Click image designed by Donovan Pete to use as cover on facebook.
Regarding Fort Defiance meeting to discuss SB 2109:
Posted on Navajo Truth SB 2109 facebook page along with the photos, links, observations and thoughts of many other people. http://www.facebook.com/#!/navajotruth
via Bonnie Jean Canyon:
The police presence at the Fort Defiance meeting was intense and intimidating. This was mentioned by more than one person when the public was allowed to address the NNVP and other officials. I feel it was uncalled for and excessive. Im still trying to figure out why they also needed 2 or 3 fire trucks and also 3-4 ambulances? They must know already just how strongly the people are opposed to this? All the emergency response vehicals took up so much space it was very difficult to find parking. There was a pretty good turn out but it was after 5 that people started showing up even though the meeting started at 4 and Im assuming its because most work until 5. They ran out of chairs and many remained standing for most of the meeting. I feel the power point slide show they presented was meant to sell the bill more than it was to educate and inform. The people present strongly opposed the bill and many who wished to voice their concerns and ask questions were not allowed to speak. I was very happy to see young people in attendence including 2 that came all the way from Phoenix to speak and also a student from Dine College. At least 3 people spoke up towards the end and called out to the NNVP that they had not been allowed to speak. Once again proof that more forums are needed and also that more time should have been given to the public to speak and ask questions. It seems that most feel, that despite the claims of all the uncertainties of letigation, most would rather continue the fight for water claims in court than to waive them and settle.
Photo from Renaldo Chapman–on Navajo Truth SB 2109 facebook–Security at Fort Defiance meeting.
For some insight into the land, people, history and political economics involved in this issue consider this article at – Izilwane –Connecting the human animal to theglobal ecosystem–
“Belonging to the Land, Part One: The Elders of Black Mesa” by Zoe Kransey
Our Water Rights has a hard copy letter writing campaign underway. For information on SB 2109 and HR 4067, and the addresses for snail mail visit www.ourwaterrights.org
Click poster for more images at Navajo Truth SB 2109 on facebook.
Now this is what an alliance looks like. Take note of all the interconnected issues and groups involved in this event. Some people are getting together for mutual support. Something tells me this sort of bridge building is not taught in The Huppenthal Mind Control School Plan. But taking an axe to the Ethnic Studies programs in the state of Arizona sure might have thrown some serious fuel on this bonfire. Protecting Mother Earth is everyone’s common ground. Unless, of course, you’re McCain, Kyl, a Bush, BP, Shell, Chevron, Trans-Canada, Canadian PM Harper, Kinder-Morgan, Enbridge, Palin — whatever will it take to wake these folks up? Oil spills inside their homes? Mandatory gas masks for everyone? Water rationing?
Not in Arizona? Then spread the news cause I don’t think this rally will be aired on CNN, ABC, NBC or Fox news unless it’s a 5 second soundbite IF the police crack open some pepper spray.
Earth Day musing: Yes, that little dark streak near the top is a human. We are much like ants on Earth. Unfortunately in many ways we’re lethal ants destroying everything in our path.
For those of you suffering from limited attention spans please do not let the length of this video deter you from hearing Patricia’s speech given at the Indigenous Environmental Network Conference on the Rights of Mother Earth Restoring Indigenous Life Ways of Responsibility and Respect. There are several important things well worth learning in her speech and replies to questions. One very significant element is how a village of 1,200 has developed international alliances for support of all kinds. I think it’s an art many others need to foster in their own communities. We need to make the most of our common ground in order to protect Earth. Respect, support, communication, tolerance for our differences are not easy to acquire. If the only thing we have in common is a love for Mother Earth–then we better make the most of it. Unlike the Nature Conservancy I think we need to do a great deal more than enjoy picnics outside in order to ‘celebrate’ Earth Day. The Tar Sands operation is just one hard harsh reality we need to face head on. Now, when it’s possible to picnic on the Tar Sands site then that would be something to celebrate indeed. We’re a long long way from that picnic. Presently I don’t think we’d be welcome at the Tar Sands site unless our baskets contained a few tons of solid gold currency.
