ONGOING ACTIVITIES

Compiled by Steve Sachs

Activities in the U.S.

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), in December, gave support to Native Americans at Dartmouth (NAD), a student organization responding to a series of culturally insensitive, biased, and racist incidents at Dartmouth College. NAD had called on Dartmouth College Administrators to respond to the incidents in meaningful ways, aiming to calm the currently hostile campus environment. The college administration did speak opposing the anti-Indian incidents, and also appointed a committee to review how to preserve a set of murals, one of which depicts Dartmouth founder Eleazar Wheelock "recruiting" half-naked Indians to the college with the aid of a 500-gallon barrel of rum. NCAI President Joe Garcia stated that it, "applauds President Wright and Director Hanitchak in their effort to create a more inclusive and broader-thinking institution. We hope that all institutions of higher education realize the importance of their social role in fostering these ideals. We hope they will continue to be responsive to the concerns of Native students following this series of troubling incidents."

On January 25 National Congress of American Indians President Joe Garcia delivered the State of the Indian Nations Address, Jan. 25, at the National Press Club, in Washington, DC, and nationally via tribal and public radio, promising that NCAI would make steady effort with Congress on the priorities of Indian country, Garcia set out a list of priorities in Congress provided by NCAI's 250 member tribes. The list was largely the same as set forth in the 2006 State of Indian Country Address, focusing on public safety, health, economic development and education. but contained two new priority areas - strengthening tribal governments and natural resources. Garcia made it clear that the new Congress, with a Democratic majority needed to ''be an example to the global community that showing respect and taking care of the environment is something that can no longer be overlooked.'' Stating, ''Our traditions teach us that we must respect Mother Earth - to be protective and resourceful with what she has to offer.... Tribes recognize the importance of balancing natural resource and economic development with sustainable conservation principles and they have been at the forefront of many successful conservation initiatives.'' As examples, he mentioned a White Mountain Apache sustained-yield timber operation and the Yukon River Intertribal Watershed Council, formed by Alaska Native leaders, commenting, "Our brothers and sisters from the North are using this council to serve as a model of self-determination and governance in deciding how to use and preserve this largest and most intact ecosystem in the world.'' Garcia called upon Congress to act to reduce global warming and to move toward energy independence, saying, ''Tribes can be great players in this initiative. ''Indian nations across the country have a vast renewable energy potential, and many of them are leading the way in developing wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy sources.'' He gave examples of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians in California and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, OR. At Morongo a power generating station ''enabled the tribe, including all of their recreation and entertainment facilities, to go completely off the grid and operate independently from the local utility that serves the area.'' At Warm Springs, a biomass energy plant, planned for construction this summer, will generate ''enough energy to provide over 15,000 homes with continuous renewable electricity.'' Garcia called on Congress for a Production Tax Incentive that will make similar projects economically feasible for more tribes. He also presented NCAI’s FY2008 budget request, including, within the Interior Department, increases in public safety, education, contract support costs and natural resources.

Concerning strengthening tribal governance, Garcia stated that reforms that failed to pass under Republican-controlled committees in the House may have a better chance with Democrats committee chairmen. Garcia said, ''Too often, tribes are saddled with federally imposed models of governance that do not fit our traditions and cultures. It is time to address the barriers caused by these mismatched governments. Many tribes, such as the Crow and Osage nations, have engaged in internal reform and are developing constitutions that reflect their unique cultures, traditions and communities in a way that enhances the effectiveness of tribal governments. Tribes are updating their codes and regulations to deal with the challenges of today.'' In the area of economic development, Garcia stated that Indian nations can do better in meeting challenges by ''consistent tax code treatment of tribal government pension plans ... access to bond financing to the same extent that it is available to state and local governments; and we need to make sure that tribal governments are included in their rightful place in the national Streamlined Sales and Use Tax agreement.'' Garcia noted that NCAI's Native Vote campaign helped 64 American Indians be elected (or reelected) as state legislators in 14 states, “the most ever;'' while NCAI's call for federal cooperation against methamphetamine or ''meth'' abuse and trafficking in Indian country has been met, saying, ''Our collaborative efforts have put us on the right path.'' For more information on NCAI go to: http://www.ncai.org.

