Tribal Solidarity – Page 20

Sinixt Slhu7kin-Perry Ridge Protection Camp Re-established

On March 1 2011, the Slu7kin – Perry Ridge Protection Camp was re-established by Slocan Valley locals and supporters of the Sinixt Nation. The camp was first established by the Sinixt Nation and supporters on October 26, 2010. The Sinixt recently had their legal challenge for their rights to consultation dismissed by BC Supreme Court Judge Willcock.

Sunshine Logging Ltd, of Kaslo BC, responded within a few days after the ruling by beginning to plow the snow from the road. Locals responded quickly and moved in to prevent the machine from operating. Jeff Mattes of Sunshine Logging has been eager to get in and begin road building. The Sinixt have yet to receive court documents and are planning an appeal, today they asked the Attorney General to prevent Mattes and company from road building until they have had a chance to appeal.

Sunshine logging did not show up to work Thursday.

The camp is growing everyday. This is a community action to protect the community watershed. It is encouraged for people to bring their families, friends, prayers, food, camp supplies, building supplies, a love for the land and their humbled and honest warrior spirits. There is no threat of arrest by attending the camp.

The camp is located just south of the town of Slocan BC, 7km up the Little Slocan South Forest Service Road. Take Hwy Six to Gravel Pit Rd and follow the signs to the Little Slocan Lodge. You can’t miss it.

http://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=201748262749215460026.00049daae0331cd323924&ll=49.741233,-117.492428&spn=0.050586,0.169086&z=13

More info:

http://sinixtnation.org

http://perryridge.org

http://territoriesoffreedom.wordpress.com

Watch the video:
http://www.youtube.com/v/rWkQ8MFVHU8?fs

Trashing, dashing, bashing, mashing: the new EF! Action Update

So what have you been up to the last few months? Just hanging around?
Maybe you’ve been part of human wheel-clamping aeroplanes, climbing up scaffolding tripods inconveniently placed in the road, smashing machines at open-cast mines, playing nuked-dead in the street, kayaking against borehole drill rigs in Ireland, burning mobile phone masts, resisting Tesco, camping against trashing of woodland, with some success at Titnore (& other protest camp updates), or getting in on BP’s act, spilling oil in public places.

Or have you been on holiday, taking part in indigenous blockades against logging, dams and mining, spilunking against high speed trains, slashing tuna cages, blockading Monsanto HQ, trashing GM fields, and more?

Maybe you’re in need of a break. But if you’re not, and are just champing at the bit, the return of AUntie MIffy’s problem page might help, addressing what to do if there’s no local group near you. There’s an article about the beginnings of EF! in this country, looking forwards to the next 20 years, to help inspire. If you need support to get things going where you live, do get in touch. And if all that’s not enough, here’s a quotation, from Paul Watson, the Sea Shepherd captain:

“Future generations will not have the chance and those that came before us did not have the vision nor the knowledge. It is up to us — you and I.”

Print version
Other issues and extra info

Earth First! Summer Gathering set-up plans announced

We can now announce that set-up will begin from around 2pm on Saturday, 31 July. Marquees, tools and construction materials will be arriving on site from Saturday morning so there will be plenty to do. You will be able to camp on the site from Saturday and there will be skeleton facilities (water, basic kitchen) from that time.

We also have a mobile number for setup which is 07766 947852. This will be on-site from Saturday lunchtime, and may well get answered in the few days beforehand but please don’t try ringing until then – e-mail will remain the main contact point until nearer the time – summergathering -{at}- earthfirst.org.uk

What we need to know:

*Please can you let us know when you are coming? – this helps us plan foods, facilities and what jobs to do when.

*It is also helpful if you can let us know if you have any particular skills or interests with respect to set-up – we might need drivers, so if you are over 25, hold a clean licence, are confident driving a 3.5 tonne Luton AND can bring along both parts of your driving licence please let us know.

*Similarly if you are arriving in a vehicle and could potentially provide lifts, transport equipment en route or run errands from site once you arrive please let us know. In this case it is very helpful if you are able/willing to supply us with a contact phone number.

How to get there

As you maybe aware that we do not announce the exact site of the gathering until one week before the main event, this means directions will be available on the website http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk/ from Wednesday, 27 July. We realise this will be short notice for people arriving on the Saturday, however to make things easier we will e-mail directions to set-up crew on that day (that still 4 days to check a map!).

The nearest train station is Derby if you want to pre-book train tickets, you will also need to take a local bus service from Derby (these are frequent). We are aiming to have a vehicle on site that can assist if people have difficulties between Derby and the site, so hopefully everyone will be able to get there okay.

