Photos of Radical Feminist/Conservative Indigenist Winona LaDuke with Apache Activists, Protesting the Destruction of a Sacred Mountain

Winona LaDuke's religious philosophy and political practice is a key part of this blog. I'm happy to bring you these images, but not happy for the circumstances: on-going genocide of the Apache. Winona is Anishinaabekwe (Ojibwe).

From Censored News, *here*, with thanks to Brenda. 

 

Photos Winona LaDuke with Apaches: No to telescopes on Mount Graham

San Carlos Apaches met with Winona LaDuke at Northern Arizona University to protest NAU's involvement in the telescope project on Mount Graham, which has led to destruction on the sacred mountain. Photos copyright Rick Johnson, published with permission.


Also see: 'Public records request: Did NAU dupe Indian donors?' by Center for Biological Diversity'
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/02/mount-graham-public-records-request-did.html


'Protesters NAU get off Mount Graham' by Klee Benally and MT Garcia
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/02/protesters-nau-get-off-mount-graham.htmlml

Much of the Arctic Belongs to the Inuit People, not to White People

photograph of young Inuit women and children is from here

Everything that follows is from Censored News, *here*. Thank you, Brenda. <3

Wikileaks: The Arctic belongs to the Inuit
Inuit brought their own message to
'The Race for the Arctic'
By Brenda Norrell
Censored Newshttp://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com 

Map below: Inuit dialects . 

While diplomats debated who owns the Arctic and what to do about melting ice, climate change, shipping and the impending spread of oil and gas development, Inuit brought their own message to the Arctic Ocean Conference in 2008. 

"Much of the Arctic belongs to the Inuit," Aqqaluk Lynge, vice president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) and now chair of the ICC, told the diplomats from five countries in 2008. 

Wikileaks now provides a new look at the closed door discussions at the inaugural Arctic Ocean Conference, held in Ilulissat, Greenland May 27 — May 29, 2008. At the conference, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States, discussed environmental regulation, maritime security, mineral exploration, polar oil oversight, and transportation. 

The Ilulissat Declaration was the result. 

The Wikileaks cable provides the United States' perspective on the closed door talks. The cable includes Inuit statements on sovereignty and the necessity for Inuit consultation in decision making. The cable also includes Russia's statement on Russia's priority to Indigenous Peoples in policy making. 

The cable was written by US Ambassador James Cain in Copenhagen. 

(Full names are added in parenthesis by Censored News.)   

The Cable:

US Ambassador Cain states, "(Inuit Aqqaluk) Lynge emphasized colonial errors of the past (including relocation of indigenous people from a community near Thule AFB) and asserted that 'all Inuit own the Arctic.' 

"Asked by (Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig) Moeller whether he was afraid of new opportunities in the Arctic, Lynge replied 'we are not afraid of anything when we are included in the response.' He cited increased cooperation with U.S. researchers as positive and concluded that 'we need your assistance and you need our (traditional) knowledge,'" the cable states. 

"Canadian minister (of natural resources Gary) Lunn lauded Inuit cultural respect for the environment and said that while continental shelf territorial claims could only be handled by sovereign states, local and indigenous residents of the Arctic should be involved in decision-making. 

"(Russian Foreign Minister Sergei) Lavrov asked Lynge whether existing Arctic institutions needed to be modified. Lynge urged greater indigenous participation in all Arctic institutions," the cable states. 

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov led the Russian delegation. 

Lavrov is quoted in the US cable. "On indigenous participation, Lavrov claimed Russia listened 'attentively' to concerns of indigenous residents of the Russian Arctic, saying that protection of indigenous rights is 'integral' to Russian Arctic policy." 

The cable says the conference was a Danish initiative, in response to the "Race for the Arctic." 

Inuit on Sovereignty 

Later, in November of 2008, Lynge, president of the Greenland chapter of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) in 2008, stressed the importance of including Inuit in any negotiations among governments regarding sovereignty of the Arctic Ocean, according to an ICC press statement. 

