Support
for Black Mesa is Needed!
From Black
Mesa Indigenous Support (BMIS)
Greetings
to all!
Today we who work for social change face many issues. The
so-called 'war on terrorism' in its racism, greed, and imperialism,
impacts many people in ways reminiscent of how Native peoples and lands
have been treated for the past 500 years. The war profiteers are the
same corporations that have been benefiting from the exploitation of
indigenous peoples. While many people have been protesting the Bechtel
corporation's 680 million dollar contract to 'rebuild' Iraq, fewer
people know about their involvement with Peabody Coal and the extraction
of coal on the ancestral lands of Black Mesa.* In light of these
sobering global developments, let's not forget this connection and the
need for work supporting indigenous resistance and healing here at home.
Several
events are being planned this spring here on Black Mesa that need
support. Indigenous Peoples Project (IPP) is planning to visit the
Navajo Reservation to provide a special clinic, cooking classes, and
home visits in the region of Big Mountain June 10th and 11th. Funding
and volunteers are still needed for this to be possible. A number of
potential volunteers (including healing practitioners) have expressed
interest in joining IPP already. With funding IPP will be able to make
it out there; without funding, they can coordinate volunteers and
donations from their home in Oregon. IPP's desire is to be out there
June 10 and 11th for the Big Mountain clinic and kitchen, and then to
Wheatfield's for a construction/stucco work party on their papercrete
clinic building June 12-16th. For further information about IPP, their
projects, and how you can plug in, see below.
Clandyken
will be playing a benefit concert for the residents of the Big Mountain
vicinity in Nevada City on May 30. Funds will be for corn and vegetable
planting or be put into water systems, as it is really drying up out
there. www.clandyken.com
THERE
ARE A NUMBER OF WAYS YOU CAN OFFER SUPPORT to the People of Black Mesa
who are struggling to save their land, water, way of life, and resisting
forced relocation:
-
Stay
with a family on Black Mesa. BMIS has a list of families requesting
support to come to Black Mesa for a few days to help on a specific
project or for a month or longer to herd and shear sheep, haul water,
and to help with spring planting and daily chores. BMIS requires
supporters to read the cultural sensitivity / supporter packet found
on-line at http://www.blackmesais.org/cultural_sen.html.
-
If
you have access to a computer, please share articles regarding Black
Mesa and coal, water, and uranium the with BMIS so that it can get
archived on the website. Very telling articles can be found in Tutuveni,
Indian Country Today, Navajo Times, and various other publications.
-
Join
or support the Annual Black Mesa Thanksgiving Food and Supply Run. Plan
ahead. www.clandyken.com
-
Residents
and on-land supporters coordinating with BMIS are in process of
collecting statements from Elders and are in need of donations for gas
money.
-
Contact
your elected and appointed public officials and urge them to repeal
PL-93-531 (contact information provided on www.blackmesais.org)
-
Write
letters to the editors of your local newspapers on the various issues of
Black Mesa.
-
Organize
prayer vigils in support of the traditional Dine' and Hopi People.
-
Reduce
dependence on fossil fuels. Work in your community to promote
alternatives to fossil fuels.
-
Fundraise
to bring human rights delegations to Black Mesa from all over the world
so that they can write resolutions in their parliaments that no
corporations from their countries exploit Black Mesa. (See the United
Nations and European Union contacts.)
-
Learn
about and support the grassroots people at Black Mesa.
The
Indigenous Peoples Project is a non-profit organization that organizizes
holistic health clinics featuring natural foods cooking classes, and the
services of qualified health practitioners who volunteer their services
in an effort to support indigenous people in their birthright to enjoy
vibrant health on their ancestral homelands. Since the winter of
1996-97, the IPP has been a channel for natural products, services,
education, organic food and gardens for Native American people who are
taking responsibility for their health. Over the years the IPP has made
1-3 trips to the Navajo Reservation each year, bringing with them
thousands of pounds of organic food, quality health supplements, garden
seeds, as well as volunteers who work in the clinic, kitchen and
gardens. In May 2001 the IPP began the construction of a clinic made of
the amazing alternative building material known as Papercrete. They are
in the final stages of completion of the clinic construction.
June
12-16 they are calling a four-day work party to complete the
construction of their free health clinic in Wheatfields, AZ for the
Navajo Nation. This clinic will be used to house the health services and
educational programs of the IPP, and other like-minded individuals and
organizations that offer their services. It will be used year around by
traditional medicine men and women whose services are sought out by the
people. It will also be utilized during and around the feasts and
ceremonies that take place at that location. The building will be a
blessing to all who come from near and far, for healing, support, and
education. People from all parts of the reservation will come and enjoy
the help of the many health practitioners who have joined in this
service. Items for the clinic and interested practitioners are
encouraged to contact IPP for more information about how to contribute
to this ongoing project. July 6-13 they will be returning to the
reservation to staff the clinic and an organic kitchen for a sundance
ceremony. Volunteer health practitioners for the clinic and volunteers
in the kitchen are needed for these projects. For ways to offer support
with these projects contact IPP for their wish list and newsletter.
Their EIN. (tax exempt) is available to you upon request.
Karen
and Antonio Ferreira Indigenous Peoples Project Directors World
Institute of Holistic Therapies 116 116 High Street, Ashland OR ipp@gaiasophia.com
541-482-9266
"We
must not let artificial concepts of reservation boundaries and the
rhetoric of corporate and governmental terrorism sway from us our
inherent stewardship of our Awidelin Tsitda, Mother Earth." (quote
found from the Shiwi Messenger by Cal Seciwa, Zuni Tribal Member.)
*
http://www.blackmesais.org/bigmtbackground.html
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Black
Mesa Indigenous Support (BMIS) is a group of individuals acting to
support the sovereignty of the indigenous people affected by mining
activities on Black Mesa, who face forced relocation, environmental
devastation, and cultural extinction at the hands of multi-national
corporations, and United States and tribal governments. http://www.blackmesais.org
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