NCAI’s February 26-28 Tribal Nations Legislative Summit focused on achieving Congressional reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, which has been a priority of Indian country for seven years. In May, NCAI partnered with other Indian organizations and federal agencies dealing regularly with Native Americans and tribes, including the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development at the Department of Interior, to put on the National Native American Economic Policy Summit in , Phoenix, AZ. The primary goal of the Summit will was to identify federal policies that have successfully stimulated tribal economies as well as persistent barriers that can be addressed through policy enhancements. One day of the Summit was devoted to sharing information about successful programs and best practices. For more information go to: www.ncai.org/National_Native_American_Econo.228.0.html .

Speaking to the National Congress of American Indians, Representative Rick Renzi (R-AZ) announced that as co-chairman of the Congressional Native American Caucus, he hopes to grow the caucus to 125 members or more and then raise money to create a web site featuring the priority issues of the caucus, ''And then I'm going to start posting who's voting with us and who's voting against us. It's not about Republicans or Democrats, but we'll find out who's with us and who is against us, okay?” In March, the Congressional Native American Caucus advised the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior of its views on the president's fiscal year 2008 budget proposals for the BIA and the IHS. The caucus urged funding for a number of programs targeted by President Bush for severe reductions or elimination. Among the programs cut by the White house, urged for restoration are: United Tribes Technical College and Crownpoint Institute of Technology, urban IHS clinics, the Fire Protection Public Safety program and the Johnson O'Malley supplemental education grants program. Urged for increased funding beyond the President’s request include: Tribal court, IHS contract support cost, IHS health facilities construction and BIA school construction budgets would see increases over the president's more modest proposals.

Meanwhile, the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC), having laid off half its staff due to federal budget cuts, has asked Congress to increase housing money for the hundreds of tribes it represents. NAHC chair, Marty Shuravloff, stated at the organization’s annual legislative conference that the level $627 million Indian housing block grant proposed by the administration for fiscal 2008 leaves tribal housing ''falling behind'' due to inflation, and should be increased to $1.1 billion, including $77 million for the Indian Community Development Block Grant program. NAIHC also advocates a ''hold harmless'' provision that would ensure that tribes don't see a reduction in housing money as a result of the way the government counts Indians. In 2000, for the first time, the Census Bureau allowed people to declare themselves to be of more than one race, and the results favored tribes with more multi-racial members.

Amnesty International reported, in May, that ”Sexual violence against Indigenous women in the USA is widespread -- and especially brutal. Native American and Alaska Native women are more than 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than other women in the USA. The violence has been compounded by the federal government’s steady erosion of tribal government authority and its chronic under-funding of those law enforcement agencies which should protect Indigenous women from sexual violence. Please join Native American and Alaska Native women to bring attention to this very serious issue and support the work of the many Native organizations and activists who have been at the forefront of efforts to protect and respect the rights of women.” For more information, go to:

http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=

jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action

=8458&tr=y&auid=2659354.

The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, of Gun Lake, MI. issued a statement Feb. 8 criticizing the Grand Rapids Press for inaccurate reporting on that day that the Byron Township Board in southern Kent County had ''approved a resolution opposing a state gaming compact with the tribe.'' The story attributed the statement to Byron Township Supervisor Audrey Nevins, but according to the tribe, Nevins said, ''No action was taken. A Grand Rapids Press reporter was at the meeting and would have known that the resolution was not passed.'' It turned out, the resolution was written by the head of an anti-Indian casino group MichGO.

River Network’s May 17-22 conference, held at the Skamania Lodge, near Stevenson, Washington, included the Indigenous Waters Network, with Native people from all over Indian Country and the Pacific Islands joining together to discussing shared experiences, both successes and challenges, in “protecting our most sacred gift: water”. For information visit http://www.rivernetwork.org/, or contact Jolene Catron, Coordinator, Indigenous Waters Network (307)332-9807 (home), (307)332-4238 (office), ouia@yahoo.com.

The California Tribal River Summit was Hosted by the Wiyot Tribe, Dec. 14-15, at the Table Bluff Reservation Community Center in Loleta, CA, providing an opportunity for tribal leaders, staff, traditional practitioners, and tribal fisherman to work together toward a common agenda protecting tribal rivers now and tomorrow. For information, go to: http://www.wiyot.us/River_Summit.htm.

