterrupted reign of capitalism, slavery, colonialism, the empire.
At 3:30 pm they left the plaza carrying a banner that read RESIST GENOCIDE – DESTROY WHAT IS CIVILIZED . They headed towards the streets behind the Embarcadero Center mall. The riot police immediately began to follow alongside the march, and just as quickly the first paint bomb was thrown at them. The police declared the march illegal before it had walked a block. Along the route several luxury cars had their windows smashed and their tires deflated. The cops continued to get hit with bright paint as people proceeded towards Market Street.
They attempted to stop the march at one point but were outmaneuvered and the march was able to continue another two blocks. It was not until the police attempted to apprehend a single individual that the march was halted and a brawl began. The police swarmed in, two dozen of them on motorcycles, and began to isolate lone individuals and smaller groups of people. A Starbucks had its windows smashed as people were dispersing and in the end at least 19 people were beaten and arrested as the military jets thundered overhead.
The hordes of enthusiastic and wonderstruck tourists and baseball fans coursed through the metropolis, unaware of what was taking place behind Embarcadero Plaza. The virus that was planted in San Francisco hundreds of years ago was still expanding, neutralizing all resistance, and keeping itself alive. To all those marveling at the war jets in the sky, it is difficult to make sense of a mob of people who are against the colonial system. To be against colonialism, capitalism, and civilization are not popular causes—at least in affluent places like San Francisco wherein most have been convinced by the virus that its glitters are to their benefit. But this was why people went onto the street, and this is why they were attacked so severely.
The Colonial Machine, with their cops, laws, and order, attacked in order to silence our resistance and solidarity with others against a toxic system created to keep us in cages. From the belly of the beast, people rebelled against everything that fuels this empire. Cops attack to maintain order with their guns and badges, people attack with paints to liberate walls and brighten the darkness. There is no freedom in Amerikkka, there is no justice on occupied land. 520 years later, Indigenous people resist genocide and slavery through occupations. Decolonize the Empire, rebel for life. Decolonize the New World, liberate all walls, brighten the darkness.
“Columbus was a wétiko. He was mentally ill or insane, the carrier of a terribly contagious psychological disease, the wétiko psychosis. The Native people he described were sane people with a healthy state of mind. Sanity or healthy normality among humans and other living creatures involves a respect for other forms of life and other individuals. I believe that is the way people have lived (and should live). The wétiko psychosis, and the problems it creates, have inspired many resistance movements and efforts at reform or revolution. Unfortunately, most of these efforts have failed because they have never diagnosed the wétiko as an insane person whose disease is extremely contagious.” —Jack D. Forbes, Columbus and Other Cannibals
FALSIES Posted on May 18, 2013 MNN. May 18, 2013. We all have the duty as the eagle on the top of the tree of peace, to watch for impending danger and to report back to the people. A false flag delivers a false look. It gives us the kind of picture the enemy wants to scare and control us. Fear and anger are created to gauge a reaction from the people. When t […]
Ola Cassadore Davis By Brenda Norrell Photo: Ola Cassadore Davis spent her life defending Apache sacred lands. Photo by Sandra Rambler. Censored News The US House's Natural Resources Committee plans extensive seizures of lands and resources to benefit private corporations and the US military. First on the list of this US House of Snakes is a land exchan […]
First Voices Indigenous Radio Host Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Cheyenne River Lakota Listen: http://firstvoicesindigenousradio.org/program_archives JOHN KARHIIO KANE (Mohawk) (www.letstalknativepride.blogspot.com) Discusses the "exclusivity zone" being used as a method to urge the Seneca Nation of the Haudenosaunee to pay the half a billion dollars owed […]
Obama Worse Than Nixon? Pentagon Papers Attorney Decries AP Phone Probe, Julian Assange Persecution By Democracy Now! Also see: Obama administration locks up whistleblowers We are joined by James Goodale, the general counsel for The New York Times during the Pentagon Papers crackdown. He discusses how the Justice Department's disclosure of secretly s […]
Department of State “Consultation” Shut down by Red Nations Opposing Tar Sands By Kent Lebsock, Owe Aku International Censored News www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com Watch video of press conference RAPID CITY -- This morning at 9:00 a.m. the United States Department of State attempted to hold what they call a consultation with tribal representatives of the Great […]
Peabody Energy and the Navajo Nation are planning a trip to China to sell Navajo coal! The meeting is today in Flagstaff. News reporter Kathy Helms, Gallup Independent, exposes the Navajo Nation's secret agenda with Peabody Coal and China, and rebooting the dirty coal Desert Rock plan on Navajoland in New Mexico. The article also exposes the real agen […]
BRAIN POLICE Posted on May 16, 2013 MNN. May 16, 2013. A Washington DC Think Tank advisor on programs and policies from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government found that Hispanics, meaning Indigenous People, have a low IQ. He doubts we will ever reach IQ parity with whites. This is a “trial balloon” to get a reaction. He resigned. The government will […]
Tar Sands Blockade BREAKING: Live Blockade of Coal Ship in MA. Two blockaders have anchored their boat in the path of a coal ship. You can view their live stream and read more on the action here: http://www.coalisstupid.org/
KING OF CANADA? Posted on May 15, 2013 MNN. May 16, 2013. The bloodline bankers of Europe are trying to hang onto control of our $105 trillion Indian Trust Fund. Great Turtle Island is governed by the law of the land, Kaianerehkowa, the Great Law of Peace. The Corporation of Canada has no claim to our land, […]
BABY INDIAN ACT Posted on May 15, 2013 MNN. May 15, 2013. Baby Indian Act was hatched in 1876 in the parking lot by Parliament Hill in Ottawa. It was the birth of a monster whose job was to “Go out and finish off the Indians”. It was the foundation of the NAZI holocaust and the South African apartheid regime. It’s the “iron fist” to justify the immoral “mani […]
