[diggers350] Re: Prayer vigil in support of the Dine'h (Navajo) of Arizona

Sun Oct 10 00:14:31 BST 1999

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim <mongoose at gn.apc.org>
To: Austin Docking <austinoj at clara.net> <hfia at hemp.co.uk>; Weed
<weed at venus.co.uk>; pressmennan <bunny at exl.co.uk>; Paul Mobbs
<mobbsey at gn.apc.org>; M74 <donald.matheson at strath.ac.uk>; King Arthur
Pendragon <kingarthur at dragons4.demon.co.uk>; Joe Public
<abrac3 at hotmail.com>; hengist Mcstone druid
<mcstone.ancientmod. at breathemail.net>; gregory <greg at xaos.demon.co.uk>; Fish
Eye <fisheye at barrysworld.co.uk>; Diggerslist <diggers350 at egroups.com>; DEE
<kebele at marsbard.com>
Date: Thursday, September 23, 1999 6:40 AM
Subject: [diggers350] Prayer vigil in support of the Dine'h (Navajo) of
Arizona


>Hi, please forward this on to anyone who you think needs to know this.
>
>
>WANTED DEAD: 16,000 NAVAJO NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS!
>
>Announcement of a 7 hour prayer vigil at the US Embassy, Grovesner Square,
>London, on October the 2nd 1999, in conjunction with at least 6 other
>vigils happening around the world, and the Navajos own sacred ceromonies
>in Arizona.
>
>The U.S. Government is currently carrying out a policy of complete genocide
>in North eastern Arizona - against the people of the peaceful Navajo Indian
>Nation in the name of big business. Billions of dollars worth of coal have
>been discovered under their land, so they are being forced to vacate their
>sacred areas, and watch as their burial grounds are bulldozed in front of
>their very eyes.
>
>The "land" they are being forced to move into is downstream from the site
>of Americas WORST nuclear waste spillage accident - which happened in
>1979. The radiation in that area has been measured to be SECOND to that of
>the "Chernobyl" disaster in Russia. In just the first six months after
>having arrived in the "new lands", - 4,000 of the Navajo people were dead.
>That was back in 1980,.. the remaining population have since been ravaged
>by diseases, the most horrendous birth defects in their children being born
>there, extreme heart-break from being separated from the sacred lands that
>are so close to their culture, and an early death.
>
>About 4,000 still remain to be illegally evicted from their lands. Despite
>breaking international human rights laws, governing both freedom of
>religion, and their right to practice and continue their traditional rural
>ways, - new laws have been "invented" to legalise the actions being
>performed against the Navajo (Dine'h) people.
>
>The people that remain are mostly elders, - their ages ranging from 60 to
>92, they are traditional in their ways,.. rearing sheep and grazing their
>cattle, and have lived off the land in these parts for hundreds, if not
>thousands of years. Their attachment to the land is a major part of their
>cultural identity, ..they do not know how to survive and live in cities and
>towns according to the demands of modern society, many of them cannot speak
>English. Now they are being forced to move by laws they neither understand
>nor are explained to them,.. they live daily under threats and abuse from
>the authorities around them.
>
>The US government is permitting all this to happen, using "puppet"
>organisations like the Hopi Tribal Council - in order to disguise their
>actions as "another Indian range war", - when the fact is, is that the Hopi
>Nation too are suffering as those who have been living alongside the Dine'h
>since time indefinite, - as they have modern industrialisation forced upon
>them and their ancient ways, and into their villages and towns, by Peabody
>Coal Company.
>
>The Hopi are shocked at the conditions they see their neighbours being
>forced to live under,
>* Their animals are taken away, and being deliberately starved.
>* They have been refused to make any repairs on their houses - so much as
>even mending a broken window,.. - the threat of Jail hangs over them if
>they do.
>* They have been forbidden to gather and collect firewood - despite the
>fact that it gets down to minus 30 degrees in the wintertime.
>* Their houses are regularly raided and searched, and any firewood found -
>is then confiscated.
>* In a desert environment, - their water supply is cut off,.. the pipes are
>dug up, sealed off, and removed.
>There are many other abuses taking place here, including the  investment
