And now:LISN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Please post widely
From: THE NORTHWEST LEONARD PELTIER SUPPORT NETWORK
TACOMA OFFICE
P.O. BOX 5464
TACOMA, WA 98415-0464 USA
e-mail; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
LEONARD PELTIER, A VICTIM OF THE MULTINATIONAL
ENERGY CORPORATIONS
There is a lot of discussion and resistance to the corporate
globalization and how it is affecting the environment and the working
conditions of working people world wide. These things are very important
and the coming together of so many people to resist the corporate
globalization is good. For it would seem that the multinational
corporations are out seize every bit of natural and human resouces
possible for their own benefit at the expense of Mother Earth and the
people who dwell upon her.
While much has been exposed about who is being harmed by all this,
and a new strong resistance is being organized, very little is being
said
or done about how these mulitnational corportations are assulting the
indigenous people of the world. The alliances of resistance should not
only include environmentalists and labor activists, but also indigenous
people and their supporters. And as you speak of environmental
damage, sweatshops, relocating jobs and so on you should also speak
about Leonard Peltier who is in prison for resisting the encroachment of
multinational energy corporations on Native land, it is all connected.
The land that the U.S. Government created the reservations that they
forced Native People on was, for the most part, land that was viewed as
unneeded by the non-Native society. When the non-Nation society
became increasingly dependent upon natural resources such as oil,
natural gas, coal, uranium and minerals for industrial production, they
found that a lot of the resources they wanted was on the remaining
Native land. The corporations hatch plans to acquire those resources.
Some times by legal means, which some times meant passing new
laws (not unlike what they have done in the area of so-called "free
trade"
laws and treaties), some times they even used illegal means.
In the area of Lakota land (1868 Fort Laramie Treaty land) the
corporations found a good deal of gold, oil, coal and uranium. The
traditional Lakota people resisted and even refused to take money for
land that had already been stolen from them. Through the use of
sophisticated NASA satellites, the National Uranium Resource
Evaluation Program of the U.S. Geological Survey located major uranium
deposits in the Sheep Mountian area of the Pine Ridge Oglala Latoka
Reservation. Knowing by pass experience that the traditional Lakoka
people would resist the lost of more of their land, the government,
acting
in the interests of the multinational corporations, sought to suppress
the
traditional Lakota people and the American Indian Movement (AIM) that
supported them.
At the same time that the government orchestrated the the Oglala
shootout, 133,000 acres of Pine Ridge was illegally being signed away
in Washington. The shootout had followed nearly three years of extreme
terrorism against the traditional Lakota people in which over 60 of them
and their supporters had been murdered. On the morning of June 26,
1975, two unmarked cars came onto an area, in which AIM had set up a
camp, in the same manner as many of the other terrorist driveby
shootings had happened. AIM believed that they and the traditional
Lakota people who lived there were under attack. A shootout came
about and one AIM member and two FBI agents died. It is clear from all
the evidence that this was an act by the government to divert attention
away from the illegal signing away of Lakota land and to suppress the
opposition to it. The government was even willing to place two of it's
agents in harms way to carry out their plan.
Three AIM members went on trial for the deaths of the FBI agents. The
first two were found not guilty for reason of self-defense. When Leonard
Peltier went on trial the government set out to ensure a conviction
(thus
a coverup of their own responsibility) by fabricating evidence, using
coerced witnesses and hand picking a new judge who would not allow
evidence of self-defense to be given by Leonard's lawyers. Thus Leonard
was found guilty. Over the years Leonard's lawyers have in their appeals
disproven the government's case against Leonard.
Leonard Peltier remains in prison a victim of the multinational energy
corporations desire to gain what they want by any means needed. The
multinational corporations that have operations on Lakota treaty land
includes many of the major players in the corporate economic
globalization, such as; Chevron, Exxon, Getty Oil, General Electric,
Gulf
Oil, Mobil, Shell Oil, Union Carbide to name a few.
Leonard Peltier's case needs to be supported by all those that seek to
resist world wide domination by the multinational corporations. For his
case shows just how far these corporations and the governments that
work in their interest are will to go to get what they want. Thus, for
all
of
us who work for Human Rights, the Environment, Labor Rights,
Indigenous People's Survival and other such connected struggles,
Leonard Peltier is one of us. He has been in prison for over 23 years
for
us and we need to be out here for him. Please help us end this great
injustice and aid us in the freeing of Leonard as soon as possible.
In
Solidarity
Arthur J.
Miller
NWLPSN
Please fill out the following if you wish to aid this struggle and get
updates on Leonard's case.
Name_______________________________________________
Organization__________________________________________
Address______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Phone_______________ E-Mail__________________________
Please return to: NWLPSN, P.O. Box 5464, Tacoma, WA 98415-0464,
USA, or e-mail it to; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
5TH ANNUAL
INTERNATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY
SOLIDARITY WITH LEONARD PELTIER AND FIRST NATIONS
MARCH AND RALLY/ U.S./CANADIAN BORDER
OCTOBER 10, 1999
MARCH STARTING POINT: 12:00 NOON, BLAINE PARK, (CORNER
OF BLAINE & ALDER) BLAINE, WASHINGTON
RALLY: 1:00 P.M. PEACE ARCH PARK, U.S./CANADIAN BORDER
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Our annual gathering at the U.S./Canadain Border on International
Indigenous People's Day is a coming together of activists and
supporters from both sides of the border as an expression of solidarity
and honoring the international Indigenous People's struggles. It is a
statement that the border placed upon the land does not divide us.