Native Peoples and Environmental Justice Allies, on April 6, protested U.S. Department of Justice plans to build power plants in the Sacred and Natural Medicine Lake Highlands near Mt. Shasta, with a rally at noon to 2pm at DOJ office in San Francisco, CA. Sponsors of the protest include Advocates for the Protection of Sacred Sites, Seventh Generation Fund, International Indian Treaty Council, Indigenous Environmental Network, Citizens of the Pitt River Nation, and Redding Rancheria Cultural Department. On January 29, more than 200 Native Peoples, environmental justice allies, and other concerned citizens rallied in front of Calpine Energy Company's Headquarters in San Jose, when Native Nation representatives handed Calpine a Notice of Eviction form the Highlands. On February 20, a rally was held at the Alturas, CA BLM and FS Field Office, demanding the agencies not seek another review of the case involving Medicine Lake by the 9th Circuit, but the agencies continued their legal action and construction planning. However, the 9^th Circuit Court blocked the development (see In The Courts, below).

The Defenders of the Black Hills and Action for the Environment filed objections to the possible issuance of a mining permit request to the South Dakota Department of Energy and Natural Resources to the Canadian company PowerTech Inc., which plans to use the in situ leach method of mining, and the DENR has drafted regulations that govern that type of mining. The area to be mined is within the Black Hills, held sacred by the Lakota and other northern Plains tribes. Past uranium testing and extraction has resulted in polluted water systems and accusations of a higher incidence of cancer and birth defects. The planned area is also located over the Oglala Aquifer, one of the largest aquifers in the country. A current operating in situ leach mine south of the Black Hills near Crawford, NE., has recorded spills from the holding ponds that have polluted the surface.

The Dine' Hataalii Association (medicine men and women) passed a resolution, April 14, opposing planned uranium exploration, mining, and processing on and around TsooDzil (Mt. Taylor) in New Mexico. Further the resolution is requesting consultation from federal and state offices. The resolution supports funding for cleanup of abandoned uranium sites, and cites others that have passed similar resolutions including the Pueblo of Acoma, All Indian Pueblo Council, including Navajo Nation Chapter of Lupton and the Eastern Navajo Agency Council. For information contact Robert Tohe: robert.tohe@sierraclub.org. The state Mining and Minerals Division has issued a permit to an Arizona company to conduct exploration drilling for uranium resources on state trust land in McKinley County, is the third uranium exploration permit issued by the division in the past year. Neutron Energy Inc. plans to drill five holes at a site near the Ambrosia Lake mining district north of Milan. Cibola and McKinley counties have passed resolutions supporting uranium mining, pointing to its potential to create jobs, but tribes and environmental groups have urged the state not to grant uranium permits for the area. Meanwhile, South Dakota’s issuing a permit allowing exploratory drilling for uranium in the Black Hills of southwest South Dakota is being challenged in court. Defenders of the Black Hills says the state Board of Minerals and Environment improperly granted the exploration permit to Powertech Uranium Corp. Powertech plans to drill 155 exploration holes northwest of Edgemont. Charmaine White Face of Defenders of the Black Hills said incomplete archaeological data was one reason the group opposed the permit.

The Karuk Tribe of California is supporting a bill in the state legislature, AB 1032, which would allow CDFG to restrict in-stream gold mining which “has a negative impact to our fisheries.” For more information contact Earl Crosby, Karuk Tribe of CA, Watershed Restoration Coordinator, PO Box 282, Orleans, CA 95556 (530)469-3454. AB 1032 is available at: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?. Keweenaw Bay Chippewa, of Michigan, is opposing the proposed Kennecott Eagle Mining Co.’s proposed sulfide mine in western Marquette County, and as of November had spent $700,000 in legal fees opposing the project.

