N'Quatqua blockades road

The N'Quataua have set up a blockade to stop the logging of their lands.

N'Quatqua blockade Portage Road at D'Arcy
Activists angered by chief's decision to enter forest, range agreement with limited consultation

Published Date: 2006-04-27

By Cindy Filipenko

More than 20 members of the N’Quátqua band and their supporters began blockading Portage Road at the entrance to D’Arcy on Monday.

The protestors claim that their elected representatives went against the wishes of the area residents and negotiated a logging agreement between The N’Quátqua Logging Company and the Pemberton’s CRB Logging Company to allow for the removal of 81 hectares of old growth forest in CP16 near Anderson Lake. The protestors’ goal is to prevent logging trucks from entering or exiting traditional N’Quátqua territory.

The area, which was scheduled to be logged beginning on Monday, April 24, is winter range to mule deer. As well, it is a habitat for bobcats, cougars, bears, wolves and many species of birds. At least two endangered species, the rubber boa and the horned owl, are also indigenous.

On the highway sign reading "Entering D’Arcy", there is another sign, it reads: "Where are you Rich Coleman?" a reference to the forest minister. A few feet away is a similar handmade sign that reads: "Biologist Says No."

Blockade spokesperson Carol Thevarge makes it clear that what’s at stake is more than old growth timber; it’s also culture, water, animals, plant life, fish and the band’s heritage. full article

Gunboat diplomacy at Six Nations

received via email

“GUNBOAT DIPLOMACY” AT SIX NATIONS - TRAGIC MISMANAGEMENT OF BOTH INDIGENOUS AND CANADIAN RIGHTS.

MNN. April 28, 2006. Friday, 10:30 pm. Shotgun diplomacy is much more harmful than people realize. Instead of providing leadership to the Canadian people that it represents, and reassuring the Indigenous people of Six Nations, Canada sent in armed forces. Barricades and yellow tape are blocking peoples’ way for 50 square miles. There are three helicopters flying overhead, extra heavily armed police all over the place and a raucous crowd of 300 Caledonians are trying to rush the Six Nations barricades. Everybody’s nerves are on edge. People feel like they’re caught in the middle of a “war” zone.

The issue is a longstanding Indigenous land theft by Canada that has to be rectified. We are not letting it go on any longer. We want Canada to obey its laws and keep its promises. Bringing in armed forces has ignited violence by the non-native citizens of nearby Caledonia. They feel trapped, confined and need to blame someone. The police and military are happy to have this action. It is less boring than standing around. They have a chance to use their armaments and other fancy toys.

This misbehavior of the citizens of Caledonia keeps the spotlight off the cops who carried out an unprovoked pre-dawn attack on the Six Nations people on April 20th. It makes it seem like their gonzo style is justified. Actually it’s victimizing the people of Caledonia.

Is this how to do things? We don’t think so. If the Kaianereh’ko:wa/Great Law, our constitution, was used to solve the issue, fruitful discussions could be well underway by now. The people of Caledonia need to take part in a ‘small condolence’ ceremony. This is when people clean their eyes with a piece of soft leather so they can see the issue clearly; then they take an eagle feather and gently touch around their ears so that they will listen and hear the voices of the other people; and then they drink a glass of clear water so that their words will be as clear as the water and there are no sharp edges. This ceremony helps calm people and keep their emotions under control so they can rationally discuss the issues at hand.

Some of the people of Caledonia are out of control. The rest seem to be condoning or even encouraging the rioting and threats that are being made against us. At a time like this they might cool down if no one confronted them. Everyone would be wise to avoid going to Caledonia and doing business there for any reason. They need to be left alone to return to their senses. It may seem like a small thing to drop by there for a cup of coffee, especially when you’re thirsty and it is convenient. But these people have gotten out of control!

It’s like putting a kid who is having a tantrum into a room by himself so they can think. Caledonians need to pull back their rowdies who are making it dangerous to go there. They have temporarily forgotten how to interact calmly with people. Maybe if they think about it, they can understand how our people have been racially boycotted. They can see how we have been and continue to be attacked by the colonial government and kept under economic subjugation.

Successful neighborly relations depend on exchange and reciprocity as equals. When one of the parties becomes disturbed, as the residents of Caledonia show us they have become, it’s obvious they need to be avoided. They need space to think about the consequences of their actions. The people of Chateauguay have never really recovered from their misbehavior during the Mohawk Oka Crisis of 1990. They were so uncivilized that the people of Kahnawake stopped doing business with them. A lot of businesses were ruined. The Mohawk population was almost half the population of Chateauguay. The Six Nations population is more than double that of Caledonia.

It’s understandable their nerves are on edge because neither Canada nor Ontario has offered them any reassurances about the Indigenous land on which they live. The colonial misappropriation of Six Nations land, funds and resources must be reversed through legal, thoughtful and fair negotiations with the People, not the Indian Act administration that Canada violently forced upon our people. Obviously they haven’t done anything to solve the situation in over 150 years.

In the process of developing a consensual approach to managing inter-communituy relations, the Caledonian people should be included because their interests are involved. According to the colonial custom that Canada continues to rely upon, the people of Caledonia will not have any say in the types of solutions that will be devised. Whoever controls the Canadian and Ontario governments will dictate the solution and impose their will by force. The current deployment of the police and army make this all too clear. State use of force should be limited to making sure that everyone is treated equally and no one violates anyone else. This escalating violence might never have happened if the Ontario Provincial Police hadn’t been there. They made the first violent move by attacking the Six Nations people. They are instigating violence rather than preventing it.

What we are seeing here is a demonstration of great differences in approach - the Indigenous way of solving problems consensually versus the colonial forced solutions without the people having a role. The people of Caledonia have been suckered into behaving like hooligans. They are seen as being at the bottom of the hierarchical colonial system that Canada and Ontario enforce. This is feeding their frustration and leads them into misbehavior.

Everyone who is affected must be involved. A solution requires their fully informed consent. We want everybody to obey the laws, including Canada and Ontario. No one can leave the table and get on with business as usual until a proper agreement is reached. All promises and agreements that have been made with us must be fulfilled. Business and community relations will have a sound equitable foundation. We are tired of living under the burden of all of the unfulfilled promises that have been made by Canada, Ontario and Britain so they can live on our land and take all our resources.

Previously Caledonia citizens were decent neighbors. We hope this relationship will be resumed in the future. In the meantime, they need rest to calm their spirits.

In nature, when a bully is removed from the aquarium, life instantly improves for the rest. Creating conditions of violence, suppressing the voice of the people, negotiating with the gun pointed at us and keeping the people of Caledonia victimized is meant to maintain the dominance of a few diseased minds. They pretend that social order depends on them. What would happen if all the armed forces left? Canada would have to sit down and talk to us about their illegal actions and how they can be rectified. Caledonians would stop being angry and society will flourish.

The use of force by the state is inflaming this situation. Everyone has a concern that is not being validated. We hope nothing happens. We are all worried. We need our brothers, sisters, friends and allies to stand with us and to set an example of self-restraint in the face of armed forces and the angry people of Caledonia who hover around us night and day.

Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News
Kahentinetha2@yahoo.com
www.mnn.mohawknationnews.com

Six Nations Radio

To learn more about the Six Nations defense of their land, listen to live streaming from 100.3 CKRZ. CKRZ is native owned and operated.

CKRZ

Defend Bear Butte merchandise

Check out the Defend Bear Butte merchandise now for sale at Cafe Express.
cafe express defend bear butte

Six Nations update letter

Received via email

Sent: Friday, April 28, 2006 7:11 AM

Friday morning, and I just wanted to touch base with everyone. things are quiet around the camp. we are currently in the process of re-organizing, re-structuring, etc. so that we're not all over the place. the women are in the process of getting the information organized and hopefully (?) we will have a daily report coming out from the site. At least that is my personal goal, perhaps early evening, maybe even once in the morning and once at night. the Caledonia residents are getting a bit frustrated, not only with us, but there is alot of anger toward police for not getting us out of there, and now they want to block our roads on the rez, stop accepting status cards etc. it really is alot of garbage and i understand their frustration, but it was clearly stated by my daughter who wrote in to one of their blogs, "the racism is not new, it has just been hidden better until this incident" something along those lines anyway. and i agree with her. as do many. not
all of them feel that way, but it is not uncommon in any of the cities towns and townships along the grand river, and it shouldn't even surprise us, they were taught their history and believe us to be just like them......but it is their spirit that is stirring and questioning their truth, and that is where the anger comes from. it is easier to be angry and racist than to admit that they might be wrong and there might be truth to what we are saying. so, have compassion in your hearts for those people, don't react to their anger and if you're going to the site tonight, lets stay by the front gate, we'll have a sing, and let's ignore their behavior. The media is just waiting for us to react and give them a show, we need to stay proud and allow those people to have their own say, in their own way, without even acknowledgeing it. As far as them stopping us from shopping in "their" town, quite frankly, if they don't want our business, caledonia may soon turn out to be a
ghost town without it. will touch base soon. Hazel

Meade County protest-May 02.

