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August 19, 2008, 2008
Kenya’s Kaya Forests Awarded World Heritage Status
Along the Kenyan coast, in the sacred Kaya Forests of the Mijikenda people, remain fortified villages known as Kayas, which stand as a legacy to the rich cultural history of the region. On July 10, eleven different Kayas with outstanding value were inscribed on the World Heritage List. The Kayas of the Mijikenda people were created in the 16th century and abandoned in the 1940s. During that period they served as protection from invading tribes, as burial grounds and places of sacred ritual and prayer. Due to their conservation as sacred areas by the Mijikenda ethnic groups, the forests are repositories of biodiversity, harboring many rare species of plants and animals, and they continue to serve as ceremonial centers, burial grounds and a living legacy to the Mijikenda peoples’ history.
For more information read our Kaya Forest site report or the Standard’s news report
August 14, 2008
Winnemem Wintu Tribe Wins in Sacramento
The California State Senate passed a Joint Resolution yesterday urging the U.S. Congress to restore federal recognition status to the Winnemem Wintu Tribe of northern California. Although the Winnemem Wintu were treated like a federally recognized tribe in the 1980s, they were left off the formal list of tribes drawn up by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the late ‘80s and consequently stopped receiving government benefits such as healthcare, housing assistance and college scholarships. In 2007, the Winnemem joined with the Natural Resource Defense Council and the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water to introduce AJR 39, a resolution urging the restoration of federal recognition and documenting the state of California’s long history with the tribe. The resolution passed on August 13 with 24 votes in favor and 10 against, effectively taking the next important step in the Winnemem’s long journey to justice.
Assembly member Jared Huffman (D, Marin), the sponsor of AJR 39, spoke after the vote: “California has sent a clear message today: our state stands in solidarity with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe to correct a terrible injustice by the federal government. It’s now time for the federal government to acknowledge its mistake and once again recognize the tribe.”
Read the (August 17) Redding Record Searchlight report.
August 13, 2008
Court of Appeals Rules Against San Francisco Peaks
On August 8, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of using reclaimed wastewater for artificial snowmaking at Snowbowl, a ski resort near Flagstaff, Arizona. Located on the San Francisco Peaks, the controversial ski area lies on Forest Service land considered sacred by the Hopi, Navajo, Apache, Havasupai and Hualapai peoples. A coalition of tribes and environmental groups, led by the Navajo Nation, were appealing on religious grounds in response to a 2006 federal decision in favor of creating a pipeline from Flagstaff to the Arizona Snowbowl. The August 8 ruling stated that the use of “reclaimed water” (treated sewage) would neither cause ecological damage nor infringe upon tribes’ right to worship on the land, effectively denying any spiritual damage that might be caused by the presence of human waste in the water. The opinion states: “Were it otherwise, any action the federal government were to take, including action on its own land, would be subject to the personalized oversight of millions of citizens. Each citizen would hold an individual veto to prohibit the government action solely because it offends his religious beliefs, sensibilities or tastes, or fails to satisfy his religious desires. Further, giving one religious sect a veto over the use of public park land would deprive others of the right to use what is, by definition, land that belongs to everyone.”
For further details, read The Arizona Republic’s report. Read an extensive interview with attorney Howard Shanker from Truthout.
August 12, 2008
Nestlé Cancels Water Contract with Town of McCloud
On August 5, Nestlé announced it would cancel its water-bottling contract with the McCloud Community Services District in northern California. The 2003 contract would have allowed Nestlé to drain up to 200 million gallons of water from the Mt. Shasta aquifer and develop a McCloud facility, a plan that encountered fierce opposition from the general public and organizations such as the Shasta Watershed Council and Protect Our Waters Coalition. Nestlé’s decision to withdraw came after California Attorney General Jerry Brown’s threatened to legal action to challenge Nestlé’s contract because of the inevitable environmental damage that water extraction and plastic bottle manufacturing would cause. The decision comes as a small victory to the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, which opposed Nestlé and depends on the McCloud River and Mt. Shasta for ceremonial purposes.
For more information, see the news report: Activists Celebrate Withdrawal of Contract.
August 8, 2008
New Farm Bill Authorizes U.S. Forest Service to Enforce Temporary Closures at Sacred Sites
The Farm Bill enacted on May 22, 2008 grants the U.S. Forest Service the clear legal authority to close federal lands to the public for a limited time to allow Native American and Alaska Native tribes to conduct ceremonies at sacred sites in private. The new legislation also allows reburial of human remains on National Forest land if they were originally removed from those locations, and the bill provides for confidentiality and protection of sensitive information. According to a USFS briefing paper, Section 8104 of the bill authorizes: “Temporary Closure for Traditional and Cultural Purposes:  To the maximum extent practicable and for the shortest period and minimum area, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to temporarily close from public access National Forest System land for traditional and cultural purposes.”
