Sacred Land

Native Human Rights Defenders Honored in San Francisco

johnacuna — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:43:01 +0100

SAN FRANCISCO — The International Indian Treaty Council honored Carrie Dann, Western Shoshone, and Manny Pino, Acoma Pueblo, with Human Rights Defenders Awards Saturday, March 7, in San Francisco.
“We have the original rights, not aboriginal rights, because we were the first here,” Dann said at San Francisco State University.

UN: Protection of San Francisco Peaks

whit — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 11:36:55 +0100

Navajo President Ben Shelly spoke today, Sept. 21, in Geneva at the UN Human Rights Council, urging a halt to the use of wastewater on sacred San Francisco Peaks by the Arizona Snowbowl in Flagstaff, Arizona.

President Shelly said the Navajo Nation had forwarded its opposition to Special Rapporteur James Anaya who provided a detailed written report to UN Human Rights Council on the assaults on San Francisco Peaks.

UN: Protection of San Francisco Peaks

whit — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 11:36:55 +0100

‘It is clear the United States’ laws do not protect the human rights of Navajos’

whit — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:35:05 +0000

St Michaels, Ariz.— The Internationally community is now coming together to help save Dook’o’osliid (San Francisco Peaks) the Executive Director of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission (NNHRC) Leonard Gorman blast the U.S. for not doing enough to illuminate the issue. “the Navajo Nation has exhausted its grievance process in the United States to protect Navajo human rights. It is clear the United States’ laws do not protect the human rights of Navajos.” said Gorman.

In 2011, Navajo officials said they wrote to the U.N.

Indian Tribe Stands Firm as Vedanta Mine Appeal Adjourned

whit — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:32:04 +0100

LONDON – One of the world’s most controversial mines is back in the spotlight after hundreds protested against renewed efforts to mine India’s Niyamgiri Hills.

Dongria Kondh and Niyamgiri supporters held their own ‘public hearing’ in Orissa state, where they restated their resolve not to allow mining on their sacred mountain.

The meeting coincided with a Supreme Court appeal in Delhi, which sought to overturn a 2010 ruling preventing UK mining company Vedanta from building an open-pit bauxite mine in the Niyamgiri Hills.

However, the appeal was adjourned on Monday and India’

Victory! The struggle to protect Koongarra uranium is finally over

whit — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 10:46:03 +0100

There was a major victory this week in the struggle to protect the Koongarra uranium deposit in Australia’s Northern Territory.

The Northern Land Council, which represents native title claimants in the Arnhem Land region of Northern Territory, announced its decision to extend the boundaries of the world-heritage-listed Kakadu National Park to include the 1,200 hectare uranium deposit.

When the National Park was founded in 1979, the Australian government decided to leave Koongarra out, clearly recognizing the potential market value of the deposit.

The Lizard's revenge on BHP Billiton

whit — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 17:03:28 +0100

BHP Billiton’s gigantic Olympic dam mine has long been the focus of protest. We have long covered the legal actions of local Arabunna elder ‘Uncle’ Kevin Buzzacott to stop the expansion of the mine, which aims to make it the biggest uranium mine in the world. (See: Aboriginal elder loses bid to overturn expansion of BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam – http://www.minesandcommunities.org//article.php?a=11658)

Kevin Buzzacot tells the story of an old lizard known as Kalta, who sleeps under the ground.

Archeologists uncovered treasures at Rio Tinto coal mine

whit — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 08:28:06 +0100

Archeologists have found some of the oldest aboriginal artifacts at Rio Tinto’s Warkworth coal mine in Australia’s Hunter Valley, reports the Newcastle Herald.

After a decade of work in the area, scientists have uncovered a range of evidence to show human tool making dating back at least 10,000 to 15,000 years ago.

The discovery at Rio Tinto’s mine, a number of “chipped stone tools,” took place at what the researches call “the Warkworth sand sheets.”

The instruments, around 15,000 years old, are not extremely ancient by Australian standards – several mainland and Tasmanian s

What’s ahead for Mt. Taylor?

whit — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 14:55:32 +0100

The deep blue sweep of 11,301-foot Mt. Taylor looming west of Albuquerque is the origin of the only permanent water source in west-central New Mexico.

Australian uranium discovery threatens ancient indigenous cave art

whit — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:23:44 +0000

A significant deposit has been found in a remote Australian mountain range near some of the oldest rock art on the planet

One of the world’s biggest uranium producers has found a significant deposit in a remote tropical Australian mountain range near sandstone galleries holding some of the oldest and most spectacular rock art on the planet.

After years of drilling, Canadian-based mining company Cameco has reported the find in the Wellington Range, where the thousands of Aboriginal artworks adorning cliffs and caves include a painting of the extinct dog-like creature, the thylacine, mad