FIRST VOICES INDIGENOUS RADIO

AMERICA'S SECRET CHERNOBYL

Uranium Mining and Nuclear Pollution in the Upper Midwest:
Download uranium-map-small.jpg
1. World War II ended with the nuclear bomb and introduced the use of nuclear energy for the production of electricity which caused the price of uranium to rise. Uranium mining in South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota began in the middle of the 1960s. As the economy of the Midwestern states depends primarily on agriculture, when uranium was discovered in the region, many get-rich-quick schemes were adopted. Not only were large mining companies pushing off the tops of bluffs and buttes, but small individual ranchers were also digging in their pastures for the radioactive metal. Mining occurred on both public and private land, although the Great Sioux Nation still maintains a claim to the area through the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868, the March 3rd Act of 1871, Article VI of the US Constitution, and the 1980 Supreme Court decision on the Black Hills.

2. In northwestern South Dakota, the Cave Hills area is managed by the US Forest Service. The area currently contains 89 abandoned open-pit uranium mines. Studies by the USFS show that one mine alone has 1,400 milliRhems per hour (mR/hr) of exposed radiation, a level of radiation that is 120,000 times higher than normal background of 100 milliRhems per year (mR/yr)! In the southwestern Black Hills, the US Forest Service reported on 29 abandoned open-pit uranium mines, one of which is about 1 square mile in size.

3. It is estimated that more than 1,000 open-pit uranium mines and prospects can be found in the four state region from a map developed by the US Forest Service. The water runoff from the creeks and rivers near these abandoned uranium mines eventually empty into the Missod to the South and East in the coal strip mining process.
4. The following agencies are aware of these abandoned uranium mines and prospects: US Forest Service, US Environmental Protection Agency, US Bureau of Land Management, SD Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the US Indian Health Service. Only after public concern about these mines was raised a few years ago did the USFS and the EPA pay for a study in 2006 of the off site effects.

5. More than 4,000 exploratory holes, some large enough for a man to fall into, are found in the southwestern Black Hills with an additional 3,000 holes just 10 miles west of the town of Belle Fourche, SD. These holes go to depths of 600 feet. This exploratory process itself allows radioactive pollutants to contaminate underground water sources. More exploratory holes for uranium are in the planning stages for Wyoming and South Dakota.

6. The US Air Force also used small nuclear power plants in some of their remote radar stations. No data is available on the current status or disposal of these small nuclear power sources or of their wastes. The US Air Force is responsible for monitoring these sites although there is no stopping the radioactive pollution that could contaminate aquifers.

7. In Wyoming, hundreds of abandoned open-pit uranium mines and prospects can be found in or near the coal in the Powder River Basin, and the coal is laced with uranium ore. The coal is shipped to power plants in the Eastern part of the United States. Radioactive dust and particles are released into the air at the coal fired power plants and often set off the warning systems at nuclear power plants. The same radioactive dust and particles are released into the air that travels across South Dakota and Missouri River which empties into the Mississippi River.

8. In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed a secret Executive Order declaring this four State region in the Upper Midwest to be a 'National Sacrifice Area’ for the mining and production of uranium and nuclear energy.
Conclusion

This Fact Sheet regarding past and planned uranium and coal mining in the Upper Midwest region should give cause for alarm to all thinking people in the United States. This is the area that has been called “the Bread Basket of the World.” For more than forty years, the people of South Dakota and beyond have been subjected to radioactive polluted dust and water runoff from the hundreds of abandoned open pit uranium mines, processing sites, underground nuclear power stations, and waste dumps.

There needs to be a concerted effort to determine the extent of the radioactive pollution in the environment, and the health damage that has been and is currently being inflicted upon the people of the United States.

It is imperative that a federal bill be passed in Congress appropriating enough funds for the cleanup of ALL the abandoned uranium mines in this four State region. This harmful situation must not be placed on the end of the Superfund list of hazardous sites to be addressed in twenty years. Those responsible for this disaster must be held responsible for the consequences, but the cleanup and health concerns of the nation need to be addressed first. The health of the nation is at stake!

