[Indigsol] Obama, Canada's Indigenous Peoples and the Tar Sands
Ben Powless
powless at gmail.com
Fri Jan 9 15:21:46 PST 2009
Hey Folks, some more info regarding the US/Canada back and forth re: Obama
and his policy towards Canadian Aboriginal Peoples, especially around the
Tar Sands. I have been asked to speak to APTN about some of these issues
around Obama and Canada so please give me any comments you think might be
relevant. Yours,
Ben
-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Nadjiwon [mailto:Kevin.Nadjiwon at inac-ainc.gc.ca]
Sent: January 9, 2009 2:26 PM
To: wnadjiwon at yahoo.com
Subject: Various First Nation News
Canadian Natives Get U.S. Support
Alexandra Paul, Winnipeg Free Press
Canadian First Nations chiefs say aboriginal affairs advisers to U.S.
president-elect Barack Obama told them Thursday the new administration
will be in their corner in their push for aboriginal rights.
In a 20-minute meeting in Washington, the advisers suggested to the
assembly of chiefs from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the United
States that the new administration could support their push for more
control over oil and mineral resources.
More importantly, they said Obama may also reverse current U.S.
President George Bush's decision to refuse to sign onto the United
Nations Declaration of Indigenous Rights, which supports the right of
First Nations to live free from discrimination, protect their cultures
and "maintain and strengthen their own institutions."
Canada, along with Australia and New Zealand, also refused to sign
the declaration.
One of the chiefs, Manitoba Treaty One Chief Glenn Hudson from Peguis
First Nation, said the meeting capped a trip to Washington to raise
support for aboriginal rights.
The group included 20 aboriginal chiefs, including four Treaty One
chiefs from Manitoba and several American chiefs, Hudson said by phone
after the meeting with Obama's advisers.
Hudson hopes a sympathetic administration under Obama will put
political pressure on Ottawa to reconsider its refusal to share oil and
gas revenue with aboriginal groups that claim territory along two
pipeline routes.
The chiefs flew to Washington seeking support from the Obama
administration for aboriginal and treaty rights -- specifically, a
multimillion-dollar share of revenues from two new oil and gas pipelines
that will carry 1.9 million barrels of oil a day from Alberta across the
Prairies to the American Midwest when they open in 2012.
The United Nations Declaration of Indigenous Rights is a non-binding
resolution which, among other things, asserts the right of "indigenous
peoples" to "maintain and strengthen their own institutions, cultures
and traditions" and to "to pursue their own visions of economic and
social development."
The U.S. rejected the declaration for being "unclear" in its
definition of what constituted indigenous people. In Canada, the Harper
government held back from signing the declaration in 2007, claiming that
some sections in it might force governments to get the consent of First
Nations before passing new laws, or quash existing land claim
settlements.
"It's not balanced, in our view, and inconsistent with the Charter,"
said Chuck Strahl, minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.
Dozens of groups, including Native Americans, see in Obama a symbol
of hope -- an attitude shared by aboriginal leaders in Canada. Obama
campaigned actively on Indian reservations, which narrowed the race in
traditionally Republican states such as Montana. He was the first
presidential candidate to be adopted as a member of the Crow Nation,
under the name Barack Black Eagle.
______________________________________________
November 2008 Aboriginal activist conference in Winnipeg leads to
"action plan (including) an economic strategy, direct action planning, a
communications strategy, identifying barriers, strengthening national
networks, spiritual foundations and addressing local community needs"
(Rabble.ca alternative news page, 08Jan09)
http://rabble.ca/news/defenders-land-take-action-across-country
_____________________________________________
Winter roads: NAN Grand Chief "urging the Ministry of Transportation to
rethink its planned closure of three bridges (over the Badesdowa River
(Mud River), Otoskwin River and Pipestone River) connecting 16 remote
communities within the NAN territory to the south through the winter
road network" (Nishnawbe Aski Nation statement; K-Net News, 08Jan09)
http://media.knet.ca/node/6138
______________________________________________
"Native land talks back on track" (Brantford Expositor, 09Jan09)
http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1379647
______________________________________________
"A new classroom guide to the clans of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) is
being welcomed by educators as an initiative that will help address a
gap in the school curriculum." (Indian Country Today, 08Jan09)
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/living/education/37223614.html
_______________________________________________
Seine River, Rainy River: Ontario to conduct "airborne geophysical
survey as part of an enhanced geoscience program" in area near FNs
(Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) news release,
08Jan09)
http://www.mndm.gov.on.ca/news/NRView.asp?NRNUM=6&NRYear=2009&NRLAN=EN&N
RID=5286
MNDM map of area
http://www.mndm.gov.on.ca/news/docs/Mine-Centre-Survey-location-map_e.jp
g
Map showing nearby FNs
http://www.quikmaps.com/show/89847
--Forwarded Message Attachment--
Subject: [Special Edition] ENERGY JUSTICE IN TURTLE ISLAND – NORTH AMERICA
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 21:18:02 -0500
From: ienonlinenews at igc.org
To: desautm at psac-afpc.com
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January 8, 2009
In This Issue:
ENERGY JUSTICE IN TURTLE ISLAND – NORTH AMERICA
Defenders of the Black Hills
Urgent Action Needed!
Letter to President-elect Obama from AIM - Clyde Bellecourt
Canadian Indigenous Peoples Fighting for their rights, fighting for their
land
ENERGY JUSTICE IN TURTLE ISLAND ג€" NORTH AMERICA
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The Indigenous Environmental Network and Rainforest Action Network produced
this statement in response to a lobby effort in Washington DC by Treaty One
Chiefs of Manitoba, Canada on January 8, 2008 regarding the Enbridge Alberta
Clipper and the TransCanada Keystone Project. This statement that focuses on
providing an Alberta First Nations perspective on the Tar Sands issue. (see
link below)
Indigenous Message to Obama to Issue a Presidential Order to Halt All
Processes for Approval of the Expansion of Oil Sands Pipeline Infrastructure
Entering the United States and to Support Alberta First Nation Chiefs Demand
to Canada for a Moratorium on all Expansion of Canadian Tar Sands
Development.
