Tribal Solidarity – Page 3

Earth First! Winter Moot (Bristol): 20th-22nd February 2015 /full programme

A weekend gathering for people involved or wanting to know more about ecological direct action around the UK including fighting opencast coal, fracking, GM, nuclear power, new road building and quarries with discussions and campaign planning – emphasis on the tactics and strategies, community solidarity and sustainable activism.

Sharing stories, skills, tactics, updates & analyses of the radical ecological movement

Cost scale £20 to £30 . This includes full vegan meals and accommodation. Arrive Friday evening (programme starts at 7pm), leave Sunday (ends by 4pm). It will be an indoor floor sleeping space so bring a warm sleeping bag and mat to…

Kebele Community Centre 14 Robertson Road Easton Bristol BS5 6JY
Train—To Stapleton rd , two stops from Bristol TM then 7min walk —

Earth First! is a network of people and campaigns who fight ecological destruction and the forces driving it. We believe in non-hierarchical organising of Direct Action, to confront, stop and eventually reverse the forces that are responsible for the destruction of the Earth and its inhabitants. EF! is not a cohesive group or campaign, but a convenient banner for people who share similar philosophies to work under and doing it ourselves rather than relying on governments or industry.

For info or offers southwest.earthfirst@riseup.net www.earthfirst.org.uk

Download the (ready-to-print) flyer

Programme subject to change:

Starts 7pm Friday with dinner, followed by films & an intro to EF!

On Saturday, breakfast is before the 9:30am start with campaigns round-ups and legal & security workshops. After lunch we'll be looking at strategic thinking (see below) and at 5 exploring the relationship between Reclaim the Power and EF!

On Sunday we'll continue those explorations from 10am. After lunch, there'll be a workshop on sustainable activism, and a chance to get involved in organising the EF! Summer Gathering. Please stay for that if you can and get involved.

Workshops include:

“Intelligent Resistance: strategy and its implementation in the modern world”

Summary: Strong strategy has always been a key element of successful resistance movements. Whether it be the anarchist movements of revolutionary Spain, or the contemporary fight against fracking, a solid strategy is proven to be indispensable.‘Intelligent Resistance’ is a basic introduction to strategic thought and action and looks to provide those in attendance with a practical set of theoretical tools to take away and apply to their own movements and practice.

“Sustaining Resistance: avoiding ‘Burn out”

This is a taster workshop from a much longer ten day workshop and offers a range of tools, collective and personal, which can make our activism more effective and help us avoid burn out staying in for the long haul.

Reclaim the Power meets Earth First!”

How can Earth First! and Reclaim the power coexist in the future struggles and is there a need for collaboration between other camps or a consolidation of resources?

Legal Defence Monitoring:

A taster session in how to be an effective LDM on actions and demos.

Campaigns go-round:

Dates for your diary and what resistance is going on around the world and your back yard..

Zapatistas: Government Kidnapped Defenders Against Highway Destruction

November 6th, 2014

Joint Declaration from the National Indigenous Congress and the EZLN on the Cowardly Attack by Government forces against the Ñatho Indigenous Community of San Francisco Xochicuautla on November 3, 2014:

To the Ñatho Indigenous Community of San Francisco Xochicuautla

To the National and International Sixth

To the Peoples of the World

Today once again, our brothers and sisters of the Ñatho Indigenous Community of San Francisco Xochicuautla have defended their territory against the destruction and voracious ambition of those above who want to impose their highway project at any cost and in violation of Mexican and international law.

Not content with having laid waste to the forests, the bad governments of Enrique Peña Nieto and Eruviel Ávila Villegas have kidnapped our sisters Felipa Gutiérrez Petra (67 years old), Rosa Saavedra Mendoza (54 years old), and Francisca Reyes Flores (28 years old), and our brothers Armando García Salazar (50 years old), Venancio Hernández Ramírez (57 years old), Domingo Hernández Ramírez (57 years old), Mauricio Reyes Flores (28 years old) and Jerónimo Flores Arcelino (73 years old).

