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COLORADO CARAVAN TO BIG MOUNTAIN, BLACK MESA, AZ.
Please forward and share with all!
Meeting for the Spring 2010 Caravan to Black Mesa: Thursday, May 13, 6:30 PM CAVP
Office 304 Elati Street, Denver, CO. We will confirm dates, projects, supplies needed and
upcoming fundraiser! See you there! Ahe’hee Shannon Francis.
Read the Cultural Preparedness and Sensitivity Guide at http://blackmesais.org/2008/10/cultural-sensitivity-preparedness-guidebook-registration-form/ to familiarize yourself and know if going out to the land is right for you.
For more information about the Denver caravan contact:
Shannon Francis, 303.949.3532, rezchix@gmail.com
or
Leah Young, 970.799.3489, misskittiedee@hotmail.com
Check out our new facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=122414881106087
Support Indigenous Resistance on Black Mesa
At the end of an exceptionally hard winter of National Emergency status, and the beginning of a muddy spring, the Dine’ (Navajo) families of Big Mountain, and surrounding communities on Black Mesa continue to stand strong on their ancestral homelands! For nearly four decades the communities have faced the devastation of the U.S government and multinational coal mining corporations exploiting their homelands and violently fracturing their communities. Although the permit for the Black Mesa Mine expansion didn’t pass, and hopefully never will, families remain–resisting the Kayenta Mine and forced relocation.
“The Big Mountain Dine’ elders have endured so much since the 1970s and at the same time, they have defended and preserved that human dignity of natural survival, subsistence and religious values. They have resisted the U.S. government’s genocide policies to vacate lands that Peabody Coal Company recognized as the Black Mesa coal fields. The Big Mountain matriarchal leaders always believed that resisting forced relocation will eventually benefit all ecological systems, including the human race. Continued residency by families throughout the Big Mountain region has a significant role in the intervention to Peabody Coal’s future plan for Black Mesa coal to be the major source of electrical energy, increasing everyone’s dependency on fossil fuel and contributing to global warming. We will continue to fight to defend our homelands.” –Bahe Keediniihii, Dine’ organizer and translator.
Supporting these communities, whose very presence stands in the way of large-scale coal mining, is one way to work on the front lines for climate justice and against a future of climate chaos. There are also opportunities for long-term, committed supporters and organizers. Black Mesa Indigenous Support (BMIS) is looking for Regional Coordinators to organize year-round support and work towards movement building, which would maintain and enhance communication channels between the Big Mountain resistance communities and networks that are being established to support the Big Mountain resistance as well as other local forms of indigenous resistance, while building shared analysis, vision and movements for the liberation of all peoples and our planet. Please contact us for more information if you are interested.
The families are encouraging people to come to Black Mesa now! Support is requested all year long!
BMIS is a grassroots, all-volunteer run collective dedicated to working with and supporting the indigenous peoples of Black Mesa in their Struggle for Life and Land who are targeted by and resisting unjust mountaintop removal coal mining operations and forced relocation policies of the U.S government. One of the primary ways that we do this is to honor the direct requests of these families to extend their invitation to all people interested in supporting their resistance, to come to Black Mesa, to their threatened ancestral homelands, walk with their sheep, haul water and wood, whatever they ask of us. By coming to The Land, we can assist the elders and their families in daily chores, which helps us to engage with the story that they are telling as well as to claim a more personal stake against environmental degradation, climate change, and continued legacies of colonialism and genocide. We can support by being there so they can go to meetings, organize, weave rugs, visit family members who have been hospitalized, rest after a difficult winter and regain strength for the upcoming spring. With spring comes planting crops,shearing sheep, and lambing.
COME FOR A MONTH! Or Longer!
The elders on the land are very thankful for the support of their resistance over the last three decades. We at BMIS are asking those who have come before to continue the work you have started by coming back.
And for those of you who have never come to the land, we encourage you to start.
Deep thanks to all who made the November Caravan happen: let us continue the support through the year.
