On March 18, 2008, three Indigenous Elders and Spiritual Leaders from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta took part in a presentation at the Poder forum in Miami, Florida, to discuss their land reclamation and restoration efforts.
Home to some 50,000 indigenous people from four different ethnic groups – the Kogi, Wiwa, Arhuaco and Kakuamo, all descendants of the Tayronas - the Sierra Nevada is the the world’s tallest coastal mountain range and one of the world’s most unique ecosystems.
The People say it is “the heart of the world,” a sacred place that forms and unites the origin of life with the present day, a place that is vital for the planet and which must protected. It is tradition for them to act as guardians, carefully monitoring and responding to everything that happens there.
Over the past century, however, their traditional …
Black Mesa Indigenous Support (BMIS) sends an update on the struggle of the Traditional Dineh residents of Black Mesa, reminding us that the US still intends to relocate the Dineh and destroy their homelands.
For more information and to learn how to help, please visit www.blackmesais.org, and www.blackmesawatercoalition.org
FIRST NATIONS, FIRST RESISTANCE—
SUPPORT THE STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL AT BIG MOUNTAIN, BLACK MESA, AZ.
On behalf of their peoples, their ancestral lands, and future generations, more than 350 Dineh residents of Black Mesa continue their staunch resistance to the efforts of the US Government– acting in the interests of the Peabody Coal Company—to relocate the Dineh and destroy their homelands. This land is the basis for the Black Mesa peoples’ traditions, livelihoods, and spirituality.
At this moment the decision makers in Washington D.C. are planning ways to seize tribal lands to extract mineral resources. The …
Oil on Ice is a one-hour documentary that examines the issues surrounding the exploitation of oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
The US Government maintains the region is a barren wasteland, as if to say “how can we not take the oil? There’s nothing there but snow!”
However, the claim is no more than a baseless lie. The truth, is that the entire region is teeming with diversity. This becomes apparent when then long winter ends and “its land, mountains, rivers and seas explode with life.” From that point on, “a combination of continual sunlight, abundant plant growth, and rich nutrients generate an astonishing quantity and diversity of living things. This arctic coastal plain of the Refuge becomes the feeding and breeding grounds for over 180 species of resident and migratory birds, a herd of 130,000 caribou, all three species of North American bears, plus Dall …
Last month, the Cucapa and Kumiai Indigenous Communities of Baja California, Mexico, announced a multilateral project dedicated to making themselves autonomous, self-sufficient, traditionally-governed Peoples.
As explained in a project overview (see below), years of colonial policies on part of the Mexican government have produced “the almost complete loss of our autonomy, of our natural resources, and our culture, principally our native tongues, and the destruction of the social fabric within our communities and our forms of internal organization.”
Their situation is getting to the point now, they added, where “we will disappear as Indian Peoples and that in a not too distant future we will be talked about like we talk today about the extinct Pericues, Waycuras and Cochimies, who inhabited the peninsula, if now, at this very moment, we do nothing to prevent this.”
Rather than wait for their own …
The Canadian Government along with the Province of British Columbia announced on Friday that they will accept the recommendations made by the Kemess North Mine Joint Review Panel.
Last September, the Panel rejected Northgate Minerals’ mine expansion proposal because they felt ‘the benefits of the project outweigh the risks of significant adverse environmental, social and cultural effects.’ If Northgate was allowed to proceed, they would have turned Amazay Lake, held Sacred by the Tse Keh Nay Peoples, into a toxic waste dump.
In a Press Release dated March 7, Leaders from the Union of B.C.Indian Chiefs, the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, and the First Nation Summit expressed relief over the Government’s decision:
“It should have been an easy decision for both governments. No government should as a matter of public policy authorize the destruction of lakes,” Grand Chief Edward John …
Indigenous groups in Costa Rica have reaffirmed their opposition to El Diquis, a hydro-electric project the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) plans to build in the southern province of Puntarenas. The government of Costa Rica recently declared the project a “National interest”.
Ivannia Villalobos explains on her blog that, while El Diquís “was presented publicly by the ICE about two years ago, it’s in fact another version of the so-called ‘Boruca Hydroelectric Project’ which was first proposed in the early 70’s.”
As it’s currently proposed, El Diquis would flood the Traditional Lands of the Terraba and Chinakicha Nations. Forcing their displacement, the project would also compromise and infringe upon both Peoples’ beliefs and cultures. Over 200 historical sites; including Burial Grounds, Sacred Sites, and Ancient Ruins—would all be destroyed by the flood.
The dam would have a further, indirect effect on the …
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 Ridge Indian Reservation and others in eight states from Nebraska to Texas. At the moment, the aquifer is being depleted at a rate of 160 percent above its ability to replenish.
A group of indigenous stakeholders and environmental organizations say this expansion must not happen. Led by Debra White Plume and …
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