We have been told to respect this day and we do so organizing a
respectful event that is suitable for Elders, children and people of all
ages. We welcome the involvement of all people of all communities in
the spirit of solidarity, honoring and respect.
ORGANIZING FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S WEEKEND
We are organizing our border march and rally as a part of a series of
events that we are calling Indigeneous People's Weekend. The following
are some of the events that we are begining to plan and organize.
1. October 8th: INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S JUSTICE RALLY at the
Washington State Capital in Olympia along with an evening event.
2. THE CARAVAN FOR JUSTICE. This would be a caravan to the
border. It has been suggested that it begin in Oregon and start off on
October 9th in Olympia then on to Tacoma, Seattle and maybe other
stops. We will be working on finding a place for it's evening stop with
a
meal and evening event. It is possible this could take place on Lummi
land. On the morning of Oct. 10th the caravan would continue to Blaine
for the march and rally at the border.
3. THE RUN FOR JUSTICE. For the last two years young people have
held a Run For Justice as part of our Indigenous People's Weekend.
This year we hope to include many more young people in this run. The
run would leave the Lummi Nation on October 9th and continue on the
10th and would met up with the march in Blaine. There the runners
would led the march to the border.
4. INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY POTLUCK. After the rally at the
border we hope to have a potluck meal which would include an open
mike for people to express their views of the day through speaking and
music.
Though the NORTHWEST LEONARD PELTIER SUPPORT NETWORK
is sponsoring the organizing of this annual event, all individuals,
organizations and groups that support this important weekend are
encouraged to help in anyway that they can. Our contact list will be
growing but for now you can contact the following people.
1. For information and suggestions on speakers and performers
contact NWLPSN Advisor Susan Morales at: (253) 627-8435 (home
phone evenings), pager with voice mail 253-593-9631, e-mail;
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
2. For donations, or to be placed on the NWLPSN mailing list or e-mail
list contract NWLPSN Secretary-Treasurer Carol Reed, 5201 Capitol
Blvd P.M.B. 119, Tumwater, WA 98501, (360) 943-3274, e-mail
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
3. For fliers, posters, articles, and logistically organizing contact
NWLPSN Coordinator Arthur J. Miller, P.O. Box 5464, Tacoma, WA
98415-0464, (253) 383-9108, e-mail; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
NWLPSN WEB SITE
http://members.aol.com/TurquoisWm/JusticeforLeonardPeltier.html
The struggles of Indigenous People, though often over looked by many,
should be of concern to all those that believe in social justice. For
within
these struggle will be found direct connections to all other social
concerns, human rights, environmentalism,anti-racism, peace and the
struggle against global domination of multi-national corporations. The
following piece out of Leonard's Peltiers new book "Prison Writings; My
Life Is My Sun Dance" describes what was behind the events that
happen on Pine Ridge and why he is in prison.
"Since that time, the uranium mining opposed at such high cost in the
early 1970s has proceeded insidiously. Lakota people today drink
contaminated water and experience a rate of miscarriage and
spontaneous abortion seven times the national average. Our sacred
Black Hills, according to the master plan, were to have been declared a
"national sacrifice area"--ultimately, were the plan to proceed, to be
ringed by more than a dozen giant coal-fired plants and twenty-five
nuclear reactors. A cat's-cradle grid of power lines was to be flung
across the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations in order to carry the
power eastward. Court challenges to the horrendous environmental
impact this nuclear monstrosity would inevitably cause have blessedly
slowed the enactment of the plan; so has the drop in uranium prices
caused by the end of the Cold War; but when the uranium market starts
moving up again, watch out. The energy interests are simply biding their
time for the most profitable moment to begin yet again. The death of a
people and a way of life, not to mention the death of the land itself,
never
enters into the considerations of those who would foist this abomination
on the Lakota People--and on the people of America as well. That's why
the FBIs would come down on us so hard, because AIM and the
traditional Elders were the only ones who stood in their way. Everyone
else either didn't know, didn't care, or had sold out.
I have no doubt whatsoever that the real motivation behind both
Wounded Kneee II and the Oglala firefight, and much of the turmoil
throughout Indian Country since the eary 1970s, was--and is--the mining
companies' desire to muffle AIM and all traditional Indian people, who
sought--and still seek--to protect the land, water, and air from their
thefts
and depredations. In this sad and tragic age we live in, to come to the
defense of Mother Earth is to be branded a criminal."
Leonard
Peltier
--
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League of Indigenous Sovereign Nations of the Western Hemisphere
"Many Nations, One People"
L.I.S.N. is an alliance created to unite all Indigenous people
of the Western Hemisphere into one great Confederation to
politically empower our Nations as one people.
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LISN Web Site: http://www.lisn.net
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