BMIS can assist you in the process of being self-sufficient on the land, which is vital. We are happy to speak with you over the phone or email and we offer important online resources like the Cultural Sensitivity & Preparedness Guidebook. Volunteers must read the guidebook and register with BMIS to ensure your safety and be accountable to the families. There are also plenty of great documents about the current and background information found on our website–one of the only on-line resources documenting this resistance.
“This land is being taken away because they’ve got power in Washington. We
were put here with our Four Sacred Mountains ~ and we were created to live
here. We know the names of the mountains and we know the names of the
other sacred places. That is our power. That is how we pray and this
prayer has never changed.” ~Katherine Smith, Big Mountain Elder
blackmesais@gmail.com - PO Box 23501 Flagstaff, AZ 86002 - 928-773-8086
BMIS can send letters/packages to families, however we encourage you to be in direct communication with the families.
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Testimony from a Sheepherder:
I have just left after a four month stay on the Land. This was my 14th winter staying with Dine’ families residing on the so-called HPL and resisting the relocation laws by continuing to live on the land of their grandparents of generations back. It has been an intense winter. The big snowstorm was a sight to see, and reminded the elders of storms 40 and 80 years past, when there were many more families out there, and most of the elders didn’t live alone. And yes, the National Guard and US Army did come out to the families. I wondered at the irony of the hay, water, and other supplies, thinking how the families have lived under the threat of the Guard coming in to take them from their homes.
The OSM Life of Mine permit getting denied was a pleasant surprise. I had been looking at the hills, meadows and rocks that I have come to know, as becoming ‘reclaimed’ land through the mine expansion, and thinking of the long, hard fight to come. A second generation Black Mesa miner, and “HPL” resident stated that he was glad about the permit, and ready to see a change back to the old ways of living and away from mining.
The Supporter caravan at thanksgiving was a fast and festive, and abundant time. About 120 supporters for the week, but by the end of January there were only a few supporters on the land, and a list of families asking for a sheepherder. We were desperately calling out for people to come, and a few did, but only a few. And I thought, this is where the real support is needed- in the long haul, the deep snow.
Back in 1997, and again in 2000 the families were living under a threatening “deadline”, and there were literally hundreds of supporters on the land for months. I am grateful that there is no deadline as such now, but I do wonder what keeps us supporters from committing to coming out, or coming back. I have personally placed several hundred supporters in the last 12 years, and I marvel at how much we struggle to ‘get the word out’ and ‘get support to the Land’.
I am so honored and humbled by the loving hospitality I receive from the families. My sons are treated as family, and are growing up knowing the elders, kids and supporters, and about fighting for and supporting what is right. I have been raised out there myself in many ways. The Dineh people have been my teachers and mentors, my inspiration. I believe in doing all that I can to honor their request and invitation to come into the home, the land and the lives of the people indigenous to the land -what that means and what they are fighting for and against. I believe it is at the heart of the most important work today.
And I am writing this to remind us, you, that their door is open and there is a job to do- something that we are needing to understand, a connection that needs to be made and honored. It is time to come. It is time to come back. Its time to give back. Please help us do this.
Tree, BMIS volunteer and volunteer coordinator
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Statement of Pauline Whitesinger, elder Dine’ resister, Edgewater Clan 2/10/10
Greetings to my relatives. I want you all to be aware of an incident that has occurred at my residence (Sweetwater, Black Mesa) this past week. As you may be aware we have had a lot of snow this winter. BIA road grading crews have been slow, but they have been coming. Some of them are very friendly and supportive and I had given them permission to park their machine in my front yard. A different group returned for the machine and one of their crew offended me very much in a short conversation that we had. I became so angry with him that I threatened him and chased him off. I do not know at this time what repercussions I will be facing. We are subject to whatever the BIA sends our way. The type of comments that he made are typical of the abuses we have suffered over the years resisting relocation and struggling against the government. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do the road grading ourselves. I hope that you will consider that I am alone here most of the time and I would like to have more supporters around to help with the day to day chores or matters of traditional living importance that will never be supported by the BIA or their employees no matter how big their budget is.
