Water : Secwepemc People : Canada
please contact:nymcommunication@hotmail.com f or additional information.
From: NYM Communications
To: nymcommunications@hotmail.com
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2006 7:55 AM
INTERNATIONAL STATEMENT
NATIVE YOUTH MOVEMENT
VOW TO STOP THE THEFT OF PURE GLACIER MOUNTAIN WATER FROM BEING STOLEN AND SOLD TO THE MIDDLE EAST
The Native Youth Movement is at battle again with the illegal governments of BC and Canada and their illegal extraction of our most valuable neccessity, WATER. The grassroots traditional Secwepemc People have voiced their opposition to a proposal pushed by a foreigner, invader to divert 4 creeks in the Adams Lake area, UNCEDED SECWEPEMC TERRITORY, to bottle water and sell it to the Middle East. These 4 creeks are at the end of a dirt back-road, purposely built to extract water for illegal theft and sale to the worldwide market. It is one of the last intact watersheds, with no clearcutting because the road stops there. This is one of thousands of proposed illegal thefts of our Secwepemc Lands and Water.
Native Youth Movement have occupied the government office that sells stolen Land and Water, the 'land and water bc inc.', formerly called 'bc assets and land corp.', in the passed and will take necessary action to bring attention to this illegal theft by this Invaders system and government. Our land has never been sold to anyone. We have never signed Treaties and Never Will-This Land Is Our Land, Secwepemc Land! Our Water Is Not For Sale!!! Stop The Theft Of Our Homeland! Bc Is One Of The Last Places Left With Pure Glacier Mountain Water, That We Can Drink Right From The Creeks.
Amerikkka Disposes Of 2.5 Million Tons Of Plastic Water Bottles Every Hour. Bottled Water Is Not The Solution! Our World Water Situation Is In A Crisis---You Cannot Expect To Survive Unless You Struggle To Preserve And Defend This Sacred Life, Land And Water We Were Given. You Can't Just Sit In The City Or Rez And Buy Stolen Water And Think The Creator Will Spare Your Life When The Purification Comes. Get On The Frontlines Of Resistance--Defend Our Sacred Water.
Support The Traditional Secwepemc Peoples And Their Fight To Defend Their Water And Mountains. Stay Tunned For Upcoming Actions And Solidarity Actions That Can Be Taken.
NYM Communications
NATIVE YOUTH MOVEMENT
FIGHT FOR LIFE
WARRIORS UNITE FROM ALASKA TO ARGINTINA |
Buffalo : Yellowstone : U.S.A.
From: bfc-media@wildrockies.org
June 15, 2006
Buffalo Update from the Field 6/15/06
Buffalo Field Campaign Supporters,
In the wake of a difficult year for America's wild bison we ask that you forward this week's Update from the Field to five friends who may not be aware of the buffalo's struggle and Buffalo Field Campaign's work to protect them.
Thank you for always being with us for the buffalo and for your strategic, spiritual, emotional, and financial support. We couldn't be here without you, our community of supporters. The Buffalo Field Campaign is everyone, everywhere who cares about the Yellowstone bison and takes action on their behalf.
Buffalo Field Campaign, Update from the Field June 15, 2006
In this issue:
* Update from the Field:
* Thank You Built to Spill!:
* Last Words:
Another winter/spring season has come to a close here at Buffalo Field Campaign headquarters, with the last three bull buffalo in Montana hazed back into the park this week.
This season was a particularly rough one for the bison that wandered out of Yellowstone National Park into Montana. The National Park Service (NPS) sent almost 900 to slaughter, and held another 300 for a month in it's horrific capture facility. The state of Montana, who usually carries out the bulk of the annual slaughter, was not blameless this year. Another 47 buffalo were shot or sent to slaughter for the crime of following their traditional migration routes to their native feeding and calving grounds. And if that weren't enough, 40 more buffalo were killed in the first year of Montana's reinstated bison hunt.
This past winter and spring, Buffalo Field Campaign volunteers were out every day from sunrise to sunset, documenting every action taken against the buffalo and working for the permanent protection of America's only continuously wild herd. This has been the case since 1997, and will continue to be the case until the last wild buffalo are allowed to roam freely on their own land.
This year's slaughter of 947 buffalo was the highest number in the campaign's history.
All this slaughter is being blamed on the disease brucellosis, which can cause cattle to abort their first calf, and which 2-20% of the Yellowstone Bison carry.
It doesn't matter to the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) and the other agencies involved that there has never been a case of brucellosis being transmitted from wild bison to cattle. The DOL, The NPS, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, The Forest Service and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service claim that allowing bison to roam freely in Montana would be an unacceptable level of threat to cattle. However, elk and other wildlife that roam freely outside the park also carry brucellosis, and Wyoming and Idaho have both lost their brucellosis free status due to cattle mingling with elk, with none of the serious consequences that Montana seems so worried about.
So it's obvious to anyone with the time to read the facts that brucellosis is not the bogeyman that Montana makes it out to be. This is a public lands use fight over grass. Which is more important to Montana and the country; a handful of cattle who are dozens of miles away from the buffalo when they come out of the park, or the country's last wild herd of buffalo?
The answer is obvious to the vast majority of people, but a small group of greedy individuals hold the reins in this situation. But togetter we are changing that.
Summertime does not mean that we at Buffalo Field Campaign stop fighting. When the buffalo migrate back into the park, we follow them, setting up every day at one of the park tourist attractions to call attention to the slaughter and mistreatment of these magnificent creatures and to build a grassroots movement for their lasting protection.
We urge you to join us in spreading the word. Stop by our table to say hi if you're in the park this summer and if you have a few weeks to spare, come out to one of the most beautiful places in the country. We'll cover room and board (camping in the park, and a bunk at our cabin in West Yellowstone).
Visit http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org for more info or contact buffalo@wildrockies.org
* Thank You Built to Spill! We want to thank Boise rock bands Built to Spill, Travis Ward & Junkyard Bandstand, and Tim Andreae; the Boise Food Coop; and BFC board member Ken Cole for throwing the most successful benefit concert in BFC's history.
