Calfifornia fire still burning, call for help

FEMA trailers 'toxic tin cans'
http://risingfromruin.msnbc.com/2006/07/are_fema_traile.html

Daily updates from fire relief:

From Robert Lame Bull McDonald, MD, at the Indian Health Council
e-contact: indianrobert@msn.com

(November 1, 2007) Messages:

My Fellow Native Americans and other Community Leaders, Greetings

This is Dr. Robert Lame Bull McDonald, MD of Valley Center and a physician at the Indian Health Council on the Rincon Indian Reservation in the North San Diego County fire zone.

Please continue to read the information below and let me know if you can help in our disaster relief efforts.

Hoka hey Pastor Joe,

It sounds like you folks are really on the ball in Rancho Bernardo. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your community. I am sure you have many needs in your own community and it is quite honorable to offer to share your resources of aid. Perhaps we can help distribute and delegate the resources where they are needed most and used for the best.I am forwarding your email to some of my friends and leaders in the disaster area here in the Valley Center area. Together and with help from our Lord the Creator we can stand strong and smile because you can't keep a good town down. (eaayh... ) God Bless,Robert Lame Bull McDonald, MD Hello Mr. Governor,Thank you for all the aid you have provided our communities in North San Diego County. Below is an email from one of our local leaders, Pastor Joe Farrell. Perhaps your office can use this information.

Hello Chelsea,

Here is an email of great significance to our community. It is from a leader in our sister community of Rancho Bernardo. Please let me know if you have anyone in Valley Center who can field this great offer of help from Pastor Joel Farrell and the Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian church. Hello Dr. Dan Calac,Perhaps the LaJolla community or one of our other areas can benefit from the help of Pastor Joel Farrell and the UCSD student volunteers. Please read his email below.

Hello Dr. Tran,It was a pleasure to see you in the disaster zone during the fires. Your experience as a combat medic and your delivery of the much needed medical donations helped us all tremendously. Perhaps you can help lead a group of UCSD volunteers into the field if you have the time. Your experience as a Professor of Anatomy would be a great asset in helping direct UCSD students. Are you available to help lead these volunteers to where they are needed?

Hello Brenda Norrell,Once again your remarkable journalism has brought together a great team. Thank you for posting information on your “censored-news blog.”

Subject: Firestorm Response

Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 10:16:47 -0800

From: joe@rbcpc.orgTo: indianrobert@msn.com

Hello Dr. Robert,

I am one of the pastors at Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church. I read a piece you wrote on the “censored-news blog” that my wife came across yesterday. I pulled your email from blog.We have over 70 families connected with our church that lost their homes in the Witch Creek fire. Because of where we live and where national media sent their news anchors, we had a ton of coverage. We also have a ton of help, in terms of volunteers, materials, clothing, and other fire survivor response items. We have been sending teams out to homes in this community to help the families sift through the ashes in hopes of finding anything of significance. It has been powerful for the families and the volunteers. Many neighbors who lost homes and have no connection to this church have also accepted the help to do this work. We also have churches and organizations calling us to offer more- food, cots, thousands of blankets, etc. and we are referring them to other places with greater need.I have read about the extensive damage done out there and can imagine it because of what I see here. How can we help?One possibility, I have a team of 20-25 students from the University of San Diego who are signed up to help this Sunday morning (9-12ish). If you could use them, I would love to send them your way to begin helping the clean up and long rebuilding process. We would equip them with tools and gear.Further, we are setting ourselves up for a long term journey with the families that lost so much, but we also live in a community with so much to give, so I am looking for connections to help people over a period of years in the re-building. If you might be a connection point, that would be a huge blessing. If not, perhaps you might be able to point me in a new direction or to another contact.Please feel free to write me back or call my cell (858) 583-4834.

Peace,Joe Farrell

(Oct. 31, 2007)

Hoka hey, Theses pictures were taken today by me. Dr. Dan said the remaining road blocks may be lifted tonight or tomorrow. He also said the media has been kept out of the area to protect those who have lost so much. The fires are still not completely out. Firefighter camps and relief center camps are starting to pop up everywhere. I think they have a lot of Mop up work going on but sometimes a fire truck goes screaming by with lights and sirens. We have the Santa Ysabel clinic open again but only until 3 p.m. daily. The DMAT Physicians went out on the reservations hardest hit by the fires to search for people who may need medical attention. Most people should be okay and most people on the LaJolla Rez are still evacuated. The IHC made a list of our patients with COPD and CHF and I have called some of the elders on the list to find that they are in good health. We have a mobile unit that we might send out again in a day or so. It is a giant RV the size of a greyhound bus. The Red Cross has been faster to respond than they were during Katrina. Most people here are happy to have the Red Cross in town. Fema is rumored to have already begun distributing checks to people. The High School Gym is cleared out a bit with much less people in cots. More of the deadly Santa Ana winds are predicted in a day or two.

(Oct. 30, 2007)

The fire is still burning on the LaJolla Reservation and the roads are still blocked. Our MA from LaJolla, Corrine Nelson, said her Rez is 95 percent gone. Dr. Dan Calac (Paula tribal member) took a team up to our mountain clinic in Santa Ysabel today near where the fire started.
They had to go the long way through Romona because the National Guard with M-16s had the road blocked.
He had more tales of destruction, fire still burning in some areas. We had open clinic today at the Indian Health Council (IHC) with help from a Seattle based DMAT team.
I helped out as best I could while my mind was on Kathy and Natika. They stayed home today. Kathy lost her Dad to COPD the week before the fires. Natika has started her own neighborhood pet rescue and is trying to find a home for a very playful dog who seems oblivious to the changes upon him. Natika also put together a load of clothes, toys and kid stuff she donated.
At noon I delivered medical supplies to the firefighters and National Guard camp at the Valley Center Fire Dept. I did not have time to check on the folks at the VC High School Gym today. I hope to do that tomorrow. I was told one family there did not speak English and their home was damaged without power or water. They thought some of the food at the shelter was gifted to them to take home for their family. An arrest was made because someone else thought this was theft. They still have mass at the Rincon church even though its burned and gutted by fire. I plan to attend mass there on Sunday.

People have been asking me what they can do to help. Prayers will help. We could also use a few Tipis, FEMA trailers or donation trailers. The migrant farm worker population may need help getting organized. Other people need clothes, diapers, bottles, and toys. Gift certificates for meals or groceries and hotel rooms may be needed. The casinos are starting to phase people out the door and the High School needs to reopen tomorrow. I don't know what we are going to do for all the people that still have no place to go. We may have to start a tent city or a Tipi camp. The best plan I have right now is to pray. Prayers will help.

God Bless, Robert Lame Bull McDonald, MD

(Oct. 29, 2007)

Our clinic in Rincon is open again today for urgent care only. I spent some time in the mobile unit at the San Pasqual tribal office today. Still getting a lot of smoke inhalation and asthma exacerbations. Particulate matter will likely linger in the air for several more days. Thank God for Dr. Hi Tran who hand delivered hundreds of albuterol inhalers, combivent and Flonase! Kathy, Natika and I, have just returned to our house today after a full week of evacuation from the fire. We left when we saw a wall of flame coming at us with an occasional burst of fire shooting hundreds of feet into the sky. I did not even think that was possible. We found out later they were called "fire tornadoes" They make a very hot wind which helped prompt our decision to evacuate. Our house survived but we lost some trees, water, power, missing a cat. Ashes are in our living room and garage but we cant find any source of fire inside the house. I think the strong winds somehow blew them in from the outside. Natika's baby sitter and her family lost everything including all their horses, cattle and even the chickens. All the animals are dead. Her pregnant dog was scared and ran into the house and would not come out. It could not be found before it was too late. Many of our friends and patients on the reservations we service also lost everything. Kathy and I try to help out as best we can by staffing mobile medical clinics inside the road blocks and inside the fire zone. The fire burnt right up to our clinic parking lot. We helped set up disaster relief centers at Harrah's Rincon casino a few hundred yards from where we usually work at the Indian health Council Clinic, one at the Pechanga casino, and we brought some meds and supplies in to the camp at the Valley Center High School gym. Our pharmacist was holed up in the dark at the main clinic and helped send us boxes of meds we requested from the mobile medical units. Our pharmacy ran out of inhalers and other important meds that we needed both for the evacuees and the firefighters so Dr. Tran brought in several hundred inhalers from Beverly Hills. We will meet at the main clinic in about 10 hours to plan what to do next to continue to provide medical care to the area. Some of our reservations are still under road block, on fire, and people are evacuated.

Hope all is well. I never thought I would say it but, I miss the rain.