There may be a very small number of lifts available from the Nottingham area across the weekend of Saturday 31st July/Sunday first of August. There may also be lifts from the Leeds area first thing on 31 July. Let us know if this may be of interest to you.

What to bring

*Everything you need to the gathering, tent sleeping bags etc. and especially a torch

*It may be wise to come a bit more self-sufficient in food and snacks than you would need to for the main gathering – we will have a basic kitchen but Veggies and the tuck shop are not arriving until Wednesday

*If you are able to bring any tools, especially for basic carpentry, these are often useful

Big thanks for offering to help out

Do get in touch if you have any questions

Love & rage

The EF! Gathering crew

STOP VEDANTA’S AGM! 28th July

STOP VEDANTA’s KILLINGS, DISPLACEMENT AND DEVASTATION!
THROW THEM OUT OF INDIA AND the UK!

STOP VEDANTA’S AGM!

3pm, Wednesday, 28 July 2010,
The Institute of Civil Engineers, 1, Great George Street, London SW1P 3AA

Vedanta plc’s record in Orissa, India:

STOP VEDANTA’s KILLINGS, DISPLACEMENT AND DEVASTATION!
THROW THEM OUT OF INDIA AND the UK!

STOP VEDANTA’S AGM!

3pm, Wednesday, 28 July 2010,
The Institute of Civil Engineers, 1, Great George Street, London SW1P 3AA

Vedanta plc’s record in Orissa, India:
· More than 100 men, women and children have been killed in accidents, police firings, forced displacement, injury and illness
· More than 1000 people have been displaced and more than 8000 under threat
· More than100 square miles of land have been devastated and an equal area of forest under threat
· Rivers and streams which are the lifeline for tens of thousands of people are drying up
· Thousands of acres of fertile agricultural land have been destroyed in a region which has seen famines every year since 2007
· Drinking water sources are being contaminated by dumping of fly ash and toxic red mud into river streams
· The Niyamgiri hills – known as the most beautiful mountains in India – are under threat. The ancient civilization of the Dongria Kondh adivasi community, who regard the Niyam Dongar mountain and forests of the area as their Gods, is being wiped out
· Vedanta is causing mass unemployment and destitution as farmers, fishing communities and forest dwellers are being displaced and abandoned in shanty-towns

Why is this happening?

Mega-profits for billionaires with blood on their hands
Anil Agarwal, billionaire CEO of Vedanta is determined to mine for bauxite in Niyamgiri despite massive opposition of the local people, and a national and international campaign against it, which recently led
shareholders including the Church of England and Rowntrees, to pull out.
London –based Anil Agarwal is worth 4.1billion pounds and is currently the tenth richest person in Britain, whose personal wealth has grown even in the recession by 583%. Agarwal’s empire – Vedanta Resources – now spans four continents, with offices in London and operations in Zambia, Australia and India. Vedanta and Agarwal have been accused of ‘corruption, fraud, forgery, manipulation of share prices, and insider trading.’ as Norway’s Council of Ethics describes.

Who else is benefitting?
Anil Agarwal and Vedanta have close links with the Sangh Parivar, the umbrella group of Hindu right-wing organizations in India. These organizations have been held responsible for genocidal attacks on India’s
minority Muslim and Christian communities, in Orissa, Gujarat and elsewhere.
Vedanta has connections with many powerful figures. Its Board members have included P.Chidambaram, India’s Home Minister, Naresh Chandra, former Indian Ambassador to the US, and David Gore-Booth, former British
Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and High Commissioner of India.

What is the role of the British Government?
Vedanta was launched on the London Stock Exchange in December 2003 with the help of Britain’s Department of Trade and Industry and the Department for International Development (DfID). More recently, massive publicity of Vedanta’s crimes forced the British government to criticize it for not having a human rights policy.

BUT the British Government has continued to actively support Vedanta. For example, DfID has set up and continues to fund Business Partners for Development (Now renamed as Building Partnerships for Development) whose aim is to counter the effect of the powerful people’s movement against the company. And in 2005 DfID commissioned “Orissa Drivers for Change” a research project which urges mineral intensive industrialization of the region and supports Vedanta and other companies.

Organised by FOIL VEDANTA

Supported by: South Asia Solidarity Group, South Asian Alliance, All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Ravi Dass Human Rights Organisation (UK), Hillingdon Womens Centre, Campaign Against
Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC), Peoples Global Action, Communities Empowering Network, Globalise Resistance

Details: sasg@southasiasolidarity.org

Penan tribe fights rainforest destruction with blockade

8th July 2010
Nomadic tribespeople in Borneo are blockading a road to stop loggers destroying their rainforest.

