CALIFAS: Peace and Dignity Journeys 2008 Meeting -- NOV 27

Thanks,
LaFe
TEVECO


Hello folks,
There will be a Peace and Dignity Journeys 2008 meeting for the Bay Area organizers.

Meeting Info:
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007
6:30-8:30pm

Intertribal Friendship House
523 International Blvd
Oakland, CA 94606Oakland,

Tlazo,
Malvido
www.peaceanddignityjourneys.com

Peace and Dignity Myspace Page:
myspace.com/peaceanddignityjourneys

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=86445224

Peace and Dignity Journeys are spiritual runs that embody the prophecy of the Eagle and Condor. This prophecy mandates that at this time all Indigenous Peoples in the Western Hemisphere shall be reunited in a spiritual way in order to heal our nations so we can begin to work towards a better future for our children and generations to come. Through the Journeys, participant runners and supporters work to accomplish this goal by helping each other reconnect to their respective spiritual practices and traditions; by helping each other relearn our role in the world as Indigenous Peoples; and by reminding each other of our responsibilities to Mother Earth, Father Sky, our communities, and ourselves.

Peace and Dignity Journeys occur every four years and start with Indigenous runners on opposite ends of the continents (Chickaloon, Alaska and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina). They run for seven months through hundreds of Indigenous communities where they participate in their respective spiritual practices and traditions; spark dialogue on the issue of peace and dignity for Indigenous Peoples; model their responsibility to Mother Earth, Father Sky, communities, and themselves; and receive the community’s prayers. These prayers and conversations are then carried to proceeding communities until the runners reach the center of the hemisphere. When the runners meet at the Kuna Nation in Panama City, Panama, it will symbolize all Indigenous Peoples joining together in a spiritual way to manifest the prophecy of the Eagle and Condor.

The Prophecy of the Eagle and Condor

Many Indigenous Nations throughout the Western Hemisphere speak about a prophecy that is written in the stars and foretells of a time when all Indigenous Peoples will come together and reunite as one Nation to envision a new future for generations to come; a time when we can take the Spirit in our own hands; a time when the Eagle and Condor reunite. According to this prophecy, the time of darkness for Indigenous Peoples is ending and it is time for us to begin the process of healing our nations. Through the Journeys, participant and supporters work to accomplish this by helping each other reconnect to their respective spiritual practices and traditions; helping each other relearn our role in the world as Indigenous Peoples; and reminding each other of our responsibilities to Mother Earth, Father Sky, our communities, and ourselves. It also says that the strength of our people, when reunited, will help bring about a new era of peace and dignity for all of humanity.

Thanks to:
Ne74

KANSAS: Wall Being Built Around Native American University

All walled up at Haskell


LINK TO VIDEO: http://tv.ku.edu/news/2007/11/05/all-walled/
LINK TO COMMENT: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/nov/07/feds_ok_wetlands_slt_route/#comments

If some national officials have their way, the Great Wall of Haskell could become a reality.

Representatives from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Homeland Security toured Haskell Indian Nations University Monday to discuss placing a wall or fence around the campus' perimeter. The reps were in town to conduct a security assessment and formulate a recommendation for Haskell's safety.

Patrick Vacha, member of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, said the security checks were effective.

"The security assessments we do are all-hazard," Vacha. "We take into account intruders coming in and people not being allowed access to facilities."

Haskell officials are tossing around the idea of a wall that would close the now-open university, allowing passage at only two points. Though university officials say securing the perimeter of the 320-acre campus would keep students safer, not all students agree.

"I don't see what a wall or barrier, whether it's a natural landscape or fence, wall or whatever, would really do anything as far as enhancing security," said Jimmy Beason, editor of "The Indian Leader".

Within 45 days, the visiting representatives should issue a recommendation to Haskell. University officials will then poll students like Beason on their opinion and work on a security implementation plan.

Thanks to:
Ne74

ARIZONA: Protest Against Desecration of Sacred Sites

PROTEST SNOWBOWL TOMORROW IN FLAGSTAFF!