Mohawk Nation News: Injun Troubles Posted on May 14, 2013 MNN. May 14, 2013. The main concerns of the banksters are how to keep the stolen ever-growing $100 trillion Indian Trust Fund. Then how to carry out the “final solution of the Indian problem”, set in place 90 years ago by Duncan Campbell Scott. They want to keep our stolen funds and resources. We wil […]
Legendary activist John Redhouse (center) Photo courtesy Leona Morgan Watch video one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkZYEmNxaDk Watch video two at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU_xZH_rswkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU_xZH_rswk Indigenous Liberation and The Grounds of Decolonization: A Symposium to Honor the life and work of scholar and activist JOHN R […]
Hughes County, OK, May 14th, 2013 Early this morning Bailey and Holly, both of whom are local Oklahomans and with Cross Timbers Earth First!, walked onto a Keystone XL active construction site in Hughes County, Oklahoma and locked themselves to concrete filled barrels obstructing the use of heavy machinery used in the construction of the pipeline. Bailey and […]
WEWOKA, Oklahoma-Monday, May 13th Early this morning Bob Waldrop, 60, fourth generation Oklahoman and prominent Oklahoma City community member walked onto an active construction site for the Keystone XL pipeline in Seminole County and locked himself to an Excavator, a piece of heavy machinery used in the construction of the pipeline. Waldrop took a stand tod […]
KAHNAWAKE SEIGNEURY Posted on May 13, 2013 Mohawk Nation News MNN. May 13, 2013. Montreal’s South Shore mayors are reeling. Quebec’s Parti Québécois government returned 300 hectares of stolen land to the Kahnawake Mohawks. The mayor of Châteauguay said the land belongs to them as they stole it twice and expect to be
ROTISKEN’RAKE:TEH: OUR MEN Posted on May 12, 2013 MNN. May 11, 2013. Indigenous men are not dumb, drunks, wife beaters, criminals, deadbeats or studs. Guilty while being Indian, is a contrived image. They are loving husbands, brothers, sons, fathers, grandfathers, friends and cousins with a deep devotion to our people and our land. The invading corporate ban […]
The unspoken code of the newsrooms keeps dirty secrets By Brenda Norrell Censored News "You can't say that." This is the unspoken code of the newsrooms. It is the power that silences the grassroots voices. It is the unspoken code that prevents the truth from appearing in Indian country, and mainstream news. "You can't say that" […]
“WE SMELL A NEW DAWN WE TASTE THIS NEW POWER WE STEWARD WE SHELTER … WE WITNESS WE PRAY WE GATHER WE FIND NEW KINDNESS WE PAUSE WE KISS THE GROUND” -Vanessa Huang Greetings, We’d like to update you on and request your support for the upcoming gathering on Black Mesa that is focused on decolonizing [...]
BMIS has been collaboratively planning two exciting on-land events that could use your support! Native Youth Spring Break on Black Mesa This past week (March 14-21), a group of Dineh high school students who have been working with Danny Blackgoat and BMIS headed to the land for a gathering geared towards cultural survival and [...]
January 2013 St. Louis, MODear Mr. Greg H. Boyce and other Peabody Officials, We have traveled from the Navajo Nation located in what is now the State of Arizona. We are in St. Louis on behalf of some of the elders from Black Mesa/Big Mountain who are impacted by the coal mining back home. This [...]
Click here to watch the video In January 2012 a Dine (Navajo) resister speaks about Peabody and the U.S. Governmentorchestrating the largest forced relocation since the Trail of Tears, as well as the destruction of sacred sites and traditional medicinal plants and herbs. Ultimately, he tells Peabody to leave his ancestral homeland in Big Mtn., Ariz. In conn […]
Hi There, Today in St. Louis folks are standing up to Peabody Energy and demanding they take accountability for their actions. Among the protesters are members of the Navajo tribe from Black Mesa and residents of the coalfields of Appalachia. They have come together in solidarity against Peabody’s devastating practices; from the relocation of Navajo [...]
BMIS wishes to extend thanks to all the residents of Black Mesa, regional coordinators, fundraisers, donors, wood choppers, and sheepherders who made this year’s caravan a powerful time of sharing, mutual support, growth, and fun! We feel truly honored to be able to continue to build as a support network and as a larger resistance [...]
Peabody Energy is Headquartered in St. Louis… This January, help Black Mesa residents hold them accountable! This January, BMIS in coalition with Radical Action for Mountain Peoples’ Survival (RAMPS) and Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE), will participate in organizing a month-long action training camp that culminates in non-violen […]
Greetings from Black Mesa Indigenous Support, We are writing to ask for support for an amazing event this October. The Big Mountain Survival School Remembrance Gathering will be held the 6th and 7th of October. This is an anniversary of sorts; it’s been 20 years since the last Sovereign Dineh Nation (SDN) Survival School. Funds/supplies [...]
Greetings from the Black Mesa Indigenous Support Collective, With people across the country organizing protests, direct actions, and encampments and mounting anti-coal campaigns as a part of the 2012 Climate Summer of Solidarity* we wish to extend an invitation to return to Black Mesa. During this moment of peak visibility around climate [...]
Cross-posted from The Navajo Post By: Rachelle Todea, guest contributor SAINT MICHAELS - The Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission asserts that the federal plan to relocate over 12,000 people within ten years simply unrealistic in the NNHRC public hearing report, “Impact of the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974—P.L. 93-531.” The report was distributed […]
Un-occupy Our Lands! Indigenous Peoples Gathering in Resistance to Corporate & State Terrorism Tues. Nov. 29, 6PM – 9:30PM At Serena Padilla Residence Onk Akimel O’odham Nation (Salt River) 9312 E. Thomas Rd. Scottsdale, AZ 85256 For more information and to see the entire invite please visit: AZ Resist Alec Greetings. My name is [...]
Anti-Colonial Thanksgiving Dinner pamphlet 2008 This is a zine from the Guelph Anarchist distro Mounting Bedlam Distro. It is from an annual dinner that where Anarchists host Indigenous folks to share their stories of resistance. It has spoken to me for along time sine i found a copy of it at the Taala Hooghan Infoshop. [...]
Many of you may remember the recent victory of saving Quitovac to a proposed toxic waste dump. Well Again this Sacred site is under siege. Now to the threat of a gold mine… This is a Resolution from Traditional O’odham elders in opposition to the proposed mine that was recently posted from the O’odham Solidarity Project [...]
