About Me

My photo
For me it is All About Being of Service & Living the Life of the Give-Away....

Being Mindful of those who are unable to speak for themselves; our Non-Two Legged Relations and the Future Generations.

It's about walking on the Canka Luta Waste Behind the Cannunpa and the ceremonies.

It's about Mindfulness and Respect. It's about Honesty and owning up to my foibles.

It's about: Mi Takuye Oyacin

Sunday, May 31, 2009

360: Helping Out-Elders' Meditation: December 10, 2008

Elder's Meditation of the Day - December 10 magnify


"Come forward and join hands with us in this great work for the Creator."
--Traditional Circle of Elders, NORTHERN CHEYENNE
The Elders have spent years learning to pray and communicate with the Great Spirit. Their job is to pass this knowledge onto the young people. The Elders have told us we are now in a great time of healing. The Creator is guiding them to help the young people figure this out. We must get involved and participate. We should pray and see what it is the Great Spirit wants us to do. We need to sacrifice our time to help the people and to be of maximum use to the Creator. Every person is needed to accomplish this great healing.
Creator, whisper what You want me to do.

I was on my way to Mexico to do some sacred work, and these two beautiful children were seated in front of me on the plane...we played and sang, and made finger-plays. It was so awesome....and it's time you know, for the new Elders to step up to the plate and teach the children. Our Elders are on their way back to Creator...it's up to those of us who are now the "Elders" to fix the messy minds we have created in our children.... Raising Children is NOT a Democratic process....we need to love our children & grandchildren, but we must do so with a firm yet loving touch. It's about the good of the world and All Our Relations, not just for our immediate family. It's about teaching the natural laws and the way of balance if we are to survive.

360: Natural Law-Elders' Meditation: December 10, 2008

Elder's Meditation of the Day - December 9 magnify

"The Natural Law will prevail regardless of man-made laws, tribunals and governments."
--Traditional Circle of Elders, NAVAJO-HOPI Joint Use Area
The Great Spirit made Laws by which Man needs to live. These Laws are just and are about living in harmony. Man has passed many laws that say it is okay to do things. Many of these man-made laws are out of harmony with the Laws of the Great Spirit. These man-made laws will cause trouble for the human being if they are out of harmony with the Laws of the Creator.
Great Spirit, teach me Your Laws

So...when was the last time anyone looked at the weather, the increased number of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and volcanoes that are taking place these days? I think we are out of balance now, and we better get on the stick and clean up our act, or bend over & kiss out butts goodbye!

360: Elders' Meditation: December 9, 2008

Elder's Meditation for December 09, 2008 magnify
"We as men should not fear our mates; we should listen to their counsel."
--Oren R. Lyons, Spokesman, Traditional Circle of Elders
The Elders say the men should look at women in a sacred way. The men should never put women down or shame them in any way. When we have problems, we should seek their counsel. We should share with them openly. A woman has intuitive thought. She has access to another system of knowledge that few men develop. She can help us understand. We must treat her in a good way.
Great Spirit, let me look upon the woman in a good way.

You know this is interesting.......The man I love, he has major relationship issues, that go back to his own insecurities, hurt, anger & bitterness. Although he is able to articulate the "bitterness", he can't seem to get out of the rut and get into healing. So, because he doesn't ask me, I don't usually tell him what it is I "know". There is so much of his distress that I understand, so much similar I have gone through myself.....but he prefers to sit in his cave and brood. I haven't given up, I just let him alone and go about my life. When he reaches for me I am there...otherwise I'm out and about, but always I am with him in thought & heart...and prayers.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

360: Human Noise Drowns out Song of Whales: December 3, 2008

MSNBC: Human noise drowns out song of whales magnify

Human noise drowns out song of whales

Countries looking for ways to cut down on underwater sound pollution

updated 2:39 p.m. PT, Wed., Dec. 3, 2008

ROME - The songs that whales and dolphins use to communicate, orient themselves and find mates are being drowned out by human-made noises in the world's oceans, U.N. officials and environmental groups said Wednesday.

That sound pollution — including increased commercial shipping, seismic surveys and a new generation of military sonar — is not only confounding the mammals but also further threatening the survival of these endangered animals.

Studies show that these cetaceans, which once communicated over thousands of miles to forage and mate, are losing touch with each other, the experts said on the sidelines of a U.N. wildlife conference in Rome.

"Call it a cocktail-party effect," said Mark Simmonds, director of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, a Britain-based NGO. "You have to speak louder and louder until no one can hear each other anymore."

An indirect source of noise pollution may also be coming from climate change, which is altering the chemistry of the oceans and making sound travel farther through sea water, the experts said.

Representatives of more than 100 governments are gathered in Rome for a meeting of the U.N.-backed Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.

The agenda of the conference, which ends Friday, includes ways to increase protection for endangered species, including measures to mitigate underwater noise.

Beachings tied to noise?
Environmental groups also are increasingly finding cases of beached whales and dolphins that can be linked to sound pollution, Simmonds said.