Read the USDA Forest Service Briefing Paper.
July 11, 2008
Colombia’s Cofan Win Plant Sanctuary National Park
The Colombian government has created the Orito Ingi-Ande Medicinal Plants Sanctuary to protect the plants on which the Cofan Tribe of 26,000 people depend for medicinal and spiritual purposes. Officials in Colombia say the reserve is the only national park in the world created for this purpose.
The 25,000-acre Orito Ingi-Ande Medicinal Plants Sanctuary, whose name means "our territory" in the Cofan language, ranges in elevation from 2,300 feet to nearly 10,000 feet above sea level in the southwestern departments of Nariño and Putumayo - and is located about a two-hour drive from current Cofan territory, where much of the vegetation has been destroyed by farmers, ranchers and oilmen.
For details read a San Francisco Chronicle report from July 8.
July 3, 2008
ACTION ALERT: Peabody Coal Wants to Reopen the Black Mesa Mine — Comment Letters due by July 7 — Please help!
After a 30-year battle, Nevada’s Mohave Power Plant was closed in December 2005 for air quality violations, which stopped the aquifer and spring-destroying coal slurry pipeline and also shut down Peabody’s Black Mesa Mine. (Peabody’s second stripmine on Black Mesa, the Kayenta Mine, continued operations, and still fuels the Page Power Plant on Lake Powell.) Peabody and the US Office of Surface Mining (OSM) prepared an EIS last year because the Black Mesa Mine has been operating with a temporary permit for 30 years and now has no way to move coal. Peabody and OSM pushed hard for “Alternative A,” which would have tapped a new water source, the Coconino Aquifer, near Flagstaff. Public opposition stopped that bad idea. Now, with a new “energy crisis” in full swing, OSM and Peabody have suddenly announced a change in strategy and are pushing to re-open the Black Mesa Mine. The Hopi and Navajo need your comment letter by July 7.
The Office of Surface Mining (OSM) quietly re-activated the Black Mesa Project (BMP) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) in May 2008. Most local residents are familiar with and sent 18,000 comments on Alternative A, but OSM and Peabody have now switched the preferred alternative to Alternative B, which would expand and re-open the Black Mesa Mine, merge it with the Kayenta Mine, and grant Peabody Western Coal Company the right to mine coal in the lease boundary until there is no coal left.
Navajo and Hopi organizations and citizens hosted two town hall meetings on July 1 at Hopi Veterans Memorial Center and July 2 at the Forest Lake Chapter and voiced strong concerns about resuming of the Black Mesa Project Draft EIS. The Office of Surface Mining declined to attend these community meetings to give people more information about their preferred Alternative B.
OSM has given 45 days for the general public to respond on Alternative B. The deadline for public comments is July 7, 2008.
Take Action Now!
Please stand up for Black Mesa by doing one or more of the following:
E-mail comments should be sent to: BMKEIS@osmre.gov
Written comments should be mailed to:
Dennis Winterringer, Leader
Black Mesa Project EIS
OSM Western Region
P.O. Box 46667
Denver, Colorado 80201-6667
More information is available on these websites:
Black Mesa Water Coalition
Black Mesa Trust
Black Mesa Indigenous Support
June 18, 2008
Remember Mt Graham!
The National Environmental Policy Act process for renewing the Mount Graham International Observatory (MGIO) permit has formally begun, with the publication of a scoping notice and invitation to the public to comment on the scope of the NEPA analysis.
Please support the Western Apaches’ long-standing opposition to the presence of the MGIO telescope complex on Mt. Graham, known to the Apache as Dził Nchaa Si’An, a sacred site and traditional cultural property. Please assist in opposing MGIO as a desecration of American Indian religion and culture.
The U.S. Forest Service is claiming that under the Arizona-Idaho Conservation Act the agency does not have the authority to deny the MGIO permit renewal. However, the Apache tribes and their partners remain committed to the opposition to MGIO and to working with the Forest Service and others to mitigate or minimize the effects of the MGIO.
Comments are due by June 30 and may be sent by U.S. mail or hand-delivered to Ms. Celeste Gordon, Recreation/Special Uses Program Manager, Coronado National Forest, 300 W. Congress Blvd., Tucson, AZ  85701; by facsimile to “ATTN:  MGIO Permit Renewal” on (520) 388-8305; and by electronic mail (email) to comments-southwestern-coronado@fs.fed.us, with “MGIO Permit Renewal” in the subject line.
Oral comments may be provided to Ms. Gordon by telephone at (520) 388-8422 or in person at the Supervisor’s Office (address above).  Comment forms are available at the Safford District Office, 711 14th Avenue, Suite D, Safford, AZ  85546 during regular business hours, which are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., excluding Federal holidays.