Dine’ poet Luci Tapahonso’s “Dust Precedes the Rain” seems appropriate for both a tip of the cyber hat to April as National Poetry Month –and to focus on the joys of water, especially rain–water that falls from the sky.
“The water from the sink is no good for making pottery.
It just ruins it,” my children’s Acoma grandmother would say.
Thereafter she sent the kids to replace the full bowls of rainwater
that had filled since it began to rain.
Her son said that when he was a child, the rain smelled
and tasted so good–he and other kids played outside,
laughing and running around–and they stopped once in a while to lick
the cool adobe walls . The sides of the smooth houses were
fragrant and nurturing. From atop the mesa at Acoma Pueblo,
it is possible to see almost seventy miles in each direction.
It is the same on the reservations surrounding Phoenix.
Long before the rains come, the gentle desert wind
carries the scent of rain, wild plants flutter anxiously,
and pets frolic, acting silly. To the west, the thunderheads
loom dark and full. Thin waves of dust precede the rain,
rolling tumbleweeds and bits of paper, and the children run and skip,
allowing the wind to push them along. They yell and laugh.
The lilting sounds ae carried eastward by the blowing slants
of rain–their laughs and shouts caught in the leaves of sturdy trees.
They linger in the crevices of small hills and arroyos
and finally swirl into the slopes of the purple mountains nearby.
It must have been the same when the Hohokamiki lived here
where the expressway crosses over. The children played
in the dust- charged breezes, shouting and running in circles,
and when the rains began, they paused, their faces turned upward
to taste the cool clean rain.
Their quiet gratitude for brimming pots of water remains
now in the crumbling re-buried walls fo their small homes.
The still concentration with which they painted pottery
remains in the small toys and tiny woven sandals that are unearthed:
their spirits remain in the dry grains of dirt
that were dug up by shovels, backhoes, and bulldozers.
This is evident in the persistence of the bright wild plants
that push their way out of the dry ground.
This is evident in the new growth that springs up
along the arroyos and streams following sudden rains.
This is evident in the island of peaceful silence
that the museum cradles amid the city’s frenzy.
This is evident in the restless energy of the busloads
of children who visit the old homes of the Hohokamiki today.
They recognize the old history that is theirs.
They recognize the old history that is ours.
@Luci Tapahonso, “Dust Precedes the Rain” from Blue Horses Rush In, University of Arizona Press
Please meet some of the people who form the Black Mesa Water Coalition. Roberto Nutlouis and others attended the Indigenous Environmental Network Conference on the Rights of Mother Earth in April. They’re deep into water issues in Navajo and Hopi Country and creating Green businesses to support their traditional communities working to develop sustainable economies. Since they are a part of these communities they have a vested interest in their future. We are all a part of the community of Earth. So we are all connected. We are all related.
Okay folks my lack of geek brain cell mass is seriously crippling an addition of a quick Care2 widget to this blog for instant gratification petition signing purposes. But what I can do is provide the link to Care2 and the title of the petition you can find on site there to sign. I realize this will require a few more minutes of YOUR time and energy –and I do apologize for this extra effort on your generous spirits. But even my resident geek computer god cannot fathom why the embed code will not thrive in this WordPress blog’s post soil. So– we’re going there the slower route–but we CAN get there! Or so I hope. This is for everyone who requested an online petition to sign. Thanks to Barb Reese for putting this petition online at Care2. Folks, they’re only hoping for 1,000 signatures. Can you help them blow way past that amount by sharing on fb, tweeting, email, reblogging and other means? They’re up to 190 at the time of this blog post. Please show your support. And if anyone figures out how get that widget code to work on this Word Press blog theme – Come back a leave specific step by step recipe for ME!!!!