Your friend Robert Lame Bull McDonald

Photos: Fire aftermath in Southern California by Robert Lame Bull McDonald

Incoming message: Beware FEMA trailers toxic

Good morning-I got a very distressing phone call yesterday from a Native journalist who has heard that the govt. is planning on using the FEMA trailers and mobile homes that they have on hand, to house people displaced by the California fires.Some of you who are new friends of mine may not have read the newspaper series that I wrote about the FEMA trailers being overloaded with formaldehyde gases and that people living in them are VERY VERY SICK!Please help me get the word out to any and ALL people who may be offered these government FEMA trailers and mobile homes as temporary housing, that they should try EVERY available avenue before being forced into one of those units! PLEASE! If you need more info, contact me and I will provide you with whatever you need.TRIBAL MEMBERS- if you know tribal leaders at any of the reservations out there, PLEASE get in touch with me so that I can let these leaders know what is being offered to them. I know that many people will have no other options BUT to live in one of these units, but we need to connect these folks to my contacts in the Sierra Club who have been testing and PROVING the formaldehyde levels in the units used by hurricane victims.We can thank our government for this mess folks. They have KNOWN for a very long time that these units were potential death-traps but they have not spent ONE DIME on building new and safer ones for victims of disaster in this country. Not one dime.Please, help me get the word out so people in California are forewarned!

blessings,

Bluejay

Los Angeles Times: 92 Percent of La Jolla burned

By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

October 31, 2007

"...The first three days, we were fending for ourselves," said La Jolla tribal Chairman Tracy Nelson, his voice breaking, at a gathering sponsored by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs at the Tribal Hall of the Rincon reservation.

The Poomacha fire, which began Oct. 23 as a structure fire on the La Jolla reservation, burned 8,679 acres there and destroyed 59 homes and other buildings. In all, 92% of the reservation burned, Nelson said.

Read article:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-indian31oct31,1,2187979.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true

Mohawk Nation News: Great Law and the Handsome Lake Code

BOOK ON "THE ON-GOING CONFUSION BETWEEN
THE GREAT LAW AND THE HANDSOME LAKE CODE"

MNN. Oct. 28, 2007. MNN Mohawk Nation News has published
another book in the "Mohawk Issues for Dummies Series". It's
called "The On-Going Confusion Between the Great Law of
Peace and the Handsome Lake Code". Here are some
comments from two people who read the book:

"Gees, I always thought I was "traditional" because of my belief in the
"Creator"! It looks like I have to question how I relate to the natural
world and my responsibilities to it", stated a Kanion'ke:haka youth
who is always looking for answers.

"What a colonial conspiracy! This is the first time anyone took the
Great Law philosophy and compared it with the Christian-based
Handsome Lake Code ", said a surprised elder of Kahnawake.

This book helps readers to understand the alarming turn of
events at Six Nations over the land reclamation. For almost
two years the Six Nations people, our friends and allies
successfully took back and held Indigenous land known as
"Douglas Creek Estates", now called "Kanenhstaton".

The Indigenous right to this land that was stolen by the
settlers is well documented in the records kept by colonial
society. This is why officials from Canada and Ontario have
never offered to have Six Nations rights reviewed in a court
or by a neutral third party. If the evidence was properly
reviewed, they would lose. Their only hope to continue with
the theft of Six Nations land is to get someone to agree
to terms that reduce Six Nations rights.

According to the Great Law, only the women can deal with
land issues as we are the "progenitors of the nation" and
the land is held by us for the future generations. The
Confederacy chiefs, clan mothers, "talkers" and lawyers
that are sitting with Canada and Ontario are suppose to be
discussing the return of our stolen land. Instead they got
suckered into setting up something called the
"Haudenosaunee Development Institute" to sign our land
over to white developers. Decisions were made without
meeting us and coming to a consensus. Permission was
given for the Ontario Provincial Police to attack those of
us who objected to the illegal housing development, who
are now facing charges in the colonial court.

The chiefs and clan mothers at Six Nations violated our law.
The following abstract from "The On-Going Confusion
Between the Great Law and the Handsome Lake Code"
lays out the source of their confusion and inability to push
the Six Nations sovereignty and land issue. They are
influenced by the fear based colonial ideology known as
the "Handsome Lake Code".

"A "philosophy" is the basic underlying principles, conduct,
thought and knowledge in how a people relate to the natural
world. An "ideology" is based on doctrines, opinions or ways
of thinking which set out how a people shall behave, not
necessarily based on a knowledge or practical understanding
of the nature of the universe. These differences can be seen
in the conflict between the "Great Law of Peace" and the
"Handsome Lake Code" which, on the surface, are seemingly
similar traditional understandings in Iroquois communities.

The Great Law is a pre-contact philosophy which formed
the basis of Iroquois culture. The opening thanksgiving outlines
an interdependent system of relations of all elements of nature
which are equal; women have powerful roles in social, political
and economic life; and the people form the base of power.

The Handsome Lake Code is a post-contact Christian based
ideology which outlines a hierarchical order of the "spirit" forces,
offices and elements of nature arranged according to their idea
of power. This 'faith' is trying to get rid of the Great Law in most
Iroquois communities.

This book compares the principles of the two. The conflict
is between the "inner directed" Great Law adherents and the
"accommodationist" Handsome Lake followers. The Great Law
adherents are directed by the inner core of our knowledge
system and traditions. The Handsome Lake followers are
influenced by outside forces to accept the modes of colonial
society."

The conflict is created by religions and how they weaken,
confuse and control our people. Elders like Karonhiaktajeh,
Kanietahawi and others explain their relationships with
Christianity and the Church and how they had to struggle to be
free. They describe their lifelong battle to get rid of the deeply
ingrained psychological conditioning designed to break down
their will and freedom of thought.

Today we are beginning to see how we were made to live
under its shadow without realizing its effect on us. We think
we're "traditional" when we are practising Christian-based
rituals such as confession while wearing Indian clothes. We
also take on the traditions of a variety of other Indigenous nations.
For example, the 'pow wow' takes native imagery from its original
context, i.e., the Plains Indians, and adapts it. On the other hand
there are many similarities in the nature-based philosophies of all
Indigenous peoples on Turtles Island and beyond.

The Great Law of Peace is the Constitution of the Iroquois,
also referred to as the "Old Way". This confederation of five
nations, later six, was a powerful force before and during the
colonial period of Turtle Island or North America as it is called
by the European settlers. Certain principles of the constitution
were adopted as the basis of the Constitution of the United St
ates, such as the three party structure and some symbols. The
Iroquois Confederacy still exists today. Most Iroquois nations
are finding their way back to the original Great Law philosophy.

Basic principles, a comparison of the "Law" and the "Code"
and where they contradict each other are set out. To make sense
of this deep-rooted conflict in Iroquois communities, these two
philosophies are examined. Iroquois followers of the Great Law
see the Handsome Lake Code as deliberately attempting to
disregard the ancient world view of the Iroquois. The Handsome
Lake followers believe they are "traditional".

An understanding of these matters offers key insights into
methodologies that are being used by colonial officials to
undermine attempts at Six Nations to uphold our sovereign
rights.

Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News

To order: $20 Canadian or U.S. funds includes shipping;
MNN Mohawk Nation News, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec,
Canada] J0L 1B0. 450-635-9345 kahentinetha2@yahoo.com
or katenies20@yahoo.com

Also available from MNN Mohawk Issues for Dummies Series:
"Who's Sorry Now? The Good, the Bad and the Unapologetic
Mohawks of Kanehsatake" by Kahentinetha Horn. $20 includes
shipping.

**Purchase price is $20.00 including shipping; Order from -
MNN Mohawk Nation News, Box 991, Kahnawake (Quebec,
Canada) J0L 1B0. Or contact: Kahentinetha Horn,
kahentinetha2@yahoo.com or Katenies at katenies20@yahoo.com
www.mohawknationnews.com

New MNN Books Available Now!

Mohawk Warriors Three - The Trial of Lasagna, Noriega, 20/20$20.00 usd
Where Eagles Dare to Soar - Indians, Politics & Aids$20.00 usd
The Agonizing Death of "Colonialism" and "Federal Indian Law"
in Kaianere'ko:wa/Great Law Territory
$20.00 usd
Who's Sorry Now? The good, the bad and the unapologetic
Mohawks of Kanehsatake
$20.00 usd

The books below, email us:
Rebuilding the Iroquois ConfederacyKaroniaktajeh$10 usd
Warriors Hand BookKaroniaktajeh$10 usd

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New Documentary on Navajo Long Walk

Contact: Lester Kevin Tsosie
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEPhone: (505) 604-7696
Navajo Studies Conference, Inc.
Board of Directors, Member
Window Rock, Arizona
Email: lkt@navajojournal.com

NEW NAVAJO DOCUMENTARY, “THE LONG WALK: TEARS OF THE NAVAJO”, TO PREMIERE AT 17th ANNUAL NAVAJO STUDIES CONFERENCE, DINE’ COLLEGE, TSAILE, AZ, 11/01/2007

Navajos to Critically Review a New Documentary About the Long Walk, Its Portrayal on Film, and Issues of Social Injustice and Dispossession

Navajo Studies Conference, Inc. Board Of Directors, in conjunction with Diné College and award-winning producer John Howe, will premiere an important new documentary entitled, “The Long Walk: Tears of the Navajo.”