Please take a moment to email or mail your comments (follow this link for a sample comment letter).
June 11, 2008
Canada Apologizes
On June 11, 2008, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper formally apologized to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people for the government’s operation and support of boarding schools. In the presence of survivors, including 104-year-old Marguerite Wabano, the oldest known living survivor of the residential schools, and Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine, Harper said in part, “The government of Canada sincerely apologizes and asks the forgiveness of the aboriginal peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly.” He followed this statement with the words “We are sorry” in Ojibwa, Cree, Inuktitut, French and English. The national First Nations, Métis, and Inuit leaders all accepted the apology as a sincere first step in towards healing and the improvement of current conditions for Aboriginal people.
The boarding schools forcefully took generations of Aboriginal children away from their families into institutions in which they were encouraged to forget their culture, forbidden to speak their native languages, and often abused. About 90,000 survivors are still alive.
A five-year Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission also began its work last month. However, there is much unfinished business: several Aboriginal leaders and politicians pointed out that Canada has still refused to sign the United Nations Declaration On The Rights of Indigenous People. Further, many Inuit and Métis survivors are not due to receive individual compensation from the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement because the schools to which they were taken were endorsed but not operated by the Canadian government.
The historic apology follows an Australian apology in February (see below) and this month’s passage of a Colorado state resolution that apologizes for Native American deaths from colonization and acknowledges the “cruelty and inhumanity” that characterized European-American treatment of Native Americans.
For more information, see the text of Prime Minister Harper’s speech, the post-apology statement of the Assembly of First Nations, and news articles including:
  • Juliet O’Neill, et al. “‘We are sorry’” Canwest News Service/ The Montreal Gazette, June 12, 2008
  • Juliet O’Neill. “Leaders hope apology will curb prejudice; Truth and reconciliation. ‘Real and lasting forgiveness must be earned’” Canwest News Service/ The Montreal Gazette June 14, 2008
  • Rob Capriccioso “State Apology Could Spur Federal Action” Indian Country Today June 06, 2008
April 15, 2008
Utah’s Nine Mile Canyon Threatened with 800 More Gas Wells
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has proposed adding 800 more natural gas wells inside and around Nine Mile Canyon, with the majority on the southern West Tavaputs plateau. This will bring more drilling stations, traffic, noise and air pollution to this unrivaled repository of rock art. Nine Mile Canyon contains 10,000 petroglyphs and rock formations created by the Archaic, Fremont and Ute people (for more history, see our page).
The proposed West Tavaputs Drilling Project would be authorized by the BLM and operated by the Bill Barrett Corporation. The BLM’s Draft Environment Impact Statement (DEIS) for the West Tavaputs Drilling Project admits that none of the proposed routes for industrial traffic will protect Nine Mile Canyon’s cultural resources. With the current two drill rigs in operation, the road through the canyon sees 340 vehicle trips a day and damage to the rock art is already occurring. The proposed nine drill rigs on West Tavaputs will increase this damage exponentially. The DEIS also proposes building two new pump stations, one on federal land on the floor of Nine Mile Canyon, in direct contradiction of the BLM’s own Draft Resource Management Plan that does not permit surface occupancy on federal lands in Nine Mile Canyon. Nearby wilderness areas Desolation Canyon (a national historic landmark) and Jack Canyon are also slated to host wells—this despite the fact that BLM’s own policy for Desolation Canyon prohibits drilling “within sight or sound of the river.”
Go to the Natural Resource Defense Council’s alert page to send a letter to the BLM or your Senators, and see the Nine Mile Canyon Coalition’s website for more information.
March 28, 2008
April 22nd deadline to protect Britain's Thornborough Henge: New archaeological finds threatened by quarry plans
Quarry plans threaten archaeological finds at Britains’ “Stonehenge of the North” - Action Needed!
Tarmac Ltd., a massive British building materials corporation, has recently renewed its push to quarry on land adjacent to Thornborough Henge, a 5,000-year-old sacred ceremonial complex in North Yorkshire, despite new archaeological finds. The North Yorkshire County Council had denied Tarmac's February 2006 application to quarry Ladybridge Farm, the land abutting the henge, due to concerns that the activity would disturb archaeological artifacts. In January 2007, Tarmac submitted a revised application that limited the area to be quarried and reduced the amount of mineral extraction. The council approved this application as there was little evidence that the revised area would be of archaeological significance. However, there have been recent discoveries of artifacts by the company within the area Tarmac wishes to dig.
“The original application was thrown out because it threatened nationally important archaeology. The second application was only granted because the planning committee believed the revised site plan avoided any of the archaeology,” stated George Chaplin, chairman of the heritage preservation group TimeWatch. “But since the application was granted, Tarmac have found Neolithic archaeology within the site, meaning that the original ruling must stand, but only if the public show they value their heritage”.
