The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s reservation was not officially terminated at Oklahoma statehood, as justices issued a decision that may upend state jurisdiction in much of the former Indian Territory
Archiv: indigenous peoples
Selling Out West Papua
In West Papua, Indonesia, we investigate allegations of fraud and human rights abuses in billion-dollar land deals.
Aboriginals Sue Western Australia State For Cultural Losses
Two compensation claims filed on behalf of the Tjiwarl people address actions by miners, farmers, and others like the building of fences and roads that had restricted their access to sacred heritage sites and hunting and fishing grounds, impeding their ability to pass down cultural knowledge to young people.
Amazonian Indigenous Chief Paulinho Paiakan Dies of COVID-19
Paiakan, leader of the Kayapo people, was best-known as the guardian of the Amazon, after heading several fights to protect the rainforest against the exploitation of its natural resources.
Rio Tinto caves on demands to release review of Indigenous heritage site destruction
Company announces report on destruction of the Juukan Gorge cave in the Pilbara region of Western Australia will be made public in October
Bushfire royal commission told Aboriginal people routinely ignored in post-disaster commissions
Euahlayi man and ANU researcher Bhiamie Eckford-Williamson told the commission that the Black Summer bushfires created extraordinary public interest in Aboriginal people’s land management practices, especially burning.
The New York Times Admits Key Falsehoods That Drove Last Year’s Coup in Bolivia: Falsehoods Peddled by the U.S., Its Media, and the Times
Once he fled, Bolivia’s first-ever president from the country’s Indigenous population was replaced by a little-known, white, far-right senator, Jeanine Áñez, from the country’s minority European-descendent, Christian, wealthy region. Her new, unelected government promptly massacred dozens of Indigenous protesters and then vested the responsible soldiers with immunity. Seven months later, Áñez predictably continues to rule Bolivia as “interim president” despite never having run for president, let alone having been democratically elected.
Quebec watchdog to probe fatal RCMP shooting of N.B. Indigenous man
Quebec’s police watchdog will investigate a fatal RCMP shooting involving a Mi’kmaq man in New Brunswick on Friday night.
Indigenous Ecuadorean Organization Wins UN 2020 Equator Prize
The organization has been accompanying significant legal victories against extractivist companies and for the survival of original nations in Ecuador, including the triumph last year of the Waorani in a historical trial against oil firms.
“Amazon means life for our world. For us, as Indigenous peoples, it is our home,” the organization said.
Crown, company drop charges against LNG pipeline opponents in B.C.
The arrests of 22 members of the Wet’suwet’en Nation and their supporters sparked protests across the country, shutting down rail and roads and putting a dent in the Canadian economy.
Video of RCMP hitting Inuk man with truck shows police choosing violence over protection, says lawyer
A video shot Monday in Kinngait, Nunavut, shows a police officer using the door of an RCMP truck to knock the Inuk man over before he is arrested by five police officers. The man had been reported to police as „an intoxicated male who was reported to be fighting with others,“ but the video shows him alone.
Brazil: Coronavirus Kills Historic Leader of Amazonian Peoples
Messias Kokama, the main Indigenous leader of the Manaus city, died a victim of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus on Wednesday. His community mourns his departure without being able to pay homage to him with their traditional rituals.
‚Not Today. Not Tomorrow. Not Ever‘: Indigenous Campaigners Protest As KXL Pipeline Construction Begins Amid Legal Challenges
„This pipeline will not be built,“ wrote Braun.
Underfunded Native nations battle coronavirus outbreaks
„Tribes are facing unacceptable delays from federal agencies in receiving lifesaving funding,“ Udall said. „Tribes need these resources now, and Congress and the White House need to step up to do their part.”
Court sides with tribes in Dakota Access Pipeline case, ordering full environmental review
The controversial Dakota Access Pipeline hit another roadblock Wednesday when a federal judge struck down permits for the pipeline and ordered a full workup of the environmental impacts of the project.
