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Hundreds of Indigenous campesinos have been tricked into giving away their lands for a wind farm project on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, Mexico.

The non-Spanish speaking agrarians signed tenancy agreements with a number of different companies, some of which last up to 60 years. Now the companies refuse to fulfill their end of the agreements.

For instance, the Spanish company Union FENOSA promised agricultural aid to Faustina López Martínez, from the village of Juchitán, so they can run a set of windmills on her 3 hectares of land for the next 30 years. …

Thousands of Manasir villagers in Sudan are refusing to leave their lands, which are currently being flooded as the reservoir for the nearby Merowe Dam begins to fill.

“Local communities have recorded their trauma on video, and say the reservoir is being deliberately filled now to forcibly evict those villages that have been most outspoken in calling for fair compensation and replacement lands. As many as 25 villages could ultimately be affected by the rising waters,” says International Rivers.

The Manasir, who number around 50,000, were previously willing to relocate to other parts of …

It’s well known that Canada perpetuates discrimination against indigenous people at every level of government, but what does it mean when that discrimination causes the death of innocent people? Death that is enshrouded in bureaucracy, covered up by the government, and ignored by the so-called leaders?

Shelley Brant, from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in southern Ontario, reaches for an answer in this open letter:

An Open Letter to Canada and All First Nation Leaders
Wednesday August 6th, 2008

The recent questionable killing of yet another First Nations man, Craig McDougall 26 by police in Winnipeg has led me …

After a bit of a break, the First Nations Strategic Policy Counsel has resumed its monthly publication, the First Nations Strategic Bulletin.

Issues in this month’s bulletin include: an analysis of “Canada’s War to terminate First Nations” (Harper’s apology in context), the OPP & Mohawks (w/ a transcript of the phone conversation between Shawn Brant & Julian Fantino — something you probably haven’t seen yet), “the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the 2010 Olympics,” and “Canada’s Tibetans: Barriere Lake & Other First Nations.”

You can download the bulletin …

Named after a story about a deadly lie, The Leech and the Earthworm is a documentary film that explores western science, biotechnology and the commodification of indigenous peoples genetic property. The film was produced in 2003 by Yeast Directions and the Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism (IPCB).

For a little more background, here’s a review of the film by GRAIN, an international NGO that “promotes the sustainable management and use of agricultural biodiversity based on people’s control over genetic resources and local knowledge.”

In the mid-1980s, scientists from a Canadian university took blood samples from more than 800 people …

Here’s an article I just got published on the Dominion News, with a few links added for people wanting more information.

Mad as a Hatter
Canada’s mercury pollution on Indigenous lands

The Mad Hatter, in the children’s story Alice In Wonderland is suffering from mercury poisoning. Between 1971 and 1996, 17,671 Indigenous People were found to have dangerous levels of mercury in their blood. The first steps are being made towards a class action law suit against the federal government.

If a thermometer breaks in a classroom, spilling mercury, most children are taught to stay away. …

Last Friday, the Indian Supreme Court issued two rulings against Indigenous People and rural farmers in the eastern state of Orissa. Favoring development over the people’s rights and livelihoods, the court gave the go-ahead to Vedanta Resources and their bauxite mine on the Nyamgiri Hills, as well as to the South Korean steel-maker Posco’s massive steel project in the same state.

“The announcements were hardly surprising, though they still had the power to shock,” notes a recent report by London Calling. “The court seemed determined to display its pro-industry credentials on both …