The council will review the permit application and hear public commentary at its meeting in Masham on April 22nd, 2008.
Your comments are needed immediately! Please write to the North Yorkshire County Council planning department to express your concern:
The Planning Officer
Ladybridge Application
Environmental Services, Planning & Countryside Unit
County Hall, Northallerton DL7 8AH
Please refer to application number C2/29/500/53, Ladybridge Farm. 
To learn more about Britain's Stone circles and what you can do to protect them, read our site report. For more information about current preservation activities at Thornborough, contact TimeWatch.
February 13, 2008
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Apologizes to Aborginal Australia
In a powerful statement of reconciliation, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd offered a lengthy and detailed apology to the Aboriginal people of Australia. Noting that 50,000 Aboriginal children had been forcibly taken away from their parents between 1910 and 1970 with the backing of parliament, he said:
“Today we honour the indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history. We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were stolen generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.
We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.
To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.
And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.”
Read Prime Minister Rudd’s complete statement.
February 2, 2008
Obama Promises Legal Protections for Native American Sacred Places
A close reading of Sen. Barack Obama’s “Principles for Stronger Tribal Communities” find some very important language. Under the heading “Religious Freedom a Cultural Protection” Obama’s platform reads: “Cultural Rights and Sacred Places Protection: Native American sacred places and site-specific ceremonies are under threat from development, pollution and vandalism. Barack Obama supports legal protections for sacred places and cultural traditions, including Native ancestors’ burial grounds and churches.” Read Obama’s four-page Native American policy statement.
January 20, 2008
Haida Sign Deal With British Columbia
On December 12, 2007, the Haida Nation signed a historic agreement with the Canadian provincial government of British Columbia to co-manage the majority of their land base, known as Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands). The breakthrough Strategic Land Use Agreement is a government-to-government contract that increases the protected area to 52% of the total land base and emphasizes sustainable economic development. Guujaaw, the Haida Nation President, explains its significance: “This agreement is the first land use plan on the islands, aside from the ‘divide the loot’ kind of approach we have seen over the last century, and its intent is to plan ahead for the next decades and on. The course we were on would have seen all of the marketable timber simply cut, and if there were any success or value in the following crops, they would have been cut also. This so far has been good for a few industrialists, but short-sighted and not good for the land or the people who live here.”
The new designations of “Haida Natural Cultural and Spiritual Areas” and “Special Value Areas” are intended to hold these traditional land principles on an equal footing with conventional governmental designations, such as protected areas and areas where forestry is permitted. The agreement is perhaps best seen as the beginning of a new relationship between the Haida Nation, the provincial government, and industry. Many details—such as how exactly the two governments will jointly manage Haida Gwaii and to what extent the timber industry will cooperate with the agreement’s “ecosystem-based management objectives”—remain to be worked out.
For more information, read an article on the new agreement from the Queen Charlotte Islands Observer.
December 10, 2007
Read the Sacred Land Film Project’s 2007 Annual Report.
December 4, 2007
Protect Western Shoshone Lands - Sign On-Line Petition by December 21st!
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is currently reviewing a proposal to expand the Cortez Hills Project in Nevada. If approved, the mine expansion would create one of the country's largest gold mines. The project by Cortez Gold Mines, a subsidiary of Barrick Gold Mining Co., would disturb over 6,500 acres of public lands — all of which are considered traditional homelands by the Western Shoshone. Your help is urgently needed to convince the U.S. government to deny this proposal.
The entire area lies within Western Shoshone boundaries, and was included in the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley, which recognized Shoshone rights to this land. The project, although termed as an “expansion” of the existing Pipeline and Cortez Mines, is really a new gold mine complex. It would be located on the slopes of Mt. Tenabo, a mountain sacred to the Western Shoshone, who have lived in the area since time immemorial. Mount Tenabo is an extremely significant spiritual and cultural area to the Western Shoshone. Many Shoshone have long expressed deep concerns and outright opposition to any further exploration on their lands, without their consent. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is currently taking comments on a draft Environmental Impact Statement until December 21st.
Please take a moment to sign an on-line petition hosted by Oxfam America.
For more information read the Western Shoshone Defense Project Action Alert.
November 15, 2007
Winnemem Sacred Spring Runs Dry
On November 10, our film crew hiked with the Winnemem Wintu to Panther Meadows on Mt. Shasta to visit their healing spring. When we filmed In the Light of Reverence, the annual mid-summer visit by the Winnemem would be a time of ceremony and song, with the bubbling spring regarded as a relative, a source of life. For the first time in the tribe’s long history, their sacred spring was dry.
Check out our new blog entry and four-minute film clip.