>made by the Hopi Tribal Council - in training as well as arming a SWAT
>assault group to threaten and intimidate these
>elderly residents even further into forcing them to move!
>
>These actions are illegal, as the relocation act governing them was passed
>without a hearing held, besides the numerous human rights'  abuses, and
>have been funded by over 350 million TAXPAYER dollars, without the
>knowledge and consent of the US public.
>Now the promise has been made - that this issue will come to it's
>"conclusion" - by February 1, 2000.
>
>Please help us stop these actions - by joining with us in protest outside
>the US Embassy on October 2nd, at 12 midday, and running on from there -
>throughout the day.
>
>This is a peaceful demonstration, and is part of a world-wide concentrated
>effort happening outside embassies in SWEDEN, JAPAN, the NETHERLANDS, here
>in England, - as well as other nations, and right across the United States
>including NEW YORK, WASHINGTON D.C., and LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.
>
>These simultaneous, world-wide demonstrations are not only to protest the
>human rights violations and ethnic cleansing being conducted by the United
>States government against the Dine'h in Arizona, but also to protest the
>media blackout and lies being told by the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) to
>the American public and to the world about what is REALLY going on there!
>
>We have only months to go now, - before the February 1, 2000, arrives! For
>more details about the prayer vigil here in London, or for more information
>about the genocide of the Dineh, please contact
>
>JIM BOMFORD -:
> Telephone: 01248 450168. Email: mongoose at gn.apc.org
>
>Or RAY STARK -:
> Telephone: 01703 633806. Email: Eagleseestruth at Hotmail.com
>
> "Let's do it before we don't do it!"
>
>There will be places for people to stop overnight in London, and hopefully,
>there will be food! The elders ask that candles and drums be brought and
>that respect be shown to the authorities.
>
>If you can help the elders financially, please pay money into the following
>account:
>
>Bank of America
>Pacific Palisades Branch
>15314 Sunset Boulevard
>Pacific Palisades, CA  90272, USA.
>
>Account Name:  Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs
>Account Number:  09380 - 32876
>Routing Number:  121000358
>
>Please have the bank officer write on the wire instructions that funds are
>allocated for Sovereign Dineh Nation.
>
>This link is the homepage of the South Eastern Native American Alliance
>(SENAA) contains info about the up and coming vigils around the us and
>worldwide>>>
>
>http://members.xoom.com/senaa/
>
>Another important link>>>
>
>http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/pagea~1.htm
>
>The press contact for Dine'h Soverign Nation (DSN), the grassroots body of
>the Dine'h (Navajo), based in Arizona is:
>Carol S. Halberstadt, 001 617-332-0290;
>email: carol at migrations.com
>
>Carol can provide extensive background and current information, liaison
>contacts with people on the land, a full press kit, including resource list
>of experts for the press to consult with, and so on.
>
>Contact info for the...
>Sovereign Dineh Nation
>P.O. Box 1968
>Kaibeto, AZ 86053
>Email: dinetah29 at aol.com
>Tel: 520-673-3461
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>
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>
>Dear Jim,
I  just was able to give your info on the Dine'h to  a Cayuga friend who
thinks we should confirm that number of 4,000 dead since he never heard of
that.   Would you know how we could do that?
He asks if you can  let your people know that  CNN will have a special on
Leonard Peltier  at 9:00 Eastern Standard Time and then again at midnite
EST. tomorrow (today being October 9). Leonard Peltier is an Ogalala Sioux
who was charged and convicted of the murder of 2 FBI agents during the
troubles at Pine Ridge in the sixties.  He was involved with AIM which was
trying to achieve sovereignty for the Sioux, and defend the Sacred Black
Hills from mining, among other issues.  The story  of his frame up by the US
Government is strange and shocking. Now, 30 years later, they still refuse
to let him go. His supporters have been trying to get him freed for a long
time.  The CNN report should be of interest to those who are concerned with
land rights for native peoples and justice generally.