[IPSM] [Oct 8] News Updates

[Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movment - Montreal]

[Oct 8] News Updates

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Check out Native Solidarity News on CKUT 90.3
every tuesday evening from 6-7pm for news
from around the world. www.ckut.ca/nsn
If you are interested in contributing to the
show, contact [news at ckut dot ca]
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

[I.P.S.M. note: Many of the articles we send out are
from the mainstream news. They likely contain biased
or distorted information and may be missing pertinent
facts and/or context. They are provided for reference
only.  If you have any news to report, feel free to
either post it to this list (ipsm-l at lists.resist.ca
or send it to ipsm at resist.ca]


(1)Haida win another victory
(2)Aboriginals will occupy churches and government offices across Canada
to recover remains of their people
(3)At least one other oil and gas company plans to drill a well in the
Mackenzie Delta this winter
(4)Pipeline court action miffs N.W.T
(5)Crown Conflict Raised in John Graham Case
(6)Rebels declare start date for Nigerian uprising
(7)Nigerian government launches assault on civilians in Delta region
(8)Indigenous Mobilization in Colombia
(9)Indifference to the safety of Indigenous women must end
(10)Nfld. premier says rash of suicides in Natuashish need attention
(11)Northwest Social Forum Cancelled
(12)Official Statement from a Grassy Narrows Youth
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

(1) Haida win another victory in court as they await big ruling in Ottawa
By GREG JOYCE

VANCOUVER (CP) - The Haida aboriginals of the Queen Charlotte Islands have
won another victory in court to force resource companies to consult them
before making decisions on land claimed by First Nations as traditional
territory.

The Haida and Weyerhaeuser are awaiting a major ruling by the Supreme
Court of Canada on the issue of whether a resource company has to consult
a First Nation when it replaces a tree farm licence or transfers ownership
from one company to another. The transfer in question referred to the sale
of a tree farm licence to Weyerhaeuser from MacMillan Bloedel after MB was
taken over by Weyerhaeuser.

The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled in 2002 that the Crown and Weyerhaeuser
owed a duty to the Haida to consult them and to seek to work out
accommodations with respect to the licence on the Queen Charlottes, which
the Haida refer to as Haida Gwaii. A part of that Appeal Court ruling was
an order that the Haida and Weyerhaeuser could apply
to a B.C. Supreme Court judge for interim rulings pending the decision
from the highest court.

The latest victory for the Haida came in a ruling this week by Justice
Stephen Kelleher of the B.C. Supreme Court after an application by the
Haida. He said that this summer "rumours were circulating" that
Weyerhaeuser was contemplating a sale or transfer of its interests - a
part of the tree farm licence. The judge said the Haida had received
information that Weyerhaeuser might sell or transfer its licence to an
operator who was already operating in Haida Gwaii. The judge noted that
the Appeal Court ruling made it clear that a licence to harvest timber
could not be
transferred without the consent of the Crown.

Moreover, the Appeal Court said the Crown, in deciding whether to consent
to the transfer of the licence to Weyerhaeuser from MacMillan Bloedel, was
obligated to consult with the Haida.

To further complicate matters, the B.C. government subsequently amended
the Forest Act and one amendment stated there is no longer a requirement
to obtain the consent of the Forests Minister when transferring an
interest in a tree farm licence.

Kelleher ruled that Weyerhaeuser must disclose to the Haida the identity
of a prospective transferee and the terms of the proposed transfer.

Weyerhaeuser spokeswoman Sarah Goodman suggested the ruling might be
appealed. "We see it really as a ruling about what appropriate information
needs to be exchanged between two parties," said Goodman. "And we do view
it as procedural. However, we are concerned some of the securities
implications of this and we are going to be looking very closely at our
legal options and a potential appeal."

Haida lawyer Louise Mandell said the ruling was "definitely a victory."
"The most important part about it is the duty (to consult) doesn't go away
because the province legislates away its control of the situation.

"And if the province doesn't have it, the court is prepared to put it on the
company." The Haida and Weyerhaeuser await a ruling from the nation's
highest court that followed arguments in March by dozens of lawyers.

Lawyers for the governments of Canada and all provinces except Quebec and
Manitoba argued there is no constitutional obligation to consult with
aboriginal people who claim title - but who have not proven title through
courts or treaties - to land about to be logged, mined or developed.

The case before the Supreme Court stems from the Haida case and another
one in which the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled the B.C. government failed to
properly consult the Taku River Tlingit on a mining project on a tributary
of the river in northwestern B.C.