The cleanup of all of these mines and underground sites must begin NOW!

We hope you will consider our request for concerted actions to be taken at the national level regarding these grave concerns. This problem of radiation pollution spreading throughout the United States has been allowed to continue quietly for much too long.

********* What you can do ***********

1. Contact your Congressional Representative and Senators by phone (202) 224-3121, through the mail, and email. Ask that they consider sponsoring a bill for the cleanup of all the abandoned uranium mines and prospects, and underground nuclear sites in the Upper Midwest Region of South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming.

2. Ask your Congressional Representatives and Senators to support the Expansion of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to include also those harmed by abandoned uranium mines and prospects in the Upper Midwest Region.

3. Encourage the use of alternative sources of energy such as wind, solar, and geothermal. Nuclear energy is not the answer and only creates very long term problems to the entire environment.

Thank you!

Produced by Defenders of the Black Hills, PO Box 2003, Rapid City, SD 57709,
a non-profit corporation.

For more information check out www.defendblackhills.org April, 2007

!!!!!!VISIT OUR NEW WEBSITE!!!!!!

www.FirstVoicesIndigenousRadio.org

"They're Never Going to Get It"

Brazil's Indians Offended by Pope Comments

Washington Post
Reuters
Monday, May 14, 2007; 3:15 PM

BRASILIA - Outraged Indian leaders in Brazil said on Monday they were offended by Pope Benedict's "arrogant and disrespectful" comments that the Roman Catholic Church had purified them and a revival of their religions would be a backward step.

In a speech to Latin American and Caribbean bishops at the end of a visit to Brazil, the Pope said the Church had not imposed itself on the *Indigenous peoples of the Americas.

[Suggestion to the Pope] http://ili.nativeweb.org/ * Indigenous Law Institute

They had welcomed the arrival of European priests at the time of the conquest as they were "silently longing" for Christianity, he said.

Millions of tribal Indians are believed to have died as a result of European colonization backed by the Church since Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492, through slaughter, disease or enslavement.

Many Indians today struggle for survival, stripped of their traditional ways of life and excluded from society.

"It's arrogant and disrespectful to consider our cultural heritage secondary to theirs," said Jecinaldo Satere Mawe, chief coordinator of the Amazon Indian group Coiab.

Several Indian groups sent a letter to the Pope last week asking for his support in defending their ancestral lands and culture. They said the Indians had suffered a "process of genocide" since the first European colonizers had arrived.

Priests blessed conquistadors as they waged war on the indigenous peoples, although some later defended them and many today are the most vociferous allies of Indians.

"The state used the Church to do the dirty work in colonizing the Indians but they already asked forgiveness for that ... so is the Pope taking back the Church's word?" said Dionito Jose de Souza a leader of the Makuxi tribe in northern Roraima state.

Pope John Paul spoke in 1992 of mistakes in the evangelization of Native peoples of the Americas.

Pope Benedict not only upset many Indians but also Catholic priests who have joined their struggle, said Sandro Tuxa, who heads the movement of northeastern tribes.

"We repudiate the Pope's comments," Tuxa said. "To say the cultural decimation of our people represents a purification is offensive, and frankly, frightening.

"I think (the Pope) has been poorly advised."

Even the Catholic Church's own Indian advocacy group in Brazil, known as Cimi, distanced itself from the Pope.

"The Pope doesn't understand the reality of the Indians here, his statement was wrong and indefensible," Cimi advisor Father Paulo Suess told Reuters. "I too was upset."