The war against the Tohono O’odham continues near the border. See the latest technology the U.S. Government has deployed on the T.O. community in this article below: Homeland Security pitches new spy towers at Tohono O’odham BY: Brenda Norrell Censored News http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com TOHONO O’ODHAM NATION — (Nov. 23, 2011) The US Homeland Security is […]
Resist ALEC this November in Scottsdale, AZ! AZ Resist alec! ARIZONA IS CALLING FOR A DIVERSITY OF TACTICS TO SHUT DOWN THE UPCOMING ALEC CONFERENCE IN SCOTTSDALE, AZ ON NOVEMBER 30TH. ALEC thinks they’re meeting in Scottsdale, AZ this November… The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a massive non-profit body that brings corporations and legisl […]
De-Occupy O’odham Land! Saturday December 10, Hosted by Dry River Resource Center Benefit for O’odham VOICE against the wall and Dry River Infoshop 6pm dinner 7pm speakers -John Zerzan -Ward Churchill -Julian Kunnie $10-$20 suggested donation (no one turned away for lack of funds)
While preparing to to write my own short reflection on the current “occupy” movement I asked Ofelia Rivas if she would like to contribute to the zine as well. Here is her letter. This will also be in the new Don’t just (re)occupy zine. Thank you again so much for your contribution Ofelia! For more news [...]
****This is a preview of a short article for a zine I am compiling in response to the current sweeping “occupy” movement. The zine will be released soon…. WHY (RE)OCCUPYING WON’T WORK…. September 17, 2011 hundreds of people answer a call-out from Adbusters maga- zine to “occupy” Wall Street. Today October 14, 2011 less than [...]
We are please to announce the creation of the group named THE INDIGENOUS SOLIDARITY NETWORK. *See the About tab above and links section to the right. An inspiring video: (rights reserved to the creator)
According to Radio Universidad de Chile, one week after the Chilean appellate court in Copiapó sided with several Diaguita communities and granted an injunction to halt all action at the Pascua Lama mine (owned by Barrick Gold), the mining company filed a … Continue reading →
From 500 to 1500 C.E., the Rapa Nui people utilized a type of gardening that relied on small, semi-circular stone structures known as “manavai” to protect plants from wind and other harmful elements. Now, a joint project involving the municipal … Continue reading →
On Wednesday, April 10th, the Court of Appeals in Copiapó unanimously ordered all work at the Pascua Lama mine halted until further notice. The order was a result of a lawsuit brought by the Diaguita communities of the Huasco Valley … Continue reading →
In a press release dated April 9th, CONADI (the Chilean government’s Indigenous development corporation) announced that it would invest approximately US$350,000 in Mapuzungun language courses (the language of the Mapuche people) in the Araucanía Region. The funding would operate much … Continue reading →
Yesterday, Georgy Schubert Studer, Chile’s Defensor Nacional (the head public defender in the country) released a number of statistics related to Chilean criminal justice in 2012 and discussed some concerns he had with them. Specifically, Studer highlighted two statistics related to Indigenous peoples living … Continue reading →
Last week, the Chilean government released the results of its 2012 Census efforts. The data collected on Indigenous peoples living in Chile for the Census was substantial. Specifically, the information collected indicated that there are more than 1.7 million people … Continue reading →
Note: Written by Claudio Fuentes. The original Spanish version of this article appeared in Chilean online newspaper El Mostrador. The original English translation of this article first appeared on the Chileno website. Militarizing Araucanía: A Bad Idea Is it advisable to militarise … Continue reading →
Last week, on November 22nd, the Chilean Supreme Court issued its ruling on yet another indigenous consultation case and, once again, ruled in favor of the Chilean government. The Court found that consultation was not necessary in relation to the … Continue reading →
Last Friday, November 16th, the Court of Appeals in Santiago struck a blow to indigenous rights when it issued its ruling in three cases brought by indigenous communities and organizations to halt a number of geothermal exploration concessions that were … Continue reading →
On Wednesday, October 24th, the Chilean Supreme Court unanimously overturned the convictions of two Mapuche men who had been charged with the attempted murder of Chilean police officers. The convictions were overturned on the grounds that evidence was lacking at … Continue reading →
The following was written by myself, Enaemaehkiw Túpac Keshena, in it’s original form back in the winter and early spring of 2009, originally for academik purposes. It has since then been modified and altered significantly, and while i still do not consider this a perfect article by any stretch i do believe that it serves … Continue reading »
Arming Sisters is a crowdfunded project on a mission to bring compact self-defence courses to onkwehón:we wimmin. Our sisters suffer alarming high rates of rape, domestic violence and other forms of abuse. Most of the time authorities from the colonial state could care less because of the victims are onkwehón:we. The state could also care … Continue reading […]
Tomorrow, on the Gregorian calendar day of the 15th of May, is a date celebrated by Israel, the World Zionist Movement and World Imperialism as Israeli Independence Day. However, for the people of Palestine and their allies amongst the struggling and exploited masses of the world is an annual day of mourning, of commemoration of … Continue reading »
One of the constituent oppressor nation entities of north amerika, quebec, will be ceding back 300 hectares of farmland to the Kanien’kehá:ka at Kahnawà:ke. This is land that was appropriated in 2006 during construction of the Highway 30 project. It lies along the border of Kahnawà:ke and the franco-settler communities of Châteauguay, St-Constant, Ste-Isido […]
Condolences have poured in for revered aboriginal leader and politician Elijah Harper, who walked on at age 64 from heart failure induced by diabetes complications on Friday mor...
In the days leading up to the Schimmel sisters’ recent championship run with the Louisville Cardinals in the NCAA Tournament, 20 Navajo high school basketball teams made it to t...
Decades of contentious lawsuits between the Oneida Indian Nation and the State of New York have ended in an historic agreement that resolves all disputes over land rights, tax i...
From beginning to end, from rise to fall to rise again, the noble Mohawk ironworkers have shepherded the sky-scraping towers of the World Trade Center in New York City into exis...
From beginning to end, from rise to fall to rise again, the noble Mohawk ironworkers have shepherded the sky-scraping towers of the World Trade Center in New York City into exis...