PROTEST SNOWBOWL THIS WEDNESDAY!

Arizona Snowbowl will be holding their annual Job (un)Fair this Wednesday.
Join us and voice/demonstrate your concerns with Snowbowl's attempts to desecrate the Sacred San Francisco Peaks, cause ecological harm and risk community health.
This is an opportunity to educate people that are considering working at Snowbowl.

What: Protest Arizona Snowbowl's Job (un)Fair!

When: Wednesday, November 7th from 4PM-7PM

Where: Northern Arizona University's Walkup Sky Dome (http://www.nau.edu/web/campus_map/south_campus.html)

Why: Snowbowl Ski Area is attempting to expand their current ski area development and make fake snow from treated sewage effluent on the Sacred San Francisco Peaks despite pleas from tribes, environmental groups and the greater community.

Who: You and anyone who cares about community health, our environment and respecting Indigenous cultures!

www.savethepeaks.org




---
Ninth Circuit Court Allows Review In Legal Case of Recycled Sewage On Sacred Mountain

(Save the Peaks Coalition News Release Oct. 17th 2007)

Flagstaff, AZ -- The 9th Circuit Court has granted the U.S. Forest Service and an Arizona ski resort the opportunity for review of the court's decision on March 12th, 2007 that had provided protection for a mountain held holy by more than 13 Native American Nations. The slopes of the San Francisco Peaks, located in Northern Arizona, have been at the center of a historical and lengthy battle that has pitted economic interests on public lands against environmental integrity, public health and cultural survival. A small local ski resort proposed a plan to expand and use treated waste effluent to make fake snow. However, their development has been halted due to the Ninth Circuit Court ruling, which has been hailed as a victory for Religious Freedom, Environmental Justice & Cultural Survival.

"The decision of the Ninth Circuit to rehear this case is regrettable. It means that the Court will reconsider the case - not that it has reversed any decision at this point. It is, however, even more regrettable that our federal government seems to place the profitability of a privately owned, non-destination ski area, that operates on federal land, over the deeply held religious and cultural convictions of hundreds of thousands of Native Americans living in the southwestern United States." said Howard Shanker, of the Shanker Law Firm, PLC, representing the Navajo Nation, the White Mountain Apache Tribe, the Yavapai-Apache Tribe, the Havasupai Tribe, Rex Tilousi, Dianna Uqualla, the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Flagstaff Activist Network.
Shanker, who is running for Congress in Arizona Congressional District 1, further provided that, "this situation is indicative of the fact that we need better laws and lawmakers who are willing to stand up and be counted in the face of this type of injustice. The continued pursuit of the use of reclaimed waste water to make snow on the San Francisco Peaks should be an affront to all people of conscience everywhere."

"We are confident that a hearing en banc by the 9th Circuit Court will only make the current ruling stronger." Rudy Preston of the Flagstaff Activist Network.

"Why in 2007 do we as America's first people have no guarantee for protection of our religious freedom?" said Jeneda Benally a volunteer with the Save the Peaks Coalition. "The case to protect the sacred San Francisco Peaks demonstrates the need for further protection of Native American religious freedom and rights in this country. We will continue our dedication to save the Peaks until we have our human rights fully upheld."

For more information visit: www.savethepeaks.org


###

Thanks to:
Ne74

Oklahoma Indians To Protest On Statehood Day - Support Them

Thanks,
IndigenousPeoplesDay

From the frontpage of Indianz.com
Oklahoma Indians to protest on Statehood Day
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Filed Under: National
http://indianz.com/News/2007/005774.asp

Some Oklahoma Indians won't be celebrating November 16, the 100th anniversary of Oklahoma's Statehood.

A group is organizing the Survival Walk and Protest on the Oklahoma Centennial. "We don't want people to forget how our ancestors were treated and brought here, that this was our land first," Brenda Golden told KOCO News.

The walk will start at 9am on Friday, November 16, at the State Capitol in Oklahoma City. For more information, visit

http://www.myspace.com/mvskoke_lady
or
http://www.myspace.com/thunderclanwoman.