THE FLYING EAGLE WOMAN FUND and the AMERICAN INDIAN COMMUNITY HOUSE
Presents

JOHN TRUDELL and BAD DOG
WEDS, MAY 23 at 8pm

"My goal is very simple. To communicate the human experience at a level that human beings can recognize and relate to. That may be a personal statement. It may be a political statement. But whatever it is, it all comes from the same point of reference: the experiences we share as peoples of this planet."

with special guests
The RIPCORDS
PURA FE
ULALI

Performing at
REBEL
251 West 30th Street
Between 7th and 8th Avenues
For tickets go to: www.NativeTickets.com

MAZE OF INJUSTICE

"Maze of Injustice – The Failure to Protect Indigenous Women from Sexual Violence in the USA," Native American and Alaska Native women in the United States suffer disproportionately high levels of rape and sexual violence, yet the federal government has created substantial barriers to accessing justice, according to Amnesty International's 2007 Report. Maze of Injustice

This report is based on research carried out during 2005 and 2006 in consultation with Native American and Alaska Native organizations and individuals. The research is drawn from interviews with survivors of sexual violence and their families, activists, support workers, service providers and health workers. A number of women spoke on condition that their anonymity was guaranteed. Some have asked that certain details not be made public. In order to respect their wishes, details of names and locations on file with Amnesty International have been withheld. Amnesty International also interviewed officials across the USA, including tribal, state and federal law enforcement officials and prosecutors, as well as tribal judges.

Carol Pollack has been a researcher at Amnesty International since 2005, where she carries out original research on human rights violations in the United States. She is a co -author of Amnesty International’s report, Maze of Injustice: The Failure to Protect Indigenous Women from Sexual Violence in the USA and, in conducting research for this report, undertook research missions to Alaska, Oklahoma and the Standing Rock Reservation.
Prior to joining Amnesty International, Ms. Pollack was an Associate in the human rights division of the Ford Foundation, where she monitored and shaped international grant portfolios for international justice; economic, social and cultural rights; and human rights in the United States. She also served as a law clerk at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, based in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Ms. Pollack received her Juris Doctorate from New York University School of Law in 2001 and is a member of the New York State Bar.

Cindy Pennington is from the Sugpiaq Nation of Kodiak Island, Alaska and has worked for over twenty years in both profit and non-profit Alaska Native organizations which promote opportunities for Alaska Native people as well as cultural preservation programs and projects.

In 1996, Ms. Pennington was the first Alaska Native woman accepted into the Anchorage Police Department Academy and was instrumental in the formation and coordination of the Alaska Native Women Sexual Assault Committee to address violence against Alaska Native women in the Anchorage area.

Juskwa Burnett is 1st Nations Canadian Cree. Currently a counselor for the Otoe-Missouria Tribe in Oklahoma, she specializes in domestic violence, family violence and children who witness abuse. She was also program manager for victim services with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

U.S. Authorities Fail to Protect Native American and Alaska Native Women From Shocking Rates of Rape, Reports Amnesty International
Federal Government's Jurisdictional Maze and Chronic Under-Funding of Law Enforcement and Indian Health Services Mean Justice Denied for Native Women

(Washington, D.C.) -- Native American and Alaska Native women in the United States suffer disproportionately high levels of rape and sexual violence, yet the federal government has created substantial barriers to accessing justice, Amnesty International (AI) asserted in a 113-page report released today. Justice Department figures indicate that American Indian and Alaska Native women are 2.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than women in the United States in general; more than one in three Native women will be raped in their lifetimes.
The United States government has created a complex maze of tribal, state and federal jurisdictions that often allows perpetrators to rape with impunity -- and in some cases effectively creates jurisdictional vacuums that encourage assaults. It is necessary to establish the location of the crime and the identity of the perpetrator to determine which authorities have jurisdiction, during which critical time is lost. This leads to inadequate investigations or a failure to respond.
Further complications are the lack of trained Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) at Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities to provide forensic exams, and the potential for law enforcement to mishandle evidence when rape kits are used. The result is that Native women often:
• Do not get timely - or any - response from police.
• May not get forensic medical examinations.
• May never see their cases prosecuted.