North Dakota’s Standing Rock Sioux Tribe had sued over the pipeline as protesters from around the country came to rally against pipeline construction that would travel across native lands and cross the Missouri River.
Colombia: Two More Indigenous Leaders Murdered Amid Quarantine
„The two murdered Indigenous leaders and the two wounded belong to the same family and were at home following the quarantine order,“ the ONIC tweeted.
The dream of an Arctic railway fades as Sami herders signal ‘veto’
A ‘veto’ against the railway by the Sami herders could be the final nail in the coffin for the project. It is unlikely that the Governments of Finland and Norway would invite for a new big conflict with the indigenous peoples up north.
Costa Rican Indigenous Denounce Govt Inaction Regarding Murders
The Indigenous peoples of Bröran de Terraba and Bribri de Salitres in Costa Rica denounced Thursday the lack of action by the state regarding the violence committed against their communities and the murder of their leaders.
Native American leader denounces destruction of sacred sites for border wall construction
„I want to be clear: When sacred cultural sites are destroyed in international conflict, it is considered a war crime,“ said the subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.).
Costa Rica: Jehry Rivera Dies While Defending Indigenous Lands
Costa Rica’s Indigenous leader Jehry Rivera was shot dead on Monday night while the Mano de Tigre community inhabitants tried to defend themselves from hitmen in San Antonio de Terraba, in the Puntarenas province.
Canada passenger rail company lays off 1,000 staff as blockades bite
The protesters say they back the Wet’suwet’en indigenous people of British Columbia in their campaign against the C$6.6 billion ($4.98 billion) Coastal GasLink project. Some aboriginal bands claim the right to veto projects on their territory, a stance rejected by a Canadian court earlier this month.
“Reconciliation doesn’t mean allowing a couple of people to shut down the national economy,” Alberta Premier Jason Kenney told reporters.
Pipeline protest comes to Saskatoon
Hundreds of people marched in an anti-pipeline protest through downtown Saskatoon late Thursday afternoon.
Canadian National Railway Shuts Down Eastern Canada Operations
Protesters have said they are blocking the trains to support an indigenous group that opposes the construction of a natural-gas pipeline in northern British Columbia.
By What Right Does Canada and Its Gendarmerie Invade Wet’suwet’en Territory?
People need to see what the government of Canada is doing!
Trump Administration Releases Final Plans For Grand Staircase, Bears Ears National Monuments
“The Trump administration’s effort to preempt any adverse ruling by prematurely finalizing the land management planning process for the illegally declared Shash Jaa and Indian Creek units, unequivocally demonstrates a complete disregard for Native American concerns and blatant disrespect for the cultural landscape protections the Tribes have sought,” Clark Tenakhongva, vice chairman of the Hopi Tribe and the coalition leader wrote in a press release.
Trump’s Final Plan to Open Treasured Public Lands in Utah Called ‚Sellout‘ to Big Oil
Tribal and conservation groups on Thursday condemned the Trump administration’s „unconscionable“ final management plans for Utah lands previously protected as national monuments, which critics warn will open up the region to ranchers who want to graze livestock and companies looking to cash in on the area’s oil, gas, and coal.
‚Genocide‘ fears for isolated tribes as ex-missionary named to head Brazil agency
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people, said: “This is a dangerous decision that may have the potential to cause genocide among isolated indigenous people.”
BREAKING: Appointment CONFIRMED of evangelical missionary Ricardo Lopez Dias as head of the uncontacted tribes department in Brazil: 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 news for the most vulnerable peoples on the planet. Bolsonaro #indigenousUnderAttack
Canada’s Battle Against First Nations Shows Slide Toward Authoritarianism
The Canadian state has always, if only tacitly, understood this relationship between authoritarianism, resource extraction, colonialism and what Karl Marx called “primitive accumulation” — the looting and pillaging of wealth. Like the U.S., Canada has a long, ignominious record of abusing, locking up and betraying promises to Indigenous peoples.
