ONGOING ACTIVITIES

Compiled by Steve Sachs

Activities in the U.S.

International Activities

 

 

 

Activities in the U.S.

            The United League of Indigenous Nations was formed at the July 31 - August 2 Indigenous Treaty Gathering at Lummi Nation in Washington state. Oren Lyons, Faith Keeper of the Onondaga Nation early in the meeting moved the participants to set aside the original agenda of discussing the merits of a proposed treaty among indigenous nations to instead revamp the treaty document for immediate signing, saying, ''The ice at the polar caps is melting as we are standing here talking.'' Lummi Nation Chief Jaret Cardinal, proposed moving ahead, ''A few years ago, I had some involvement in working with First Nation's government. During that time, a message was received saying some people wish to make a treaty. Since that time, our people have had a few years to consider and see what is happening. We have taken the time to go through ceremonies to seek guidance and get direction to come and negotiate this treaty. The time is right for the indigenous tribes to stand together to help combat the problems of global warming. The significance of this treaty is that we are being given the opportunity to do something. [...] Time is something we have little of if we are going to address the environment. If we are to truly have a strong voice, then we need to have global economies where international trade is required.'' The meeting went on to approve the treaty that had been written by a drafting committee, created in 2006, by the National Congress of American Indians Special Committee on Indigenous Nations Relationships. Special Committee Co-Chair Alan Parker said, ''The league, through the terms of its chartering treaty, mutually recognizes indigenous nationhood and affirms their inherent rights of self-government. Indigenous peoples see tremendous threat to their remaining homelands posed by global warming and they are compelled to act. Peoples are being impacted in their ability to sustain a way of life that is essential to their survival. Their actions can be strengthened by joining together, by sharing information, by raising a collective voice and by insisting upon representation of their distinctive concerns before all national and international bodies on climate change. It further commits the nations to join together in trade and commerce with each other to create a strong international indigenous economy for the future. The United League will help all members to form a strong legal, political and social program of education.'' Approximately 200 people attended the gathering, with 100 of the attendees represented more than 40 tribes. The final version of the treaty was officially signed by delegates from 11 nations: Lummi, Sucker Creek Cree First Nation 150 A, Te Runanga O Ngati Awa (New Zealand), Ngarrinderi Nation, Douglas Village of the Tlinget Nation, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Akiak Native Community, We Wai Kai Nation, Makah Tribe, Songhees Nation and Hoh Indian Tribe. The other non-signatory delegates signed a witness document verifying the adoption of the treaty and their intention of supporting the treaty to their governing bodies. As Wagankising Odawa Chairman Frank Ettawageshik explained, ''While we have 11 initial signatories of the original document, it is plainly evident from the interests expressed by the other nations that we will have many, many times this number who will attend the formal signing and ratification meeting later this year.'' New Zealand delegate Aroha Te Pareake Mead, of the faculty of commerce and administration with Victoria University of Wellington. Commented, ''For indigenous nations to enter into international treaties with each other is quite consistent with how we've always conducted our affairs. We have traditions of trading with other nations and in engaging in peacekeeping and other forms of foreign policy. States are stepping up their resistance to the sovereignty of indigenous nations, and the United Nations isn't delivering enough for indigenous peoples. We need to look to each other in order to pave an appropriate development pathway for our future generations. The answers lie within us.'' Suzan Shown Harjo, Cheyenne/Hodulgee Muscogee, who tracks treaty rights issues as president of The Morning Star Institute, stated, ''This is not only a historical act: it is an act of self-defense. The anti-Indian forces in the U.S. and other countries, as well as the countries themselves, have been coordinating their anti-treaty and anti-Native-rights activities. It's necessary for Native peoples of the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand to take this defensive and provident measure at this time.'' Lummi Vice Chairman William Jones said, ''This treaty is a mutual covenant to protect our traditional heritage, to help build our economies, to improve the social and political health of our people and to help each other as kind and giving people. I expect this league to include hundreds of member nations before the present decade is over.''

Nine of the nation's major organizations representing communities of color announced a joint Campaign for High School Equity, in June, to ensure that America's secondary schools have the capacity and motivation to prepare every student for graduation, college, work and life. The collaborating organizations are: the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, the National Council of La Raza, the National Indian Education Association, the National Urban League and the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center. The convener and coordinator of the Campaign is the Alliance for Excellent Education, a national policy and advocacy organization that focuses on improving the country's secondary schools. The goals of the Campaign for High School Equity are to provide a unique and important perspective on federal and national education policy issues critical to high school reform. This partnership will address the need and options for serious reforms in high school education and be a strong part in building strategic advocacy activities for changes that produce positive outcomes for students of color and low-income students.

            More than one hundred Native Hawaiians and Indigenous Pacific Islanders from around the continental U.S. and the Pacific Basin met in Washington, D.C., October 10-11, to develop a Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander National Health Agenda to mobilize a Call for Action to improve the health status specifically for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. The meeting proceeded the 2007 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Health Summit: Navigating Towards Health & Well Being, for the first time, bringing together health care professionals and advocates, researchers, policy makers and government representatives to address the need for capacity building, address the overall health disparities and other unmet health needs of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities on the continental U.S., Hawai’i and the Pacific Basin, and develop strategies and solutions to improve the access to, and quality of, health care for NH and PIs.

