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Sunday, January 20, in honor of MLK and Idle No More, Hart Plaza 1 pm

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Idle KNOW More Unity Walk - Windsor, Ontario

January 16 at 11:00am


Huron Church Road at Tecumseh Road

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This op-ed points out the divide between leadership, interested in maintaining status quo, and the grass roots, interested in change regardless of funding on which the tribal communities depend. It is all about money, as usual.

Redwash: Thoughts on the AFN-Canada meeting, Atleo and #idlenomore

BY JOHN AHNI SCHERTOW • JAN 12, 2013
Most of us knew going in that Friday's meeting between Harper and the AFN [Assembly of First Nations] wasn't going to amount to much. Of course, we all hoped that we would get everything we wanted, but we also knew that it was just one meeting. Centuries of systemic and constitutionally-entrenched problems can't be resolved over night.

However, the outcome of Friday's meeting was not what we had it mind--not even close. In fact, if we take in everything that came in the days leading up to it and everything that followed immediately after, it was nothing short of a redwash.

To be sure, some positive things did come out of the meeting. Most importantly, Canada committed to a high-level process on treaty implementation. That has been one of the main goals of INM since the beginning.

There were a few more things Canada agree to; but that's where the ground gets awful muddy. As reported by the Winnipeg Free Press, Canada agreed to:

• Speed up resolutions of land claims and affirmation of inherent rights.
• Designate decision-makers within the Privy Council Office to specifically oversee the Crown-First Nation relationship.

Canada partially agreed to:

• Talks [[just talks) on resource equity being a part of the high-level process on treaty implementation
• Make funding for First Nations sustainable, in line with growth of the population. Harper agreed this would be part of the treaty and comprehensive land claims discussions.
• Guarantee schools for every First Nation. Harper agreed education is important but didn't make firm commitments.

Canada did not agree to:

• All legislation being compatible with indigenous rights, and the parts of Harper's budget omnibus bills that contravene aboriginal be repealed. Harper agreed the government has a duty to consult with First Nations, but will not repeal the omnibus bills.
• Set up a public commission to focus on murdered and missing aboriginal women.

Now for the tough question: of all these agenda items that AFN brought to the table, which ones were INM [Idle No More] calling for?

There is only one: the omnibus bills [[C-48 and C-38)---and that was flat out rejected by Harper. The rest is all AFN.

In other words, the AFN used the meeting to advance its own agenda, exactly like they did during the big day of action in 2007, using us as leverage.

Things became even worse after the meeting. Atleo straight up lied on APTN when he claimed that progress was made on Bill C45. There was no progress whatsoever. AAND Minister John Duncan said it himself at a press conference following the meeting, stating that Canada is now satisfied it has fulfilled the constitutional obligation to consult, to which he added , they see no reason to change anything.

There's a small hiccup there. When making these points, Minister Duncan didn't explicitly mention the omnibus bills--he simply said "the bills". That could be an important distinction given the fact that Canada has at least 7 more bills/acts on the table right now. To recap, the most troubling ones are:

• Bill C-428: Indian Act Amendment and Replacement Act
• Bill S-2: Family Homes of Reserve Matrimonial Interests of Rights Act
• First Nation Education Act
• First Nations Property Ownership Act [[FNPOA) [the Canadian equivalent of the US 1887 Dawes Act]
• Bill S-8: Safe Drinking Water for First Nations
• Bill C-27: First Nations Financial Transparency Act

If Canada is satisfied that it has consulted First Nations vis a vis the AFN, then we can expect these bills to be passed just like C-45.....

There is much more at this link:
http://intercontinentalcry.org/redwa...nd-idlenomore/

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IDLE NO MORE!!!!
3pm this Saturday!!
Dancing Crane Coffee House~
Come be a spark that helps ignite the flame!!!

West Lakeshore Drive, Brimley, Michigan

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‎"Tell the people to light sage daily. This will help to raise vibrations to the highest level for healing. Eat a diet of fruits and vegetables, drink lots of water, meditate and breathe in. Call in the Great Spirit and your Animal Guide. Call in all Native Americans. Listen to your heart for it will start to activate. The time is now."

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It's that time again!

A Dakota Midwestern Story related by Joseph Bruchac in Keepers of the Earth

It was the time of falling leaves. Turtle was walking around when he saw many birds gathering in the trees. They were making a lot of noise. Turtle was curious.

"Hey," called Turtle. "What is happening?"

"Don't you know?" replied the birds. "We're getting ready to fly south for the winter?"

"Why are you going to do that?" Turtle asked.

"Don't you know anything?" said the birds. "Soon it will be very cold here and the snow will start falling. All the food will be covered up and hard to find. Down south it will be warm. Summer lives there all year long and there is lots of food."