Tribal leaders from at least 55 nations and climate scientists from across the United States participated in the first Tribal Lands Climate Conference, at the Cocopah Casino near Yuma, AZ, December 5 and 6. The conference was a collaboration between the Cocopah Indian Tribe and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) to discuss the effects of global warming on tribal lands. Steve Torbit, NWF tribal lands conservation program director said, ''Our goal here is to begin a dialogue and establish lines of communication within and among tribes on the issue of climate change. What we hope to do here is learn from each other.'' ''The goal of the National Wildlife Federation Tribal Lands Conservation Program is to ensure the well-being of wildlife and habitat on and near tribal lands by working in partnership with tribal and non-tribal governments and tribal organizations, environmental staff and members, while respecting tribal culture and sovereignty,'' Torbit said. Robert Corell, chair of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, gave an overview of the effects of global warming. ''Climate change and global warming are no longer simply an environmental issue, it's an economic and human well-being issue.'' For more information go to http://www.googlesyndicatedsearch.com/u/NWF?q=National+

Wildlife+Federation+Tribal+Lands+Conservation+Program

+&sa.x=16&sa.y=8.

American Indian leaders in Oklahoma opposed “English Only Legislation,” being discussed by the state legislature, in February, holding that it countered their efforts to preserve their native languages. Among those urging state lawmakers to defeat the proposed legislation that would declare English Oklahoma's official language was Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith, whose letter to state legislatures "is really just an ugly symbol of intolerance."

Members of Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina set up camp on October 29, in a “peaceful occupation” of a soybean field in Snow Hill, NC, on the site of the 18th century Tuscarora Fort Neoheroka, in a protest seeking establishing protection for the site and any remains buried therein, as well as repatriation of ancestral remains that were excavated from the site in 1990. In mid-June, in Ohio, a local coalition - including the Ross County Park District and two nonprofits, Arc of Appalachia Preserve System and Wilderness East - was trying to raise the $600,000 needed to save the 238-acre property at Spruce Hill, which includes a 150-acre sacred site, comprising 2000 year old mounds, as well as rare native birds and fish and some of the region's densest wildflower displays.

The Tricentennial Truth Alliance and the Southwest Indigenous Alliance organized a protest of the unveiling of the Juan de Onate equestrian statue at the El Paso Airport, El Paso, Texas, on Saturday, April 21. Onate lead the harsh Spanish invasion of what is now the U.S. South West. For more information contact Southwest Indigenous Alliance: swia_nm@yahoo.com or Maurus Chino mauruschino@yahoo.com.

United Indian Nations of Oklahoma, originally formed in 1986, has been revitalized this spring with the goal of providing a vehicle for the state’s 26 Indian nations to discuss and reach agreement on policies effecting them, and providing the nations with a stronger voice.

A new American Indian women’s political organization has been launched in South Dakota, the Indigenous Women's Political Caucus (IWPC), arising out of the successful 2006 campaign to defeat the anti-abortion ban in South Dakota, as a ballot measure. American Indian women are becoming involved in the political arena in larger numbers than ever before in South Dakota, bringing 10 American Indian women to run for state or county offices, and with the American Indian men who ran, the number of Native candidates was the highest in the state in recent history. IWPC is networking with South Dakota's American Indian women to strategize and strengthen their political voices on state legislative measures.

The Hawai’i People’s Fund, in March, put on a Media Justice Conference. The fund has supported Hui Ho’opakeke Aina (www.hawaiseed.org) in opposing the University of Hawai'i’s efforts to patent and genetically modify kalo/taro. The fund has been supporting Nakai’i, a group of Native Hawaiian anthropologists in presenting a Native Hawaiian voice in cultural resource management. For more information contact Hawai’i People’s Fund, 810 N. Vineyard Blvd., Honolulu, HI 96817 (808)845-4800, www.hawaiipeoplesfund.org.

Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO) and Advancement of Maori Opportunity (AMO, at: http://www.amo.co.nz/) of New Zealand held meetings in Bolivia, this Spring, with Bolivian Indigenous People to facilitate collective problem solving. AIO Ambassadors Program (a leadership nourishing process) 2006-07 Ambassador, Neolani Lee has been initiating development Advancement of Hawaiian Opportunity (AHO) to work to improve conditions for Native Hawaiians. The Yavapai Ambassadors Program, put in motion by 2003-04 Ambassador, Linda Ogo, graduated its first class of four Yavapai women in 2006. For more information contact Americans for Indian Opportunity, 1001 Marquette Ave., NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102 (505)842-8658, aio@aio.org, www.aio.org.

International Activities

Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, stated his concern, in December, about the decision of the General Assembly to adjourn consideration of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, saying that it is disappointing that the General Assembly missed the opportunity to assert its principled support of this important human rights instrument on the occasion of this year's Human Rights Day, and as a major contribution to the world's human rights. For more information go to: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/.