            The 2007 National Day of Prayer to Protect Native American Sacred Places took place, June 21, with numerous events around the United States. Some of the gatherings were educational forums, others were ceremonial, including both public and private events. Commemorations and prayers were offered at numerous sacred places that are under threat, such as Hickory Ground in Alabama; San Francisco Peaks in Arizona; and Wakarusa Wetlands in Kansas. Concern was expressed about other holy places which are being threatened with injury or destruction, including: Bear Butte in South Dakota; Little Creek Mountain in Tennessee; the Medicine Lake Highlands in northern California; Ocmulgee Old Fields in Georgia; the Petroglyphs in New Mexico; Snoqualmie Falls in Washington; Medicine Lake, a Pitt River Nation ceremonial and healing place in the Modoc National Forest in northeastern California; Indian Pass, which was named on the 2002 list of America's Most Endangered Historic Places; Coastal Chumash lands in the Gaviota Coastal region in southern California; Yurok Nation's salmon fisheries in the Klamath River; Berry Creek, Moore Town and Enterprise Rancherias' lands; the sacred Puvungna of the Tongva and Acjachemen Peoples; the sacred Katuktu (Morro Hill) of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians; Mount Graham, Arizona - Apache holy land; Hualapai Nation landforms in Truxton and Crozier Canyons of Arizona; The Boboquivari Mountain of the Tohono O'odham Nation; Zuni Salt Lake; Carrizo/Comecrudo lands flooded by Amistad Lake and Falcon Dam in Texas; Badlands; Black Hills; Medicine Wheel; Semiahmah Village burial ground; Cold Water Springs in Minnesota; and Ocmulgee National Monument.

In Washington, D.C the observance took place at the U.S. Capitol on the West Front Grassy Area on June 21, in the form of a talking circle, organized by The Morning Star Institute, a national Native rights organization founded in 1984 and dedicated to Native peoples' cultural and traditional rights, including religious freedom and sacred places protection. For information contact The Morning Star Institute at (202) 547-5531 or Suzan Shown Harjo at suzan_harjo@yahoo.com. A co-sponsor of the commemoration in Washington, the Friends Committee on National Legislation. (FCNL) issued this statement: ''Faith-based organizations oppose the destruction and desecration of sacred places. Quakers have supported legislative efforts to protect religious practices and sacred areas, which are tied to the history, culture and spirituality of indigenous people in the U.S. The Friends Committee on National Legislation advocated for Native American religious freedom through the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Tourists tour famous churches all over Europe. They walk quietly through the Washington Cathedral and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Many people also travel to beautiful nature spots - some of which border or encompass sites sacred to indigenous people. Tourists, people of good will and other non-Natives can appreciate Native sacred sites from a distance. To understand, we believe the public will especially benefit from the film, 'In Light of Reverence,'' and by learning more about struggles at places such as Bear Butte, S.D. The government is obligated to stop practices such as building roads through sacred sites and allowing ski areas to be build on sacred sites. FCNL strongly supports President Clinton's executive order that agencies must avoid harm to the physical integrity of sacred sites and must guarantee access and use of such sites by Indian spiritual practitioners.'' For more, contact Patricia Powers, Friends Committee on National Legislation, 245 Second St., Washington, D.C., 20002, pat@fcnl.org or (202) 547-6000. Also co-sponsoring the Washington commemoration was the General Commission on Religion and Race of The United Methodist Church, which issued the following statement: ''As stated in The 2004 United Methodist Book of Resolutions, the Church supports 'the God-given and constitutional rights of religious freedom for American Indians, including the preserving of traditional Native American sacred sites of worship' (148, page 382). National Day of Prayer to Protect Sacred Places is a day for the Church to stand in solidarity with Natives to strengthen this protection. The General Commission on Religion and Race encourages United Methodists, Christians and all people to join in this observance and ask Congress to protect Native sacred places.''

The National Day of Prayer to Protect Native American Sacred Places was observed at the Native American Rights Fund in Boulder, CO, June 21. As part of its mission, NARF advocates for sacred site protection, religious freedom efforts and cultural rights. NARF attorneys and staff participate in local and national gatherings and discussions about how to protect lands that are sacred and precious to American Indians. NARF utilizes its resources to protect First Amendment rights of American Indian religious leaders, prisoners and members of the Native American Church, and to assert tribal rights to cultural property and human remains in compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. For more information, call NARF at (303) 447-8760.

The traditional religious leaders of Oce Vbofv Cuko Rakko (Hickory Ground Ceremonial Ground) are continuing their work to negotiate for the protection of their pre-removal lands near Wetumpka, AL, and the dozens of human remains which have been disinterred without their consent. There has been recent discussion in the Christian community about documented reports of complete disrespect for human remains and burials, and a growing consensus between the major Muscogee religious communities is that Muscogee common law regards a burial as a permanent resting place for the dead, to remain undisturbed. The Inter-Tribal Sacred Land Trust is working to promote the protection of sacred sites throughout the southeastern United States, and to develop model policies and procedures, which could have applications across the nation. For more information go to: www.itslt.org.

The Save the Peaks Coalition gathered at Buffalo Park at the feet of Nuvatukaovi, Doko'oo'sliid, the San Francisco Peaks, in Arizona on June 21. The site is sacred to Apache, Hopi, Hualapai, Navajo, Yavapai and other Native nations. The coalition protested U.S. Forest Service and private business plans to expand the Snowbowl ski resort and to use recycled sewage to make artificial snow, which has since been blocked by a U.S, Circuit Court of Appeals decision. The 9th Circuit decided for the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation and others in March, ruling that the Forest Service violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the National Environmental Policy Act in allowing the Snowbowl Resort to expand into more than 100 acres of rare alpine ecosystem, part of the area which is sacred to Native peoples. The federal government is challenging that decision. For more information go to: www.savethepeaks.org.

