#indigenousactivists — Public Fediverse posts

Report highlights disproportionate killings of #IndigenousEnvironmentalActivists

PBSNewshour, Nov 16, 2024

"Leaders at the United Nations’ #COP29 #CimateChange summit are being pressed this year to address the rising threats to #environmentalists and defenders of #HumanRights. Ali Rogin looks at the challenges facing these activists around the world and speaks with Laura Furones, a senior adviser at the environmental watchdog and advocacy group Global Witness, to learn more.

Watch / read transcript:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/report-highlights-disproportionate-killings-of-indigenous-environmental-activists

#GlobalWitness #Phillipines #SouthAfrica #Malaysia #Colombia #Brazil #IndigenousActivists #MurderedActivists #LandDefenders #WaterProtectors #MegaInfrastructureProjects #Mining #Megaprojects #Deforestation #HumanRightsDefenders #ProtectTheForests #WaterIsLife

Rueben George "We Are People of the Water" Voices from the Salish Sea

Faced with the economic smallpox of oil pipelines, Rueben George says hold tight to your spiritual intention

By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, November 20, 2024

SEATTLE -- "They never stopped fighting. Even when they cut off his grandfather's finger as a child in residential school because he couldn't speak English, even when they put them in jail for protesting the Trans Mountain pipeline, they never stopped fighting. Even when the appeals court decided that shipping the dirty tarsand oil was more important than the survival of the Orca whales, they did not surrender.

"'Even though we're almost extinct, we are still here," said Rueben George, səlilwətaɬ, Tsleil Waututh Nation.
'We're People of the Water. That's our First Mother,' George said at the Salish Sea Assembly in Seattle.

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/11/rueben-george-we-are-people-of-water.html

#TransmountainPipeline #SalishSeaAssembly #ResidentialSchools #ReaderSupportedNews #WaterIsLife #WaterDefenders #LandBack #DefendTheSacred
#BigOilAndGas #CorporateColonialism
#ReaderSupportedNews #IndigenousActivists #IndigenousActivism #IndigenousNews #Resistance #MotherEarth #PacificNorthwest #PetrolState #PetroState #Oiligarchy #ResidentialSchools #StolenChildren #CulturalGenocide #RuebenGeorge, #TsleilWaututhNation

Federal Judge #DianeHumetewa, #Hopi, is First to Halt Interior Sec. #DebHaaland's #Lithium Drilling Permits in #Native #Ceremonial Places

By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Sept. 18, 2024

"Federal Judge Diane Humetewa, Hopi, is the first federal judge to halt the lithium permits being given out by Interior Sec. Deb Haaland. Humetewa granted a temporary restraining order halting an Australian company's lithium drilling at #Hualapai's Sacred Spring.

"Now, U.S. District Judge Humetewa will rule on whether to make it permanent. Humetewa is the first to ask attorneys to submit arguments concerning the federal laws that protect historic and archaeological sites and the environment.

"Judge Humetewa gave lawyers on both sides until next Tuesday to summarize their arguments and more specifically respond to questions she asked about the government’s compliance with the #NationalHistoricPreservationAct and the #NationalEnvironmentalPolicyAct.

"#Biden's Justice Dept attorneys joined the drillers in court to argue for the drilling to proceed. And the #NavajoTransitionalEnergyCompany, a tribal enterprise in Farmington, NM, plans to do the drilling. CEO #VernLund has joined the board of the Australian-owned company #Hawkstone / #ArizonaLithium of Perth, Australia.

"In a separate case, the #TohonoOodham and #SanCarlosApache have filed a lawsuit against Interior Sec. Haaland for the bulldozers now destroying ancient village sites, #burial places and #MedicineGrounds in southern #Arizona. A Tucson federal judge refused to halt the destruction by the #SunZia Transmission Lines, for a wind energy project that plans to take electricity from New Mexico to California. The wind energy company, #PattenEnergy, is owned by the #CanadianPensionFund.

"The lithium drilling continues at the #Paiute Massacre Site in northern Nevada by the Canadian-owned #LithiumAmericas / #LithiumNevada. #Paiute and #Shoshone elderly and mothers have been charged in a court case for defending the grounds where their ancestors remain. #Haaland said she supports the #LithiumMining.