Marine mammals are turning up on the world's beaches with tissue damage similar to that found in divers suffering from decompression sickness. The condition, known as the bends, causes gas bubbles to form in the bloodstream upon surfacing too quickly.

Scientists say the use of military sonar or seismic testing may have scared the animals into diving and surfacing beyond their physical limits, Simmonds said.

Several species of cetaceans are already listed as endangered or critically endangered from other causes, including hunting, chemical pollution, collisions with boats and entanglements with fishing equipment. Though it is not yet known precisely how many animals are affected, sound pollution is increasingly being recognized as a serious factor, the experts said.

As an example, Simmonds offered two incidents this year which, though still under study, could be linked to noise pollution: the beaching of more than 100 melon-headed whales in Madagascar and that of two dozen common dolphins on the southern British coast.

The sound of a seismic test, used to locate hydrocarbons beneath the seabed, can spread 1,800 miles under water, said Veronica Frank, an official with the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

A study by her group found that the blue whale, which used to communicate across entire oceans, has lost 90 percent of its range over the last 40 years.

Despite being the largest mammal ever to inhabit Earth, the endangered blue whale still holds mysteries for scientists.

"We don't even know where their breeding grounds are," Simmonds said. "But what's most important is that they need to know where they are."

'Strange and unwanted development'
Other research suggests that rising levels of carbon dioxide are increasing the acidity of the Earth's oceans, making sound travel farther through sea water.

The study by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in the United States shows the changes may mean some sound frequencies are traveling 10 percent farther than a few centuries ago. That could increase to 70 percent by 2050 if greenhouse gases are not cut.

"This is a new, strange and unwanted development," Simmonds said. "It shows how the degradation of the environment is all linked."

However, governments seem ready to take action, said Nick Nutall, a spokesman for the U.N. Environment Program, which administers the convention being discussed in Rome. The conference is discussing a resolution that would oblige countries to reduce sound pollution, he said.

Measures suggested include rerouting shipping and installing quieter engines as well as cutting speed and banning tests and sonar use in areas known to be inhabited by the endangered animals.

360: Major Wildlife Win: December 9, 2008

WAY TO GO!!!!! magnify

I'm thrilled to report a major victory for polar bears, endangered bowhead whales and other species that live in and around the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

A federal appeals court has just ruled that the Bush Administration's approval of Shell's plan to drill for oil next to the Refuge in Alaska's Beaufort Sea is illegal.

You share the credit for this fantastic victory because it was your generous support of NRDC that allowed us to wage this long but successful legal battle against Big Oil's disastrous scheme.

NRDC and Earthjustice -- along with a coalition of Alaska Native organizations and conservation groups -- went to federal court and proved that Shell's rush to industrialize this fragile ecosystem posed a greater threat to wildlife and the Inupiat people than the Bush Administration was willing to admit.

Now the court is sending the government back to the drawing board to study and disclose the "significant harm" that Shell’s drilling could cause.

Our courtroom victory shows that oil companies can't get away with simply killing wildlife and destroying the Inupiat's way of life, which depends on that wildlife.

The government's own experts predicted that drilling in the Beaufort would cause at least one oil spill, which would have been an unmitigated disaster for wildlife as there is no known method for cleaning up oil in this icebound sea.

That's why we are so determined to keep Shell -- and all the oil companies -- out of our most sensitive Arctic environments.

Thank you again for steadfastly standing with us and defending the coastline of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge!

Sincerely,
Frances
Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council

P.S. The polar bear is not out of danger yet. In fact, right now NRDC is fighting the Bush Administration, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and America's biggest polluters for the sake of polar bear survival. Donate now to help us win two critical cases that could help save the polar bear from rampant industrialization of its home.

360: Speaking for Those Without a Voice: November 30,2009

Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 30 magnify
Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 30
"Someone must speak for them. I do not see a delegation for the four footed. I see no seat for eagles. We forget and we consider ourselves superior, but we are after all a mere part of the Creation."
--Oren Lyons, ONONDAGA
Whenever we make decisions, we need to look around and see who would be affected by them. If we change the course of a river , who, what will be affected? If we put poison on the gardens, who, what will be affected? If wee cut the trees and too many are cut, who, what will be affected? We need to become aware of the consequences of our actions. We need to pay attention to our thoughts. We are accountable to our children to leave the Earth in good shape.

360: Silence in a Realtionship: November 28, 2008

Silence in a Relationship magnify
Silence is Golden

Silence is a Guy Thing

Silence = Death
(of a relationship)



Silence speaks 1,000 times louder than words

Silence is deafening

Silence is disheartening

Silence is cold

Silence is cruel

Silence is heartbreaking

Silence is taking for granted

Silence is inhospitable

Silence is chicken

Silence hurts


S=Solitary

I=Inhumane

L=Lonely

E=Erosive

N=Noxious

C=Corrosive

E=Ends a relationship


This is what I have learned from the men I know...