We warn those above, in case they have forgotten, that as peoples and communities who have walked a long journey of resistance in defense of what we are, what we were, and what we will be, we will not tire of planting rebellion where they cut the flowers, oaks, and firs; we will not tire of building resistance where they impose the machinery of destruction.

The roots of Xochicuautla and the other originary peoples and indigenous communities reach deep into our hills and countrysides, far deeper than their highways, and they are far stronger than attempts to uproot us from this Mexico that today cries for its young people, murdered and disappeared by the Bad Government.

This government, which is not satiated by filling the prisons with rebellious men, women, children, and elderly, has again taken by force the freedom of indigenous brothers and sisters. They have done this to our Yaqui brothers and our Nahua brothers from the volcano region, and to so many others whose pain we also share. To all of these brothers and sisters we want to say that we walk in the same struggle, as peoples and communities who call ourselves the National Indigenous Congress.

And to the deaf ears of the bad governments, we say that we know they are scared. They demonstrated this with the 500 riot cops and police helicopters they brought today to Xochicuautla, where next December we as indigenous peoples and communities will converge to share our rebellion, our struggle, and our seeds of resistance.

Their pain is our pain, their rage is our rage!

November 3, 2014.

Never Again a Mexico Without Us

National Indigenous Congress

Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee—General Command of the Zapatista Army for National Liberation.

from Censored News

Argentina: Quechua Community Members Occupy Airport During Second Day of Protest Against Plupetrol

October 29th, 2014

Inhabitants inform the authorities that, if their requests are not respected, they will be taking more direct measures, such as manually closing pipeline valves. They ask that DINOES (Special Operation Division) does not intervene.

October 29th, 2014

On the second day of protesting against the negligent decisions of Pluspetrol, a dominating E&P private company originating from Argentina, Quechua inhabitants took their retaliation to the airport.

During a press conference, Aurelio Chino Dahua, president of Fediquep (Indigenous Quechua Federation of the Pastaza), explained that the people feel deceived by both the corporation and the state. He relates such uneasiness to the the state’s disengagement from alleviating Pluspetrol’s social-environmental impacts on the community, even in the face of raw evidence.

The indigenous leader also projects his indignation towards the government’s lack of commitment, stating that, although the Quechua people have fostered active dialogue with the authorities since 2011, not one program has been implemented with the sole purpose of meeting their demands.

Dahua reiterated that, during the last months, Pluspetrol Norte has been eroding and dividing the communities, and that Fediquep has been blatantly ignoring the inhabitants’ rights. For such reasons, he proposes that the company retreats from the area and, if they wish to resume the operation, heeds to the community’s direct participation. It is also being demanded that families are connected to the electricity that is provided by Loreto Regional Government and Plustpetrol.

Meanwhile in Nuevo Andeos, the people hold their grounds in hopes that attention will finally be brought to their demands.

Not too long ego, it was them who requested a remediation process of Shanshococha Lagoon, as well as adequate compensation for Pluspetrol’s experimentation throughout the past 15 years.

As the converstation moves, it is evident that yesterday’s demonstration in Nuevo Andoas is being vigorously supported by surrounding areas within the Pastaza and that will surely resonate beyond.

[EF! Newswire Note: The following post is a loose translation of an article first published by Servindi.]

Construction of Areng Dam Continues Despite Natives Protests

October 21st, 2014

Regardless of the dam’s progression, Chong inhabitants continue to express their discontent.

The detention and release of 11 environmental activists in Cambodia’s Areng Valley in mid-September ended the last major protests of the controversial Stung Cheay Areng hydro dam project.

Activists had been detaining and blocking convoys of vehicles into the valley since March of this year, but their makeshift roadblock has since been commandeered by the country’s Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.

The valley’s native Chong inhabitants have watched the dam project grow with a mixture of fear and bitterness. The Chong have dwelt along the Areng for over 600 years but soon, if the dam is completed, it will flood at least 26,000 acres of land. Mother Jones writes that the estimates range between 40 and 77 square miles.

This will displace more than 1,500 people, and is already inviting the rape of the Central Cardamom Protected Forest. To begin the dam project, new roads had to be built to transport equipment back and forth, providing free access to unscrupulous timber companies. At least 20,000 cubic yards of rosewood (worth an estimated $220 million in timber) have been illegally logged since the dam project began.