In both cases, the Appeal Court noted the Supreme Court's landmark 1997
Delgamuuk decision that found government must consult with First Nations
about uses of Crown lands that infringe on aboriginal title.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

(2)Aboriginals will occupy churches and government offices across Canada
to recover remains of their people

Released by The Executive, The Truth Commission into Genocide in Canada

cc: Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights,
United Nations
    world media

October 6, 2004: Unceded Coast Salish Territory
("Vancouver, Canada")

A campaign of civil disobedience to expose and stop the Genocide of
indigenous people and their land will commence in major cities across
Canada on "Columbus Day", Monday, October 11, 2004.

The nine affiliated groups comprising The Truth Commission into Genocide
in Canada announced this campaign today in response to the refusal of the
government and churches of Canada to identify the secret burial sites of
more than 50,000 aboriginal children who died or were killed in church-run
"Indian residential schools".

The campaign will commence with selected protests outside the churches
responsible for the residential schools and will escalate into civil
disobedience and disruption of government facilities and church
activities. These churches include the Roman Catholic, Anglican,
Presbyterian and United Church of Canada.

"We have tried being polite and going through their court system, but
that's gotten us nowhere" commented Haida elder Wilfred Price of The Truth
Commission.

"Mass murder was done to my people and we demand to know where the
churches buried the children who never came home from the residential
schools. Innocent children were tortured, sterilized, and murdered. Their
spirits will never rest until their remains are brought home to their own
territory."

The Truth Commission has also instructed its member organizations to
support the efforts of indigenous people in Hawaii and elsewhere to force
the revoking of the Catholic church's infamous Inter Catera Bull of 1493,
which sanctioned and justified the conquest and Genocide of aboriginal
people by Christianity.

"European religion was the cause of the murder of over 90% of the Haida
Nation. My people are still dying in droves from the fallout of this
invasion, and our land is still being robbed and desecrated" said elder
Wilfred Price today. "Until those responsible for this
Genocide are brought to trial, there can be no rest, and no justice, for
any of us.

"I'm going to personally burn a copy of the Inter Catera Bull outside a
Catholic church to show that the days of religious control of my people
are over."

The Week of Action has received the endorsement of indigenous and human
rights groups in Guatemala, the United States, England and Germany. Its
aim is to force an international inquiry by the United Nations into the
past and present Genocide of aboriginal people in Canada.

To learn more about the Week of Action, and to support and endorse its
efforts, contact The Truth Commission into Genocide in Canada:

In Canada: 1-888-265-1007 (messages)
           genocideincanada at yahoo.ca

Outside Canada: kevinannett at yahoo.ca

Websites:  www.hiddenfrommhistory.org
           http://canadiangenocide.nativeweb.org


+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
(3)INUVIK - At least one other oil and gas company plans to drill a well
in the Mackenzie Delta this winter.

Chevron Canada has told CBC of plans to drill a well on Ellis Island.

The company is also considering an amibitious seismic program.

That includes surveying 135 square kilometres around Gary Island.

FROM SEPT. 23, 2004: Beaufort exploration programs level off

An Indian and Northern Affairs report concludes that Gary Island contains
one of the delta's largest gas deposits after the Taglu, Niglintgak and
Parsons Lake gas fields.

It is believed to contain between 100-500 billion cubic feet of gas.

"We have proposed four seismic programs for 2004," says Chevron
spokesperson Dave Palmers. "And again we've submitted our regulatory
applications and we haven't got back all our approvals yet."

Parsons says the company expects to confirm its plans in the next month.

The government report also states that the Gary Island region contains
between 10-25 million barrels of oil.


+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
(4) Pipeline court action miffs N.W.T. [Government Indians].
WebPosted Oct 5 2004 09:46 AM CDT

YELLOWKNIFE - Some aboriginal leaders from the Mackenzie Valley are
opposed to court action that would delay the proposed pipeline project.
Last month the Deh Cho First Nation filed two lawsuits to halt the
Mackenzie Valley joint panel review.

The review will conduct hearings on the pipeline after an application to
build it is filed.

Leaders representing the Inuvialuit, the Sahtu and the Gwich'in met with
Deh Cho First Nation Grand Chief Herb Norwegian in Inuvik on Friday.

Nellie Cournoyea, who chairs the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, says the
purpose of the meeting was to tell Norwegian where the other aboriginal
groups stand.

"These three groups feel offended that no consideration was taken by the
Deh Cho as to how these actions are going to affect us," she says.

Cournoyea says the panel took $2 million and two years to put in place,
and she says aboriginal groups in the Mackenzie valley will represent the
economic interests of their beneficiaries if the lawsuits go to court.