"#ApacheStronghold filed a case before the U.S. #SupremeCourt [#SCOTUS] this week, to halt the planned destruction of their ceremonial place, #OakFlat in Arizona, targeted for a massive copper mine by Australia's #RioTinto and #BHP, and pushed by the Biden administration. Rio Tinto already blew up 46,000 years of sacred #Aboriginal teachings in caves in #Australia. Rio Tinto was forced to admit widespread sexual attacks in its mines, with the highest number in Australia and #SouthAfrica."

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/09/federal-judge-humetewa-hopi-is-first-to.html

#DefendTheSacred #ReaderSupportedNews #NoMiningWithoutConsent #NoLithiumMining #EnvironmentalRacism #environment #Greenwashing #EVs #WaterIsLife #NoLithiumMiningWithoutConsent #HumanRights #WaterIsLife #HumanRightsDefenders #IndigenousActivists #CorporateColonialism #SaveOakFlat
#CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #ExtractiveMining

GLOBAL INDIGENOUS 2023: The Year in Review

Highlights of news from around the world on #Indigenous Issues in 2023

by Deusdedit Ruhangariyo
Dec 27, 2023

Highs and lows: The year brought a wave of highs and lows for #IndigenousPeople around the globe on issues of land, #HumanRights, climate and the #environment, education, #CriminalJustice and health.

Recent victories

In #Brazil, a majority of the country's Supreme Court delivered an historic decision in September, rejecting an attempt to curtail the rights of Native peoples concerning protected reservations on their ancestral lands, Voice of America reported. The 9-2 ruling marks a significant triumph for Indigenous activists and advocates for #ClimateAction, VOA reported.

In #Ecuador, after more than 80 years of displacement because of war, the #Siekopai nation, an Indigenous community in the Ecuadorian #Amazon, secured legal victory in a court battle to reclaim ownership of their ancestral homelands. An Ecuadorian appeals court, in a ruling shared with CNN by the nonprofit organization Amazon Frontline, upheld the Siekopai nation's claim to #Pë’këya, a #biodiverse region situated in northeast Ecuador near the Peruvian border. The Siekopai people were originally displaced during the 1940s #PeruEcuadorWar.

In #Malaysia, #IndigenousActivists achieved two significant wins against timber giant #Samling in their longstanding efforts to protect #forests and territories in #Sarawak.

And in Canada, language revitalization got a boost with a decision by the University of Northern #BritishColumbia, which is now offering a groundbreaking bachelor’s degree in #Nisgaa language fluency. The program starts in September 2024.

Ongoing struggles

It has not all been cozy this year with the world’s Indigenous peoples, however. Native people continue to struggle with a host of issues that surface in communities around the globe.

Land rights and displacement

In #Ethiopia, the designation of #BaleMountains National Park as a UNESCO World Heritage Site could lead to the eviction of more than 20,000 people from farming communities on what were once homelands for the #Oromo people.

In Canada, federal prosecutors filed charges against numerous Indigenous fishers, setting up a court fight over constitutional and treaty rights for #FirstNations people that could end up in Canada’s highest court. The move comes just three years after the initiation of a self-regulated lobster fishery by a First Nation in #NovaScotia.

Health issues

A surge in #HIV infections among Indigenous people in #Manitoba, Canada, is being blamed on “systemic anti-Indigenous racism” in the health care system. In #Saskatchewan, another Canadian province, however, disparities prompted the #Ahtahkakoop #Cree Nation to work on building its own 24-hour urgent care center to offer options to residents.

In #Australia, meanwhile, the life expectancy of Indigenous people has increased by about nine years in the last 20 years but still falls short of the wider population. According to the Australian government department of health, Aboriginal communities experience higher rates of chronic diseases and lower life expectancies due to limited access to healthcare services and disparities in health outcomes.

Education

In #Canada, many Indigenous children living in remote reserves lack access to quality education facilities, resulting in lower graduation rates and limited prospects for higher education.

In #China, authorities banned a book on the early #MongolianPeople, invoking "historical nihilism" to suppress divergent historical perspectives.

But there were gains in Australia, where the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria and the nonprofit Yalari organization launched a three-year partnership to help support educational opportunities for Indigenous children from regional and remote communities.

Climate change and the environment

A coalition of countries agreed to a five-year plan to disburse $1.7 billion to support the land rights of Indigenous and local communities, but those funds are largely bypassing the very communities they are designed to help. The funding expenditures were detailed in a report released at the United Nations’ recent climate conference, known as COP28, held in Dubai.