For the BFC volunteers lucky enough to attend the June 3 show, it was a magic night of beautiful music and dancing, great vibes, and strong buffalo community to bring closure to our most difficult season. The money raised will allow us to continue to be in the field with the buffalo, working for the day when Montana welcomes the migration of this beautiful and essential species.
The Boise benefit kicked off Built to Spill's extensive tour. Check out this amazing band in a city near you and support a group who strongly supports the work of the Buffalo Field Campaign.
For Built to Spill tour dates: http://builttospill.com
From the Idaho Statesman, June 9, 2006
Built to Spill: June 3/Big Easy
Boise rock band Built To Spill's benefit concert raised $10,400 for the Buffalo Field Campaign, an organization that works to protect Yellowstone bison. Tickets sold out in advance (and, according to an e-mailer, were flipped outside for as much as $100 a pair). The Big Easy donated the room; the Boise Co-op added food service. Frontman Doug Martsch, pictured performing at the gig, treated the giddy crowd to a mix of favorites (first song "Car" was a tribute to ex-Built to Spill drummer Andy Capps), tunes from new CD "You in Reverse," and a selection of music to be included on a future disc. Memorable moments: Dazzling new fretboard workout "Good Ol' Boredom"; a slamming "Goin' Against Your Mind"; and original reggae tune "They Got Away," as well as a reinvention of the old Gladiators song "Rearrange."
* Last Words
"The Yellowstone buffalo are a poignant reminder of the continent's wild past and the living embodiment of hope for the future. Will we make room for them on their native landscape or keep them violently confined to Yellowstone National Park?"
Media & Outreach
Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
BFC is the only group working in the field every day to defend the last wild herd of buffalo in America.
Stay informed!
Get our weekly email Updates from the Field: Send your email address to bfc-media@wildrockies.org
Speak Out! Contact politicians and involved agencies today: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/politicians.html
Write a Letter to the Editor of key newspapers: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/lte.html
Help the buffalo by recycling your used cell phones & printer cartridges: It's free and easy. http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/support/recycleprint.html. |
Wisconsin : Mining Firm Gives $8m Back To Tribe;
Gift Ends Crandon Mine Saga
WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO REPORT
Celebration At The End Of A Long And Winding Road
06/01/06
Members of the Sokaogon Chippewa tribe and environmental activists celebrated an unusual victory yesterday. After thirty years of battling a proposed zinc and copper mine they signed an agreement with the largest mining company in the world to keep the minerals underground. Gil Halsted has the details. http://clipcast.wpr.org:8080/ramgen/wpr/news/news060601gh.rm
Mining Firm Gives $8m Back To Tribe;
Gift Ends Crandon Mine Saga
The Capital Times (Madison)
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
By Robert Imrie (Associated Press)
Three years after it helped to buy the site of a proposed mine near Crandon -- shutting down the disputed project -- an Indian tribe has made its final $8 million mortgage payment to a mining company that will donate the money back to the tribe through a trust fund, a tribal official said Tuesday.
"It is a gift. It is basically a gift out of the blue," said Tony Phillippe, administrator for the Mole Lake, or Sokaogon, Chippewa band. "It is going to be a charitable trust."
The BHP Billiton Fund for the Sokaogon People will be managed through the Madison Community Foundation, which holds more than 680 other endowment funds to enhance philanthropy for the long-term benefit of diverse individuals and organizations.
In October 2003, the Mole Lake Chippewa and Forest County Potawatomi agreed to pay $16.5 million to buy Nicolet Minerals Co. and more than 5,000 acres associated with the proposed underground zinc and copper mine just south of Crandon. The purchase was from Northern Resource Group, a new company started by a Laona family.
Northern Resource, with expertise in logging and wood products, had acquired the project in April 2003 from BHP Billiton, an international metals company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, which had also provided $8 million in financing to the Laona company, authorities said.
But Northern Resource said it was unable to find other investors and a partner with mining expertise to proceed with the mine.
The two tribes, with new wealth from casino profits, opposed the Crandon mine project for years, warning that it would pollute valuable water resources, including the pristine Wolf River nearby, and that the risk wasn't worth the mining jobs that would be created.
When the tribes bought the mine site, the Potawatomi paid cash for their share of the deal, and the Mole Lake made a $250,000 downpayment and acquired the mortgage from BHP. The $8 million payment was due in April, Phillippe said Tuesday.
The tribe borrowed all but $52,000 of the remaining debt as part of a $20 million, 20-year loan it acquired that was backed by future revenue from its casino, Phillippe said.
It was important for the tribe to pay off the mortgage and "honor our debt," he said.
But the tribe had approached BHP about making a donation to help the tribe, given the tribe's long and costly legal fight against the mine, when the mining company offered the trust, with no strings attached, Phillippe said.
"They are not maintaining mineral rights or anything. We own it all," he said. The offer left tribal leaders "flabbergasted," he said.
BHP was the last of a string of mining companies to own the land, including Exxon Coal and Minerals Co. of Houston.
The tribe will be the sole beneficiary of the $8 million endowment's annual $400,000 to $600,000 earnings, Phillippe said.
The money can only be used for certain things, such as education or environmental projects, the tribal leader said.
"It is not going to be used for industry building or for gaming," he said. "This is strictly for the people of the community."
A five-person advisory committee, including Madison Community Foundation President Kathleen Woit, director of American Indian studies at UW-Madison Ada Deer and representatives of both the tribe and the region, will recommend how the funds will be distributed to the community.
Gibson Pierce of Toronto, BHP's project director for closed mining, said, "Creating this fund signals our permanent exit form the project. Our goal with this endowment is to help the Sokaogon people build and sustain a vibrant community by allowing the mining project to add value at its final closure."
The Crandon mine had been disputed for years after the minerals were discovered in 1976 in a deposit described as one of the 10 largest ore bodies of its type in North America.