Lynge, said that the new question of who owns the Arctic is an old one for Inuit. “We debated this with our former colonizers and polar explorers who drew the maps and named places," Lynge said. 

"The debate is reignited because of the anticipated acceleration of resource development in the Arctic as a result of the global warming." 

The issue of geographic names and sovereignty was mentioned as an issue for Lynge when he told the ministers that place names now known as Hans Island (Tartupaluk) and Ellesmere Island (Umimmaat Nunaat) continue to have Inuit names and, in fact in the past the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, explorers, and others could not travel in the Arctic without the assistance of Inuit. 

“The debate became most intense over the past few decades when we negotiated various self government arrangements” with the respective countries now claiming the Arctic. Lynge called upon the foreign ministers to respect the land claims and self-government arrangements they have negotiated with Inuit.  

ICC announced that a pan-Inuit meeting would be held in Kuujjuaq, Canada in November, 2008, in which Inuit leaders would determine how they should collectively respond to the increasing debate about who owns the Arctic, whose ships will be allowed to traverse and benefit from it, and how to collectively protect its environment from potential disaster.

ICC is the organization that represents the 160,000 Inuit living in Russia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland on matters of international concern. 

After the Arctic Ocean Conference, in November of 2008, Inuit leaders from Greenland, Alaska, and Canada met in Kuujjuaq and developed an "Inuit Declaration on Sovereignty in the Arctic." 

Inuit: Sovereignty and Climate Change 

There was a two-day Inuit Leader’s Summit on Arctic Sovereignty in Kuujjuaq. Patricia Cochran, Chair of Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) said, "Sovereignty is a complex issue. It has a variety of overlapping elements, anchored in international law. But fundamentally it begins with the history and reality of Inuit use and occupation of Arctic lands and waters; that use and occupation is at the heart of any informed discussion of sovereignty in the Arctic. Arctic nation states must respect the rights and roles of Inuit in all international discussions and commitments dealing with the Arctic," according to ICC's Nov. 10th press statement from this gathering. 

"Climate change has moved Arctic sovereignty to the front of the international agenda. We have all seen the escalating speculation about how drastic reduction of ice coverage will open the Arctic waterways to increased shipping traffic and expedited oil and gas development. 

"Leaders agreed that the pursuit of resources through an agenda of Arctic sovereignty must involve coordinated strategies to ensure the Arctic has viable and healthy communities, sound civil administration, and responsible environmental management, not just ports, training facilities, and military exercises. 

“One clear message from the convening of our meeting is that for all sorts of reasons - law, politics, and the very practical reason that the world stands to learn the most about the Arctic from the people who know the Arctic best - Inuit have an essential role in international discussions about arctic waters, marine transportation plans, environmental initiatives and mechanisms, and the future of international Arctic institutions and relations generally,” added Ms. Cochran. 

US Conclusion: Hyperbole 'Race for the Arctic' is over 

Meanwhile, Cain's diplomatic cable ends with the usual hyperbole, in a reference to the press conference, and claims the 'Race to the Arctic' was over. 

The cable states, "Asked if the 'race for the Arctic' had ended in Ilulissat, (Denmark's Foreign Minister) Moeller gave an emphatic 'Yes,' and (Canadian) minister Lunn called out 'it never started!,' concluding the exchange with the press." 

In his final comments, US Ambassador Cain admits that the conclusion of the conference was never in doubt, since the final agreement was made in advance. He also adds a comment about Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. 

"Conference outcomes were never in doubt, with the Ilulissat Declaration negotiated beforehand between all participants. FM Lavrov seemed keen to downplay Russian flag-planting and earn Russia credit for its search and rescue proposal." 