Sally Jewell, the new secretary of the Department of the Interior, spent a short time discussing firefighting at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on May 15....
Jade Willoughby, a Whitesand First Nation member who was born and raised in Thunder Bay, Ontario, has signed a contract with the Los Angeles and New York offices of the prestigi...
Jade Willoughby, a Whitesand First Nation member who was born and raised in Thunder Bay, Ontario, has signed a contract with the Los Angeles and New York offices of the prestigi...
MNN. May 18, 2013. We all have the duty as the eagle on the top of the tree of peace, to watch for impending danger and to report back to the people. A false flag delivers a false … Continue reading →
MNN. May 17, 2013. This is the “between the lines” translation of Canadian Prime Minister Harper’s remarks to the Council of Foreign Relations( CFR) bankers in New York City. He reassured them he has our resources and will … Continue reading →
MNN. May 16, 2013. A Washington DC Think Tank advisor on programs and policies from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government found that Hispanics, meaning Indigenous People, have a low IQ. He doubts we will ever reach IQ parity … Continue reading →
MNN. May 16, 2013. The bloodline bankers of Europe are trying to hang onto control of our $105 trillion Indian Trust Fund. Great Turtle Island is governed by the law of the land, Kaianerehkowa, the Great Law of … Continue reading →
MNN. May 15, 2013. Baby Indian Act was hatched in 1876 in the parking lot by Parliament Hill in Ottawa. It was the birth of a monster whose job was to “Go out and finish off the Indians”. … Continue reading →
MNN. May 14, 2013. The main concerns of the banksters are how to keep the stolen ever-growing $100 trillion Indian Trust Fund. Then how to carry out the “final solution of the Indian problem”, set in place 90 … Continue reading →
MNN. May 13, 2013. Montreal’s South Shore mayors are reeling. Quebec’s Parti Québécois government returned 300 hectares of stolen land to the Kahnawake Mohawks. The mayor of Châteauguay said the land belongs to them as they stole it twice … Continue reading →
MNN. May 11, 2013. Indigenous men are not dumb, drunks, wife beaters, criminals, deadbeats or studs. Guilty while being Indian, is a contrived image. They are loving husbands, brothers, sons, fathers, grandfathers, friends and cousins with a deep … Continue reading →
MNN. May 11, 2013. Why should we speak our Indigenous languages? To protect ourselves. Destruction of our languages was meant to strip us of our voice, to discriminate against us, to deny us our freedom, self-determination and … Continue reading →
MNN. May 9, 2013. A beautiful Indigenous 15 year old girl did not realize for a long time she was being followed by a 60-year old man. One day she realized he was frequently on the same buses … Continue reading →
Armando Rendon has printed an excerpt from Russell’s book “If You’ve Forgotten the Names of the Clouds, You’ve Lost Your Way : An Introduction to American Indian Thought & Philosophy.” You may find at http://somosenescrito.blogspot.com/2013/04/we-are-all-related.html#!/2013/04/we-are-all-related.html If you wish to purchase either the softcover or Kindle […]
By lakotahfreedom ¶ Posted in Sovereignty ¶ First time I remember seeing Russell was at the Greengrass Sundance. He called my Grandma Ella up during the Giveaway. Even as a young boy, I was impressed. From that day forward, as a youth, I saw Bruce Lee, Evil Knievel, Muhammad Ali, and Russell Means as almost [...]
On October 22, 2012, Indian rights activist Russell Means passed on after a magnificent life of struggle to better the lives of American Indians. Means had a tremendous impact on Native American struggles of the latter part of the 20th century and he will be sorely missed, but his passing was a huge loss [...]
American Indian activist Russell Means pierced ‘Buckskin Curtain’ 4:03 AM, Nov 17, 2012 | On Oct. 22, Indian rights activist Russell Means passed on after a magnificent life of struggle to better the lives of American Indians. Means obviously had a tremendous impact on Native American struggles of the latter part of the 20th [...]
Hello our relatives. We have completed the four sacred days in preparation for sending Russell Means’ spirit on his journey and his ashes have been scattered at Yellow Thunder in the Lakota sacred holy land, the He Sapa (Black Hills). On behalf of the family I want to extend our appreciation and gratitude for all [...]
On October 22, 2012, at 4:44 p.m., Oglala Lakota leader Russell Means began his journey to the spirit world. He did so at his ranch in the town of Porcupine, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in the Lakota Territory, or as he had declared it, “The Republic of Lakotah.” Right up to the time [...]
Russell Means Russell Means, an American-Indian activist, died on October 22nd, aged 72 Nov 10th 2012 | from the print edition DRIVING one day through the Diné lands in New Mexico—not “Navajo”, a white man’s word—Russell Means suddenly stopped the car. His wife wondered why. He had stopped to look at a shepherd among [...]
