May Day 2010: US Army Blackhawk Helicopters Land at Wounded Knee

To the Original Peoples of the Fourth World and all International Press Services:

At high noon today US Army helicopters of the US Seventh Cavalry air division attempted to land their Blackhawk aircraft upon Lakota Sacred Burial grounds in South Dakota. The presence of military aircraft from this unit is a sad and insulting reminder of the slaughter of more than 300 American Aboriginals on December 29,1890 when soldiers of the US 7th Cavalry gunned down more than 300 Aboriginal Minneconjou Lakota refugee children, women, infants and the elderly at what is now called Wounded Knee in South Dakota Indian Country. The military then left the bodies of their victims to decay unburied in the driving snow.

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Blockade of Golden Ears Bridge, Unceded Katzie Coast Salish Territory

February 13, 2010,

Blockade Golden Ears Bridge,

Anti-2010 Olympics Convergence, Coast Salish Territories, (Vancouver, B.C.)

Video: http://www.youtube.com/salmonsovereignty
Contact: salmonsovereignty@hotmail.com

Feb. 13, 2010, as part of the Anti-Olympics Convergence in Vancouver B.C., members of Coast Salish Katzie First Nation and supporters blocked the Golden Ears Bridge.

The Bridge spans the Frazer River between Pitt Meadows and Langley, and is adjacent to Katzie 1 and Katzie 2 Reserves. It is about a half hour drive outside of Vancouver.

The bridge opened on June 16, 2009. It is owned by Translink, who say, “it will have major long-term impacts on the region, improving travel times and promoting economic activity.” Clearly disregarding the negative impacts on Indigenous people.

Construction of the bridge desecrated a 3000 year old burial ground. It’s massive pilings in the river disrupt currents, and the ability of local Katzie fishers to fish. Situated at the mouth of the Frazer River, the bridge effects already threatened habitat for Salmon and Indigenous fishing communities all up the Fraser River.

Return Bodies of Children or Face Liens, Occupations, United Church Officers Told

Video of delivery of letter (YouTube)

Toronto, Canada: Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Protesters issued a stern warning to top officials of the United Church of Canada today: repatriate the remains of children who died in their Indian Residential Schools immediately, or face church occupations, loss of revenue and even commercial liens on their income and property.

In a new tactic designed to heighten pressure on the church, the protesters, members of The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD), entered the national headquarters of the United Church in Toronto and delivered a “Public Notice of Intent” letter to church officers that gave them seven days to begin returning the remains of children who died under their church’s care for a proper burial.

Resisting Desert Rock

(Yet another in our series of articles written for GNN.tv by users of the now closed online community, originally published Mon, 05 Mar 2007. Some info may be outdated.)

Indigenous resistance against the proposed Desert Rock coal-fired power plant continues despite intimidation and harassment.

On the Navajo Reservation of New Mexico, indigenous elders and youth have been battling energy giants—and their plan to construct a new coal-fired power plant on Navajo lands—in an attempt to protect their lands and traditions. In December of 2006, resisters erected a barricade and engaged in a tense standoff with law enforcement. Though the barricade has since been removed, indigenous resisters remain on site to vigil and protest against the destruction of their sacred lands, while others seek to educate, organize, and rally their people, as well as the public at large.

The Economics of Indigenous Freedom

A proposal for alternate models of social-economic development in the surviving indigenous nations of North America

Information in the computer age is the last genuine free market left on earth except those free markets where indigenous people are still surviving (Russell Means)

Some of the surviving nations in North America have tried Casinos and call centers. Others have tried meat packing for freedom. Yet, unemployment remains high, over 80% for some communities, such as on the Lakotah reservations. Similarly, per capita income often remains below the poverty line. On the Lakotah reservations, per capita income is less than $4,000 annually. The exact story is of course different for each nation, but the overall results of these efforts have usually been rather bleak.