In 1994, Exxon and Rio Algom Ltd. of Toronto applied for state permits to mine 55 million tons of mostly zinc and copper ore.
The regulatory review was expected to take about three years. But
a study by the state Department of Natural Resources never reached the point of recommending whether the project could be done without harming the environment, in part because new owners kept getting involved.
Exxon eventually sold out its interest to Rio Algom, which sold out to BHP.
In September 2002, BHP decided to close its Nicolet Minerals office in Crandon and sell the mine project to pursue more profitable ventures, leading to the sale to Northern Resources.
Over the years, the DNR billed the mining companies about $7 million to pay for the review, officials said in 2003.
Phillippe said Tuesday the land will be used for conservation purposes, such as public trails and parks, and the mining project will never be developed.
"The minerals underneath it are basically sacred from now on into eternity," he said. "We own it all."
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Venezuela : Indigenous Peoples : open-pit coal mines
Dear Members of Global Response’s “Quick Response Network:”
In late January at the World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuelan indigenous leaders asked Global Response to support them in their struggle to stop construction of open-pit coal mines in their territories. I joined them in an all-day march through the streets of Caracas, carrying banners saying “No al Carbon!” (No to Coal). Later I visited the Wayuu, Yukpa and Bari communities in northwestern Venezuela, where villages, rivers, forests and farms would be directly affected by the coal mines. Everywhere there were signs that read “No al Carbon!” By foot, canoe and donkey-back, community leaders arrived to appeal for international support to stop the mines. We saw the concrete markers where the mining companies have staked out their concessions, encompassing forests, farmlands and villages. We walked to one of the rivers that would carry mine-polluted water into the reservoir that serves the city of Maracaibo, potentially affecting the health of 1.5 million people. In the cool tranquility along the river, it was impossible to imagine the enormous gray cavity that the miners plan to excavate, the blasting, the choking dust, the screeching of machinery and trucks. “ The river is our mother ,” said Lida Narva, a Yukpa community leader. “ We cannot let them kill our mother"
Most of the indigenous people and the poor throughout Venezuela enthusiastically support President Chavez, who is channeling millions of dollars of oil revenues into state programs for education, health care and job training. “ We’re not against Chavez,” the indigenous people chanted as they marched in Caracas; “we’re against coal mines.”
In that spirit, we are launching this new Global Response campaign -- not against Chavez, but for sound environmental policy and indigenous peoples’ rights. Please join the Yukpa, Wayuu, Bari and Japreria peoples in this campaign. –Paula Palmer
Help indigenous communities in Venezuela stop open pit coal mines" from Global Response and Environmental Action & Education Network Dear Members of Global Response’s “Quick Response Network:”
In late January at the World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuelan indigenous leaders asked Global Response to support them in their struggle to stop construction of open-pit coal mines in their territories. I joined them in an all-day march through the streets of Caracas, carrying banners saying “No al Carbon!” (No to Coal). Later I visited the Wayuu, Yukpa and Bari communities in northwestern Venezuela, where villages, rivers, forests and farms would be directly affected by the coal mines. Everywhere there were signs that read “No al Carbon!” By foot, canoe and donkey-back, community leaders arrived to appeal for international support to stop the mines. We saw the concrete markers where the mining companies have staked out their concessions, encompassing forests, farmlands and villages. We walked to one of the rivers that would carry mine-polluted water into the reservoir that serves the city of Maracaibo, potentially affecting the health of 1.5 million people. In the cool tranquility along the river, it was impossible to imagine the enormous gray cavity that the miners plan to excavate, the blasting, the choking dust, the screeching of machinery and trucks. “The river is our mother,” said Lida Narva, a Yukpa community leader. “We cannot let them kill our mother.”
Most of the indigenous people and the poor throughout Venezuela enthusiastically support President Chavez, who is channeling millions of dollars of oil revenues into state programs for education, health care and job training. “We’re not against Chavez,” the indigenous people chanted as they marched in Caracas; “we’re against coal mines.”
In that spirit, we are launching this new Global Response campaign -- not against Chavez, but for sound environmental policy and indigenous peoples’ rights. Please join the Yukpa, Wayuu, Bari and Japreria peoples in this campaign. –Paula Palmer
GLOBAL RESPONSE ACTION ALERT #1/06
Support Indigenous Peoples vs. Coal Mines / Venezuela March 3, 2006 Also available at www.globalresponse.org
“We will not be removed from the lands where our ancestors are buried. We are defending the animals, the forests and the water. This planet can’t withstand any more contamination. What good is all this wealth from oil and coal if we are dying of diseases and misery? Several years ago they pushed out some of our people to make a coal mine. In that region the animals, the fish, the birds and the people are all sick. Now they want us to move again so they can make more mines, but there is nowhere to go. We will defend our lands and our heritage with our lives.” – Jorge Montiel, Wayuu leader “If the coal mining project continues, the ecological impact will be disastrous… Is it worth destroying our natural heritage and our water source for coal?” --Herencia Gonzalez, Regional Manager of the Venezuelan Water Authority (Hidroven)
The Sierra de Perija is the northernmost range of the Andes mountains, reaching to the Caribbean along the Colombia-Venezuelan border. Rich in primary forests and biological diversity, the Sierra has become a battleground where the Venezuelan government must make a choice between indigenous rights and environmental protection on one hand, and exploiting the region’s massive coal deposits on the other.
Indigenous Peoples’ Rights -- The Sierra’s quarter million indigenous people have already experienced environmental devastation, disease and social upheaval since two enormous open pit coal mines began operations in 1987. They are united in opposing the construction of three new mines and the expansion of one existing mine within their territories. The projects, which would quadruple Venezuela’s coal production, would be joint ventures between the Venezuelan state and mining companies from the US, Ireland, Brazil, Australia, Chile, Japan and elsewhere.