The Exploitation of Pascua Lama Is One Example of Chile’s Neoliberal Exploitation
In 2006, Barrick Gold had proposed moving the glacier ice from the Toro 1, Toro 2 and the Esperanza glaciers to facilitate their exploitation of the region’s resources.
Brazilian Indigenous Tribes to Sue Bolsonaro Over Crude Remarks
The primary organization representing Brazil’s 300 Indigenous tribes issued a joint statement on Friday that threatened to sue far-right President Jair Bolsonaro over his crude comments.
Globalizing the War on Indigenous People: Bolsonaro and Modi
This is bad news for everyone, but minorities are particularly at risk as these demagogues claim that “their” rights must be sacrificed for the national good. Bolsonaro and Modi have already taken several significant strides down this dangerous path.
Bolsonaro: ‘More and More the Indian Is a Human Being Like Us’
On another occasion, he also said that Brazil should have followed Colonel George Armstrong Custer’s example in dealing “efficiently” with Indigenous peoples in the United States.
Racism is considered a serious crime in Brazil and can carry a sentence of up to five years.
Colombia’s Indigenous Demand Justice After 20 Leaders Killed
Colombia’s Indigenous people are outraged at the death of more than 20 social leaders inside South American country, the counselor of the Indigenous Youth of Colombia , Eliel Castillo, said this week.
Brazil’s Peoples: Bolsonaro Means Genocide, Ethnocide, Ecocide
After a four-day meeting carried out in Piaracu village, at the Mato Grosso state, in Brazil, over 600 Indigenous leaders Friday issued a manifesto denouncing the „genocide, ethnocide, and ecocide“ planned by the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
Brazilian tribes back manifesto to save Amazon habitat from Bolsonaro
The meeting in the village of Piaraçu on the Xingu river was called by Raoni Metuktire, the 90-year-old Kayapó chief who became an environmental campaigner in the 1980s with British rock singer Sting at his side.
Brazilian Indigenous Leaders Mobilize to Protest Amazon Mining
A four-day-long tribal meeting among the Brazilian Indigenous leaders has begun in the Amazon to protest far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s push to open their reservations for commercial mining and agriculture.
Brazil’s govt to propose oil exploration on indigenous land: media
However, many indigenous leaders have been vocal in their opposition to the government’s plans. Prominent tribal chiefs, including Raoni Metuktire, have toured Europe to defend their territories from deforestation and development.
Indigenous artifacts found in the path of a B.C. natural gas pipeline could be destroyed — and provincial permits allow for it
Mike Ridsdale’s voice shook as he spoke about ancient artifacts that could be destroyed as construction of the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline continues, through the traditional lands of the Wet’suwet’en Nation. “Where our ancestors used to be laying, (they’ll be) shoved to the side and made into a pile of dirt,” Ridsdale said.
Mexico holds assemblies to consider controversial Maya Train plan
Some Indigenous and environmental groups on the Yucatan Peninsula worry project may bring more harm than good.
Brazil: Attack on Guajajara Indigenous People Leaves 1 Dead
Firmino Prexede Guajajara died on the spot and Nelsi Olimpio Guajajara was shot in his leg. They were returning from a political meeting in which the defense of Indigenous territories was discussed.
Native Americans To Tell Dark Truths on Mayflower Anniversary
“The story of how the colonizers quickly forgot their manners is the one that has been marginalized,” Peters lamented, who described as a “terrible irony” that the pilgrims, themselves the target of religious persecution, were not tolerant of the Natives’ spiritual beliefs.
Colombia’s Indigenous Peoples Join National Strike in Bogota
Indigenous organizations like the Cric from the Cauca province, arrived at the capital Thursday in order to support the workers, students, and campesinos that have so far been the core of the national protests against the conservative government.