"Native women are brutalized at an alarming rate, and the United States government, a purported champion of women's rights, is unfortunately contributing to the problem," said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). "It is disgraceful that such abuse even exists today. Without immediate action, an already abysmal and outrageous situation for women could spiral even further out of control. It is time to halt these human rights abuses that have raged unfettered since this country was founded."
The AI report, Maze of Injustice: The failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA, warned that government figures, as disturbing as they are, grossly underestimate the problem because many women are too fearful of inaction to report their cases. According to one Oklahoma support worker, of 77 active sexual assault/domestic violence cases involving Native American women, only three victims reported their cases to the police.
The U.S. Government has undermined the authority of tribal justice systems to respond to crimes of sexual violence by consistent under-funding. Federal law limits the criminal sentences that tribal courts can impose for any one offense to one year and prohibits tribal courts from trying non-Indian suspects -- even though data collected by the Department of Justice shows that up to 86 percent of perpetrators are non-Indian.
In addition, AI's research suggests that there is a failure at the state and federal level to pursue cases of sexual violence against Native women involving non-Indian perpetrators. One former federal prosecutor told AI, "It is hard to prosecute cases where there is a Native American victim and a non-Native American perpetrator." Once a case is denied at the state or federal level, there is no further recourse for survivors of rape under criminal law.
"When elders say, 'too many of our women and children have been raped,' we know that we must come together to overcome the darkness and end the silence. What we don't acknowledge, we carry with us," said Denise Morris, executive director and CEO of the Alaska Native Justice Center and a speaker at the report launch. "The United States government has a legal and moral responsibility to provide resources to Native organizations so they can begin to develop solutions and promote healing and wellness at the community level."
The report focuses primarily on three regions that pose distinct jurisdictional challenges: Oklahoma, Alaska and Standing Rock Sioux Reservation (North/South Dakota). The report finds that regardless of the location or legal framework, the outcome is the same: many Native women who have experienced sexual violence are denied justice.
Oklahoma
As tribal lands in Oklahoma are non-contiguous and intersected by state land, it can take weeks and even months to establish whether tribal, state and/or federal authorities have jurisdiction over a particular crime.
• AI learned of two Native American women who reportedly were gang-raped by three non-Native men in Oklahoma; however, because the women were forced to wear blindfolds, support workers were concerned that the women would be unable to say whether the rapes took place on federal, state or tribal land and that, because of jurisdictional complexities in Oklahoma, the women may never see justice served.
• According to one service provider: "When an emergency call comes in, [the] sheriff will say, 'but this is Indian land.' Tribal police will show up and say the reverse. Then they just bicker and don't do the job . . . which means no rape kit, etc."
Standing Rock Sioux Reservation
• The Reservation covers 2.3 million acres in North and South Dakota and is patrolled by Standing Rock Police Department (SRPD). As of February 2006, the under-resourced department consisted of six or seven patrol officers and two investigators.
• There have been times when only one officer was on duty for the entire Reservation. Women often have to wait hours or even days before receiving a response from SRPD, if they receive one at all. Many survivors reported that they had experienced sexual violence several times in their lives at the hands of different perpetrators.
• Some survivors have to travel more than an hour to get to the IHS hospital in Fort Yates, where they may discover that no one on staff can conduct a sexual assault forensic exam. Staff may send women to a medical facility in Bismarck, 80 miles away -- those that make this journey may then face lengthy delays and leave without an exam. If a woman has to go to a non-IHS facility, she may initially be charged for the service. These factors can be a serious barrier to reporting the crime and undergoing a forensic examination.
Alaska
Due to a complex set of laws, state, rather than federal, agencies provide law enforcement. The state has sought to restrict tribes from exercising criminal jurisdiction while at the same time failing to provide adequate law enforcement.
• Alaska ranks number one for rapes in the United States, according to FBI statistics. Alaska Native women also experience high levels of sexual violence in both rural and urban areas. According to one study, between 2000 and 2003, Alaska Native people in Anchorage were 9.7 times more likely to experience sexual assault than others living in the city. Meanwhile, at least one-third of Alaska Native villages that are not accessible by road have no law enforcement presence at all. Alaska Native women may have to pay for an expensive trip to reach a hospital or clinic for a sexual assault forensic examination.
• In one case, an Alaska Native man became violent, beating his wife with a shotgun and barricading himself in a house with four children. As the village had no law enforcement, residents called the State Troopers, located 150 miles away, to report the violence. Troopers had to charter a plane to get to the village; in the four-plus hours it took them to reach the village, the man had raped a 13-year-old Alaska Native girl on a bed with an infant crying beside her and her five-year-old brother and seven-year-old cousin watching. In many cases, response to Alaska village crimes can take days.
In addition to increasing levels of training, AI urged federal, state and local authorities to take other concrete steps to decrease sexual violence and increase services for Indigenous women who are raped:
• The U.S. Congress should fully fund and implement the Violence Against Women Act -- and in particular Tribal Title (Title IX), the first-ever effort within VAWA to fight violence against Native American and Alaska Native women. This includes a national baseline study on sexual violence against Native women, a study on the incidence of injury from sexual violence against Native women and a Tribal Registry to track sex offenders and orders of protection.
• The U.S. Congress should increase funding for the Indian Health Service (IHS) and IHS contract facilities. Such monies should be used to increase the number of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners so that survivors may receive timely forensic medical examinations, at no charge, following sexual assault. Furthermore, the IHS should ensure that appropriate protocols are in place for the treatment of survivors of sexual violence.
• The federal government must provide the necessary funding for police forces in Indian Country and Alaska Native villages, with particular attention paid to improving coverage in rural areas and the funding and resources to enable tribal authorities to develop and maintain tribal courts.
• Federal and state governments should consult and cooperate with tribal nations, and Native women in particular, to institute effective plans of action to stop sexual violence against Native women.
AI will continue to campaign in partnership with Native American and Alaska Native women in the USA to address the critical human rights abuses documented in this report. This report is part of AI's global Stop Violence Against Women campaign.
# # #
For international press inquiries, please contact Josefina Salomon at 011-44-207-413-5562.