The dam itself is being constructed by Sinohydro Resources, China’s largest dam-building contractor and its third firm to take on the task. Initially, China Southern Power Grid was to build the dam, but relinquished its contract with the Cambodian government in 2010 on purportedly “moral” grounds.

A report from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency on the project later pointed out that the dam would only generate an output of 108 megawatts – too little for so high a monetary and environmental cost.

China Guodian Corporation was the next firm to take up the project, but pulled out in 2013. They, too, found the dam to be economically unviable.

Though the dam would be hypothetically capable of generating enough power for 87,000 homes, International Rivers argues that “the dam will only operate at 46 percent capacity during the dry season, precisely when Cambodia most needs the electricity.”

In addition to this low energy output, the dam is projected to be more of a burden to Cambodia than a blessing – even without taking the valley’s 31 endangered animals into account. Areng is just one of 17 dams the country wants to build over the next two decades, but most of their power will be exported to neighboring countries. What’s worse, Sinohydro will own the dam for the next 40 years before turning it over to the Cambodian government, at which time the dam’s maintenance costs and environmental impacts will potentially make it worthless to the country.

Despite all this, Cambodia’s Minister of Mines and Energy and Minister of Environment have both stated that the Areng dam is on schedule for completion by 2020.

But that hasn’t stopped natives from protesting.

“Even if they piled money one meter above my head, I don’t want their Chinese money,” one villager told Mother Jones’ Kalyanee Mam. “I want to stay in my village. Even with all this money, I could only spend it in this life. I wouldn’t be able to pass it on to my grandchildren. I just want my village and my land for the future of my grandchildren.”

by Planet Experts

Manitoba Hydro Evicted from Northern Dam Station by Protesters

October 17th, 2014

Protesters have forced employees of Manitoba Hydro out of the Jenpeg generating station in northern Manitoba.

The protesters, from Pimicikamak Cree Nation, delivered an oversized evicted notice on Friday to staff at the station and the employee housing complex, both of which are located on the Nelson River in Pimicikamak territory.

“The building is empty, locked, undamaged and under the Pimicikamak flag,” states a release from the Cree Nation, which is located approximately 525 kilometres by air north of Winnipeg.

A few hydro personnel remain inside the dam itself to monitor the facility. Pimicikamak guarantees the safety and well-being of these people, and ensures that hydro facilities will not be damaged.”

The protesters want compensation for damages caused by flooding from the dam, which opened in 1979.

“The hydro system floods 65 square kilometres of Pimicikamak land and causes severe damage to thousands of kilometres of shoreline,” Chief Cathy Merrick stated in the press release. “Outlying grave sites have been washed away; Pimicikamak people have died as a result of semi-submerged debris from eroding shorelines and unsafe ice conditions caused by hydro.

“The project has turned a once bountiful and intimately known homeland into a dangerous and despoiled power corridor.”

Jenpeg, which Manitoba Hydro uses to control outflows from Lake Winnipeg into the Nelson River system, is located about 20 kilometres from Cross Lake, which is the main Pimicikamak settlement with some 8,000 residents.

“This is our home; we will not let it be trampled,” said Merrick. “This dam has been great for the south but for us it is a man-made catastrophe. Hydro needs to clean up the mess it has created in our homeland. Hydro needs to treat us fairly.”

She said the provincial government has spoken about reconciliation with all hydro-affected peoples, and a “new era” of “partnership” but so far none of that has happened.

The hydro system produces $3.8 million worth of power on its five Nelson River dams every day, according to Merrick, who noted it “has not contributed to ‘the eradication of mass poverty and mass unemployment’ as was contemplated in the 1977 Northern Flood Agreement.

“The NFA says affected people will be dealt with fairly and equitably,” she said, adding, “In many parts of Canada, governments and companies are realizing that everyone benefits when the tremendous wealth and opportunity of the land is shared fairly.”