Silence? It's a guy thing!

However, I am a Woman, and it's tearing me apart!

360: Playing for Change: November 27, 2008

Playing for Change magnify
Peace Through Music.....This is a wonderful piece. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_nIXJ0ZcyU

360: Thanksgiving: November 26, 2008

Thanksgiving magnify
As many of you already know: speaking for myself, Everyday Is Thanksgiving!

Every morning I wake up and am able to get out of bed and go about my day and return safely back to my bed at night....well that's a lot to be thankful for.

So here is a partial list of what I have to be thankful for:
My family,
Aristophanes & Zeinab,
Grandpa Wallace , Grandpa Marcellus & the Grannies
my home,
the Canunpa & the Canka Luta Waste,
#213 Inn @ Avila Beach & Amanda @ Avalon
my friends; Pie, Donna, Dianna, Anet, Jr., Kehau, Evelia, Lu, Maggie & Sue,
all the people I've met online (yah even in T&A),
for life's lessons, my health,
them Wanbli & the other bird nation that watch out for me,
the Wakiyan,
Pejuta Waste,
my job,
gourds & the gourd man,
a good vehicle,
the give-away Unci Maka & all my non-two-legged relations provide me,
being able to make a positive difference in this lifetime,
being able to walk the "Give-away"

In essence...My Life!

Mi Takuye Oyacin

360: Bless the Women: November 26, 2008

Bless the Women magnify
Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 26
"In our traditional ways, the woman is the foundation of the family."
--Haida Gwaii Traditional Circle of Elders
We must pay attention to the role of the woman in the family. She is the heartbeat of the family. She should be respected and treated in a sacred manner. We should listen to her guidance. We should help make her role easier by helping with chores or just telling her how much we appreciate her.

360: Intimacy: November 22, 2008

Elders' Meditation magnify
Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 22
"It's the most precious thing...to know absolutely where you belong. There's a whole emotional wrapping-around-of-you here. You see the same rock, tree, road, clouds, sun -- you develop a nice kind of intimacy with the world around you. To be intimate is to grow, to learn...[it] is absolutely fulfilling. Intimacy, that's my magic word for why I live here."
--Tessie Maranjo, SANTA CLARA PUEBLO
Every human being, to be mentally healthy, must have the feeling of belonging. When we have a sense of belonging we can be intimate. We can feel. We can connect. If we cannot develop this feeling of belonging, then we will feel lost of disconnected. To be disconnected from life is like walking around during the day not knowing the Sun exists. To have the feelings of intimacy is warm, glowy, joyful, loving and connected. The feeling this Elder is talking about is available to everyone.
Great Spirit, let me be intimate.

Intimacy....was once: in the arms of the gourd man, in the Initi, in the eagle enclosure, upon the mountain sitting against the cedar tree, in the pumpkin patch, at 3919 W. 8th St., tending fire in that Sacred Fire Pit, sitting in the center of a circle of oak trees, in my Auntie's kitchen, the east side of el Piramide de Sol (Teotihuacan)....

Now, I am feeling the disconnectedness...who is there to share deeply with? Where do I belong? I am searching for a new home... I yearn for the hide-away of #213 and the center of the labyrinth... I yearn for the centeredness of the "Traditional" ceremonies... I yearn for the sharing of hearts between a man and myself...

Yah, Tunkashila, Pilamiya for allowing me to safely be intimate......safe and warm there
in the arms of love.

360: True Power: November 18, 2008

Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 18 magnify
Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 18
"Power is not manifested in the human being. True power is in the Creator."
--Oren Lyons, ONONDAGA
The Old Ones say the only true power is spiritual power. Sometimes our egos tell us we have power but really we don't. Great Spirit power is called by other names such as love, forgiveness, intelligence, life, principles and laws. When the Creator uses this power to make the human being powerful, we must stay humble. We should constantly acknowledge that we are who we are. We do what we do because of the power of the Great One.
Great One, guide me to use Your power well. I will use it only to serve the people.

360: Butticons: November 17, 2008

Butticons magnify
Thought all my smart ass friends might enjoy this.
We all know those cute little computer symbols called "emoticons," where:

:) means a smile and


:( is a frown.

Sometimes these are represented by


8-) :-(

Well, how about some "BUTTICONS?"

Here goes:


(_!_) a regular ass


(__!__) a fat ass


(!) a tight ass


(_*_) a sore ass


{_!_} a swishy ass


(_o_) an ass that's been around

(_x_) kiss my ass

(_X_) leave my ass alone

(_zzz_) a tired ass

(_E=mc2_) a smart ass (My favorite)

(_$_) Money coming out of his ass

(_?_) Dumb Ass

360: Kristallnacht : November 7, 2008


Kristallnacht II magnify
I am posting this because I want people to remember..... I want people to know this is not the first time such a heinous crime has been perpetrated upon a particular group of people, but that it can be the last.