The Indigenous World Uranium Summit, on December 2, 2006, at Window Rock, AZ, capital of the Navajo Reservation, past a declaration calling for a world wide ban on uranium mining, processing, enrichment, fuel use, and weapons testing and deployment, and nuclear waste dumping on Native Lands. The text of the declaration is in Dialoguing, below. Audio and video feeds for the summit are available at: http://maps.hostgis.com/sevengenfund/ and http://maps.hostgis.com/sevengenfund/JoeShirleyIntroduction.wmv.

Representatives of 20 groups came together in Italy, in November, to form Call of the Earth Circle, an initiative to give Indigenous people greater control of natural resources and traditional knowledge, while preventing outsiders from profiting from traditional knowledge without permission and sharing of resulting income.

The O'odham, joined by local residents of Sonora held a public education meeting at the end of March, concerning the Mexican government’s secret issuing of a federal permit, in 2005, for a hazardous waste dump at an O’oham sacred ceremonial site in the area of Quitovac. The project is now temporarily halted by the refusal of Sonoyta, Sonora, to issue a municipal permit, as a result of a 2006 O’odham and local resident protest, following whistle blowing about the project, but the company, CEGIR, is still pressing for the dump. For more information contact: Ofelia Rivas: uyarivas@hotmail.com .

The British Association of Social Anthropologists (ASA), in early March, condemned the use of terms like 'stone age' and 'primitive' to describe tribal and indigenous peoples alive today, saying, “'All anthropologists would agree that the negative use of the terms 'primitive' and 'Stone Age' to describe [tribal peoples] has serious implications for their welfare. Governments and other social groups. . . have long used these ideas as a pretext for depriving such peoples of land and other resources.” The condemnation follows controversial comments made on the BBC by Liberal democratic Peer, Baroness Jenny Tonge, calling the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert 'stone age' and 'primitive.' The ASA statement is supportive of Survival International's campaign against racism in the media which challenges the use of terms like 'stone age', 'primitive' and 'savage' to describe tribal and indigenous peoples. In March, the ASA and Survival actions registered a success, when a leading Indian minister said that the Jarawa, one of the world's most isolated tribes who resisted contact with the outside world until 1998, are not primitive.

Cultural Survival (CS), has been working in the U.S. to support the preservation of Native languages, including supporting the Euchee Language Project in Sapulpa, OK. Last fall Cultural Survival partnered with SIMOO, a community-based Maasai organization from Oloshoiboi, Kenya traveling to schools and universities throughout the New England area to help promote awareness about Maasai values, issues and traditions. SIMOO, which stands for “Simba Maasai Outreach Organization”, was founded in 1999 by Francis Ole Sakuda who envisioned the organization as a way to empower his community to improve their own living standards. (For more contact Jessica Kohlberger, (617)441-5403, jessie@cs.org or Lisa Matthews, (617)44-5413, lmatthews@cs.org, or go to: http://www.cs.org ). CS continues to partner with five Guatemalan organizations in the Guatemala Radio Project to protect Mayan peoples’ access to media, providing radio programming to Mayan communities around the country. CS offers a number of publications. Cultural Survival Quarterly covering indigenous rights issues, with each issue including feature articles focused on themes of concern to indigenous peoples, as well as news pieces, interviews, and book reviews. Cultural Survival Voices is a semi-annual newspaper that features indigenous perspectives, photos, and stories, published in English, French, Spanish, and Russian, and distributed free to individuals, indigenous organizations, Cultural Survival members and subscribers, and teachers and college faculty who use it in the classroom. World Indigenous News covers current and breaking news about indigenous peoples and concern, posted weekly on Cultural Survival's website and distributed via e-mail. For more information contact Cultural Survival, (617)441-5400, culturalsurvival@cs.org, http://www.cs.org.