Thanks to:
Ne74

ARTICLE: Removal, Round-up, and Detention of Protesters in Oaxaca

November 2, 2007 - Kolectivo Todxs Somos Presxs writes: One year from the attempt of the Federal Preventative Police (PFP) to bring down the barricades of 5 Señores and Soriana (in Oaxaca City). Today, November 2, 2007, various people congregated at the crossing of 5 Señores in order to set up altars and tapetes for the Day of the Dead, to honour our more than 23 comrades assassinated by state and federal government during the Oaxacan movement.

At 6:30 am approximately, the sand for the tapetes was being placed and part of the 5 Señores crossing was blocked. At this time, the state police was already surrounding the area with motorcycles. At approximately 7:30 am, various truckloads with state police aboard and bunker trucks full of state police arrived. All were armed and were pointing their weapons at the people that were at the crossing, they surrounded the place and started to follow whoever ran and started to detain people.

At present, we know of approximately 15 compañeras and compañeros who were detained that were transferred to installations of the Secretariat for Citizen Protection (CEPROCI) and to the Office of the State Attorney General that are located in the neighborhood colonia Experimental, on the outskirts of the city. (en español)


WE HOLD THE SECRETARY OF PUBLIC SECURITY SEGRESTES RIOS (FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE STATE COMMISSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN OAXACA) RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING OF ALL OF OUR DETAINED COMPAÑER@S.

WE DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF ALL OF OUR DETAINED COMPAÑER@S!
Stop the repression!
Kolectivo Todxs Somos Presxs (We are all Prisoners Collective)

For more information: http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx; www.narconews.com; http://otravancouver.resist.ca

Courtesy of: David

TUCSON: Indigenous Border Summit -- NOV 7-10

Indigenous Border Summit welcomes extraordinary speakers and Blackfire

The Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit of the Americas II welcomes extraordinary speakers from the Americas, including Bill Means, Lakota, and board members of the International Indian Treaty Council. Delegations of Mohawks include the Mohawk Women Title Holders from Quebec and Ron Lameman from Six Nations.

Indigenous border rights of mobility, human rights and the United Nations are among the topics at the summit, Nov. 7 - 10, 2007 at San Xavier District on the Tohono O'odham Nation (near the Tucson International Airport and South Tucson.)

Mike Wilson, Tohono O'odham who puts out water for migrants, will speak on humanitarian aid. Lenny Foster, Navajo, will speak on Native prisoners' rights and focus on Leonard Peltier. Speakers include Karen Lowe, Tohono O'odham Nation ecologist, speaking on the border and the environment; Margo Tamez speaks on women and children at the border; Jay Johnson Castro on the imprisonment of migrant children in Texas and protests of the border wall in Texas.

Other speakers' presentations will focus on militarization of the border, human rights abuses and new border policies. The United Nations requested that the border summit be held for a second year, following the successful summit in 2006. Time is reserved each day for testimony from Indigenous Peoples living in border regions.

The Indigenous Border Summit will be webcast, Nov. 7 - 10, at http://www.earthcycles.net/

Blackfire will perform at the Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit of the Americas II, Saturday night, November 10, 2007. The Border Summit welcomes Blackfire, the Navajo family band whose voices have proclaimed Indigenous Peoples' rights around the world.

Camping is available on site. Breakfast and lunch are provided each day at the four-day summit, hosted by San Xavier District with support from the International Indian Treaty Council.

PROVISIONAL AGENDA

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7th

6 am – Sunrise Ceremony

7 am – Breakfast

9 am – Introductions, Human rights, Indigenous Peoples and impacts current Border policies

12 pm – Lunch

1 pm – Humanitarian Aid and saving lives along the Border

3:30 pm – Break

4 – 5 pm – Indigenous Peoples' Rights and the Border: Human Rights, Treaty Rights and Rights to Traditional Lands and Territories

6 pm -- Dinner

7 pm -- Oral Testimony

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 8th

6 am – Sunrise Ceremony

7 am – Breakfast

9 am – Immigration/Indigenous Traditional Mobility

12 pm – Lunch

1 pm - HUMAN RIGHTS TRAINING:

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: a new international framework for upholding our human rights

Current Review of the US by the UNCERD: "Using the UN to hold the US Accountable for Racism towards Indigenous Peoples"

Other international developments to defend the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples Questions and Discussion.