The Winnemem continue to battle U.S. Forest Service management of Panther Meadows, which continues to allow a free-for-all of New Age activity around the spring. Meanwhile, a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation proposal to heighten Shasta Dam would flood, for the second time, the McCloud River valley where Winnemem sacred sites, ancestral villages and burials are central to ongoing cultural practice below Mt. Shasta.
To help the Winnemem Wintu in their desperate fight to protect Panther Meadows and prevent the raising of Shasta Dam and flooding of their remaining sacred sites, you can make a donation at their web site.
Read our sacred site report on Shasta Dam and the Winnemem Wintu.
November 9, 2007
New Report on Sacred Sites and Biodiversity
UNESCO and its Man and the Biosphere project has published “Conserving Cultural and Biological Diversity: the role of sacred natural sites and cultural landscapes.”
A 340-page book containing the proceedings of the 2005 international symposium in Tokyo on sacred natural sites. The proceedings were edited by Thomas Schaaf and Cathy Lee and include in-depth presentations from experts on many sites worldwide, including the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, Shinto temples in Japan, sacred landscapes in southern Ethiopia and Kyrgyzstan, as well as excellent discussions of current scholarship on biodiversity, indigenous mapping, protected area co-management practices and conservation of water and wetlands.
The book also contains the “UNESCO/IUCN Working Guidelines on the Management and Conservation of Sacred Natural Sites” in its Annex. The full text of the proceedings is available in PDF format for downloading.
October 22, 2007
New Article on Sacred Lands and Biodiversity Protection
We highly recommend this new essay by University of Hawaii anthropologist Leslie E. Sponsel, titled "Sacred Places and Biodiversity Conservation." Sponsel calls for more research on biodiversity and sacred places, summarizes the current state of knowledge and laying a framework for why sacred places are important worldwide, and explains why Community Conservation Areas should be a high priority for effective conservation.
September 21, 2007
Sacred Lake Spared By Canadian Mining Panel
The activism of the Tse Keh Nay First Nations has paid off: a Canadian review panel has recommended against the use of Amazay Lake, British Columbia, as a mining waste dump. At issue was Northgate Mineral’s proposal for its new Kemess North copper and gold mine. The company sought permission to contain Amazay Lake and deposit 700 million tons of acid rock in its sacred waters. “The Tse Keh Nay congratulates the panel members on their brave recommendation, and calls upon both governments [federal and provincial] to follow the panel’s lead and protect Amazay Lake,” said Gordon Pierre, Grand Chief of the Tse Keh Nay. He added, “There are currently over 20 lakes in Canada facing similar mining proposals and we are happy that a precedent has been set in Tse Keh Nay territory: killing lakes is unacceptable.”
The panel wrote that the conversion of Amazay lake into a tailings dump is “not in the public interest” and that “both the Gitxsan and the Tse Keh Nay have stated that water is sacred to them, and that the destruction of a natural lake goes against their values as aboriginal people.” The panel’s reasoning places sacred land issues on par with environmental concerns, which is indeed an important precedent in Canada. Politicians may still overrule the panel’s recommendation, but combined with the 2005 Supreme Court directive towards “meaningful consultation” with Aboriginal people, the momentum appears to be heading in the right direction.
Read more in the Tse Keh Nay press release and our report on Amazay Lake.
September 13, 2007
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Passes After Thirty Years of Struggle
The UN General Assembly passed the controversial Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by a majority vote of 144 to 4 with 11 abstentions. The Declaration protects the rights of indigenous peoples to determine their own social and economic development and practice their cultural and religious traditions. It prohibits discrimination and political disenfranchisement of indigenous peoples. It also sets an international standard of free, prior and informed consent by indigenous peoples to development on their lands. Tonya Gonnella Frichner, North American Regional Representative to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, said, “This was an historic day, and a step forward to help assure Indigenous Peoples’ treaty rights, human rights, and self-determination.”
The 46 Articles of the Declaration were negotiated over three decades between UN agencies, governments, indigenous representatives and numerous human rights groups. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour noted that “the hard work and perseverance of indigenous peoples and their friends and supporters in the international community has finally borne fruit in the most comprehensive statement to date of indigenous peoples' rights.”
Notably, the four votes against the measure were cast by the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, nations with substantial and politically active native populations. The abstaining nations were Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burundi, Colombia, Georgia, Kenya, Nigeria, Russian Federation, Samoa and Ukraine.
Canada expressed a position shared by the countries that voted against the measure that the Declaration would give indigenous peoples too much power to renegotiate or revisit previously settled treaties or land and resource agreements. Canada released this statement: “‘In Article 26, the document states: ‘Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired.’ This could be used by Aboriginal groups to challenge and re-open historic and present day treaties and to support claims that have already been dealt with.”