+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
(5)Crown Conflict Raised in Case

By charlie smith
The Georgia Straight
Publish Date: 30-Sep-2004

John Graham faces extradition for a murder he says he did not commit

Defence lawyers have proposed some provocative legal arguments to prevent
an East Vancouver Native man, John Graham, from being extradited to the
United States. Department of Justice Canada lawyers are prosecuting the
case on behalf of the U.S. government, which wants Graham sent to South
Dakota to be tried for the notorious 1976 murder of Native activist Anna
Mae Aquash. Her body was found in a ravine with a bullet wound in the back
of the head.

Shortly after Graham was arrested last December in Vancouver, he told the
Georgia Straight that he did not murder Aquash. Instead, he accused the
FBI of orchestrating a civil war between Natives on the Pine Ridge
reservation in the 1970s, which culminated in someone else murdering
Aquash. Graham claimed that the FBI wanted to frame him because he was a
member of the American Indian Movement.

At a B.C. Supreme Court hearing last July, a former member of his defence
team, Lyn Crompton, suggested that the attorney general [Justice Minister
Irwin Cotler] may be in a conflict of interest because he has a "fiduciary
trust" with Graham, a Native. At the same time, Crompton said, justice
department employees are working against Graham's interests trying to have
him extradited.

"The Supreme Court of Canada has dealt with this issue but not in relation
to a First Nations individual," Crompton said. "That has to be addressed."

In addition, she said the court must examine whether or not it is illegal
to extradite the Yukon-born Graham because he is a member of a First
Nation that has never signed a treaty. After the July hearing, Graham told
the Straight that he is a member of the Houchai Lake band, which is part
of the Champagne First Nation.

A judge will determine if there is sufficient evidence to order Graham to
be committed to extradition. Once this occurs, Justice Minister Cotler
would make the final decision.

Crompton announced at the July hearing that after conducting more than 500
hours of legal research, she was quitting the defence team because of a
lack of funding. At a B.C. Supreme Court hearing on September 28, one of
Graham's other defence lawyers, Greg DelBigio, said that Crompton's
arguments are still under consideration.

"The most active thing I can say at this point is it's still a live issue
and being thought about," he said.

At the same hearing, another of Graham's lawyers, Terry La Liberté, told
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Bennett that the defence team has
limited financial resources to advance these arguments. DelBigio later
said that the Legal Services Society has provided some legal-aid funding,
though he didn't offer any details.

Bennett told the defence lawyers that if they don't have sufficient
funding to advance their arguments, they should file a "Rowbotham
application". These are applications to a judge to stay the proceedings
until the accused person has sufficient funding to conduct a legal
defence.

Bennett explained that as a result of a recent legislative change, the
Legal Services Society would be financially responsible if the application
was granted. Bennett added that she knows how many hours are involved in
researching the history of First Nations legal cases, and she urged the
defence team to find out where it stands with the Legal Services Society.

"Ms. Crompton told me she spent 500 hours researching," Bennett said. "I
don't doubt that for a moment."

Last July, Crompton also questioned whether or not the 1999 Extradition
Act could be applied to Graham, who is accused of committing the murder in
1976. DelBigio said it may also take three days for a separate hearing to
deal with disclosure of Crown materials to the defence.

Bennett scheduled a hearing for November 1 for lawyers to report back on
whether or not they planned to pursue Crompton's legal argument that the
Crown is in a conflict of interest. At that time, the defence could decide
if it is going to file a Rowbotham application.

In addition, a disclosure hearing is scheduled for November 15 to 17.
Graham's extradition hearing will begin on December 6.

John Graham Defense Committee:
http://grahamdefense.org


+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

(6)Rebels declare start date for Nigerian uprising
Associated Press

Lagos, Nigeria -- Insurgents in Nigeria's southern Niger Delta will begin
an armed struggle to wrest control of the region's oil riches from the
federal government starting Oct. 1, a rebel spokesman said Tuesday.

Moujahid Dokubo-Asari, leader of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force,
also said all oil company employees would be legitimate targets and
advised foreign embassies to pull their nationals out of the oil region.

"We will target government infrastructure and oil company personnel," Mr.
Dokubo-Asari told the Associated Press. "Oil facilities will not be
targeted since it will endanger the environment."

Mr. Dokubo-Asari said "a full-scale armed struggle" will begin on Oct. 1,
the 44th anniversary of Nigeria's independence from Britain.

Oil multinationals operating in Nigeria, especially local subsidiaries
Royal Dutch/Shell and Italy's Agip, have provided government troops,
helicopters and topographical maps that aided the bombardment of rebel
camps hidden among creeks and mangrove swamps of the delta, the rebel
leader said.

