The Canadian-based uranium giant Cameco Resources is attempting to expand their mining operation near Crawford, Nebraska. Last year they submitted a proposal to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), asking permission to use another 2.4 billion gallons of water over the 4.7 billion they currently exploit (per year) from the High Plains aquifer, the largest aquifer in America.

If the expansion is approved as Cameco hopes it could seriously infringe on those who depend on water from the High Plains - and several interconnected aquifers; among them, the People of Pine …

Last week, a coalition of indigenous people and environmental groups filed a lawsuit aimed at halting the massive oil drilling project in the Chukchi Sea.

Consisting of the Native Village of Point Hope, the City of Point Hope, the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope (ICAS), Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands (REDOIL), as well as The Wilderness Society and the Center for Biological Diversity, among several others - the coalition argues that the U.S. Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) should not have gone ahead with it’s recent …

The following video is six-minute clip is from Poison Wind, a documentary that examines the devastating impact Uranium mining has had on Indigenous People in the four corners region of New Mexico and Northern Arizona.

“As a government’s cruel secret is carried on the face of the wind,” writes Jenny Pond, one of the film’s co-producers, “Poison Wind tells the story of a corrupt government, unconscionable greed and a policy of destruction aimed at the Aboriginal Homelands of Indigenous People from the 1940’s until today.”

It also tells the stories of those who worked at the mine, of those who struggle to …

The International Indian Treaty Council will soon present the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination with a document that reveals America’s legacy of systemic racism, forced assimilation and apartheid of Indigenous Peoples.

The 87-page Consolidated Indigenous Shadow Report, which has been prepared with testimony from a number of individuals, covers issues such as: environmental racism, border injustices, the destruction of sacred places, violence against women, and most tellingly, the “overwhelming disparities in income, life expectancy, poverty and unemployment” in what can only be described as a system of …

Honor the Earth, a group that’s comprised of representatives from the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) and the Indigenous Women’s Network (IWN) is currently accepting proposals for funding to help Native-led organizations in Canada and the US who work in the areas of: Environmental & Energy Justice, Community Development, and Youth. The grants range from $1,000- $5,000. Proposals are due January 15th, 2007.

Please visit this page for a full explanation of the application procedures.

[PLEASE DISTRIBUTE FAR AND WIDE]

Request for Proposals
Honor the Earth is currently soliciting …

Today, a group of Lakota calling themselves the Lakota Freedom Delegation are in Washington DC to announce their Nation’s withdrawal from all U.S. Treaties.

Information is fairly short at the moment, but they sent out a press release last week, explaining:

“For far too long our people have suffered at the hands of the colonial apartheid system imposed on the Lakota Sioux. Our treaties with the United States government are nothing more than worthless words on worthless paper – repeatedly violated in order to steal our culture, our land and our ability to maintain our way of life.

The devastation …

Tomorrow, December 11th, a Federal Appeals Court in Pasadena will be hearing oral arguments for and against the violation of religious freedom, environmental destruction, and public health dangers associated with the use of treated sewage effluent for snowmaking in a proposed ski area development on Arizona’s San Francisco Peaks–a Mountain range held Sacred by more than 13 Indigenous Nations.

This is the sequel to the unanimous court decision made in March, explains IPS News, that ruled “the U.S. Forest Service had violated its own laws by not fully …

March 2. 2008: Please note, there have been several updates posted in the comments since this article was initially posted. See the bottom of this post for an overview (includes petitions, media, and contact info)

Margo Tamez recently sent out the following urgent call for support, explaining that since July, her Mother and Elders of el Calaboz, Texas, have been the targets of numerous threats and harassments by the Border Patrol, Army Corps of Engineers, NSA, and the U.S. related to the proposed building of a fence on …

A few days before the Ontario Court of Appeals decision that favoured Whitefish Lake First Nation in Canada, there was another important court ruling South of the US/CAN border.

On October 29, Chief Judge Lisa Adams issued an order forcing the Native American Energy Group (N.A.E.G.) off the Pine Ridge reservation, declaring the company had been trespassing on Lakota Territory.

In a recent article, Ken Lesbock, the Director of the International Human Rights & Justice Project for Owe Aku, explains that earlier this year, the New York-based uranium mining …

Teshekpuk Lake, located in Northern Alaska, is one of the most important and sensitive arctic wetland complexes in the Northern Hemisphere. A summer home to thousands of migratory birds, the lake region is also an important subsistence hunting and fishing ground for the local indigenous population.

In 1923, Teshekpuk Lake was placed into Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve and was designated for use by the military, but the government of the day came to see the area was just too unique to exploit. The Bush Administration, however, sees …