In advance of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination discussing India's record on dealing with its Indigenous people, Survival International submitted a report to the UN (where it has consultive status), February 20, warning that the Jarawa tribe of the Andaman Islands could be 'wiped out' unless the Indian government acts to protect them. The report describes the Jarawa's future as 'extremely precarious', warning that failure to close the road running through the Jarawa's land and failure to keep poachers out leaves the 300 Jarawa at risk from exploitation and fatal diseases which could decimate their population. This can be seen in the Jarawa having suffered two broadly fatal measles epidemics in the last eight years. Survival's director Stephen Corry stated, 'The Indian government has strong policies to protect the Jarawa. But without action to implement them the Jarawa may not survive. The extinction of entire tribes did not end with colonialism, and the Indian government must make sure that the Jarawa are not next in line.' The UN Committee’s discussion has brought increased international attention to the plight of the Jarawa, including from Indigenous people. In February, George Rich, a leader of the Innu tribe of sub-arctic eastern Canada, made a plea to the Indian government to protect the Jarawa of the Andaman Islands in the Times of India. Last fall, Survival was involved in a weekly vigil outside the Indian High Commission in London, calling on the authorities to ensure the land of the Jarawa tribe in India is properly protected. To download a copy of Survival's report visit http://www.survival-international.org/related_material.php?id=529. Following the Bushman court victory in Botswana (see International Activities), in December, in which it assisted, Survival has begun a fund raising campaign to support the opening of a new legal department. The organization has opened a new office in the Netherlands, to promote its campaigns there and raise awareness of the many urgent issues tribal people face. The new office is at Van der Duynstraat 71, 1051 AT Amsterdam. Tel. +31 (0)20 6860850. Survival has considerably improved its website, featuring tribal news, photo galleries and a new film on the historic Bushman campaign, at http://www.survival-international.org.

Survival International has launched an urgent campaign with the Enawene Nawe People for the Rio Preto area in Brazil to be recognized officially as Enawene Nawe land, before it is totally destroyed. Cattle ranchers had invaded virtually all of the Rio Preto, and threatened Enawene Nawe Indians with reprisals if they attempt to visit the area, where the Indians build dams to trap fish every year. The ranchers tried to bribe the Enawene Nawe to give up their claim to the area by offering to build them fish tanks in compensation. The Indians refused the offer and say they will not give up the land of their ancestors. The ranchers have formed an association and mounted a smear campaign against the Enawene Nawe in the local media, alleging they are polluting the rivers by using fish poison and accusing some Enawene Nawe of stealing goods from their ranches. Tensions were running high, last fall, and a federal prosecutor was investigating threats made against the Enawene Nawe. For more information go to: http://www.survival-international.org.

The Jalisco Indigenous Groups Support Association (AJAG), headquartered in Guadalajara, Mexico, assists central Mexican tribes in filing land claims and achieving economic self-sufficiency. AJAGI has devoted much of its attention to the Huichol, a people isolated in the western Sierra Madre who have lost land to loggers, planters, ranchers and narcotraffickers. AJAGI founder Carlos Chavez described the delicate work of partnering with tribes: ''We don't give them a solution. We plan with them. We brainstorm with them. We evaluate our positions together. We're not so much colleagues as companions.'' Chavez said that the party most responsible for land loss has been the Mexican government. The 1910 Mexican Revolution made possible the return of communal lands to Indian pueblos, but corruption of an agrarian reform allowed lands to stay in foreign and non-Indian hands. Tribes in Mexico do not have treaty relationships with the federal government. As a result, Chavez noted, Mexican land reform is closely tied to party politics. After the revolution, federal officials agreed to look the other way while regional powers seized indigenous lands with impunity. For 70 years, the ruling party, PRI, maintained this arrangement, until voted out of office in 2000. Only in recent years has the gradual political thaw in Mexico allowed for a concerted effort at recovering land. Chavez asserted that, ''The most important development has been communal organizations. When the pueblos form alliances, they're better able to resist. One pueblo becomes many, which can organize regionally and then coordinate even on a national and international level. In large part, this is how the lands have been returned to the Huichol.'' AJAGI, founded in 1990, so far has helped the Huichol recover 140,000 acres that are now protected by law, making attempts at seizure illegal. But, Cavez pointed out that the law isn't always sufficient.