The public is invited to view the film and engage in a critical dialogue immediately following the showing.

1864. More than 8,000 Navajos are marched over 300 miles to a barren prison camp to a place called Bosque Redondo, a place far outside the Sacred Mountains. A Long Walk. Many died along the way and during the four-year incarceration. This important, often neglected story in the American West, a story of heartbreak and triumph through enormous adversity, comes through in the new high-definition documentary narrated by actor Peter Coyote. The film focuses on the military’s campaign against Navajos in the early 1860s, the events leading to it, and the aftermath of the Treaty of 1868. “The landscape of the American West is washed by a thousand tears,” says John Howe. “The Long Walk of the Navajos is a story never to be forgotten.” “It’s very difficult for us to talk about these stories,” Dr. Jennifer Nez Denetdale, a Navajo historian, says in the documentary. “It makes me cry, and it makes me sad and it makes me angry. And at the same time, we are also very appreciative that our ancestors had the courage and resilience to keep on going in the face of just incredible catastrophe and incredible trauma.” After the viewing, Navajo Studies Conference, Inc. Board of Directors will moderate a discussion about the meaning of the Long Walk and how the historical event has been portrayed in American history and Navajo studies. The audience will consider such questions as: What is the place of the Long Walk in American and Navajo history? How accurately does the documentary reflect Navajo perspectives about this tragic time in the past? How is Navajo history of dispossession and injustices similar to other Native peoples’ stories? What stories of the Long Walk do the Navajos still tell? What lessons do they continue to draw from their ancestors’ ordeal?

The general public is strongly encouraged to attend this important event of the year on Thursday, 4 pm, November 1, 2007. A donation of $5.00 will help support other Navajo Studies Conference events.# # #If you’d like more information, please contact Lester Kevin Tsosie at (505) 604-7696 or e-mail at lkt@navajojournal.com.

Bolivia: Declaration of World Encounter of Indigenous Peoples

Declaration of World Encounter of Indigenous Peoples - Bolivia October 12, 2007

We followed in their footsteps, led by the guides of the government of the administration of Bolivian President Evo Morales. They showed where, upon approach to the ceremonial precinct of Tiwanaku, the president elect had walked barefooted upon the Pacha Mama, the Mother Earth. He was to be inducted ceremonially by the Council of Amautas of Tiwanaku in assumption of his responsibility as representative of the Aymara Nation, representative of the 500 Year Struggle of the Indigenous Peoples of Abya Yala, before assuming the post of President of the Republic of Bolivia.
And now he had returned again, presenting himself before the Council of Amautas of Tiwanaku, accompanied by Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu and delegations of Indigenous Peoples of the continent and the world, and from the ancient cradle of the culture of the Confederation of the Condor, the following:
Mandate of Indigenous Peoples and Native Nations to the States of the World Chimor, Cochabamba - Bolivia, 12th October, 2007
From the heart of South America, on this 12th day of the month of October, 2007, the delegates of indigenous peoples and native nations of the world, having met at the World Encounter: “For the Historic Victory of Indigenous Peoples of the World, to celebrate the approval of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we express our word:That at 515 years of oppression and domination, we are here, they have been unable to eliminate us. We have faced and resisted policies of ethnocide, genocide, colonization, destruction and pillage as well as the imposition of economic systems such as capitalism, characterized by interventionism, wars, and socio-environmental disasters, a system which continues to threaten our ways of life as peoples.
That as a consequence of neoliberal policies of domination of nature, of a quest for easy profits for the concentration of capital held in the hands of the few and the irrational exploitation of natural resources, our Mother Earth is mortally wounded, while we indigenous peoples continue being dislocated from our territories. The planet is warming. We are living a climate change without precedent, where socio-environmental disasters are increasingly stronger and more frequent, where we are all, without exception, affected.That we are endangered by an energy crisis, where the Oil Age is about to conclude, without us having found an alternative clean energy that would substitute it in sufficient quantities so as to maintain the Western Civilization which has made us totally dependent on hydrocarbons.That this situation could be a menace leaving us exposed to the danger of imposed neoliberal policies unleashing wars for the last drops of the so-called black gold and blue gold, but it could also offer us the opportunity to make of this new millennium a millennium for life, a millennium of balance and complementariness, without having to abuse energies which destroy Mother Earth. That both, the natural resources as well as the lands and territories which we inhabit belong to us by history, by birth, by right and forever, thus self-determination over these is fundamental in order to maintain our life, science, knowledge, spirituality, organization, medicine and food sovereignty.That a new era is beginning and is propelled by indigenous native peoples, giving birth to a time of change, to the time of Pachakuti, (the time that returns) in times of the culmination of the Fifth Sun.That we salute the approval of the Declaration of the United Nations for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which is essential for the survival and well-being of the over 370 millions of indigenous people, in about 70 countries of the world. After a near thirty-year struggle, our historic demands for the self-determination of peoples, the recognition of such and collective rights is finally being addressed.The approved Declaration contains a group of principles and norms which recognize and establish within the international legal framework the fundamental rights of Indigenous Peoples, which should be the basis of a new relationship between Indigenous Peoples, States, societies and cooperation worldwide. Therefore, aside from the other legal instruments relative to human rights already in existence, the Declaration is the new normative and practical basis to guarantee and protect the rights of indigenous peoples in various settings and levels.We exhort the member countries of the United Nations and bolster indigenous peoples to fulfill and put into practice this important instrument of historic significance. We censor those governments who voted against the Declaration of the United Nations for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and we condemn their double morality.That we commit to supporting the history-making efforts led by our brother Evo Morales, President of the Indigenous Peoples of Abya Yala, building a new plurinational State. We will remain vigilant of any internal or external threat, to Bolivia and we request the support and solidarity of all peoples of the planet for this process, which should serve as an example so all Peoples, Nations and States of the world can continue on this same path.Therefore, the Indigenous Peoples and Nations of the world demand the States to fulfill the following mandates:
1. Construct a world based on the Culture of Life, on identity, philosophy, worldview and the millenary spirituality of indigenous native peoples, applying the knowledge and ancestral wisdom, consolidating the processes of exchange and relations between nations and respecting their self-determination.
2. Assume national and international decisions to save Mother Earth of the disasters provoked by capitalism in its' decadence, manifested in global warming and the environmental crisis; reaffirming that native indigenous culture is the only alternative to save our planet earth.
3. Substitute present models of development based on capitalism, commidification, irrational exploitation of humanity and natural resources, in energy waste and consumerism, through models which place life, complementarity, reciprocity, respect of cultural diversity and sustainable use of natural resources as the main priorities.
4. Apply national policies regarding Food Sovereignty as a main basis of National Sovereignty, though which the community guarantees the respect of its' own culture as well as the spaces and own means of production, distribution and consumption of healthy and contamination-free food in balance with nature for the entire population, thus eliminating hunger as food is a right to life.
5. Repudiate plans and projects of the generation of energy such as biofuel as it destroys and denies food to peoples. We also condemn the use of genetically modified seeds as they do away with our millenary seeds and force us to depend on agro-industry.
6. Value and foster the role of indigenous native women as the vanguard in the liberation struggles of our peoples following the principles of duality, equality and equity in the man woman relationship.
7. Assume the Culture of Peace and Life as a guide to resolve the problems and conflicts of the world, renouncing to the arms race, and initiating disarmament in order to guarantee the preservation of life on the planet.
8. Assume just and legal transformations necessary to construct systems and means of communication and information based on our communal worldview, spirituality and philosophy, in the wisdom of our ancestors. Guarantee the recognition of the right to communication and information of indigenous peoples.
9. Guarantee the respect and right to life, health and bilingual intercultural education, setting policies benefiting indigenous native peoples.
10. Declare as a human right; the right to water, as a vital element and a social good for humanity, which should not be object of profit. Also, promote the use of alternative energies that don't endanger life on the planet, thus guaranteeing access to all basic services.11. Resolve in a co-responsible manner the causes of migration amongst countries, assuming policies of free movement of people to guarantee a world without borders where there is no discrimination, marginalization and exclusion.
12. Decolonize the United Nations, and relocate its' headquarters to a territory which will dignify it and express the just aspirations of the Peoples, Nations and States of the world.
13. Not criminalize the struggles of indigenous peoples, or satanize or accuse us of being terrorists, when the peoples reclaim our rights and proposals of how to save life and humanity.
14. Immediately free our indigenous leaders imprisoned in various parts of the world; mainly Leonard Peltier in the United States.The struggle does not stop, resistance for resistance sake is over, and our time has come. We proclaim the 12th of October, Day of the beginning of our struggles to save Mother Nature. From our families, homes, communities, peoples, whether we are or are not in government in our countries, we decide on our own and direct our destinies, we assume the will and responsibility of Living Well which we inherited from our ancestors, to irradiate from the most single and simple to the most grand and complex, to build in a horizontal fashion and amongst all and wholly, the culture of patience, the culture of dialogue and fundamentally the Culture of Life.For the dead, heroes and martyrs who fructified our lives, with their utopias and aspirations, let's strengthen our identity, our organizational processes and our struggles to achieve the construction of unity amongst peoples of the world and return to balance, saving life, humanity and planet earth.We ratify our support to our brother Evo Morales for the Nobel Peace Prize, for his permanent and unconditional commitment to service for the good of humanity, the peoples, the planet and world peace.
###
NAHUACALLI Embassy of the Indigenous Peoples TONATIERRAPO Box 24009Phoenix, Arizona 85074
http://www.tonatierra.org/
Declaration of World Encounter of Indigenous Peoples- Bolivia October 12, 2007

