O'odham: Militarization and border abuses accelerate

By Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Censored News

SAN FRANCISCO -- Mike Flores, Tohono O’odham, questioned why President Obama has not taken any action to halt the militarization of the border and human rights abuses by US Border Patrol agents, or the construction of the US border wall that is violating all federal laws, including laws designed to protect the environment and Native American remains.
Flores, a former tribal councilman, said the Tohono O’odham Nation government is embedded with Homeland Security, because of federal funding. Because of this, US Border Agents are abusing O’odham on their own land and even getting away with murder.
“Our aboriginal territory is divided by this international border,” said Flores, a member of the American Indian Movement. Speaking at the Anarchist Book Fair in San Francisco on March 14, Flores said of the 25,000 Tohono O’odham, about one-third live in northern Mexico in the state of Sonora.
Since 9/11, O’odham have felt the impacts, because the people have had to deal with an influx of US military. Now, the O’odham homeland is occupied by the military violating human rights. Even in their own backyards, O'odham are abused by the US military. He said most Americans do not have to deal with the soldiers and agents in their own backyards.
In the most recent death of an O’odham by the US Border Patrol, an O’odham was suspiciously killed by a border agent on the highway in February. The family now has an investigation underway.
In most cases, the Tohono O’odham Nation government takes no action when an O’odham is murdered by the US Border Patrol.
“In our case, the tribal government is embedded with Homeland Security because of Homeland Security funds,” Flores said.
Flores said when the US Border Patrol kills one of the tribal members, it is considered collateral damage by the tribal government. "It is really frustrating when you have to go and bury your nephew because of these things that are going on there.”
Encouraging young people to come to the Tohono O’odham Nation and document the human rights abuses, Flores said the Tohono O’odham Nation government is not allowing people to take photos of the community members being violated or the border wall being constructed and violating sovereign Tohono O’odham land.
Further, in violation of federal law, Homeland Security and the border wall contractor Boeing, dug up the Tohono O’odham ancestors for the border wall.
“We’ve had to go back and rebury some of our ancestors that the contractors and Homeland Security dug up along this border.”
O’odham daily life is constantly violated. Before 9/11, O’odham children living in their homeland, within one half a mile of the international border, went to school on the United States side of the border without constant harassment. However, since 9/11, children need security clearances to go to school.
“What kind of policy is that when you have to check a fourth grader’s backpack when he crosses the international border to go to school?” O’odham children have also had to obtain additional forms of identification to attend school.
“This is our ancestral land; before 9/11 we were able to go back and forth freely.”
O'odham ceremonies are also being violated. O’odham ceremonies in Sonora, Mexico are conducted by medicine people who live on the US side of the border and go to Sonora to conduct the ceremonies. Now, the ceremonial people are being told they have to obtain passports and other forms of identification.
“We feel this is a violation of our religious freedom, but these are some of the policies that are being put upon us. It creates tensions among us as tribal members as well.”
As the largest American Indian Nation on the southern border, with 25,000 people, Flores said O'odham must deal with this oppression more than others.
“We’re the ones that are subdued because of the inability of our tribal leaders to see through what is going on.”
Flores said the general media is not reporting the truth.
“I doubt if any of you heard about the killing of one of our tribal members by a member of Homeland Security," he said of the most recent O'odham death by the US Border Patrol in February.
Meanwhile, many people cross the border to look for work. Many of these are Indigenous Peoples who have songs and ceremonies of their own. They are being forced to flee from their homelands and seek refuge somewhere else. They are being denied the right to live in accordance with their traditions, he said.
In the summertime in O’odham territory in the Sonoran Desert, located south of Phoenix, Flores said temperatures can reach 118 degrees. Mayan Indians from Guatemala, coming from the tropics into the desert, struggle to survive.
Referring to Mike Wilson, Tohono O’odham, and others, Flores said some O’odham are providing water stations in the desert to prevent the deaths of those forced to travel on foot in search of work and survival.
Because of this humanitarian action, these O’odham are now being accused of being terrorists and criminals, he said.
Tohono O’odham tribal police and other agents slash the water jugs or remove them at the water stations.
“That is allowing people to die without compassion.
“As Indigenous Peoples we believe it should not be that way.
“We need everyone’s help."
Flores said these policies are violating the communal way of living; the O’odham’s communal way of life has been disrupted by the border wall going up on their land.
Describing his efforts in Chiapas with the Zapatistas in the 1990s, Flores said he went to Chiapas with an O’odham delegation and provided humanitarian aid in the jungles with the EZLN.
“We supported them in any way we could.
“During that time, we could see the oppression of the people.
“We don’t have it as bad as our brothers and sisters in the south.”
Urging youths to mobilize and bring attention to the human rights violations and oppression, Flores said there was optimism when Obama was running for president. However, Flores said he personally took the approach of: “We’ll see what happens.”
“We heard the campaign talk about stopping construction of this border wall.”
However, Flores said there has been no action by Obama to halt the border wall, human rights abuses and desecration. Right now, there are tons and tons of iron, tons and tons of cement arriving for construction of this border wall.
Flores urged those present to e-mail Obama and press him to address this issue.
“People are dying out there that don’t need to be dying.”
Flores described finding a tiny grave in the desert on O’odham land, marked with the beads of a Mayan child.
“We’ve come across graves out there.” Describing this tiny grave, he said he was sure the parents would have wanted their child buried back in their own community, in their own homeland.
“People are dying needlessly,” he said, urging people to mobilize and effect change.
“If these practices continue on, we will be living under 100 percent military occupation.”
Flores, who lives 12 miles north of the international boundary on O’odham land, said there was once O’odham elders who came across to talk with the youths and share with them how to take care of the community and the people. But now, they are told to get documents to cross.
The militarization of the O'odham homeland is accelerating.
“Right now there’s even a proposal to send in more National Guard troops.”
Flores said the troops and border agents have interfered with and disrupted O’odham ceremonies. Each time, during one of the ceremonies, which includes the ceremonial hunting of a deer, the hunters were detained by the National Guard.
This creates a state which is outside the harmony of natural law, he said.
“To be detained for eight hours disrupts the whole ceremony.” Each time, there has to be a purification to sanctify the ceremony and begin again. This is not in the order of natural law, he said.
Stressing that the O’odham people have survived since time immemorial with their own language and dialect in tact, he said, “We can do these things if we put our minds to it.”
Urging action because of the shortness of time and global crisis, Flores asked those present to contact the Tohono O’odham Nation and Chairman Ned Norris, Jr., and ask the elected leaders what they are doing. He said people should put pressure on the Tohono O’odham Nation government so there will not be more deaths of people coming across the border, or more deaths of the O’odham people.
Flores said it is important to know the truth, as opposed as to what is being shown on CNN.
Flores, coordinator of the Indigenous Peoples Border Summits of the Americas in 2006 and 2007 on Tohono O’odham land at San Xavier, Ariz., said the summits were successful in bringing Indigenous Peoples together from Canada, Mexico and the United States to share problems and support one another. He is now working with members of the Cocopah Nation, who live near the California border, who are also experiencing similar problems.
In closing, Flores offered words of respect to the Ohlone People, the traditional Indian people of what is now called San Francisco.
“Without them, no one would be here.”
Flores was introduced by Mark Anquoe, Kiowa, of the American Indian Movement, who spoke on systems of governance in Native societies.