Presenters: Bill Means, Lakota and cofounder of IITC, Andrea Carmen, Yaqui and executive director; Ron Lameman, Six Nations; Francisco Cali, IITC Board President

6 pm – Dinner- on your own

7 pm - Oral Testimony

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 9th

6 am – Sunrise Ceremony

7 am – Breakfast

9 am – Implications on Lands, territories, and national resources & environment: Karen Lowe, Tohono O'odham Nation ecologist

12 pm – Lunch

1 pm – Religious/Cultural/Spiritual Rights, traditional mobility, ceremonial practices and sacred sites: Delegations of Mohawks, including Kahentinetha and Katenies of the Mohawk Women Title Holders from Quebec

Ron Lameman from Six Nations

3:30 pm – Break

4 pm – Women/Children and the Borders: Margo Tamez

6 pm – Dinner – on your own

7 pm Oral Testimony

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 10th

6 am - Sunrise Ceremony

7 am – Breakfast

9 am – Humanitarian Aid: Tohono O'odham Mike Wilson

10 am - Detentions and prisons: Lenny Foster, Navajo, Native inmates rights, including ceremonial rights, focus on Leonard Peltier

Texas: Imprisoning migrant children and border wall protest: Jay Johnson Castro from the Texas border

11 am – Oral Testimony

12 pm - Lunch

1 pm – Conclusions, Summaries, Recommendations & Resolutions

2 pm – Break, dinner on your own

7 pm – Concert: BLACKFIRE

This is an alcohol-free and drug-free event.

Indigenous Border Summit responds to human rights crisis

Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit of the Americas II, Nov. 7 -- 10, focuses on human rights and right of mobility

SAN XAVIER, TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION -- A human rights crisis for Indigenous Peoples living along borders in the Americas threatens their survival, with rapidly expanding militarization and new laws which limit their mobility in their ancestral territories.

Responding to this crisis, the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation will host the Indigenous Peoples Border Summit of the Americas II, Nov. 7- 10, with support from the International Indian Treaty Council.

Mike Flores, Tohono O'odham summit organizer, said, "It is necessary for Tohono O'odham and other Indigenous Peoples of the border regions to collectively address the adverse impacts that are increasingly occurring on tribal lands. The Border Summit of the Americas II will provide us the opportunity to do just that."

San Xavier District Chairman Austin Nunez joins Flores in welcoming Indigenous Peoples to the Border Summit on Tohono O'odham land, located near South Tucson.

"Welcome," Nunez said, "Our community is pleased to be hosting this year's conference."

The Border Summit will host a human rights workshop by the International Indian Treaty Council. The summit will be broadcast live on the Internet at http://www.earthcycles.net/ as was done in 2006.

From the southern Andes to the northern Arctic, corporations intent on seizing natural resources have increased the oppression and displacement of Indigenous Peoples, resulting in their forced mobility across national borders. Further, free trade agreements, mining and exploitative development have forced Indigenous Peoples into exile in the Americas, displaced from their lands where they farmed, hunted or fished for survival.

In the United States, corporate profiteering for private migrant prisons, experimental spy technology, poorly trained border agents, privatized security and new laws for immigration threaten the right of mobility in ancestral territories. The human rights crisis at the southern border of the United States and Mexico has resulted in over 4,000 migrant deaths in recent years, including deaths of women from Guatemala on Tohono O'odham tribal land in Arizona who died walking with their children in 2007. Migrants, including Indigenous Peoples from Mexico and Central America, die of dehydration and severe temperatures while walking in search of a better life. The Border Summit speakers will include Tohono O'odham Mike Wilson, who puts out water for migrants on tribal land. "No one should die for want of a drink of water," Wilson said.