Sarawak: Sarawak Dams To Flood 2,300 Km2 Of Rainforests, Displace Tens Of Thousands Of Natives 30,000 to 50,000 indigenous people to pay the price for Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s excessive dam plans in Malaysian Borneo A new map released by the Bruno Manser Fund ahead of the International Hydropower Association’s World Congress in Kuching, Sarawak, is showi […]
Bangladesh: Indigenous Leaders Urge Govt To Take Effective Measures To Implement The CHT Accord And To Protect Human Rights Of IPs As Per Its Commitment To The UPR Indigenous leaders of Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum (BIPF) and Kapaeeng Foundation (KF) urged the government to take effective measures to implement CHT Accord and to protect human rights of […]
Democratic Republic Of Congo: With Inga Dams, Donors Set To Repeat Past Failures The Congolese government will today announce plans to move forward with the Grand Inga Dam at a conference in Paris. World Bank President Jim Kim is expected to support the return to mega-dam projects in Africa during his visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda a […]
Five Key Indigenous Peoples Issues For The Week Of May 9 - 17: Canada, Ecuador, Australia, Nicaragua, Bangladesh Canada: Uninvited And Unwelcome - First Nation Asks Enbridge To Leave Territory Following Botched Consultation Gitga'at First Nation reminds Enbridge that Northern Gateway pipeline and oil tanker project is not welcome in Gitga'at territ […]
International: Profits Vs. Disaster In Arctic Meltdown Stephen Leahy, 2013 Many eyes are turning north to the Arctic, some in horror at the rapid decline of a key component of our life support system, others in eager anticipation at the untapped resources beneath the vanishing snow and ice. “I’ve worked in the north for 21 years and the scale and speed of ch […]
British Columbia: First Nations Call For Government-To-Government Pipeline Talks With Re-Elected Premier Christy Clark Nations warn that Enbridge pipeline is the project that could “poison the well” for new relationship with First Nations in Northern BC, including discussions around LNG. With only days remaining until BC must take a final position on the Enb […]
International: International Rivers Conference Exposes Global Impact Of Dam Industry Dam-affected communities and international conservation organizations from South America, the Middle East, Europe, the US and Africa come together today at the International Rivers Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, to debunk the myth of mega-dams as "clean" energy. O […]
Burma: World Zomi Congress Condemns Myanmar, China Exploiting Natural Resources In Zogam The World Zomi Congress, a forum of Zomi Indigenous People signals warning to China and Myanmar for Gullu Mual or Mwetaung Nickel Project. World Zomi Congress (WZC) executive committee meeting held on 04/28/2013 strongly condemns the partnership between Myanmar's qu […]
New Zealand: Increased Investment In Māori Language Budget 2013 provides for new and increased funding for Māori language initiatives, Māori Affairs Minister and Associate of Education Minister Dr Pita Sharples says. This lays the foundation for the Māori Language Strategy, which will be released later this year. “Vote Māori Affairs provides $8 million over […]
Philippines: Green Groups Question MGB Issuance Of Permit For Unstable Old Mines In Surigao Del Norte Alyansa Tigil Mina and its international partners question the Mines and Geosciences Bureau decision to allow the Siana Mines operation to continue in Surigao del Norte despite historical reports of mine flooding and underground fire. The group is also wary […]
British Columbia: Uninvited And Unwelcome - First Nation Asks Enbridge To Leave Territory Following Botched Consultation Gitga'at First Nation reminds Enbridge that Northern Gateway pipeline and oil tanker project is not welcome in Gitga'at territory The Gitga'at First Nation has instructed Enbridge to leave its territory after the company and […]
Oklahoma: Tenth Native American Symposium, Native Ground - Protecting And Preserving History, Culture, And Customs Call For Papers Tenth Native American Symposium Native Ground: Protecting and Preserving History, Culture, and Customs Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Durant, Oklahoma November 14-15, 2013 Keynote Speaker Dr. Brad Lieb The Tenth Native A […]
International: ICMM Member Companies Strengthen Their Commitments To Indigenous Peoples Yesterday in Barcelona, Spain, the ICMM Council of CEOs approved an Indigenous Peoples and Mining Position Statement. This strengthens member companies’ commitment to uphold fundamental human rights and respect cultures, customs and values in dealings with employees and o […]
Indonesia: Constitutional Court Agrees On Judicial Review Of UUK Constitutional Court has accepted the Judicial Review of some parts of Act No. 41/1999 on Forestry (Undang-Undang Kehutanan or UUK) submitted by the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN), Thursday (16/5). Although the Court didn’t agree on all requested reviews, AMAN warmly wel […]
United States: Department Of State “Consultation” Shut Down By Red Nations Opposing Tar Sands This morning at 9:00 a.m. the United States Department of State attempted to hold what they call a consultation with tribal representatives of the Great Plains Red Nations regarding the effects of the Keystone XL Pipeline on sacred sites. However, tribal, traditiona […]
Quebec: Crees Launch Formal Challenge To Resolute Forest Products Inc. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certification Earlier today the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) issued a formal challenge to the FSC Certification for Forest Management Unit 025-51 in the Saguenay Lac Saint Jean region in Québec held by Resolute Forest Products Inc. This is th […]
Nicaragua: Indigenous Nicaraguans Fight To The Death For Their Last Forest José Adán Silva, 2013 Indigenous communities in northern Nicaragua are demanding that the authorities take urgent action to halt the attacks on their lives and territory by illegal invaders. Mayangna indigenous communities in northern Nicaragua are caught up in a life-and-death battle […]
Ecuador: $19B Ecuador Liability Puts Chevron CEO Watson On Hot Seat Before Annual Meeting Facing growing shareholder unrest over asset seizure actions and forced to testify about his alleged misconduct in the $19 billon Ecuador case, Chevron CEO John Watson again will be on the hot seat at the company's annual meeting in late May where rainforest indige […]
Quebec: The Huron-Wendat Nation Signs A Memorandum Of Understanding To Rebury The Remains Of Over 1,500 Huron-Wendat Ancestors In Wendake South Grand Chief Konrad Sioui of the Huron-Wendat Nation signed, on May 7 with the University of Toronto and the Heritage Trust of Ontario, a memorandum of understanding aimed at reburying the bones of over 1500 Huron-Wen […]
Australia: Budget 2013-14 - $659 Million To Help Ensure Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Kids Get To School The Gillard Government will invest $659 million to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students over the next five years. The funding includes support for programs that will: increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parental and co […]
The second issue of our journal is now live at www.decolonization.org! Check out the table of contents and then go read all the great work. And please share! Editorial Speaking truth to power: Indigenous storytelling as a form of living resistance – Aman Sium & Eric Ritskes Articles Savage representations in the discourse of modernity: […]