Decoding language, insurgents, gambling and war crimes

Decoding language: Insurgents, gambling and war crimes

By Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
When politicians and the media want to sway the public, they use specific words, like "gaming" instead of "gambling" and refer to anyone killed by the United States military as "insurgents."
The word "gaming," brings to mind fun, while the word "gambling," creates thoughts of losing money and possible addiction. Casinos are promoted with the word "gaming" as opposed to "gambling.""Insurgents" is a favorite media word used to refer to anyone killed intentionally or by accident, by the US military.
The national news often refers to Iraqi children or poor farmers in Central Americas as "insurgents." It is meant to relay this message: "They were dangerous and deserved to be murdered."How does one know that a dead Iraqi child or a Mayan farmer in the mountains hoeing his corn was an "insurgent?"
While the words "gaming" and "insurgents" are used for political and commercial purposes to manipulate, a few words are often shunned by the frightened and controlled U.S. media. Those words include "impeachment" and "war crimes" related to the Bush administration.In the news online, the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire rises to the challenge and labels a letter to the editor: "War Crimes."
The Indianapolis Star publishes a letter to the editor stating that "impeach is not a dirty world."Sometimes the name of an agency is so packed with death, torture and cruelty, that it must change its name.The School of Americas was changed to the "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation" in Fort Benning, Ga. The name change came after its torture manuals became public.
No one is fooled by the name change. Bolivian President Evo Morales announced its military will no longer be trained there, joining the countries of Costa Rica, Argentina, Uruguay and Venezuela to withdraw from the U.S. terror training.
There is another word that the Bush administration has attempted to prevent US officials from using. It is the word "genocide," according to John Evans, former Ambassador to Armenia.Professor Julian Kunnie, head of the Africana Studies Department at the University of Arizona, uses another word that frightens the media when he talks about the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Kunnie uses the word "Apartheid."
Finally, a two-word name can also bring about immediate censorship by some of the media. That name is Leonard Peltier.

War crimes Dick De Seve, GILMANTON Concord, Monitor (New Hampshire)http://www.cmonitor.com/
Impeach: Indianapolis Star:Constitutional duty calls for us to impeach Bush, Cheney
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070918/OPINION01/709180326/-1/LOCAL17
US Ambassador to Armenia speaks out on genocide and loses job:
http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=John_Evans

Definitions from Merriam-Webster online dictionary:Insurgent: 1: a person who revolts against civil authority or an established government; especially : a rebel not recognized as a belligerent 2: one who acts contrary to the policies and decisions of one's own political party Gaming: 1: the practice of gambling 2 a: the playing of games that simulate actual conditions (as of business or war) especially for training or testing purposes b: the playing of video games

International Indian Treaty Council seeks UN intervention for Maoris

In an urgent appeal, the International Indian Treaty Council has asked agencies of the United Nations to intervene on behalf of Maoris in New Zealand who are being subjected to arrests, detentions and police raids. IITC's letter follows:

INTERNATIONAL INDIAN TREATY COUNCIL
2390 Mission St., Suite 301
San Francisco, CA. 94110
Telephone (415) 641-4482
Fax (415) 641-1298
email: alberto@ttreatycouncil.org; iitc@treatycouncil.org