A Shell spokesman in Lagos would not comment on the allegations, saying an
official response will be issued later.

Shell, which accounts for roughly half of Nigeria's daily exports of 2.5
million barrels, said its production and exports have so far not been
affected by violence in the region.

Nigeria's military launched its latest offensive against Mr.
Dokubo-Asari's fighters early this month in response to deadly raids by
his militia into Nigeria's main oil industry centre, Port Harcourt, in
August.

President Olusegun Obasanjo's government accuses the rebels and other
armed groups in the region of gangsterism, including illegally tapping and
selling crude oil from pipelines to buy arms and fund their criminal
activities.

Mr. Dokubo-Asari says his group is fighting for self-determination for
more than eight million Ijaws, the dominant tribe in the southern delta
region, which accounts for nearly all of Nigeria's daily oil exports.

The insurgents will lay down their arms only if the government convened a
"sovereign national conference" to discuss self-determination and greater
control of oil wealth by the inhabitants of the oil region, he said.


+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
(7)Nigerian government launches assault on civilians in Delta region
WSWS | By Ann Talbot | 4 October 2004

The Nigerian armed forces have launched a brutal assault on civilians in
the oil-rich Niger Delta region. “Operation Flush Out 3” is an attempt to
subdue the region in the interests of the oil companies that operate
there. Ordered to use maximum force, the combined naval, air and army
operation has carried out air raids on heavily populated civilian areas.

Hundreds of troops have been moved in to the Delta region. Though martial
law has not been officially declared, the military has taken over security
duties from the police. Large numbers of federal troops have been
stationed at the Bonny export terminal, which exports about a million
barrels of oil a day.

Nigeria is the world’s seventh-largest oil producer and the fifth-largest
source of oil for the United States. All this oil comes from the Delta
region or the offshore fields in the Gulf of Guinea. As the insurgents in
Iraq have increased their attacks on oil production, so the importance of
Nigerian oil has increased.

Former military ruler Olusegun Obasanjo, who became the elected president
in 1999, is a close ally of the US, which trains and finances his army.
The US recently sold Nigeria four gunboats for use in the Delta and to
police the offshore oil facilities.

Reliable figures for the number of casualties are not available because
reporters have not been able to go into the area except on military
gunboats. Amnesty International reports that 500 civilians were killed in
Port Harcourt. Tens of thousands of people have fled from surrounding
villages to take refuge in Port Harcourt. They are said to be living in
churches and under bridges without clean water or adequate food.

The total deaths may be much higher. At a press conference in the Delta
city of Port Harcourt, president of the Ijaw National Council Professor
Kimse Okoko claimed that chemical weapons had been used in some of the air
raids. He reported that in the wake of the air strikes on fishing
villages, people found that their bodies had large pimples and boils.

The ostensible purpose of Operation Flush Out 3 is to suppress warring
ethnic militias and so-called cult groups, but it is clear from the
reports that have filtered out that it is the civilian population that is
targeted. Residents are being subjected to a campaign of terror comparable
to that visited on the civilian population of Fallujah in Iraq.

Oronto Douglas, a lawyer in Port Harcourt, said that what was once a
garden city had been turned into a garrison city. Shell, one of the main
companies operating in the region, is in the process of moving its
headquarters to Port Harcourt, and it is thought that imposition of de
facto military rule in the city is connected to this decision.

Shell has evacuated some of its staff from two oil fields, but production
has so far continued. Last year, an insurrection by local militias cut
production by 40 percent, but this time the initiative seems to be in the
hands of the government and the oil companies.

In public, the oil companies are claiming that the military operations are
entirely the concern of the government and have nothing to do with them.
This is disingenuous. Shell was closely connected with the previous
military regime that executed Ken Saro-Wiwa, who had campaigned against
the activities of the company in the Delta. The company has admitted
importing guns into the country to arm the Nigerian police.

An ongoing court case in France has revealed something of the dirty
relationship that exists between the oil companies and the Nigerian
government. Halliburton, the US oil services company whose former CEO Dick
Cheney is now vice president of the US, has been accused of setting up a
$180 million slush fund in connection with contracts for a new gas export
plant.

Also involved in the scandal is Ely Calil, the Lebanese-born businessman
who has been linked to the recent coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea,
another West African country with large oil reserves.

Nigeriagate, as it has been dubbed, threatens to upset relations between
Washington and Abuja. The military operations in the Delta are in some
measure an attempt on the part of Obsanjo to restore US confidence in his
abilities.

