Taser Bait, on the streets of Denver
Posted by Brenda Norrell - August 25, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Update: Denver police stage bizarre behavior
by Brenda Norrell
Photo: An Aurora, Colorado, police officer draws his weapon on peaceful marchers, calling for freedom for political prisoners at the federal courthouse in Denver on Monday. Photo Brenda Norrell
DENVER -- It was an incredible morning in the streets of Denver, with the voices of the people spilling out through this city during the Political Prisoners March and Rally. It was clear that there is another divide underway, those who are in the Democratic National Convention with their expense accounts and those in the streets, lending powerful voices to define the future. With most US citizens in a state of post traumatic stress syndrome, the brave faced off with Denver police and marched through the streets this morning. What began as a small crowd near the Civic Center grew as hundreds joined the march through the heart of the city to the federal courthouse.
Dakota women arrested countering Minnesota genocide
Posted by Brenda Norrell - August 17, 2008 at 11:16 amBy Brenda Norrell
Dakota women were arrested on Saturday, August 16, 2008 during a counter genocide protest. Dakotas from the Yellow Medicine Dakota Community, with their allies, countered the Upper Sioux Agency State Park's program. The genocide celebration was part of the Sesquicentennial of the state of Minnesota, portraying the 1858 1st Regiment.
Chris Mato Nunpa, retired Dakota professor, said, "My daughter, Waziyata Win, and my grand-daughter, Winuna were arrested. Fortunately, they both were released later in the day.
US border wall increases risk to lives of Tohono O'odham from monsoon flash floods
Posted by Brenda Norrell - August 16, 2008 at 8:00 pm
US/Mexico border wall increases risk to lives of Tohono O'odham during monsoon flash floods
Flash floods damage businesses and government offices in Arizona and Mexico after Homeland Security flaunts federal laws and builds border wall
By Brenda Norrell
LUKEVILLE, Ariz. - The risk to the lives of Tohono O'odham and other residents living on the Arizona and Sonora border due to monsoon flash floods has increased because of a newly constructed border wall. Homeland Security flaunted federal laws and the laws of nature to build the border wall in 2008.
In a report made public this week, the National Park Service details the ecological and infrastructure damage in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument caused by flood obstruction and debris accumulation along recently constructed portions of the border wall. Tohono O'odham and others reside in the area on both sides of the international border.
Lakotah Republic plans civil disobedience fishing
Posted by Brenda Norrell - August 13, 2008 at 4:04 pmFISH-IN: In the tradition of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, the Lakotah Republic will exercise its fishing rights
By Brenda Norrell
The Republic of Lakotah announced that Lakotah guaranteed their fishing rights under the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty will exercise those fishing rights on August 25, 2008.
In a letter to South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long, the Lakotah Republic reminded the official that, "all members of the tribes to the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty have the right to fish within the 1851 Treaty territory, which includes all of South Dakota from the east bank of the Missouri River."
Gentle Rage: Clyde Bellecourt remembers the birth of the American Indian Movement
Posted by Brenda Norrell - August 13, 2008 at 3:24 amBy Brenda Norrell
SAN FRANCISCO -- Clyde Bellecourt spoke of the birth of the American Indian Movement forty years ago, remembering his mother's own legacy and also the time of the end for the priests who were controlling the Sundance, during the 40th Anniversary, "AIM For Freedom," photo exhibit.
During the culminating night of the exhibit at SomArts, July 30, Bellecourt shared his own journey and the birth of the American Indian Movement. He said his spirit name is Nee-gon-we-way-we-dun, "Thunder Before the Storm."
Guatemala Indigenous anti-mining activist assassinated
Posted by Brenda Norrell - August 12, 2008 at 7:32 pmAntonio Morales, Maya Mam, community organizer assassinated, fought GoldCorp's Montana mining in Guatemala
By Brenda Norrell
Antonio Morales, Maya Mam, Guatemalan indigenous leader from the Committee of Campesino Unity, was attacked and assassinated on Thursday, August 7, 2008, morning as he returned to his home in Colotenango, Guatemala.
Morales was a national leader of the CUC, CNOC and Maya Waqib Kej, three of Guatemala's most important indigenous organizations which have actively opposed large scale mining projects, hydroelectric projects and the privatization of water, according to Tim Russo of Free Speech Radio.
Court reversal on San Francisco Peaks magnifies collapse of US democracy
Posted by Brenda Norrell - August 9, 2008 at 12:58 amBy Brenda Norrell
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Bending under pressure from the Bush Administration, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an earlier decision which halted plans to make sewer water into snow for San Francisco Peaks, sacred to 13 Native American Nations.
On San Francisco Peaks, medicine men hold ceremonies and gather medicine plants for healing.
Day of Mourning for US Media: Revolution for Truth
Posted by Brenda Norrell - August 4, 2008 at 8:08 pmBy Brenda Norrell
Today is a day of mourning for the U.S. media. In case you missed its passing, columnist Roberto Rodriguez' article "Questions journalists never ask," serves as a memorial. Rodriquez' column also points out that it wasn't just the integrity of the U.S. media that died, but U.S. democracy, now on the fast track to Nazi-style dictatorship. The Bush administration and its team of multi-national corporate profiteers continue co-opting the U.S. Congress, military, police and commerce.
Navajo youth peacemaker to Iran
Posted by Brenda Norrell - August 1, 2008 at 3:40 pmBy Brenda Norrell
OAK SPRINGS, Ariz. -- Navajo Michelle Cook, 23, from Oak Springs, Arizona, recently served as a peace delegate to Iran, with the intention of doing what she could to prevent the United States from declaring war on Iran. While in Iran, she found people much like Navajos at home. Cook was selected by the Fellowship of Reconciliation to participate as a civilian diplomat on a Peace and Friendship Delegation to Iran. This fact-finding mission was to shed light on and prevent a potential war between the United States and Iran.
Censored in the USA: Hush words
Posted by Brenda Norrell - July 28, 2008 at 4:42 pmBy Brenda Norrell
I didn't see it coming. After 25 years of writing American Indian news, I didn't really expect to be blackballed and censored out of the business. But, then again, any journalist writing serious news in the United States should expect to be censored. There are some hot topics that get U.S. journalists fired, including investigating the war in Iraq. U.S. Presidents realize the power of words and song to move the masses. It was Buffe Sainte Marie's "Universal Soldier," during the Vietnam War that led to her being blackballed and censored out of the music business in the U.S.
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