For the Wayuu, Yukpa, Bari and Japreria peoples, the primary issue is securing their land rights, including the right to deny access to sub-surface mineral deposits. Venezuela’s new constitution requires demarcation of indigenous lands and awarding of collective land titles – a significant step forward for indigenous peoples’ rights. But the land titles can exclude existing mines and mining concessions as well as large cattle ranches within the indigenous territories. “We want collective title to all the ancestral lands that we have demarcated,” says Yukpa leader Leonardo Martinez – including the areas designated for the new coal mines.
Water Resources -- For the down-river population of Maracaibo, a city of 1.5 million people, the main issue is water. Deforestation at the mine sites would cause erosion and siltation of the rivers and reservoirs that supply the city’s drinking water, which is already in short supply. Open-pit mining uses huge quantities of water, competing with the needs of agriculture and urban areas. The mining operations would contaminate rivers with heavy metals, endangering the health of fish, wildlife, birds, livestock and humans. Acid mine drainage could continue to pollute the land and water for centuries to come.
Biological Diversity -- The three proposed new coal mines would destroy large tracts of ancient tropical forests that provide habitat for hundreds of endangered species, including many that are endemic (found nowhere else on earth). During the last 50 years cattle ranchers invaded the Sierra’s lower altitudes, systematically destroying forests. As a result, jaguars, ocelots, Andean bear, giant anteaters, iguanas, macaws and spider monkeys already face extinction – and their demise would be accelerated by the coal mines. To export the coal, a new mega-port would be built on islands in the Caribbean, destroy-ing unique wildlife and bird habitat and fisheries, as well as the livelihoods of displaced fisher families.
President Chavez inspires the hope, gratitude and enthusiastic support of Venezuela’s poorest citizens by using oil profits to provide far-reaching education, health and employment programs that are transforming the society. But environmentalists, scientists and indigenous people fear that the social gains will be short-lived if the country’s forests, rivers, air and biological diversity are sacrificed for oil, gas and coal production. As Wayuu leader Angela Gonzales says, “We can live without coal. We can’t live without water.”
How Can We Help? Three times in the last year, the Wayuu, Yukpa, Bari and Japreria peoples have marched in the capital city under banners saying “No to Coal.” At the World Social Forum in late January, they appealed to world citizens to help them convince President Chavez to annul the coal concessions on their lands. They said, “We are not against Chavez. We are against coal mines!” Please support their struggle by writing to the President and the Minister of the Environment.
Requested Action: Please write a polite letter to President Chavez (a model letter is available here)
• Tell President Chavez that you applaud Venezuela’s constitution which provides for indigenous peoples’ rights.
• Urge him to grant the request of Wayuu, Yukpa, Bari and Japreria leaders to have a personal meeting with him concerning the coal concessions within their territories.
• Tell him why you oppose new coals mines in the Sierra de Perija. Some good reasons:
1) The indigenous people who live there oppose the new mines;
2) The mines would destroy ancient tropical forests whose biological diversity is of incalculable value; 3) Coal mining would contaminate the water supply of the entire population of Maracaibo;
4) Worldwide, we must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, especially on coal -- the dirtiest source of energy and the greatest contributor to global warming and climate change;
5) Venezuela doesn’t need this coal. The economic benefits would go primarily to multinational mining companies (otherwise, why do they want to mine there?), while Venezuela’s land, water, wildlife and people would suffer irreparable harm.
• Tell him what you are doing to reduce coal consumption and fossil fuel dependence in your country. Addresses:
Sr. Hugo Chavez, Presidente Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela Palacio de Miraflores Final Avenida Urdaneta, Esq. de Bolero Caracas 1010, Venezuela FAX: +58-212-806-8210
Please send copies of your letter to: Ing. Jacqueline Faria, Ministra Ministerio del Ambiente Centro Simon Bolivar, Torre Sur, Piso 25 El Silencio, Caracas, Venezuela FAX: +58 212 408 1024 Email: jfaria@marn.gob.ve Prof. Lusbi Portillo Homo et Natura Calle Carabobo No. 7-34 Maracaibo, Zulia Venezuela Email: homoetnatura@gmail.com
Postage from US to Venezuela: 84 cents It would also be very helpful to send a copy of your letter to the Venezuelan ambassador in your country. Find the address at www.embajada-online.com/embajadas-de-Venezuela-en-otros-paises-P198.htm US Citizens should send copies of their letters to: Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 1099 30th St. NW Washington DC 20007 FAX: 202 342-6820 Email: nfani@embavenez-us.org
This Global Response Action was issued at the request of and with information provided by the Wayuu, Yukpa and Bari indigenous communities of Cachiri, Socuy and Mache, and the NGO Homo et Natura. For information on Venezuela, see http://www.embavenez-us.org/ and www.venezuelanalysis.com. For info on the environmental costs of coal, see www.uvduds.ot/vlrsn_energy/coalvswind/c01.html . Special thanks to critterzone.com for their photo of the endangered Variegated Spider Monkey, endemic to the Sierra de Perija.
* THANK YOU FOR YOUR LETTERS!
Since 1990, Global Response has organized over 100 international letter-writing campaigns, and in 43% of them we have already celebrated victories!
Tia Oros Peters
Executive Director Seventh Generation
Fund P.O. Box 4569 Arcata, CA 95518
707-825-7640 fax 707-825-7639
www.7genfund.org
"In every deliberation we must consider the impact on the seventh generation."
Help indigenous communities in Venezuela stop open pit coal mines" from Global Response and Environmental Action & Education Network Dear Members of Global Response’s “Quick Response Network:” In late January at the World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuelan indigenous leaders asked Global Response to support them in their struggle to stop construction of open-pit coal mines in their territories. I joined them in an all-day march through the streets of Caracas, carrying banners saying “No al Carbon!” (No to Coal).
Later I visited the Wayuu, Yukpa and Bari communities in northwestern Venezuela, where villages, rivers, forests and farms would be directly affected by the coal mines. Everywhere there were signs that read “No al Carbon!” By foot, canoe and donkey-back, community leaders arrived to appeal for international support to stop the mines. We saw the concrete markers where the mining companies have staked out their concessions, encompassing forests, farmlands and villages. We walked to one of the rivers that would carry mine-polluted water into the reservoir that serves the city of Maracaibo, potentially affecting the health of 1.5 million people.