WILD HORSES STARVING

Dear Friends,

We have encountered the worst drought in South Dakota's history these past
nine months. We have had the warmest winter on record. Our rainfall last
year was equivalent to that received in desert climates. Our water dams
dried up and our wells began to go dry. Records show that this drought is
worse than the 30's when thousands of livestock died - Dust Bowl Days.
We are out of hay and funding and need your help! Would you consider
sponsoring a wild horse for $150 or any size donation to help us through
these next two months until our new growing season.
We are paying almost triple now for hay which has to be imported into our
area.

We are getting some rain now and we are hopeful for a better year! JUST TWO
MORE MONTHS until we have our growing season back!

Need to preserve our wild herds:

* We have ongoing studies with our three herds dating back to 1999.
* Two of our herds have not been disturbed with round-ups for more
than half a century. We can think of only one other herd on public lands
that could mimic our two herds - otherwise the 198 wild herds have been
rounded up repeatedly with intrusion into the social structures of the
herds.
* With our two herds, we are finding the same data that existed in the
late 70's that the National Academy of Sciences had found on the wild herds
at that time. This information shows decreased fertility rates(10-12%) and
that fillies are not bred until they are four and five years old. We also
see that the fillies remain in their natal bands often for that length of
time. (White Sands Herd and the Gila Herd)
* Our third herd shows us what happens when there is intrusive
roundups and removal of the older horses - removing the members of the herd
with the greatest wisdom for survival. This herd is what I term
dyfunctional and fertility rates are over 20% with a recrutiment rate at
about 20%. Yearlings and two year olds are bred and band structures are not
stable. (Sheldon Catnip Herd)
* The functional Gila herd is extremely rare and had been isolated in
AZ for hundreds of years. Blood typing shows they are Spanish and we
believe that they are descendents of stock from Father Kino's mission in the
1600's. This herd would have gone to slaughter had ISPMB not intervened on
their behalf to get recognition as a "wild free-roaming herd" in the mid
90's and then finally two years later, the herd was eliminated from its Herd
Area by the BLM. ISPMB adopted the horses in 2000.
* We are developing a model management program to share with federal
agencies who manage wild horses and to develop an eco-tourism center to
raise the awareness of the plight of wild horses in our country - a new
paradigm in wild horse management.