Pimicikamak’s road map to positive change includes:

A public apology from Premier Greg Selinger for past and present harms suffered by all hydro-affected peoples and their lands.
A commitment from Manitoba and Manitoba Hydro to engage in a good-faith process to fulfill promises in the NFA, including measures related to community development, environmental mitigation and maximum employment opportunities.
A revenue sharing agreement and/or water rental arrangement with Pimicikamak.

“The Pimicikamak people will not leave Jenpeg until Manitoba and Hydro make substantive commitments to follow the course outlined above,” Merrick said.

The chief and council will be meeting with provincial and hydro officials at the Jenpeg station on Friday.

Kinder Morgan Surveyor Office Blocked by ‘Pipeline’, Canada

October 7th, 2014

Activists installed a “pipeline” early this moring in front of the downtown offices of McElhanney mapping. The adhoc group says the company was tageted for its part in surveying for the controversial Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion plan on Burnaby Mountain.

The group erected a pvc pipeline, complete with dripping ‘bitumen’ and notices to “Get off Burnaby Mountain.”

From the group’s release:

“Early this morning the entrance to McElhanney’s downtown Vancouver office was blockaded. The doors were locked, a “bitumen pipeline” blocked the stairs and posters were pasted. The action is in response to McElhanney’s participation in surveying for the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion project in Burnaby .

“The proposal aims to increase the number of barrels of Alberta bitumen delivered to Burnaby and the Salish Sea from 300,000 barrels a day to 890,000 a day. This would result in an astronomical and dangerous increase in tanker traffic through the Burrard Inlet. The expansion crosses the unceded territory of many Indigenous nations and is evidence of continued oppressive colonization and rampant capitalist greed. Resistance to this project is strong and unwavering!

“The Secwepemc Women Warrior Society has been vocally opposed to the projects’ intrusion through the heart of their territory, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation has launched a legal battle as well as created a treaty with surrounding nations vowing to protect the Salish Sea, even local mayors are standing up in opposition. Despite the resounding no from affected communities, Kinder Morgan is continuing with the project and hiring companies to do invasive studies that are against Coast Salish law and even “Canadian” colonial bylaws. No means no and the people, led by Indigenous resistance are not backing down to corporations!

“This disruption has been brought to you by a group of friends who refuse to accept, and are committed to resisting, the continued colonization of indigenous territories by corporations and government. We oppose the oppressive nature of the oil and gas industry in our fight for climate and social justice. We stand in solidarity with frontline communities who are fighting destructive and oppressive resource extraction projects.”

The office entrance has now been blocked off by Vancouver police.

Anti-industrial Sabotage in Southern Quebec in Solidarity with Evicted Algonquin Protesters

October 1st, 2014

by King Ludd and his army of Fenians / Anarchist News

October 1st, 2014

by King Ludd and his army of Fenians / Anarchist News

Brief resume of this communique: A railroad telecom was burned and three residential development panels vandalised in response to an eviction of Native resisters in Gatineau and in solidarity with the 5E3, somewhere in southern K-bekk.

Full version:

So the other night on September 21, we’ve set fire to a railroad telecomm cable linking Brigham to Sherbrooke (Qc) to the US, thinking about the Algonquins people recently evicted from a resistance camp and detained in Gatineau. We took the time to select a railway bridge in the middle of nowhere near Waterloo, so we’d not have to dig to get to the cables or attract too much attention. Some fuel was dropped through an opening in the steel casing of the cables, then set on fire. Nothing fancy. It worked better as we’d guessed, as a few seconds later it already smelled burning rubber a few meters away. The enclosed air in the conduct apparently turned the fire into something like a blow torch. Kind of easy game to be reproduced elsewhere by others, we told ourselves… so that’s a reason to let others know.

Of course it didn’t cause the whole techno-industrial system to collapse! Society is still pretty much functional today. But you gotta start attacking it somewhere. Though it did feel as if an important nerve deep below society had been severed. And this felt good getting off our asses in the middle of the night for this.