70 years ago, on November 7, 1938, a 17 year old young man by the name of Herschel Grynszpan (who had been informed on Nov. 3rd via postcard from his sister Berta that his family had been expelled from Hanover), took retribution into his own hands by walking into the German Embassy in Paris and firing 5 shots. The shots were fatal to Junior Diplomat, Ernst vom Rath, who died two days later.




On November 10, 1938 the Nazis imposed their revenge upon the Jewish communities. 267 synagogues and 7,500 Jewish businesses were ransacked and burned, at least 91 Jewish people were murdered. Jewish cemeteries, schools, hospitals and homes were destroyed while German police & fire departments stood aside and watched.

Systematic destruction of communities of people has been happening throughout history. The Jewish people in particular have suffered through Pharaoh Thutmose III in mid 1400 B.C. and again during the Spanish Inquisition from 1478-1834 at the hands of Ferdinand & Isabella...Yes, those same people who brought the Indigenous people of this land mass that great lost Italian murderous pig in 1492 and more than 200 years of continued genocide!

The Armenians suffered at the hands of the Turkish government from 1894-1896 and again in 1912-1915.

The numbers of human lives lost to the love and worship of power and money is incalculable.

Now, the U.S. & the Israelis are perpetrating a similar type of genocide upon the people of the Middle East..... We HAVE TO STOP this once and for all.... We have to convince our children to STOP Enlisting in to Armed Forces. Peace Begins at Home, Peace Begins with Me.....Peace Begins with You!

"War IS Over, if You WANT It" - John Lennon

Mi Takuye Oyacin


Kristallnacht I magnify

I apologize for the lateness of this posting

In Memoriam


It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated with the German and Russian Peoples looking the other way!





Now, more than ever, with
Iraq , Iran , and others, claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,' it's imperative to make sure the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it again.

I am not posting this because I am of 1/4 Jewish descent or pro-Israeli (because I am not). I want to remind everyone who reads this, that what the U.S. & the Israelis are doing to the people of the Middle East is WRONG and an abomination to Creator.

STOP Enlisting in the Armed Forces...see those two words.... ARMED: To take arms, to carry arms (arms being weapons) FORCES: from the word Force...to force ones self upon another with mal-intent or viciousness. GET IT?


Like John Lennon said: "War is Over, if you Want It"


MI Takuye Oyacin

360: Hostility, Jealousy & Lies in Native Chat: November 13, 2008

Hostility & Jealousy & Lies in a Native Chat magnify
Greetings:

For those of you who know me...you know these words that I write are the truth.

Since 2/14/2006 I have been a member of Tribal America . org. I have always done my best to be of support to those members in need.

As of the past year a wanting to be shining star nation (Black Hole) woman there within the site, of the Tasunka Oyate (who claims Chumash & other blood), has festered in jealousy and has promulgated deceit and lies within the site. As of late, she has been joined by a Talking Wild Horse's Ass (who closed his original buff profile with the statement he has left the site for good), and now is planning a takeover of the site. There are plans for purchasing of the site and changing it from a Not-for-Profit organization, to one of (personal) profit.

Lies have been told about specific members, which are being believed by administration. Certain members are being harassed and attacked through their associations and friends. Their friends are also being privately contacted by the despicable duo of horses and being told lies about those the duo is jealous of.

The weakness within the infrastructure causes me much grief...this is not the first time this woman has attempted to cause such damage, but it is the first time she has joined forces with one who walks so very not-in balance nor in beauty.

I am thankful for the many opportunities, friendships, and blessings the site has brought me. I am grateful and honored to have been of service to those men & women who have sought my help. Always, I pray for those members of the site, those who love & support me and those who do not. I know in my heart The Truth Will Out, for what goes around, surely does come around.

Mi Takuye Oyacin

360: Our Children: November 13, 2008

Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 12 magnify
Elder's Meditation of the Day - November 12
"I don't think that anybody anywhere can talk about the future of their people or of an organization without talking about education. Whoever controls the education of our children controls our future, the future of the Cherokee people and of the Cherokee Nation."
--Wilma P. Mankiller, CHEROKEE
The world has changed in the last 50 years. It will change even more in the next 50 years, and it will change even faster. We must educate ourselves to ensure our future generations will maintain the language and the culture of our people. We need to be concerned about our land because when our land goes away, so will our people. We need to be concerned about leadership, our families and about alcoholism. We need to be concerned about what's going on around the world. We can only do this by being educated. Then we can control our future.
Great Spirit, please guide our children; let me know how I can help.

360: Big Mountain/Black Mesa, AZ: October 25, 2008

Peabody & McCain Evil Incarnate magnify

Blowback for Black Mesa

By BRENDA NORRELL

A delegation of Navajo, Hopi and Lakota warned Lehman Brothers stockholders of the dire consequences of their actions in 2001. In a rare move, censored by most media, the Navajo, Hopi and Lakota delegation warned Lehman Brothers, after it acquired the financial interests of Peabody Coal, of the spiritual consequences of mining coal on sacred Black Mesa and the aftermath of Peabody Coal's machinations that led to the so-called Navajo Hopi Land Dispute. Lehman Brothers is now in the midst of financial collapse, with its bankruptcy producing a rippling effect throughout the world's economy.