The Mississippi River Sacred Sites Run 2007, to celebrate their oneness with Mother Earth, began at sunset June 20, at Pikes Peak State Park's Effigy Mounds in McGregor, IA and passed by several  earthen ''effigy'' mounds on ridge tops, in the shapes of animals, built by indigenous peoples of the Woodland Culture of 800 - 1200 A.D., and then northward to Minneapolis/St. Paul's numerous sacred sites, which are now destroyed. On July 7 for the Twin Cities Sacred Sites Tour, Through Indigenous Eyes. The run will travels farther up river to Duluth, Minn., and to Milwaukee, Wis. For more information, contact Ben Yahola at (414) 383-7072 or humoti@yahoo.com; in the Minneapolis area, contact delliott@usfamily.net.

Save the Wakarusa Wetlands Inc., an association of Lawrence, KA based Haskell Indian Nations University alumni, students and community supporters, observed National Prayer Day at sunrise June 21 in the wetlands south of Lawrence, beginning with a ceremony, in efforts to save the sacred place from the construction of an eight lane highway project approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but delayed by state budget constraints. This sacred place is the last significant trace of the original Wakarusa Bottoms, an 18,000-acre prairie wetland environment that existed for thousands of years before the draining and damming of the wetlands, which supplied Native peoples of the region with valuable medicines and important ceremonial items. Despite efforts to drain the wetland in the early 20th century, and Haskell's loss of the property during the termination era, the Wakarusa Wetland, like Haskell Indian Nations University, has survived and flourished. The entire historic Haskell campus, including the wetlands, is reportedly being considered for designation as a National Historic Heritage area. For information, contact Michael Caron at (785) 842-6293 or mcaron@sunflower.com with Save the Wakarusa Wetlands in the subject line, or visit www.savethewetlands.org; or Lori Tapahonso, executive assistant/public information officer, Haskell Indian Nations University, at (785) 830-2715 or LTapahonso@HASKELL.edu; or RaeLynn Butler, president, Haskell Wetland Preservation Organization, Haskell Indian Nations University, at Rbutler@HASKELL.edu.

A commemoration of the National Day of Prayer for Sacred Places and the Summer Solstice for Native People took place at Ihanktonwan Reservation (Yankton Sioux) June 21, with focus on Pipestone Quarry, for which their was a spiritual run, and the Missouri River. Home to many tribal nations for thousands of years, the Missouri River Corridor is one of the largest threatened territories in the struggle for the preservation and protection of ancestral burials and sacred and cultural places. Public and private ceremonies, press conferences and educational events hosted by Missouri River tribes were held on tribal lands and at sacred places along the river. Irreplaceable cultural and sacred areas are impacted every day be erosion from the six dams built on the upper river as a result of the Pick-Sloan Act of 1946. Shoreline development, recreational use of the reservoirs and agricultural impacts also add to the vulnerability of sacred places that are intrinsic to the Missouri River tribes' spiritual and cultural practices. While Missouri River tribes have forged a new management agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding the preservation of sacred and cultural resources on the river, these holy and irreplaceable places remain vulnerable to looting and vandalism as million of Americans come to the reservoirs for recreation and fishing. For more information on the Spiritual Run, call John Rouse at (605) 487-7816, Michael Rouse at (605) 491-2430 or Wes Hare III at (605) 384-3605. Contacts for the events and their concerns along the Missouri at White Swan are Faith Spotted Eagle, eagletrax@hotmail.com or (605) 481-0416; Michael Rouse/David Arrow, (605) 491-2430; and Sharon Drappeau, (605) 487-7031.

At Snoqualmie Falls, WA the Snoqualmie Tribe honored the Spirit of Snoqualmie Falls on the National Day of Prayer for the Protection of Native Sacred Places. The nation is presently awaiting a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision regarding the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license to Puget Sound Energy for hydroelectric project 249, which would impact the falls, “a sacred place, where the water's journey completes its sacred cycle at the base of the falls and a transformation of Spirit takes place. The mist creates the connection between worlds and at the same time delivers prayers and blessings.'' Snoqualmie Falls is deemed eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places as a Traditional Cultural Property, and is on the ''23 Most Endangered Sacred Places'' list from the National Congress of American Indians. For information contact Lois Sweet Dorman, Snoqualmie, at nightfishes@qwest.net.

            Defenders of the Black Hills is concerned that long term improper practices in uranium mining, and exploration for uranium, in South Dakota are worsening already serious environmental problems, including high levels of radioactive pollution in several aquifers that since ancient times have been sources of water for people. A recent example of the spreading danger occurred, July 18, when signs were posted in the small town of Red Shirt, South Dakota which lies on the northwest corner of the Pine Ridge Reservation warning people of the high nuclear radiation levels found in the Cheyenne River. Local wells are also too dangerous to use for drinking, washing or irrigation. For more information contact Defenders of the Black Hills, P.O. Box 2003, Rapid City, SD 57709 (605)399-1868, http://www.defendblackhills.org/. SAGE Council (http://www.sagecouncil.org/) has been collaborating with Dooda Desert Rock (http://www.desert-rock-blog.com/blog), Dine CARE – Dine Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment (http://dinecare.org/), and the many other environmental and social justice organizations in standing against Sithe Global's proposed coal fired power plant (Desert Rock) on the Navajo reservation. Objections to the plant include: that it will put more toxic emissions into the area atmosphere (carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, mercury and other pollutants), that already has high cancer rates from the existing plants, even if it will be the cleanest coal-burning plant in the nation and a much-needed source of jobs and revenue for the Navajo Nation, where unemployment hovers around 50%; That it is better to produce electricity by wind and photovoltaic cells, which are renewable energy sources, and, unlike coal, do not contribute to global warming; That the plant, even though innovative in being air cooled, would use too much of the already short supply of water in the area, causing long run water shortage problems, while even in the short run driving up water prices for those who can not afford to pay for the increases. Proponents of the plan say that water usage for the plant will be only 15% of that required for former plants, and that water will be used for pollution control. The groups also complained that the Bureau of Indian Affairs did not adequately review alternatives to Desert Rock or fully consider cultural resources in the area when preparing the environmental impact statement. This spring, a bill that would have provided an $85 million tax credit to Sithe Global for the plant was defeated in the New Mexico state Legislature.