October 17, 2007
Special Representative for the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders, Ms. Hina Jilani:
Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Expression, Mr. Ambeyi Ligabo:
Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions: and,
Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples, Mr. Rodolfo Stavenhagen
Via fax: +[41-22] 917-9006
Via email: urgent-action@ohchr.org
URGENT APPEAL: Raids and arrests against Maori by the New Zealand government
Please receive our respectful greetings.
The International Indian Treaty Council, an Indigenous NGO with Consultative Status before ECOSOC, has received many emails from Maori friends and associates in New Zealand concerning massive raids in Maori Communities against Maori activists, by the Government of New Zealand acting under recently adopted so-called “Terrorism Suppression” legislation:
On Monday, October 15, the government of New Zealand began a series of home invasions, raids and interrogation under threats of terrorist activities against the state. The Crown has decided to employ its recent Terrorism Suppression Act to lockdown on social justice activist, Houses continue to be being invaded, possessions confiscated and charges being threatened which will allow for Maori activists to be charged under the Terrorist Suppression Act that carries sentencing for life.
The ages of people currently under custody range from 18 – 64. Many being arrested and held are young people trying to do good things for Maori communities. These events are allegedly the largest scale operation headed by special operations from the Head of States Office. There appears yet no explanation for the timing of these invasions. The indigenous movement for self - determination is what is being blamed by the media for instigating acts of terrorism.
One Maori activist, Mauriora, Kiritapu Allan Co–Director of the Non-Governmental Organization, Conscious Collaborations, has publicly stated:
“The Police showed up at my house with files of my activities over years, my phones have been tapped for years, my house under surveillance and everything subject to their review. We have not been involved in any activities that could allow the police to make these claims and the distress they are causing for our families and children is devastating.
“Right now we are fighting for friends in Police Custody to make bail. A number of these requests have been denied. A number of people are now been moved between prisons and I will be liasing with them and their families. Court costs, travel costs, food costs and lawyer costs are above the heads of many of our people and we are asking for support from our communities both national and international to come to our aid in this time of need. 'Terrorism' world wide has become a cause for unjust state intervention into the lives of many peoples committed to change and now we are seeing that reality play out here in our own backyards within our own community.”
to:http://www.indymedia.org.nz/http://www.stuff.co.nz/4240168a25364.html. Most of our Internet sites have been taken down also in relation to these chain of events however all responses and correspondence can be made through me.
Kiritapu Allan Co – Director, Conscious Collaborationshttp://www.conscious.maori.nz/Collaborationshttp://www.conscious.maori.nz/
Radio New Zealand: Maori: Race relations set back 100 yearsRadio New Zealand reported that Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples says this week's police raids have set race relations back 100 years. Dr Sharples says the justice system has lashed out against Maori, and the raids used "storm trooper" tactics. He says the police actions remind him of the atrocities committed at Parihaka in the 19th century, when 1500 armed police occupied the settlement and arrested its leaders.
Dr Sharples says no charges have been laid under the Terrorism Suppression Act since it was introduced in 2002, and questions whether there will be what he describes as trumped-up evidence to justify the police actions.Radio New Zealand also reported that Alliance Party president Victor Billot says confusion and secrecy surrounding the alleged terrorism activities needs to be cleared up. Mr Billot says the use of the terrorism suppression legislation to raid houses was unnecessary, and the nature of the alleged threats to public safety should be made public immediately.Copyright © 2007 Radio New Zealand
The IITC has also received the following information:
Maori seeking return of ancestral lands raided and arrested New Zealand police raided Maori groups seeking the rights to their ancestral land on Oct. 15. Seventeen Maori of Ngai Tuhoe were arrested and jailed after a raid by 300 riot police. This comes after New Zealand voted against the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Maori land claims are at the heart of the attacks by the government of New Zealand, now trying to brand the Maori as "terrorists."
On 14 September 2007, New Zealand was one of only four nations to vote against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, speaking against the declaration just prior to the vote.
The landmark declaration, approved after 143 Member States voted in favour, outlines the rights of the world's estimated 370 million indigenous people and outlaws discrimination against them - a move that followed more than two decades of debate. The Declaration emphasizes the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain and strengthen their own institutions, cultures and traditions and to pursue their development in keeping with their own needs and aspirations. It also prohibits discrimination against indigenous peoples and promotes their full and effective participation in all matters that concern them, and their right to remain distinct and to pursue their own visions of economic and social development.
In other words, the declaration gives the weight of the United Nations to the notions of Tino Rangatiratanga and Mana Motuhake.
Well, Ngai Tuhoe have a claim before the Waitangi Tribunal for their ancestral land. Land that was never ceeded to the crown. Ngai Tuhoe did not sign Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and the land that is now in crown hands was stolen. Submissions on the claim closed in 2005 and the report on their claim is expected back at the end of 2007.
There is no moral or law (domestic or international) which can justify the crowns continued possession of the Tuhoe nation. By the occupation of Tuhoe land, the NZ Government imposes a pakeha colonial system of taxation, schooling, education and health upon Ngai Tuhoe. And these systems have been shown again and again to be failing Maori.
What the new UN Declaration sets out, what the Waitangi Tribunal must find, what justice should prove, is that these lands, the control of their communities, the Mana Motuhake, of Tuhoe must be returned. Of course, the government is not prepared to allow an alternate system to exist within our national boundaries. They are not willing to admit to the heinous wrongs of our predecessors, and they are not willing to return these lands, and Tino Rangatiratanga, to it's rightful heirs.
THIS is why there must be a fight for the rights of the Tuhoe nation, THIS is why, in my opinion, the police and government decided to act now - to cast a light of their making ("terrorists") upon those people who are brave enough to stand up for the justice for which the Tuhoe nation has been waiting so long.
The IITC is further informed that as of now, the government continues its raids on Maori environmental and youth groups. X, a prominent, internationally respected Maori academic and activist, reported the following to the IITC in preparation of this urgent appeal:
“I talked yesterday (October 17th 2007) with one of the Maori youth whose house was raided in Wellington. His mother was staying with him at the time of the raid and she is completely traumatised by the experience. He wasn't home and so she experienced the full brunt of the police raid. Over a dozen armed gunmen broke into the house. He showed me the list of items that were confiscated from his house and they included two books, one called 'Soildering On' and the other "Resistance'. The Police only wrote the names of the book and not the authors. The Resistance book is a best-seller edited collection of Maori writers talking about neo-liberalism http://www.huia.co.nz/books/495. But in the list of confiscated items it looks like it's a guidebook to warfare! No guns were found at his house or at many of the other homes that have been raided.”
X also forwards the following news items:
Here is a website with public reactions to the Raids. http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/nzterror.htm and more news items from last night.
1. JUDGE THROWS OUT TERRORIST CASE
Te Karere reports that an Auckland District Court Judge threw out the case by Police against a man who was arrested yesterday amid allegations of terrorism. Te Karere reports that the judge told Police not to waste the courts valuable time. Te Karere says armed Police entered several homes yesterday under terrorism laws and 17 people were arrested including Tame Iti, Ngai Tuhoe. Te Karere reports that at the time of their broadcast it was not known if Tame Iti’s bail hearing was successful. Te Karere reports that the charges against Iti have not yet been fully explained. (SOURCE: TE KARERE, TVNZ)
2. TUHOE LEADERS SILENT
Annette Sykes, lawyer for Tame Iti, says she is aware that several Tuhoe leaders are not commenting on yesterday’s developments. She says some are staying silent because they are intimidated by what has happened and others are silent because they are angry. Te Karere says there was a large crowd of supporters for Iti outside the Rotorua District Court today. Sykes says it’s really over to the Prime Minister now. She says the PM should front up with her advisers and tell the people of Ruatoki why this happened to their homes yesterday. Te Karere shows images of armed Police road blocks and reports that roads around Taneatua and Ruatoki were cordoned off yesterday. Sykes says one of the kuia she spoke to yesterday said that she was gravely concerned and what had happened brings back memories of the land confiscations of the 20th century. (SOURCE: TE KARERE, TVNZ)
3. TUHOE MEET TO DISCUSS POLICE ACTIONS
Te Karere reports on a hui at Otenuku Marae for the Ruatoki community. Te Karere says the hui has been held to allow the local families an opportunity to discuss their concerns about Police actions yesterday. (SOURCE: TE KARERE, TVNZ)
4. POLICE ACTION OVER THE TOP SAYS FLAVELL
Te Karere reports that critics of the action taken by Police this week are being criticised by Police Minister Annette King. Te Karere says 17 people have been arrested including Maori, environmental and other political activists. Te Karere reports that the Maori Party has condemned what has happened at Ruatoki. Te Ururoa Flavell, Waiariki MP, says terrorism is serious but only four people were arrested in Ruatoki but the whole community suffered. He says this was over the top. (SOURCE: TE KARERE, TVNZ)
5. PARLIAMENT CONSIDERS NEW TERRORISM LAWS – FLAVELL URGES CAUTION
Te Karere reports that new anti-terrorism laws are about to be considered by the Parliament. Flavell says we need to be very careful in designing terrorism laws for the country or they may well backfire on us all. Te Karere reports that Deputy Police Commissioner John White says the Police have acted under the terrorism laws because they have good reason to. Te Karere reports that Police Minister Annette King says there has been no political influence behind what has happened and the Police have acted independently. (SOURCE: TE KARERE, TVNZ)
6. LABOUR’S MAORI MPS QUIET ON POLICE RAIDS
Te Karere says that the government’s Maori MPs are not commenting on these weeks’ arrests. Te Karere reports that Labour MP, Dover Samuels says the need time to consider the facts before they comment. However Te Karere reports that Parekura Horomia, Maori Affairs Minister felt able to comment even though the full story is not yet known. Horomia says the issue is being dealt with by the Police but ministers will be kept informed. (SOURCE: TE KARERE, TVNZ)
In her most recent email to the IITC, X reports the following:
Some of the many complaints that are being made here in Aotearoa include (1) that the police stopped school buses of children on their way to pre-school and boarded the buses armed to search the bus. (2) Blockades were set up by Police in the township of Ruatoki where every single car was stopped and drivers and passengers were questioned by the Police. The whole community was being targeted. (3) the Police have attempted to enter homes with a Search warrant.
More arrests made as Iti's bail is denied
Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:34a.m.
Tame Iti
Police have made more arrests as they continue raids to back up investigations into the alleged military training camps in the Urewera Ranges.
Armed police swooped on properties in Lower Hutt, Taupo, Waikeremoana and some other areas yesterday.
It is understood one person was arrested at Taupo and another at Ruatoki, although police are not confirming details at this stage.
A Taupo house belonging to Bryan Inness, who organised a sustainability conference this week and runs an organic vegetable business from home, was among the properties raided yesterday.
At least one recently arrested person will be appearing in the Rotorua District Court today.
Maori activist Tame Iti yesterday had three more firearms offences added to the eight charges he has been facing.
A Rotorua judge yesterday refused Iti bail and remanded him in custody.
Three more charges were laid against Iti yesterday, adding to the eight firearms and Molotov cocktail counts Iti already faces.
Although X is very willing to communicate directly with thse special procedures, we request that her name not be revealed to the Government of New Zealand. As she reports, arrests are being made every day.
The International Indian Treaty Council, on behalf of numerous Maori friends, associates and colleagues, respectfully request that your mandates be exercised, individually or collectively, that this matter be resolved and that no further actions are undertaken by the New Zealand government against peaceful Maori activists.
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to call or write.
For all our relations,
Alberto Saldamando, General Counsel
International Indian Treaty Council
2390 Mission Street, Suite 302
San Francisco, CA 94110
Email: alberto@treatycouncil.org
cc: Aroha Mead
Anaru Fraiser
Hinewirangi Kohu
Andrea Carmen, IITC Executive Director

Global Green Indigenous Film Festival in New Mexico

October 14, 2007 Contact: Stephine Poston
For Immediate Release 505/379-6172, stephposton@msn.com

Inaugural International
Global Green Indigenous Film Festival
To Be Launched in New Mexico

Albuquerque, NM -- The National Tribal Environmental Council (NTEC), a national non-profit organization based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, will take the global stage, April 18-20, 2008, launching its inaugural international Global Green Indigenous Film Festival. The film festival will be held in conjunction with NTEC's 15th Environmental Conference April 15-18, 2008.

The international Global Green Indigenous Film Festival and the conference will be held at the El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Acclaimed film producer and actor, Gary Farmer (Smoke Signals), will be a part of the film festival team. "For nearly 20 years NTEC has been working with and assisting tribes throughout the country to protect, regulate and manage their environmental resources. An international film festival of this caliber adds a new dimension that will bring innovative ideas together as a means for protecting the environment that the global community can benefit from. We extend an invitation to people around the world to come see the powerful work being done by Indigenous communities to protect mother earth," stated Jerry Pardilla, NTEC Executive Director.

Founded in 1991, NTEC has a current membership of 184 tribes working to protect and preserve tribal environments. "NTEC can lend its strong presence in Indian Country to provide a forum that gives Indigenous people a voice about environmental concerns that lead to global solutions. I believe this international film festival will let the world know that Indigenous communities around the world are doing their part to protect mother earth for generations to come," said Joe Garcia, President of the National Congress of American Indians.

Charmaine Jackson-John, film festival manager is accepting submissions for films and videos that address indigenous environmental concerns and issues from all countries. Formats accepted: DVD, VHS, Beta SP. Film entries should be mailed to: 2501 Rio Grande Boulevard, NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87104, ATTN: Global Green Indigenous Film Festival. Deadline for entries is January 18, 2008.