„Nothing But Disdain for Democracy“: Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, and Pressley Join Letter Condemning Trump for Fueling Crisis in Bolivia
As the Bolivian military’s violent repression of Indigenous anti-coup protesters sparked fears of a full-blown civil war, more than a dozen members of Congress including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley sent a letter Friday condemning the Trump administration for supporting the November 10 ouster of former President Evo Morales and „contributing to an escalating political and human rights crisis.“
Bernie Sanders Reiterates That There Was a Coup in Bolivia
Independent U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders again described what happened in Bolivia as coup and condemned security forces‘ repression against indigenous protesters.
Was der Putsch gegen Evo Morales für Indigene wie mich bedeutet
Das indigene sozialistische Projekt hat vollbracht, was der Neoliberalismus immer wieder unterlassen hat: die Umverteilung des Reichtums auf die ärmsten Sektoren der Gesellschaft
Chile’s Mapuche People Mourn the Death of Camillo Catrillanca
November 14 will mark the first anniversary of the death of Camilo Catrillanca, an Indigenous man who was shot to dead by a Military Police (Carabinero) officer in La Araucania. Social movements and progressive parties have called for demonstrations in more than 40 cities.
Great-great-grandson of Wounded Knee commander asks for forgiveness
(8.11.2019) For the last 50 years, Bradley Upton has prayed for forgiveness as he has carried the burden of one of the most horrific events in U.S. history against Native Americans, one that was perpetrated by James Forsyth, his great-great-grandfather.
Outrage in Brazil at the killing of an indigenous “guardian of the forest”
“Violence and death threats against the guardians have been happening for years,” Sarah Shenker, a researcher with Survival International who knew Paulo Paulino, said
“There is a lot of impunity. The authorities are unwilling to protect the indigenous lands,” Shenker charged.
“Their racist words and genocidal, anti-indigenous proposals give a kind of green light.”
Greenpeace said the two men were “the most recent victims of a state that refuses to comply with what the constitution determines.”
IIlegal loggers kill Amazon indigenous warrior who guarded forest, wound another
Paulino Guajajara, who was in his twenties and leaves behind one son, told Reuters in an interview here on the reservation in September that protecting the forest from intruders had become a dangerous task, but his people could not give in to fear.
UN: Massacres of Indigenous Peoples in Colombia Must Stop
The latest atrocity occurred Tuesday in Tacueyo in Northern Cauca in southwest Colombia. Criminal groups trying to enter indigenous ancestral lands shot and killed five indigenous people and severely wounded six others. Among the victims is a prominent human rights defender, Cristina Bautista.
Venezuela Boosts Ties of Brotherhood With US Indigenous People
From this Tuesday until next Thursday, the First International Meeting of Indigenous Peoples will take place in the city of Guayana, Venezuelan state of Bolivar, with the participation of indigenous leaders from some 20 countries, including Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Sri Lanka, Canada and the United States…
The initiative is part of the strategic lines of the 25th Meeting of the Sao Paulo Forum, developed in this capital between 25 and 28 July, to establish a Bolivarian alliance of indigenous peoples for sovereignty, solidarity and decolonization.
Aiming at Olympic boom, Japan builds ‚Ethnic Harmony‘ tribute to indigenous Ainu
“I think it’s possible it could end up becoming a theme park,” said Ainu tattoo artist Mai Hachiya. “People would come to see the dancing and other performances. It would be like a zoo.”
Chile protesters block access to lithium operations: local leader
Protesters from indigenous communities around Chile’s Atacama salt flats, among the world’s richest reserves of lithium, have blocked access to lithium operations amid nationwide rallies over inequality, a local leader said on Friday.
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
Anangu welcome you to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, a living cultural landscape where earth and memories exist as one.
Australia’s Uluru closes to climbers for good after decades-long fight
“Happiness is the majority feeling, knowing that people are no longer going to be disrespecting the rock and the culture – and being safe.”