            Officials with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, in June, were opposing a proposed land swap between J.R. Simplot Co. and the Bureau of Land Management, fearing the company will use the land it receives for phosphate mine waste that could degrade local air quality and pollute the Portneuf River. The land swap in southeastern Idaho would trade 680 acres of key mule deer winter range near Blackrock Canyon that Simplot owns in exchange for 719 acres of BLM property near the company's phosphate production area.

            The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement's sixth annual convention involved more than 1,000 Native Hawaiians and Asian Pacific Islanders, August 22 - 24 at the Hawai'i Convention Center in Honolulu, as, this year, the council partnered with the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development. The meeting promoted culture and economic development, and concern for Indigenous rights. The mission of the council is to unify and promote sound policy, economic and community development for Native Hawaiians. To date, the council counts 178 statewide and national members consisting of Native Hawaiian organization and nonprofits. The council works across the state of Hawaii in critical areas such as affordable housing, economic development, health care, education, culture and the environment. The council operates the Hawaiian Way Fund, which is supported by donors from around the world and invests in programs designed to protect Native Hawaiian culture. The council also operates the Hawaiian Homestead Technologies, a company specializing in information technology and the conversion of military helicopter and fighter plane manuals into digital format.

            Representatives from five Native American tribes announced the formation of the Native American NAGPRA Coalition (NANC), July 25, to protest the University of California at Berkeley’s elimination of the Phoebe Hearst Museum’s autonomous NAGPRA unit. “This unit is the highly trained, cohesive team that fairly and impartially administered the Federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and a soon-to-be-implemented state law (AB 978) affecting the second largest collection of Native American ancestral remains and sacred objects in the Nation. NANC strenuously rejects the University’s decision-making process, which deliberately and completely excluded Native Americans. The Coalition requests that Chancellor Robert Birgeneau immediately stop the Museum reorganization, reopen the review process, and meet with the Coalition to determine how to proceed. The Coalition also encourages other tribes to join the protest. The University accepted the recommendations of a review ‘committee’ that consisted of two non-native research archeologists who have vested professional interests in keeping museum collections intact. The committee did not include tribal representatives, and the University did not solicit the direct input of the autonomous NAGPRA unit, which includes three Native Americans. Under the Museum reorganization, University research scientists who have frustrated NAGPRA compliance in the past will gain complete control over NAGPRA operations. Contrary to University claims, genuine NAGPRA services will be significantly cut. Several tribal governments have already adopted formal resolutions denouncing the University’s decision and demanding that it be reversed.” A demonstration of Native people and allies in support of the NANC took place at noon, at Sproul Plaza at University of California Berkeley, on   October 5, with participants from around the U.S. Further demonstrations are planed at Berkeley ant other U.C. campuses. For information visit http://nagpra-ucb-faq.blogspot.com.

            Cultural Survival and Native American partners are launching a campaign to heighten awareness of the importance of revitalizing critically endangered Native American languages before they are lost forever. Target audiences include tribal governments, foundations, corporations and businesses that employ or serve Native Americans, and Native American casino tribes. Funds raised as a result of the campaign will be used to provide direct support and technical assistance to critically endangered Native American language immersion schools and other language-learning programs. For more information go to: www.cs.org.

            Nebraskans for Peace, concerned about beer and other alcohol sales in border town White Clay, NB contributing to the high rate of alcoholism on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, has shifted from action against White Clay’s liquor stores to going after the distributors that supply them. A protest was planned by the group at High Plains Budweiser, one of several distributors that deliver beer to the handful of stores in Whiteclay, population 14, that sell more than 4 million cans of beer annually, mostly to American Indians who walk or drive to the village from the nearby reservation, which is officially dry.

            American Indian Protesters, complaining that it is wrong to celebrate someone who started a genocide, blocked the Denver Columbus Day parade route Oct. 6, pouring a bucket filled with fake blood and dismembered baby dolls onto the street as police arrested 83 people.

            Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO) “Weaving a national Native network and building strong tribal governments”, “catalyzes and facilitates culturally appropriate initiatives and opportunities that enrich the cultural, political and economic lives of Indigenous peoples. Founded by LaDonna Harris in 1970, AIO draws upon traditional Indigenous values to foster enlightened and responsible leadership, inspire stakeholder-driven solutions, and convene visionary leaders to probe contemporary issues and address challenges of the new century.” At the invitation of Bolivian President Evo Morales (Aymara) members of Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO) and the Advancement of Maori Opportunity (AMO) from New Zealand have taken a delegation, including AIO and AMO Presidents, LaDonna Harris (Comanche) and Bentham Ohia (Maori), back to Bolivia, in October, to celebrate and promote Indigenous peoples rights. Both organization Presidents spoke at the October 10-12 celebration of the adoption of the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In June AIO and AMO took a delegation to meet with President Morales, during which representatives of seventeen tribes from the US and thirteen tribes from New Zealand met with Indigenous organizations and honored President Morales for being the highest ranking Indigenous leader in the Americas. These leaders, called Ambassadors, were participants in AIO and AMO’s leadership nurturing programs. In March, leaders of the Columbian Indigenous organizations, Association of Indigenous Townships of Northern Cauca (ACIN) and the National Indigenous Organization visited AIO, in New Mexico to promote awareness of the terrible affects on Indigenous peoples of the U.S. Plan Columbia, originally intended to curb drug smuggling and the insurgency in Columbia (See “U.S. Certifies Indigenous Extinction in Columbia,” below in “Dialoguing). They also met with AIO Ambassador alumni to discuss possible future collaboration. Former Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe (two islands off the coast of West Africa, came to AIO in February to discuss creating Indigenous leadership in his country and struggles with the government’s structure as the two island nation emerged from colonialism. AIO contributed to Indian education on two occasions. In February ran their second Interactive Indigenous Leaders Interactive System (ILIS) session with community members of Albuquerque’s Native American Community Academy (NACA), to articulate the charter school’s values and to create a strategy for incorporating them in all aspects of the school. More recently, AIO International Program Development Specialist, Ron Looking Elk Martinez, participated in the student advisor panel for Carnell Chosa’s (Jemez Pueblo’s) Leadership Institute at the Santa Fe Indian School. For more Information, contact Americans for Indian Opportunity, 1001 Marquette Ave., NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102 (505)842-8677, ao@aio.org, www.aio.org.

 

 

International Activities

         Tia Oros Peters, A:shiwi People/Zuni Nation and executive director of the Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development, presented an ''intervention'' - a statement and recommendations - to the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues sixth session at U.N. headquarters in New York May 14 - 25, calling for immediate measures to protect the most basic of human rights: the right of access to clean, free water. Stating that it is becoming more and more difficult for indigenous peoples to have access to clean water or the means to protect this vital element on their lands, Peters told the forum, ''Indigenous peoples know water as the sacred source and essence of all life imbued with a spirit and a consciousness. The vitality of water to our communities is expressed in a rainbow of songs, stories and ceremonies, holding a special place in our cultures for the continuation of an indigenous worldview that affirms the vital link of water to life everlasting.” ''Privatization of water and other resources places them in the control of multinational corporations, shortsighted governmental development policies and the unrelenting encroachment by non-indigenous settlements, forcing us into poverty and pushing us further to the edge of existence, where we are already barely holding on by our fingertips for survival.'' For more information contact the Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development at: www.7genfund.org.

            Tribal leaders in Canada held a First Nations Day of Action, June 29, with a large number of events across Canada, to call attention to the suffering of their people over the ongoing and endless issues of extreme poverty, racism and unresolved land claims. Demonstrators complained of a variety of poor conditions on reserves, including insufficient housing and safe drinking water, inadequate health care and a high school graduation rate just over half the national average. Most protests took place without incident, but police closed part of Highway 401 near Deseronto, ON, as a safety measure prior to midnight, June 28, before Mohawk protesters were able to block it. Protesters later reached a deal with police to reopen the busy highway the next morning. The group also blocked a rail line affecting two key routes that authorities had announced would be suspended on June 29, the Montreal-Toronto and Ottawa-Toronto routes. For further information go to: http://www.afn.ca/nda.htm, http://poverty.suite101.com/blog.cfm/first_nations_ipperwash_inquiry, or for Videos: Video Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge0KMmlP9Og, Video Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZLsb9vNej0, Video Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe4hdJ8Xrzw.

            Looking ahead to the June 29 Canadian First Nation’s Day of Action, Canadians for Aboriginal Rights demanded, on June 20, “common policing protocol for all June 29 demonstrations,” alleging past instances of police misconduct in dealing with aboriginal people, including claims that on “April 20 2006 at Kanonhstaton/Caledonia, 150 tactical OPP police brutally attacked 16 Haudenosaunee Six Nations parents, grandparents and youth, chasing them down, five OPP on each, women and elders first, men tasered and beaten trying to help parents, 5 on one beating them, cuffing, restraining, dragging them through the dirt, arresting and convicting them on the spot. Non-native supporters were driven off the site at gunpoint, not beaten, not arrested, not charged.” MMN asked, “Will there be different police responses to native and non-native protesters on June 29, 2007 as there were at Caledonia on April 20 2006?” for more information, including a statement of demands for immediate action by governments, contact Canadians for Aboriginal Rights, http://cfar.proboards104.com or call Connie Kidd: (905)296-0396.