Thank You!
Translated by o. Johnson. Comments may be addressed to stubx@yahoo.com
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Urgent Call For Support: Elders & Families of Big Mountain & surrounding communities of Black Mesa are Trapped Due to Being Snowed In. 1.26.10
We are getting reports that the national guard and the army have dropped some basic supplies to just a few traditional Dine’ elders & families who are TRAPPED from a huge snow storm at Big Mountain & other nearby regions of Black Mesa AZ.
Relatives are headed up there as soon as they are able to with supplies. More elders need help!!
We believe that it’s important to know why the conditions are so dire at Black Mesa. Institutional racism has, for decades, fueled neglect and abandonment of public needs such as water, maintenance of roads, health care, and schools. Due to lack of local job opportunities and federal strangulation on Indian self-sufficiency, extended families are forced to live many miles away to earn incomes and have all the social amenities which include choices in mandatory American education. It is increasingly difficult for families to come back to visit their relatives in these remote areas due to the unmaintained roads and the rising cost of transportation.
May Big Mountain and all the surrounding indigenous resistance communities of Black Mesa, AZ be remembered & supported.
Thank you, Black Mesa Indigenous Support
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Immediate Call For Support From Indigenous Resistance Communities of Big Mountain, Black Mesa, AZ in their struggle for Life, Land and Dignity. January 18, 2010
Although there’s been a recent victory against the reopening of the Black Mesa Complex, the Kayenta mine is still operating and elders on the front lines fighting the continued impacts of coal mining and forced relocation efforts are still requesting support.
We are writing with a request for direct on-land support on behalf of families of traditional resistance communities of Black Mesa, AZ.. One of the Big Mountain elder matriarchs, Blanche Wilson, the mother of Mae Tso, who hosted the 2008 caravan, passed away yesterday. Please hold her and her family in your thoughts and prayers. Mae and Samuel, two of Blanche’s children, and elders themselves, are living alone at their homesite. They are in much need of support–they will need to take four days away from basic necessities and work for the traditional funeral. Additionally Mae injured her back on Christmas day and has been in pain for the last three weeks and at a limited work capacity; Samuel has been working double what he normally does. There are supporters there now until Wednesday the 20th. The funeral will be after that so, as mentioned, they really need the help at this time.
If you are available for any days from this Wednesday on, please let us know ASAP, so we can tell the family that the homesite and sheep will be covered. Please forward this to anyone you know who could possibly be available to support.
Furthermore, after this year’s Caravan/Fall Wood Run to Black Mesa, BMIS is receiving an unprecedented amount of direct requests for on-land support from elders–we usually have about 2-3 per month and this month we have NINE requests, besides Mae and Samuel Tso. There are several sheepherders on-land right now, but nearly all of them are leaving by the end of the month. February is a difficult month for the elders to live out in the vast canyonlands of Black Mesa in such high altitude in the cold and snow without paved roads and supporters are much appreciated. One of the elders is undergoing knee surgery at the end of January and will be out of commission for several weeks. If you contact us we will give you details.
It is extremely important that we try as hard as we can to have supporters up there to honor these requests and make sure that we continue our support beyond the caravan. If you have come on a caravan or spent time on the land before please consider reconnecting with the struggle and staying with a family requesting support. If you can’t come out put the call out to your community and offer to talk to interested sheep herders about your experience before getting them in touch with us.This is vital to remain connected to the struggle and to show our solidarity. Please consider coming out if at all possible. Let us know, and let anyone else who could possibly come out know.
Forward this widely.
Many Thanks,
Black Mesa Indigenous Support Collective
ALERT! “Friday, November 6, Hopi rangers confiscated 2 large stock trailers of horses on HPL range unit 257. The horses belong to 2 HPL homesites and some NPL residents. The HPL families went to Keams Canyon on Monday, November 9 and a family that had signed the accommodation agreement was allowed to buy back their horses; however they only had enough money to buy back half. The HPL family who is a non-signing family was not allowed to retrieve any of their horses.
