Tag Archive for 'jurisdiction'Page 3 of 5

11
Jun

Urgent: Innu People Threatened with Evictions

Following a lawsuit filed by dozens of Innu seeking to establish title to their traditional lands, the provincial government of Newfoundland Labrador has issued eviction notices to more than 100 Innu families; giving them 60 days to “remove all structures from Crown land and restore the site to its original conditions.”

If they fail to do so, the government will demolish the structures themselves and charge the costs to the Innu families. On top of that, they will also be liable for fines “not less than $1,000″ and/or face imprisonment up to three months.

“This appears to be an outrageous effort by the government to evict the Innu people from their homeland without any legal basis,” comments Robert Tim Coulter, executive director of the Montana-based Indian Law Resource Center (ILRC) in a recent media release. “This is a grave violation of …

Published on
June 11, 2008
  1 Comment 843 views

05
Jun

Canada’s TVI Pacific Faces Tribal Justice

The Canadian mining company TVI Pacific, who operates a gold mine in the Southern Philippines, has been found guilty of numerous crimes by the traditional justice authority of the Subanon People - the “Gukom.”

Since 1994, the company has occupied Mount Canatuan, a sacred site for the Subanon People. They have done so without the Subanon’s consent (FPIC). Throughout the occupation, TVI has committed numerous human rights abuses and violations of Subanon customary law, as you’ll see reflected in the Gukom’s verdict.

First a bit on the trial…It began around seven months ago, after the Philippine legal system failed to address an assault charge layed against a member of the company’s private military force. In January 2007, Vivian Anoy Balingit, daughter of Timuay (or Chief) Jose “Boy” Anoy, was threatened and then struck with a weapon after refusing to acknowledge …

Published on
June 5, 2008
  0 Comments 794 views

24
May

Yankton Sioux: Oyate Duta Awa Yankapo

Oyate Duta Awa Yankapo, or Protectors of the Red People, looks at the recent events surrounding the construction of an industrial hog farm that is completely surrounded by the Ihanktowan, or Yankton Sioux Nation.

Since April 15th, 38 Ihanktowan peacefully blocking the construction have been arrested by state law enforcement officers acting outside of their jurisdiction on behalf of a company that is itself, acting illegally.

Shelley Bluejay Pierce writes, “The hog farm is located near Marty, South Dakota and is only a few miles away from many private homes, tribal facilities and institutions, including a Head Start center, schools, hospital, church, the tribal hall, and the Ihanktowan Community College. Additionally, there are ceremonial sites nearby including [two] Sun Dance grounds and [five] sweat lodges. The hog farm is in the vicinity of the town of Wagner, wetland areas, the Ogallala Aquifer and a creek that eventually feeds into …

Published on
May 24, 2008
  0 Comments 744 views

20
May

Beaver Lake Identifies 16,000 infringements in Lawsuit

Aiming to stop the wholesale destruction of their traditional lands, the Beaver Lake Cree Nation has launched a massive lawsuit against the Federal and Alberta governments.

Filed on May 14th, the suit identifies more than 16,000 infringements (development projects, most connected to the tar sands) that are contributing to the destruction of the environment, the loss of traditional areas, and the decline in wildlife populations within their territory. These infringements are making it impossible for the Nation to exercise their Treaty Rights.

A Beaver Lake press release (pdf) states in part,
Beaver Lake Cree Nation… has watched with growing anger and frustration as their traditional hunting, trapping and fishing lands have been rapidly destroyed by the oil and gas industry. They have seen the forests they depend on for their livelihood riddled with oil wells, criss-crossed with roads and seismic lines and …

Published on
May 20, 2008
  1 Comment 1,075 views

15
May

Lubicon Denied Standing at Pipeline Hearing

The Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) recently informed the Lubicon People that they will not be allowed to participate in the AUC’s hearing on TransCanada’s application to build a major gas pipeline… across unceded Lubicon land. To add insult to injury, the AUC says it’s the Lubicon’s own fault for not ‘properly’ answering their questions.

“It’s a crafty variant of the old ‘blame the victim’ strategy” say the Friends of the Lubicon in a recent press release. One where the AUC would rather deal with “the possible political implications of denying the Lubicons status at the hearing” than those of the Lubicon actually showing up.

They no doubt fear the latter could prove devastating to the pipeline. After all, the AUC knows full well that it has no jurisdiction or authority to impact the land without the Lubicon’s consent. The AUC however, seems to …

Published on
May 15, 2008
  0 Comments 678 views

29
Apr

No Toxic Dump on O’odham Land!

On March 29, Traditional O’odham leaders and International Supporters gathered in the small village of Quitovac in Sonora, Mexico, to organize against a toxic waste dump that threatens one of the O’odham’s most sacred Ceremonial sites.

“The gathering in Quitovac represented yet another chapter in the fight to stop the building of the toxic dump proposed to be built by the Mexican company CEGIR,” wrote the O’odham Solidarity Project shortly after the gathering came to a close.

“Since early in 2006 the traditional O’odham residing in the occupied territories of Northern Mexico and the South Western United States (and their international supporters) have persistently and patiently organized, protested and petitioned to try to convince the Mexican government federal Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat (SEMARNAT) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop CEGIR from building this toxic dump. So far, …

Published on
April 29, 2008
  1 Comment 801 views

26
Apr

State Troopers illegally Occupying Sioux Lands

Presently, State troopers from South Dakota are illegally occupying Yankton Sioux Lands. They began doing so on April 15, after Yankton Sioux Tribal Members began protesting a Hog Farm being constructed on their territory without their consent.

According to the Atlantic Free Press, the Sioux Protesters were “met immediately with illegal law enforcement presence and arrest[s]. To date twenty-two people have been arrested on trumped up charges and there has been a total over reaction of law enforcement numbering up to 52 SD Highway Patrol Cars with 22 more Highway Patrol cars waiting in reserve. Some patrol cars from as far away as the state of Iowa. The Highway Patrol has set up snipers with rifles on top of two command posts they have established near the scene.”

Kansas Mutual Aid adds that atleast one person has been injured, after “he was …

Published on
April 26, 2008
  4 Comments 891 views

Video activism and the Chiapas Media Project

In the following presentation, Claudia Magallanes-Blanco from the University of Western Sydney talks about the role of video activism as a world-wide tool for empowerment and the Chiapas Media Project, a collaborative effort based in Mexico that provides indigenous Zapatistas in Chiapas and peasants in Guerrero with training and equipment to produce their own videos.

Since forming in 1998, CMP has distributed over 6000 videos, including: Zapata’s Garden, a film that looks at the society the Zapatista’s are building; …


I Am A Defender of the Rainforest

Known as ‘Soy defensor de la selva’ in Spanish, I am a Defender of the Rainforest is an award-winning documentary that was filmed, edited, and directed by members of the Sarayaku community in southern Ecuador.

The film shows how the …


Underreported Struggles #19, October 2008

In this month’s Underreported Struggles: 400,000 Guatemalans Reject Development Model, Philippines Indigenous People Unite for the Land, Riot Police Target Algonquin Blockade, Chagos Islanders Denied the Right of Return, and 17 other stories …


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