            The First Nations Summit speaks on behalf of First Nations involved in the treaty negotiation process in British Columbia as well as on other issues of common concern. On the 62^nd anniversary of the entry into force of the United Nations Charter on October 24, 1945, First Nations summit Expressed its concerns about Canada’s role in the world. “This week, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, expressed concern that many Canadians cling to an "unduly romantic vision" of Canada's role on the international stage. This vision of Canada's high stature on the world stage has been shattered in recent times by Canada's aggressive campaign against the rights of Indigenous Peoples, amongst other things….Canada was one of only four countries to vote against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ("Declaration") in the UN General Assembly. It was the only member of the UN Human Rights Council to do so.” Grand Chief Edward John, a member of the First Nations Summit's political executive, stated, "Canada's opposition to the Declaration seriously undermines the important work of the Human Rights Council, and so its membership on that body is untenable. Rightfully, it should resign its membership of the Human Rights Council immediately," First Nations Summit pointed out that earlier this year, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination ("CERD") strongly criticized Canada and its provinces for their "strongly adversarial positions" which forces Indigenous Peoples into expensive litigation to defend their rights. Furthermore, CERD has expressed grave concern that Canada's strategy of "modifying" constitutionally recognized and affirmed Aboriginal rights and title (for instance, as pursued by the Crown in treaty negotiations in British Columbia) was simply a new form of extinguishing Aboriginal rights. Chief John commented, "On United Nations Day, Canada needs to seriously reflect on how its repeated denial of Indigenous rights is affecting its international reputation." For more information contact Kevin Ward, Assistant Communications Coordinator, 1200 - 100 Park Royal South, West Vancouver, BC V7T 1A2 (604)926-9903,  Cell: (778)231-6934, kward@fns.bc.ca, www.fns.bc.ca.

            Members of the St. Mary’s First Nations community in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in October, were challenging limitations on Aboriginal fishing rights in the Miramichi River, one of the most popular salmon angling rivers in North America. Several tribal members have been arrested for jigging for salmon and others continue to fish in the face of what one member described as racist insults and rock throwing by Miramichi property owners.

         Three of the 12 legally operating community radio stations in Mexico have been under attack this year, and the Mexican representative of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), said at the beginning of February, that all three stations are in need of protection. A freedom of speech complaint was made, February 1, by AMARAC to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, concerning the first case, involving the Calenda station in the southern state of Oaxaca. Since mid-2006, the station, which broadcasts in San Antonino, a town of 4,900 near Oaxaca, the state capital, has been the target of the rage of the town's former mayor, who belongs to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which has governed the state since 1929. In January, the mayor of the town of San Antonino Castillo de Velasco, who was overthrown by protests, "opened fire on one of my colleagues, although he missed; another almost lost an eye when stones were thrown at him; and I was arrested and received death threats, and was later forced to sign a document in which I promised not to support subversive activities," Darío Campos, a volunteer reporter at the Calenda station, told IPS reporters. Campos also stated, "For giving coverage to the social uprising and airspace to APPO (the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca, which includes a high proportion of Indigenous people), which here in our community toppled the mayor, our radio station and its staff (of 10) have been attacked." A second station received warnings for covering the activities of social movements, and a third was closed down at gunpoint by supporters of the local government. For more information go to: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=36425.

            Survival International presented a petition to the Paraguayan government, simultaneously in London, Madrid, Paris, Berlin and Brussels, August 9, UN Indigenous People’s Day, with 57,000 signatures in support of uncontacted Ayoreo Indians, South America’s last surviving uncontacted tribe outside the Amazon basin. Their forest is being illegally cut down, forcing them to live constantly on the run in fear of bulldozers Survival International reported, August 30, that the Indigenous organization, FENAMAD condemned plans for the construction of a highway in one of the most remote parts of the Peruvian Amazon, which would run from the small Amazon town of Puerto Esperanza to Inapari on the Brazilian border, passing through territory inhabited by at least two uncontacted tribes. On July 19, Survival International submitted a report to the UN Human Rights Committee detailing the Botswana government’s failure to implement the December 2006 high court ruling in the case of the Kalahari Bushmen, which found that the Bushman have a right to live and hunt on their traditional land in the Kalahari Game Reserve. On July 17, Survival began a new campaign in England to support the Bushman, supported by a lengthy cover article in The Times describing the Botswana government’s continuing refusal to honor the terms of the Bushmen’s court victory, by Lucia Van der Post, daughter of author Laurens van der Post, who traveled to the Bushmen’s resettlement camps and into the Central Kalahari Game Reserve to research the article. Meanwhile, in late August, screen icon Julie Christie and Survival launched a campaign to save uncontacted tribes from extinction, with a new film featuring previously unseen footage of some of the world's most remote and endangered peoples. Christie said, 'Over 100 tribes on three continents continue to shun contact with the outside world. They are among the most vulnerable peoples on earth, and could be wiped out within the next twenty years unless their land rights are recognized and upheld. Surely the world is big enough for all of us, including those whose way of life is most different to ours?' Survival's director Stephen Corry stated, 'Uncontacted tribes, whether in South America, India or West Papua, remain in isolation because they choose to, and because encounters with the outside world have brought them only violence, disease and murder. 'There are tribes in Brazil today with only two or three survivors. All the other members of the tribe have been killed by cattle ranchers or have died from disease following contact with white people. These genocides are happening in the 21st century. This has to be stopped.' To watch the film 'Uncontacted Tribes' visit http://www.survival-international.org/uncontactedtribes. For more information, contact Survival International, info@survival-international.org, info@survival-international.org.