i could feel her eyes lingering over me, both intentionally and unintentionally. as though, the only thing that would avert her gaze is the threat of mine. i wondered if she wondered if i wondered what she was thinking. if i felt confined within her judgements, if i feared them or more […]
Corey Snelgrove, a settler student doing his Master’s degree in the fantastic IGOV program at the University of Victoria, began compiling a list on Twitter of short articles, mostly blogs, which are written by non-Indigenous writers and which examine the task of unsettling settler colonialism for the goal of decolonization, or as Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox wrot […]
People are contemplating if the rush of a new revolution called Idle No More is bubbling down to a whisper. There are news articles asking if this is the end of Idle No More, and there are people wondering if the Indigenous nations have gotten the protests and rallies out of their systems and have […]
Nineteen years ago, when I started my undergraduate degree, I was introduced to Indigenous women’s writing for the first time. Until then, the words in my own personal journal were the only reflections of Indigenous women’s lives available to me. Reading the stories of Lee Maracle, Jeanette Armstrong, Beth Brant, Patricia Monture-Angus, and others, I […] […]
I have been working in the field of anti-violence since recovering and healing from experiences of violence in my own personal life for the past 20 years. I write this with lessons I have learned in dealing with every type of violence that exists including the most extreme use of violence; that being murder. My […]
“The woman is the foundation on which nations are built. She is the heart of her nation. If that heart is weak, the people are weak. If her heart is strong and her mind is clear, then the nation is strong and knows its purpose. The woman is the center of everything.” -Dr. Art Solomon, […]
Over the past few months, the world has witnessed the boundless love that Indigenous women have for their families, their lands, their nations, and themselves as Indigenous people. These profound forms of love motivate Indigenous women everywhere to resist and protest, to teach and inspire, and to hold accountable both Indigenous and non-Indigenous allies t […]
I am Métis. In my family, we call ourselves Chippewa Cree because of the group that we travelled with after the North West Resistance. My grandfather’s family originally signed Treaty 4 but was later discharged from Treaty because of their participation in the Resistance. The Canadian government wasn’t particularly fond of Indigenous people standing up […] […]
Looking through the site search statistics on my personal website, I’ve had a number of readers arrive in recent days wondering “how do you say idle no more in anishinaabemowin?” Daga aanakanootamawishin. Please translate it for me. Perhaps what has hit me the hardest as the Idle No More movement develops, is the reminder that […]
By KIM PEMBERTON, Vancouver Sun, May 16, 2013 The Gitga’at First Nation says it was treated disrespectfully by the Enbridge pipeline company after a team of oil spill response surveyors came uninvited onto their territory at Hartley Bay this week. … Continue reading →
By Keven Drews, Canadian Press/Vancouver Sun, May 10, 2013 VANCOUVER – Southwestern British Columbia’s St’at’imc Chiefs Council is threatening to block a highway and rail line and “embarrass” private companies and the next provincial government over trespasses on its traditional … Continue reading →
John Ivison, National Post, May 1, 2013 Mankind is at a crossroads, Woody Allen once quipped: “One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.” Canada’s … Continue reading →
CBC News, Apr 25, 2013 Dozens of Innu protesters have blockaded the Newfoundland and Labrador Child, Youth and Family Services offices in Sheshatshiu. The protesters have boarded up the windows of the building with wooden signs bearing slogans such as … Continue reading →
By Claire Paradis, Arrow Lakes News, April 23, 2013 Across Highway 6 from Box Lake there is a stretch of forest familiar with mountain bikers and hikers who walk the old railway bed. A 242-hectare section twice as long as … Continue reading →
By Laura Stone, Global News, April 18, 2013 The federal government didn’t have to go far to find out what First Nations leaders were planning during last winter’s Idle No More movement. The plans were sent directly to the government … Continue reading →
Date: April 12, 2013 Sinixt Nation has worked diligently over the past three decades to correct the 1956 Canadian government’s extinction status of Sinixt people. The Crown has recognized Sinixt people as indigenous peoples of Canada (as a tribal group) … Continue reading →
David P. Ball, Indian Country Today, April 11, 2013 A 74-year old Inuit elder has ended a hunger strike and been released from jail after being arrested along with seven others protesting the controversial Muskrat Falls hydroelectric dam on the … Continue reading →
By Jorge Barrera, APTN National News, April 8, 2013 Elder Ryan Tibbetts says the moment he pointed out the gun to his 12 year-old son, the RCMP officer raised the weapon toward them. It was in the midst of a … Continue reading →
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 7, 2013 On day 14 of a non-violent protest held at the Burns Lake Band office, approximately 50 or more riot police, many with shotguns drawn evicted three adults and one 12 year old child. 92 … Continue reading →
Native Americans deserve accurate coverage, portraying who we are and what is happening in Indian country. The Native News Network intends to become the premier American Indian website community
CROWNPOINT, NEW MEXICO Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, was on the Navajo Reservation Friday in Crownpoint, New Mexico where she delivered the
CHICAGO On Monday, May 20th, Chicago Title VII and the Native American Indian Housing Council are working together to bring Chicagoan Natives to help clean up the
Indian country is still mourning the February 14 loss of Mary Ellen Brave Bird Richard, 58, who became famous Lakota Woman due to the huge success from the book with
ISABELLA INDIAN RESERVATION Two ancestral human remains that were taken from Midland, Michigan half way across the country to Nebraska back in 1883. The
The standard for consultation with Indigenous Nations is described as government to government, and that standard must not be treated lightly. The duty to engage with tribes in this manner stems
ATLANTA Four out of five US adults report having voluntary smoke-free rules in their homes and three out of four report having voluntary smoke free rules in their vehicles
The Obama administration drew sharp criticism from environmental and oil industry groups Thursday when it issued a new draft of regulations for fracking on federal and
RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA Thursday may be remembered as a day in history when American Indian tribes voted with their feet to tell the federal government No to
CHICAGO The Trickster Gallery is screening two American Indian films this Saturday, May 18 beginning at 1:00 pm. Scheduled by popular demand is Search for the Worlds Best Indian Taco
RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA Tribal officials from nine American Indian tribes and federal officials, including Kevin Washburn, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs
Native American Employment listings are updated daily. Jobs are often on the minds of American Indians everywhere and we are now linking employers with Native Americans and Alaska Natives