In the cool tranquility along the river, it was impossible to imagine the enormous gray cavity that the miners plan to excavate, the blasting, the choking dust, the screeching of machinery and trucks. “The river is our mother,” said Lida Narva, a Yukpa community leader. “We cannot let them kill our mother.”
Most of the indigenous people and the poor throughout Venezuela enthusiastically support President Chavez, who is channeling millions of dollars of oil revenues into state programs for education, health care and job training. “We’re not against Chavez,” the indigenous people chanted as they marched in Caracas; “we’re against coal mines.”
In that spirit, we are launching this new Global Response campaign -- not against Chavez, but for sound environmental policy and indigenous peoples’ rights. Please join the Yukpa, Wayuu, Bari and Japreria peoples in this campaign. –Paula Palmer
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Sacred Sites - Bear Butte
From: Kent Lebsock iamkent@verizon.net
6 May 6, 2006
Bear Butte
We are attaching information from our Lakota people concerning one of themost sacred places in North America; Bear Butte.
Currently, non-Indigenous forces are acting to institute motorcycle bars at the foot of this sacred mountain and, as always, our people are leading the struggle to defend the Earth. The attached article is from Debra White Plume and there are photos of a recent rally on the issues. This summer the people will occupy the mountain beginning July 4th. Please feel free to contact either myself or Debra White Plume for more information or to suggest possible funding sources. Also, please feel free to distribute this information as widely as possible. We look forward to the participation of as many peoples and nations as possible.
Kent Lebsock
American Indian Law Alliance
212-477-9100 Voice Ph
212-477-0004 Fax Ph
kent@ailanyc.org www.ailanyc.org
Debra White Plume
Owe Aku, Bring Back the Way
Manderson, SD 57756-0325
605-455-2155 Voice Ph
605-455-1287 Fax Ph
lakota1@gwtc.net
www.bringbacktheway.com
Greetings Friends and Allies: There are four attachments, three photos from the 4 April 2006 Protect Bear Butte Rally and an article about the whole "issue". Please circulate as you see fit. The Meade County Commissioners approved another liquor license application on 2 MAY 2006 for a $500,000. fee.(yes, that is half a million dollars). There is another liquor license hearing coming up in June. This is a call for solidarity from the Intertribal Coalition to Defend Bear Butte to help us continue our struggle to Defend Bear Butte. We have a tax exempt fiscal agent. We are accepting donations of funds, tents, food, camping gear to help us prepare for upcoming Direct Actions and the Gathering of Nations to open on July 4, 2006. We will Take A Stand. Please stand with us.
Sincerely,
Debra White Plume
They Don’t Want Indians Praying at Bear Butte 24 April 2006
by Debra White Plume, Bring Back the Way, writing from the banks of Wounded Knee Creek
.doc or .pdf format
Clink on any photo to enlarge
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Environment: Mining - Gold
February 14, 2006
http://www.elkodaily.com/articles/2006/02/14/news/local_news/news3.txt
Gold loses price shine
ELKO - Gold prices are in the $540 range per ounce on Valentine's Day, after reaching new 25-year heights of $572.15 per ounce earlier this month but slipping the past few days.
The London late price today was $543.50, off $1.10, while the London afternoon fixing price was $539.70, off $4.10. The spot price on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $11.20 Monday to $539.
The London afternoon fixing price is the lowest since Jan. 9.
The price fell on the strength of the U.S. dollar Monday, according to news reports, but MarketWatch reported prices on futures contracts were going up today.
Shares in most gold producers also were up today, with Newmont Mining Corp. shares at $54.59, up 50 cents, and Barrick Gold Corp. shares at $28.50, up 43 cents, and Meridian Gold shares at $23.41, up 52 cents.
Kinross Gold shares were at $9.84, up 29 cents and Glamis Gold shares were at $27.98, up 43 cents.
Glamis President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin McArthur said in a teleconference Monday on Glamis earnings that Glamis shares were the top performing stock among the precious metals mining companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005.
Also on Valentine's Day, the No Dirty Gold campaign is praising eight jewelry retailers for urging mining corporations to produce gold in socially and environmentally responsible ways.
The No Dirty Gold environmental campaign bought a full-page ad in The New York Times, according to an announcement from Earthworks and Oxfam America.
Carrie Dann of the Western Shoshone Defense Project in Nevada is one of those quoted in the update on the No Dirty Gold campaign that targets jewelry sellers.
"For too long, the people who are buying and selling gold have been blind to mining's impacts on the water, the air, the land and communities like the Western Shoshone," she said.
"But today, some of the leading jewelry retailers are recognizing that they have a responsibility not only to their customers but also to communities affected by gold mining," Dann said.
Carol Raulston of the National Mining Association said today she believes the No Dirty Gold campaign is "really not worth our comment. U.S. mine practices are in conformance with what the jewelers set up."
The companies recognized for Valentine's Day included Zale Corp., the Signet Group, Tiffany & Co., Helzberg Diamonds, Fortunoff, Cartier, Piaget and Van Cleef & Arpels.
"Because jewelry retailers buy the majority of gold produced worldwide, they have the power to help clean up the mining industry," said Payal Sampat, co-director of the No Dirty Gold campaign and international campaign director for Earthworks. |
Environment: Mining - Gold
February 14, 2006
No Dirty Gold Praises, Pillories Jewelers
No Dirty Gold Praises, Pillories Jewelers- Mineweb - Johannesburg,South Africa
http://www.mineweb.net/sections/sustainable_mining/896841.htm
By: Dorothy Kosich
RENO--(Mineweb.com) Environmental NGOs Monday unveiled their annual St Valentine's Day bashing of the international gold mining industry through the latest version of the "No Dirty Gold" campaign.