As soon as they mentioned food, Turtle became even more interested.. "That sounds really good. Can I come with you?"

"You have to fly to go south all that way," the birds told him. "You are a turtle and you can't fly."

But Turtle would not take no for an answer. He begged and pleaded. "I would so love to go, isn't there some way you could take me along?"

Finally the birds agreed just to get him to stop asking.

"Look here," they said, "can you hold onto a stick really hard with your mouth?"

""That's easy," said Turtle. "My jaws are very strong, and once I grab onto something with my mouth, nothing will make me let go until I am ready.":

"Good,": said the birds. "Here is a good strong stick. You grab onto it with your jaws, and these two birds will each take an end and carry you with us a we fly south. But remember, you can't ever open your mouth!"

"That's easy!" said Turtle. "Now let's get to where Summer keeps all that food!"

Turtle grabbed the middle of the stick, and two big strong birds each grabbed an end with their claws. They flapped hard and eventually got up into the air with Turtle hanging from his stick between them. Soon they were high in the sky and heading south.

Turtle had never been so high in the air before, and he liked it. He could look below and see how small everything looked. Soon Turtle became curious. He wanted to know where they were, how far they had come and how far they still had to go to get to where Summer was. He wanted to know many more things, what was that lake, and those hills. He wanted to ask the two birds carrying him, but he couldn't talk with his mouth closed.

He rolled his eyes, but the two birds just kept on flying. He began waving his legs at them, but they just ignored him and kept flying. Turtle was getting annoyed. The least they could do was tell him where they were!

"MMMMMPH!" said Turtle. It didn't work. The two birds kept flying. Finally Turtle lost his temper.

"Why don't you listen to ....." But that was all he said, for the second he opened his mouth to speak, he let go of the stick and started to fall. Down and down he fell, a long, long way down. He was so frightened, he pulled his head and legs in to protect himself, but he was sure he would be killed.

When he hit the ground, he hit so hard that his shell cracked. He was lucky that he hadn't been killed, but he ached all over. He felt so bad that he crawled into a nearby pond, swam to the bottom and buried himself in the mud at the bottom to get as far away from the sky as possible. Then he fell asleep, and he slept all winter and didn't wake up until Spring.

And that is why only birds fly south where Summer lives, and turtles, who all have cracked shells now, sleep under the mud until Spring.

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If they can do this at Wind River, what is to stop them from doing it anywhere they want?

http://www.npr.org/2012/11/15/164688735/loophole-lets-toxic-oil-water-flow-over-indian-land

Loophole Lets Toxic Oil Water Flow Over Indian Land
by Elizabeth Shogren, NPR

The air reeks so strongly of rotten eggs that tribal leader Wes Martel hesitates to get out of the car at an oil field on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. He already has a headache from the fumes he smelled at another oil field.

Martel is giving me a tour of one of a dozen oil and gas fields on the reservation. These operations have the federal government's permission to dump wastewater on the land — so much that it creates streams that flow into natural creeks and rivers. And this water contains toxic chemicals, including known carcinogens and radioactive material, according to documents obtained by NPR through Freedom of Information Act requests.

The fumes hitting Martel's nose are hydrogen sulfide, which can be deadly. So Martel makes sure the wind is at his back before walking over to a pit the size of several tennis courts. Pipes are emptying dirty brown water that came up from oil wells into the pit, which is completely covered in goopy black oil...

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This was not a shut down, but a slow down of traffic that effected the busiest American-Canadian border crossing. January 16th 2013

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http://www.nativenewsnetwork.com/mic...e-capitol.html

By Levi Rickert

LANSING, MICHIGAN – With Michigan lawmakers and their staffs making their way into the Michigan State Capitol late yesterday afternoon to hear Michigan's Governor Rick Snyder make his annual State of the State address, some 500 Michigan Indians brought an "Idle No More" peace movement round dance flash mob to the grounds of the Capitol.

Idle No More Supporters Approach the Capital in Lansing 500 Strong

They brought their culture in drumming, singing and dancing. Tribal Chairmen Alvin Pedwaydon, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, and Dexter McNamara, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, proudly carried their tribal flags during the event.

Idle No More is about supporting treaty rights

They were there to capitalize on the media frenzy associated with such annual events. On the outside were also hundreds of members of organized labor who were there to protest the "Right to Work" legislation approved by the lame duck Michigan legislature and signed by the governor.
Idle No More is a movement to bring attention to the sweeping legislation of the Harper government, most notably the omnibus Bill C-45 that was passed in the Canadian Parliament without consulting First Nations peoples.

“It was great to see our Native crowd that came to show their support,”

said Derek Bailey, the former tribal chairman of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and one of the event's organizers.