The Oct. 26 closure marks 34 years since the land was given back to the Anangu people, an important moment in the struggle by indigenous groups to retrieve their homelands.
Ecuador: Supposed ‚Peace Zone‘ Looks Like A ‚War Zone‘ in Quito
The National Assembly President will host a meeting of all lawmakers next Monday in Guayaquil, the right-wing-controlled city where President Moreno moved the seat of government.
Ecuador: Riot Police Fire Tear Gas, Live Ammo at Protesters
Ecuadorean social scientist, Aquiles Hervas, said over social media from the scene: “We have just witnessed a vile betrayal. [Authorities] accepted the crowd’s arrival outside the assembly in order to talk shortly after the president’s announcement. Once they had approached [the building], the police fired at close range while people were eating soup. Several children were trampled by the terrified crowd. It is a war scene with unarmed people, several were injured.”
Video capturing the attacks show hundreds of people running eastward from the assembly, trying to escape the tear gas grenades and armored vehicles.
„Let’s sit down to talk, let’s sit down and talk about decree 883, let’s talk about where your resources should go, and make sure they go to those who need it most,“ Moreno said in a 20 second message to the nation at 3:00 p.m. local time. The violent incident outside the National Assembly occurred at around 4:30 p.m.
#BREAKING | Ecuadorean president @Lenin announces that he will move the seat of government from Quito, to Guayaquil. This comes after a day full of protests against his economic measures, and just minutes after a march of thousands of Indigenous farmers arrived to the capital.
Thousands of Indigenous Protestors Reach Quito As Ecuador Faces Uncertainty
A few hours earlier, military personel placed inside the presidential palace evacuated all press members that were waiting for 16h00 local time press conference from President Lenin Moreno, whose whereabouts at the moment are unknown as well as those of the vice president.
According to the National Indigenous of Ecuador (CONAIE) around 20,000 people from various Indigenous communities are part of the march which demands President Lenin Moreno to reverse the neoliberal economic austerity package announced last Wednesday.
Ecuador indigenous groups, workers keep pressure on Moreno
“The indigenous movement is mobilizing indefinitely in the whole country,” Jaime Vargas, president of the CONAIE umbrella indigenous group, told Reuters.
Thousands of Indigenous Farmers Head Towards Ecuador’s Capital
As it could be seen through images broadcasted live, army personnel on Saturday morning tried to occupy farmer facilities in Nizag, an indigenous community located in Sibambe.
Given the impossibility of evicting hundreds of Chimborazo demonstrators, the Ecuadorean troops remained wandering among the people concentrated there. No incidents were reported.
Zapatistas Summon ‚II International Meeting of Women Who Fight‘
In February, the women collective of the EZLN said that Lopez Obrador’s government didn’t hold comprehensive community consultations for the ‚Maya Train‘, which is a large-scale infrastructure project is set to connect the whole Yucatan Peninsula for tourism, transportation, and economic purposes, and thus canceled the meeting to protest to the “new, bad government (that is) doing the capitalist’s megaprojects.”
‚Bolsonaro is Responsible for the Amazon‘ UN Rapporteur Says
„In practice, every time Bolsonaro fosters economic exploitation of indigenous lands through his speeches, he grants a free pass to economic and political interests wishing to exploit them,“ Tauli-Corpuz said. „Bolsonaro is directly responsible because the government has the responsibility of protecting its citizens‘ lives. And Brazil has signed all international human rights conventions.“
Indigenous in US ‚Take Stand On Stolen Land‘, Protest Detentions
As many as 113 people say they will take part in peaceful protests Saturday outside the Los Encinos Park, near the McAllen detention center.
Mexico’s AMLO to Zapatistas: Let’s Put Aside Our Differences
Another issue that has inflamed the Zapatistas is the “Transisthmus Corridor,” an infrastructure project that will connect the Gulf of Mexico with the Pacific for commercial purposes, a million hectares of fruit and wood trees in Chiapas would replace native „unproductive“ forests.