The privatization of prisons, including the T. Don Hutto Residential Center and Raymondville migrant tent encampment, both near Austin, Texas, reveals the sinister motivation of profiteering from the plight of migrants. Hutto imprisons migrant and refugee infants and children. Speakers will include Jay Johnson-Castro, Sr., of Texas, among those organizing protests against the prisons and border wall. In May, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for migrants, Jorge Bustamante, was denied entrance into Hutto, and Johnson-Castro helped organize the human rights protests that followed.

The border wall and border vehicle barriers along the southern border have resulted in the removal of ancestors' remains of the Tohono O'odham and Kumeyaay from their final resting places. Further, the barrier wall on Tohono O'odham land is a barrier interfering with an ancient annual ceremony.

Since ceremonial leaders from Mexico often lead ceremonies in the United States, new immigration laws threaten the survival of ceremonies, culture and languages. Because many Indian people are born at home, or lack funds for visas and passports, crossing the border has become a harsh ordeal.Further, at both the northern and the southern borders of Canada and Mexico, federal border agents ransack and violate ceremonial items.

Speakers on the right of mobility at the northern border include a delegation of Mohawks from Turtle Island. With the increased militarization and surveillance at the borders, the dangers from speeding border agents, aerial vehicle crashes and abuse and harassment by border agents increase. Women, children and elderly along the border are most often the victims of oppression and suffer most often from the lack of food, safe drinking water and medicines.With the militarization and oppression increasing for Indigenous Peoples around the world, the Border Summit of the Americas invites Indian people to offer their testimony while receiving information and training on human rights.

The International Indian Treaty Council will present a human rights training, following the United Nations adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The US will be examined by the UN Committee for Racial Discrimination (CERD) Committee in March of 2008, in Geneva, Switzerland.

"This workshop will provide information as to how Indigenous Nations, tribes and organizations can use this historic opportunity to inform the CERD Committee on the true state of racial discrimination in this country and how it affects Indian Nations, Peoples and communities. This information will be very important to help the UN CERD experts get a more accurate picture of racial discrimination in the US and hold the US accountable to their obligations under international human rights law," IITC said.

"An additional focus will be on strategies to defend our human rights, border rights, and protecting our sacred sites and traditional land rights using the newly-adopted UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples from the local to the international levels."
The human rights workshop presenters will be Bill Means, Lakota cofounder of the Treaty Council; Andrea Carmen, Yaqui and Treaty Council executive director; Ron Lameman, Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations, and Francisco Cali, CERD Member and Treaty Council board president.

Treaty Council presents human rights training during Border Summit

Human Rights Training

Using the United Nations to hold the US accountable for Racism towards Indigenous Peoples & Strategies for Implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

You are invited!
The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) will conduct a workshop focusing on holding the United States' accountable to its legally binding obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

The US will be examined by the CERD Committee in March of 2008, in Geneva, Switzerland. This workshop will provide information as to how Indigenous Nations, tribes and organizations can use this historic opportunity to inform the CERD Committee on the true state of racial discrimination in this county and how it affects Indian Nations, Peoples and communities. This information will be very important to help the UN CERD experts get a more accurate picture of racial discrimination in the US and hold the US accountable to their obligations under international human rights law.

An additional focus will be on strategies to defend our human rights, border rights, and protecting our sacred sites and traditional land rights using the newly-adopted UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples from the local to the international levels.

PRESENTERS: Bill Means (Introduction & MC); Andrea Carmen (IITC Executive Director); Ron Lameman (Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations), Francisco Cali (CERD Member, IITC Board President)

This workshop is being held in conjunction with the Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit of the Americas II" from November 7-10, 2007 which will be held at the San Xavier Community Center, 2018 W. San Xavier Rd, Tohono O'odham Nation. For more information on the Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit.

Indigenous Border Summit Website:
http://indigenousbordersummitamericas2007.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BorderAmbassadors.com
Connecting the Dots...Making a Difference
jay@villadelrio.com
(830)768-0768 (when in Del Rio)
(830734-8636 (cell-when on the road)
Please read my column: Inside the Checkpoints http://www.riograndeguardian.com/columns3.asp