Received via email

PRESS RELEASE
MANDERSON, SD
The Intertribal Coalition to Defend Bear Butte, Bring Back the Way, and the Lakota Action Network will gather on the steps of the Meade County Courthouse to protest the desecration of their Sacred Mountain, Bear Butte on May 2, 2006 at 9:30am. The Meade County Commissioners will have a hearing regarding the liquor application of the Glencoe, Inc. Campground on the outskirts of Sturgis, SD. The campground is near Bear Butte, and the site of an already enormous campground hosting thousands of bikers during the Sturgis Motorcyle Rally held every August.

"It's time to take a stand for our way of life, to demand justice," say Vic Camp and Nick Tilsen, organizers of the May 2nd Protect and Preserve Bear Butte Rally. "We need to protect our way of life, we need to protect our Sacred Mountain" says TJ Afraid of Hawk, also of the Intertribal Coalition to Defend Bear Butte, "We are sending out a Call to Action to come to Sturgis on May 2."

The May 2 Protect Bear Butte Rally is planned as a peaceful gathering which will begin with morning star prayers at Bear Butte. On April 4, 2006, hundreds of Lakota, Cheyenne, and Ponca people gathered and marched on Sturgis, SD, closing down highway 34 on their pathway to the Meade County Courthouse. That peaceful protest was organized to oppose the liquor license application of Jay Allen, who proposes to build a campground, bar, diner, and ampitheater 2 miles north of Bear Butte. After hearing several dozen native nations, and a few Meade County residents all speak in opposition to the license based on location, the Meade Coounty Commissioners, after no discussion, voted unanimously to approve Mr. Allen's application.

Many Meade County residents were visibly upset that their elected officials approved the application. One resident asked the question "When is enough,enough?" She wondered why there should be another bar, when there are more than 50 already. The April 4 Rally to Protect Bear Butte participants all remembered the civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated on April 4 decades ago and asked each other "Will the Meade County Commissioners vote to assasssinate Bear Butte and our way of life?" The vote was yes on April 4, who knows what the vote will be on May 2? Is the decision a foregone conclusion, as many felt the April 4 decision was?

"We did not expect to get justice from the Meade County Commissioners, we expected them to vote for capitalism and private property rights over our Human Right to Pray" said Debra White Plume of the Intertribal Coalition to Defend Bear Butte, "and they did not waiver." According to the Oglala Sioux Tribe, attorneys have filed an appeal regarding the April 4 decision to approve the application of Mr. Allen. The Bear Butte International Alliance is doing a petition drive to put the issue to a referendum vote. Meade County residents are posing questions to the SD Dept of Transportation regarding use of the American flag, which the heavy equipment operators who are working on Mr. Allen's property, have been flying from their machinery, an occurence that some say is in response to the flag of the Cheyenne Nation, who hoisted their morning star flag on Bear Butte following their purchase of 120 acres of land on Bear Butte earlier this year.

For more information on the May 2nd Rally to Protect Bear Butte people can call Bring Back the Way at 605-455-2155, Intertribal Coalition to Defend Bear Butte at
605-455-2508 or 605-964-4642,or Lakota Action Network at 605-441-7485 or go to
www.bringbacktheway.com or www.defendbearbutte.org.

Memorial Reading of Vine Deloria's last work-tonight

Memorial Reading of Vine Deloria Jr.'s Last Work

Thursday, April 27, 2006, at 7:30 p.m. at the Tattered Cover Cherry Creek, 2955 East First Avenue at Milwaukee Street, Cherry Creek, CO.

Special guest readers will offer a memorial reading from Vine's last book, The World We Use To Live In- Remembering the Powers of the Medicine Men, published by Fulcrum Books.

Daniel Wildcat is the moderator. George Tinker, Walter Echo-Hawk, Patty Limerick, and Norbert S. Hill Jr., are the guest readers. Eric 'Many Winds' Herrera will be playing his flute.

Call (303)322-7727 for more information.

Support the Shipibob Nation of Peru

The following was sent courtesy of Village Earth. We encourage everyone who can attend to do so.

Fort Collins based Village Earth and ReflexiveFilms.org will be
premiering, for the first time in North America, "Los Hijos De La
Anaconda" (The Children of the Anaconda), a documentary filmed entirely
by members of the Shipibo Nation in Peru's Amazon Basin. Produced over a
five day period in January of this year, their documentary describes
their struggles against the pollution of their rivers and the loss of
their fish, illegal logging, and the encroachment of oil and gas
companies onto their lands - issues intimately linked with the
consumption of those resources in North American an Europe. It also
highlights their vision and plan to restore their fish, forests, and
enhance their local economy.

Date: Thursday, May 4th, 2006
Time: 7:30pm
Place: Lory Student Center Theater
Cost: $5

Tickets can be purchased by calling the LSC box office at (970) 491-4849

For more information or to purchase a DVD contact Village Earth at (970)
491-5754 or visit http://www.villageearth.org/pages/Projects/Peru/perublog/

Six Nation solidarity actions

Here are some solidarity actions in support of the Six Nations defense of their lands.

TORONTO-Rally against colonialism and in support of the Six Nations blockade
Minister of Indian Affairs Jim Prentice speaking in Toronto!
****************************************************
This Friday, April 28
6:30pm at U of T, King's College Circle
(in the field north of College St., west of University Ave.)
****************************************************

For almost 60 days now, the community of the Six Nations Haudensaunee Confederacy has held a blockade to defend land that is rightfully theirs from further encroachment by real estate developers and the Canadian government. Last Thursday, OPP forces mounted a pre-dawn raid to assault those taking this stand, deploying cops with guns drawn to pepper spray, beat and arrest community members. The government had hoped to remove resistance to the development of Six Nations land by real estate developer Henco Industries Ltd. The Six Nations community mobilized in response and drove the OPP out. The community's determination to assert its national sovereignty and legitimate treaty rights, like the blockade itself, has only strengthened since.

Audaciously, less than a week after this unprovoked attack, the Harper government's Minister of Indian Affairs is speaking in Toronto on the topic of "Native Self-Government." No First Nations leader has authorized Minister Jim Prentice to speak on this topic, and it is an issue that he clearly does not understand in even the most basic terms. In fact, since Ontario's McGuinty government has actively distanced itself from these OPP actions, the possibility that federal hands were in on this operation is a very real one. Meanwhile, the threat of possible RCMP or military intervention continues to hang over the Six Nations community. The government of Minister Prentice and Prime Minister Harper still refuses to uphold its treaty obligations and respect the legitimate leadership of First Nations people. Until they do, there is nothing Jim Prentice can say that is worth listening to.

It is imperative that this government understand that people will not tolerate further attacks on the sovereignty of the Six Nations Haudensaunee Confederacy or other First Nations communities. Come out this Friday to join in sending this message, and talk to friends and allies to ensure that we do so in the maximum numbers possible. Solidarity actions and demonstrations have already been organized in Tyendinaga, Kahnawake, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and elsewhere. But the Canadian government remains two-faced, and especially given the underlying racism of last Monday's demonstration in Caledonia, it is extremely crucial that solidarity activities spread.

For more information, call 416-997-1562 or email:
amadahy@rogers.com / ocap@tao.ca

Ottawa: Six Nations solidarity rally
Stand in solidarity with Six Nations!
Demand an end to violations of First Nations sovereignty!

=================
12:00 Noon
Friday, April 28th, 2006
War Memorial (Elgin @ Wellington, next to the PM's Office)
Ottawa, Ontario
=================
For almost 60 days, the people of the Six Nations Haudensaunee Confederacy have taken a stand against the theft of their land by property developers and the Canadian government.

While negotiations with the government may be underway, the threat of state violence against the Six Nations remains. The OPP and the Canadian military continue to lurk just beyond the barricades in Caledonia, Ontario. A nearby prison has been emptied, and a hospital ward prepared for casulties.

Your strength and support is needed to end the encroachment of Six Nations land and remove the constant threat of violence that hovers over the Six Nations people, their friends, and allies.

Join us on Friday, April 28th, in demanding the Canadian state get its HANDS OFF SIX NATIONS LAND!

BRING BANNERS AND NOISEMAKERS!

For more information on the situation in Caledonia, see http://auto_sol.tao.ca/

For more info about Friday's rally, call 613 316 0341

Montréal public assembly to organize solidarity with Six Nations
*********************************
When? Friday April 28th @ 6pm
Where? DIRA
Address: 2035 St-Laurent, 3rd Floor
Metro: St-Laurent
**********************************

This is a call-out for all groups and individuals interested in joining forces to organize support for the ongoing Six Nations Land Reclamation. The Assembly will focus on the formation of committees, and strategizing for each area of work.

Groups who've expressed interest include: IPSM, PASC, SAB, PPL, CLAC Latin America, NOII, CAPMA and ISM.

The proposed committees, so far, include:

1. Transport: coordination of rides to and from Six Nations
2. Finance/Legal: budgets for transportation, supplies, money for Six Nations, legal support, etc.
3. Action: Montreal solidarity actions and coordination with Toronto support
4. Information: collecting and creating info, from the ground, and translating it into French and Spanish.

Letter from Popular Indigenous Council of Oaxaca

Brothers and Sisters,
We would like to send you our deepest salutations from the heart, we know about the hard path we Indians have to walk due to the rich peoples ambitions, but our love of Mother Earth and liberty is stronger, that's why we will keep defending them even if the price to pay could be death.