Listen to this talk by Mike Flores and Mark Anquoe at:
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Related articles:
Tohono O'odham Women on the Border: Angie Ramon's 18-year-old son was run over and killed by the US Border Patrol; Ofelia Rivas describes the abuse by Border Patrol and border wall contractors.
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2008/12/tohono-oodham-women-on-border.html
In Cold Blood, Border Patrol agent murders migrant youth:
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/brenda-norrell/2008/10/cold-blood-us-border-patrol-agent-trial-murder

Censored Blog Radio: AIM on Alcatraz

AIM to Obama: Abolish BIA; establish treaty commission and pass UN Declaration

By Brenda Norrell

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

ALCATRAZ ISLAND -- Speaking at the Alcatraz Sunrise Ceremony, the American Indian Movement called on the Obama administration to make real changes for Indian country. The challenge is voiced on today's Censored Blog Radio show, "AIM on Alcatraz," by Bill Means, with Pat Bellanger and Mike Flores.

Bill Means, cofounder of the International Indian Treaty Council, said the new administration in the U.S. offers hope. Means said the American Indian Movement is calling on the Obama administration to establish a new Presidential Treaty Commission; abolish the BIA and for passage of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

On Alcatraz, Mike Flores, Tohono O'odham, described the assault by Homeland Security and the US Border Patrol on Tohono O'odham lands. Flores called for worldwide support to halt construction of the US/Mexico border wall and stop the militarization of the Tohono O'odham Nation and all Indigenous borderlands. Flores said the US is destroying endangered species, their habitat and migration routes.

On the broadcast, KPFA/Alcatraz Free Radio cohost Tony Gonzales points out that the people of Palestine are also suffering from the isolation, militarization and horrors of a border wall. Gonzales said while walls are coming down in Europe, the US is building a wall.

Bellanger, Anishinabe from Minnesota, shares a memory of Phillip Deer and the imaginary border. Bellanger said she has been with AIM since the beginning and it has been an incredible journey. She said the gathering at Alcatraz was a time to celebrate what has been accomplished and a time for giving thanks.

"We beat daddy Bush and we beat baby Bush," Bellanger says of the fight against oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.