Members of the Penan tribe have mounted the blockade in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, to stop the destruction of the forests they depend on for their survival.

8th July 2010
Nomadic tribespeople in Borneo are blockading a road to stop loggers destroying their rainforest.

Members of the Penan tribe have mounted the blockade in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, to stop the destruction of the forests they depend on for their survival.

Malaysian timber company Lee Ling is logging in the area, and there are plans to clear the Penan’s forests completely to establish plantations of fast-growing trees for paper production.

The Penan say the plantations will leave them with nothing. They live by hunting, gathering and fishing, and will have nowhere to find food if the forests are chopped down.

Penan protesting at the blockade in northern Sarawak say they have experienced a violent attack by a logger. They are also going hungry, because manning the blockade means they are unable to spend time finding food.

The protestors include nomadic Penan, and those living in settled villages.

One Penan man told Survival, ‘We can’t live in a plantation environment. It is like asking fish to live on the land.’

Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘How many more Penan protests, and how much more intimidation by the loggers, will we see before Malaysia recognizes that this land belongs to the Penan?’

Brazilian Indians protest against dams

1st July 2010
Enawene Nawe Indians in Brazil are demonstrating against a series of hydroelectric dams which are killing the fish they rely on.

Three hundred Indians have gathered in the town of Sapezal in the Amazon state of Mato Grosso, armed with bows and arrows to protest against the dam project.

Survival International is calling for the Enawene Nawe’s rights to their land to be upheld.

Unlike most tribes in the Amazon, the Enawene Nawe do not eat meat, so fish are essential to their diet.

A total of 77 small hydroelectric dams are planned for the Juruena River, upstream of the tribe’s land. Five are already under construction.

The Enawene Nawe were not consulted about the project, and they say that since work started the Juruena and its tributaries have become polluted.

During the protests the Enawene Nawe have met with the Brazilian authorities to reiterate their opposition to the dams. They are also demanding a full, independent environmental impact study.

Every year the Enawene Nawe perform yãkwa, an important ritual in which they build intricate dams across the smaller rivers and trap fish in large baskets.

The fish are smoked and transported back to the village, where some are offered to the yakairiti spirits of the underworld in elaborate ceremonies.

This year and last year the Indians caught almost no fish, a disaster for the tribe, who rely on fish as their main source of protein.

In 2008 the Enawene Nawe occupied one of the dam construction sites and destroyed much of the equipment on the site.

Mining applications ‘frozen’ after protest in Philippines

24 June 2010
Six hundred indigenous people and farmers took to the streets on Palawan Island in the Philippines on June 7, to protest against plans to mine nickel on their land.

The demonstrators called upon the provincial government to prevent the companies Macro Asia and Ipilian Nickel Mining Corporation (INC) from mining in the UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, which is their home. They also expressed their anger at news that Canadian mining company MBMI has been granted initial approval to mine.

As a result of negotiations with protesters, the provincial government agreed that its endorsements of both Macro Asia and INC’s plans required further investigation. The companies’ applications have been ‘frozen’ until all issues are clarified.

The protestors called their demonstration a ‘Karaban’ rally; Karaban is the indigenous Palawan’s word for the bamboo quiver that contains darts for their blowpipes. It is a symbol of their identity, and signifies, they say, that they are willing to take ‘whatever action is necessary’ to stop the mining companies entering their traditional territories

Indigenous spokesperson for ALDAW (Ancestral Land/Domain Watch) Artiso Mandawa, said, ‘Mining is not development, it creates conflict among people, and it destroys our culture by bringing foreign values to our community. Some of my people still have limited contact with the outside and are not even registered in the national and provincial census. They are the first inhabitants to arrive on this island and yet, for the government, they appear not to exist.’

Maman Tuwa, an elder of the isolated Palawan tribe from Mt Gantong, fears that mining will destroy his community. ‘If our mountains are deforested, how are we going to survive? What are we going to plant if the soil of the uplands will be washed down to the lowlands? How are we going to feed our children? We’ll surely die’.

Survival’s director Stephen Corry said, ‘We welcome the decision to freeze the mining applications on the land of the Palawan tribal people, and we urge the Philippine government to ensure that no mining takes place on their land without their genuine free, prior and informed consent. We also call upon President-elect Benigno Aquino III, to revoke the 1995 Mining Act which has been so disastrous for the indigenous peoples of the Philippines.’

Innu block access to mining projects on their territory

June 14, 2010

Innu communities are blocking access to two mining projects in northeastern Quebec and western Labrador in an attempt to protect their Indigenous rights and ensure no mining can proceed on their territory without their prior consent.