About ISPMB:

* Responsible along with our first president, Wild Horse Annie, for
the passage of the 1971 law to protect wild horses.
* ISPMB adopted out foals of the Pryor Mts in 1968 giving the idea of
an Adopt A Horse program to the BLM which started in 1976.
* Began the volunteer compliance checks on adopted wild horses by
signing an agreement with the BLM in 1989
* Began the first educational programs in 1984 prior to wild horse
adoptions with classes and demonstrations.

For more info click here http://www.ispmb.org/achievements.shtml

PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING US BY SENDING YOUR TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO THE
ADDRESS BELOW OR CLICK ON THIS SITE: http://www.ispmb.org/drought.html

THANK YOU FOR HELPING US CONTINUE OUR CRITICAL WORK TO SAVE ENDANGERED AND
THREATENED HERDS.

Karen A. Sussman
President, ISPMB
PO Box 55
Lantry, SD 57636-0055
Tel: 605.964.6866
Cell: 605.365.6991
Saving America's Wild Horses and Burros since 1960

www.ispmb.org

Become a member of ISPMB today!
http://www.ispmb.org/membership.shtml

[email protected]

FIRST VOICES INDIGENOUS RADIO brings to the airwaves the experiences, perspectives and struggles of Indigenous people who have been almost totally excluded from both mainstream and progressive, alternative media. Our purpose is to help ensure the continuance and survival of Indigenous cultures and Nations by letting the People tell their own story, in their own words, and often in their own languages and ways of speaking with as little outside interference and interruption as possible.

As we open up the airwaves week after week to the voices seldom heard in the last 515 years, it is our hope that the newcomers to this Land - that is, every immigrant group - will begin to question their assumptions about Indigenous people here. We hope they become educated and informed, get activated, break down their romanticization, break free of their stereotypes, and begin to form real relationships with Indigenous communities based, finally, on respect and real understanding.

This special-one hour weekly (out of 168 hours) is devoted to bringing the voices of the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island (North America) and connecting their struggles with those of other Indigenous Peoples--around the world. And while never forgetting that standing upon Mother Earth is a great responsibility.

We ask our guests with great respect to do the honor of coming on the program to offer their knowledge, wisdom, and experience, a knowledge that has been handed down over hundreds of thousands of years. It is a responsibility we take very seriously, and we know it is with great urgency that we ask these voices to be shared in this time of changes. We hope we offer our listeners a perspective they have been missing for far too long. The voice America has tried to silence, the voices of Indigenous Peoples.

First Voices Indigenous Radio belongs to all the Native Peoples here in Turtle Island (renamed North America by the occupiers).

Tiokasin at the New York Open Center

an Evening Concert
****************
The Spoken Flute & Lakota Thinking Traditions w/ Tiokasin Ghosthorse

Friday, March 30, 7pm

New York Open Center
83 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012

Call 212.219.2527 Ext. 2 or Register @ www.opencenter.ort

Members $22 / Nonmembers $24

The Lakota cedar flute (Spoken Flute) is an ancient instrument that has been experiencing a renaissance and was intended to convey emotions and resemble the human voice. This evening one of the great exponents of the cedar flute, Tiokasin Ghosthorse, will share traditional contemporary Lakota music, stories and rarely heard songs. Tiokasin will intersperse poetry and prose with the haunting melodies and evocative tones of the flute. He combines Lakota indigenous teachings with modern issues, indigenous insight, spiritual awareness and global concerns. Experience this phenomenal musician and storyteller, whose performance is both powerful and soothing, combining the best of ancient ways with contemporary relevance.