            Brazilian shaman Davi Yanomami delivered a letter, October 17, to 10 Downing Street calling on the British government to ratify International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 169, the major international law on tribal peoples. Davi wrote, “Yanomami land in Brazil is threatened by loggers, miners and ranching. My people are suffering and our survival is threatened at every moment. But this international law could protect us. Our own country has signed the convention, but we are very unhappy that other countries, such as yours, have not. The more countries that ratify it, the more weight it will have in international law, and the more we can rely on it to protect our lands and our people. I have heard that your government does not want to sign the convention because there are no indigenous people in the United Kingdom. But indigenous people in other countries can still be affected by development projects funded by the UK. British businesses working in other countries must also be encouraged to abide by ILO 169. It is therefore essential for indigenous peoples such as the Yanomami that your government ratifies ILO 169. I ask you to support the millions of others like us around the world by agreeing that our rights are important and signing the convention.” ILO Convention 169 is the most important international law on tribal peoples. It recognizes their land ownership rights and states they must be consulted on developments that affect them. Unlike the recently-adopted UN Declaration on indigenous peoples, ILO 169 is legally binding on governments that have ratified it. For more information contact Miriam Ross,  (+44) (0)20 7687 8734, email mr@survival-international.org, http://www.survival-international.org/news/2513. For the text of ILO Convention 169 go to: http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/cgi-lex/convde.pl?C169. Biographies and background information on the Yanomami are available at http://www.survival-international.org/news/kits/progresscankill.

         A new scheme has been launched in the UK requiring companies to back up their social, environmental and ethical claims in exchange for accreditation. Research indicates four out of five British people think many companies pretend to be ethical simply to sell more products. The SEE Companies scheme addresses this problem. requires businesses to answer 35 questions and supporting their answers, on a range of  issues such as human rights, environmental impact and marketplace ethics. The results are then published online. The scheme, which Survival assisted in drafting, requires companies to respect the human rights, land, culture and intellectual property of tribal peoples wherever they operate. For more information go to: http://www.seecompanies.com/.

         A group of Indigenous and activists organizations charges that the Samling Group has a long record of violating indigenous peoples' rights and rainforest destruction. They report it is now logging the last remaining primary rainforests in Sarawak in Malaysia, in conflict. with indigenous peoples there, and that Samling Group and its related companies have illegally logged forests in Cambodia and Papua New Guinea. while It has been found non-compliant with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards in Guyana. The following “call on investors to shun this company, and the sponsoring banks of Credit Suisse, HSBC and Macquarie to cease providing services to Samling. HSBC appears in breach of its own forest sector guidelines (The HSBC forest policy can be found at: http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/3622/1405f62937ef4d/www.img.ghq.hsbc.com/public/groupsite/), Credit Suisse appears in breach of its Sustainability Policy (available on the Credit Suisse website). Macquarie does not appear to have a publicly available forests. Policy.” Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN) Malaysia, Amerindian Peoples Association Guyana, ARA Germany, Amis de la terre France, BankTrack Netherlands, the Berne Declaration Switzerland, The Borneo Project USA, Both Ends The Netherlands, Bruno Manser Fonds Switzerland, Borneo Resources Institute (BRIMAS) Malaysia, Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC) Malaysia, Centre for Organisations Research & Education (CORE) India, Community Forestry International USA, Cornerhouse United Kingdom, FERN United Kingdom, Forest Peoples Programme United Kingdom, Friends of the Earth Czech Republic, Friends of the Siberian Forests Russia, Global 2000 Austria, Global Response USA, Global Witness United Kingdom, Institute for the development of alternative living (IDEAL), Malaysia Land and Peoples, Information Systems Canada. One Voice France, Pacific Indigenous People's Environment Coalition (PIPEC) New

Zealand, Pro Regenwald e. V. Germany, Rainforest Action Network USA, Rainforest Foundation Norway, Rettet den Regenwald e.V. Germany, Robin Wood e.V. Germany, Sahabat Alam Malaysia Malaysia, Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA) Malaysia, Society for Threatened Peoples Switzerland, TARA-Ping Pu Taiwan, Urgewald Germany, and Western Canada Wilderness Committee Canada, World Rainforest Movement Urugua. The information is provided by Roy Laifungbam, CORE Centre for Organisation Research & Education (Indigenous Peoples' Centre for Policy and Human Rights in India's North East), NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, Loisanglen: House No A/18, National Games Village, Langol, Lamphelpat, Imphal 795004, MANIPUR, India, Mobile: +91 9436201497, 9954098787, coreloisanglen@gmail.com, in cunjunction with the Bruno Manser Fonds, Association for the Peoples of the Rainforest: www.bmf.ch.

Indigenous people across Latin America have been objecting to the U.S. policy of eradicating cocoa and asserting that the coca leaf is a medicine which should not only be allowed for traditional use, but promoted on the international market for its curative benefits. A 1975 Harvard study found that coca is rich in iron, phosphorous, calcium, vitamin A and riboflavin. In 1995, the World Health Organization recommended further study of its potential health benefits. Traditionally, coca, a mild stimulant and appetite suppressant, was one of the staples of the Incan and Aymaran culture. It is also used as a medicinal tea for stomach problems and altitude sickness, and as an anesthetic for wounds. Spanish missionaries called the plant an agent of the devil, but Spanish landowners gave coca to the Indians they enslaved to make them work harder. Indigenous people in the Andes continue to consider ''Mama Coca'' a sacred plant, a crucial part of a ceremony and ritual honoring Mother Earth and the spirits of the mountains. In Bolivia, president, Evo Morales, who is Aymaran, has reversed the U.S.-backed ''zero coca'' policy and begun a new program that would eliminate cocaine production, while focusing on developing coca as a medicinal and nutritional product for the international market, with the goal of eventually declassifying it in the United Nations as a narcotic. Indigenous groups in Colombia, in May, protested the government's decision to limit the sale of legal coca products like drinks and ointments that had previously been sold in commercial outlets throughout the country to indigenous territories. Traditional healer Carlos Mamanche more recently said on Venezuelan television station Telesur. ''The coca leaf and the traditional products that come from it are aligned with the ancient culture of the indigenous people of Latin America.'' The medical uses of coca ''are thousands of years old, older than Colombia, older than the United States who is behind all this.'' Native groups in Argentina presented a proposal to the National Congress, May 14, which would recognize coca on a national level for its ''importance in medicinal, nutritional, ritual, religious and social value.'' The advocates of the proposal claim that corrupt government officials look the other way in sales of large amounts, while sellers of small amounts of coca are penalized. In Peru, in April, Efforts by President Alan Garcia to toughen coca eradication policies were resisted by coca farmers, who blocked roads in protest, though much of the cocoa production is destined for the illegal market. While Peru, like Bolivia and Colombia, allows for the cultivation of the coca leaf for traditional and medicinal use.