###
One World, One Environment
NTEC's mission is to support Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages in protecting, regulating and managing their environmental resources according to their own priorities and values.

Visit www.ntec.org for more information.
The New Mexico Tourism Department and NTEC have partnered for this film festival.

Mohawk Nation News 'Who's Sorry Now?'

Oct. 15, 2007. MNN has published a book on one
of our Mohawk communities, Kanehsatake.
The following is the preface:

Title: “Who’s Sorry Now? The good, the bad and
the unapologetic Mohawks of Kanehsatake”
by Kahentinetha Horn

The title of this book, “Who’s Sorry Now” was inspired by the
remarks of Judge Nicole Duval Hesler of Quebec Superior Court.
She wanted the Mohawks of Kanehsatake to apologize to get more
lenient sentences from her. She wanted an admission of guilt and
submission to the colonizers who are engaged in stealing our
community’s assets. She wanted our men to bow down to those
heavily armed goons who had invaded our territory on January
12, 2004 carrying a “hit list”. They’ve been convicted as “rioters”.
Wouldn’t an apology be dandy? It would save her the
embarrassment of her case being appealed.

The treatment we have been receiving at the hands of the police,
judicial system and colonial government officials is corrupt,
deceitful and threatening. We’ve learned that we are in the
way of multi-national corporate interests who control colonial
governments. We have learned that we Mohawks have been
and continue to be targeted for various reasons.

Our ancestors always refused to knuckle under. So do we!

That’s why we are still the targets of genocide. Our land,
our constitution and our tie to our land has kept us strong.
We continue to take energy from our ancestors who made
the sacrifices so we could be here today. They made sure
that there would be at least seven generations of our people
in the future.

This book is about how we spoke out and about the way we
were persecuted for exercising a right that Canada pretends
to defend. We also wanted the Canadian public to know what
is being done with their tax dollars. This will give them
something to think about as they sit around waiting for medical
services which we are told cannot be provided. Where is all
the money going? Well, this is about one leak in the bucket.

Kanehsatake is unsurrendered Indigenous land of the
Kanion’ke:haka - Iroquois. Therefore the Indian Act and
the laws of Canada do not legally apply as we never accepted
them. According to international law as well as the Canadian
constitution, there has to be consultation and an agreement
by a clear majority of the people as expressed in a free and
fair vote. Canada cannot point to any surrender in those terms,
but simply assumes sovereign authority according to an
undemocratic model that does not pass muster according to
modern international law. Since the beginning of contact,
agents of the colonial government have continuously tried
to attack, split, displace and remove us from our land.

There was a major crisis in 1990. Kanehsatake entered the
world stage because of our resistance to our burial grounds
and ceremonial lands being usurped by the nearby town of
Oka for the expansion of a golf course. The Surete du
Quebec ( Quebec Police), the RCMP and the Canadian Army
were sent in to break up the resistance. This issue has never
been settled.

In 1994 a secret Canadian report was exposed in the
Journal de Montreal that Canada was giving combat training
to police and army troops. The RCMP, SQ and Canadian
armed forces were prepared to enter the three Mohawk
communities of Akwesasne, Kahnawake and Kanehsatake.
These communities are about one hour’s drive from each
other. (Eastern Door reprint Journal de Montreal, Marco
Fortier, July 16, 1999).

Fortier obtained 1,599 pages of documents which outlined
a plan to send 2,000 RCMP, 2,000 SQ officers and thousands
of soldiers into the three communities to ostensibly stop the
trade in cigarettes. “It is incredible to believe that a country
recently given the honor of the “most peaceful country” in
the world could have even planned such an attack”.

The Canadian Secret Service CSIS was recruiting informants
in the three communities. National Defense Department
placed a special investigations unit with sophisticated
equipment on alert. They were watching the barricades
at the entrance to Kahnawake, the Longhouse, the Survival
School , the Mohawk Nation Office and the Peacekeeper
station, according to army documents. In Kanehsatake
they were watching the Band Council and the Treatment
Center . In Akwesasne they were watching the Seaway and
the east end of Cornwall Island .

CSIS falsely reported that “The Mohawk Warrior Society
is the biggest extremist aboriginal group and potentially
the most violent in Canada ”. On the basis of this claim,
Canadian forces were being trained for night shooting,
anti-tank combat and handling of fragmenting grenades.
They foresaw rough resistance by the Mohawks of the
three communities. There is no sign they ever paused to
consider the validity of using such weapons and tactics
against unarmed people who they claimed as “citizens in a
free and democratic society”. They expected to confront
people who they knew were unarmed. They became intoxicated
on old “John Wayne” films. The commander in charge of tactics
could not risk exposing his soldiers equipped only with sticks
and shields, warned a high ranking representative of the
“terrestrial forces”. [Maybe they were actually looking at
science fiction movies and we were the new martians!] (Internal
note, Feb. 1994).

The report gave us some insight into the kinds of fantasies that
governs military operations. It states, “Military strategists
were expecting confrontations between soldiers and Mohawks
where each would carry an automatic or semi-automatic weapon.”
Soldiers were trained to use 66 m. rockets and handle M-67
type fragmentation grenades. From February 14th to 25th, 1994,
they learned to build trenches and erect roadblocks to surround
the 3 territories. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police RCMP
got off their horses and jumped onto the tanks!

From February 28th to March 4, 1994 Squadron 430 of Val Cartier
Army Base in Montreal was trained to fly helicopters below power
lines (and probably clothes lines too), shooting while flying at 100
ft. above the ground. This is the training they got for dealing with
residential Indigenous communities where the roads are filled on
any typical day with little kids on bicycles, tricycles or sleighs.

The federal government gave permission for the federal Minister
of Transport to allow the army to fly choppers over the three
targeted communities without restrictions. They were allowed
to fly right by our windows and perhaps shoot us if necessary
in our beds! They still fly very low over our homes in the three
communities.

The three chiefs found out about it after the media leaked it.
It was aborted in late 1994. Despite the denial, 5,000 heavily
armed policemen and soldiers were put on alert to invade the
three communities within 24 hours’ notice. This may still be
in effect. Just thought the Canadian taxpayers would like to
know why there’s no money to cut the waiting lines for medicare.

On January 12th 2004, under orders of the Solicitor General
of Canada, made in November 2003, Canada sent into
Kanehsatake 67 heavily armed “aboriginal” goons to stop
our inherent rights to continue conducting our internal affairs
with our sister communities.

James Gabriel was the grand chief working with Canada .
His mission was to cover up serious abuses, corruption and
irregularities between senior government bureaucrats and
his former regime in the community.

On that cold January 12, 2004 day, Canada sponsored a police
assault to take down the Kanehsatake’s economy and take
out the community Police Commission and the local police.
(Beaupre Report, 2005, Art. 754.1 cpc). At least $40 million
was funneled into a fraudulent secret corporation for the 67
armed goons to invade and take over the community. The
court papers revealed 55 community members, mothers, fathers,
grandparents and youth, were on a “hit list”. Larry Ross
intimated that, “The Watch Team is the Warrior Society.
They are violent and the police should use extreme caution.
Make no mistake. They are to be taken down on sight”.
With regard to the chief of police, “You are to kick his ass”.

As a result of this attempted coup, twenty-four
Kanehsatake community members were accused of various
offences. Nineteen out of the 55 on the “hit list” were
finally tried for the phony charges of rioting and confinement
of police officers.

This book is about the community that was falsely accused
and used as pawns in Canada ’s colonial justice system.
They are heroes to us.

The first story is from the perspective of an elder who was
charged with rioting and forcible confinement. Warrants
were issued for their arrest. Some were arrested using tasers
and others were beaten. Four were banished. Most turned
themselves in through a lawyer.

From January 14th to March 31st 2004 the Kahnawake
Peacekeepers were asked by the Police Commission to
come in and escort the goons off the territory and to
return peace to the community.

Initially we thought that Canada ’s concern was to stop our
economy. It was leaked that the puppet grand chief James
Gabriel had signed an agreement with the federal government
to bring in additional policing into what is normally a tranquil
peaceful community that already had a police force. It
didn’t make sense! We started 24-hour patrols about one
week before the raid. When the government backed the
coup on January 12, 2004, we realized that it was more than
our economy that was being taken down. It was a takeover
to oust the elected council and to establish a totalitarian
government.

The biggest fears were the targets that were slated to be
“taken out” by the colonial government’s goons under the
control of their puppet, James Gabriel. From that day
onward to the present there is no community policing
except by volunteers

Said a member of Kanehsatake: “This book sheds light
on how heavy handed Canada continues to be towards
Onkwehonweh, especially Mohawks. It’s a policy of
overkill!”.

A scandalized Canadian tax payer said, “This proves
that the government is really a “den of thieves! First
they stole the land from the Indians and gave it to private
land speculators who sold it to us. Now they’re robbing
us blind with taxes they give to their buddies – the
bureaucratic lackies, lawyers, accountants and “spin
doctors” they hire to make it all look good. No wonder
there’s no money left for education, health care or
infrastructure. When are we all going to wake up and
clean up this mess?”