It is noteworthy that this railway line is the exact same on which the tar sands train used to pass, taking the lives of a hundred people last year. It is again used to transport oil from the West to the US, though at much smaller rate. Soon it will be replaced by the equally parasitic and devastating pipelines, unless a serious opposition to it rises out from the current apathy so widespread in southern Quebec these days. As the sheep put their trust in the bureaucrats and the “experts” with all their “moratoriums”, legal challenges and “environmental assessments”, the popular beast is tamed and kept in line, the same line that led us to a disaster last year, and keeps destroying the wild life around…

Hence, as bonus, during the following days, panels for rural residential developments were vandalized, each in the name of prisoners Amélie, Fallon and Carlos imprisoned in Mexico, two of which are from Montreal.

Two panels were spray-painted in Sainte-Etienne-de-Bolton (not very far from that sabotage) where “Ecocide” was written, and a large panel by the highway 10 that ties Montreal to Sherbrooke.

Those gestures are far from the intensity of the attacks those three persons are accused of, but they target another end of the same same social machine that destroys and rapes the living, here as in northern Alberta, Mexico and elsewhere.

We take the opportunity to pass on our shared view on fighting the progress of techno-civilization: This fast-growing type of visual pollution plays a key role in the destruction process paving way to the invasion of techno-industrial society, but also are very worthy alternatives to the classic urban vandalism. There’s no geopolitics of vandalism, what matters being just the sensitivity of the target to the infrastructure behind, and this one is sensitive as fuck. Though as countless graffiti in the City will at least express a critique and give a virtual impression of disorder, at best defame the fascists and the cops and capital; suburban sprawl can be stopped or slowed down in direct result from vandalism against those spectacular outlets of capital (in this case, the gangster construction industry and all its parasites who just wanna pay themselves a yatch with easy money out the sale and destruction of fictionally-owned land, who’re pretty much the same fuckers who pay themselves summer residences here with gentrification money in the city. Get the picture?). We have proof of this, by experience… we have seen major real-estate corporations withdrawing from developments, just because of panels being recursively vandalized. We fought this kind of tactic, no matter how low-scale or boring it may look like, deserves to be brought back in the attack menu, at least as appetizers. So, tons of opportunities for subvertive art at the tip of the civilizational spearhead. A good field for spreading anti-civ memes too!

For all the creatures killed or evicted by the death machine of society that keeps spawling.

For the wild!

– King Ludd and his army of Fenians, from the darkness of the forest

Coalition Block Highway Construction on Back-to-Back Days

Tribal Pomo Representatives, AIM elders and Environmentalists Block Filling of Wetlands

[Today (September 28th, 2014) , roughly 30 people blockaded dump trucks at both entrance gates to the Willits Bypass northern interchange construction zone, halting nearly all soil dumping for the day. At roughly 11 a.m., the dump trucks went home for the day. The California Highway Patrol took a light approach to policing the demonstration, making no arrests. We are gathering again tomorrow at 7 a.m. at The Tipi! Only serious rain will prevent us from gathering. Check out the KMUD News report filed by Annie Esposito, which begins at 6:00 into the broadcast.]

Native American Tribal members, including direct descendants of the Pomo peoples who once populated the Little Lake Valley where Caltrans is currently building an oversized freeway Bypass, will join environmental groups in a mass protest on the north end of the project today. Protestors will enter the construction zone north of town in the early morning hours, slowing and stopping the fast and furious flow of dirt-filled, double-belly dump trucks working from dawn to dusk to cover the wetlands and archeological sites the activists seek to protect.
Elders and spiritual leaders from local Pomo Indian Bands and the American Indian Movement (AIM) will lead the way to threatened cultural sites where prayers will be offered for the ancestors. The AIM flag and drum will be present near the construction area where Native American cultural artifacts have been discovered. The sites have been documented and fenced off by Caltrans, but are still slated to be destroyed by being permanently graded and buried under the Bypass as currently designed.

“I hear and feel our ancestors cry to save our villages from destruction. The white man’s history repeats itself. We pray that the Creator will hear our prayers”, said Priscilla Hunter, tribal representative for the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians. “Caltrans placated the interests of local ranchers by giving them permanent grazing rights on the mitigation lands and built the viaduct over the railroad track to preserve it, but yet they don’t listen to the Indians’ concerns for protection of our ancestors’ culture or to our call for downsizing the northern interchange to avoid a large village site.”