This year several top jewelry retailers, including Zale, Helzberg Diamonds, Fortunoff, Cartier, Piaget, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Signet Group (the parent of Sterling and Kay Jewelers) joined Tiffany & Co. on the enviros' "leaders" list, which was published in a advertisement in Monday's New York Times.
Not surprisingly, the discount retailers from which the majority of the American public buys gold, fared much worse in the NGOs' estimation, landing on the "laggards" list. These include average consumer mass-marketers JCPenney, Wal-Mart, grocery king Fred Meyer Jewelers, QVC, Sears/Kmart, and Jostens, which manufactures class rings, as well as the more upper crust Rolex, and the financially struggling Whitehall Jewelers.
The jewelry industry leaders have endorsed human rights, environment, and social justice principles that call for responsible production of gold and precious metals. These include: free, prior, and informed consent from affected communities; respect for workers' rights and labor standards; protecting parks and natural reserves from mining; protecting oceans, rivers, lakes, and streams from mining wastes; and respect for basic human rights outlined in international conventions and law.
In news releases issued Monday, Keith Slack, co-director of the No Dirty Gold campaign and senior policy advisor for Oxfam America, declared, "Despite growing demand from concerned consumers, mining corporations have yet to significantly reduce the harm their operations are inflicting on communities in many parts of the world. When major jewelry retailers demand ethically produced gold for their products, it's time for the mining industry to take note and make changes in their practices."
Carrie Dann of the Western Shoshone Defense Project, a longtime opponent of Placer Dome now Barrick's massive Pipeline Project in Northern Nevada, declared, "For too long, the people who are buying and selling gold have been blind to mining's impacts on the water, the air, the land, and communities like the Western Shoshone. ...But today, some of the leading jewelry retailers are recognizing that they have a responsibility not only to their customers but also to communities affected by gold mining." It is estimated that half of the gold produced internationally between 1995 and 2015 will come from indigenous peoples' lands.
The New York Times ad can be found at www.nodirtygold.org. It depicts a locket containing pictures of a child laborer and a cyanide sign at a mine. It declares that "Gold mining is one of the dirtiest industries in the world--it contaminates drinking water, destroy traditional ways of life, and uproots people from their homes." Neither the World Gold Council or National Mining Associate websites contained responses to Monday's advertisement. |
San Francisco Peaks
February 15, 2006
Native Youth Media Coalition- Press Release
**Send this to at least 5 people!
New Voices Emerging
" If you desecrate and destroy the Peaks, you're doing away with a way of life. When is that going to be understood? That's killing Native American Nations. That's killing us."
-Joe Shirley Jr. Navajo Nation President
The San Francisco Peaks are sacred to more than 13 Indigenous Nations. They are located just outside of Flagstaff, Arizona. Presently, a Ski Resort called Arizona Snowbowl is disrespectfully located on the Peaks. There is an on-going battle to stop the Arizona Snowbowl from expanding its resort. Arizona Snowbowl plans on desecrating the Peaks using reclaimed waste-water to make artificial "snow" on this Holy and Sacred Mountain. Not only is it a powerful spiritual place, it is also the home to more than 200 species of mammals and birds that are dependant on the regions unique environment. The Youth of the Peaks are standing up for the preservation of this mountain.
The Youth of the Peaks was formed in the spring of 2005. Since their birth they have respectfully built a strong movement of Indigenous Youth to stand up and protect the sacred San Francisco Peaks against the destruction by Arizona Snowbowl and the City of Flagstaff. The Youth of the Peaks made a callout to Elders and Young people from all over Arizona to come to the New Voices Emerging Summit held in Flagstaff, February 10-12th. The Youth of the Peaks organized the summit to bring Youth and Elders together for two days to build alliances, dialogue, plan and strategize around the issue of protecting the Peaks.
Over 70 youth attended the summit. There was a beautiful presence of youth groups supporting the struggle, such as, T.R.U.T.H.F.U.L. from Hopi, The Indigenous Youth Alliance (IYA) from Gila River/Phoenix, the Native Youth Media Coalition, E.C.H.O.E.S from Flagstaff, and the Native Movement Collective. By the end of the Summit, strong alliances were created amongst the youth who now felt as family. Leaving back to their own communities the youth did not say good-bye, rather they said, "we will stop the snowbowl! ". The weaving of their collective strength has begun and their determination continues.
"This is what it takes to talk to the earth, so that it can understand you. These ways are being forgotten, that's why were where we are. And in some cases, they are not forgotten, but they are being forced to not be practiced. This is what they are doing to you, by denying you this sacred sight. We don't need to tell no white man in a black gown that this is our sacred sight.we don't' "
-Dine Elder
"Us as youth we have concerns too, especially as Indigenous Youth, who hold these peak's sacred. The people need to know that it's not just the Elders, the Medicine men, and the older ones who are concerned about this mountain, its also us youth." - Youth of the Peaks
" We need to help the future generations that are to come. What our future people are going to be like depends on what we as people are going to be, what we are going to do. I'm here for my people, I'm here for all people." -Young woman from T.R.U.T.H.F.U.L.
" The Youth of the Peaks and other organizations here at the summit really have a long-term vision, not just in terms of a plan. but really what we are engaged in is a process of building hope... of cultivating hope..." - Youth of the Peaks
Get involved in the struggle to protect the San Francisco Peaks!
Stop Snowbowl!
For more information on the ongoing battle to protect the San Francisco Peaks: www.savethepeaks.org
For more information on Youth of the Peaks: www.savethepeaks.org/youth |
Lubicon
January 24, 2006
JOIN THE NATIONAL LUBICON PETITION CAMPAIGN
The Friends of the Lubicon, Amnesty International, KAIROS: Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, the Lubicon Legal Defence Fund, and Outaouais Lubicon Solidarity are launching a national Lubicon Petition Campaign to demonstrate support for a settlement of Lubicon land rights in 2006.
The petition is available for download at http://www.tao.ca/~fol along with a flyer you can use to introduce the issues to potential signers.