Petition title —-> “Senate Bill seeks to extinguish Navajo and Hopi water rights” petition to sign at Care2
re- public comments on Bear Butte Oil Well drilling due now. Urgent!
Dear Defenders,
Public written comments are due by March 30th for a rehearing on Oil Well Drilling near Bear Butte.
Approximately one and one-half miles west of Bear Butte, the SD Board of Minerals and Environment approved of Oil and Gas Order No. 17-2010 for Nakota Energy LLC. However, they did not do a review according to South Dakota Historic Preservation laws. Bear Butte has National Historic Landmark designation as well as being a sacred site to many Native American nations from North and Central America.
Please send your written comments to SD DENR, Oil and Gas Supervisor Fred Steece at fred.steece@state.sd.us
and South Dakota State Historic Preservation Office, Jason Haug, State Historic Preservation Director at Jason.Haug@state.sd.us
Another hearing, open to the public for verbal comments, will be held on Thursday, April 21, 2011, at 10:15 AM (CDT) at the Joe Foss Building, 523 East Capitol, Pierre, SD.
For more information go to the SD Department of Environment and Natural Resources website.
If each member of Defenders of the Black Hills sent in an email to Fred Steece and Jason Haug, the Board of Minerals would know how many people are concerned for this National Historic Landmark and sacred site. As a National Historic Landmark, comments from all over the nation would have to be considered.
Let’s see if we can flood DENR, Fred Steece, and Jason Haug with our comments.
Heads up all future Serfs in America! Though if you are employed by Wal-Mart and its ilk, you already know something about being 21st century Serfs to your Corporate Feudal Lords:
According to nbc15.com the Wisconsin Assembly has passed the much protested REPUBLICAN ”Budget Repair Bill” under very questionable circumstances. REPUBLICAN Speaker Pro Tem Bill Kramer grabbed the spotlight when he denied the 15 remaining Democrats a chance to speak, opened the roll for all of 17 seconds for a vote and then quickly exited with a HEAVY Police escort. Is there no end to Koch bank-rolled Republican arrogance? Seems not! Republicans have clearly demonstrated that they are prepared to do the Koch bidding at any cost. Or did REPUBLICAN Bill Kramer just want some media attention all on him for a change? After all, why should Dictator Scott Walker get all the juicy television spots he so obviously relishes for displaying his uncompromising heavy-handed mentality while the rest of his merry band lurks in his shadows? Out front and center now stands Kramer.
Will protestor HEAT melt the snow in Wisconsin?
Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman will be broadcasting from Madison today. You can watch online at www.democracynow.org .
And you can garner updates straight from nbc15.com regarding the Koch owned Republican party in Wisconsin online at
So much for the political “process” in America. First corporations become “persons” for political money funding purposes –and now we are harvesting the fruits of the right-wing corporate world and Supreme Court’s labors.
Is this the beginning or the end of a rumble in America?
While recently hanging out at Ryeder’s blogcasa I took note of his very informative post about why Wal-Mart sucks-again. If you just can’t contain your curiosity as to what’s eating his skin go read his lovely lively list asap–>
And please do take your own dungballs for flinging at Wally World for disposal in Ryeder’s compositional compost pile. Please don’t be shy–go share your “Wal-Mart sucks” data at will. It might distract the gent from his “missing” cigars. Full explanation regarding said cigars is available via his rambling weblog.
While I was video shopping at YouTube I came across this delightful gem posted below. And I learned about Wal-Mart’s “dead peasants.” Do other companies take out “dead peasant” policies on their employees? I don’t know. Do you? If so, do tell. Where have I been? Oh–definitely NOT in any Wally World since I went on a search and discovery mission to see and hear their Homeland Security alliance for myself. I purchased nothing. I simply loitered and spied. PS–It smelled strange in Liberty’s Wally World that day.
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Everything posted here is my work, copyrighted, unless otherwise noted. Comments aside. Om
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