The Coyote Valley Tribe requested government to government consultations with the Army Corps of Engineers in June, but to date has received no response. Hunter stated that Caltrans was likely in violation of the Clean Water Act 404 Permit General Condition # 3 which specifically references the protection of archeological sites and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. At this time, Caltrans has refused to provide any further information about the recent cultural findings to Hunter.

The Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians letter to the Army Corps of Engineers and their Resolution for Government to Government consultation can be found here.

Over thirty additional sites and more than one hundred artifacts have been identified since Bypass construction in the valley began. One site is thought to be the ancient village site of Yami. After initially assuring the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo that construction on this large, known site would be avoided, Caltrans destroyed the village completely in the summer of 2013. Equipment operators did not stop work and did not notify the Tribes, as required. Caltrans admitted the destruction months later, calling it “accidental” and blaming faulty maps. Artifacts in Little Lake Valley are so plentiful it has been described by archeologists as an Archeological District.

Some of the cultural sites being “discovered by bulldozer” are on the so-called mitigation lands, acres Caltrans is relying upon to compensate for environmental damage to public values, called “temporal loss”. When cultural sites are identified, the area is set aside, reducing the acreage available for mitigations. Caltrans needs every acre of scarce mitigation land to make up for the temporal losses already incurred by its chronic failure to perform mitigation measures now two years overdue.

Bypass opponents have proposed a smaller, lower impact design to reduce the amount of mitigation lands needed to satisfy requirements that would also save time money as well as some 30 acres of wetlands while avoiding cultural sites. Caltrans had committed to finding ways to reduce the amount of fill used on the northern interchange as one of the conditions of reinstating its previously suspended 404 Operating Permit under lead agency Army Corps of Engineers. Caltrans has proposed only a minimal 3.5 acre reduction carved from minor design adjustments, without evaluating other, less destructive options.

The Coalition to Save Little Lake Valley and others including Save Our Little Lake Valley, Earth First!, the Willits Environmental Center and Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters are demanding an immediate halt to all fill activities on the northern interchange pending a significant reduction of impacts to protect both wetlands and cultural sites.

9/24 Protesters Come Back!

Despite impending rain, activists returned today for a second day of protest against the bitterly contested Caltrans’ Bypass, after shutting down fill operations on the northern interchange all day yesterday. On Tuesday, two groups of activists held long cloth banners with the messages: ”Caltrans Kills Wetlands” and “Caltrans: Paving the Road to Extinction” stretched across the entrance to two haul roads off highway 101, blocking ingress and egress from the construction zone.

A third group, including Priscilla Hunter, Tribal Representative for the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians and other Native Americans of lineal descent to the area’s Pomo ancestors, succeeded in reaching the ancestral cultural site they want to protect, remaining there for some time with the American Indian Movement (AIM) flag, to drum and pray. The activists then blocked a third stream of dirt-filled trucks, effectively stopping work.

Protesters’ numbers have increased lately due to the participation of Native American Pomo Tribes, including those from Coyote Valley, Sherwood Rancheria, Potter and Redwood Valley, all of whom were represented at the protest.

There were no arrests on Tuesday. CHP officers were present in one squad car and one van, but did not tell protesters they were trespassing and did not ask them to leave, as erroneously stated by Caltrans Public Relations official, Phil Frisbee in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat on Tues. Sept. 23.

“We came back again today to insist on our demand for a less destructive, less expensive design for the northern interchange to protect cultural sites and wetlands”, said Naomi Wagner of Redwood Nation Earth First!

from Save Little Lake Valley

Workers evicted in protest against tar sands, USA

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July 17th, 2014 – from Swamp Line 9

Individuals from Six Nations and their allies have interrupted work on a section of Enbridge’s Line 9 pipeline. The work stoppage began around 10am this morning. Individuals involved asked workers to leave, asserting that the land is Haudenosaunee territory guaranteed under the Haldimand deed, and that Enbridge’s workers were present without consent or consultation.

“Meaningful consultation isn’t just providing information and going ahead without discussion – it’s giving the opportunity to say no and having a willingness to accommodate.” says Missy Elliot.