Kahentinetha Horn, MNN Mohawk Nation News

**Purchase price is $20.00 including shipping; Order from -
MNN Mohawk Nation News, Box 991 , Kahnawake
( Quebec , Canada ) J0L 1B0. Or contact: Kahentinetha Horn,
kahentinetha2@yahoo.com or Katenies at katenies20@yahoo.com
www.mohawknationnews.com

New MNN Books Available Now!

Mohawk Warriors Three - The Trial of Lasagna, Noriega, 20/20$20.00 usd
Where Eagles Dare to Soar - Indians, Politics & Aids$20.00 usd
The Agonizing Death of "Colonialism" and "Federal Indian Law" in Kaianere'ko:wa/Great Law Territory
$20.00 usd

Who's Sorry Now? The good, the bad and the unapologetic Mohawks of Kanehsatake
$20.00 usd

The books below, email us:

Rebuilding the Iroquois ConfederacyKaroniaktajeh$10 usd

Warriors Hand BookKaroniaktajeh$10 usd

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Nia:wen,

Kahentinetha Horn
Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com
Speaking & Contemporary Native Issues Workshops

Katenies
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Texas migrant prisons, free the children!

Hutto child prison and Raymondville tent internment camp in Texas

Freedom Ambassadors: A Texas Super Weekend…
Raymondville Walk II and Hutto Walk III...New dates
Message from Jay:
Hola y’all… If you are an ambassador for human liberty and dignity, you’ll appreciate the following update…and hopefully you'll want to share in it.Willacy County is spending and additional $40,000,000 to add 1000 beds to the already existing 2000 beds of the largest immigrant internment camp in the world.Williamson County has no intent whatsoever to free the children from the Hutto prison camp in Taylor, Texas. They are only concerned about making money off of the imprisonment of the children with impunity and with no legal liability.Willacy County and Williamson County are becoming the scourge of America in the eyes of the international community. With these facilities comes human rights violation. These prisons are models and manifestations of the elitist supremacy…with callous greed as the driving force that permeates our country and exploits the worlds’ inhabitants. Georgetown in particular, the Williamson County seat, has produced the worst of indignities to the human family by being complicit in the imprisonment of innocent children for obscene profits.The Hutto child prison in Taylor and the Raymondville tent internment camps are the most visible yet sinister violation of international human rights on American soil…and they both happen to be here in Texas. Hutto has children and their mothers imprisoned at the tune of about $10,000 per child/per mother/per month. Raymondville is the most flagrant of adult immigrant internment camps in the world, let alone on American soil.Therefore, Raymondville Walk II and Hutto Walk III have been rescheduled for a Texas Super Weekend the last weekend of October. Here are the dates: (Maps and details will be in a follow up notice).Raymondville Walk II. October 26-27. Friday and Saturday. From the Harlingen Travel Center to Raymondville, the seat of the corruption ridden Willacy County Commissioners Court.Hutto Walk III. October 28-30. Sunday through Tuesday. From the Hutto children’s’ prison camp in Taylor, Texas to the seat of the Williamson County Commissioners Court in Georgetown, Texas.Raymondville Walk II and Hutto Walk III will comprise a Texas Super Weekend of prison protest of the two most repugnant “for profit” immigration internment camps here in Texas. This will be the second event backed by a statewide coalition of Texan and American alliances of organizations and coalitions seeking liberty and justice for children, mothers, asylum seekers, refugees and desperate immigrants. (The first such statewide event Hutto Vigil X, sponsored by Amnesty International, on June 23 of this year.)The Raymondville Walk II will begin in Harlingen, Texas on Friday, October 26, right after a 9:00am press conference. Raymond Walk II will join a Raymondville Vigil on Saturday noon, October 27, in front of the 10-tent immigrant internment camp where some 2000 immigrants from some 50 countries are denied their “inalienable rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” in the politically corrupted MTC private “for-profit” facility.The Hutto Walk III will begin in Taylor, Texas on Sunday, October 28, right after a noon press conference. Hutto Walk III will continue on Monday and arrive Tuesday at the Williamson County Commissioners Court at 9:30am. At that meeting, we the people who value the tenets of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness will present the Williamson County Commissioners with our demands and ultimatums to free the children of the world who are imprisoned for greedy profit by the elitist supremacists of our country.To those from Houston, the Valley, Austin and San Antonio, Williamson County and the Metro-plex…"Start your engines!!!" Plan your travel arrangements. Make your posters and banners. Plan your speeches. Develop your public and legal strategies. May we continue to expose and to shame those who would callously and corruptly violate the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and Liberty’s invitation to the “huddled masses yearning to breath free”!Please feel free to share this with you media contacts and all others who value and are willing to defend the most basic of human rights.In solidarity…Jay Johnson-CastroFreedom Ambassadors(830)768-0768“Connecting the dots…Making a difference”

Illinois: Unidentified boy to be buried

Dupage Sheriff's Office composite of a boy believed to be 3 to 5 years old, found in a blue canvas laundry bag in a field near Naperville in October 2005. (Image courtesy Dupage Sheriff's Office / December 7, 2005)

Mary Schmich
October 12, 2007

Chicago Tribune

The detectives and the coroner will gather in the baby section of a Wheaton cemetery Monday to bury their nameless son.He was 3. Or 4. Hispanic. Or Native American. Maybe Asian. By the time he was found, his body was too far gone to determine the color of his eyes, though it is known that his hair was black and the last shirt he wore was navy blue.Whoever he was, he grew to be known in the DuPage County sheriff's office as "our little boy."
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Dupage Sheriff's Office composite Photo
Dupage Sheriff's Office image Photo
Dupage Sheriff's Office sketch Photo
"We adopted him," said Detective Joe Del Giudice when I dropped by Thursday. "He has nobody else."Del Giudice dug his hands deeper into his parka, shook his head. "Not having a name. That's what bothers me."The boy's face -- his various possible faces -- lives on inside the sheriff's department. Two of his faces greet you on the lobby doors. Walk the corridors, and you'll see him in office after office, tacked to a corkboard, hanging on a file cabinet, in a frame on the sheriff's window ledge. The face reminds the officers of their own kids.For two years, since the October day that a dog walker stumbled upon a decomposed body stuffed in a blue, canvas laundry bag and dumped in a roadside thicket near Warrenville, the boy's remains have sat in cold storage, waiting for someone to come forward with a lead that didn't fizzle.There have been hundreds of leads. They came by phone and e-mail. They came after the boy's photo aired on "America's Most Wanted" and "Without a Trace."Del Giudice and his partner, John Gradus, sniffed out possibilities from Chicago to the Wisconsin border. They learned a lot of boys look like theirs.They kept searching. They got angry. They searched more. They felt sad. They waited, in frustration and astonishment. Didn't someone miss him?"I remember thinking in the nice days of October 2005, it won't be long," said Pete Siekmann, the coroner, who keeps a picture of the boy on his credenza. "Some stay-at-home mom or grandma would say, 'You know, I haven't seen little Johnny down the street in a while.'"Some people did get in touch, but it was never the right little Johnny.At one point, Del Giudice flew down with the boy's skull to the faces lab at Louisiana State University. The experts there constructed a clay face and a picture from the clay.But no one stepped forward to claim the boy with that face, or the one with the forensic artist's face, or the one with the computer-generated face.Finally, the sheriff, the detectives and the coroner agreed that it was time. Take their boy out of the refrigerated morgue and lay him properly in the ground."From an evidence and scientific standpoint, there's no reason to delay anymore," said Major Mark Edwalds, who keeps the boy's image on his desk.On Monday, they'll do what families do. While a bagpiper plays a tune and a girl sings "Lullaby and goodnight," and Deacon Andy, who ministers over in the jail, says a word, they'll lay their boy to rest.He'll be laid out in donated clothes -- little slacks, shirt, tie, jacket, underwear -- next to a burial blanket someone offered as a gift. The casket is a gift, too, and the plot.So is the headstone, which will carry no date of birth or death, just the date the body was found, and these words: Son/Unknown/But not forgotten.In 31 years on the coroner's job, said Siekmann, he has encountered only four unidentified bodies, and none that feels this personal."You can hardly believe that it's come down to this," he said, "that a life comes down to this."Burials are rituals the living conduct for themselves as well as for the dead. But when the officers and the coroner lay their boy to rest, they won't get full peace of mind.They say this will never be a cold case, and they fantasize that on Monday out there in the Holy Innocents section of Assumption Cemetery someone will walk up and tell them who it is they're burying.There's a beautiful video about this boy athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jawz1JcGENw
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Concerned Navajos: 'NO' to $100 million gambling loan

Mortgaging the future

Message from concerned Navajos opposing $100 million loan, "What's the hurry?"