We want to tell you you're not alone, and that we have sent letters, by fax and email, to your governments to demand justice for your peoples

Our solidarity is with you
From Indian communities of Oaxaca,
For the reconstitution and free association of the peoples
Popular Indigenous Council of Oaxaca "Ricardo Flores Magón"
CIPO-RFM
Dolores
CIPO-RFM Representative
-----------

SENT LETTER TO:
Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, México, April 13th of 2006. MICHAEL BRYANT,
ONTARIO ATTORNEY GENERAL. STEPHEN HARPER PRIME MINISTER
OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER MICHAELLE JEAN GOVERNOR GENERAL. JIM PRENTICE MINISTER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS AND NORTHERN DEVELOPMENT
PARLIAMENT HILL: HOUSE OF COMMONS OTTAWA, ONTARIO
Sirs,

With great shock and discontent, we learned from Six Nations Mohawk people's press releases that on March 3rd, Ontario Supreme Court gave to Henco company a legal order so the OPP could dislodge by means of force Native Mohawk people of Six nations from the land where the company plans to build 72 houses, the same projects that sits in ancestral territory, for which Natives have never in any way been consulted and which will not bring any good to the communities.

The Six Nations communities are defending their land based on Haldimand tract that was signed in 1784, which represent 9,6 kilometres on each side of Grand River from his source to its mouth. The Mohawk of Six Nations, since February 28th, have mobilized themselves to stop their Territories' illegal invasions and eviction menaces.

The Judge said in his verdict, during an audience held without Six Nations peoples even knowing, that if they didn't get out of the place by March 22nd at 2pm, they could be arrested and jailed for 30 days. On march 29th at noon, 6 boats, 3 vans and 15 polices came nearby the Mohawk camp, looking at them and taking notes. We oppose to the eviction and jail menaces they are subjected to for defending their territory. Canada must stop using repression to solution its legal disputes with Native Peoples.

We know that John and Don Henning, from Henco Industries Limited, say they have a title of property certificated by Ontario Provincial Government and which guarantees the company is the "legal landowner" of these lands, and they say "we are confined between a group of Natives and Federal Government". Canadian government has to solve the jurisdiction ant titles problem by political means, not with weapons.

In both international and Canadian Law, when negotiations are broken between the two Parties, " any person should have the access to an audience in a competent, independent and impartial Court." Since when is Ontario Court a neutral Court in a fight between Ontario and Indigenous Nations ? It is necessary to find an international mediator without any interest in the affair, or to create a meditation team that would include representatives from Native peoples and other States which are not involved in this particular case. But the mediators have to understand both colonial and indigenous Laws, such as the kaianereh'ko:wa. Canada has to find a peaceful solution to this conflict, establishing a nation-to-nation dialogue with On'kwe'hon:we people.

For all of the above and facing a possible unjustified eviction and serious Human Rights violations which could endanger the life and integrity of Mohawk people of Six Nations, we demand:
1. Henco Industries to cease immediately all construction on Six Nations ancestral territory ;
2. That the conflict get to a political and negotiated solution without Police interventions.
3. That a Nation-to Nation dialogue be established between Canada and On'kwe'hon:we nation.
4. That a resolution of the conflict should pass by a solution to the Titles and

Jurisdiction problematics, and would mean for the Federal Government to take responsibility for his actions towards Six Nations, accordingly with its international law obligations.

From our countries, we will closely follow this situation Six Nations peoples have to get through.

For the reconstitution and free association of the peoples.
Popular Indigenous Council of Oaxaca "Ricardo Flores Magón"
CIPO-RFM
The Organizers Group
Dolores Villalobos Cuamatzi
Rosario Gómez Hernández
Leonardo López Sarabia
Miguel Cruz Moreno
Pedro Barrios Vásquez
Agustina Reyes Martínez
Rosario Ortega Luciano

Okanagan solidarity action

Local Native Protest

by Kelly Hayes - Story: 18045
April 25, 2006 / 5:09 pm

The native unrest in Ontario over a land dispute has spread to B.C. including the Okanagan.

Local natives calling themselves the “Okanagan grassroots people” set up an information picket at the intersection of Highway 97 and Westside Road Tuesday. The goal of the protest was to generate more attention to the unrest in Caledonia, Ontario where members from the Six Nations Reserve are trying to stop construction of a housing project.

"We support the Mohawks of the Grand River because Okanagan Peoples are in a similar situation with our Okanagan land title not being recognized by the Federal Government," says spokesman Alex Louie of the Osoyoos Indian Band.

He's also no fan of the Self-Government agreement signed between the Westbank Band and the Government.

The Westbank First Nation didn't endorse the protest however, some members of the band did take part in Tuesday’s protest.

Louie says there are so-called militants in his group who want to crank up the protest by blocking roads including the Okanagan Lake Floating Bridge.

"The militants are saying that if the government doesn't want to recognize our title to this land, then this is our land. They say if they want to create disruptions on our own land, then we may do so."

Louie says the protest will return to the Westside if things escalate in Ontario.

Lions Gate Bridge blocked

News from Vancouver.

First Nations solidarity backs up bridge traffic
Apr, 26 2006 - 2:30 AM

VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) - Protestors say Tuesday afternoon's disruption on the Lions Gate Bridge is just the start of action planned in solidarity with Caledonia, Ontario First Nations.

David Dennis, Vice President of the United Native Nations says the group is plotting their next move and is hoping to get other First Nations groups to join in the action, "We want to encourage our people to begin to stand up and wake up and tell themselves that you know lives are in danger, we got to get out there."

It's not clear what the future action may be or when it will happen. link

We'll be posting more about these actions.

Newmont Protest news roundup

Here are some media articles about the Stop Newmont protest.

Denver Post-Critics of Newmont Mining Corp. march Tuesday to the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center in Englewood, where the company held its annual shareholders meeting. CEO Wayne Murdy said nations could make better use of the taxes they collect. (Post / Jerry Cleveland)

CEO faults governments
By Tom McGhee
Denver Post Staff Writer

Some Third World governments collect taxes from gold producer Newmont Mining Corp. but don't spend the money to improve neighboring communities, the company's chairman and chief executive told shareholders Tuesday.

Newmont builds schools and clinics, improves infrastructure and helps train farmers to make better use of the land. But people who feel ignored by their governments expect the company to provide more of the services they lack, Wayne Murdy said.

"That's not our job. In many cases, they have governments that don't function very well, and people don't trust their governments," he said.

Murdy was questioned by activists who held proxies and were allowed into the company's annual meeting, and those from areas where the company operates painted a far different picture. full article


Glenn Morris holds a megaphone Tuesday for Carrie Dann, a Western Shoshone elder from Nevada, at the Inverness protest. "If they want to stay in business, they should clean it up," she said. Newmont has operations in Nevada. (Post / Jerry Cleveland)
Peaceful protests attack "ecocide"
By Beth Potter
Denver Post Staff Writer

Newmont Mining Corp. protesters had talked tough about civil disobedience but on Tuesday declared victory without breaking the law.

The protesters included local college students, members of the American Indian Movement, a Peruvian priest, a trade-union representative from Ghana and several members of the Western Shoshone tribe from Nevada.

Newmont has been accused of harming the environment and indigenous people with its gold-mining operations.

The protesters waved signs on the east side of Newmont Mining's corporate offices in downtown Denver on Sherman Street between 17th and 18th avenues.

"We're making a statement against genocide, ecocide and destruction of the environment," said Chako, 19, a protester who declined to give his last name. full article


Gabe Oner, left, Mac Liman, center, and Sarah Graves, all of Denver, protest Newmont Mining Corp. outside the Inverness Hotel on Tuesday. Newmont held its annual meeting at the hotel, where CEO Wayne Murdy discussed the gold mining company's strong financial results and defended its record in the communities around the world where it does business.

Crowd inside and out
Newmont meeting draws shareholders, protesters
Linda Mcconnell © News

ARAPAHOE COUNTY - Protesters outnumbered shareholders Tuesday at Newmont Mining Corp.'s annual meeting, but tight security kept most of the company's critics from getting close to the official event.
Company CEO Wayne Murdy, speaking before a standing-room-only gathering at the In- verness Hotel, spent a few minutes recounting the gold mining company's strong financial results.

He spent the rest of the meeting defending Newmont's record in the far-flung communities where it does business.

"It's all about balance," Murdy said in response. "Can we make everybody happy? No. We don't live in that kind of world."

Several shareholders or their proxies peppered Murdy with questions about everything from water quality to wages in some of the countries where the company operates its mines. Most of the concerns centered on operations in Nevada, Peru, Indonesia and Ghana. full article

DJ Newmont CEO: Will Work On Community Concerns Worldwide

(Comtex Business Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)ENGLEWOOD, Colorado, Apr 25, 2006 (Dow Jones Commodities News Select via Comtex) --As protesters beat drums outside and critics raised questions inside, Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) CEO Wayne Murdy told the annual shareholders meeting Tuesday he would work with communities around the company's gold mining operations worldwide.