Means also points out the rise in power of the Maori in New Zealand, a rising world voice empowering Indigenous Peoples.

Means said what happened on Alcatraz and at Wounded Knee, along with the fishing rights struggle, the struggle of Pitt River and the struggles elsewhere, led to sovereignty and self-determination.

Listen to today's show and three others in this week's series:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Brenda-Norrell

--The first show, "American Indian Resistance," includes interviews with Morning Star Gali about the Shellmound Walkers. Long Walker Harry talks about service with the Black Mesa Caravan. Mohawk Mark Maracle speaks about Tyendinaga, at the AIM-West 40-Year Reunion in San Francisco. The show includes a segment from Alcatraz Island, with Clyde Bellecourt and Lenny Foster, Dine' speaking on Native religious freedom rights (30 minutes.)

--The second show, "Emergence of the American Indian Movement," includes Bill Means remembering Raymond Yellow Thunder, a Lakota whose murder in Gordon, Nebraska, changed the course of history for the American Indian Movement. Award-winning Anishinabe singer Keith Secola sings Fry Bread and NDN Cars. Clyde Bellecourt speaks on the importance and early years of AIM, during the AIM West 40-Year Reunion in San Francisco (90 minutes.)

--The third show, "Indigenous Voices of Resistance," includes Western Shoshone call in guests describing how Barrick Gold is currently bulldozing the Shoshone's sacred Mount Tenabo. During the first days of December, Barrick cut off Western Shoshone access to their ceremonial grounds. The show includes news and music. The All Nation Singers in California and the Longest Walk Northern Route at Cahokia Mounds, recorded by Earthcycles, sing the AIM song. (90 minutes.)

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Brenda-Norrell

Remembering Raymond Yellow Thunder

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

SAN FRANCISCO -- Listen as Bill Means, cofounder of the International Indian Treaty Council, remembers Raymond Yellow Thunder. Speaking during the AIM-West 40-year Reunion on Nov. 28, Mean's memories are followed by the AIM song.
In 1972 Raymond Yellow Thunder, Lakota from Porcupine, S.D., was brutally murdered in the bordertown of Gordon, Nebraska. When Yellow Thunder's relatives sought justice, they found none.
"They stripped him from the waist down and they took him into the American Legion Hall on Saturday night dance," Means said. "They told him to dance Indian."
Raymond Yellow Thunder's feet were burned with cigarettes. "They beat him to death and they found him two days later in a trunk of a car. Nobody would help him."
"That is the way Indian people used to face justice," Means said, from coast to coast, wherever there were bordertowns, there was racism.
Gordon, Nebraska was "the Mississippi of the north." The signs read, "No dogs or Indians allowed," when four-thousand people Indian people marched into town.
"We marched and we took over the town, we took that town for four days."
During four days of Red Ribbon Grand Jury hearings, AIM recorded over 200 civil rights violations with the US Justice Department and Civil Rights Commission.
It was a turning point for the American Indian Movement. The days of just carrying signs was over.
"They knew they couldn't kill our people anymore without us coming to challenge them," Means said. He said this AIM song was created in memory of Raymond Yellow Thunder and Indian people in all the bordertowns.
"Always remember Raymond Yellow Thunder."

-- To listen, click link, then arrow:
http://www.earthcycles.net/audio/mendo/2008-11-26_12_raymondyellowthunder.mp3cycles.net/audio/mendo/2008-11-26_12_raymondyellowthunder.mp3
Alternate: Click on this Earthcycles link, then scroll down the page to "Raymond Yellow Thunder"
http://www.earthcycles.net/mendo/
Photo: Earthcycles producer Govinda Dalton with Bill Means at the AIM-West 40-year Reunion. Photo 2: Drum group at AIM West Reunion. Photos Brenda Norrell.

COINTELPRO: They Got Shut Down for Standing Up

COINTELPRO: They Got Shut Down for Standing Up

by Karima Amin
Sent in by Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee

From the late 1950's into the 1970's, the F.B.I. conducted a series of actions in a counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) designed to disrupt, discredit, and destroy certain individuals and groups in this country. The Communist Party, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (N.A.A.C.P.), the Black Panther Party, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (S.C.L.C.), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (S.N.C.C.), the Black Liberation Army (B. L. A.), the Socialist Workers Party, La Raza Unida ("the Unified Race"), MOVE, the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) and others were among the targets. Dedicated activists who fought for justice were arrested for their political beliefs, tried in criminal courts, and incarcerated with exorbitant and punitive sentences. These political prisoners were effectively shut down for standing up. Though some of them still strive for justice behind bars, COINTELPRO has taken a toll on their lives.