The government and the oil companies are themselves largely responsible
for provoking the violence in the Delta region. Rivalries have been
whipped up between different ethnic groups as they have competed for
access to jobs and contracts with the oil companies. They have been played
off against one another in their attempts to get compensation for
pollution and other environmental damage.

At Ogulagha, near Warri, houses were washed into the sea after a nearby
flow station shifted wave action and increased the level of erosion.
Elsewhere, oil leaks have made land uncultivatable. Oil has seeped into
the water table, and air pollution is a serious problem. Fishing grounds
and mangrove swamps have been destroyed.

All these problems are added to the consistent fall in living standards
and the collapse of the social infrastructure that have hit the whole of
Nigeria. In 1960, 15 percent of Nigeria’s population was living in
poverty; by 1980, it was 28 percent; by 1985, it was 46 percent; and in
1996, it hit 66 percent. By 2003, 80 percent of Nigeria’s population was
living on less than a dollar a day. These levels of poverty are in an
oil-rich country.

Nigeria’s oil wealth has been siphoned off by its rulers, military and
civilian, and handed over to western banks in the form of debt repayments.
Its population has not seen the benefit of any of this money.

One of the effects in the Delta has been the emergence of armed gangs that
often finance their activities by siphoning oil from pipelines. Members of
the government are said to be involved in this racket. Last year, 1,000
people were killed at Jesse when a pipeline blew up after being tapped in
this way.

Though the government is now claiming to be cracking down on their
activities, only last year it was reported to be paying them to intimidate
its political opponents. Alhari Asari Dokubo and Ateke Tom, two of the
major warlords in the area, are both said to have been in the government’s
pay during the elections.

On September 29, Asari flew to Lagos and claims to have made a peace deal
with the government. This may assist him in his internecine struggle with
other groups, but will do nothing to improve the conditions of the local
population or lift the military clampdown.

Nigeria is becoming increasingly important as a source of oil, not only
because of the conflict in the Middle East, but because vast oil reserves
have been found offshore. Shell’s Bonga field reportedly holds 1.2 million
barrels. ExxonMobil has the 400-million Yoho field. Chevron Texaco is
developing the Agbami field. The shift to offshore production calls for a
political shakeup onshore. The big oil companies are no longer willing to
tolerate a situation in which they have to make even limited payments to
Delta communities hit by their operations. The West African oil field is a
vital strategic concern for the US, and local people are paying a heavy
price for it.


+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
(8)Indigenous Mobilization in Colombia
October 2, 2004 | CounterPunch
by Phillip Cryan

No one can ignore tens of thousands of people marching, disciplined and
peaceful, along 60 miles of highway in the middle of a country at war.
When large numbers of people are organized enough to pull off such a
mobilization, not even media outlets skilled in the arts of pro-government
distortion and omission can help but pay attention. And the government
listens up too.

>From September 14-16 about 60,000 people marched along the Panamerican
Highway in southwestern Colombia demanding respect for their autonomy and
protesting President Alvaro Uribe Velez's economic and security policies.
Led by regional and national indigenous organizations, the march also
included peasant farmers, Afro-Colombians, union members and students.

When indigenous Nasas in the southwestern province of Cauca expelled a
unit of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas from
their town in 2002, the Bogot· daily El Tiempo heralded the resistance as
an example of civilian support for the government's counterinsurgency
policies. The newspaper, Colombia's largest, ignored the Nasas when they
explained that they defend their autonomy against any threat, whether from
guerrillas, paramilitaries or government forces. Indigenous groups like
the Nasas are accustomed to such distortions.

But this time Colombian media paid better attention. Leading the way were
El Tiempo and El Pais, the biggest newspaper of Cali, the march's
destination. Both papers began reporting on the protest several days
before its 60,000 participants had taken a single step. Opinion pieces and
daily reports continued throughout the march and the following weekend,
spilling into coverage of the September 21 release of Alcibiades Escue
Musicue, a Nasa leader jailed on bogus rebellion charges 19 days earlier.
Indigenous leaders threatened further marches to secure his release.

On September 17, El Pais explained the three principle complaints behind
the march: attacks by the various armed actors, an effort by Uribe's
government to alter Constitutional recognition of indigenous territorial
rights, and the government's efforts to negotiate international trade
treaties that will leave indigenous people with few protections against
multinational corporate plunder.

In a September 14 house editorial, El Tiempo chastised the government for
shutting down a Nasa radio station, warned against further censorship of
indigenous opposition to Uribe, and warned officials not to ignore the
march: "Let's hope this protest's significance doesn't fall on deaf ears."