January 08, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Clayton Thomas-Muller, IEN Tar Sands Campaigner cell 218 760 6632
Eriel Deranger, Rainforest Action Network Tar Sands Campaigner, Member of
Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) cell 587 785 1558
Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director, Indigenous Environmental Network cell 218
760 0442
Ottawa, Canada - First Nation Chiefs from northern Alberta Canada are not
able to attend the January 8 event in Washington, D.C. The Chiefs, elders
and youth representatives of Fort Chipewyan, Alberta Canada are experiencing
firsthand the assault of unsustainable energy development that has destroyed
their environment and subsistence lifestyle that has sustained them since
time immemorial. This energy development is called the tar/oil sands
development, that has been called the "Worlds' Most Destructive Project on
Earth". A large portion of Canadian oil coming to the United States is
extracted from the oil sands at a tremendous cost to the environment, water,
and climate change and infringing on the aboriginal rights of First Nations
people downstream of the tar sands development zone. The First Nations
living in the energy sacrifice zone of the tar sands wanted to stand in
solidarity with other Chiefs from Canada's First Nations traveling to the
U.S. capitol to seek the support of President Elect Obama in their fight for
human rights.
It is with prayer and with strong hearts that all First Nations and American
Indian and Alaska Natives are asking President Elect Obama to take action
that recognizes the sovereign Indigenous nations in Canada and the USA whose
inherent rights are being violated. The Canadian government continues to
fail to recognize its responsibility and duty to consult with the Indigenous
frontline communities that lay directly within the path of destruction
involved with the extraction, processing and transportation of fossil fuels
in Canada, including its exportation of dirty high carbon oil to the U.S. In
February of 2008 all 43 First Nation Alberta Chiefs signed a resolution
requesting a moratorium on all new tar sands permits. However, the province
and the federal government continue to grant approvals for new expansions in
the area.
The Canadian government is further compounding land and water rights issues
with the approval and construction of expansion projects infringing into
traditional territories in Northern Saskatchewan as well as Alberta. The
projects for the delivering of this crude oil include major pipeline
construction in traditional Indigenous territories in Alberta, Saskatchewan,
Manitoba, British Columbia and much of the mid-western USA states. The bulk
of these projects have been pushed forward without any adequate consultation
with the Indigenous communities and without recognition of the principles of
free, prior and informed consent.
There are high profile litigations by Alberta based First Nations underway
on this issue, most notably Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. ACFN is
seeking a number of declarations from the Court, including asking the Court
to rule that the Alberta Government has:
1. A duty to consult and accommodate ACFN prior to granting the challenged
tenures;
2. Breached their duty to consult by failing to consult prior to granting
the Challenged tenures; and
3. A duty to consult on the scope and extent of the ACFN's Treaty Rights and
other Aboriginal interests and concerns, prior to granting the challenged
tenures.
Beaver Lake Cree Nation of Treaty 6 (BCFN) launched a massive civil lawsuit
against the federal and Alberta governments, claiming unbridled oil and gas
development in its traditional territory renders its treaty rights
meaningless. BCFN claims the developments have forced band members out of
traditional areas, degraded the environment and reduced wildlife
populations, making it impossible for them to meaningfully exercise their
Treaty 6 rights to hunt, trap and fish.
When considering energy production and resource extraction, the incoming
administration must take into account the disproportionate impacts of
climate change and energy development on the first inhabitants of this
Turtle Island - North America. When considering energy and climate change
policy, it is important that the White House and federal agencies consider
the history of energy and mineral exploitation and Indigenous Nations, and
the potential to create a dramatic change with innovative policies. Too
often tribes are presented with a false choice: either develop polluting
energy resources or remain in dire poverty. Economic development need not
come at the cost of maintaining cultural identity and thriving ecosystems.
The Indigenous Environmental Network, the First Nations of northern Alberta
and all Indigenous Nations want to work with President Elect Barack Obama
and his administration for catalyzing green reservation economies - not the
continuation of an unsustainable fossil fuel economy.
A just nation-to-nation relationship means breaking the cycle of asking
First Nations of Canada or American Indians and Alaska Natives to choose
between economic development and preservation of its cultures and lands.
Renewable energy and efficiency improvements provide opportunity to do both
simultaneously. A green, carbon-reduced energy policy has major national and
international human rights, environmental and financial consequences, and we
believe that this administration can provide groundbreaking leadership on
this policy. The reality is that the most efficient, green economy will need
the vast wind and solar resources that lie on Indigenous lands in the U.S.
and Canada. This provides the foundation of not only a green low carbon
economy but also catalyzes development of tremendous human and economic
potential in the poorest community in the United States and Canada - Turtle
Island.
________________________________
Canadian Indigenous Community to Deliver Message of Oil and Human Rights to
Preseident-Elect Obama <
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Delegation follows in centuries-long tradition of delegations of American
Indians traveling to Washington, DC to meet the "Great White Father."
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- In the tradition of delegations
of American Indians traveling in the late 1800s to Washington, DC to meet
the "Great White Father," Chiefs from Canada's First Nations will be
traveling to the U.S. capital to seek the support of President Elect Obama
in their fight for Human Rights. A First Nations delegation of Chiefs from
across Canada will be in Washington D.C. on January 8th 2009, 12 days before
the Inauguration of President-Elect Obama.
Defenders of the Black Hills
Urgent Action Needed!
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For the past two years we have been asking that letters be sent to South
Dakota Governor Mike Rounds requesting a moratorium on further uranium
development until the old mines are cleaned up. He has always replied in the
negative. Therefore we are now approaching the South Dakota legislature who
is starting their sessions in Pierre, SD.