At the time of the Lehman Brothers stockholders meeting in 2001, Arlene Hamilton bought two shares of stocks in Lehman Brothers to pave the way for the delegation to address the stockholders. Hamilton said her life was threatened because of this action. Shortly afterwards, Hamilton was killed in a car crash. Longtime Navajo relocation resister Roberta Blackgoat died in San Francisco at Hamilton's memorial.

A traditional Hopi was among those addressing the Lehman Brothers stockholders. His admonitions followed those of the late Hopi Sinom elders Thomas Banyacya and Dan Evehema, among the Hopi elders who warned of dire consequences, including natural disasters and worldwide consequences, if Peabody mined coal on Black Mesa and Navajos were relocated from this sacred region. The Hopi Sinom never authorized the establishment of the Hopi Tribal Council, which they referred to as a puppet government of the United States.

The traditional Hopi in the delegation told stockholders, "Lehman Brothers, even though we are just a few here, we speak for the Creator, who is the majority. "Therefore we demand you stop the Peabody coal mining and the slurry. We demand again," said the Hopi elder who asked that his name not be published in the media.

"Traditional and priesthood people don't want this mining. The Hopi prophecies say that we have to protect land and life. If we don't protect our beautiful Earth --our Heaven, our Mother, we will suffer with her." He told stockholders that Hopis never signed a treaty with the United States and the current Hopi Tribal Council is not legitimate since it was created by less than 30 percent of the people. Referring to the beginning of the turmoil, he said, "John Boyden was a lawyer who worked for Peabody Coal. He was instrumental to the creation of the Hopi Tribal Council.

"Our ancestors warned that someday this would happen. White men will say that it is our own people that sold this land. I will not accept this.

"Our roots are rooted in our villages and it goes up to the whole universe. If we break these roots the world will get out of balance. "I pray for you and hope that we open your eyes and you find the majority in your heart."

Roberta Blackgoat, longtime resister and sheepherder from Cactus Valley, told stockholders the region of San Francisco Peaks is holy to the Navajo people. Mining in the area of this sacred mountain is the same as desecrating an altar and church. It is making the people sick."We can not go away to other places," Blackgoat said, adding that livestock confiscation is "starving the people."

"When you have a pinprick on your finger, just take it off and the pain will go away. But there are too many pins on the Mother Earth. Barbed wire is all over the country, dividing the people."

Blackgoat was among the families resisting forced relocation. After Peabody orchestrated the so-called Navajo Hopi Land Dispute, more than 12,000 Navajos were relocated to make way for Peabody's coal mining. Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., was among those responsible for Navajo relocation.

Leonard Benally, Navajo from Big Mountain on Black Mesa in Arizona, said the delegation told Lehman Brothers that it is time to transform operations to renewable forms of energy, including solar and wind power.

"It was like opening this marble door to the Lehman Brothers. We got our foot in there. They were willing to listen. By going there, the delegation touched their hearts." Benally said the delegation also dispelled myths.

"They say it's a land dispute, but it is not. The traditional Hopi and Navajo are standing together, they are the original inhabitants of Black Mesa. We are the caretakers."Benally said the people have been struggling for 32 years because of the turmoil created by Hopi and Navajo tribal leaders intent on making money from the 92 billion tons of coal beneath the ground at Black Mesa. But, he said, the resistance actually goes back 500 years to the Spanish invasion, followed by the European invasion. Finally there was the Kit Carson invasion. "That's when the people were put in the death camps."

While Navajos were incarcerated at Fort Sumner, he said, "The military made promises, mountains of promises they never kept."While the Navajo Nation government in Window Rock celebrated Sovereignty Day in April (2001), Benally said tribal leaders force their own people to suffer respiratory disease and death from coal mining, sacrificing them for mining royalties.

"Sovereignty Day? That's a joke. For us, we live it. They oppress their own race. They make them bleed."In the 1970s, the Four Corners region was considered a National Sacrifice area, but Benally said it is time to change that classification to a National Historic Site. "The sacredness is still here. Mother Earth is still here. She still breathes. As long as the air blows, the rivers run, Indigenous people will be out here."

Benally said the Navajo, Hopi and Lakota delegation moved in solidarity with the Zapatistas whose caravan through Mexico gave them hope in 2001.

"We felt the wind, it came from the South. It is telling the Indigenous people to rise up for their beliefs, their culture. These things are not being respected by anyone but the Indigenous people." In New York, Joe Chasing Horse, Sundance Chief at Big Mountain, addressed the protest rally and spoke to Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking Fund stockholders."You have taken all of our land, now we have come to show you how to take care of it," Chasing Horse said. "The traditionalists have the wisdom, we are the wisdom keepers." Glenna Begay, Navajo protesting in New York, said, "I traveled 3,000miles to be here and to voice my concern about what's happening to us out there on the land. I want the mining to stop."