SAN FRANCISCO Excitement was in the air last week as the 11th Annual Global Exchange Human Rights Awards ceremony was held at the Palace of Fine Arts in San
WASHINGTON US Department of the Interior Sally Jewell was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday afternoon to testify before the US Committee on Indian Affairs. It was her
Reblogged from [Modern Times]: Fatima and Ahmed's Son: Albert Camus and the Liberal Dilemma - It has always been a curiosity, then, why Camus had such a difficult time understanding the desire of the Algerians to create a meaning to their lives that required overthrowing the French colonialists. His understanding that human freedom was perhaps […]
Reblogged from Scriptonite Daily: After 5 long years, the family of Sean Rigg, who died in police custody have the possibility of seeing some justice. The 40 year old, suffering serious mental health issues, died in police custody in 2008. The initial police investigation of the death was challenged by the family, so set up […]
Reblogged from Support CeCe!: Greetings my loves! Well, despite the shitty circumstances I'm in, I'm excited to say that I'll be turning 25 this month...YAY! And already the month is starting off fantastically on account of Jason Collins being the first openly gay athlete still active in the NBA. I commend you, Jason, for being […]
After taking her viewers through the whole, long, ugly mess with ABC’s big “scoop” on the Benghazi emails and the how the story pretty much fizzled out by the end of the week with the discovery that Republicans were responsible for doctoring the supposed quotes from the emails that they published, Rachel Maddow had given […]
Israel prefers the regime of President Bashar Assad in Syria to continue than see a takeover of the country by rebel Islamist militants, The Times of London reported Friday, quoting an Israeli intelligence official. “Better the devil we know than the demons we can only imagine if Syria falls into chaos, and the extremists from […]
Reblogged from 2ndlook: Why does India have no monuments comparable to the Desert Bloc? Was it because India had no slave populations to build such showpieces - and no slaves to impress. Extinction Of Cultures ncient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Medieval Islamic and Italian kingdoms, as well as latter day Iberian Twins, Spain and Portugal, Trans-Channel […]
You likely already know how overcrowded and abusive the US prison system is, and you probably are also aware that the US has more people in prison than even China or Russia. In this age of privatization, of course, it’s also not surprising that many of the detention centers are not actually operated by the […]
I’ve been tracking a tube of black putrid ooze, a toxic viper slowly slithering 2,000 miles across the belly of America, swallowing all water aquifers, politicians and reason in its path. The XL Keystone Pipeline. As Nagini, the murderous snake in the Harry Potter tales, had its master Voldemort, I figured the Keystone XL Pipeline […]
“Traditionally, non-indigenous folks would see chiefs standing out in front, but what the people didn’t know was that those chiefs took their directions from the women.” Now, with the Enbridge hearings taking place in BC and Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence entering her third week without food in Ontario, Goodwin said the struggles of First Nations […] […]
This year, the Palestine solidarity movement in Catalonia, formed by the platform “Amb Palestina al Cor”, “BDS Catalunya”, “Plataforma: Aturem la Guerra”, “Rumb a Gaza” and “Dones en Rebel·lia”, denounce the role that Israel plays in the dessign, research, implementation and global sale of different security and repression systems. We have proves that Catalo […]
Update: Google admits sharp practice in Kenya | News | PC Pro: By Stewart MitchellPosted on 13 Jan 2012 at 16:00Google has admitted guilt after being accused of accessing the servers of a Kenyan business directory and trying to poach its customers.According to contacts compendium Mocality, it caught Google accessing its database of African businesses and the […]
Google 'improperly' accessed Kenyan rival Mocality's database | Technology | guardian.co.uk: Google has confessed that a number of people working for it "improperly" accessed the customer database of a rival company in Kenya to boost its own business.The US search giant said it was "mortified" to learn that staff illicitly […]
Google 'Improperly' Accessed Rival Mocality's Database | News & Opinion | PCMag.com: Google on Friday apologized for a scam in which its employees improperly accessed the database of Mocality, a Kenyan Internet database company, in order to steal its customers.In a statement, Nelson Matto, vice president for Google product and engineering […]
Shut Down the Corporations - Direct Action Resources Why Direct Action?The F29 Shut Down the Corporations National Day of Action is calling on activists across the country to engage in day of mass non-violent direct action. Direct action is a means of obstructing practices we protest and reclaiming our agency in creating the world we live in. Direct action m […]
Samson Cree bylaw interests Blood Tribe | Local News | Lethbridge Herald: Blood Tribe chief and council will be watching what happens in the wake of Samson Cree band members passing a bylaw that gives council the right to evict troublemakers.Under the bylaw, which still requires approval from the federal government, any 25 residents could apply to have anoth […]
Apple Releases List Of Its Suppliers, Discloses Labor Violations | TechCrunch:Apple has, for the very first time, released a report of its suppliers. There are 156 suppliers listed in the PDF the company published (available here), including big names like Sony, Intel, Samsung and Foxconn (also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.), which dragged Apple’s […]
BAHRAIN - News | Peter Clifford Online: This is the true face of Bahrain’s Al-Khalifa Government reflected in the destroyed features of Nader Abdul Enam, a young man who was shot in the mouth last night by police firing a stun grenade directly at his head.http://www.petercliffordonline.com/bahrain-newsNader Abdul Enam, Mutilated by the Government of BahrainN […]
Fact Sheet: Jean-Claude Duvalier Can Be Prosecuted | Open Society Justice Initiative | Open Society Foundations - OSF: Jean-Claude Duvalier, the former dictator of Haiti, returned to his country after 25 years in exile in France on January 16, 2011. He is currently under investigation for offenses including corruption, attempted murder and sequestration, or […]
Former SPD officer Ian Birk will not face charges in shooting of woodcarver | Seattle Times Newspaper: Federal prosecutors will not charge former Seattle police Officer Ian Birk in the shooting death of First Nations woodcarver John T. Williams.Sources have confirmed that a grand jury reviewing the Aug. 30, 2010, shooting determined it could not charge the o […]
Israel's Draconian Infiltration Law :: www.uruknet.info :: informazione dal medio oriente :: information from middle east :: [vs-1]: The new measure targets refugees and asylum seekers and families. Minimally, they'll be imprisoned for three years. However, detentions may be extended indefinitely.The law only allows judicial oversight by an adminis […]
PRC: Palestinian refugees in Iraq Should Be Protected :: www.uruknet.info :: informazione dal medio oriente :: information from middle east :: [vs-1]: The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) in London is extremely concerned over the constant attacks against Palestinian Refugees in Iraq. The centre calls for an immediate protection for those refugees through the […]