Marco Arana of Peru, speaking in Spanish, asked Murdy whether Newmont would pay its Peruvian workers salaries equivalent to its employees at its Denver headquarters.

Peru was the site of violent protests by local villagers last year against Newmont's plans to expand its giant Yanacocha mine in northern Peru, Dow Jones Newswires has reorted.

Daniel Owusu-Koranteng of Ghana asked him to commit to improving the water supply there.

Representatives of a Shoshone Indian group in Nevada asked Newmont to promise not to seek privatization of Indian lands that are targets for mining. full article

CONFRONT NEWMONT TODAY!

Protest Newmont Mining's Policies That Are Destroying Native Peoples Today

Newmont Mining, the largest gold mining corporation in the world (and is based in Denver), is holding its annual shareholder's meeting today. Join us, along with Native delegations from Western Shoshone, Ghana, and Peru, to hold Newmont accountable.

Protest and picket at Newmont headquarters, 1700 Sherman Street, Denver
9:30-10:30 am, Bring signs, noisemakers, bullhorns. "Newmont: Stop Destroying Native Peoples" "Life Is More Precious Than Gold."

Caravan to Shareholder's Meeting - 10:30 am
Shareholder's meeting at Inverness Hotel, Inverness Business Park near I-25 and Dry Creek Road. For map go to www.stopnewmont.org

Protest at Newmont Headquarters in the afternoon - 2:00 pm
Vigorous, non-violent, noisy protest to let Newmont know that we disagree with its practices and policies.

Newmont moves annual meeting

From today's edition of the Denver Post

Newmont moves annual meet
Gold producer fears disruptive Denver protest. Peaceful demonstrations are nothing new to the firm, but one group could turn up the heat.
By Greg Griffin Denver Post Staff Writer

Newmont Mining Corp. was nervous enough about security at its annual meeting Tuesday to move it from its downtown Denver headquarters to a hotel in the southern metro area.
Protest organizers say as many as 200 activists could show up for anti-Newmont events in Arapahoe County and downtown Tuesday. The downtown protest could involve "acts of civil disobedience," an organizer said.

Newmont decided a few weeks ago to move the meeting to the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center for "meeting logistics and security considerations," spokeswoman Heatheryn Higgins said. The meeting is at 1 p.m.

"We take security seriously," she said. full article

For more information, please visit Stop Newmont

Six Nations Defenders Resist Ontario Cops' Invasion

Ontario Cops Attack Six Nations People
Cops Retreat When Hundreds of Natives Respond

Protest now has 'national implications', one protester says
Apr. 20, 2006. 02:08 PM
PETER EDWARDS
STAFF REPORTER -TORONTO STAR
CALEDONIA, Ont. - A confrontation between native protesters and police escalated this morning hours after Ontario Provincial Police staged a pre-dawn raid at an occupied Caledonia construction site, southwest of Hamilton.
Around 5 a.m., dozens of officers stormed the Douglas Creek Estates to evict native activists who'd occupied the site for almost two months.

By mid-morning, hundreds of native people from across the province and as far away as Manitoba had poured into the area. They said their numbers would rise if efforts to remove occupiers increased. "We’re here and we’re not going anywhere," said Hazel Hill of the nearby Six Nations reserve.

The protesters argued that the site was part of a large land grant back in 1784, but the provincial and federal governments say the land was surrendered in 1841 to help build a major highway.

Indigenous Peoples and Mining Conference

The Real Price of Gold:
The Impacts of Mining on Indigenous Peoples and the Global Environment
Monday, April 24, 2006 - Tivoli Student Center - Room 320
Auraria Campus - Denver, CO

9:30 am Registration/Coffee and Juice

10:00 am Welcome
Film: “The Curse of Inca Gold”

10:30 am – 12 Noon Panel Discussion – “Stripping Off the Mask”
Scientists and academics who work with indigenous communities, mining companies, non-governmental organizations and governments around the world, discuss the impacts of mining on water, public health, indigenous peoples’ societies, community decision making, and the creation and dissemination of reliable information.
Panelists: Gail Bundy, Blue Wolf Futures, Moderator
· Loring Abeyta, Ph. D., Faculty member, University of Colorado at Denver/Colorado School of Mines
· Robert Moran, Ph.D., Geological Sciences, Michael-Moran Associates, LLC.
· Ann Maest, Ph.D., Geological Sciences, Buka Environmental
· David Silver, MD, MPH, Associate Clinical Professor of Preventative Medicine, University of Colorado Denver/Health Sciences Center – Global Response
Newmont Mining Corporation was invited to participate, but did not respond by the time of printing

Noon – 1:00 pm Film: Choropama: The Price of Gold
Free lunch for students and panelists

Noon Press Conference – Panelists from communities affected by Newmont Mining

1:00 – 2:30 pm Mining and Indigenous Peoples: Digging for the Truth
Professor Glenn Morris, 4th World Center for Indigenous Law and Politics, University of Colorado at Denver, Moderator
· Carrie Dann, Newe Sogobia (Western Shoshone Territory – Nevada)
· Padre Marco Arana, Cajamarca, Peru, President, GRUFIDES (Education and Action Group for Sustainable Development)
· Daniel Owusu-Kornateng, Accra, Ghana, Executive Director, WACAM (Wassam Association of Communities Affected by Mining)

2:45 pm – 4:00 pm Escaping Midas’ Touch
A panel of activists will share success stories and strategies for building international solidarity around issues of the rights of indigenous peoples, and creating an environmentally sustainable future, creating collective and individual strategies for action, and resisting the growth of mining
Pavlos Stavropoulos, Dandelion Center, Moderator
· Awon Atuire, Regis University Service Learning Project to Ghana
· Paula Palmer, Executive Director, Global Response/No Dirty Gold
· Jennifer Samimi, Indigenous Support Network, CU-Denver
· Glenn Spagnuolo, Stop Newmont Alliance
· Youth of the Peaks (AZ indigenous alliance) representative
Sponsored by The Indigenous Support Network (CU-Denver), and supported by CU-Denver Student Activities and the Fourth World Center for the Study of Indigenous Law and Politics (CU-Denver)

Protest Newmont's Crimes Against Native People

STOP NEWMONT MINING! DEMAND JUSTICE FOR NATIVE PEOPLES!
Two Days of Education
In the Classroom and in the Streets of Denver
To Create a Better Future for Ourselves and for Future Generations

Newmont Mining Company is the largest gold mining corporation in the world. It's international headquarters is here in Denver. Wherever its operations reach, Newmont poisons the land, the water and the people. Native peoples have been especially hard hit – in Peru, Ghana, Indonesia, and among the Western Shoshone Nation in Nevada. On Tuesday, April 25, 2006, the directors and officers of Newmont (the people who run and operate the corporation) will be in Denver at the annual shareholder's meeting.

We plan to let them know how we feel about the crimes they are committing.

Monday, April 24, 2006 – all day conference

"The Real Price of Gold: Impacts of Mining on Indigenous Peoples and the Global Environment"

Tivoli Student Union, Room 320, Auraria Campus, Downtown Denver
(Conference schedule below)

Tuesday, April 25, 2006 – join us for one or all events

Resistance to Newmont Mining – Action at the Newmont Mining 2006 Annual Shareholder's Meeting

9:00 am - Gather at Newmont Headquarters 1700 Sherman Street, Denver

10:30 am - Caravan to Newmont Shareholder's Meeting Inverness Hotel, Inverness Business Park, I-25 and Dry Creek Road (see www.stopnewmont.org for map)

12:30pm – 2:00pm – Picket Shareholders' meeting in support of international delegation confronting the Newmont executives and shareholder's meeting.

3:00 pm – Return to Newmont Headquarters, 1700 Sherman Street for vigorous protest of Newmont's policies.

Note: Conference and protest were organized, and are sponsored, independent of one another

Stop Newmont Press Release

STOP NEWMONT MINING COALITION
www.stopnewmont.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEWMONT MINING CAN RUN, BUT IT CAN'T HIDE
Change of Venue Won't Prevent Local and International Activists from Exposing Company's Shameful Practices

DENVER, April 17, 2006 - Less than two weeks before its scheduled annual stockholders meeting on Tuesday, April 25, Newmont Mining, the world's largest gold mining company, has announced that it is moving that meeting from its corporate headquarters at 1700 Lincoln Avenue in downtown Denver to the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center, 200 Inverness Drive West, Englewood, Arapahoe County. When asked the reason for the move, a Newmont representative said the company understands there will be protests of the meeting and that some building tenants at 1700 Lincoln had expressed some concern.

This will be the second time in less than a month that Newmont has changed this meeting to avoid public scrutiny, the first being the move from the Brown Palace Hotel to their headquarters and now this most recent move. The Stop Newmont Alliance understands why the tenants are concerned¡ªnot because of peaceful protests, but because of being associated with Newmont, whose mining operations around the world:
* contaminate water sources
* destroy sacred indigenous lands
* threaten entire ecosystems
* force indigenous people off their traditional lands, resulting in the loss of ancient ways of life and livelihood
* poison our air with arsenic admissions.