Louise Benally of Big Mountain said, "We need to hold the owners accountable by letting them know the hardship we live with every day." Arlene Hamilton, coordinator of the Weaving for Freedom project and wife of Leonard Benally, personally bought two shares in the corporation to ensure entrance into the stockholders meeting. She and Benally negotiated with Lehman Brothers to allow the elders time to address stockholders.

"These were some of the richest men and women in the world. The delegation was so beautiful, and so with the truth. Their presence was holy."

Back in Flagstaff in 2001, Hamilton said Lehman Brothers and Peabody Coal now have the opportunity to make a difference in the future of mankind.

"We want the dehumanizing and militarizing to stop. There is a lot of suffering going on. We want to make sure the ceremonies are not surrounded by guns and the people have clean drinking water.

"There is no life without water." Hamilton said Navajo elders resisting relocation often become dehydrated during the hot summer months because of the scarcity of clean water, while Peabody Coal pumps 10,000 gallons of water a minute to slurry coal.She has taken human rights concerns to Peabody management for years, but she said they have done little to improve the quality of living as promised. "It's really just diversion and distraction while the people are suffering out there. Everything is based on making way for mining."

The delegation presented a list of demands to Lehman Brothers, demanding that Peabody leave the water and coal alone because they are the lungs and liver of Mother Earth. They called for a halt to mining and the initiation of a solar project, availability of clean drinking water, and a halt to military over flights and the intimidation of elders and youths by armed rangers.

Hamilton said the Weaving for Freedom project is a collective of Dine' weavers in resistance struggling for religious freedom to practice their ancient craft while protecting their sacred land. Hamilton said, "This work is very risky now. We protect each other by traveling in large groups." Leonard Benally said, "The whole thing is about materialism, money. In our culture, money doesn't matter. It is about how you live in harmony with nature, in harmony with your prayers. "That's why we are fighting for our lands, even though the media and politicians are telling us we don't have a right to exist."

Meanwhile, Bill Ahearn, spokesman for Lehman Brothers, said the protesters were welcome to speak at the meeting but said the firm would be unable to help them. He said the issues must be resolved by the tribes and BIA.

"We're very sympathetic and we feel badly for them, but there's nothing we can do for them because it's not a problem with us."

Brenda Norrell is human rights editor for U.N. OBSERVER & International Report. She also runs the Censored website and is a contributor to Red State Rebels. She can be reached at: brendanorrell@gmail.com

360: Put Up or Shut Up: October 24, 2008

Put Up or Shut Up magnify
Too many people bitch about what's wrong with this world but do nothing to fix it.

It is time to make your voices heard.....

What do you want for the future generations?
Do you want peace?
Do you want a green healthy planet, potable water, breathable air?
Do you want equality or just more big business & corporations running the government?
Do you want basic human rights?
Do you believe in the First Amendment?
Do you want to feel safe & secure in your job?
Do you want affordable health care?
Do you want to see the money you paid into social security come back to you?
Are you tired of inferior, unsafe, poisonous products?
How do you like the price of food?
Do you want to continue to be forced to buy fruits & vegetables from foreign countries at 3-4 x the cost of domestic grown?
Do you like the fact that most all of Walmart products are foreign made, taking jobs away from you & your family?

Well....you better pay attention to what's going on around you, get off your dead butt and vote!

You might not have anything to vote for, but you sure as hell have something to vote against!

McCain & Palin will guarantee 4-8 more years of the mess we now have in this country....

This is not about skin color...this is about pure unmitigated evil and greed continuing to rule this country and destroy this country's natural resources and take over the planet.

So, If You Do NOT Vote, you have absolutely no right to complain.... So Put Up or Shut Up! The future you save (or destroy) is that of your children's children.

Mi Takuye Oyacin

360: Librarians & the Palin: October 13, 2008



Librarians & the Palin magnify
Ok...she didn't "ban" books....as I understand, they were not even a part of the Library's collection. "Banning" a book actually denotes the government banning a book from being published, sold, printed, and made available in any format. No, she did not do this, she has not the "authority".

However, the fact remains that the Palin, queried the Wasilla Library as to how to go about having books removed from the Library's collection and whether or not they owned the books of her particular interest.

Librarians are far from stupid....we really do our best to uphold the 1st Amendment, and we do our best to avoid censorship.

As a Librarian, with collection development responsibilities, it us up to me to decide which materials are added to the library's collection and which are not. Therefore, I might not purchase "Heather Has Two Mommies" or "Daddy's Roommate" if there is no interest in the community. I prefer to spend my shrinking $$$ on items that will circulate, for circulation is counted as activity, and the more activity a library has, the higher their budget in comparison to a library with a low activity index.

So I suggest you read the following articles...