Some newspaper reports even delved into history. El Tiempo on September 17
relayed a lesson from Cauca Regional Indigenous Council (CRIC) leader
Climaco Alvarez about the unarmed indigenous guards that kept order during
the march. In 1535, he explained, a woman named La Gaitana organized the
first such guards as she led area resistance to Spanish conquest.

(Coverage by foreign outlets was not nearly as extensive, but the march
did receive a story or two each from the BBC, Reuters, the Associated
Press and the Spanish news service EFE.)

Government officials, like media, began to pay a lot more attention than
usual to indigenous people. President Uribe even flew to the southwestern
Colombian city of Popay·n on September 10 to try to intimidate the march's
leaders into calling it off.

How have the indigenous organizations become so strong that they strike
fear in the hard-line president's heart and secure decent coverage from
pro-Uribe newspapers? Through organizing, organizing and organizing,
according to the September 17 El Pais article: "analysts and the community
leaders themselves say [the march] demonstrates the level of organization
and commitment to their cause achieved over more than 30 years of
continuous work."

Uribe's principal fear seemed to be that the marchers would seize the
Panamerican Highway, blocking traffic on the region's most important
commercial route. In November 1999 a coalition of peasant farmer,
indigenous and union organizations took control of the highway for over
three weeks, demanding improved healthcare, infrastructure and education
for the impoverished region. After the more than 40,000 protestors
resisted attempts by the Armed Forces and police to violently dislodge
them, the government found itself in the uncomfortable position of having
to negotiate with civilians who were not only disrupting commerce but also
increasingly popular on a national level, after television news broadcast
footage of government violence against them.

The source of these groups' strength can be discerned, perhaps, in a line
from the September 14 communique sent out by the Colombian National
Indigenous Organization (ONIC), the Northern Cauca Indigenous Councils
Association (ACIN), and the CRIC, inaugurating the recent march: "We do
not speak for the government to hear; we talk to the people."

As El Pais and other papers reported, the indigenous organizations put
this principle into practice during the march by deploying a number of
"community communicators," operators of small mobile radio stations. These
stations broadcast messages from marchers to the members of their
communities who remained at home. And they kept international supporters
of the march informed via Internet links to the broadcasts. One
communicator, whose picture appeared in a number of papers, set up a
transmitter and antenna on an adapted tandem bicycle.

It may seem paradoxical that this community-level focus is what produced a
national political force demanding the media's respect and Uribe's worry.
But how else can people build such power?

"We already know how [the State] operates and who it serves," the ONIC,
ACIN and CRIC explained in the September 14 communique (developing an
argument that can be applied to media as much as the government). "What we
need now," they continued, "is to build popular mechanisms for sovereignty
and resistance. For that, we the people need to come together."

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

(9) Indifference to the safety of Indigenous women must end
Amnesty International | 4 October 2004

Canadian officials have too long ignored the threat to Indigenous women in
Canadian towns and cities. Many are missing, some have been murdered and
Canadian authorities are not doing enough to stop the violence, says
Amnesty International in a report, Stolen Sisters: A Human Rights Response
to Discrimination and Violence Against Indigenous Women in Canada,
released today.

"All women have the right to live in safety and dignity but overt cultural
prejudice and official indifference have put the Indigenous women of
Canada in harm’s way," says Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty
International. "As a priority, the Governments at all levels in Canada
must work with Indigenous women in the country to ensure that no more
‘sisters’ are ‘stolen’ from their communities as the result of
discrimination and violence."

The report is being released as part of a global campaign to stop violence
against women. The report tells the stories of Indigenous women and girls
who have gone missing or been killed in Vancouver, Prince Albert,
Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg, and draws on wider public information in
concluding that this is a serious human rights concern.

Lack of consistent reporting and comprehensive analysis by Canadian police
and government agencies of violent crimes against Indigenous women leaves
many unanswered questions about the scale and sources of violence. It is
Amnesty International's view, however, that the social and economic
marginalization of Indigenous women has placed far too many women in
harm's way.

The reality of this threat is borne out by the suffering inflicted on so
many Indigenous families, sometimes more than once. In one family, over
three decades, there have been two murders. On 12 November, 1971, Helen
Betty Osborne, a 19-year-old Cree student from Manitoba, was abducted by
four white men in The Pas and then sexually assaulted and brutally killed.
A provincial inquiry found that police had long been aware of white men
sexually preying on Indigenous women and girls in The Pas but "did not
feel that the practice necessitated any particular vigilance."

Three decades later, on 25 March, 2003, Felicia Solomon, a 16-year-old
cousin of Helen Betty Osborne, failed to return home from school in
Winnipeg, Manitoba. Two months later in June 2003, body parts identified
as those of Felicia Solomon were discovered. Her killer has not been
found.