The Alliance believes Newmont has moved its meeting in the vain hope that this remote location will prevent the alliance from exposing Newmont's destructive practices. But the alliance still intends to shine a light on the environmental destruction and social devastation Newmont has caused. According to Glenn Morris of the American Indian Movement of Colorado and the Stop Newmont Alliance; Newmont can run, but it can't hide. We intend to be there to expose the truth about Newmont no matter where they go.

Indigenous spokespeople from Ghana, Peru and Western Shoshone territories (Newe Segobia) in the western U.S. are coming to speak at Newmont's annual meeting. These people have traveled from all corners of the World; this small move from Denver to Englewood will not stop them from having their message for Newmont shared with us all! These community spokespersons have suffered at the hands of Newmont in their homelands, where Newmont has attempted to intimidate critics. To ensure their safety at the AGM, and allow their voices to be heard, members of the alliance will provide a security detail for them from Newmont's headquarters at 1700 Lincoln to Inverness, and support them while they present their concerns to Newmont shareholders.

These indigenous delegates and members of the alliance will gather at 1700 Lincoln at 10 am on Tuesday, April 25 and proceed to Inverness. There, the indigenous delegates will hold a press conference at 12 noon, and then they will address the AGM. Members of the alliance will then escort them back to 1700 Lincoln, where protests will continue.

On Monday, April 24, the alliance will hold a conference, What Price Gold? in the Tivoli Student Union on the Auraria campus, to explore in depth the negatives impacts of gold mining on indigenous lands, people and our environment. Details of the conference are available at www.stopnewmont.org.

Grassy Narrows organizer at Weyerhaeuser Annual General Meeting

From Grassy NarrowsLast week, Bonnie Swain got in a van with four of her friends and drove more than 2000 miles from her home in Northern Ontario to have just three minutes of face time with Weyerhaeuser, the biggest lumber company in the world. This Thursday, at the company’s Annual General Meeiting, she’ll ask a room full of executives, employees and investors to stop buying wood taken from her homeland without her community’s consent.

Tonight, we’re making sure that Weyerhaeuser gets her message. We’re projecting larger-than-life images of her home on Skyscrapers in downtown Seattle (photos here). One shows what used to be a natural forest near her house.

She tells us about memories of her step-dad, who taught her and her sisters how to hunt, and warned them about the threats posed by increased logging on their land. She talks about the mercury pollution in Grassy Narrows that’s made the fish dangerous to eat and describes sores that her aunt found in the meat of a deer she took last season.

She describes how, when the logging came too close to her community, she and her sister felled trees into the road to prevent trucks from getting through. Both new mothers, Bonnie and her sister feared that their children would grow up unable to hunt, trap or learn about their culture as they had growing up. When loggers moved the blockade, Bonnie convinced her dad to spend the night in his truck telling loggers leaving the forest that they were haruling their last load. Soon friends and neighbors came out to help build more permanent shelters. Today, the blockade remains, but logging continues further to the North. Free Grassy

Cleveland AIM protest

Our longtime friend and ally, Bob Roche, recently organized a protest against the Cleveland Indians.

Obies Protest Team Mascot

By Séla Steiger

“If this is racism, I like racism.” This phrase, among others, was shouted at protesters last Friday as they demonstrated in Cleveland against the allegedly racist name and mascot of Ohio’s major league baseball team — the Cleveland Indians and Chief Wahoo, respectively. Over twenty Oberlin students carpooled to participate in this event, intentionally held on opening day at Jacobs Field stadium.

“There was a really clear divide between the people who hold predominant power and ‘the others,’” said College senior Aaron Englander of the day’s events. “I really saw that [a large percentage of the fans] really couldn’t grasp that ‘Indians’ is offensive or that racism even exists”.

The stadium is juxtaposed with an intersection, located about a block away from its entrance. The protesters stood in a grassy section adjacent to the sidewalk, stationing themselves so that passersby could not avoid the demonstration on their way into the game. full article

Please pay a visit to the Cleveland AIM website to learn more about the issue and to view their extensive AIM history documentation project. Cleveland AIM website

This mural is preferrable

A couple of murals in Idaho and California are stirring controversy for their depictions of ndns.

The one in Idaho is on the side of a now abandoned building and depicts the lynching of a native man. Check out the story here. mural lynching story

The other mural appears on the side of a coffee house. The artist says the theme is the oppression of the Ohlone Nation. Get the story here
Oppression mural

I prefer this mural.

This photo was snapped by our buddy Peach who is hanging out on the west coast.

"We're doing what justice calls for"

The police buildup continues.

OPP appear to be preparing to use force at Six Nations blockade

Six weeks after citizens of the Six Nations repossessed land near Caledonia, Ontario on February 28, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) appears to be making prepations to remove protesters by force.

On April 11, more than 50 police cruisers gathered at an abandoned school on Unity Road in Caledonia. Two paddy wagons and several vans were also seen.

"Things are very tense," said Dick Hill, one of the people on site. "We are trying to defend our lands, which were taken from us. Every time we try to stand up for who we are and what we are, they come and drag us away."

Before the site was blocked by protesters, Henco Industries had began construction on 10 of 71 houses planned for the site, says the Hamilton Spectator. Citizens of the Six Nations say they set up the blockade after officials ignored other forms of protest. full article

Cafe Cultura-April 14th

The second friday of the month is upon us so it's time for another visit to Cafe Cultura. Cafe Cultura was recently voted "best open mic" by Westword magazine. The initial Cafe Cultura was presented immediately after the 2004 four directions march and promoted as one of the transform columbus day events(in fact, many of the spoken word pieces from the first cafe cultura were performed the next day in a different setting- the Denver City Jail- where we were all relaxing after blocking the Convoy of Conquest aka Columbus Day parade). Since then, Cafe Cultura has continued to grow and create a space in the cultural landscape of the area. Check out their website at Cafe Cultura
Cafe Cultura
Open Mic Night, Hip Hop, Spoken Word, Poetry
Red & Brown Unity

FREE!!!!

WHEN: 2nd Fri. of every month @ 7:30 pm (April 14th, May 12th)

WHERE: Denver Inner City Parish-9th Ave & Galapago St. (2 blks east of Santa Fe on the NE corner)

WHAT: All ages Open Mic Night

April: Santiago
May: Debajo del Agua

Come express yourself creatively or just chill with your people

Everyone is welcome!

For more info: cafe_cultura@yahoo.com; 720-436-1830

www.myspace.com/cafecultura

"We are tied to the earth like a mother to a child"-Ongwehonwe Women's Manifesto"

This manifesto was written by those from the Six Nations who are currently asserting jurisdiction of their territories. The entire manifesto, as well as the history of the action, can be read at the Gathering Place

Ongwehonwe Women's Manifesto
We have been accused of inciting a war, and yet who are the one's with the guns, threatening to come in and remove our women and children. To arrest and make criminals out of us. Who are the one's who have helicopters flying overhead, and an abundance of police presence in and around the area. Who are the one's that continue to have talks and negotiations with everyone BUT the people involved. Who are the one's who publicly make statements such as "Can we shoot the Indian's now", or tear Status Cards in half with the remark "There's nothing that you can do about it", or ask patrons of the biggest fast food chain across Canada & the United States "don't you people have someplace in your own community to eat". It is ignorance and fear that promotes such cowardly actions and yet we continue to uphold the Peace.

We have been accused of disrupting our neighbors in the Caledonia business area, yet I see no suffering or loss. We maintain a peaceful vigil on our lands, and other than going to buy supplies we don't bother anyone. We have, if anything, helped their businesses to grow, by the many supporters who stop to buy coffee and groceries in their town in support of the people
here

We have been accused of spreading propaganda because we write from a different perspective than mainstream media, and yet what has the government done throughout history when there is unrest with Onkwehonweh people. They use the media to incite division, to label us as militants; they criminalize us because we stand up for the Truth, and they murder us or throw us in jail in a semblance of justice based on unilateral laws of deception.

It's been said that the whole town of Caledonia is at unrest for what we are doing, yet there are many, many people from the town who come to support, to take the time to listen and to try to gain an understanding from the people. They do not understand that the government continues with it's deception by having lawyers who say, "We have the 1841 Surrender", and that the dynamics of our council could not legally allow such a transaction to take place. Because it was only the "Indians", the government used dishonest practices such as this to steal anything and everything they've ever gotten. It would be like our people, getting 14 or so people from Caledonia, to sell us their town, and then rejoicing at having made such a wonderful land transaction. Would it be legal? Of course not, and neither are the so-called surrenders that the crown set out to build their empire upon.

If you could see it through the eyes of our people, who know that it is not for the Chiefs to make any decision's without consensus from the people, and as far as lands, that job was given to the women because we are tied to the earth like a mother to a child, through the umbilical cord, and we never lose that connection no matter how old we get.

The Creator gave each of us a mind and a heart, and a spirit within that he placed those laws. You need only to allow that spirit to guide you and speak the truth. Then there is no question as to what is right and wrong, for we have only the TRUTH. When we adhere to the principles of Peace, then we have honored the Creator and are doing our duty.Entire Manifesto

Newmont changes the location of shareholders meeting-again.