Sarah Palin, Librarians, and the Wasilla Library Book Banning Controversy
Read the full article at:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6597542.html&


However, I'm still not going to vote for anyone who feels they have the right to personally interfere with peoples' lives (by having them removed from their jobs) just because she doesn't like them...her personal agenda is fine for her family, but it is so not okay to impose it on the world. It's bad enough both her & McCain are anti-environment and pro oil...

When we speak about alternatives to (foreign) oil, why not look at the fact that we already have a huge transcontinental oil pipeline right in our midst...and then ask yourself "Where in the hell has that oil gone?".

Then consider renewable fuel sources....Windmills, grain based fuels, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, and electric cars! Golly, gee...the City of Los Angeles DWP uses windmills, and I can't remember when the last time my rates went up!

Also, go rent the movie, "Who Killed the Electric Car"....or read the Wikipedia article, then view the movie.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%3F


It's about more than books.......

360: Ego: June 29, 2008

Elder's Meditation June 29, 2008
Elder's Meditation June 29, 2008 magnify
"We forget so we consider ourselves superior. But we are, after all, a mere part of the creation and we must consider to understand where we are and we stand somewhere between the mountain and the Ant. Somewhere and only there is a part and parcel of the creation."
--Chief Oren Lyons, ONONDAGA
Every human being gathers information from the center of a circle. If we are not careful, we soon think we are the center of all things. Therefore, it is easy to become self centered. Once we become self centered we start to think we are above all things and therefore superior. But we are really only one part of a great whole. The universe is all connected. Each part is here to do something special and according to its design. We are here to honor and respect the job of each part. We are neither above nor below anything. We need not be ruler over anything, we need only to live in honor and harmony with the system.
My Creator, help me to view and conduct myself in a manner of respect, dignity and honor to all creation. Let me see You in all things.

360: An Alaskan Native Speaks Out....September 12, 2008

YOU BETTER PAY ATTENTION.... magnify
An Alaska Native speaks out on Palin, Oil, and Alaska
By Evon Peter
9/8/2008