Links for two form letters addressed to Representatives Hunhoff and Lange
can be found at the end of this article (in both html and pdf formats).
The facts in the form letters are based on studies and research. It would
greatly help these two representatives if they could approach their
colleagues with hundreds of letters asking for a moratorium on further
uranium development. Please make copies of the enclosed letters and have
your friends and relatives sign them, then send them immediately to Bernie
Hunhoff and Gerry Lange. Let's get as many letters to them as possible.
Anyone living anywhere can send a letter because the uranium is used all
over the world in power plants or weapons.
If you live in South Dakota, it would also help if you would send a similar
letter, or group of letters, to your own state Senator or Representative as
well as these letter to Hunhoff and Lange. Letters to the Editor of South
Dakota newspapers are also needed. Please also consider sending a letter to
the editor encouraging a moratorium on further nuclear development in SD.
Together, we can all make our environment safe from nuclear radiation by
starting at where the nuclear cycle starts with the exploration and mining.
Thank you.
Charmaine White Face, Coordinator
Defenders of the Black Hills
P. O. Box 2003
Rapid City, SD 57709
Phone: (605) 399 -1868
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to view/download PDF Letters File
Click Here <
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to view/download HTML Letters File
Defenders of the Black Hills Website <
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Letter to President-elect Obama from Clyde Bellecourt - AIM Grand Governing
Council
<http://img.mynewsletterbuilder.com/userdata/ienearth/images/aim_300x151.jpg>
President-elect Barack Obama
Transitional Team
Washington D.C. 20720
Dear Mr. President-elect,
In this year of hope and change, please accept my expression of
congratulations and best wishes to you, your family and your administration,
as the American Indian Movement unites with many Native people from across
the hemisphere who welcome your victory. A vision of democracy is being
fulfilled in our time and before the eyes of the world.
Tribal communities and governments clearly heard your commitment to reform
the broken systems that manage and administer trust lands and other trust
assets belonging to tribes and individual Indians. Your support of legal
protections for our sacred places also encourages our governments and
communities to believe that you will arduously defend the sanctity of our
ancestral domains. The commitments made and in your principles statement
echo the very concerns that summon representatives of indigenous governments
to Washington on the eve of an historic inauguration.
It is in support of these Native American heads of state that I write to
you. They bear on this journey of the burden of the future of our children,
and their children's great, great, great grandchildren to be. Your
administration will take office with clear understanding of conditions faced
by Native American people in both the United States and Canada - conditions
that defy reason to people throughout the global community. No one can
understand how an eight-year old Canadian First Nations child could commit
suicide in the heart of her community; or why elders can not heat their
homes, while two-million of dirty oil swiftly cross their backyards,
threatening sacred world heritage sites. International media can not resolve
to their audiences United States resistance to the abundantly clear need for
justice in the billons of dollars under the eight-year long Indian Trust
Lawsuit, while approved bailouts in the trillions for investors and
lending-houses appear nearly overnight and apparently abandon all rules and
accountability in favor of the most privileged.
Last year, many people heard the name that the Crow People bestowed on you
when they made you a relative: "One Who Helps People Throughout the Land."
Our children are falling prey to human trafficking, our young parents are
losing hope with unemployment levels that exceed the national average by
1,000 percent; and the very health of our Elders is stolen from them
little-by-little each day, deprived of the dignity that we have always
reserved for them at this time in their lives, since time immemorial: these
are the people that need your help. The chiefs calling on your office bear
in mind the right to property that the United States records in the Bill of
Rights and in numerous treaties on both sides of the border, which is absent
in the Canadian Charter of Rights a and Freedoms. The Alberta Clipper and
TransCanada Keystone Project that stands to benefit business and the general
public in trillions of dollars may be built on the ruin of thousands of
Native lives, if the United States fails to pressure Ottawa into compliance
with their high courts in the matter of consultation and inclusion that you
have emphasized as a principle.
Our hereditary leaders, Elders and the emissaries of our traditional
governments who comprise the International Indigenous Treaty Council began
the task three decades ago of working in the United Nations and securing
international agreement on the inherent rights of our Peoples, our cultures,
our children and indeed our future on Mother Earth. The unceasing work of
many people finally gained passage of that agreement a little over a year
ago. Article 19 speaks to one of the concerns that we bring to your
attention. "States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the
indigenous peoples concern through their own representative institutions in
order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and
implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them."
I urge you to take with serious regard the concerns of our chiefs, delegates
to the Assembly of First Nations Canada, as we recall your words that "few
have been ignored by Washington for as long as Native Americans - First
Americans." The world will not ignore what you say, but our leaders need to
know that you hear the voices they represent from throughout the land.
Most respectfully,
Clyde H. Bellecourt
Nee-Gon-Nway-Wee-Dung, "Thunder before the Storm"
Co-Founder and National Director, American Indian Movement
Canadian Indigenous Peoples Fighting for their rights, fighting for their
land
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The Defenders of the Land gathering took place from November 12-14 at the
Indian and M?tis Friendship Centre in Winnipeg, MB. Over 60 Indigenous
participants, coming from 31 different communities in 7 provinces, and 22
non-Indigenous supporters from 5 provinces, were in attendance. Including
the organizing process and the conference itself, Defenders of the Land
involved Indigenous people from 39 different communities in 8 provinces and
1 territory. All those involved in the process have a history and track
record of involvement in land and self-determination struggles or solidarity
work. As such, the gathering was a historic moment of refoundation for
Indigenous political struggles in Canada. The event was organized by
representatives from different First Nations across the country – from BC to
Labrador – with The Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), as an
Indigenous-led, Indigenous- staffed environmental justice organization
members of the First Nations Environmental Network, Indigenous Network on
Economies and Trade (INET) and two or three non-Native supporters playing a
facilitating/support role.