The Eagle Feather Law: How Religious Freedom in America is Restricted for Native Americans; Indigenous Activists Speak Out On 3,000 Mile Journey to Confront Logging Giant Weyerhaeuser From Their Land

Listen to the Show!

The Eagle Feather Law: How Religious Freedom in America is Restricted for Native Americans
The history of the United States is often referred to as a story of people seeking religious freedom. It begins with the Pilgrims, whose story is deeply ingrained in the American public imagination as some of the earliest settlers who fled religious persecution and hoped to find their freedom by establishing a colony in the “New World.” This theme continues throughout American history and up to the present day.
But what about Religious Freedom for Native Americans? American Indians are the only ethnic group in the United States that require a federal permit for religious freedom. The law upholding this is commonly referred to as the ''eagle feather law'' and it governs the possession and use of eagle feathers. Some think this law is very problematic, charging that it bars many Native people from freely practicing their religion.

• DaShanne Stokes, director of the public interest advocacy group, Religious Freedom with Raptors.

Related Links: Religious Freedom with Raptors website
DaShanne Stoke’s article in Indian Country Today

Indigenous Activists Speak Out On 3,000 Mile Journey to Confront Logging Giant Weyerhaeuser From Their Land
Community members from the Grassy Narrows First Nation are taking their fight with a big logging company on the road. They have maintained the longest running Indigenous logging blockade in Canadian history, which is now in its fifth year. Despite years of community opposition, logging company Weyerhaeuser continues to produce and sell building materials made from wood clear-cut and taken without community consent from Grassy Narrows land. Nearly a week ago the Grassy Narrows people kicked off a journey from their traditional territory in Northwest Ontario. Over the course of the next few weeks the group will travel more than 2,000 miles to confront Weyerhauser at their world Headquarters in Seattle Washington. In the meantime, Indigenous activists will speak about their fight to protect their culture, their forests, and their Indigenous people’s right to self-determination on their Traditional Territory.

• Mariah Swain, member of the Grassy Narrows First Nation
  
• David Sone, of Rainforest Action Network, who is on the road with the Grassy Narrows people. The tour is being organized by U.S.-based NGO Rainforest Action Network (RAN) and local environmental and human rights organizations.

Related Links: FreeGrassy.org.

Racism in Sports and the Media: Chief Illiniwek May Have Had Last Dance, But Redskins, Braves, Etc. Maintain Hostile Landscape

“It is not an honor to be mimicked by fans with painted faces and turkey feathers at sporting events, nor is it an honor to have our race, our self-esteem and our dignity trampled every week for America’s fun and games.” Tim Giago

Click Here to Listen: Racism in Sports

University of Illinois mascot Chief Illiniwek made a final appearance Wednesday night at a home basketball game in Urbana Champaign, thus ending the 81-year old practice that has long offended Native Americans. Since 1926, Chief Illiniwek has mostly been portrayed by a white student dressed in buckskin who paints his face and performs a dance during halftime at Illinois football and basketball games. Last week, the university finally decided to get rid of the mascot after pressure from the NCAA, which in 2005 said the mascot was “hostile and abusive” and said its continued use would prevent the university from hosting any NCAA tournament games. Now that the basketball post-season is approaching, university officials have finally relented.
The mascot has been a controversial figure since the mid 1970s, when white students on campus first spoke out against the mascot. Protests began again in 1989 when Charlene Teters, a Native graduate student from the Spokane tribe, began protesting the Chief at athletic events. Soon, individuals, organizations, and academic departments, both on and off the University campus, began to support the mascot’s retirement. Outside support included the National Congress of American Indians, the National Indian Education Association, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Education Association, Amnesty International, and Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas. At the UIUC campus, the Native American House, the American Indian Studies program, and the Native American student organizations all called for its retirement. But campus support for the Chief remained strong until the end, and last night’s final performance was marked by a solemn crowd. Supporters of the mascot have said for years that the chief is meant to honor Native Americans, not to insult. This of course, follows a decades-long fight that has occurred throughout the United States. There still remain hundreds of high schools, universities and professional teams around the country that use Native American imagery for sports symbols and mascots. The more well-known include the Florida State Seminoles, the Atlanta Braves, the Washington Redskins, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Cleveland Indians.