“They don’t want our lands to be ours but for tourists to come and have their big hotels and their great restaurants,” stated the grouping.
Two Guatemalan Indigenous Leaders Killed
Armed men killed two defenders of the land and members of the Committee of Campesino Development during a peaceful activity, in the village of Nuevo Eden, municipality of Livingston, Izabal. The victims are Isidro Perez Pérez (photo) and Melecio Ramírez.
Ecuador’s Waorani Set to Save Their Amazon Homeland From Oil Industry
This comes as Moreno’s administration is planning to sell off seven million acres of rainforest territory, some of the most biodiverse on the planet, to the international oil industry. As non-governmental organization Amazon Frontlines, explains, if exploited, 70 percent of the oil would be shipped up to refineries in California, and eventually pumped at gas stations across the United States.
Brazil judge blocks transfer of indigenous land decisions to farm ministry
Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Luis Roberto Barroso on Monday issued an injunction suspending President Jair Bolsonaro’s move to transfer powers over indigenous land claims to the Agriculture Ministry.
From Galápagos to Guam: US Military Bases are a Threat to Local Communities
This month I got two of the most distressing pieces of news I could imagine. The first was a headline: US to use Galápagos island as a military airfield. The second came from my grandmother: two of our family friends are in the end stages of Agent Orange poisoning.
I’m from Guam; one of the countless islands of the Pacific used by the United States military as a base. At just 8 miles wide and 30 miles long, about a third of our island is covered by military installations with more build-up expected. My family and my community know all too well what being used as an airfield means. 52,000 veterans have organized into the group Agent Orange Survivors of Guam to lobby for benefits related to their exposure to the infamous herbicide while serving in the Pacific.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro hands indigenous land decisions back to farm sector
Right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro issued a new decree on Wednesday putting decisions on indigenous land claims in the hands of the Ministry of Agriculture, four weeks after Congress rebuffed him on the move that is sought by Brazil’s farm lobby.
Primera declaración de resistencia de los pueblos del CIPOG-EZ, CNI-CIG ante el cerco de los grupos narcoparamilitares y la omisión de los tres niveles de gobierno
Primera declaración de resistencia de los pueblos del CIPOG-EZ, CNI-CIG ante el cerco de los grupos narcoparamilitares y la omisión de los tres niveles de gobierno
Bolivia: Evo Rips Critics ‚Installed by Coups, Military Dictatorships, and Plan Condor‘
Twenty-one presidents from the linguistically and historically connected nations, who sometimes associate as the Ibero-American countries, signed a letter Monday condemning the Bolivian president’s campaign for reelection, calling on the Organization of American States to intervene.
Brazil indigenous affairs official fired amid push to develop reservation land
The right-wing president alarmed anthropologists and environmentalists by planning to assimilate Brazil’s 800,000 indigenous people and open reservation lands to commercial development, even in the Amazon rainforest.
Colombian Environmental Activist Woman Survives Armed Attack
According to the Colombian Interior Ministry data, there are 7,400 people under some form of public protection, 4,500 of whom are social leaders. Since January, 16 social leaders have been murdered in Colombia, as denounced by UN-verified data.
Breaking from tradition, indigenous women lead fight for land rights in Brazil
Brazil’s indigenous women have been overturning tradition to step into the spotlight and lead an international push to defend their tribal land rights, which are up against the greatest threat they have faced in years under right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro.
Japanese Gov’t Enacts Law To Preserve Indigenous Ainu Culture
The new law will allow the Ainu to observe and maintain traditional practices such as collecting wood from national forests and catching fish in rivers, using time-honored, traditional methods.
US: Maine to Rename Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day
The bill has been endorsed by the policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Maine branch, Oami Amarasingham, who strongly believes „it’s time to stop celebrating a man whose arrival brought death, disease, and slavery to hundreds of thousands, and start honoring the people who lived here long before.“