#Protests emerged throughout the world over various mining projects, which largely targeted Indigenous lands with work that threatened vast environmental damage. In #Panama, for example, mass protests erupted against a government deal with Central America's largest #CopperMine over concerns about sovereignty, environmental damage, and the impact on the #PanamaCanal. And in #Brazil, more than four years after the rupture of a tailings dam in #BrumadinhoValley, #Brazil, the Indigenous #Pataxó and Pataxó Hã-hã-hãe people still suffer from the lack of secure land, water, and food.

And in the #Arctic region, The Christian Science Monior reported how tough it is for Indigenous guardians to preserve their culture in a warming world, highlighting the fact that the harsh realities of #ClimateChange are affecting most Indigenous people around the world.

Human rights

#HumanRights violations continue to be problems throughout the world.

In Japan, more than 150 activists, lawmakers and advocates urged leaders to investigate the Chinese government’s human rights abuses against the #Uyghurs in #Xinjiang.

The #Kenyan government has begun widespread destruction of homes and property of Indigenous #Ogiek people living in #MauForest, despite a 2017 legal victor acknowledging ancestral land rights.

Western Australia’s parliament, however, issued an historic apology and agreed to reimburse #Aboriginal and #TorresStraitIslander workers who were exploited between 1936 and 1972 under a system that some leaders compared to “slavery.”

Language, culture preservation

Australia, which once boasted more than 300 Indigenous languages, is now facing one of the planet’s most severe rates of language decline. Fewer than 30 Indigenous languages remain as primary tongues today.

In New Zealand, efforts to revitalize the Māori language and culture is an ongoing struggle, as colonization led to a decline in the use of the Māori language and traditional practices.

Access to justice

The arrest of five environmental activists battling #WaterPollution and #mining in #ElSalvador are believed to have been politically motivated, sparking global condemnation amid controversial court proceedings.

The same issues emerged in Norway, where activists protesting against a [GIANT] #WindFarm that they say obstructs the rights of the #Sami people to raise #reindeer in central and Arctic #Norway were removed from the entrances to two government offices by Norwegian police.

In #NewZealand, a study found that incarcerated Māori people are nearly twice as likely to face housing instability when released from prison as non-#Māori prisoners. The study calls for officials to provide stable housing for individuals re-entering society.

Source:
https://ictnews.org/news/global-indigenous-2023-the-year-in-review
#IndigenousRights #IndigenousActivists #ClimateJustice #IndianCountryToday #ProtectTheForests #LandBack #CriminalizingDissent #WaterIsLife

Prosecutors add #HateCrime allegations in shooting over Spanish #conquistador statue

AP, November 3, 2023

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — "State prosecutors added hate-crime allegations Thursday to charges of attempted murder against a New Mexico man accused in the shooting of a #NativeAmerican #activist amid confrontations about aborted plans to reinstall a statue of a Spanish conquistador in public, at a court hearing Thursday in northern New Mexico.

"Defendant Ryan David Martinez pleaded not guilty to all charges at the arraignment overseen by a district court judge from a courthouse in TierraAmarilla.

"Assistant District Attorney Tony Long indicated that his office will pursue sentence enhancements based on the use of a firearm and try to prove that the shooting was motivated by bias against a particular social group.

"Martinez was arrested on Sept. 28 after chaos erupted and a single shot was fired at an outdoor gathering in Española over canceled plans to install a bronze likeness of conquistador Juan de #Oñate, who is both revered and reviled for his role in establishing early settlements along the Upper Rio Grande starting in 1598.

"The shooting severely wounded #JacobJohns, of Spokane, Washington, a well-traveled #activist for #environmental causes and an advocate for #NativeAmericanRights who is of #Hopi and Akimel #Oodham tribal descent.

"He had joined other advocates for Native American rights as they celebrated with song, prayer and speeches the county's decision not to install the statue that day.

"Under state law, a hate-crime sentence enhancement could extend prison time by up to a year. The firearm-related enhancements could add up to eight years in prison.

"Initial felony charges against Martinez carry possible sentences of up to 16 years and six months in prison, along with possible fines and parole, Long told the court. A misdemeanor charge of reckless driving could add up to 90 days in prison.

"State District Court Judge Jason Lidyard scheduled a jury trial for May 2024. He has ordered that Martinez remain in jail pending trial."

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/nation/2023/11/03/prosecutors-add-hate-crime-allegations-in-shooting-over-spanish-conquistador-statue/71438113007/

#ClimateActivist #ClimateJustice #IndigenousActivists #NewMexico #MAGA #HateCrimes