The colonization of North America began over 500 years ago. But the process
continues today through government policies that actively create divisions
within Native communities.
The devastation of Indigenous lands means a loss of culture for First
Nations in Canada whose spirituality is grounded on the sanctity of Mother
Earth. It also means their resources and livelihoods are squandered away,
resulting in mass poverty. These processes of extraction produce hazardous
waste, leaving the surrounding communities with the lingering health
effects. Corporate interests are pursued over community consultation.
"Our number one enemy hasn't change over the last 500 years," says Milton of
the Blackfoot Lonefighters Society. "It's called extermination."
Fighting for their rights, fighting for their land
But across the nation many call Canada Natives like Milton are standing up
and fighting for their rights.
In Barriere Lake the traditional leadership is struggling to regain their
title after a minority faction supported by the government took control in a
contested election. Customary Chief Benjamin Nottaway was deposed earlier
this year in what he calls, "an administrative coup d'?tat." Algonquins of
Barriere Lake and supporters blockaded a highway late last year to demand
that the 1991 trilateral agreement on resource extraction be honoured and
that Canada appoint an observer to witness a new leadership selection
according to Barriere Lake's Customary Governance Code. Nottaway was
arrested and sentenced to 45 days in prison for the peaceful protest.
Across B.C. people have been organizing to block developments for the 2010
Olympic Games for the last five years. While the leaders of the Four Host
Nations have signed an agreement with VANOC (the Vancouver Olympics
organizing committee), many locals oppose the deal because it means the
destruction of ecologically sensitive areas to pave the way for highways;
development projects on Native lands; and the social cleansing of the
Downtown Eastside as the housing crisis is aggravated.
The Ardoch Algonquin First Nation (AAFN) fight against uranium exploration
in their area continues. Although their neighbours, the Algonquins of
Ontario and the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, have recently signed a deal
with Frontenac Ventures to allow uranium exploration in Ardoch, AAFN
maintain their stance that no uranium drilling should take place in the area
around Sharbot Lake. <http://www.ienearth.org/images/DSC04346.JPG>
Ardoch Algonquin leader Bob Lovelace was jailed this past spring for
peacefully protesting outside the Robertsville mine. His sentence was
eventually dropped when the Court of Appeal decided that Justice Cunningham
should have ensured Ontario consulted with the Algonquins before ordering
them to end their protest and then jailing them when they continued to
demand consultations in defiance of Cunningham's injunction. Frontenac
appealed this decision, but earlier this month the Supreme Court dismissed
their appeal. "The government will no longer be able to ignore its legal
responsibilities while we are jailed for trying to uphold the law. We will
continue to resist uranium mining and exploration and we call on the
government to finally begin consultations with us so that further conflict
and litigation can be avoided," said Lovelace.
In Six Nations they are working with residents in Cayuga, Kitchener-Waterloo
and Guelph to halt dumping at a landfill that has violated Ministry of
Environment regulations numerous times. When a dump truck came in, after
about a year of inactivity, to Cayuga's Edward Street Landfill in early
December, the only thing that was dumped were five protesters into the
nearby detention centre. The blockade set up by supporters effectively
turned around the dump truck, stopping it from unloading in Cayuga.
About 24 hours to the north, Grassy Narrows marked the six-year anniversary
of their logging blockade on Dec 2, 2008. It is the longest standing
blockade in North America. Downstream from the tar sands, the Fort Chipewyan
community also in early in December took the government to court for not
consulting them on resource extraction in their community. The government is
obliged by law to consult with First Nations before granting leases to
resource companies.
Important activist gathering in Winnipeg
This flood of activity has come just a month after grassroots activists at
the forefront of the fight for Native rights came together from across the
nation to participate in the Defenders of the Land Gathering in Winnipeg
from Nov 12 to 14. The meeting was organized with the intention of creating
a national network of Indigenous groups that would work outside of the
Assembly of First Nations (AFN). This marks a historic turning point in the
struggle for Indigenous sovereignty.
The timing of the gathering also coincided with the Conservative Party
convention occurring at Winnipeg Convention Centre. Participating Indigenous
leaders and grassroots activists from Mohawk, Anishinabe, Ojibway, Cree,
Dene, Athabasca Chipewyan and Algonquin Nations along with supporters
including myself decided to pay Harper a visit at the convention centre,
hoping to present him with a letter. But when we got there security would
not allow us entrance. Instead, the letter, which called on the Harper
government to fulfill their obligations to Canada's First Nations by signing
onto the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, was handed over
to a security guard. Canada is one of only four nations not to sign the
declaration.
<http://www.ienearth.org/images/DSC04389.JPG> Michael Welch from Canadians
Concerned about Deep Integration spoke at a rally outside the Tory
convention organized by the Real Majority Agenda Coalition the following
day. "It's often been said that our most important international
relationship is with the United States of America. But that is not true. Our
most important international relationship is in fact with the Indigenous
nations from across the land from coast to coast and when their emissaries
come to your convention and they have a list of concerns you don't have
police chase them as if they're some kind of a nuisance you come out here
and talk to them and show them some respect," said Welch.
Sick of the tar sands
The first day of the Defenders Gathering allowed participants to share with
each other the struggles they were facing within their own communities. We
heard from Milton who explained how the government commissioning a dam in
Alberta divided their community. We heard about the 70 people in Fort
Chipewyan, Alberta who have for "unexplainable reasons" developed cancer.
"I don't care if the whole world knows I have cancer as long as the I can
get out the voice of our community," said on young woman who was near tears.
The tar sands upstream in Fort McMurray are polluting their water and
poisoning the fish they eat. Many people in the area around the tar sands
are sick and dying. "They're profiting off our deaths," says Lionel Lepine
of Fort Chipewyan.