The Nahual Foundation, launched in 2002 as a progressive think tank for Indigenous peoples of the Americas, operates 13 commissions staffed and led by volunteer community leaders, on subjects ranging from educational and women’s issues to mental health and environmental protection. In December, The foundation created a 10 year anniversary celebration, in Antigua, Guatemala (where the foundation has a multi-purpose community center), of the 1996 Peace Accords, to make indelible and conspicuously public the continuing support for the accords. The foundation has a number of education projects, including the Teacher at Home Project, partnered with the Guatemalan Institute of Radio Education (IGER), to provide distance learning to Indigenous people around the department of Sacatepequez. Nahual is partnering in establishing IGER centers in each of the department’s 13 municipalities, with the Nahual Scholarship Fund providing financial support to those in need. Development Council Training Projects operates a training center for Guatemalan community leaders, and assists in the formation of community development councils, which serves as essential building blocks for expanding participatory democracy, for which the foundation provides participatory education. The foundation works with communities in identifying and prioritizing community needs, in developing of projects to meet them, and in auditing their implementation. Nahual is initiating a community library program in Sacatepequez, and carries out English language training, volunteer programs to Indigenous communities, and efforts to provide basic needs. Nahual cultural programs include putting on the first celebration of the International Day of Indigenous Peoples in Antigua, Guatemala. For more information contact Ignacio Ochoa, Director, Nahual Foundation, 2a Avenida Norte 6 B, Antigua Guatemala, Sacatepequez, GUATEMALA (502) 7832-0167/ 5985-4954, ignacio.ochoa@nahualfoundation.org, www.nahualinstitute.com.

The people of Smangus, assisted by a variety of groups in Taiwan in a political campaign which calls for fairness and respect in treating the indigenous peoples of the country, since three tribal members, acting to carryout a community decision, were improperly arrested and punished for allegedly stealing their own wood on their own land, last September. The constitution and laws of Taiwan recognize the rights of its indigenous people, including to their land and resources, and there is a government Indigenous commission. However, in practice, the government, including the courts, has not recognized these rights. For more information go to: http://smangus.blogspot.com/,

The Third Annual International Workshop, “First Nations, the Great Lakes and the Environment: Tri-National Implications,” was sponsored and Organized by the Center for the Study of Indigenous Border Issues (CSIBI): Phil Bellfy (Michigan State University), Karl Hele (Western Ontario University), and David McNab (York University, Atkinson Faculty) and held on the Campus of Michigan State University, April 19-22, in Conjunction with International Events Honoring Earth Day, with the Assistance of the Government of Canada. For information contact Phil Bellfy, bellfy@msu.edu.

The Indigenous Without Borders Conference was held in Tucson, AZ, April 28—29, to address the losses of Indigenous rights occurring increasingly for peoples whose territories are crossed by U.S. borders, as new immigration and border enforcement policies, that do not include or resolve Indigenous immigration and border rights issues, are being put into place by the U.S. government. For information, contact Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras, P.O. Box 826, Tucson, Arizona 85701, or Christina Leza, (520)591-2637 or Jose Matus {520)979-2125.

Indigenous Peoples Survival Foundation (IPSF) is a non-profit, humanitarian organization with the primary mission of promoting understanding between ancient traditional peoples and modern civil society. IPSF secondary mission is to utilize indigenous knowledge to promote economic prosperity for needy people worldwide. For more information contact Indigenous Peoples Survival Foundation, P.O. Box 25, Yonkers, NY 10704, (914)237-4642,chitral@indigenouspeople.org, http://www.indigenouspeople.org/ipsfny/nyhome.htm.

On 07/07/07, Yungarri Knuppanunka Aunty Sue Charles Rankin, Aboriginal Mother and Grandmother from the Kulin Nation, (Melbourne, Australia) will commce a walk from Kaurna Country (Adelaide, South Australia), 1,500 kilometers to Uluru in Australia‚s Northern Territory “to bring world-wide focus on Mother Earth changes and the continued deplorable treatment and living conditions of Aboriginal Peoples in the homelands of her Ancestors.” For more information contact Susan Charles Rankin, susanrankin7@bigpond.com, www.peacepilgrimage.net/sacredlife or www.myspace.com/peacepilgrimage.

Peruvian Amazon Conservation (PAC) provides support for appropriate sustainable development, education and services to villages in the Peruvian Amazon. For information, contact Eleanor B. Smithwick, Ph.D. Executive Director, Peruvian Amazon Conservation, 1759 Dyson Drive NE,
Atlanta, GA, 30307 (404)378-9800, pacmail@mindspring.comm, www.peruvianamazon.org, (formerly: www.amazonconservation.com).

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