The justification for Public Law 93-531 passed by Congress in 1974 was that the Navajo-Hopi land dispute is so serious that 10,000 Navajos near Big Mountain, Arizona, must be relocated, forcibly if necessary. It would be the largest forced relocation of U.S. citizens since the relocation of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
But tradition-minded Navajo and Hopi claim there never was a land dispute. They say the dispute was invented to get the Navajos and their livestock off mineral-rich land in the Hopi reservation so it could be developed by mining companies such as Peabody Coal and Kerr-McGee.
What do you think of when someone says "California"?
Beaches? Sunshine? Hollywood?
How about the largest act of genocide in American history?
"The idea, strange as it may appear, never occurred to them (the Indians) that they were suffering for the great cause of civilization, which, in the natural course of things, must exterminate Indians." - Special Agent J. Ross Browne, Indian Affairs
If you haven't already, take a moment to look at this recent Gallup poll on the Presidential race, and you’ll find a few things that stand out pretty big.
July 28- August 3
Whites- Obama 38%, McCain 51%
Blacks- Obama 86%, McCain 5%
Hispanic- Obama 57%, McCain 30%
Twenty-three soldiers from the Seventh Calvary were later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for the slaughter of defenseless Indians at Wounded Knee.
We are asking that these Medals of DIS Honor awarded to the members of the 7th Calvary of the United States Army for the murder of innocent women children and men on that terrible December morning be rescinded.
I just received an email from a fellow tribal attorney in regards to the ongoing Congressional Black Caucus - Cherokee Nation dispute. Apparently Barney Frank has appointed his conferees to the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act conference committee.
UPDATE 2: Thanks so much goes out to our Rescue Rangers for rescuing this diary! This is only my second entry, and to make it this far is very inspiring! WOOF's to you all!
I am part Native American. Although the blood in me is thin and the ancestry is long, the few drops of Seminole burn in my veins. I feel the warrior in me come alive. I feel that I should don my feathers and my war shirt and sharpen my spear, for the battle to reclaim what is ours rages on.
Many Native Americans live in hideous poverty. Indians on the Pine Ridge Reservation live at the lowest level of poverty found in the United States. Unemployment is as high as 45%. Children run around barefoot, wearing clothes so worn out that their mothers are afraid to wash them because they may fall apart, then the kids would have nothing to wear at all.
I attended the panel called Maze of Injustice: The Failure to Protect Indigenous Women from Sexual Violence in the USA, which had 2 panelists from women's shelter, Pretty Bird Woman House, Georgia Little Shield and Tinnekkia Williams, as well as Amanda E. Flott, from Amnesty International. (Report)
[Update I updated the clip with the correct names this time! So it has a new link. The old one will be left up for a bit until people can update.] Here are a few clips I took:
Native Americans in Arizona won the right to vote 60 years ago today.
Before the state Supreme Court decision, all Indians were considered "minors" under Arizona law, regardless of age.
A returning Pima World War II veteran filed a WTF action, and won in 1948.
ApachesVote.org and White Mountain Democrats will be in Whiteriver today on the White Mountain Apache Reservation to commemorate the day. Voter registration forms will be available along with free Cokes.
Native Americans are key to winning the AZ-01 seat.
Contemplating the upcoming trip to Austin has me thinking about the Native Americans and how I have always drawn such inspiration from them. They make frequent appearances in my art both for their beauty and for their symbolic power. They mean many things to me but to boil it down I would say they represent the natural human, living in harmony with the environment, and, more regrettably, man’s inhumanity to man.
In a NYT article yesterday the drift was that most progressives support
him, and assume that he went back on his original promises only
because he needs to get elected first, and he will fight for progressive
causes once he is elected. It just seems to me that they are looking at
their own reflection, instead of who is really behind the window.
Last week the Washington Redskins scored a legal victory for themselves and another moral failure for American Judicial system. Patent and Trademark law and the investment of millions of dollars into a racist name and a stereotyped image assured another few years of denigrating headlines, repeated televised use of an outdated slur, and the continued monolithic pace of American jurisprudence.
Howard Shanker, Democratic candidate in AZ-01, would be a perfect addition to "Orange to Blue." Please see his answers below to the Orange to Blue Survey questions.
This will be a Democratic district in the next Congress. Duncan Hunter protege Sydney Hay is too far right for the district which includes the university city of Flagstaff and large populations of Native Americans. (Open seat, incumbent Rick Renzi goes on trial in October for looting the trust funds of his own insurance agency among other frauds.)
So, the only question is whether we get Howard, a good progressive Democrat, or the DCCC's anointed DINO.
This morning I joined the walk for the last few blocks on the way to the White House and the circle that gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue. I thought I would share a few photos of the event:
Remember Pretty Bird Woman House(PBWH)? The Lakota Sioux women’s shelter the progressive netroots raised $87,000 to buy them a new house when their old one was destroyed by arson? Many of you expressed an admiration for PBWH Director, Georgia LittleShield – a woman who had managed PBWH through threats of closure due to lack of funds, burglary, threats of violence and even arson. She faces down rapists in court, convinces hostile police to enforce domestic violence laws, literally enters homes to rescue battered women.
Georgia LittleShield is coming to Netroots Nation to tell you about life is like for women and children on an Indian reservation in one of the poorest parts of the country. She’s here to tell you how you – the netroots – can help change things. And Georgia isn’t coming alone. She’s bringing her posse.
This was a spiritual walk of protest—a call to action to oppose Legislation in Congress that would strip the indigenous peoples of America of their rights, land and Tribal Sovereignty. The Walk was led by Native Americans, but representatives of all races and many Nations joined in solidarity to fight this attack on justice, dignity and human rights.
In 1978 I had no idea that joining the Longest Walk would change the arc of my life, but it did.
Tonight, another group of walkers are on their way to DC and the Longest Walk 2 should reach the White House Friday morning. I plan to be there.
I want to honor the path that the Longest Walk set me on. I want to honor all of those who have chosen to set themselves on a path of change, a path of action and the fight for justice as we work to take this Country back.
The White Mountain Apache Reservation is half the size of Connecticut with 10 registered Democrats for every one Republican. A key to winning AZ-01 is to increase the voter registration and turnout of Native Americans on the Apache Reservation and other reservations in the sprawling district.
ApachesVote.org has been formed to help fulfill this important mission. Our step-by-step plan is here. To contribute, please follow this link.. If you only have a moment to post a comment, it would really help to seed our blogs.
We would appreciate feedback from the DailyKos community on our plan, on how to reach fund-raising sources and how to coordinate with other voter registration groups.
"We continue to believe that someone important someplace cares and will do something before our situation becomes impossible." Fools Crow from "Fools Crow," by Thomas E. Mails. p. 217