New (white man) Olympic Games, some old colonial story
Ange Sterritt talked about people promoting the "white man games" in B.C. To
deal with high traffic during the Olympics the Sea-to-Sky Highway is being
increased to four lanes in some parts, destroying the trees and animals in
B.C. Sterritt said the more she thought about it, the more she realized it's
colonialism that they're really promoting. "The system is set up to create
destruction within our people," added Carol Martin from the Downtown
Eastside Women's Centre.
When Judy DaSilva from Grassy Narrows got up to speak she reiterated that
her story is the "same story as everywhere. The pollution. The sickness."
She explained that, "When the young woman and man were standing up there
talking about cancer, it's the same in Grassy. It's the same in Akwesasne."
The land is being hurt and it is killing not only the local wildlife, but it
is slowly killing off the people too. But she is hopeful. DaSilva says that
connection to the land and to the creator is what will help us to win.
"We've got to do it together holding hands." She says she wants to come out
of the meeting with a plan to make the government and the corporations
"hurt".
Lyle Morrisseau, a representative of the First Peoples National Party, a
political party that advocates for Native rights, says we all have struggles
and have to unify our efforts. "All these struggles have an impact on
Indigenous people, land, water and the environment."
Unity needed on the path ahead
In the discussion on commonalities the idea of unity was put into practice.
We see in all these stories jurisdictional disputes with the government and
broken agreements; genocidal policies like residential schools have been
replaced by an economic genocide whereby money is used to divide people
sometimes ending in disputes between band councils and traditional
leadership; the common enemy is industry and the environment and humans and
the environment are both sick.
However, the unity of people can overcome these common battles. There was a
strong sense in the room that the strength of the women and commitment to
land would bring us through. I witnessed one woman share her dream with
another woman before embracing with a hug in the washroom at the Native
Metis Friendship Centre. It was a dream about unity that had come to her
following a ceremony in Six Nations with her brothers from North Dakota.
An action plan was created which included an economic strategy, direct
action planning, a communications strategy, identifying barriers,
strengthening national networks, spiritual foundations and addressing local
community needs. Now that everyone is back in their home communities the
test of unity will begin and path to the creation of a new world can begin
being forged.
*Carmelle Wolfson has been supporting Grassy Narrows in their fight to stop
logging on their lands since 2005. She spent three months in the summer of
2006 camping out at the Slant Lake Blockade in Grassy, and is currently
working on a documentary about the Grassy Narrows solidarity movement. *
-----------
Turtle Island Defenders of the Earth
The Indigenous Environmental Network • PO Box 485 • Bemidji , MN 56619
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From: <ienonlinenews at igc.org>
To: <desautm at psac-afpc.com>
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 21:18:02 -0500
Subject: [Special Edition] ENERGY JUSTICE IN TURTLE ISLAND – NORTH AMERICA
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January 8, 2009
In This Issue:
ENERGY JUSTICE IN TURTLE ISLAND – NORTH AMERICA
Defenders of the Black Hills
Urgent Action Needed!
Letter to President-elect Obama from AIM - Clyde Bellecourt
Canadian Indigenous Peoples Fighting for their rights, fighting for their
land
ENERGY JUSTICE IN TURTLE ISLAND ג€" NORTH AMERICA
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The Indigenous Environmental Network and Rainforest Action Network produced
this statement in response to a lobby effort in Washington DC by Treaty One
Chiefs of Manitoba, Canada on January 8, 2008 regarding the Enbridge Alberta
Clipper and the TransCanada Keystone Project. This statement that focuses on
providing an Alberta First Nations perspective on the Tar Sands issue. (see
link below)
Indigenous Message to Obama to Issue a Presidential Order to Halt All
Processes for Approval of the Expansion of Oil Sands Pipeline Infrastructure
Entering the United States and to Support Alberta First Nation Chiefs Demand
to Canada for a Moratorium on all Expansion of Canadian Tar Sands
Development.
January 08, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Clayton Thomas-Muller, IEN Tar Sands Campaigner cell 218 760 6632
Eriel Deranger, Rainforest Action Network Tar Sands Campaigner, Member of
Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) cell 587 785 1558
Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director, Indigenous Environmental Network cell 218
760 0442
Ottawa, Canada - First Nation Chiefs from northern Alberta Canada are not
able to attend the January 8 event in Washington, D.C. The Chiefs, elders
and youth representatives of Fort Chipewyan, Alberta Canada are experiencing
firsthand the assault of unsustainable energy development that has destroyed
their environment and subsistence lifestyle that has sustained them since
time immemorial. This energy development is called the tar/oil sands
development, that has been called the "Worlds' Most Destructive Project on
Earth". A large portion of Canadian oil coming to the United States is
extracted from the oil sands at a tremendous cost to the environment, water,
and climate change and infringing on the aboriginal rights of First Nations
people downstream of the tar sands development zone. The First Nations
living in the energy sacrifice zone of the tar sands wanted to stand in
solidarity with other Chiefs from Canada's First Nations traveling to the
U.S. capitol to seek the support of President Elect Obama in their fight for
human rights.
It is with prayer and with strong hearts that all First Nations and American
Indian and Alaska Natives are asking President Elect Obama to take action
that recognizes the sovereign Indigenous nations in Canada and the USA whose
inherent rights are being violated. The Canadian government continues to
fail to recognize its responsibility and duty to consult with the Indigenous
frontline communities that lay directly within the path of destruction
involved with the extraction, processing and transportation of fossil fuels
in Canada, including its exportation of dirty high carbon oil to the U.S.
In February of 2008 all 43 First Nation Alberta Chiefs signed a resolution
requesting a moratorium on all new tar sands permits. However, the province
and the federal government continue to grant approvals for new expansions in
the area.