"When will the Canadian government finally recognize the real dangers
faced by Indigenous women?" says Darlene Osborne, a spokesperson for the
family. "Families like mine all over Canada are wondering how many more
sisters and daughters we have to lose before real government action is
taken."

The report makes the following links between discrimination and violence
against Indigenous women in Canadian cities:

* Despite assurances to the contrary, police in Canada have often failed
to provide Indigenous women with an adequate standard of protection.

* The social and economic marginalization of Indigenous women, along with
a history of government policies that have torn apart Indigenous families
and communities, has pushed a disproportionate number of Indigenous women
into dangerous situations that include extreme poverty, homelessness and
prostitution.

* The resulting vulnerability of Indigenous women has been exploited by
Indigenous and non-Indigenous men to carry out acts of extreme brutality
against them.

* These acts of violence may be motivated by racism, or may be carried out
in the expectation that indifference to the welfare and safety of
Indigenous women will allow the perpetrators to escape justice.

The report also notes the failure of federal and provincial governments to
implement many of the recommendations made by past commissions and
inquiries into the welfare and safety of Indigenous people in Canada.
Timely implementation of these recommendations would have helped reduce
the marginalization of Indigenous women in Canada and thus increased their
safety.

The report recommends urgent measures that governments must implement to
improve protection for Indigenous women. Police forces must work with
Indigenous communities to develop protocols to ensure appropriate and
effective police response to reports of missing Indigenous women and
children. All governments must ensure adequate, long-term funding of the
frontline services needed by women to escape violence. Comprehensive
national research on the magnitude of the problem is immediately needed.

Action must be taken to recruit more Indigenous police and to train others
to understand the complexity of Indigenous issues. And there needs to be a
commitment by all agencies and levels of government to ensuring the full
participation of Indigenous women in the design and implementation of the
policies that directly affect their welfare.

"Violence against women is a global human rights crisis, to which all
governments must give priority attention. Here in Canada, the
double-jeopardy discrimination of gender and Indigenous identity has
contributed to the disappearance and murder of so many Indigenous women --
this must now end," says Irene Khan.

For a full copy of the report: "Stolen Sisters: A Human Rights Response to
Discrimination and Violence Against Indigenous Women in Canada", please
see: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR200012004

For further information, please contact: John Tackaberry,
jtackabe at amnesty.ca, Phone: +1 613 744 7667.


+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

(10)Nfld. premier says rash of suicides in Natuashish need attention
Canadian Press October 1, 2004

NATUASHISH -- The former Innu chief whose nephew was among four young men
to kill themselves in recent months says he's had it with the hypocrisy of
the federal and provincial governments.

Frustrated and still shocked over the suicide of his 21-year-old nephew,
Simeon Tshakapesh said Friday that if mental-health workers are not sent
in to the relocated Labrador community of Natuashish, he wants the band to
target the Voisey's Bay mine with protests.

The mine is located in the midst of land claimed by both the Inuit and the
Innu and the company signed benefits agreements with both in order for the
project to go ahead.

"The jobs are important to them. These lives are very important to us,"
Tshakapesh said from Goose Bay, Nfld., en route to his nephew's funeral
Saturday in Natuashish.

Agitated and near tears, Tshakapesh was angry that the only suggestion
made by Premier Danny Williams was to send the provincial child and youth
advocate to Labrador.

Williams said Friday he has met with child advocate Lloyd Wicks and
suggested the advocate temporarily relocate to the remote region to be
near the struggling Innu communities of Natuashish and Sheshatshiu.

"I think he needs to be on site," said Williams. "He needs to spend some
time there ... to see it first hand."

Tshakapesh welcomed Wicks but said the former judge does not have the kind
of expertise that can help.

What the community needs are trained psychiatrists and counsellors, he
said, not more studies and suggestions.

"Everybody knows what needs to be done," Tshakapesh said.

There are about 2,000 Innu in Labrador, most of them living in the two
communities.

While Natuashish more often makes headlines, Sheshatshiu also suffers from
a high rate of alcohol and drug abuse and other social problems. The town
has erupted in violence several times since a contentious band election
last spring.

Williams said the province is trying to increase policing in the town,
located 40 kilometres northeast of Goose Bay.

Davis Inlet made international headlines in 1993 when news broadcasts
showed children sniffing gas in an unheated shack, screaming that they
wanted to die.

The footage shamed the federal government into building the new community
on the mainland, where most had electricity and running water for the
first time.

But the rampant alcoholism and solvent abuse persists.

Wicks was not available for comment Friday.