Pleased with the passage of the Declaration, but wary of international political realities, indigenous leaders pointed out that their work is not yet done. Chris Peters, President of the Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development, said, “This is a significant and momentous day in our history. A time when Indigenous communities and nations should take a lead role in breathing life into this new human rights document.”
Read the adopted text of the Declaration.
September 1, 2007
Federal Court Supports Forest Service’s Ban on Climbing Cave Rock
A Federal Court of Appeals has upheld the U.S. Forest Service’s ban on climbing Cave Rock, a sacred site on the shore of Lake Tahoe. Cave Rock is a 360-foot high, 800-foot wide dome sacred to the Washoe as a home for spirits that have medicinal powers. The area supports many recreational uses, including hiking and fishing, but it is best known as an advanced climbing spot. The Forest Service, which manages Cave Rock under the jurisdiction of the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, recognized the damage done to Cave Rock through the insertion of bolts and other climbing hardware into the rock. In 2003, it banned climbing on Cave Rock in an effort to maintain the physical integrity of this sacred place.
The Access Fund, a non-profit organization of climbers, sued to overturn the ban, alleging that it violated the First Amendment’s establishment of religion clause. While a Federal District Court dismissed the action in January 2005, the Access Fund persisted and brought the case to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. In August 2007, a three-judge panel ruled that the Forest Service’s climbing ban is constitutional because the Forest Service is protecting Cave Rock as an archaeological, cultural, and historical national resource, not because it is sacred to the Washoe. Thus the Forest Service is not supporting a specific religious practice. The protection of Cave Rock from egregious recreational use is an important victory; however, the legal reasoning used to arrive at this verdict does not appear to provide a precedent for sacred land protection based on ongoing religious use of a place. Read more in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals August 27, 2007 decision and in our full report on Cave Rock.
While the Forest Service supervises museum exhibits and archaeological sites dedicated to Washoe culture, the contemporary Washoe are still separated from their land. The tribe continues to lobby for the return of some of its traditional land base around Lake Tahoe. The Access Fund has not announced any further legal action, so as of this writing, Cave Rock is off-limits to climbers, though other recreational uses around it continue.
August 30, 2007
Yanawawa People of Brazil Secure Rights to Sacred Land with Help of Business Partner Aveda
Today, Brazil formally set aside 125,000 acres of richly biodiverse rainforest as Yanawawa native territory, protecting the sacred land from deforestation and further resource development. The land is sacred to the community, not least because several burial sites are located in that swathe of pristine forest. Aveda Corporation, an American cosmetics and health products company, played a critical support role for the community in its efforts to secure rights to their traditional sacred land.
Aveda has used ukuru dye from the community in its makeup since the formation of its partnership with the Yawanawa in 1993. This was Aveda's first partnership with an indigenous community and led to the development of a new village and ukuru plantation, financially enabling the Yawanawa to protect their lands from logging and rubber development. “After years of struggling together, it is extremely special for us to regain this important land,” says Tashka Yawanawa, Chief of the Yawanawa. “We thank Aveda so much for always supporting our efforts.”
“This land's ecosystem supports the great web of life that the Yawanawa are a part of,” said Dominique Conseil, president of Aveda. “It is also the foundation of their cultural identity, history and dreams—and enshrines the burial sites of legendary warriors, Chiefs and Shamans. In a world plagued by climate crisis, it is still possible to reverse the trends; by taking action,we can all create a legacy of beauty and diversity for the benefit of future generations.”
The addition of this acreage to native lands means that a new total of 450,000 acres is under Yanawawa control. The community and Aveda will continue to work on securing formal rights to other areas of the Yanawawa traditional lands.
July 31, 2007
Losing Sacred Ground and SLFP Film Crew Make News in Darwin, Australia
Project Director Christopher McLeod and crew—having just returned from three weeks in the Altai Republic of Russia where they filmed the first segment of our new 12-part series, Losing Sacred Ground—are now in their second week of filming in Australia. Read about their recent adventures in this article published on 7/31/07 in the Northern Territory News.
United: Christopher McLeod interviews Borroloola elders Leanne Norman, Roddy Harvey, Mavis Timothy and Dinah Norman outside the NT Supreme Court yesterday. Photo by Justin Sanson.
July 1, 2007
NCAI Passes Resolution Endorsing “Native American Sacred Lands Act”
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) endorsed new sacred land protection legislation at their mid-year meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, which was held June 10-13. Resolution #ANC-07-020 calls for a strong “cause of action” to allow Native American tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations to litigate in court to protect threatened sacred sites, and calls on Congress to hold hearings and pass sacred land protection legislation.
March 12, 2007
Appeals Court Overturns Ski Resort’s Snowmaking Permit
The operators of Arizona Snowbowl ski resort on the sacred San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Arizona, cannot use treated sewage water to make snow, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today.