The Canadian government is further compounding land and water rights issues
with the approval and construction of expansion projects infringing into
traditional territories in Northern Saskatchewan as well as Alberta. The
projects for the delivering of this crude oil include major pipeline
construction in traditional Indigenous territories in Alberta, Saskatchewan,
Manitoba, British Columbia and much of the mid-western USA states. The bulk
of these projects have been pushed forward without any adequate consultation
with the Indigenous communities and without recognition of the principles of
free, prior and informed consent.
There are high profile litigations by Alberta based First Nations underway
on this issue, most notably Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. ACFN is
seeking a number of declarations from the Court, including asking the Court
to rule that the Alberta Government has:
1. A duty to consult and accommodate ACFN prior to granting the
challenged tenures;
2. Breached their duty to consult by failing to consult prior to
granting the Challenged tenures; and
3. A duty to consult on the scope and extent of the ACFN's Treaty
Rights and other Aboriginal interests and concerns, prior to granting the
challenged tenures.
Beaver Lake Cree Nation of Treaty 6 (BCFN) launched a massive civil lawsuit
against the federal and Alberta governments, claiming unbridled oil and gas
development in its traditional territory renders its treaty rights
meaningless. BCFN claims the developments have forced band members out of
traditional areas, degraded the environment and reduced wildlife
populations, making it impossible for them to meaningfully exercise their
Treaty 6 rights to hunt, trap and fish.
When considering energy production and resource extraction, the incoming
administration must take into account the disproportionate impacts of
climate change and energy development on the first inhabitants of this
Turtle Island - North America. When considering energy and climate change
policy, it is important that the White House and federal agencies consider
the history of energy and mineral exploitation and Indigenous Nations, and
the potential to create a dramatic change with innovative policies. Too
often tribes are presented with a false choice: either develop polluting
energy resources or remain in dire poverty. Economic development need not
come at the cost of maintaining cultural identity and thriving ecosystems.
The Indigenous Environmental Network, the First Nations of northern Alberta
and all Indigenous Nations want to work with President Elect Barack Obama
and his administration for catalyzing green reservation economies - not the
continuation of an unsustainable fossil fuel economy.
A just nation-to-nation relationship means breaking the cycle of asking
First Nations of Canada or American Indians and Alaska Natives to choose
between economic development and preservation of its cultures and lands.
Renewable energy and efficiency improvements provide opportunity to do both
simultaneously. A green, carbon-reduced energy policy has major national and
international human rights, environmental and financial consequences, and we
believe that this administration can provide groundbreaking leadership on
this policy. The reality is that the most efficient, green economy will need
the vast wind and solar resources that lie on Indigenous lands in the U.S.
and Canada. This provides the foundation of not only a green low carbon
economy but also catalyzes development of tremendous human and economic
potential in the poorest community in the United States and Canada - Turtle
Island.
________________________________
Canadian Indigenous Community to Deliver Message of Oil and Human Rights to
Preseident-Elect Obama <
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Delegation follows in centuries-long tradition of delegations of American
Indians traveling to Washington, DC to meet the "Great White Father."
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- In the tradition of delegations
of American Indians traveling in the late 1800s to Washington, DC to meet
the "Great White Father," Chiefs from Canada's First Nations will be
traveling to the U.S. capital to seek the support of President Elect Obama
in their fight for Human Rights. A First Nations delegation of Chiefs from
across Canada will be in Washington D.C. on January 8th 2009, 12 days before
the Inauguration of President-Elect Obama.
Defenders of the Black Hills
Urgent Action Needed!
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For the past two years we have been asking that letters be sent to South
Dakota Governor Mike Rounds requesting a moratorium on further uranium
development until the old mines are cleaned up. He has always replied in the
negative. Therefore we are now approaching the South Dakota legislature who
is starting their sessions in Pierre, SD.
Links for two form letters addressed to Representatives Hunhoff and Lange
can be found at the end of this article (in both html and pdf formats).
The facts in the form letters are based on studies and research. It would
greatly help these two representatives if they could approach their
colleagues with hundreds of letters asking for a moratorium on further
uranium development. Please make copies of the enclosed letters and have
your friends and relatives sign them, then send them immediately to Bernie
Hunhoff and Gerry Lange. Let's get as many letters to them as possible.
Anyone living anywhere can send a letter because the uranium is used all
over the world in power plants or weapons.
If you live in South Dakota, it would also help if you would send a similar
letter, or group of letters, to your own state Senator or Representative as
well as these letter to Hunhoff and Lange. Letters to the Editor of South
Dakota newspapers are also needed. Please also consider sending a letter to
the editor encouraging a moratorium on further nuclear development in SD.
Together, we can all make our environment safe from nuclear radiation by
starting at where the nuclear cycle starts with the exploration and mining.
Thank you.
Charmaine White Face, Coordinator
Defenders of the Black Hills
P. O. Box 2003
Rapid City, SD 57709
Phone: (605) 399 -1868
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Letter to President-elect Obama from Clyde Bellecourt - AIM Grand Governing
Council
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President-elect Barack Obama
Transitional Team
Washington D.C. 20720
Dear Mr. President-elect,
In this year of hope and change, please accept my expression of
congratulations and best wishes to you, your family and your administration,
as the American Indian Movement unites with many Native people from across
the hemisphere who welcome your victory. A vision of democracy is being
fulfilled in our time and before the eyes of the world.
Tribal communities and governments clearly heard your commitment to reform
the broken systems that manage and administer trust lands and other trust
assets belonging to tribes and individual Indians. Your support of legal
protections for our sacred places also encourages our governments and
communities to believe that you will arduously defend the sanctity of our
ancestral domains. The commitments made and in your principles statement
echo the very concerns that summon representatives of indigenous governments
to Washington on the eve of an historic inauguration.