References: ICC press statement Nov. 29, 2008
http://inuitcircumpolar.com/files/uploads/icc-files/PR-2008-11-29-IlulissatMediaRelease29May.pdf 

ICC press statement Nov. 10, 2008
http://inuitcircumpolar.com/files/uploads/icc-files/PR-2008-11-10-KuujjuaqSovereigntyWorkshop.pdf 

WIKILEAKS Cable:
http://91.214.23.156/cablegate/wire.php?id=08COPENHAGEN332&search 

Posted by brendanorrell@gmail.com at 10:14 AM 

Radical Feminist Yanar Mohammed's Congratulatory Statement to the People of Egypt (in English)

image, including photograph of Yanar Mohammed, is from here

What follows was found by me *here*.

  ترجم الموضوع الى العربية

Our Earnest Congratulations to The Free People of Egypt

Yanar Mohammed

2011 / 2 / 13

For the first time, we write in joy and celebration of revolutionary victories, after decades of anguish and denunciation of tyrants, mass destruction, and wars that were imposed on us and the people of the region.

After three to four decades of oppression under state terrorism, overseas military hegemonic attacks, and internal religious wars, where people s sufferings were the fuel on which these tyrannies thrived; we finally witness a precedent of overwhelming victory. You have imposed the people s will to defeat and oust a tyrant and regime which had mastered the suppression of the masses, and the confiscation of their freedoms and resources.

Our earnest congratulations go to you, who have victoriously defeated the despots without a bullet shot, no explosions, physical violations, or conspiracies, where your sole weapon was the determination to defeat and change the system. You succeeded in mobilizing ten million angry protestors into a gigantic peaceful demonstration which roared fear so loud into the hearts of the despots in Egypt, the Arab world, and all international bands which support them against the people. Lastly, you proved that the people s will power can defeat the awe and oppression which was built with billions of dollars of foreign aid.

How can the US government justify to the American people that they took their money for 30 years in order to support the Egyptian despot against his people. Those who claim to be heroes of American democracy seem to have no shame in revealing the reality of being long-time supporters of dictators around the world. They make it clear that a capitalist and imperialist rule has no shame or claim of democracy, but only follows the rule of the jungle, applying it locally and internationally, whenever and wherever possible, with their own hands or at the hands of their affiliate dictators. Hopefully, the glorious Egyptian revolution encourages the American people to follow in the same footsteps to rebel against their rulers, oust them and their inhumane regimes which have caused mass-killings around the world … or is too much to expect within a so-called western democracy which has bluffed the world into the myth that the time of revolutions was over.

To the youth, women, and working class heroes of the Egyptian Revolution, we sincerely wish that your demands be realized, whether of a civil non-military government, the total repeal of emergency law, and the change of the system. You have an historic opportunity on your hands of building a totally new political system which will not allow riches for the rulers and hunger for the people, and may secure an equal share for all in the resources of the society, if you further it into a socialist egalitarian system that nurtures all into better lives, which we wish for ourselves in Iraq and for the whole world. Furthermore, and as your revolution is still young, we still worry that the exploiters might find their way to maintain the corrupt system, while exaggerating the importance of a mere change of names and faces.

Whilst the whole world rejoices at the tyrant s stepping down, it was clear that his last cruel and idiotic speech put the last straw on decades of humiliation. With expressions which fueled the extreme anger of rebelling millions, the youth did not delay their response with a most eloquent position of thousands of shoes pointed at him and all the dictators of the region who dare to exploit, suppress and humiliate the masses.

From the revolutionary heroes in Egypt, we learn lessons of unprecedented mobilization of the whole population into a struggle for freedom. We anticipate hearing your great news about taking matters into your own hands, constituting your own revolutionary councils to lead a new era of freedom and equality, without leaving it in the hands of the military, indifferent technocrats, or self-claimed democrats.

Long live the February 11 Revolution

Long live the free people of Egypt

Yanar Mohammed
President of Organization of Women s Freedom in Iraq
February 12, 2011

Preview of The Edge of Each Others Battles: The Vision of Audre Lorde, and the Trailer to A Litany For Survival: the Life and Work of Audre Lorde

Yeah, I can't wait. I have seen and enjoyed this documentary about Audre's life and work. But I'm eager for the next. Here's the trailer to the first: