Indigenous peoples issues

Other Indigenous peoples issues & struggles
Updated 10/15/06

Leonard Pettier

• December Statement of Leonard Peltier
  
  Greetings Friends & Supporters:
  
  Well here we are once again, at the end of my 26th year behind these prison walls. As I reflect back on this past year I am amazed to see all the legal motion that is now happening in my case. After Clinton walked out on us in 2001, I almost felt that I didn't have any avenues of redress left and I wasn't sure if the campaign for my freedom could continue. I wasn't really sure that there would be any more options to pursue. There was the office transition and a lull in activity this past summer. But now, thanks to my great legal team I see that there are still more battles to be fought and if fought hard enough, won. And I hope you are all ready to continue this work because I sure am ready for the next go round.

  I know that the political climate, the impending war and the state of the economy is going to make this work a lot more difficult for all of us. However, we must remember that the people have always had to struggle for every little gain that has been won and it isn't going to be any different this time. We must continue our work to expose the FBI's illegal conduct not only in my case, but also for all the people who are unjustly incarcerated for their political beliefs.

  This past summer I put out a call for Native youth to come out and take on some responsibility for the movement to free me and to make sure Indigenous issues are kept alive. I am happy to report that a number of students from Haskell Indian Nations University took up the challenge. They have formed the Peltier Indigenous Justice Alliance (PIJA). This endeavor by these students makes me feel proud. I hope that others will join them to carry on the work of those who have already worked so tirelessly all their lives for justice. Remember it was a hand-full of students from the Bay Area who helped organize the takeover of Alcatraz, which gave spark to the movement, which led to many of the demonstrations that would bring our issues before the public.

  I also want to tell you how proud and happy to have my daughter Marquetta working in the office coordinating my campaign and being on the speakers' bureau. She has taken on a tremendous responsibility is doing a fine job. Thanks to her this Christmas I will be able to have more of my grandchildren with me. It hasn't been easy watching my children and now my grandchildren grow up through photos. Now I can actually have them with me and be able to spend some time talking and playing with them for a few hours a week. Believe me this is a welcome break from this daily oppressive life I live in here.

  Now that the holidays are once again upon us I would once again ask you to support the Christmas Drive for the children of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. So many children would have gone without a gift, had it not been for your generosity these past years.

  And last but far from least I want to thank each and every one of you for hanging in there with me through the good and the hard times. I am counting on all of you to be with me for this next campaign. No effort can move forward without your continued support. Together we can and will succeed. And in closing I want to wish you and yours safe and happy holidays and a prosperous New Year.

  In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,
  Leonard Peltier
  Annual Christmas Drive 2002
  ****************************************

  Indigenous Political Prisoner, Leonard Peltier, has organized his annual gift drive for the children of the Pine Ridge Lakota Nation in South Dakota. This is one way Leonard continues his humanitarian work for his people despite his incarceration. Help Leonard Peltier reach out beyond the bars that imprison him. You can send gifts such as new toys and practical, new winter clothing (gloves, jeans, thermal underwear, sweaters, socks, hats, scarves, jackets, boots, and blankets, etc.) to the addresses listed below. Your gifts will be distributed to the people of Pine Ridge in Leonard's name.

  Thanks to Peltier's supporters, last years gift drive was very successful. Many families wrote Leonard to both thank him and tell him how the gifts brightened the families' holidays.

  Some supporters collected donations from stores who were willing to help after learning that Pine Ridge continues to be the most impoverished community in the United States. Some organized collections by asking friends and co-workers to sponsor a child by contributing a gift. Others simply purchased gifts out of pocket.

  The gift drives don't only help the families, but also help Leonard keep his
  spirits strong through the difficult holiday season. Gifts may be sent to the persons listed below. They will be responsible for the distribution of these gifts to different areas of the community. Thank You and have a safe holiday!

  Geraldine Janis
  Box 525
  Pine Ridge, SD 57770
  

  Fedelia Cross
  Box 42
  Oglala, SD 57764
  

  Roslyn Jumping Bull
  Box 207
  Oglala, SD 57764
  

  
  Until Freedom Is Won!
  The New Leonard Peltier Justice Campaign
  Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
  PO Box 583
  Lawrence, KS 66044
  785-842-5774
  http://www.freepeltier.org

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U'wa people

U'wa Update The historic victory of the U'wa people and their international network of supporters is still fresh in many of our minds. But as with so many of our struggles it continues. After a 6-month reprieve from oil extraction on their sacred homeland, the U'wa once again face a renewed threat to their lives, land, and culture. In late October, the U'wa reported that machinery had once again begun to arrive to the Gilbralter 1 well site. This is the same site where OXY spent $100 million over ten years to develop an exploratory well which--according to the company--did not yield any financial viable oil reserves. Convinced that oil exists, Ecopetrol, the Colombian state oil company, has moved 40 tractors and heavy drilling equipment to the site, under heavy military protection. Colombian armed forces have lined the local roads every 500 meters between the towns of Saravena and Cubara. It is unclear at this point whether or not OXY is involved in these new efforts to drill deeper at the Gibralter site. According to Colombian legal documents, the company has relinquished its rights to the Gibralter site, but they may still maintain drilling rights to the rest of the Siriri oil block which falls entirely on U'wa traditional land. Unfortunately, the Colombia government has used an effective divide and conquer campaign to buy off the campesino organizations in the region--some of the U'wa's strongest allies. The campesinos joined the U'wa in their opposition to the project and helped maintain the occupation and road blocks that for months throughout 1999 and 2000 prevented Oxy from invading U'wa land. Under massive pressure from Ecopetrol, the Colombian government, and the rampant poverty of NE Colombia, the campesinos have signed an agreement to support oil development in return for much needed public projects. This leaves the U'wa as one of the sole remaining voices of resistance, defending the fragile cloud forest ecosystems against the devastation of oil extraction and militarization. Meanwhile, the situation in Colombia has worsened. The new ultra right government of Alvaro Uribe has been back and forth to Washington lobbying the Bush administration for additional military aid monies. The president has also begun a flagship program of creating a network of civilian informants that will pass information to the security forces about possible insurgent activities. The program is based on a similar one he implemented as a governor that gave rise to the brutal paramilitary armies now responsible for the majority of massacres in the country and still maintains close ties with the military. President Uribe has announced that he will personally oversee efforts to increase oil investment in the country and the expansion of new oil exploration. He has declared several areas within Colombia as "rehabilitation zones"-a permanent state of emergency where arbitrary arrests, wiretaps, restricted movement of civilian populations are common place. The province of OXY's Cano Limon operations and parts of U'wa ancestral territory are included in the new designation. A team of 100 US Special Forces Soldiers are due to arrive in Colombia in January to begin training the notorious 18th brigade to protect OXY's pipeline. As the Bush Administration intensifies the global oil war, indigenous peoples and civil society of Colombia are the latest innocent victims who find themselves on the front lines of the escalating "war on terrorism." It is up to us - activists, organizers, people of conscious and hope - to break through the information blockade and let people know the truth of U.S. policy in Colombia and around the world. The truth is that US involvement in Colombia is driven by the same addictions as US military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and around the world : oil and empire. Guns paid for by US tax dollars kill in Colombia so that U.S. corporations can make record profits clogging American highways with SUVs powered by Colombia oil. Corporate globalization and American militarism are working hand in hand to destroy cultures, devastate ecosystems around the planet and literally undermine the global life support systems. From U'wa land to the aortic wildlife refuge, from Cancer Alley to Love Canal, from Nigeria to Iraq, from the dead rivers of the Ecuadorian Amazon to the ever warming atmosphere above us - oil kills. It's time to stop the madness and break the fossil fuel chain of war and destruction. As we mobilize to stop the war in Iraq, defend our civil liberties, and stop the racist targeting of Arabs and Arab-Americans, let us remember to tell the U'wa story. The U'wa have always been clear that their struggle is not just about one culture or one remote ecosystem. As they say it is "a global crusade to defend life". Let us follow the U'wa's inspiring lead and say: No more wars for oil! No more corporate rulers who kill for greed and power! We demand life, democracy, justice and a future for the U'wa and all peoples who share our tiny planet. The U'wa need our help. They need money. They need solidarity actions. They need international human rights observers. But most of all they need us to tell the American public the truth about what is going on in Colombia. Let your friends and neighbors know that their government is at war in Colombia and that like all the Bush wars its is a war over oil. Whether it's a letter to the editor, a community forum on the links between fossil fuel addiction and war or a protest at your favorite corporate war monger - take action! Lots of help will be needed organizing for the next Colombia mobilization in March. (See #4 below) Let's get started spreading the word, building the coalitions and drawing the connections. Together with the U'wa and people mobilizing around the world we will stop these corporate oil wars. La lucha sigue! Global Ecology! Global Democracy! Now! To be a local contact for the growing movement against the Oil Wars in Colombia and beyond contact : Kevin@amazonwatch.org/ 510-419-0617 For background info on the U'wa see : www.uwacolombia.org www.amazonwatch.org www.moles.org WHAT YOU CAN DO ******************** Dear Friends of the Colombia Mobilization, The National Mobilization on Colombia, a national coalition of organizations and individuals working to transform U.S. policy toward Colombia and the Andean region (their mission statement is below) is calling a spring mobilization that will bring together regional actions and/or events that target the corporate raiders of Colombia who promote terror and push war to reap profits. The regional events will be on March 24, 2003 at Coca-Cola in Atlanta (Southeast region), Sikorsky in Connecticut (Northeast region),Monsanto in St. Louis (Midwest region) and Occidental Petroleum in Los Angeles (West Coast region). The week following the mobilization, all participants are encouraged to lobby their representatives in their local districts. Global Exchange and Amazon Watch, members of the Colombia Mobilization, have decided to head up the search for a regional organizing committee for the West Coast/Southwest area. We need individuals and organizations to join the planning committee to organize the action at Occidental Petroleum Headquarters in Los Angeles. This event/action will not only target Occidental Petroleum; it will expose the links between oil, militarization, trade, U.S. policy and human rights abuses in Colombia. The organizing committee would be responsible for the following: PLAN and execute the action in coordination with the 4 other regions consistent with the Colombia Mobilization Statement and tactics RAISE money for the regional action MOBILIZE people for the event SELECT a representative to the Colombia Mobilization's Leadership Team conference calls We are organizing the West Coast/Southwest Regional Coordinating Committee call for the week of December 2. If you're interested, please respond with an ideal DAY and TIME FRAME which works for you. Also, please let us know which of these options interest you: - My organization wants to get involved in the regional coordinating committee for the Spring Colombia Mobilization, we'll be on the call! - We want to organize a contingent from our area to the Days of Action on March 24th at Occidental Petroleum Headquarters in Los Angeles! - We don't have time right now but we will get information out to our networks. - Please send us more information. _____________________ Contact name, number and e-mail RESPOND TO: Kevin Koenig of Amazon Watch 510-419-0617 or kevin@amazonwatch.org Thanks! Official website of the U'wa people Colombia Campaign Colombia's U'wa Tribe and Supporters Celebrate Oxy's Failure to Find Oil Occidental finds no oil at Colombian Siriri well U.S. Oil Company Drills Near Indian Land Occidental drills on tribal-claimed Colombian land Uwa Campaign Amazon Watch Blood of Our Mother Earth's Blood NPR: Steven Dudley reports from Cubara, Colombia What You Can Do