It is in support of these Native American heads of state that I write to
you. They bear on this journey of the burden of the future of our children,
and their children's great, great, great grandchildren to be. Your
administration will take office with clear understanding of conditions faced
by Native American people in both the United States and Canada - conditions
that defy reason to people throughout the global community. No one can
understand how an eight-year old Canadian First Nations child could commit
suicide in the heart of her community; or why elders can not heat their
homes, while two-million of dirty oil swiftly cross their backyards,
threatening sacred world heritage sites. International media can not resolve
to their audiences United States resistance to the abundantly clear need for
justice in the billons of dollars under the eight-year long Indian Trust
Lawsuit, while approved bailouts in the trillions for investors and
lending-houses appear nearly overnight and apparently abandon all rules and
accountability in favor of the most privileged.
Last year, many people heard the name that the Crow People bestowed on you
when they made you a relative: "One Who Helps People Throughout the Land."
Our children are falling prey to human trafficking, our young parents are
losing hope with unemployment levels that exceed the national average by
1,000 percent; and the very health of our Elders is stolen from them
little-by-little each day, deprived of the dignity that we have always
reserved for them at this time in their lives, since time immemorial: these
are the people that need your help. The chiefs calling on your office bear
in mind the right to property that the United States records in the Bill of
Rights and in numerous treaties on both sides of the border, which is absent
in the Canadian Charter of Rights a and Freedoms. The Alberta Clipper and
TransCanada Keystone Project that stands to benefit business and the general
public in trillions of dollars may be built on the ruin of thousands of
Native lives, if the United States fails to pressure Ottawa into compliance
with their high courts in the matter of consultation and inclusion that you
have emphasized as a principle.
Our hereditary leaders, Elders and the emissaries of our traditional
governments who comprise the International Indigenous Treaty Council began
the task three decades ago of working in the United Nations and securing
international agreement on the inherent rights of our Peoples, our cultures,
our children and indeed our future on Mother Earth. The unceasing work of
many people finally gained passage of that agreement a little over a year
ago. Article 19 speaks to one of the concerns that we bring to your
attention. "States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the
indigenous peoples concern through their own representative institutions in
order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and
implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them."
I urge you to take with serious regard the concerns of our chiefs, delegates
to the Assembly of First Nations Canada, as we recall your words that "few
have been ignored by Washington for as long as Native Americans - First
Americans." The world will not ignore what you say, but our leaders need to
know that you hear the voices they represent from throughout the land.
Most respectfully,
Clyde H. Bellecourt
Nee-Gon-Nway-Wee-Dung, "Thunder before the Storm"
Co-Founder and National Director, American Indian Movement
Canadian Indigenous Peoples Fighting for their rights, fighting for their
land
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The Defenders of the Land gathering took place from November 12-14 at the
Indian and M?tis Friendship Centre in Winnipeg, MB. Over 60 Indigenous
participants, coming from 31 different communities in 7 provinces, and 22
non-Indigenous supporters from 5 provinces, were in attendance. Including
the organizing process and the conference itself, Defenders of the Land
involved Indigenous people from 39 different communities in 8 provinces and
1 territory. All those involved in the process have a history and track
record of involvement in land and self-determination struggles or solidarity
work. As such, the gathering was a historic moment of refoundation for
Indigenous political struggles in Canada. The event was organized by
representatives from different First Nations across the country – from BC to
Labrador – with The Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), as an
Indigenous-led, Indigenous- staffed environmental justice organization
members of the First Nations Environmental Network, Indigenous Network on
Economies and Trade (INET) and two or three non-Native supporters playing a
facilitating/support role.
The colonization of North America began over 500 years ago. But the process
continues today through government policies that actively create divisions
within Native communities.
The devastation of Indigenous lands means a loss of culture for First
Nations in Canada whose spirituality is grounded on the sanctity of Mother
Earth. It also means their resources and livelihoods are squandered away,
resulting in mass poverty. These processes of extraction produce hazardous
waste, leaving the surrounding communities with the lingering health
effects. Corporate interests are pursued over community consultation.
"Our number one enemy hasn't change over the last 500 years," says Milton of
the Blackfoot Lonefighters Society. "It's called extermination."
Fighting for their rights, fighting for their land
But across the nation many call Canada Natives like Milton are standing up
and fighting for their rights.
In Barriere Lake the traditional leadership is struggling to regain their
title after a minority faction supported by the government took control in a
contested election. Customary Chief Benjamin Nottaway was deposed earlier
this year in what he calls, "an administrative coup d'?tat." Algonquins of
Barriere Lake and supporters blockaded a highway late last year to demand
that the 1991 trilateral agreement on resource extraction be honoured and
that Canada appoint an observer to witness a new leadership selection
according to Barriere Lake's Customary Governance Code. Nottaway was
arrested and sentenced to 45 days in prison for the peaceful protest.
Across B.C. people have been organizing to block developments for the 2010
Olympic Games for the last five years. While the leaders of the Four Host
Nations have signed an agreement with VANOC (the Vancouver Olympics
organizing committee), many locals oppose the deal because it means the
destruction of ecologically sensitive areas to pave the way for highways;
development projects on Native lands; and the social cleansing of the
Downtown Eastside as the housing crisis is aggravated.
The Ardoch Algonquin First Nation (AAFN) fight against uranium exploration
in their area continues. Although their neighbours, the Algonquins of
Ontario and the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, have recently signed a deal
with Frontenac Ventures to allow uranium exploration in Ardoch, AAFN
maintain their stance that no uranium drilling should take place in the area
around Sharbot Lake. <http://www.ienearth.org/images/DSC04346.JPG>
Ardoch Algonquin leader Bob Lovelace was jailed this past spring for
peacefully protesting outside the Robertsville mine. His sentence was
eventually dropped when the Court of Appeal decided that Justice Cunningham
should have ensured Ontario consulted with the Algonquins before ordering
them to end their protest and then jailing them when they continued to
demand consultations in defiance of Cunningham's injunction. Frontenac
appealed this decision, but earlier this month the Supreme Court dismissed
their appeal. "The government will no longer be able to ignore its legal
responsibilities while we are jailed for trying to uphold the law. We will
continue to resist uranium mining and exploration and we call on the
government to finally begin consultations with us so that further conflict
and litigation can be avoided," said Lovelace.