June 14, 2010

At the moment, roughly 100 Innu from the communities of Matimekush-Lac John and Uashat mak Mani-Utenam are attending the blockade, which officially began on Friday, June 11.

That number could easily swell if the governments and the two mining companies, New Millennium Capital and Labrador Iron Mines Holdings (LIM), fail to act responsibly. Both communities are members of the Innu Strategic Alliance (ISA), which represents some 12,000 people or 70% of all Innu in the province of Quebec. The ISA supporting the blockade.

On June 9, the Alliance chiefs said they have no choice to set up a blockade, which “complies with the existing Innu traditional juridical system,” because the Provincial and Federal governments are undermining their rights.

“We are open to constructive dialogue with the governments and the companies as long as our cultural, economic, social, environmental and spiritual aspirations are respected. We are not against all forms of development of the territory but we are against all development held without our consent,” stated the Chiefs in a joint statement.

Matimekush-Lac John Chief Real McKenzie and Uashat mak Mani-Utenam Chief Georges-Ernest Grégoire also reaffirmed Innu ownership of the natural resources within their territory, stating, “We have never ceded, abandoned or renounced our Aboriginal rights or our Aboriginal title. The governments therefore have the constitutional obligation to consult us and to accommodate our rights and interests.”

The ISA notes that, in 1927, the Quebec-Labrador border was imposed on them by the British Crown, which created an “artificial division of Nitassinan (Innu territory)”.

The division opened the floodgates for Canada’s standard aboriginal policy, including residential schools, the banishment of hunting Caribou (which the Innu heavily rely on) and, ultimately, the exploitation of Nitassinan.

The region was stripped of its resources in the 1950s and 60s; the Innu barred from exercising their rights and benefiting in any way meaningful.

“Our community will not be fooled like in the 60s. For many years, our territory was stripped of its resources without our consent and without any benefit for our community. When the governments completed their mining operations, [Schefferville] was destined for doom; the governments left it deprived of economic activity and resources and without taking account of our presence and without concern for our rights. If they now wish to take up mining again, they have to do so under our conditions,” said Chief McKenzie, prior to a general meeting last month held to discuss the future of Innu lands.

More recently, Chief McKenzie said the blockade will stay up as long as it takes for the governments and the companies to act. “It’s up to them.”

Eagle Rock Defenders camp ‘crushed’ by Police

Dozens of heavily armed Police and State Troopers have raided the peaceful defenders camp at Eagle Rock in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; “crushing” the month-long effort to protect the sacred site from a controversial sulfide mine.

BIG BAY, Mich. – The defenders of sacred Eagle Rock sat in a circle and wept as they were surrounded by dozens of heavily armed state and local police officers who raided the Eagle Rock encampment the morning of May 27 arresting two campers at the request of Kennecott Eagle Minerals, who wasted no time destroying the month-old camp to make way for their nickel and copper mine.

Witnesses say there were about six people at Eagle Rock when police moved in including four campers who had spent the night and two supporters who arrived with a warning the raid was imminent. Armed with high-powered rifles, Michigan State Police and mine security could be seen atop Eagle Rock scanning the vast Yellow Dog Plains with binoculars apparently looking for trespassers.

Two handcuffed campers, who refused to leave when ordered by police, were taken away by sheriff’s deputies and driven nearly one hour to the Marquette County Jail and were released on bond. Arrested were Keweenaw Bay Indian Community members Chris Chosa, 28, and Charlotte Loonsfoot, 37, both of Baraga, Mich.

Loonsfoot was one of three women who set up the encampment April 23 protesting the arrest three days earlier of environmentalist Cynthia Pryor and hoping to protect Eagle Rock from the Eagle Project nickel and copper mine. Despite federal treaties that allow Ojibwa to hunt, fish and gather on the Yellow Dog Plains, the state of Michigan leased the land to Kennecott to open a sulfide mine. The mine portal is planned near the front of Eagle Rock and the tunnel will travel underneath the rock.

“Today, we got a message in camp that police were on their way,” said non-Native camper Catherine Parker of the warning from two members of the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve who arrived shortly before police. “Charlotte and Chris had no intention of leaving voluntarily.”

Parker said the Eagle Rock defenders wept for the land as they sat in a circle.

“There were a lot of tears and passionate remarks because the people have come to care a lot about each other out here,” said Parker of Marquette, Mich. “We have all been working together, Native Americans and whites to protect something that is tremendously important to us.”

After police arrived, “we stayed as long as we could, we kept asking to stay with our friends (Chosa and Loonsfoot),” said Parker, wiping away a tear. “We sat down with them repeatedly, we were pushed verbally numerous times by law enforcement.”