During COINTELPRO's heyday, the F.B.I. didn't hesitate to use thuggery, unauthorized wiretapping, warrantless break-ins and searches, harassment, burglaries, manufactured evidence, witness tampering, infiltration, and even murder to neutralize the aforementioned organizations and their individual members. In 1971, F.B.I. agents, convicted for counterintelligence crimes, were pardoned by President Ronald Reagan. Their targets are still in prison, having now spent decades (30-plus years) behind bars. Approximately 100 men and women in the U.S. are political prisoners, for having taken a stance or expressing a view that the government deems objectionable. They dared to stand up, speak out, and struggle for the liberation and self-determination of oppressed people. The U.S. government does not recognize the designation of political prisoner; in the government's view, they are merely dissidents.

In the past, Prisoners Are People Too has presented programs on COINTELPRO, the San Francisco 8, Jalil Abdul Muntaqim, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and MOVE. Several PRP2 members have voiced their support for political prisoners: Lynne Stewart and Robert Seth Hayes. Unfortunately, the names of these individuals are rarely mentioned in the "real world" and their stories are even more rarely told. Most of us can't name five U.S. political prisoners and far too few of us are actively engaged in supporting/defending a political prisoner. Further, we make the mistake of assuming that what happened to them could never happen to us. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Nowadays, "The Patriot Act" and "Homeland Security" make it all the more likely for any one of us to come face-to-face with Amerikkka's ugly side. While alleging "freedom and justice for all", this country ignores the shameful realities of incarceration and rampant injustice for individuals and organizations that participate in the kind of revolutionary direct action that is needed to make changes in government or social conditions. F.B.I. agents who engaged in illegal activity through COINTELPRO, got a proverbial "slap on the wrist" and nothing changed. Political prisoners, their families, and communities have suffered for nearly forty years.

On Monday, November 24, 2008, at 6:30-8:30pm, at the Pratt-Willert Community Center, at 422 Pratt Street in Buffalo, Leonard Peltier's story will be told. Leonard Peltier was a COINTELPRO target because of his involvement with the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.). In 1977, this Native American activist was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for the murder of two F.B.I. agents who died during a 1975 shoot-out on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, near Oglala, South Dakota. Leonard and his supporters believe that he did not receive a fair trial and that his conviction and imprisonment were results of his activism. He is currently imprisoned in a federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, PA. The documentary film, "Murder on a Reservation", from the Arts and Entertainment Channel's "American Justice" series will be screened. In the film, Leonard Peltier, F.B.I. representatives, and witnesses to the incident that led to the agents' death, tell their stories.

Our guest speaker will be Mr. Michael Kuzma, a Buffalo, NY defense attorney who has supported Leonard Peltier for several years. Mr. Kuzma practices in NY as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd, 8th, and 10th Circuits. He is seeking to obtain the release of 140,000 government documents concerning Leonard Peltier. Mr. Kuzma joined the legal profession believing that the law is a tool to bring about social, political, and economic change. He further believes that what happened to Leonard Peltier could happen to any one of us.

This program is sponsored by The Circle of Supporters for Reformed Offenders and Friends of BaBa Eng. For more information: 716-834-8438 or karima@prisonersarepeopletoo.org.
IPF WEBSITE:
http://users.skynet.be/kola/index.htm
and
www.myspace.com/leonardpeltierisinnocent
IPF e-mail:
ipforum@skynet.be
Also, please visit the website of the
Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee (LPDOC):
http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/
LPDOC e-mail:
contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info

Earthcycles, live from San Francisco Nov. 24 -- 28, 2008

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
SAN FRANCISCO -- Earthcycles web radio returns to the air live during November. From Monday, Nov. 24, through Friday, Nov. 28, Earthcycles will broadcast live from San Francisco, with coverage of the events of 40th anniversary of the American Indian Movement AIM-West, the International Indian Treaty Council and Alcatraz Island.
Earthcycles producer Govinda Dalton, and cohost Brenda Norrell, will be in San Francisco for the week to host the live show.

Dalton, who lives in northern California, and Norrell, based in Tucson, were cohosts of the Longest Walk Talk Radio, on the five-month walk across America. Native Americans walked from Alcatraz to DC for sacred places and protection of Mother Earth.
The same issues covered by the Longest Walk Talk Radio will be highlighted in this month's weeklong, on-air coverage, including the proliferation of coal mines, power plants and drilling in Indian country; the militarization of the US borders and the oppression and violations of human rights of Indigenous Peoples around the world.
As we plan our programming, we would like to hear from you. Please contact us if you have interviews or issues to include.
Listen to Earthcycles and the Longest Walk five-month series at:
http://www.earthcycles.net/
In solidarity, Brenda Norrell
brendanorrell@gmail.com

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

Photo: Earthcycles bus in DC near the US Capitol, when the Longest Walk arrived in DC in July of 2008. Photo Brenda Norrell