In Six Nations they are working with residents in Cayuga, Kitchener-Waterloo
and Guelph to halt dumping at a landfill that has violated Ministry of
Environment regulations numerous times. When a dump truck came in, after
about a year of inactivity, to Cayuga's Edward Street Landfill in early
December, the only thing that was dumped were five protesters into the
nearby detention centre. The blockade set up by supporters effectively
turned around the dump truck, stopping it from unloading in Cayuga.
About 24 hours to the north, Grassy Narrows marked the six-year anniversary
of their logging blockade on Dec 2, 2008. It is the longest standing
blockade in North America. Downstream from the tar sands, the Fort
Chipewyan community also in early in December took the government to court
for not consulting them on resource extraction in their community. The
government is obliged by law to consult with First Nations before granting
leases to resource companies.
Important activist gathering in Winnipeg
This flood of activity has come just a month after grassroots activists at
the forefront of the fight for Native rights came together from across the
nation to participate in the Defenders of the Land Gathering in Winnipeg
from Nov 12 to 14. The meeting was organized with the intention of creating
a national network of Indigenous groups that would work outside of the
Assembly of First Nations (AFN). This marks a historic turning point in the
struggle for Indigenous sovereignty.
The timing of the gathering also coincided with the Conservative Party
convention occurring at Winnipeg Convention Centre. Participating Indigenous
leaders and grassroots activists from Mohawk, Anishinabe, Ojibway, Cree,
Dene, Athabasca Chipewyan and Algonquin Nations along with supporters
including myself decided to pay Harper a visit at the convention centre,
hoping to present him with a letter. But when we got there security would
not allow us entrance. Instead, the letter, which called on the Harper
government to fulfill their obligations to Canada's First Nations by signing
onto the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, was handed over
to a security guard. Canada is one of only four nations not to sign the
declaration.
<http://www.ienearth.org/images/DSC04389.JPG> Michael Welch from Canadians
Concerned about Deep Integration spoke at a rally outside the Tory
convention organized by the Real Majority Agenda Coalition the following
day. "It's often been said that our most important international
relationship is with the United States of America. But that is not true. Our
most important international relationship is in fact with the Indigenous
nations from across the land from coast to coast and when their emissaries
come to your convention and they have a list of concerns you don't have
police chase them as if they're some kind of a nuisance you come out here
and talk to them and show them some respect," said Welch.
Sick of the tar sands
The first day of the Defenders Gathering allowed participants to share with
each other the struggles they were facing within their own communities. We
heard from Milton who explained how the government commissioning a dam in
Alberta divided their community. We heard about the 70 people in Fort
Chipewyan, Alberta who have for "unexplainable reasons" developed cancer.
"I don't care if the whole world knows I have cancer as long as the I can
get out the voice of our community," said on young woman who was near tears.
The tar sands upstream in Fort McMurray are polluting their water and
poisoning the fish they eat. Many people in the area around the tar sands
are sick and dying. "They're profiting off our deaths," says Lionel Lepine
of Fort Chipewyan.
New (white man) Olympic Games, some old colonial story
Ange Sterritt talked about people promoting the "white man games" in B.C. To
deal with high traffic during the Olympics the Sea-to-Sky Highway is being
increased to four lanes in some parts, destroying the trees and animals in
B.C. Sterritt said the more she thought about it, the more she realized it's
colonialism that they're really promoting. "The system is set up to create
destruction within our people," added Carol Martin from the Downtown
Eastside Women's Centre.
When Judy DaSilva from Grassy Narrows got up to speak she reiterated that
her story is the "same story as everywhere. The pollution. The sickness."
She explained that, "When the young woman and man were standing up there
talking about cancer, it's the same in Grassy. It's the same in Akwesasne."
The land is being hurt and it is killing not only the local wildlife, but it
is slowly killing off the people too. But she is hopeful. DaSilva says that
connection to the land and to the creator is what will help us to win.
"We've got to do it together holding hands." She says she wants to come out
of the meeting with a plan to make the government and the corporations
"hurt".
Lyle Morrisseau, a representative of the First Peoples National Party, a
political party that advocates for Native rights, says we all have struggles
and have to unify our efforts. "All these struggles have an impact on
Indigenous people, land, water and the environment."
Unity needed on the path ahead
In the discussion on commonalities the idea of unity was put into practice.
We see in all these stories jurisdictional disputes with the government and
broken agreements; genocidal policies like residential schools have been
replaced by an economic genocide whereby money is used to divide people
sometimes ending in disputes between band councils and traditional
leadership; the common enemy is industry and the environment and humans and
the environment are both sick.
However, the unity of people can overcome these common battles. There was a
strong sense in the room that the strength of the women and commitment to
land would bring us through. I witnessed one woman share her dream with
another woman before embracing with a hug in the washroom at the Native
Metis Friendship Centre. It was a dream about unity that had come to her
following a ceremony in Six Nations with her brothers from North Dakota.
An action plan was created which included an economic strategy, direct
action planning, a communications strategy, identifying barriers,
strengthening national networks, spiritual foundations and addressing local
community needs. Now that everyone is back in their home communities the
test of unity will begin and path to the creation of a new world can begin
being forged.
*Carmelle Wolfson has been supporting Grassy Narrows in their fight to stop
logging on their lands since 2005. She spent three months in the summer of
2006 camping out at the Slant Lake Blockade in Grassy, and is currently
working on a documentary about the Grassy Narrows solidarity movement. *
-----------
Turtle Island Defenders of the Earth
The Indigenous Environmental Network • PO Box 485 • Bemidji , MN 56619
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