“One thing people should realize about our round dance flash mobs that separate us from others who go to protest is we have a spiritual component to it. When our drums beat, they represent the heart beat of Mother Earth. Our message is strong.”

Some labor protesters expressed how they had never experienced the sound of American Indians drums and thought they were used in a powerful way to demonstrate the cause of Idle No More.

"Invisible Borders - Indigenous Brothers and Sisters."

“I came today to show my support for the Native people in Canada,”

commented Julia Martel, 17, who is a tribal citizen of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. She was there holding a sign that read, "Anishinaabe Youth 4 Idle No More!!"

“We are here to defend our Native rights. Idle No More is about supporting treaty rights,”

stated seventeen year old, Emma Schwander, who is also a member of the Grand Traverse Tribe. She carried a sign that simply read: "Idle No More" with a drawing of a clenched right fist holding a feather.
One sign in the crowd spoke to the unity Michigan Indians - the People of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Ottawa and Potawatomi - feel to their Canadian First Nations peoples read: "Invisible Borders - Indigenous Brothers and Sisters."
Javier Foster, a member of Wapole Island Potawatomi First Nation and who lives in Toronto, was in the crowd. He said:

“'Idle No More' is about being here to preserve our rights. It is a good movement. It is not about all people. It is really not just about a Native people. We all are the keepers of the Earth. of American Indians who were there to show their support for First Nations.”

One member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians even brought fry bread which she sold in among the crowd for only $1 each.
posted January 17, 2013 3:20 pm est

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My brother with the drum:

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    Sunday
  
  

• DETROIT!

• Let's come together to support our First Nations and all Indigenous people. In honor of MLK and countless Indigenous leaders who fought for human rights and in solidarity with IDLE NO MORE movement. CALL OUT TO ALL PIPE CARRIERS, ROUND DANCERS, HAND DRUM SINGERS, FAMILIES, ALLIES, SUPPORTERS..... stand up in solidarity with ALL OUR relatives and for OUR community! Here are the logistics TIME: 1 PM ish, Listen for the Drum Call **Keep signs/flags/banners out of site until the sound of the DRUM CALL, as best as possible INITIAL LOCATION: Near the Hart Plaza Sign or look for all the good looking people WHAT TO BRING: Dress Warm!!! Signs, Banners, Tribal Flags, Eagle Staffs WHAT TO EXPECT: Round dance song[[s) to start us off Initial speaker[[s) Proceed to river front [[possible speakers/singing along the way) If we have Pipe carriers, we are humbling requesting to smoke up some prayers for all our relatives, as ladies sing the water song. **we will have loose tobacco and people collecting for pipe carriers and additional offerings for the water We will have more singing/dancing/speaking near the river front Solidarity walk will begin [[end location is yet to be determined, please be present to find out exact information) **POTENTIAL FLASH MOB ROUND DANCING** at locations to be determined-they will be within a short walk We will be a roaming force of unity and strength. We anticipate we will have to be mobile group, so bring good walking shoes. PLEASE DRESS WARM!! ****THIS WILL BE A FORCEFULLY PEACEFUL EVENT!****

[Jimaz]

Take photos! Post 'em!

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Get ready, today Sunday, March 20, 2013, in Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr and in support of Idle No More, Hart Plaza, Detroit, 1 pm. Remember this, it is all for our Mother Earth, we must save her to save ourselves.

Beautiful video with teachings by Oren Lyons, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, and sounds like John Trudell:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWtVTu6S51M

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These shots are mostly upfront and close. We had a nice turnout, and the Round Dance at the entrance of Cobo Hall was awesome..the folks inside were squeezing the glass to get up close and see. Big Thanks to the Detroit Police for providing access and control... [[note from my friend Aub)











Funny place for the sled dog



Only after the last tree has been cut down...



Freezing Friend

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This is a brief rant about Canadian politics. Idle No More began as a reaction to Canada's latest Omnibus Budget Bill which gutted treaty responsibilities and removed environmental protections for most of Canada's waterways to make things easier for Big Oil. This spark has inflamed concerns for indigenous rights and our Mother Earth worldwide. Way to light a fire, Stephen Harper!

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/09...n_1896585.html

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Native American Women Warriors in Inaugural Parade, starting about 1:22. Jingle dress dance is for healing and prayer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NttR1VHGTc

All the women are veterans.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_16...-inauguration/

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  • Lansing, Michigan
    
    Monday, January 28, 2013
    
    
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    1:00pm
    
  
  

• This event is to honor the WORLDWIDE DAY OF ACTION called by the Idle No More grassroots founders and organizers from across Canada. We will be peacefully protesting the attacks on democracy, indigenous sovereignty, human rights and environmental protections. We will Round Dance in front of the capitol building at the corner of Michigan and Capital Avenue. There is a parking garage located to the South of the meeting point.