Somalia: ICRC Suspends Food and Seed Distributions: By NewsfromAfricaMOGADISHU — The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in a statement to the media has decided to temporarily suspend its distributions intended for 1.1 million people in urgent need after having its food and seed relief commodities blocked in parts of central and southern Somalia. […]
I CARE - News - Internet Centre Anti Racism Europe: 11/1/2012- A court in the Czech town of Most has handed down a verdict in the matter of an attack that was committed against human rights activist Ondøej Cakl during a neo-Nazi demonstration in November 2008 in Litvínov. The court did not award compensation for damages. The convicted assailant, František Br […]
http://www.abahlali.org - Sekwanele! - http://antieviction.org.za/ Release Ayanda Kota Now!!! Abahlali baseMjondolo Press statement. Friday 13 January 2012. Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement S.A, calls upon the South African Police Services and the state to release Ayanda Kota NOW! Abahlali baseMjondolo calls upon Grahamstown based South African Police Services […]
China Worker: Two-weeks imprisonment for protest action against MTR fare rises is part of government drive to criminalise struggleSocialist Action (CWI in Hong Kong) reportersThe verdict from Hong Kong’s Eastern Magistrates’ Court yesterday is an ominous warning to all those wanting to fight against the government’s neo-liberal and increasingly repressive ag […]
Estonia presses ahead with Nazi exoneration plans: Voice of Russia: Announcements in Estonia say next spring will see a nationwide debate about a draft law to declare the Estonian Nazi collaborators who fought alongside the Nazi SS heroic 'freedom fighters'.In the meantime, papers in Germany, including the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Tag […]
badil.orgIsrael’s High Court exposes Israeli apartheid regime13th January 2012 – BADIL Resource center for Palestinian residency and Refugee RightsOn 11th January 2012, Israel’s High Court rejected a legal challenge, brought by Adalah, ACRI and other Israeli human rights organizations, to one of the most obvious pieces of Israeli apartheid legislation: the 2 […]
HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSESEver since the Indonesians set foot on Papuan soil, human rights abuses have been the rule of the day. In the antiquity or the dream time, the Indonesian quest had been Papuan slaves and the birds of paradise. Since 1962 however the quest has been for the rich mineral deposits [gold, copper, nickel, oil etc.], the vast virgin forest with i […]
Demands for Clegg to apologise for insulting Scottish voters: By a Newsnet reporterSNP MSPs have demanded that Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg apologise for comments he made during a recent visit to Scotland when he characterised supporters of independence as "extremists".In an interview with the Scotsman newspaper, Mr Clegg was asked whether he describe […]
A new study of the Belo Monte Dam, one of the world's largest hydropower energy complexes currently under construction on the Xingu River in the eastern region of the basin, found that large-scale deforestation in the Amazon poses a significant threat to a dam's energy-generating potential.
Istanbul, Turkey – Dam-affected communities and international conservation organizations from South America, the Middle East, Europe, the US and Africa come together today at the International Rivers Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, to debunk the myth of mega-dams as "clean" energy.
Dearest Daughter, from Dad in the Amazon – Yesterday I left the Amazon jungle after an amazing week there. Prior to leaving however, I shared with my Achuar indigenous friends a dream I had about you.
Brasilia, Brazil – The daily difficulties faced in the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the state of Pará have expanded beyond the confines of its construction site and reached the negotiating table of the companies in charge of building it.
"As we entered peacefully, we decided to leave peacefully. We show that we are not bandits and that we respect the court's decision. We hope that our attitude shows us to be open to a dialogue."
Amazon Watch's Andrew Miller, currently in Peru, says the "sustained campaigns of local indigenous communities, their federations and international allies appear to have changed the government's calculus. Whereas in the past they promoted the oil rounds to international companies without advising communities, now they have to comply with the c […]
Oakland, CA – Facing growing shareholder unrest over asset seizure actions and forced to testify about his alleged misconduct in the $19 billon Ecuador case, Chevron CEO John Watson again will be on the hot seat at the company's annual meeting in late May where rainforest indigenous villagers and investors plan to confront him over his company's to […]
Dearest Daughter, from Dad in the Amazon – This is my first international trip away from you since your birth eight months ago, and I already miss you tremendously. I want to explain to you the importance of this trip.
Brasilia, Brazil – The federal government said Monday it would not negotiate with indigenous groups which on Tuesday entered their sixth day of occupying the controversial Belo Monte dam construction site.
The Wauroni tribes, who live in the forests of Ecuador, are getting ready to challenge the Ecuadorian government’s plan to sell as much as 8 million acres of rainforest for oil drilling, saying they are prepared to fight to the death to protect the land.
A department within Peru's Environment Ministry is concerned that the expansion of the country's biggest gas project in the southeast Peruvian Amazon could generate conflict between indigenous peoples living there.
Brasilia, Brazil – Amazon Indians on Friday refused to end their occupation of a building site that has partially paralyzed work on the world's third largest hydroelectric dam for two days.
Yesterday Brazil and the world witnessed a historic moment of unity and struggle for the Amazon and its people. Some 200 indigenous peoples, riverine communities and fishermen continue to stop work on the Belo Monte dam.
Altamira, Brazil – Some 200 indigenous people affected by the construction of large hydroelectric dams in the Amazon launched an occupation today on one of the main construction sites of the Belo Monte dam complex on the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon.
To the world's oil and gas companies, the Amazon rainforest is one huge cash cow just begging to be milked. But anyone who'd rather not rid the world of 30 percent of its animal species would probably argue it's a region that shouldn't be destroyed by rich people.
Last week two key leaders in the ongoing struggle against Belo Monte denounced European corporate backing of the dam before Green Party members of the European Parliament in Brussels.
Watch this powerful new documentary that takes the name of the Damocracy movement formed following the Rio+20 Earth Summit to counter the permanent destruction of cultural and natural heritage being caused by large-scale dams.
ClearWater is a community-based project that is providing clean water drinking systems to hundreds of affected families among the indigenous nationalities in this oil-affected region.
Ecuador is licensing a chunk of the Amazon and now has extended a deadline by which bid for oil blocks must be submitted. To some, it could suggest Ecuador had received less interest than initially hoped for.
Canadian Gemini award–winning Cree actress and self-proclaimed "artist in solidarity with Idle No More" Michelle Thrush is wielding her celebrity clout in defense of Indigenous Peoples of Ecuador.