In a unanimous decision, the judges said there is no evidence that denying the operators of the Snowbowl the ability to use reclaimed wastewater for artificial snow would force the facility (on U.S. Forest Service land) to shut down. The Court ruled there is no “compelling governmental interest” in having artificial snow on the San Francisco Peaks. The judges found that the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act requires government agencies to use the “least restrictive” means of interfering with any religious practice. This overruling of a district court decision is one of the most important in recent years under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Judge William Fletcher wrote that, even assuming the federal religious protection law did not apply, the Forest Service improperly approved the permit. He said the Service did not consider whether there would be any danger to skiers who ingested snow made entirely from treated sewage water. The ruling states:
“The record in this case establishes the religious importance of the Peaks to the Appellant tribes who live around it. From time immemorial, they have relied on the Peaks, and the purity of the Peaks’ water, as an integral part of their religious beliefs. The Forest Service and the Snowbowl now propose to put treated sewage effluent on the Peaks. To get some sense of equivalence, it may be useful to imagine the effect on Christian beliefs and practices — and the imposition that Christians would experience — if the government were to require that baptisms be carried out with ‘reclaimed water.’”
Read the entire opinion, and our report on San Francisco Peaks. Read the Arizona Republic’s front page story.
February 7, 2007
Hopi and Navajo Communities Breathe Relief at Black Mesa
Facing strong opposition from Hopi and Navajo activists, the Salt River Project has dropped their plan to re-open the shuttered Mohave power plant, which would have also re-opened Peabody Coal’s Black Mesa stripmine and the destructive slurryline that transported the coal using huge quantities of precious, pristine underground water.
Thanks to everyone who wrote comment letters on the Black Mesa draft Environmental Impact Statement. Public concern and vigilance paid off once again. See the Salt River Project press release.
February 2, 2007
New Bridge at Ancient Incan Citadel and World Heritage Site to be Inaugurated This Month Amid Controversy
A new bridge threatens to bring more tourists and magnify the impact on the ancient Peruvian fortress of Machu Picchu. The underhanded nature of its construction has sparked protests from environmental groups and public opposition from the Peruvian national government.
Fedia Castro, the mayor of La Convencion province, forced the construction of the new bridge despite a court order prohibiting development around the site. The 80-metre long Carrilluchayoc bridge spans the Vilcanota River at the base of Machu Picchu and will connect the village of Santa Teresa with the road up the peak, lessening the time it wil take tourists to reach the World Heritage site.
With in excess of 2,000 visitors per day, many people believe there are already too many tourists at the ruins. UNESCO, the UN’s educational and cultural division, will inspect the site this year to determine if it will be placed on the World Heritage Sites In Danger list. The mayor claims the village of Santa Teresa needs the bridge to bring commerce and tourism. To read more, see the BBC article “Bridge stirs the waters in Machu Picchu.”
January 29, 2007
Controversy Near Mt. Shasta Hits the Front Pages Again
In a political power play intended to strengthen the government’s push to raise the height of Shasta Dam, the infamous Westlands Water District has reached far to the north to purchase privately owned land south of Mt. Shasta that includes 7 miles of the McCloud River. The Bollibokka fishing club land was sold for $35 million, and it contains 26 Winnemem Wintu ancestral villages, burial grounds and several important sacred sites. Read the front page article from the San Francisco Chronicle (Jan 28).
Read a report from the Redding Record Searchlight (February 19, 2007), “Shasta Dam expansion plan: Flood of concerns - Anglers, Wintu fear Shasta Dam raising will drown treasured sites.”
The Winnemem Wintu have asked their supporters to send letters to Senator Barbara Boxer urging the Senator to introduce legislation reinstating federal recognition of the Winnemem Wintu. Follow this link for a sample letter.
January 28, 2007
Department of Defense Ignores Court Ruling and Pushes for Construction of the Massive Pan-Starrs Telescope
In defiance of the Third Circuit court ruling on January 17, 2007 that prohibits piece-meal development in the Conservation District of Mauna Kea, Hawai'i’s Institute for Astronomy (UHIFA) is going ahead with its plans to build another astronomical telescope facility known as the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) on Mauna Kea.
The University of Hawai'i at Hilo and the Department of Defense (Air Force), which administer UHIFA, hope the Pan-STARRS telescope will have potential military applications, such as identifying “Killer Asterroids” and other “Near Earth Objects.” NASA had already planned to build a complex of Outrigger Telescopes atop Mauna Kea in 2004, but Native Hawaiian and Environmental groups appealed the State of Hawai'i’s permit to the Third Circuit Court. The court finally ruled earlier this year that state law requires the summit of Mauna Kea to be conserved and repealed the state’s permits to NASA. The court placed a moratorium on construction in the conservation district until a comprehensive management plan that includes consultation with Native Hawaiians is created and approved.