“Enbridge left a voice message on a machine with one person. That’s not meaningful – it’s not even consultation.” Emilie Corbeau, there in support of Six Nations points out.

Those involved intend to host an action camp, filling the time with teach-ins about Six Nations history, indigenous solidarity and skill shares centering on direct action.

The group states that they’ve tried the other processes available to them and here out of necessity. “We’ve tried pursuing avenues with the NEB, the township and the Grand River Conservation Authority. Our concerns were dismissed. What other choice do we have if we want to protect our land, water and children?” Missy Elliot of Six Nations asks.

Under bill C-45 the section of the Grand River adjacent to the Enbridge work site and pipeline is no longer protected. Approximately half a million people rely on drinking water provided by the Grand River.

“This isn’t just about line 9 – or Northern Gateway, Energy East or Keystone XL. This is about pipelines – all of them.” Daniell Boissineau, of Turtle Clan, asserts. “This is about the tarsands and how destructive they are to expand, extract and transport.”

“This is a continental concern. It’s not just a Six Nations issue or an indigenous issue. We share the responsibility to protect our land and water as human beings.” Elliot states.

South American tribe sues over historic genocide

1st July The survivors of a South American tribe which was decimated during the 1950s and 60s are taking Paraguay’s government to court over the genocide they suffered.

The case of the hunter-gatherer Aché tribe, who roamed the hilly forests of eastern Paraguay until being brutally forced out, became notorious in the 1970s.

As the agricultural expansion into eastern Paraguay gathered pace from the 1950s, the Aché found themselves forced to defend their land from an ever-increasing colonist population. These colonists soon started to mount raiding parties to kill the male Aché: women and children were usually captured and sold as slaves.

One of the most notorious hunters of the Aché was Manuel Jesús Pereira, a local landowner. He was an employee of Paraguay’s Native Affairs Department, and his farm was turned into an Aché “reservation”, to which captured Aché were transported. Beatings and rape were common. Countless others died of respiratory diseases. The Director of the Native Affairs Department was a frequent visitor, and also sold Aché slaves himself.

This situation was denounced by several anthropologists in Paraguay, many of whom were deported, or lost their jobs, as a result. It was brought to international attention by German anthropologist Mark Münzel. His 1973 report Genocide in Paraguay, published by the Danish organization IWGIA, documented many of the atrocities committed against the Aché.

Survival International publicized Münzel’s account, and sponsored an investigation by leading international lawyer Professor Richard Arens, who found the situation as bad as others had reported. Many other international organizations, academics and activists denounced the atrocities and called for Paraguay’s government to be held to account, which curbed some of the worst excesses.

However, Paraguay’s then-President, General Alfredo Stroessner, was viewed as a key Western ally in the region. The British, US and West German governments denied that genocide was taking place, and the US authorities sponsored the Harvard-based organization Cultural Survival (CS) to “review the status of indigenous peoples in Paraguay”. Their report to the government was confidential, but a copy was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. CS then published an amended version.

Relying partly on the testimony of Peace Corps volunteer, Kim Hill, it denied that genocide had taken place, and criticized many of those, such as Münzel and Arens, who had brought the Aché’s plight to global attention. US aid to Stroessner’s brutal regime continued.

Now, the survivors of the genocide and their descendants are seeking redress. An Aché organization, the National Aché Federation, has launched a court case in Argentina, with advice from leading human rights lawyer Baltasar Garzón. The Aché are using the legal principle of “universal jurisdiction”, under which the most serious crimes such as genocide and crimes against humanity can be tried and punished in a different country to that in which they occurred, if the victims cannot secure justice in their own country.

Ceferino Kreigi, an Aché representative, said, “We’re asking for justice – there was torture, rape, beatings. We can no longer bear the pain we have suffered.”

The Aché’s lawyer, Juan Maira, said, “[The Aché] were hunted as though they were animals, because they wanted to confine them to a ghetto. Once in the reserve, they weren’t allowed to leave. They sold not only the children, but sometimes the women too, as slaves. Perhaps 60% of the population could have been wiped out.”

The Aché’s population is now increasing once more, though their forests have been stolen for cattle ranching and farming, and almost totally destroyed.