Continuing their struggle against a large hydroelectric dam project in the Brazilian Amazon, the Enawene Nawe set up a blockade at one of the dam construction sites late last week. According to Survival, about 100 members of the 420-strong tribe occupied the building site, demanding an independent study into the impact they will have.

The Enawene Nawe maintain the dams will have a devastating effect on the breeding cycle of the fish they depend on to survive. They say the fish might not even be able to make …

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 …

After Friday’s court hearing that accepted mining and exploration company Platinex Inc’s motion for contempt against Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI), Chief Donny Morris, councilor Sam McKay, and community member Mark Anderson announced they would gladly go to jail in defense of the land and their treaty rights.

“I’m prepared to go to jail for my belief in the land,” said KI Chief Donny Morris. “This is a land issue based on our sovereignty and I’m prepared to give myself up if the court decides I’ve disrespected the November ruling to …

The farmers of Daechuri and Doduri have long resisted the Korean government’s attempts to force their eviction in order to make way for the expansion of the “Camp Humphreys” (K-6) US Military Base. After years of legal battles, in December 2005, the Central Land Expropriation Committee approved a request for imminent domain acquisition of the two villages, instantly making the farmers criminals trespassing on federal property.

Three months later, the farmers marched to the local government office to declare that Daechuri and Doduri were autonomous from Korea. They renounced …

For months now, the community of Cutumay Camones, which resides near Santa Ana, El Salvador, has been protesting against the construction of a new landfill site that threatens to contaminate their drinking water. The landfill is positioned directly above a local aquifer, just 700 meters away from the community spring.

The government doesn’t care in the least. Not about the thousands of threatened families that make up the community, not about the Ombudsman’s recommendations to immediately halt construction because of the forthcoming water contamination, and not even about the …

This ten-minute video, “Por el Territorio Wichi” (For the Wichi Territory) brings you to the heart of Indigenous struggle. It looks at the Wichi of northern Argentina, who’s land has been steadily invaded over the last 100 years.

Since then, loggers have felled their forest, and settlers have introduced cattle. These cattle not only turn the land already stolen from the Wichí into desert, but also break into the tiny plots of land which the Wichí have managed to hold on to, destroying their crops. The Wichí have been left almost landless and without their livelihood. The local Salta authorities have, …

This 12-minute video, produced by the Seventh Generation Fund, discusses the Defenders of the Black Hills, “a group of volunteers, without racial or tribal boundaries, whose mission is to ensure that all of the provisions of the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868 are upheld by the federal government of the United States.”

In doing so, these volunteers are also upholding the Constitution of the United States which, in Article Six, states that “treaties are the Supreme Law of the land.” Until the

Treaties are upheld, the actions of the Defenders are to restore and protect the …

The Western Shoshone Defense Project (WSDP) posted an action alert yesterday, warning that Cortez Gold Mines (a subsidiary of Barrrick Gold) may soon be permitted to build a new gold mine on the slopes of Mt. Tenabo.

The mountain and surrounding area is of extreme significance to the Spiritual and Cultural life of the Western Shoshone. “Mt. Tenabo has been, and continues to be used by Western Shoshone people as a central part of their religious practices and world view. Western Shoshone visit the mountain and the valley below (the location of the mine pit) for prayer ceremonies, gathering …

photo courtesy of www.paqg.org/

Rights Action sent out a reminder today about the ongoing legal case against the group of Mayan Farmers known as the GoldCorp 7.

If you’re not familiar with the case—in January, 2007, residents of the communities neighboring Goldcorp’s open pit, cyanide-leeching mine in San Marcos set up a blockade in an effort to start a dialogue with the company. Prior to this, the community repeatedly tried to talk with the …

The following message is a request for action in support of the Wayuu People in the Alta Guajira region of Colombia. For more information, please visit organizacionwayuumunsurat.blogspot.com.

Thanks to Ana for posting this on her blog

URGENT SUPPORT FOR THE WAYÙU INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN COLOMBIA

The displaced community of Bahìa Portete found in the Alta Guajira once again denounces the latest incursión of the paramilitary group CONTRAINSURGENCIA WAYUU under command of the alias “ PABLO ” into their ancestral territory that has once already been bathed in blood. This …