Newmont Mining has changed the location of their annual shareholders meeting (AGM). This is the second location change within the past 3 weeks. Originally scheduled at the Brown Palace Hotel, the AGM was then moved to Newmont headquarters. Yesterday, the AGM was moved once again

The Company also announced that its Annual Meeting of Stockholders will be held at 1:00 p.m. Mountain Time on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 in Auditorium 2 at the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center, 200 Inverness Drive West, Englewood, Colorado, USA. This is a change in location from the Notice mailed to shareholders earlier this year. As before, all stockholders of record as of March 1, 2006 are cordially invited to attend the meeting in person. full article

As announced in an earlier blog post(CO AIM announces Newmont Mining Protest),) the American Indian Movement of Colorado, as part of the Stop Newmont Alliance, will be at the AGM to expose Newmont's policies and their impact on indigenous peoples, communities and homelands.

Please visit Stop Newmont Mining for more information. Also, we'll be posting updates on this blog.

Fast in support of Grassy Narrows

Received via email. To learn more about the struggle of Grassy Narrows, go here-Free Grassy

Women Warriors
April 13, 14, 15, 16, 2006

Easter Long Weekend Fasting
Grassy Narrows, Ontario
Slant Lake Blockade Site
Women of all Nations, Please come and fast with us to stop the current devastation that is occuring upon the earth. We know and realize that alot of women energy comes from the moon.

April 13, 2006 is the FULL MOON
This time of fasting does not have to be for the earth, it can be to support each other as women, as the mothers of the Nations, as sisters of humanity. This time can be a time of renewal for yourself, a time of solitude with nature.

MAKWA PIMATIIZIWIN WOMAN'S GROUP WILL PROVIDE FOOD, WATER, FIREWOOD, SHELTER. YOU BRING; YOUR BEDDING, YOUR STRONG HEART, PRAYERS SONGS, HANDDRUMS, STORIES, TEACHINGS. NEED MEN WARRIORS/HELPERS TO TAKE CARE OF SACRED FIRE FOR 4 DAYS

Breaking fast feast sunday, April 16, 2006 2 pm Everyone Welcome

FOR MORE INFO:
Judy Da Silva
807 925 9941
jsilva@kmts.ca

p.s we know you cannot all come to Grassy Narrows, Ontario, so Makwa Pimatiiziwin Woman's
Group is making a request to fast, pray, or sing along with us during that time in your own communities. We are also making a special request to send your prayers out to our Mohawk
brothers and sisters that are out east protecting their people against further encroachment of their traditional territories.

First Nations set up roadblock

From the Guelph Mercury website

First Nations throws up Hwy. 7 roadblock

Land claim could also disrupt plan to build new bridge over Grand River

JEFF OUTHIT

GUELPH (Apr 8, 2006)

Plans for a new Highway 7 to Guelph have been stalled by a First Nations claim to the Grand River, and that's not the only potential impact.

The same land claim could disrupt a proposed regional bridge, linking Fairway Road in Kitchener to Kossuth Road in Cambridge by 2009.

"We claim ownership of the river banks and beds," said Jo-Ann Greene, director of lands and resources for Six Nations of the Grand River.

"We need meaningful consultation. We have legitimate, long-standing, outstanding claims."

The Six Nations claim to the Grand River, and a huge swath of land on either side, is not new. The Brantford-based First Nation is trying to negotiate a compensation settlement with the federal and provincial governments. complete article

Bear Butte update from Carter Camp

This was received via email and is reprinted in its entirety

Bear Butte update-Carter Camp
Ah-ho My Relations,

Many things have happened since I sent out the last update from the "Intertribal Coalition to Defend Bear Butte" but one thing has overshadowed everything else. Jay Allen HAS BEGUN CONSTRUCTION on the huge, 600 acre, "biker bar/concert venue" only a few hundred yards north of the Sacred Mountain!! We have posted some of the pictures on our web site www.defendbearbutte.org but I warn you they're ugly. He began the construction well before the county granted him the license to sell booze so both he and we knew how the vote would go.

Last Tuesday over a thousand Indian people gathered to pray on Bear Butte and march to the Meade County Courthouse to show the County just how serious a step they were taking when they vote to approve the liquor license for Jay Allen. We were led by Treaty Council Chiefs Oliver Red Cloud and Floyd Hand and many other traditional Chiefs and Headsmen. The Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council came to stand with us, as did Councilmembers from Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Cheyenne River and Lower Brule. A group of Akicita, Eagle Staff Carriers, were followed by a group of veterans in camo dress carrying the American Flag and the black MIA flag alongside the Tribal flags. Walking in front of us all in pride and dignity was the 19th generation, "Keeper of the Sacred Pipe Bundle", Chief Arvol Looking Horse.

As is always the case as the morning dawned on Tuesday those of us who organized the protest wondered how many people would take time from their weekday schedule and travel from the reservation homelands to stand with us for the sacred mountain. At first the parking lot held a few knots of people standing around talking and shaking hands greeting each other. Then as the ten o'clock starting time came closer more and more cars began to arrive and the lot began to fill. A school bus from Takini pulled in and the energy all around rose. Then up the road came our invited escort of bikers on their big Harleys who had ridden in from Denver. Veterans in their fatigues began to assemble and a speaker system was mounted on Tom Cook's flatbed truck and the drum placed in the middle. Six or eight young men jumped up on the truck to sing an opening prayer song before our honored Sicangu Elder, Lorraine Iron Shell Walking Bull, an honored woman who has been steadfast in her work to defend Bear Butte, offered a prayer to the Mountain for all of us.

After the opening prayers I was called upon to explain the recent history of our struggle and how the gathering was organized. As I looked around I was struck by the singular honor that I was being given to speak at such a historic gathering of Indian people. Our people gathered in a large circle as the prayers began so I was able to look into the crowd and recognize strong traditional leaders and Sundance Chiefs like Rick Two Dogs, Wilmer Mesteth, Keith Horse Looking, Russell Eagle Bear and others. (I shouldn't have begun mentioning names because so many were there that my poor memory will fail to mention some notable people like Rocky Afraid of Hawk and his wife Pam who are founding members of the Coalition.) I say these things to tell you how truly awe inspiring the gathering was to me as I stood facing Mato Paha and a thousand brave Indian people who were determined to save our mountain that day.

It's hard for me to describe the many inspiring talks were given in front of the mountain that morning. Organizers like Debra White Plume of our Coalition and Owe Aku, Anne White Hat of the BBIA and Sicangu Way of Life spoke for all of us who have spent the past year getting ready for this struggle. Alex White Plume, Vice Chair of the Oglala Lakota Nation spoke of his nations determination to defend the entire Black Hills and the Oglala's willingness to take a stand for Bear Butte. The Thunderhawk drum then sang a special strongheart song for Crazy Horse that Chief Floyd Hand requested before he told the people to stand strong no matter how hard it gets. He told us the entire Teton Nations Treaty Council was behind us and that if we stay together we can win. Then Chief Red Cloud spoke to us about how his Grandfather had fought for the Black Hills and drove the whiteman out of them. He said Mato Paha still belongs to our people and that we must fight for her in the name of our future generations. Then Chief Looking Horse came forward to offer a wonderful prayer to and for Bear Butte and all the red nations. With that the hearts of the people soared and we happily began to get into cars for the caravan to Sturgis.

The caravan was led from Bear Butte by our biker allies, followed by a van with our own security men and the flatbed truck with the drum and singers. Following them was a long caravan of cars, pickups, school bus and tribal Elders vans. It was well over a hundred cars and from where I was we could barely hear the drum and singers as we slowly drove into Sturgis. Once in Sturgis we dismounted in the park to march the final eight or ten blocks into town. Now the truck with the drummers went first, then Chief Arvol striding alone in his Headress and Chief's shirt. Behind him were the Eagle Staff Carriers, including me with the Coalition Staff, behind us the veterans marched with the American, Tribal and MIA flags. Then a thousand beautiful people came, the young ones chanting "Save Bear Butte!" "Save Bear Butte!" all the way through town.

The route the local cops had planned out for us went down a small side street and only came on the main thoroughfare the final block or so. However my son Poj Camp was in charge of security and he had mapped out a different route:), at the right corner he turned the lead truck left so now the march was going past the Broken Spoke Saloon and turning right down the main drag! At first I could see every cop grab their mics and report what had happened, the lead cops were already going down the sidestreet alone while the Indians were marching right past the B.S.Saloon! Then we turned down the main street and spread out across the entire street instead of one way, I loved it as now we could then march where all of Sturgis had to see us.

As we reached our destination the drum began the AIM song and all the women sang in chorus, Chief Looking Horse began to dance and all the Staff Carriers and Flag carriers danced behind him to the steps of the community building where we were to gather. It was a powerful march and as we made our way into the building I could feel the energy and power of my people, all with one mind and united in purpose.

After a meal we once again assembled to march the final three blocks up the hill to the courtroom where the hearing would be held. The only difference in the march order was we were led by a Cheyenne River police car manned by two young Lakota policemen who were also sundancers and traditional men. As we began the drums sang warrior songs for us and the women trilled their encouragement to be strong when facing an enemy. Once again Arvol led us up to the courthouse door and we gathered in a large circle around him, dancing with our staffs until the songs were finished then whooping in defiance to let the wasicu know we had arrived.