This Friday (October 12, 2007), a day after a special workshop on the issue, the Navajo Council will vote in special session on whether or not to adopt Tracking 0524-07, short titled, "A $100,000,000.00 Possible Loan Offer from JP Morgan Chase." This bill was tabled during the last special session, when delegates L. and T. Tsosie raised concerns about the bill's language; 38 of 33 delegates agreed to table the bill until a work session can be held tomorrow in Window Rock.
The council delegates were wise to question the merit of the bill for the following reasons:
1. "The nation will only pay for the amount of the loan drawn upon, not the full $100,000,000.00." This oft repeated administration statement is not entirely true. According to points drawn by JP Morgan Chase in their proposal titled, "$100,000,000.00 Reducing Revolving Credit Facility", under the "Unused Portion Commitment Fee, "The Borrower shall pay a commitment fee, quarterly in arrears, on the unused portion of the Credit Facility equal to twenty-five (25) basis points (0.25%)". This means since the loan total is $100M every year four quarterly payments equaling $1 million ($1M) annually will be paid on money we did not borrow or have yet borrowed. In the beginning the amount begins as $1M annually but, as its incentive, the more money we borrow the smaller this amount is. It encourages Navajo Nation to incur debt to be paid tomorrow to balance out the immediate amount paid out in fees today.
2. Why is the administration offering "cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities" to collateralise the loan while the bank is demanding a "full faith and credit general obligation of the Nation." No exact marketable securities are named, which implies everything is on the table. The house has been put on the table with a $100M marker by the administration. This is peculiar since previous councils tried a collateralized economic development bond/ loan in the '88/'89 years, with a premier Japanese bank, using only the royalties from the Kayenta Mine as collateral. I believe Mr. Shirley served on that council. Everything down to the nails can be seized, a case could be argued, even trust funds viewed and interpreted as assets by courts, which brings us to the next point. (Section 2 d.)
3. "Limited Waivers of Sovereignty" This is a tricky idea to attach to any subject, especially finance. While the bill expresses commitment to Navajo Arbitration Act, it places the nation at the mercy of federal courts and possibly state courts if JP Morgan Chases chooses state regulated banks as a partner. When you've bet the entire nation's assets as collateral, do you really want to put our land as as means for the bank to foreclose on as default? (Section 1 l.)
4. Gaming Projects are classified as Capital Improvement Projects. While this may not sound like much it implies this loan can be spent on Capital Improvement Projects (CIP). It gives the administration a backdoor to funds for the laundry list of CIPs. It is obvious we have many needs on the nation but is allowing the administration access to as much of $100M as they want the proper method to funding these? There-in is the danger of pet projects being fast-tracked while those for opposing or uncooperative individuals from receiving any of the pork, or worse CIPs being offered for votes. All the costs would be paid for by interest owing generations of Dineh to come and the next administration's problem. (Section 2 b.)
5. There is no Navajo Council oversight after this bill is ratified. The President and Controller act as "Authorized Officers" of the Navajo Nation in all future "loan agreements, promissory notes, line of credit, pledge agreements, account control agreements, security agreements, guarantees, Interest Rate Agreements, syndication agreements, closing certificates and/or future modifications and waivers to such documents in connection with the Gaming Loan and the Enterprise Loan." There is no Navajo Council oversight from the Banking and Finance Committee or even Intergovernmental Relations. The president's signature is all that is needed to access $100M. (Section 2 h.)
6. The Navajo Council "hereby ratifies and approves ALL (my emphasis) actions previously taken by the President, Controller, and the Attorney General of Navajo Nation to obtain the Gaming Loan." That's just scary in the scope of immunity requested as for those named individuals to request it. (Section 2 i.)
7. "The Navajo Council hereby approves and states that any legislation, customs or other actions of the Navajo Council in conflict or inconsistent with the terms of this legislation...are waived to the extent of such conflict or inconsistency, and this legislation shall supersede the same." This is overtly broad and sweeping. Why customs, laws, or "other actions" of the council? (Section 2 k.)
8. To their credit, this bill has a low interest rate based on the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) based on a 1, 3, or 5 month rate. The LIBOR fluctuates between 5 and 6 usually (currently being 5.24 for the 3-month rate, a change from 5.7 last month). The bank adds another half-point and you get our interest rate. That perhaps was what Navajo Gaming Enterprise CEO Robert Winter was alluding to when he said this was the best agreement he has seen with $1 billion dollars worth of contracts in his experience.
There are severe problems with the legislation presented to be voted on Friday. One would wonder why the Navajo Council would want to give sole access of $100,000,000.00 of discretionary funds to the President and Controller to spend as see fit. The Navajo Council is supposed to have oversight over operations and control of the nation's pocketbook. The amount of money is too large to be given to the control of the executive branch without any oversight or accountability. A race would begin to see how much money could be spent before the term limited Shirley is handed his hat. The means to repay the loan amount would be the next administration who would be coming into office when the payments to the bank finally stop paying interest-only costs and begin to pay on the principal.
Call your delegate, ask them to vote NO, vote RED, on this issue. To reach them on the council floor tomorrow or Friday call 928.871.6000, ask for legislative services or the steno office. Ask for a note to be sent to your delegate on the council floor and tell them your concerns. There is no reason to rush into this loan offer when we haven't stepped feet out of "Indian Country" looking for banks to do business with.

Comment:
Several concerned citizen got together yesterday and here some reasons why we thought this was a bad loan.
The Navajo Nation is using Navajo Nation Assets as collateral to pay for the loan. Assets are our natural resources and even the Permanent Trust Fund. JP Morgan will give us permission to do what we like to do with our assets and thus replacing the B.I.A. If the Council approves this legislation, we will have a new daddy in town. What if the entire Navajo assets is worth over 100 billion dollars and we tied ourselves to $100 million and the Nation gaming fails. We lose all the assets for 100 million. That's CRAZY!
What's the hurry?
Vern Lee

From the wires:

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - The Navajo Nation Council has tabled a measure that would help pay for casino development on the 27,000 square-mile reservation. The council met Friday in Window Rock, Arizona, in a special session to consider a $100 million line of credit secured earlier this year from JP Morgan Chase. The council’s approval is needed before the tribe can use any of the funds. Delegates voted 38-33 to table the measure until a work session is scheduled. The measure then could be brought up in a later session.

'Rez Bluez' returns to Aboriginal TV

Plateros and teen guitarist Levi Platero on Rez Bluez

“REZ BLUEZ returns to the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network for its second season on Sat. Nov. 10 at 7 pm ET/PT!”
(Toronto, Ontario) The Native heart beat of the blues will ring true one more time on the second season of Rez Bluez. After successful broadcasts on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network and SUN-TV, Rez Bluez returns to both networks this Fall for a second season on Saturday, November 10, 2007. Still the only show of its kind in the world that features solely Native blues and comedy, Rez Bluez II was shot entirely in high definition…so the blues will fill your living room more than ever! The show will air over the next 13 weeks every Saturday night at 7 pm ET/PT on APTN, so mark this on your calendars! This season features twenty-six (26) Aboriginal blues acts, for a total of 93 musicians, and 4 comedians, who also do double duty as hosts, and Michaela Washburn returns to host 6 shows. We continue to showcase the best in Aboriginal blues in Rez Bluez II. We have some musicians returning from last season including Derek Miller, The Pappy Johns Band, Harrison Kennedy, Wes Mackey, and Murray Porter to name a few of our returning guest musicians. We’re also taking great pleasure in introducing some talent new to Rez Bluez TV, including Jared Sowen, Dalannah Bowen, The Plateros, Martha Redbone, Helen Duguay, Shakti Hayes, Art Napoleon, and Jason Burnstick to name a few of the fabulous musicians who will grace your t.v. screens this coming season. Our comedians for Rez Bluez II are hilariously talented folks from all over Turtle Island, they are Michaela Washburn, Gerry `The Big Bear’ Barrett, Drew Lacapa and Skeena Reece. Our first host to warm you all up to our second season is the wonderfully talented MICHAELA WASHBURN. We'll also feature some fabulous blues by ISAAC MANDAMIN & SOUTH THUNDERBIRD and introducing for the first time on Canadian television, THE PLATEROS, with teen guitar whiz, LEVI PLATERO.
www.myspace.com/theplateros
To tickle your funny bone on the season opener, are the gifted comedians, DREW LACAPA and SKEENA REECE. We'll always feature some of the best in Native blues and comedy...DON’T MISS A SECOND OF REZ BLUEZ II…COMING SOON TO APTN!!!Rez Bluez II is produced by Elaine Bomberry, Aaron Goldman and Shawn Henry of Freedom TV/Rez Bluez Inc. This season: Directed by Aaron Goldman; Writers: Elaine Bomberry, Murray Porter and Aaron Goldman; `Rez Bluez’ Theme Song by Murray Porter.

Photos: The Plateros, Navajo family band, courtesy photos.