[IPSM] Fwd: Underreported Struggles for June

[Ahni]

Here's the newest monthly update -
http://intercontinentalcry.org/underreported-struggles-for-june/


With ongoing protests and blockades in Canada, Women and Children in
Australia running to escape the
invasion<http://www.care2.com/news/member/376953507/407893>of Police
and Military, and the Summit of the Peoples of the South coming to
its end -- the month of June comes to a close with a reminder that for as
long as there is land and People, States and Corporations will continue
working to exploit and undermine both... And so we will continue protecting
that land, defending ourselves, and empowering each other so we may stand in
greater number, as stronger People.
Underreported Struggles for June

June 29 - First Results from The Genographic
Project<http://www.eyeondna.com/2007/06/29/first-results-from-the-genographic-project-mitochondrial-dna-database/>-
National Geographic's Genographic Project has published the first
results
from an analysis of their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) database, which is made
up of DNA samples of approx 80,000 people..Apparently however, this database
does not include samples taken from Indigenous people. Analysis from that
database will come later...

Enawene Nawe blockade
succeeds<http://www.survival-international.org/news/2470>- The
Brazilian government has agreed to several key demands of the Enawene
Nawe Indians after they blockaded a major highway. The government's Indian
agency, FUNAI, will survey lands claimed by the Enawene Nawe and other
tribes, with the aim of officially recognising the areas as indigenous. (see
here about the blockade<http://intercontinentalcry.org/enawene-nawe-block-highway-to-stop-dam/>,
and here for a video <http://www.tribalchannel.tv/player/program/2> )

Despite Aid, Violence and Displacement Plague Eastern
Congo<http://coanews.org/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=1959>- With
vast reserves of diamonds, gold and coltan, the country has been
unable to capitalize on its own resources due to a hundred years of colonial
rule, followed by dictatorships and years of war that may have claimed over
6 million people. Multiparty elections held last year for the first time in
40 years have failed to provide any relief for the civilian population.

June 28 - Seri now face "the inevitable march of
development"<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/27/AR2007062702309.html>-
Living on their Traditional lands along the Coast of the State of
Sonora,
Mexico -- the Seri are one of the few People who have managed to remain
fundamentally separate of Mexican society. But there's a plan in the works
now to carry forward a tourist development being likened to Cancun and
Acapulco. Maybe it will encroach on Seri land, maybe it won't.

London again delays Chagossian return
<http://www.afrol.com/articles/25921>- Last month, the expelled people
of the Chagos Islands, an archipelago
claimed by Mauritius, thought they had achieved a breakthrough in their
four-decade fight to return to the land that taken from them. The London
High Court ruled that the 2,000 expelled islanders must be let to return.
But a new Foreign Office appeal will delay the return for at least one year.
(see here for more
background<http://intercontinentalcry.org/chago-win-right-to-return-home-for-the-third-time/>
)

Maori land protests to go on after 13
arrests<http://uriohau.blogspot.com/2007/06/maori-land-protests-to-go-on-after-13.html>-
Maori land protesters are vowing to continue their fight at two Taupo
sites despite angry scenes as 13 people were arrested for trespass,
including a 64-year-old woman. In a double-pronged operation yesterday
morning, police arrived at 7am at a Taupo District Council-owned house and
section at Wharewaka, near Taupo airport, and at a multimillion-dollar
subdivision near Acacia Bay to issue trespass notices on two separate
groups.

June 27 - Illegal deforestation destroys Ayoreo hunting
grounds<http://www.survival-international.org/news/2466>- A Paraguayan
rancher illegally occupying part of the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode
Indians' ancestral territory has destroyed key hunting grounds. A group of
Indians were on a hunting expedition, searching for the large tortoises that
form a key part of their diet in the dry season, when they saw two
bulldozers clearing the forest. The deforestation occurred in the
Totobiegosode's heartland, which they have been trying to recover since
1993. The area is protected by injunctions which prohibit any clearances
until the Indians' land claim is resolved.

June 25 - Forced evictions trigger massive protest in
China<http://www.mediaisland.org/en/forced-evictions-trigger-massive-protest-china>-
Thousands of protesters clashed with police in eastern China last week
after security teams moved in to forcefully relocate families involved in a
housing dispute, a rights group said yesterday. Residents refusing to move
out of their homes threw gasoline bombs at the security forces, igniting
riots on Wednesday in Shengzhou City, Zhejiang Province

June 23 - Civil Resistance Aimed at Recuperating Biodiverse
Lands<http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38290>- Indigenous and
black communities of Colombia's north-western department of
Chocó are trying to recover their lands and food sources, lost to the
decades-long civil war that has taken its toll on this area of vast
biological diversity.

June 22 - India, Protests against retail chains getting into fruits and
vegetables<http://downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20070630&filename=news&sec_id=50&sid=25>-
At least three major cities saw protests in May against Reliance,
India's
largest corporation, entering the business of retailing fresh vegetables and
fruits through its brand Reliance Fresh. In Ranchi and Indore, the protests
had political backing and turned violent. The protestors, mostly street
vendors, fear the company's low prices will destroy their market.

June 21 - Gila River, Victory to shut down hazardous waste
facility<http://intercontinentalcry.org/gila-river-victory-to-shut-down-hazardous-waste-facility/>-
In an enormous victory for the Gila River Indian Community and the
tribal
member group Gila River Alliance for a Clean Environment (GRACE),
Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, Youth United for Community
Action and other allies, the Gila River Tribal Council this morning voted
unanimously 14-0 to reject the proposed US EPA permit for the Romic
hazardous waste plant that had operated for decades without proper permits
and with a reckless track record on tribal lands.