The national Lubicon petition will be presented in the House of Commons in May, 2006, along with the demand that "the Prime Minister and the Minister of Indian Affairs . ensure that their representatives have a mandate to negotiate all outstanding issues with the Lubicon Nation in good faith and . proceed immediately with negotiations towards a full and final settlement of this issue."
You can help make the National Lubicon Petition Campaign a success by downloading and printing the petition and collecting signatures from your friends, family, co-workers and anyone else who supports a final settlement of this long-outstanding human rights issue. Completed petitions can be mailed back to us at the address above.
Settling Lubicon land rights is the Constitutional responsibility of the Canadian federal government no matter which political party is in power.
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Mohave : Power Plant
Sacred Land News and Action Alert
Mohave Power Plant Shuts Down!
NPR's Living on Earth to feature Mohave Power Plant shutdown
Featured This Weekend on NPR's Living on Earth
On New Year's Eve, Southern California Edison and three other utilities shut down the Mohave Power Plant in Laughlin, Nevada, in accordance with a court order mandating the plant's closure due to air pollution of the Grand Canyon area. This ends a 30 year struggle by Hopi traditional leaders and activists to shut down the coal slurry line operated by Peabody Coal Company that has depleted sacred ceremonial springs on Black Mesa, 273 miles to the east of the power plant. Since 1970, Peabody has extracted 40 billion gallons of pristine water to operate the only coal slurry line in the U.S., an environmental injustice we featured in our first documentary, The Four Corners: A National Sacrifice Area? (1983), and our most recent film, In the Light of Reverence (2001).
This weekend's Living on Earth program on National Public Radio will portray the power plant closing as a major environmental victory, even though 160 Navajo and Hopi miners are out of work and the tribal governments will lose millions in royalty payments. A six-minute interview with Sacred Land Film Project Director Christopher "Toby" McLeod will be featured in the broadcast and can be heard any time at the Living on Earth Web site: http://www.loe.org/
Congratulations to Black Mesa Trust, Vernon Masayesva, and the many other Hopi and Navajo leaders who have collaborated over decades with an array of allies to stop the depletion of sacred springs that are essential to ceremonies and all life on the mesas. Thanks to the Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Trust and the National Parks Conservation Association for bringing the Clean Air Act court action in 1999 that has now resulted in the shutdown of the power plant.
Ironically, the utilities will now be able to sell "pollution credits" to other corporations that want to foul the air, to the tune of $30-50 million per year. Native activists and environmental organizations will petition the California Public Utility Commission to require the utilities to pass on $20 million per year to Hopi and Navajo communities for job re-training, community planning, and development of solar and wind power and other sustainable economic endeavors. Southern California Edison has issued a statement opposing this "Just Transition Plan," saying that potential pollution credit money belongs to its ratepayers and they don't want to share it.
For details of the Mohave shut down read the January 1, 2006 New York Times article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/01/national/01mine.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx= 1136311434-gd+aYHX2FZuEOOfcSJKAmA, the Los Angeles Times report at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mohave30dec30,1,4809404.story, or see our Web page on Black Mesa at
http://www.sacredland.org/endangered_sites_pages/black_mesa.html.
Thank you and Happy New Year!
Sacred Land Film Project
P.O. Box C-151
La Honda, CA 94020 USA
http://www.sacredland.org
a project of Earth Island Institute
Our documentary film In the Light of Reverence is distributed by Bullfrog Films: 1-800-543-3764
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(Bushmen) First People of the Kalahari : Botswana
Dec. 9, 2005 Message from Roy Sesana, Gana Bushman and recent Right Livelihood Award recipient (Alternative Nobel Prize)
*Roy Sesana, the Alternative Nobel Prize winner, speaks*
Right Livelihood Award address, Stockholm, 9. December 2005
My name is Roy Sesana; I am a Gana Bushman from the Kalahari in what is now called Botswana. In my language, my name is 'Tobee' and our land is 'T//amm'. We have been there longer than any people has been anywhere.
When I was young, I went to work in a mine. I put off my skins and wore clothes. But I went home after a while. Does that make me less Bushman? I don't think so.
I am a leader. When I was a boy we did not need leaders and we lived well. Now we need them because our land is being stolen and we must struggle to survive. It doesn't mean I tell people what to do, it's the other way around: they tell me what I have to do to help them.
I cannot read. You wanted me to write this speech, so my friends helped, but I cannot read words - I'm sorry! But I do know how to read the land and the animals. All our children could. If they didn't, they would have all died long ago.
I know many who can read words and many, like me, who can only read the land. Both are important. We are not backward or less intelligent: we live in exactly the same up-to-date year as you. I was going to say we all live under the same stars, but no, they're different, and there are many more in the Kalahari. The sun and moon are the same.
I grew up a hunter. All our boys and men were hunters. Hunting is going and talking to the animals. You don't steal. You go and ask. You set a trap or go with bow or spear. It can take days. You track the antelope. He knows you are there, he knows he has to give you his strength. But he runs and you have to run. As you run, you become like him. It can last hours and exhaust you both. You talk to him and look into his eyes. And then he knows he must give you his strength so your children can live.
When I first hunted, I was not allowed to eat. Pieces of the steenbok were burnt with some roots and spread on my body. This is how I learned. It's not the same way you learn, but it works well.
The farmer says he is more advanced than the backward hunter, but I don't believe him. His herds give no more food than ours. The antelope are not our slaves, they do not wear bells on their necks and they can run faster than the lazy cow or the herder. We run through life together.
When I wear the antelope horns, it helps me talk to my ancestors and they help me. The ancestors are so important: we would not be alive without them. Everyone knows this in their heart, but some have forgotten. Would any of us be here without our ancestors? I don't think so.
I was trained as a healer. You have to read the plants and the sand. You have to dig the roots and become fit. You put some of the root back for tomorrow, so one day your grandchildren can find it and eat. You learn
what the land tells you.