My name is Evon Peter; I am a former Chief of the Neetsaii Gwich'in tribe from Arctic Village, Alaska and the current Executive Director of Native Movement. My organization provides culturally based leadership development through offices in Alaska and Arizona. My wife, who is Navajo, and I have been based out of Flagstaff, Arizona for the past few years, although I travel home to Alaska in support of our initiatives there as well. It is interesting to me that my wife and I find ourselves as Indigenous people from the two states where McCain and Palin originate in their leadership.
I am writing this letter to raise awareness about the ongoing colonization and violation of human rights being carried out against Alaska Native peoples in the name of unsustainable progress, with a particular emphasis on the role of Sarah Palin and the Republican leadership. My hope is that it helps to elevate truth about the nature of Alaskan politics in relation to Alaska Native peoples and that it lays a framework for our path to justice.
Ever since the Russian claim to Alaska and the subsequent sale to the United States through the Treaty of Cession in 1867, the attitude and treatment towards Alaska Native peoples has been fairly consistent. We were initially referred to as less than human "uncivilized tribes", so we were excluded from any dialogues and decisions regarding our lands, lives, and status. The dominating attitude within the Unites States at the time was called Manifest Destiny; that God had given Americans this great land to take from the Indians because they were non-Christian and incapable of self-government. Over the years since that time, this framework for relating to Alaska Native peoples has become entrenched in the United States legislative and legal systems in an ongoing direct violation of our human rights.
What does this mean? Allow me to share an analogy. If a group of people were to arrive in your city and tell you their people had made laws, among which were:
1. What were once your home and land now belong to them (although you could live in the garage or backyard)
2. Forced you to send your children to boarding schools to learn their language and be acculturated into their ways with leaders who touted "Kill the American, save the man" (based on the original statement made by US Captain Richard H. Pratt in regards to Native American education "Kill the Indian, save the man.")
3. Supported missionaries and government agents to forcefully (for example, with poisons placed on the tongues of your children and withheld vaccines) convince you that your Jesus, Buddha, Torah, or Mohammed was actually an agent of evil and that salvation in the afterlife could only be found through believing otherwise
4. Made it illegal for you to continue to do your job to support your family, except under strict oversight and through extensive regulation
5. Made it illegal for you to own any land or run a business as an individual and did not allow you to participate in any form of their government, which controlled your life (voting or otherwise)
How would this make you feel? What if you also knew that if you were to retaliate, that you would be swiftly killed or incarcerated? How long do you think it would take for you to forget or would you be sure to share this history with your children with the hope that justice could one day prevail for your descendents? And most importantly to our conversation, how American does this sound to you?
To put this into perspective, my grandfather who helped to raise me in Arctic Village was born in 1904, just thirty-seven years after the United States laid claim to Alaska. If my grandfather had unjustly stolen your grandfathers home and I was still living in the house and watching you live outdoors, would you feel a change was in order? Congress unilaterally passed most of the major US legislation that affect our people in my grandfathers' lifetime. There has never been a Treaty between Alaska Native Peoples and the United States over these injustices. Each time that Alaska Native people stand up for our rights, the US responds with token shifts in its laws and policies to appease the building discontent, yet avoiding the underlying injustice that I believe can be resolved if leadership in the United States would be willing to acknowledge the underlying injustice of its control over Alaska Native peoples, our lands, and our ways of life.
United States legal history in relation to Alaska Natives has been based on one major platform - minimize the potential for Alaska Native people to regain control of their lives, lands, and resources and maximize benefit to the Unites States government and its corporations. While the rest of the world, following World War II, was seeking to return African and European Nations to their rightful owners, the United States pushed in the opposite direction by pulling the then Territory of Alaska out of the United Nations dialogues and pushing for Statehood into the Union. Why is it that Alaska Native Nations are still perceived as being incapable of governing our own lands, lives, and resources differently than African, Asian, and European nations?
Let me get specific about what is at stake and how this relates to Palin and the Republican leadership in Alaska and across this country. To this day, Alaska Native peoples are among the only Indigenous peoples in all of North America whose Indigenous Hunting and Fishing Rights have been extinguished by federal legislation and yet we are the most dependent people on this way of life. Most of our villages have no roads that connect them to cities; many live with poverty level incomes, and all rely to varying degrees on traditional hunting, fishing, and harvesting for survival. This has become known as the debate on Alaska Native Subsistence.
As Alaska Governor, Palin has continued the path of her predecessor Frank Murkowski in challenging attempts by Alaska Native people to regain their human right to their traditional way of life through subsistence. The same piece of unilateral federal legislation, known as the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971, that extinguished our hunting and fishing rights, also extinguished all federal Alaska Native land claims and my Tribe's reservation status. In the continental United States, this sort of legislation is referred to as 'termination legislation' because it takes the rights of self-government away from Tribes. It is based in the same age-old idea that we are not capable of governing our people, lands, and resources. To justify these terminations, ANCSA also created Alaska Native led for profit corporations (which were provided the remaining lands not taken by the government and a one time payment the equivalent of about 1/20th of the annual profits made by corporations in Alaska each year) with a mission of exploiting the land in partnership with the US government and outside corporations. It was a brilliant piece of legislation for the legal termination and cultural assimilation of Alaska Natives under the guise of progress.
Since the passage of ANCSA, political leaders in Alaska, with a few exceptions, have maintained that, as stated by indicted Senator Ted Stevens, "Tribes have never existed in Alaska." They maintain this position out of fear that the real injustice being carried out upon Alaska Natives may break into mainstream awareness and lead to a re-opening of due treaty dialogues between Alaska Native leaders and the federal government. At the same time the federal government chose to list Alaska Native tribes in the list of federally recognized tribes in 1993. Governor Palin maintains that tribes were federally recognized but that they do not have the same rights as the tribes in the continental United States to sovereignty and self-governance, even to the extent of legally challenging our Tribes rights pursuant to the Indian Child Welfare Act. What good are governments that can't make decisions concerning their own land and people?
The colonial mentality in and towards Alaska is to exploit the land and resources for profits and power, at the expense of Alaska Native people. Governor Palin reflects this attitude and perspective in her words and leadership. She comes from an area within Alaska that was settled by relocated agricultural families from the continental United States in the second half of the last century. It is striking that a leader from that particular area feels she has a right, considering all of the injustices to Alaska Native people, to offer Alaskan oil and resources in an attempt to solve the national energy crisis at the Republican Convention. Palin also chose not to mention the connection between oil development and global warming, which is wreaking havoc on Alaska Native villages, forcing some to begin the process of relocation at a cost sure to reach into the hundreds of millions.
Our tribes depend on healthy and abundant land and animals for our survival. For example, my people depend on the Porcupine Caribou herd, which migrates into the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge each spring to birth their young. Any disruption and contamination will directly impact the health and capacity for my people to continue to live in a homeland we have been blessed to live in for over 10,000 years.
This is the sacrifice Palin offered to the nation. The worst part of it is that there are viable alternatives to addressing the energy crisis in the United States, yet Palin chooses options that very well may result in the extinguishment of some of the last remaining intact ecosystems and original cultures in all of North America. Palin is also promoting off shore oil drilling and increased mining in sensitive areas of Alaska, all of which would have a lifespan of far fewer years than my grandfather walked on this earth and which would not even make a smidgen of an impact on national consumption rates or longer term sustainability. McCain was once a champion of protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and it is sad to see, that with Palin on board, he is no longer vocal and perhaps even giving up on what he believes in to satisfy Palin's position. While I have much more to say, this is my current offering to elevate the conversation about what is at stake in Alaska and for Alaska Native peoples.
Please share this offering with others and help us to make this an election that brings out honest dialogue. We have an opportunity to bring lasting change, but only if we can be open to hearing the truth about our situations and facing the challenges that arise.
Many thanks to all those who are taking stands for a just and sustainable future for all of our future generations,
*This essay is a personal reflection and should not be attributed to my tribe or organization