[IPSM] Underreported Struggles #47, February 2011

[willowtree at mts.net]

In this month's Underreported Struggles: Ngobe Leaders reach an accord 
with Panama, securing their land from mining and exploration; 4,000 
indigenous people block entries to the oil-producing department of 
Arauca, Colombia; the Innu Council of Pessamit discovers a mining 
company illegally drilling on their territory.

http://intercontinentalcry.org/underreported-struggles-47-february-2011/

A BC Judge dismissed the Sinixt Nation's application for a judicial 
review, giving Sunshine Logging clearance to begin logging operations 
within the Perry Ridge wilderness preserve. According to the Sinixt 
lawyer David Aaron, the application was dismissed because the Sinixt 
"are not a group capable of sufficiently precise definition with respect 
to their group membership." The Canadian government still considers the 
Sinixt to be legally non-existent.

Ngobe-Bugle Leaders agreed to call off their massive blockade on the Pan 
American Highway after reaching a late-night accord with the Panamanian 
government. In exchange for re-opening the Highway, Panama's delegation 
promised not to prosecute anyone that participated in the nationwide 
protests; to release everyone that was arrested during the clashes on 
Feb. 25; and to create a new law prohibiting mining and exploration 
activities within the Ngobe-Bugle's territory. Additional talks will 
take place on March 1st.

A Brazilian judge suspended work on the massive Belo Monte hydroelectric 
dam in the state of Para, citing more than two dozen unmet environmental 
and social conditions. "The suspension... is a reprieve for the people 
and the environment of the Xingu River Basin," said Leila Salazar-Lopez, 
program director with Amazon Watch, in a recent press release. Federal 
judge Ronaldo Desterro also urged the national development bank, BNDES, 
not to fund the project.

52-year-old Gwich'in and Yup'ik activist Desa Jacobsson started a fast 
in protest to "the comprehensive violation of subsistence rights and 
continued de-humanization" of Indigenous Peoples"in Alaska by State 
Governor Sean Parnell, the Calista Corporation, and the Federal 
Subsistence Board. Now on her 20th day with out food, Desa says that her 
fast will continue until all of her demands are met. Alaska’s Big 
Village Network and other entities in Alaska are preparing their own 
actions "meant to raise the call of change and equal rights."

Indigenous Communities in Peru agreed to send thousands of seeds to the 
Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a secure seedbank located on the remote 
Arctic Svalbard archipelago in Norway. The vault, often described as the 
"Noah's Ark for seeds", was built as a refuge for seeds in the case of 
large scale crises, such as climate change. More than 10,000 seed 
samples are currently stored at the vault.

A Judge in Ecuador found that Chevron must now pay $8.6 billion to help 
restore the Amazon. On February 14, Ecuador's Superior Court Judge 
Nicolas Zambrano ruled that Chevron is legally liable for the 18.5 
billion gallons of oil that now sits in the Amazon raiforest, a toxic 
legacy that some refer to as the "Amazon Chernobyl." Unfortunately, the 
company wasted no time announcing that they will do everything in their 
power to have the ruling thrown out.

The Mohawk Councils of Kahnawà:ke, Tyendinaga and Akwesasne issued a 
joint statement rejecting the planned shipment of nuclear waste through 
the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway system. "The St. Lawrence River 
provides drinking water to some 40 million people," said Kahnawà:ke 
Grand Chief Michael Ahrihron Delisle, Jr., in the joint statement, 
issued Feb. 9. "But for us, it's much more than that. If there is an 
accident, there is no place for us to go. This is our home. We cannot 
and will not tolerate the passage of nuclear waste through our 
Territory. There is no excuse for this to take place."

Diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks revealed a US Ambassador's 
"obsession" with Venezuela, radicalism and fears of an Indigenous rule 
in Peru. As reported by Censored News, the cables show repeated attempts 
by former US Ambassador Curtis Struble to discredit Indigenous people 
rights an interests in favour of industry. Other cables show another 
Ambassador, James Nealon, making identical claims.

A community in the Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, in 
southwestern Nigeria, threatened to shut down all of Chevron's nearby 
oil operations unless the US company addressed their demands by the end 
of February. The people of Obe-Nla say that Chevron has given them 
nothing but environmental degradation, marginalization, exclusion and 
the outright denial of benefits that other communities receive.