When the old die, we bury them and they become ancestors. When there is sickness, we dance and we talk to them; they speak through my blood. I touch the sick person and can find the illness and heal it.
We are the ancestors of our grandchildren's children. We look after them, just as our ancestors look after us. We aren't here for ourselves. We are here for each other and for the children of our grandchildren.
Why am I here? Because my people love their land, and without it we are dying. Many years ago, the president of Botswana said we could live on our ancestral land forever. We never needed anyone to tell us that. Of
course we can live where God created us! But the next president said we must move and began forcing us away.
They said we had to go because of diamonds. Then they said we were killing too many animals: but that's not true. They say many things which aren't true. They said we had to move so the government could develop us. The president says unless we change we will perish like the dodo. I didn't know what a dodo was. But I found out: it was a bird which was wiped out by settlers. The president was right. They are killing us by forcing us off our land. We have been tortured and shot at. They arrested me and beat me.
Thank you for the Right Livelihood Award. It is global recognition of our struggle and will raise our voice throughout the world. When I heard I had won I had just been let out of prison. They say I am a criminal, as I stand here today.
I say what kind of development is it when the people live shorter lives than before? They catch HIV/AIDS. Our children are beaten in school and won't go there. Some become prostitutes. They are not allowed to hunt.
They fight because they are bored and get drunk. They are starting to commit suicide. We never saw that before. It hurts to say this. Is this 'development'?
We are not primitive. We live differently to you, but we do not live exactly like our grandparents did, nor do you. Were your ancestors 'primitive'? I don't think so. We respect our ancestors. We love our children. This is the same for all people.
We now have to stop the government stealing our land: without it we will die.
If anyone has read a lot of books and thinks I am primitive because I have not read even one, then he should throw away those books and get one which says we are all brothers and sisters under God and we too have
a right to live.
That is all. Thank you.
Roy Sesana
First People of the Kalahari, Botswana
see: http://www.khoisanpeoples.org
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Wacam : Ghana
STATEMENT OF WACAM ON THE DISPOSAL OF FAECAL MATTER INTO COMMUNITY STREAMS BY NEWMONT GHANA GOLD LIMITED
WACAM received complaints from community people concerning the disposal of faecal matter from the sewerage of Newmont Ahafo Mine in Kenyase area into community streams.
Our investigations have confirmed that Newmont had been disposing faecal matter from the sewerage of its mine camp in Kenyase through pipes and a gutter which flows into a small pond created from River Asuopre. The water in the pond which is contaminated is then directed through a hidden pipe into the main River Asuopre which happens to be the only source of drinking water for most communities. The faecal sludge disposed into the pond has a bad stench and Newmont has put up caution signpost that the faecal sludge is contaminated thus confirming the pollution of the pond which is discharged into River Asuopre.
Unknown to the communities that the there was faecal disposal into the stream, communities like Kwakyekrom and farmers from Ntotroso and Kenyase who farm around the area continued to drink from River Asuopre . River Asuopre flows into river Tano which is treated downstream and distributed to a number of big towns like Hwidiem and Acherensua.
The revelation of the disposal of faecal matter into River Asuopre though shocking, we are aware that Newmont continues to dispose mine waste through pipes into the sea in its operations in Indonesia despite persistent complaints against the disposal of mine waste into the sea popularly known as Submarine Tailings Disposal. In defence of its disposal of mine waste into the sea in Indonesia, Mr Wayne Murdy, the Chief Executive Officer of Newmont responded to the query on the company’s disposal of mine waste into the ocean in Indonesia at the Annual Shareholders meeting in Denver in April 2005 by saying that when gold is extracted from the soil, what remained was sand, inferring that mine waste could be disposed anywhere.
Although WACAM believes that Newmont has a bad policy on its mine waste disposal in other parts of the world, disposal of faecal matter into community streams is sacrilegious and an act which degrades the dignity of the people whose only crime is that they happen to live in areas of gold deposits which Newmont is extracting for profit.
The disposal of faecal matter into the community streams could be likened to a biological warfare against unsuspecting poor communities living on their indigenous lands. For WACAM, the reason for the disposal of faecal matter into community stream is not because Newmont wants to reduce the cost of its operations, neither is it accidental nor ignorance. A study of how the disposal facility was established convinces WACAM that it was a deliberate act to establish a ground situation of polluted streams before Newmont formally commences its operations in 2006. For example, when Goldfields Ghana Limited spilled cyanide into River Asuman in October 2001, Mr Richard Graeme who was then the Managing Director of the company attempted to create the impression through an advertisement that the cyanide pollution was not as serious as the faecal pollution of River Asuman and the impression was that the community people had polluted their own drinking stream with faecal matter. There have been similar experiences of faecal matter disposal into community streams by some mining companies operating in the Wassa West District in the past and the companies tried to blame mining communities for the pollution.
Community people have a spiritual relationship and special attachment to their drinking streams and it is unthinkable for community people to pollute their own drinking streams with faecal matter.
Newmont paid $700,000 to the Colorado University in USA to conduct community health assessment in their concessions in Ghana and Peru.. The report indicated a stress on community water due to influx of people to Kenyase to seek employment in the Newmont Ahafo mine. By polluting community streams with faecal matter, Newmont is worsening the water stress situation and also creating public health problems for the people in the area.
We condemn the unethical and irresponsible mining practice of disposing faecal matter from sewerage of Newmont into community streams. Though community people have informed us of the desperate attempts of Newmont to cover up all incriminating evidence of this disgraceful act , there is enough evidence to prove the deliberate disposal of faecal matter from the sewerage of the mine into River Asuopre.
WACAM calls on Parliament to see this as a challenge and use the opportunity created by the review of the mining law to enact laws that would protect the environment and mining communities from such irresponsible behaviours of some mining companies.
WACAM is calling on the Commissioner for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to institute independent investigations into Newmont’s disposal of faecal matter into River Asuopre.
Daniel Owusu-Koranteng
(Executive Director of WACAM)
Dated 6th December 2005 |
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