Censored in Indian country: Ecocide and destruction of Peaks

 

Posted 11 August 2011, by Brenda Norrell, The Narcosphere, narcosphere.narconews.com

 

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The week of action to halt the desecration of sacred San Francisco Peaks by the Snowbowl ski resort in Flagstaff, and the exposure of environmental ecocide in Indian country, as revealed at the Protecting Mother Earth Gathering in North Dakota, are now the top censored issues in Indian country media.

With 17 arrests of Native Americans and supporters since Friday, the Protect the Peaks movement in Flagstaff, Arizona, is more resolute than ever. In North Dakota, the Protecting Mother Earth Gathering of the Indigenous Environmental Network brought Indigenous Peoples from the US, Canada, Mexico and Guatemala, together in the movement to halt environmental racism and destruction. The Maya Keeper of the Calendar spoke on ceremonies in preparation for 2012, while Indigenous Peoples discussed what the future holds if humanity does not halt mass consumerism, mining, reliance on fossil fuels, and other devastating industries.

The oil and gas drilling industry continues its raid on Indian country, while coal-fired power plants continue to poison the air, land and water. Coal-fired power plants are a primary causes of the melting of the Arctic, as Native villages crash into the ocean and polar bears and other wildlife dies from the loss of habitat. Meanwhile, the Obama administration proceeds with oil and gas drilling in the Arctic.

With the growing movements for action, those opposing the dirty tar sands in Alberta are organizing civil disobedience in Washington DC. The action is to send a message to President Obama about the proposed XL Pipeline to carry dirty oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast.

While newspapers collapse, the media fails in its final breaths to carry out its ethical duty to report the facts in a timely manner. Here are the top stories censored in Indian country during August 2011. The list includes the original breaking news story from Destini Vaile, Blackfeet, on the Cut Bank oil spill and its destruction, which the mainstream media is now attempting to cover up by putting a positive spin on cleanup:

Police attack and arrest Protect the Peaks marchers:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/08/flagstaff-police-attack-and-arrest-save.html

Oil spill into the Cut Bank River, Blackfeet Nation Montana
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/07/oil-spill-into-cutback-river-blackfeet.html

Photos Peaks supporters blockade Snowbowl Road to protect sacred mountain
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/08/photos-peaks-supporters-blockade.html

Chief Arvol Looking Horse speaks at Protecting Mother Earth Gathering
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/07/chief-looking-horse-speaks-at.html

Snowbowl protesters lockdown for a second time
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/08/snowbowl-protesters-lockdown-for-second.html

San Francisco Peaks defenders continue actions after arrests
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/08/san-francisco-peaks-defenders-continue.html

Censored News Series: 16th Annual Protecting Mother Earth Gathering

Chief Arvol Looking Horse speaks at Protecting Mother Earth Gathering
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/07/chief-looking-horse-speaks-at.html

Natives in Alaska and Louisiana devastated by nation’s largest oil spills
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/08/natives-in-alaska-and-louisiana.html

Greenwashing: orporations target Indian country with scams
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/08/greenwashing-corporations-target-indian.html

Indigenous Peoples: Civil disobedience to halt dirty tar sands pipeline in US
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/08/indigenous-peoples-civil-disobedience.html

Mayan in Guatemala: Seeds, ceremonies and the Year 2012
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/07/maya-in-guatemala-seeds-ceremonies-and.html

Also on Censored News Blogtalk Radio:

Listen to Chief Arvol Looking Horse; Wixirika fighting silver mining; Anishinabe Water Walker Josephine Mandamin and the Media Workshop, with Clayton Thomas Muller, Cree, and Nikke Alex, Navajo:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/brenda-norrell

About Brenda Norrell

Biography:

Brenda Norrell has been a news reporter in Indian country for 29 years. She is publisher of Censored News, focusing on Indigenous Peoples, human rights and the US border. Now censored by the mainstream media, she previously was a staff reporter at numerous American Indian newspapers and a stringer for AP, USA Today and others. She lived on the Navajo Nation for 18 years, and then traveled with the Zapatistas. She covered the climate summits in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and Cancun, Mexico, in 2010.

Personal Website: http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

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