The livestock are the families’ livelihoods, their bank accounts, their retirement…. These horses in particular are an ancient ancestral line. They are more than just horses, they are a legacy that belongs to all of the residents family’s children…
Legally, the residents are supposed to be notified and notices posted before any impoundments. These families did not receive any sort of warning.
The Hopi Rangers stated that they would be continuing livestock impoundments throughout the whole HPL.”
Each day that the livestock is impounded it costs more for the families to get them back. Checks can be made out to BMIS to assist families in retrieving their animals. Earmark the checks ‘For livestock.’ Black Mesa Indigenous Support; P.O. Box 23501, Flagstaff, Arizona 86002. Please stand by for further direction from families. Thank you for your support!
Caravan in Support of Communities On The Front Lines Of Resistance at Big Mountain, Black Mesa, AZ.
November 21-28, 2009
The caravan is full. Please consider coming out this winter or spring or for next year’s caravan. Thank you for your support!
A caravan of work crews are organizing in support of residents of the Big Mountain regions of Black Mesa. On behalf of their peoples, their sacred ancestral lands and future generations, these communities continue to carry out a staunch resistance to the efforts of the US Government, which is acting in the interests of the Peabody Coal Company, to devastate whole communities and ecosystems and greatly de-stabilize our planet’s climate for the profit of an elite few.
By assisting with direct, on-land projects you are helping families stay on their ancestral homelands in resistance to an illegal occupation. These courageous communities serve as the very blockade to coal mining! Read More….
FIRST NATIONS, FIRST RESISTANCE - The Struggle For Survival Continues. A Snapshot of Life For Residents of the Big Mountain Regions of Black Mesa & An Opportunity To Support Indigenous Resistance To U.S. Colonization in 2009
Both Republican & Democratic parties have consistently expressed support for the development of so-called ‘clean coal’ technology to help solve the nation’s energy problem while claiming to be interested in fighting pollution, global warming, and human rights. While many environmental and scientific groups have questioned whether the burning of coal can ever be clean, for First Nations in the Four Corners area ‘clean coal’ may also be a matter of ethnic cleansing and of their survival. Peabody Coal, the world’s largest coal company, is currently pushing through plans to massively expand dirty coal strip-mining operations targeting the Dine’ (Navajo) & Hopi peoples sacred ancestral homelands of Black Mesa, AZ. Read More:
A Petition from the Big Mountain Situation by Bahe Y. Katenay (Naabaahii Keediniihii)
Dineh of Big Mountain.
As we speak, there exist a state of fear and anxiety in a traditional community at Big Mountain in the heart of Black Mesa. And as we speak, the federally deputized officers of the BIA Hopi Agency Police and Rangers are patrolling this region where a few traditional elders continue to live and also resist federal mandates to relocate. I want to bring your attention to one particular situation that is an example of the wide-spread acts of injustice, human rights violation, religious intolerance, and threats of property destruction….Please read, sign, and send in the petition.
Protesting is not Resisting, Resistance are based on Profound Manifestos: “Ancient Big Mountain Supreme Ways Dictates Dineh Resistance, Pauline Whitesinger Continues to Defy B.I.A. Police Harassment & Threats” By Bahe Y. Katenay, Sheep Dog Nation Rocks
ALERT: Peabody Coal’s Massive Coal Mining Expansion Plans, ‘The Black Mesa Project’, Receives An Approval From OSM. On December 22, 2008, Office of Surface Mining (OSM) issued a record of decision approving Peabody Western Coal Company’s mine permit revision application for the Black Mesa Complex. Resistance Continues.
Demonstration for Black Mesa March 7th 2009 in Stockholm Sweden: Out of a growing concern for the recent developments regarding the OSM desicion to, grant Peabody Coal a Life of Mine Permit, for the coalmining on Black Mesa, the Wild-Oak Network Sweden has decided to hold a demonstration in Sockholm Sweden, on March 7, 2009.
News Release: OSM APPROVES BLACK MESA PROJECT FINAL EIS Read further….
U.S. Government Continues Genocidal Assault on the People of Black Mesa. Read Further….
Big Mountain Native writes an appeal for us all to listen and honor the traditional Elders of Big Mountain. More….
Ancient Ways Abandoned to Fend for Themselves at Big Mountain. Read Further….
Navajo & Hopi Protest OSM in Denver! Read further….
Read the full decision here: http://www.wrcc.osmre.gov/default.htm
Big Mtn. Elder Matriarch Continues to Face ‘Federal’ Threats. Big Mountain, Black Mesa (Arizona), November 18, 2008 – A nice peaceful morning in the Dineh resistance stronghold known as Sweet Water was again disrupted by a uniformed officer from the Office of Hopi Lands. This officer who had a badge that indicated he was with the Hopi tribal police claimed he was not serving a “noticed” on behalf of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, nor the U.S. government. The small 82 year old matriarch, Pauline Whitesinger, was trying to speak in the Dineh language to the thick and tall Indian officer that cannot understand Dineh and who was ‘assigned’ to meet with (grandma) Pauline about her “unauthorized” reconstruction of a traditional earth lodge. More….
Hardrock distrusts McCain Due to Land Dispute Record by Wendy Kenin, Special To The (Navajo) Times. 10.30.08
John McCain has been a primary sponsor of legislation that set a new timetable for the forced relocation of a number of Dineh (Navajo) families who continue to live on their ancestral homelands of Black Mesa, AZ. Although this legislation thankfully stalled on the House floor in April 2007 and never became law, there are growing concerns that S1003 would be at the forefront of McCain’s agenda. The coal companies have a long history of and continue to fund both the Republican and Democratic parties because they have huge interests at stake. On McCain today, people of Black Mesa say that they’ll still have to deal with him even though he lost the presidential election. He’ll still be in the Senate, and in the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
During the 109th Congress in 2007 McCain sponsored Senate Bill 1003, an amendment of the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-531, the relocation law), prematurely terminates the Federal government’s responsibilities towards those who “have lived through the nightmare of relocation” as testified by Navajo Nation president Joe Shirley Jr. Furthermore, S1003 disclaims any further federal responsibility for the relocatees and refuses to acknowledge the long lasting damage to the community and current need for rehabilitation and support. Read more about John McCain’s involvement with relocation on Black Mesa.
Black Mesa Project Controversy Rises. A Waning Administration’s Actions May Contribute to a Tribal Mining Dispute. By Carol Berry, Today correspondent; Indian Country Today, 10.25.08. BLACK MESA, Ariz.- A push to approve a Peabody Western Coal Co. project in northern Arizona may be dividing the Hopi Tribal Council and fueling an attempted ouster of the tribal chairman. Read More…
CounterPunch: Lehman Brothers ‘Blowback for Black Mesa’ by Brenda Norrell
Navajo, Hopi and Lakota delegation warned Lehman Brothers about the consequences of acquiring Peabody Coal and mining Black Mesa. By Brenda Norrell (Also Listen to Democracy Now! interview of the Navajo, Hopi and Lakota delegation.)
Big Mountain Elder Faces Threat of Charges for Ceremonial Lodge. Elder Served Notice That Rebuilding Ceremonial Lodge is Illegal. By Bahe Katenay. Big Mountain, Black Mesa, AZ, June 2, 2008 – On Wednesday, May 20th, key traditional elder resister to the relocation laws, Pauline Whitesinger, was served a notice to halt “new” construction of an earth lodge commonly known as a hogan, and this notice was served by Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) agency deputized officers, Hopi Tribal Range Technicians. More information and where to send comments and/or demands….
Peabody Energy shoveled $1.3M into 1Q lobbying Associated Press, May 23, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Peabody Investments Corp., a subsidiary of coal producer Peabody Energy Corp., spent nearly $1.3 million in the first quarter to lobby on issues related to the coal industry… READ MORE…