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 …

For those of you who may not have had the chance to listen to the live online broadcast of the Border Summit, here’s a good 20 hours of audio for you. A big thanks goes out to Earth Cycles for recording and making the audio available on their site.

A few days ago, the 2nd Indigenous Border Summit came to an end in the San Xavier District of the Tohono O’odham Nation.

The Summit brought together delegates and traditional authorities of 19 Indigenous Nations to exchange experiences and information about how the …

A decade-long struggle for the Maya villages of Conejo and Santa Cruz came to an unexpected, hopeful end last week. Chief Justice, Dr. Abdulai Conteh granted the order sought by the villages to have their customary land tenure practices acknowledged and secured under the Constitution.

Historically, the Government of Belize has systematically denied the Maya rights to their land, by claiming they were Guatemalan immigrants, therefore without a valid claim.

Under that premise, in 1993 the Government allowed logging on over 500,000 acres in the Toledo District, and granted …

Asserting jurisdiction within the Haldimand Tract, last month Traditional Chiefs at Six Nations announced a plan where they would set up an organization and begin to charge fees and require permits for construction to occur within the Haldimand Tract; a region that is by all legitimate means Six Nations Territory.

Well, this past Wednesday the Province of Ontario’s negotiator, Murray Coolican, told Confederacy Representatives that they do not have the right (therefore jurisdiction) to collect payments or issue permits.

As quoted by the Globe and mail, Mr. …

Traditional Chiefs at Six Nations have recently announced that anyone planning to build in the Grand River watershed must now secure a permit from the Confederacy.

The Confederacy stated that this is an assertion of their jurisdiction over lands within the Haldimand Tract, as well as an attempt to prevent environmental degradation caused by new developments.

Aaron Detlor, a Mohawk lawyer and spokesperson for the new planning agency says “We are saying specifically that you need to apply and be given a permit…” “If you do not have a permit and …

Invoking the 15th century legal procedure we know as the Doctrine of Discovery, on August 2nd a Russian submarine placed a titanium Russian Flag on the Arctic seabed under the north pole, claiming sovereign ownership of the resources in the region, which includes an estimated 10 billion tons of oil and gas.

As discussed in some detail on Native America, Discovered and Conquered, “Russia is primarily relying on the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea for its claim to the Arctic floor, and the estimated 10 …

Courtesy of Mohawk Nation News, here is the full speech delivered earlier today at the rally in front of the Law Society of Upper Canada. This was delivered by Janie Jamieson, Spokesperson of the Six Nations of the Grand River.
Thanks to MNN for sending this out…

August 21, 2007

Throughout the past year and a half the rule of law has been the topic of discussion for many political and personal circles. Many questions are asked, “Why isn’t the rule of law being equally applied to everyone? Are Natives above the law? Why are certain people …

The United Nations released a report that focuses in on the rights of Maori and the conduct of the New Zealand Government towards them. Among several issues raised, the UN expressed concerns over a bill that aims to remove references to all principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, and also calls for the government to ‘renew’ the dialogue over the Foreshore and Seabed Act: a law passed in 2004 in which the government granted itself exclusive title to the foreshore and Seabed of New Zealand.

The issue with the Foreshore …

August 9th, a 1st Circuit Court of Appeals panel eliminated the rights of the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy Nations to regulate water pollutants in their treaty territory.

The court claims the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980 (and its accompanying implementation act) removed all their sovereignty and immunity except when it comes to matters such as choosing leaders and determining membership.

The Penobscot and Passamaquoddy, both riverine and coastal Peoples, say their authority as sovereign nations takes precedence over state jurisdiction, and that regardless of what the Indian Claims Settlement Act …

“The land is very important to us. It is very sacred to the Western Shoshone People. It represents life, and to take our land is to take our life. And I find it quote appauling that a country like the United States is legitimizing the theft of Western Shoshone land.”– Carrie Dann, Western Shoshone grandmother

The following 25 minute video focuses in on the struggles of Carrie and Mary Dann, two Western Shoshone Grandmothers who have since 1972 been working to protect their lands from the United States’ gradual encroachment and utter usurpation.

Their Nevada Territory—in fact two-thirds of the State …