The Evenk people in northern Russia spoke out against a new gas pipeline 
that threatens to degrade their hunting and fishing grounds. "We are not 
against progress or economic development, but we feel like we are the 
ones who will suffer from this," states an Evenk petition, which was 
signed by 213 people. "Our reindeer pastures and hunting sites are being 
seized, rivers are being poisoned and fish are disappearing." The Evenk 
are asking for the pipeline to be re-routed somewhere else.

Indigenous Peoples in Mexico and the United States came together for an 
"unforgettable meeting of cultures" this month in South Texas. After 
learning about a Canadian mining company's plan to mine silver on the 
Wixarika's traditional territory in Mexico, the Native American Church 
invited the Wixarika to attend the International Convention, which was 
joined by Lakota, Navajo, Chippewa, Cree, Coahuiltecan, Chichimecan and 
others from around the Hemispshere. Participants at the Convention 
ultimately voted unanimously to join the Wirikuta Defense Front.

Various media reports this month suggest that more and more Indigenous 
Peoples are choosing a "green future". For instance, the Jemez Pueblo in 
New Mexico are moving ahead with the first utility-scale solar plant on 
tribal lands, a project that could bring millions of dollars to the 
poverty-stricken Nation. Elsewhere, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation in British 
Colombia agreed to develop a locally-owned wind farm; and in 
Saskatchewan, the Muskoday First Nation is continuing to develop their 
own, independent, organic food co-op. Green projects like these offer a 
sustainable way for Indigenous Nations to get out of the economic crisis 
imposed by Nation States.

The London-based mining company Global Coal Management Resources (GCM) 
managed to re-open negotiations with the government of Bangladesh over 
their proposed Phulbari open-pit coal mine, a project that would 
negatively impact, according to some estimates, up to 470,000 people. 
GCM fled from the Phulbari region in 2006, after the Bangladesh 
government promised to ban open-pit coal mining and expel the mining 
company, then known as Asia Energy Corporation.

The Kashia Pomo in Sonoma County, California, won a major victory in 
defence of their Indigenous Rights, thanks to the California Fish and 
Game Commission (CFCG). The CFCG voted on Feb. 3 that the Pomo should be 
allowed to permanently fish, gather food and conduct ceremonies in the 
marine protected area at Stewarts Point. According to archaeological 
evidence, the Pomo have used Stewarts Point and the surrounding 
shoreline for the past 12,000 years.

As many as 4,000 indigenous people blocked all routes leading to the 
department of Arauca in northeastern Colombia. The protesters demanded 
the release of three leaders who detained by the military for allegedly 
having links to the ELN paramilitary group. According to El Espectador, 
"The protesters also called for the establishment of a permanent 
verification and monitoring commission to investigate the situation of 
indigenous groups in the Arauca region, with particular respect to the 
extraction of petroleum, and the use of indigenous peoples in the middle 
of the conflict.."

The Innu Council of Pessamit filed a complaint with the Quebec Ministry 
of Natural Resources after discovering that a mining company, Nevado 
Resources Corporation, was carrying out illegal drilling activities on 
the Pessamit Innu's territory. "We have never given Nevado permission to 
drill on our territory. We demand that it cease all activities 
immediately", stated Raphaël Picard, current chief of the Innu Council.

The UK mining giant Vedanta is trying to overturn the August 2010 mining 
ban on the Dongria Kondh's Sacred Mountain in Orissa, India. According 
to Survival International, Vendata filed a petition with the Orissa high 
court, challenging the decision, "as well as an associated decision to 
restrict the growth of an alumina refinery also operated by Vedanta."

The Alberta court of appeal issued a ruling against the Athabasca 
Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN), dismissing the indigenous community's 
right to "meaningful consultation." ACFN had asked the court to cancel 
several government leases to Shell Canada because they weren't informed 
of them beforehand. The court, however, determined that they were 
adequately informed, since notices of the sales had been posted on some 
government websites.

Videos of the Month

Eagle Rock (Migisi Wa Sin) - Timeless Media Productions and Michigan 
State Environmental Journalism Students present "Eagle Rock", a 
mini-documentary about a sacred site as old and as valuable as 
Stonehenge; and the Sulfide Mining controversy that surrounds it.

Doug George-Kanentiio on the Origin of Indigenous Peoples - Doug 
George-Kanentiio, speaking at the event "Return Our Ancestors" American 
Indians and NAGPRA - Voices from the Haudenosaunee. Recorded at 
Binghamton University on May 6, 2010.

Niyamgiri You Are Still Alive An award-winning documentary about the 
struggle to protect Niyamgiri from the UK mining company, Vedanta.