         The Federation of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Asia, was established in March with more than 68 members as an Asia-wide confederation of Indigenous Peoples to take up advocacy at the national, regional and international levels on indigenous rights issues “with accountability to our peoples and communities in an increasingly difficult environment for advocacy”. One of the Federations first concerns has been to press for the now achieved passage by the UN General Assembly of a Declaration of Indigenous Rights. For more information contact the Secretariat of the Federation on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Asia, Indian Confederation of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples – NEZ, No.8 Banphool Nagar, Namghar Path, Dispur, P.O. Assam Sachivalaya, Guwahati 781006, North East India. Tel: +91 361 2233298; Fax: +91 361 2611293, Email: federation.asiaips@gmail.com.

         Opponents of recently a passed antiterrorist act, and then being considered additional antiterrorism legislation, in New Zealand (Aotearoa), including many Indigenous people and groups, held demonstrations across the country on October 27, with solidarity demonstrations in other countries. The opponents state that there is no need for such legislation as New Zealand has never been a target of terrorism and existing laws are adequate to maintain national security and law and order, without limiting essential rights, which would likely be endangered in terrorism legislation. The opponents also object to Police behavior and allegations of terrorism in making arrests of Maori activists in Maori communities the Urewera ranges, October 15, claiming the charges were trumped up to create the right political environment to pass the latest so-called anti-terrorism bill then before parliament (See, also International Developments, below). Protests continued during the following week across Aotearoa/New Zealand, while in the U.S., Australia, Germany, Greece, and South Africa, people were denouncing New Zealand's targeting of Indigenous sovereignty campaigners, and making links between last week's raids, and an international trend of labeling legitimate political dissent as "terrorist". The recent New Zealand Government suppression of Maori rights, combined with New Zealand’s voting against the UN Declaration of Indigenous Rights, is causing world wide Indigenous opposition to New Zealand’s efforts to join the UN Human rights Council. For more information go to: http://www.civilrightsdefence.org.nz and http://tinyurl.com/yrpapy.

            In Australia, a new National Aboriginal Alliance has been formed to fight back against the Howard government’s closing down of tribal governments, nationalizing Aboriginal lands, and other repressive actions, in the name of ending child abuse. (For details see the end of International Developments, and the last writing in Dialoguing). The Alliance agreed on a set of principles. Including: a rejection of the 'discriminatory and coercive elements' of the Commonwealth's so-called 'emergency intervention' in the Northern Territory (NT), which the group believes has little to do with the protection of Aboriginal children. The group urged Aboriginal peoples and communities to actively but peacefully resist the 'intervention', and demanded: the immediate removal of Commonwealth Business Managers from Aboriginal communities in the NT; that the Commonwealth respects the property rights of Aboriginal people in the NT and restores the permit system; that the Commonwealth immediately restores integrity to the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, which has been put aside under the Government's 'intervention'; that Aboriginal communities receive equitable service delivery and infrastructure. The group affirmed its commitment to protecting Aboriginal children from harm, adding that successive Australian governments had ignored Aboriginal peoples' repeated cries for help. Moreover, "There is not a single reference to child protection in the hundreds of pages that comprise the Commonwealth's legislative package," the group said. "Rather than protecting children, this so-called 'emergency intervention' is a cynical attempt to subject our people to further genocide." The group said the lack of national political representation for Aboriginal people since the abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) had left Aboriginal people vulnerable to harsh government policies and practices. "These attacks against Aboriginal people in the NT are a consequence of the lack of representation," it said. "Had there been a powerful black political voice in place, we doubt these attacks could have succeeded. We call upon all Aboriginal people to walk in the footsteps of our Elders whose legacies are now at stake and whose victories are being wound back. We must stand united to seize back the power to shape our own destinies. We call on all Australians, to engage with, speak up and support Aboriginal people's self-determination." To keep up to date on developments go to: http://www.nationalaboriginalalliance.org/.

         This summer, the National Coalition on Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD) was a partner of Awakening Global Action: Leadership, Indigenous Wisdom & Dialogue for a Transforming World, an intergenerational, a multicultural gathering in Ubud, Bali July 31 through August 7, run by the Bali Institute for Global Renewal. The meeting featured world renowned speakers, facilitators and indigenous wisdom leaders from Africa, Indonesia, North America, Australia, Thailand, Afghanistan, New Zealand, Peru and elsewhere, in a gathering designed to offer cutting-edge leadership training, deep listening, shared experiences and collaborative cross-cultural learning to shape the participants’ future as a committed global citizen. More than 1,000 people have attended the previous Quest For Global Healing Conferences from over 40 countries. NCCD reports that hundreds of people are now more actively engaged as change agents because of their experiences at these events. For more information go to www.baliinstitute.org/aga.html, or contact, in the U.S., (866)458-2254, info@baliinstitute.org. The conference video is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPYyK80WUls.

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