However, the Department of Defense and the university are holding public hearings on the new Pan-STARRS plan. Environmental groups and Native Hawaiians are calling for DOD and UH to cease and desist from holding hearings and considering proposals until the management plan is in place.
Please see the recent Press Release from Jim Albertini of Malu `Aina (Land of Peace or Peace Land). See the Honolulu Advertiser article and Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, The Royal Order of Kamehameha I, and Clarence Ching’s Testimony in Opposition to Pan-STARRS submitted at the public hearing on January 25, 2007.
To comment on the Pan-STARRS public hearings or plans, please contact:
Juventino Garcia, Director, Office of Public Affairs
Air Force Research Laboratory
3550 Aberdeen Ave. SE
Kirtland AFB, NM 87117-5576
For more information or to inquire about other ways to help, please contact Ms. Kealoha Pisciotta, President, Mauna Kea Anaina Hou.
January 9, 2007
Peabody Energy and the Office of Surface Mining are still thirsty for precious aquifer water
The federal agency in charge of regulating mining in the United States may allow coal giant Peabody Energy to once again drain the precious aquifers of northern Arizona, sacred waters to the Hopi and Navajo and lifeblood of the region’s fragile environment. Your comment letters are needed by February 6.
The Office of Surface Mining (OSM) has issued a 758-page Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that assesses the impact of mining on the Coconino and Navajo Aquifers on Arizona’s Black Mesa, in the heart of the Hopi and Navajo Nations. OSM’s recommendations would pave the way for Peabody to reopen its Black Mesa Mine and with it the destructive coal slurry line that had dramatically drained the Navajo Aquifer for 30 years. What’s at stake is a fragile ecosystem in the midst of drought, the drinking water for thousands of residents in the growing towns around the Colorado Plateau, and the cultural heritage of the Hopi and Navajo peoples.
The Black Mesa Project targets pristine groundwater in northern Arizona to slurry coal to the Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nevada – a practice that the community opposed for three decades and succeeded in stopping last year. Despite the closure of the air-polluting Mohave power plant, and with no viable plans for reopening it, Peabody Energy and Salt River Project are moving forward with plans to re-start these destructive practices. This time, Peabody Energy and Salt River Project want to tap into the Coconino Aquifer (south of Black Mesa, between Flagstaff and Winslow) while also increasing access to the Navajo Aquifer, so that they can reopen the controversial coal slurry line from the Black Mesa Mine to the Mohave power plant in Laughlin, Nevada (273 miles to the west).
The Office of Surface Mining has fast-tracked public hearings immediately after the holiday season, and community organizations are working to ensure public participation. Activists are holding a press conference on January 11. The EIS public comment deadline is February 6.
Peabody’s plan to use the Navajo and Coconino Aquifers to slurry coal to the Mohave Power Station is “Alternative A” (or most preferred) in OSM’s EIS. Peabody’s plan would mean that mining would expand into undeveloped areas, tap further into the Coconino and Navajo Aquifers, and force the relocation of at least 17 Black Mesa residents and 55 residents in the Leupp area, south of Black Mesa. The Navajo Aquifer has already been devastated, with 7 local springs and several wells down by approximately 30%. If Alternative A is approved, Peabody could pump up to 6,000 acre feet per year from the Navajo Aquifer until 2026, a 33% increase over what they extracted from 1970 to 2005. Meanwhile, Peabody has not taken the steps mandated by federal law to reduce its hydrological impact at the Kayenta mine, another mine it currently operates on Black Mesa.
Most critically, the OSM is considering issuing a “Life of Mine” permit to Peabody, which would mean that Peabody could mine coal at Black Mesa until 2026. (The controversial mine was allowed to operate with a temporary permit for 30 years!)
If the plan to allow Peabody to restart its Black Mesa Mine goes ahead, the cultural implications will be dramatic. The Hopi and Navajo’s ability to grow traditional foods and herbal medicines, as well as access ceremonial sites and perform rituals, will all be affected, once again. Also, the Hopi are now in the most important phase of their ceremonial calendar, when the elders have entered the kivas, and so they are outraged that the OSM has chosen to release the EIS at a time when the Hopi people are unable to fully consider it — and organize to protest it.
The Trustees and Advisors of Black Mesa Trust (BMT) have asked that the federal government postpone its scheduled hearings on the EIS. They also want the OSM to consider a “No Water Alternative” which would transition the Mohave Generating Station into a solar thermal plant and the Black Mesa Mine into a solar and wind farm. Black Mesa Trust points to Southern California Edison’s “Mohave Alternatives Study” for evaluation of such an alternative. BMT is preparing to file an injunction should the OSM move forward with its recommendations.
Public hearings are being held by the OSM through January 11. If you cannot attend a hearing, you can also write, e-mail or call in your comments to the OSM before the February 6th deadline. For more information (including talking points):
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