“It’s breaking my heart,” said a crying Parker as she witnessed heavy equipment roaring up the entrance to Eagle Rock. “This mine is not going to perform (safely) as they say it will. What is going to happen if the mine collapses into the Trout Salmon River?”

Police from several agencies “literally surrounded us in a big circle,” said Kalvin Hartwig, a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa who spent the night of May 26 at Eagle Rock but was not arrested after agreeing to leave the property with his car.

When police arrived, “three of us and two visitors were down by the sacred fire and another one of our campers (Charlotte Loonsfoot) was up on the hill fasting,” Hartwig said. “I think this whole situation is pretty sad.

“The water and this land is at-risk. These people (Kennecott) are here illegally about to destroy it.”

According to the Save The Wild UP Web site, about 20 police cars were sent and warned to expect a riot that never occurred. Many supporters and the media rushed to the scene after hearing the Powell Township emergency personnel dispatched with instructions to stage at the main entrance to the mine including an ambulance and fire trucks. No injuries were reported.

Atop a pole at the entrance to the camp, a lone eagle feather fluttered in the dusty wind as heavy equipment moved in. Mine officials doused the grandfather fire, uprooted the Eagle Rock Community Garden, removed two flags from atop Eagle Rock and bulldozed the camp.

Deputies blocked the dusty, remote, seasonal Triple A Road at the mine entrance but allowed the media and campers to walk the three-quarters of a mile to the former entrance to the camp that was blocked by heavy machinery as mine employees erected a metal cyclone fence. The media was not allowed to see the remains of the encampment.

“They are putting up a fence and they are wrecking our garden we planted,” said Gabriel Caplett, who has posted daily updates about the campers activities on the Stand for the Land Blog and has written countless stories about the fight to stop the mine since it was announced in 2004. “They are putting out the sacred fire” that has burned since the first night.

There was no word on what happened to the tents and a large cache of food and other supplies donated by supporters. About 10 campers spent the night of May 25 at Eagle Rock, but several left to prepare for activities planned at the rock for Memorial Day weekend.

Two non-Native campers, not present for the raid, broke into tears while walking to Eagle Rock.

“It’s heartbreaking, it’s really disconcerting to feel the rights of the corporations have been put above and beyond the rights of the people,” said Amy Conover of Marquette, Mich. When politicians “get into power they don’t act on behalf of the people, they act on behalf of the money.”

A Detroit native attending nursing school in Marquette said she “can’t understand how hardened the hearts have become of the people who are doing this.”

“To not feel how wrong it actually is – is a very scary thing,” said Laura Nagle. “The police officer said this is a ‘bummer’ this was happening, it is not a bummer, it is a catastrophe, a tragedy and a misfortune for us all. This can still be stopped.”

Brazilian tribal opposition to Belo Monte dam

A Kayapó Indian leader has appealed for support for his tribe, which is campaigning against the Belo Monte dam on the Xingu river in the Brazilian Amazon. He said, ‘I have always prevented my people from fighting, but I am very worried now. It is time that we take back what belongs to us’. He added that ‘3,000 warriors’ are ready to take up arms.

If constructed, the dam would be the third largest in the world and it would flood a large area of land, dry up certain parts of the Xingu river, cause huge devastation to the rainforest and reduce fish stocks upon which Indians in the area depend for their survival.

The influx of immigrants to the region during the construction of the dam threatens to introduce violence to the area and bring diseases to these Indians, putting their lives at risk.

The Indians have organized many protests against the dam. Most recently, they have blockaded a ferry which crosses the Xingu river and are planning to form a ‘multi-ethnic community’ which will occupy the area where the dam is due to be built, in the ‘Big Bend’ of the Xingu river.

Raoni and other Indian leaders stated, ‘We do not accept the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam because we understand that it will bring more destruction to our region… more corporations, more ranches, more land invasions, more conflicts, and even more dams. If the white man continues to carry on like this, everything will be destroyed very quickly… We already warned the government that if Belo Monte were built, they would have war on their hands’.

Kayapó leader Megaron Txucarramãe, in a letter to the international press, said, ‘We want the plans to build the Belo Monte dam to be canceled… Lula has shown himself to be the Indians’ number one enemy…We Indians are being seriously abandoned, since we Indians, the first inhabitants of this country, are being neglected by Lula’s government which wants to destroy us’.

Brazil’s Public Prosecutor’s Office is calling for the license for the dam to be canceled, stating that the environmental impact studies were incomplete, and that the Indians and other people who will be affected were not properly consulted.

Indians and activists marched against Amazon mega-dam in April