In a way the following hearing was a farce and at the same time a wonderful thing. It was a farce because the outcome was a foregone conclusion. It was wonderful because so many leaders of our people were able to tell the world, on the record, about our Sacred Mountain and what she means to our Nations. Our rally filled the street outside while seventy of our people were able to fit into the crowded auditorium inside. Elders, Chiefs and Tribal leaders explained for over an hour the history of Bear Butte, her place in our beliefs and ceremonies and how the noisy, drunken biker bar would forever destroy the sanctity of the sacred places upon her. Tribe after Tribe, leader after leader gave testimony, we told them how bad the location was for a beer bar and just what the mountain meant to our various Nations. We told them of ten thousand years of peaceful worship that has taken place on Bear Butte and how the spirits and medicine on the mountain would be threatened by the noise and filth of Jay Allen's proposal. It was wonderful to hear.

On behalf of the bar a lawyer spoke briefly, a town racist spoke, a bar maid testified that Allen was a good boss and Allen testified that he respected Indians. Based on everything they had heard that day the Meade County Commissioners then voted unanimously to give Jay Allen a liquor license. Not one commissioner had ears.

Adding to this alarming development is the fact that the Meade County Commissioners have renewed all the liquor licenses for the other booze and concert venues surrounding Bear Butte. Plus the State legislature refused to even hear the bill introduced by Indian legislators to establish a buffer zone around Bear Butte.

Even though we expected these bad developments they are none the less disappointing and show us all that Indian people will not be heard in the normal channels of political discourse in South Dakota. These actions only serve to make it even more vital that the people gather at the time of the "Sturgis Bike Rally" to show America that if they destroy this sacred place, they also destroy we Indians as a people. We must gather to show them that the destruction of our sacred mountain is an act of genocide against the indigenous people of this land just as the destruction of the buffalo was to our Grandparents.

If you care to help us please visit our web site www.defendbearbutte.org and sign up for the long hot summer that faces our people. We had one thousand Tuesday, this summer we need ten times that many, I hope you will be one of us.
Carter Camp, Inter-Tribal Coalition to Defend Bear Butte

Gathering of Native Nations at Bear Butte

Please visit Bear Butte International Alliance to view photos from the April 04, rally in Sturgis.

Butte fight marches on
By Dan Daly, Journal Staff Writer
Meade County probably has not seen the last of the controversy about the Sturgis County Line campground and Bear Butte.

On Tuesday, the Meade County Commission approved a malt-beverage license for the new Broken Spoke Saloon and Sturgis County Line campground, a planned Sturgis motorcycle rally week venue on S.D. Highway 79 north of Bear Butte.

Commissioners approved the license unanimously despite strong opposition from American Indians, for many of whom Bear Butte is sacred, and others. Hundreds of people marched through the streets of Sturgis Tuesday to demonstrate their opposition. Hundreds more wrote letters.

The bar — a 100-by-150-foot building — and campground would be about 2-1/2 miles north of Bear Butte. Dirt work has begun, and Broken Spoke owner Jay Allen plans to be operating by the 2006 rally in August. Later plans include a concert venue closer to the mountain. Allen has insisted that his venue won’t disturb the peace at Bear Butte.

Opponents, however, decried the idea of a bar so near to the butte. They say loud music, loud motorcycles, alcohol and rowdiness is already encroaching. The new venue will be deeply disturbing and disrespectful to Indians who pray and fast at Mato Paha, the Lakota name for Bear Butte. complete article

April 12-Day of Action in Support of Six Nations

The following was received via email and printed in its entirety

DAY OF ACTION IN SUPPORT OF SIX NATIONS

WEDNESDAY APRIL 12, 2006: DAY OF ACTION IN SUPPORT OF SIX NATIONS IN MONTREAL, SASKATOON, TORONTO, VANCOUVER, VICTORIA ...

**** WEDNESDAY APRIL 12, 2006 ****
IN VANCOUVER

Gather at Victory Square (corner of Cambie and Hastings) at 2:30 pm Organized by International Indigenous Youth Conference Secretariat, Redwire Native Youth Media, No One is Illegal-Vancouver

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Under the direction of the Clan Mothers at the Six Nations Territory, a series of actions are being organized in solidarity with the with the Six Nations and in support of their demands for an immediate cessation of all construction by Henco Industries on Six Nations territory and for resolution to the current standoff to be conducted on a nation-to-nation basis. Jamie Jamieson from the Six Nations community
states " I hope for a resolution. It would involve having the whole issue of title and jurisdiction resolved, and it would mean for the federal government to take accountability and responsibility for their actions in regard to this land."

The racist colonial legacy of Canada continues to devastate the lands and lives of indigenous peoples and standing in support of the Six Nations community is a tangible way to stop the settler government's interventions in the continued illegal expropriation and exploitation of indigenous lands and territories.

To increase the pressure on April 12, the Six Nations Clan mothers are also requesting that people contact Michaelle Jean and Michael Bryant to express support for their demands and to call for a resolution to the standoff through political means, rather than policing.

* Michaelle Jean, Governor General:
Phone: (613) 993-8200, Toll Free: 1-800-465-6890, Fax:
(613) 998-1664,
Email: info@gg.ca

* Michael Bryant, Ontario Attorney General
Phone: (416) 326-2220 or (416) 326-2210, Toll Free:
1-800-518-7901
Fax: (416) 326-4007, Email:
http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/comments.asp

Editors Note added:Go to the page provided and send your message from their site.


BACKGROUND

On March 3rd, 2006, members of the Rotinoshon'non:we (Iroquois) people set up camp on the Haldimand Tract, located at the entrance to Douglas Creek Estates, a 71-lot subdivision under construction by Henco Industries Ltd. on Six Nations territory.

This land has at no point been surrendered to Canada, and was formally recognized by the Crown as Six Nations territory as part of the 1784 Haldimand Deed. The Plank Road Tract was subsequently registered as a land claim with the federal government in 1987. The Six Nations, in their submissions to Ottawa, stated that the reserve was
never properly compensated for land sold to non-natives and land that was taken to build the Hamilton to Port Dover Plank Road. The Six Nations reserve now covers less than 5 per cent of the original tract of six miles each side of the Grand River from the mouth to the source. Meanwhile, the province of Ontario passed legislation allowing this tract of land to be developed as part of a scheme to draw 4 million settlers into the Golden Horseshoe area.

Henco Industries successfully obtained a court injunction last month to have members of Six Nations who are camped out on the territory forcibly removed by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). A revised injunction issued by an Ontario Supreme Court Judge on March 28th states that those who refuse to vacate the property are guilty of
criminal and civil contempt, and will be fingerprinted and photographed as part of a probation order. In delivering his judgment, Provincial Court Judge David Marshall said this to the Clan Mothers: "What's the matter with you people? Why don't you forget all about the past and listen to me?" On the evacuation deadline date issued by Justice Marshall, there were roughly 300-500 people lined up at the road in support of theSix Nations. The Clan Mothers held an action that had 50 women blocking
the construction crews from building.

In the face of mounting police presence at Six Nations- including two dozen marked and unmarked police vehicles parked outside a nearby elementary school currently being used as a command post, a number of police cruisers scattered throughout the neighbouring town of Caledonia, and scores of undercover officers around the periphery of the Six Nations reserve - and a mobilization of the state reminiscent
of the lead-up to the murder of Dudley George by the OPP at Ipperwash in 1995, the Clan Mothers and Six Nations community have requested solidarity in their struggle to affirm their inherent right to self-determination and sovereignty on the land. "Canada must stop using guns to resolve its legal disputes with the indigenous people," states Jacqueline House.

The clan mothers have mostly recently issued the following statement:

The Women, being Title Holders to all lands of Turtle Island, assert our constitutional jurisdiction over the Haldimand Tract. We have never and cannot ever give up our land or our sovereignty.

1. The Six Nations are distinct original nations. We are to be dealt with on a nation-to-nation basis by the Crown and all other nations.

2. The Crown must respect our original relationship as set out in the Two Row Wampum, our jurisdiction as provided in our constitution, the Kaiannereh'ko:wa, and as respected by Sections 109 and 132 of the BNA Act, 1867 and according to international covenants that Canada has signed.

3. We are to be dealt with on a nation-to-nation basis, as was the custom before Canada separated from the British Empire. Respect for the independent international status of the Six Nations by Canada was established before Canada achieved recognition as a state or gained the ability to sign treaties on its own. The independent international identity of the Six Nations identity has never been
legally extinguished.

4. The band councils were established with procedures that violated international law. They continue to function as colonizing institutions.We have never consented to their establishment nor their representing us.

5. Canada and all its politicians, bureaucrats, agents, assignees and appointees should cease and desist immediately their attempt to criminalize and apprehend our people for defending what is rightfully ours, the land to which we hold title. Any further action by Canada, Ontario and their agents shall be viewed as being a
direct violation of the Two Row Wampum, the constitutional accord between the Ratino'shon:ni and Canada and international law.

6. The claims of Canada and the province of Ontario to have a right to legislate for the Rotino'shon:ni Six Nations and to grant private title to our land has no foundation in law.