• Charlene Teters, (Spokane) a founding Board Member of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media, an artist, activist, and lecturer. She challenges the inappropriate use of American Indian images, culture and spiritual life ways by schools, scholars, museums, corporations, and media. In 1988 she and her artwork became politicized at The University of Illinois, a school that uses as their mascot the image of a fantasy "Chief." She was the first Native American on the campus to protest the use of Chief Illiniwek as mascot

• Tim Giago, (Oglala Lakota) a journalist who has long been covering the Indian mascot issue. He is the founder and first president of the Native American Journalists Association. He was also the founder and publisher of the Lakota Times and Indian Country Today newspapers.

Related Links:
www.CharleneTeters.com
Tim Giago’s Recent Article on HuffingtonPost.com
National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media
Wisconsin Indian Education Association “Indian” Mascot & Logo Taskforce

Environmental Justice & Indigenous Rights: Battling Climate Change and Protecting Sacred Sites

Listen to the Show!
Native Activists Rally to Protect Sacred Medicine Lake in CA
Native American organizers and allies are fighting to protect Medicine Lake – a sacred place near Mount Shasta in the Highlands of Northern California. The Bureau of Land Management, California Energy Commission and Calpine Energy have been trying to build geothermal power plants in the area since the 1980s. Native peoples who are opposed to the power plants and their supporters are planning a protest next Tuesday, February 20th at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Office in Alturas, California. The BLM is planning to appeal a 9th Circuit court ruling on Medicine Lake.

• Mark Lebeau, a citizen of the Pitt River Nation and Co-Chair of Advocates for the Protection of Sacred Sites.

For more Info: www.treatycouncil.org
Video Link: Pit River Nation Fights For Their Land
www.ienearth.org

U.S. Energy Policy and Climate Change – and the Harmful Impacts on Indigenous Peoples
The debate on global warming seems to have finally ended thanks to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which recently concluded there was a 90 percent chance human actions have been a major contributor to global warming. The panel of 2,500 scientists predicted more drought, heat waves and a slow gain in sea levels, even if greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels used in power plants, factories and cars are capped. So now the question is what do we do? Which is what legislators, government officials and business leaders from the 20 largest energy-consuming countries were asking and discussing yesterday at a Capitol Hill meeting. There were representatives from the G8 – or Group of 8 industrialized nations - Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the United States, Canada and Japan. There were also representatives from China, India, Mexico, South Africa, and Brazil, which together produce 75% of the world’s greenhouse gases. The world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases is the United States. Yesterday corporate moguls, policy experts and U.S. senators told the world forum the US must take the lead on global warming, especially if it wants to encourage China and India to follow suit.
But as world leaders struggle to find ways to collaborate, there are still voices going unheard. Indigenous peoples in Canada, the US and throughout the Americas hold valuable land and water resources that have long been exploited by the provincial, state and federal governments and by corporations trying to meet the energy needs of an industrialized world. Indigenous peoples have disproportionately suffered impacts due to the production and use of energy, yet are among those who benefit least from these energy developments.

• Jihan Gearon, Native Energy Organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network. Jihan is originally from Fort Defiance, AZ, which is on the eastern side of the Navajo Nation. She studied Energy Science and Technology at Stanford University and began her environmental justice career at Redefining Progress as a Program Associate for the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative (EJCC). At the EJCC, she worked with a broad coalition of people of color, low-income, and Indigenous communities and organizations on climate justice issues.
  For more information: Indigenous Environmental Network – www.ienearth.org