Maya land case now in the hands of the Chief
Justice<http://new.channel5belize.com/archive_detail_story.php?story_id=18748>-
It's a constitutional case that has the potential to set important
precedents both here and internationally... [The People are working for the
court to to approve of a declaration] that the lands around the village come
under collective title, the Government is to cease and abstain from
affecting their existence, value, and use of lands unless through informed
consent and under the safeguards of the Constitution of Belize. That "use"
would also refer to the issuing of logging and oil concessions. Indigenous
human rights law and policy professor, Steven James Anaya argues that the
Mayan claim should not be misconstrued as separatism when it's more about
having a say in their future.

Karitiana, Our personal integrity has been
violated<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/20/world/americas/20blood.html>-
The Karitiana, a People indigenous to Brazil have recently discovered
that
blood and DNA collected from them in 1996--under the guise of a reasonable
exchange of medicine which the never received--is being sold to scientists
around the world for $85 a sample.

June 20 - To restore, emphasize and revalue ancestral
traditions<http://colombiapassport.blogspot.com/2007/06/to-restore-to-emphasize-and-to-revalue.html>-
Colombia - Eight indigenous communities settled in the territory of
Puerto
Gaitán Municipality, are doing a research with the Universidad Nacional,
Abierta y a Distancia (UNAD), on the subject of how to restore, emphasize
and revalue the ancestral traditions and knowledge to insert them in the
educative programs of the Unuma Plan of Education

June 18 - Previously unknown tribe escapes
massacre<http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415216>-
Fleeing gunfire and further pursuit by ''white men,'' a group of
previously unknown indigenous people arrived in a small western Brazilian
town in the last week of May, according to press reports and statements
issued by the country's National Foundation of the Indian, or FUNAI as it's
known in Brazil... According to one of the Metykire men, it was after 15 of
their people were killed and one wounded - that the group fled through the
dense Amazonian forest, trekking for five days before finding the indigenous
Kayapo village of Peixoto de Azevedo."

June 17 - CIPO attacked, six killed, several
detained.<http://intercontinentalcry.org/oaxaca-cipo-attacked-six-killed-several-detained-help-requested/>-
On Sunday June 17 their community was attacked by another community
supported by paramilitaries. Up to now six people have been killed and
several others detained. (details can be found
here<http://uriohau.blogspot.com/2007/06/mexico-oaxaca-they-do-not-want-us.html>
)

June 16 - India, Economic blockade in
Kalahandi<http://telegraphindia.com/1070617/asp/frontpage/story_7933183.asp>-
Over 6,000 tribals and non-tribals of Kalahandi and Raygada today laid
siege to the 1 million tonne alumina refinery being built by Vedanta Alumina
at Lanjigarh. Stopping all vehicles going to the factory this morning, the
protesters, led by former Union minister Bhakta Charan Das's Green
Kalahandi, virtually brought activities in the firm to a grinding halt.

June 15 - O'odham Ancestors' remains unlawfully excavated at
border<http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2007/06/oodham-ancestors-remains-unlawfully.html>-
We Demand the Return of Human Remains Unearthed During a Recent
Desecration of a Sacred Burial Ground On May 17th and May 21st of 2007 the
remains of at least three humans were unearthed during the construction of a
border zone "Vehicle Barrier" wall. hese remains were found buried near the
International Border, inside of Tohono O'odham Nation lands in Arizona. The
unearthed people are the direct ancestors of five families living in the Ali
Jegk community of the Tohono O'odham Nation.

June 14 - Nubian Discontent
Continues<http://www.peacefulsocieties.org/NAR07/070614nubi.html>- The
difficulties faced by Nubian refugees settled in so-called "New
Nubia"—people exiled from Old Nubia when the Egyptian government closed the
Aswan Dam—are getting more international attention. The growing
international entertainment and news website Monsters and
Critics.comcarried a story on Sunday about the conditions the
resettled Nubians have to
deal with, their struggles to be heard, and the lack of responses by
government officials to their plight.

June 12 - Garifuna leader assassinated in
Honduras<http://ww4report.com/node/4091>- Garifuna leader Felix
Ordoñez Suazo was assassinated at the community of
Punta Piedras, in Colón department on the Caribbean coast of Honduras.
Community residents identified the killers as members of a group of land
invaders who have been encroaching on Punta Piedras' titled lands.

Tibet Culture Could Soon End <http://www.dalailama.com/news.133.htm> - The
Dalai Lama warned Friday that Tibetan culture could be "finished" in 15
years if China does not allow the region to govern itself. "Our approach is
not seeking independence," the exiled spiritual leader told reporters in
Melbourne. "We are seeking genuine autonomy"

June 10 - India, The Plight of Displaced People
Worsens<http://radicalnotes.com/journal/2007/06/10/nbakhandwa/>- On
the fifth day of the indefinite sit-in of the Omkareshwar and Indira
Sagar affected people, thousands of families are still continuing to throng
the dharna site. The indefinite hunger-strike of a group of five people
comprising of affected persons and activists of the Narmada Bachao Andolan
as well as the three-day hunger strike in solidarity by 89 people from 30
affected villages continued today. A large number of people from the
Maheshwar dam affected regions visited the dharna site too, and expressed
their solidarity. (also see here <http://www.icrindia.org/?p=162>)

June 8 - Deal with Royals threatens Tanzanian
indigenous<http://www.afrol.com/articles/25675>- The Hadzabe
indigenous people of northern Tanzania are facing a serious
threat today. Royals from the United Arab Emirates, along with UAE Safari
are actively purchasing Hadzabe lands for a fishing and sport hunting
enterprise.
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