ANGELA STERRITT
Gitxsan Nation
Justice for Girls
International Indigenous Youth Conference Secretariat
ange@resist.ca
REDSKYDESIGN
Coast Salish Territory

NATIVE SOLIDARITY FEST

In the spirit of Solidarity with Indigenous peoples of the Americas and across the world, we are coming together to celebrate our strength and commUNITY here in Denver, CO with a Native Solidarity Fest: A Fundraiser for Four Winds American Indian Survival Project!

Join us as we see great performances, eat delicious food, and shop from local Native artists!

WHAT: Native Solidarity Fest
WHEN: Friday, April 21st, 2006.
TIME: Doors at 5 pm, Performances begin at 7 pm.
LOCATION: Four Winds American Indian Survival
Project 201 W 5th Avenue (in a church building at the corner of 5th and Bannock)
COST: *$5-10 donation (*No one turned away forlack of funds)

Besides the incredible politically-minded original hip hop masters we will also have an amazing local native spoken word artist, Cele Spink, Mvskogee flutist Cakko (of Rock Out columbus Day performers, Debajo del Agua, and Pariah), Native DJ and
breakdancers!

This event needs you and will be far too fun to pass up!

Come check out the booths and buy delicious Enchiladas foods-support local artists and Four Winds American Indian Survival Project.

Four Winds American Indian Survival Project works to identify and address the issues and concerns of women, children and families, as well as track the current effects of welfare reform on Native American women in the Urban metropolitan area. These funds continue to support these efforts including work with other organziations to bring about an awareness of alcoholism and substance abuse and to stress the
importance of spirituality.

*****Many organizations and artists are welcome to have booths-just call 303.201.1101 or 303.756.1341for any questions or to purchase booth space!

See you there! (and don't forget to tell everyone you know about it!
Repost! Repost!

In Solidarity,
Leslie Andrews
Lmanoart@gmail.com
303.756.1341

Liquor license for bar at Bear Butte approved

Several hundred people gathered at the liquor licencse hearing and voiced their opposition to the license approval. The license was approved.

Native Americans Protest Bar Plans
It's a sacred spot to Native Americans, but Bear Butte will soon be home to a bar. An Arizona man wants to build an entertainment complex near the base of the hill, just north of Sturgis. Jay Allen asked Meade County commissioners for a liquor license and today, all five unanimously approved it. But that didn't stop hundreds who oppose the bar from protesting the decision.

Native Americans chanted and carried signs to show their dismay for their sacred land being turned into a spot to sell and drink alcohol.

Protestor Nita Bald Eagle said, "It makes me angry because a lot of people go up there to pray and they go there to be closer to their spirituality."

They took their message to the Meade County Courthouse over the planned "Sturgis County Line Bar." Inside, county commissioners listened to both sides concerning Allen's proposed bar. complete article

Please visit the following sites Owe Aku, Bear Butte International Alliance, Defend Bear Butte

American Indian Movement of Colorado Press Statement

Colorado AIM will stand in solidarity with indigenous peoples from around the globe on APRIL 25, 2006 at the Newmont International Headquarters, 1700 Lincoln St., Denver, CO, in a vigorous protest at Newmont’s annual shareholder’s meeting. Representatives from indigenous communities that have been adversely affected by Newmont will be arriving in Denver from Peru, Ghana, Western Shoshone, the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington State, and perhaps other locations.

Colorado AIM condemns the actions of Newmont that destroy the water, earth and air through its operations in places such as Peru, Nevada, Ghana and Indonesia, but also in the territories of indigenous peoples in Mexico, Canada, Australia, Bolivia and the Philippines.

Equally, we deplore and condemn the explorations and proposed operations of Newmont in the Black Hills of South Dakota, an area sacred to several indigenous nations of the Great Plains region. We also call on Newmont immediately to fulfill its responsibility to clean up radioactive uranium waste on the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington State.

Indigenous peoples have been protecting their territories and water over the past several years, and they continue actively to confront the destructive practices of Newmont.

· Last week, in Sumbawa, Indonesia, community members expressed their opposition to Newmont’s operations by setting ablaze a number of pieces of Newmont’s machinery, forcing the corporation to close its Batu Hijau Copper Pit until further notice.

· Tens of thousand of indigenous people marched on Newmont’s operations at Yanacocha, Peru. These actions forced Newmont to cancel plans to expand its open pit mines to the sacred mountain of Quillish.

· The Western Shoshone Nation (Nevada) recently received a victory at the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The decision called for an end to the collusion between the United States government and corporations such as Newmont, in the theft of Western Shoshone resources in violation of the 1863 Ruby Valley.

The courage and integrity of native peoples around the world in resisting the eco-terrorism of Newmont is an inspiration to us in Colorado AIM. When representatives of these struggles come to Newmont’s international headquarters here in Denver, the source of the misery in their communities, we will welcome our relatives, and we will show them that they are not alone in their quests for environmental justice. We will call on local and state officials to demand responsibility from this corporate criminal in our midst.

We will stand shoulder to shoulder in support of our indigenous relatives, and any people who choose love of earth and love of life, over love greed and love of profits.

We intend to shine a bright light on Newmont and its destructive operations. We intend to hold Nemmont accountable for what it has done, and for what it continues to do.

Visit Stop Newmont to learn more

Collville Nation rejects mining

From Indian Country Today

Colville reject mining
Posted: April 03, 2006
by: Jack McNeel / Indian Country Today
NESPELEM, Wash. - Voters on the Colville reservation decisively rejected the mining referendum when the votes were officially tallied on March 23.

Votes against numbered 1,254, compared to 847 ''yes'' votes for nearly a 60 percent to 40 percent ratio in opposition to mining. Voters essentially turned down the possibility of huge financial gains in favor of protecting the environment and cultural values. Many considered the financial income as a chancy situation dependent on several factors, most notably the long-term value of molybdenum. Molybdenum is the primary ore at the Mount Tolman site that was being considered in the mining proposal.

Billie Jo Bray, a San Poil, was one of the leaders in getting the word out in opposition to mining. The organization she represents, Visions for Our Future, is a non-profit grass-roots organization concerned about preventing destruction to natural resources and saving sacred sites on the reservation.

''I'm very happy. I'm jumping with glee inside,'' Bray said. ''I want to do a celebration dinner right now to bring people together and enjoy the company - to pray and say 'thank you.' I'm really excited.'' complete article

Charmaine White Face-Bear Butte is sacred

From the Rapid City Journal

Forum, 4-1: No development near Bear Butte

By Charmaine White Face, coordinator for Defenders of the Black Hills.

Open letter to the Meade County Commission:

This letter is to reaffirm our position of no development of any kind within a five-mile radius of Bear Butte, a position we have held for a number of years. Our reasons for this position are:

1. Bear Butte is a sacred place to more than 60 Native American nations of the North American continent who have continually visited this shrine for religious/spiritual purposes for tens of thousands of years, and respect should be given to all peoples' places of worship in order to meet the foundations of the Freedom of Religion.

2. Bear Butte is a National Historic Landmark whose impact for its historical significance and unique geological structure in this region is being eroded with the incursion of urban development. complete letter

For more information, please visite Owe Aku

CO AIM and the Stop Newmont Mining Coalition

Please visit the Stop Newmont Website for more information.

Also, we will be posting updates on this blog.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 31, 2006
CONTACTS: Glenn Spagnuolo 720-771-4669
Mark Cohen 303-733-7037

STOP NEWMONT MINING COALITION
www.stopnewmont.org
stopnewmontmining@att.net

GLOBAL RESISTANCE AGAINST NEWMONT MINING COMES HOME TO DENVER!

Local and International Activists Shine Light on Local Company

DENVER, March 31, 2006: A broad coalition of human rights groups will hold a PRESS CONFERENCE on Monday, April 3, 10:30 a.m., at 1700 Lincoln Avenue (on Sherman Avenue between 18th and Lincoln), Denver, Colorado, the headquarters of Newmont Mining, one of the world's largest gold mining companies - a company whose mines are contaminating water sources, destroying sacred indigenous lands, threatening entire ecosystems, forcing indigenous people off their traditional lands, resulting in the loss of ancient ways of life and livelihood.

Indigenous peoples around the world - in Indonesia, Peru, Ghana, Mexico, and on Western Shoshone territories in the western U.S., are forcefully resisting Newmont's destructive and unsustainable practices in their ancestral homelands. Newmont has failed to respond to their concerns, failed to consult with them, and threatened and intimidated critics.

When Newmont holds its annual shareholders meeting at their headquarters on 1700 Lincoln Avenue in Denver, Colorado on Tuesday, April 25, 2006, hundreds of activists and community members from around the U.S. and the world will bring this struggle home to Newmont's corporate offices and expose the environmental and social devastation created by Newmont.

The Stop Newmont Coalition will serve notice of this coming confrontation, as well as announce plans for a conference, What Price Gold? to be held at the Tivoli Student Center on the Auraria campus on Monday, April 24, that will explore the destructive impact of gold mining on indigenous peoples.

"Greed for gold by invaders has consistently destroyed great indigenous civilizations in the Americas," said Glenn T. Morris of the American Indian Movement of Colorado. "Today, Newmont Mining is the newest invader of indigenous peoples's territories. On April 25, we will stand shoulder to shoulder with native peoples from around the world to bring Newmont to account."