He called on the federal and provincial governments to take emergency
actions last summer after a 13-year-old girl was held captive for three
weeks and assaulted. The girl's absence wasn't even noticed until she was
dropped off in Natuashish in a badly beaten state.

Williams said aboriginal affairs are a joint federal-provincial
responsibility but that the province would not allow the situation to
continue.

However, there were no promises about what, if anything, the province
plans to do.

"I don't have the solutions right now, but I can tell you we are very much
aware of it," Williams said.

Hypocrite, said Tshakapesh.

"They're playing a game and I've had enough of it," he said.


+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

(11) Northwest Social Forum will not be held October 15-17, 2004.
The International Forum on Globalization pre-event, scheduled for October
14 will not be held. (http://www.nwsocialforum.org/)

Statement of the Planning Committee of the Northwest Social Forum
October 6, 2004

With deep sadness, the Northwest Social Forum Planning Committee has come
to the painful decision not to hold the Northwest Social Forum as it had
been planned from the 15th to the 17th of October. The Indigenous
Programming Committee withdrawal of September 23, followed by The Youth
Planning Committee’s withdrawal of September 28, has been of great concern
to the NWSF Planning Committee and to the many communities that have been
participating at different times and in different capacities.

While our goal has been to use the Forum as a space and a process to bring
the networks and communities together, at this point we feel that the
process is not serving that purpose. Our decision indicates our desire not
to increase the division or confusion and to return to our focus of
building relationships and social movements that foster understanding and
cooperation within our diversity.

The NWSF Planning Committee deeply apologizes for all the inconvenience
this decision will cause. Before making this decision, we would have
preferred to consult far more extensively with all the communities that
have worked so hard to put on the NWSF about their views about what is to
be done. However, given that there are only nine days before the event was
scheduled to begin, such extensive consultations did not seem feasible.

We the Planning Committee reaffirm our commitment to the principles set
out by the participant organizations in the initial NWSF planning retreat
back in April 04 and attach those principles. Once more we take
responsibility for misunderstandings, misstatements, transgressions, and
inadequate responsiveness to concerns raised by the Indigenous and Youth
Committees.

As we move forward with this decision, we the Planning Committee, reaffirm
our most sincere intent and commitment to dialogue and healing based on
learning, respect and mutuality. We especially encourage all those
communities that have been historically marginalized and exploited to
participate in this process.

We believe the NWSF should be seen as an event in the path we walk to
build strong networks and movements in the Northwest region and beyond. We
remain hopeful for our working together in the spirit and principles of
the Northwest Social Forum because “Another world is possible” and we all
together can build it.

Sincerely

NWSF Planning Committee

Lynne Dodson, Washington State Jobs with Justice
Cindy Domingo, Center for Social Justice
Rosalinda Guillen, Food Justice Alliance
Fran Korten, Positive Futures Network
Lucilene Lira, Friends of the Landless Workers
Marco Mejia, American Friends Service Committee, Portland
Dan Merkle, Center for Social Justice
Michael Ramos

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
(12) NO MORE!
BY Chrissy Swain

This year has been quite a year for me. It started off pretty slow. I was
almost beginning to think that my days of fighting was over. Then
somewhere along the way I started to reflect on my life. Just when I felt
I wasn t gonna take this stand anymore, I remembered my commitment to the
creator. And that was that. I already committed my entire life to fight
for the future generations. I questioned myself why did I make that
decision in the first place? It took me a journey and meeting a really
good friend to figure it all out for myself.

On my journey I got to go to Kenehsatake Mohawk territory. Being here
reminded me that in 1990 during the OKA CRISIS. I was 11 years old. That
year I tried to commit suicide. I ended up in Winnipeg and from there I
somehow ended up at a rally. I was inspired to want to take such a stand
for my people here in Grassy Narrows, Ontario. But at 11 years old I didn
t know what. It took losing several friends to suicide, a young man being
shot down by OPP, several friends dying from alcohol poisoning, realizing
that all the things that happened in the last 510 years has affected me as
an Anishinabe. This is where it ends. I say no More!!!

I remember an elder once told me on my healing journey that I should start
with myself, my family, my community, and then our nation. I never
understood that until the day my sister, another young man and I went to
lay logs over the road. We did it because we were sick and tired of
watching our lives slowly disappear.

We grew up hunting and fishing and just living off the land. We still have
our culture and beliefs. That s what we wanted to save that day. Laying
those logs on the road wasn t just against clearcutting, it was for
everything that affects anishinabek negatively today.

We made this stand for the ones who aren t here yet. And we ll still stand
strong. We don t want no deals, no negotiations and no compensation. I say
NO MORE!