And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Organization: The University of Michigan - Flint
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 13:23:00 EDT
>Subject: Re: Americas Mourn Relatives
>
>
>FROM UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
>
>FOR RELEASE: WEEK OF MARCH 12, 1999
>
>COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS by Patrisia Gonzales and Roberto Rodriguez
>
>THE AMERICAS MOURN LOSS OF RELATIVES
>
>
>Indigenous America is in mourning. Across both continents, native peoples
>are full of anger and sorrow that Ingrid Washinawatok, of the Menominee
>nation, Lahe'ena'e Gay, a native Hawaiian, and Terence Freitas were murdered
>after meeting with the U'wa people of Colombia regarding the creation of
>indigenous-based educational programs. They were found riddled with
bullets in
>a cow pasture in Venezuela.
>
>Bill Means, president of the International Indian Treaty Council, said that
>Washinawatok "probably resisted to the damn end." And that's why they shot
her
>so many times.
>
>Their deaths are entangled in uncertainty regarding who killed them and why.
>The U'wa people initially said the victims were kidnapped by leftist
>guerrillas. Many indigenous people (and the human rights community) say
that
>all the telltale signs point to right-wing paramilitary death squads.
>
>Pan-Indian alliances are growing across the Americas. Yet Indians are not
>safe anywhere in the Americas, as recently proven by these tragic deaths.
>
>Catherine Davids, an American Indian activist in Flint, Mich., told us: "I
>cannot stop weeping for these relatives who died in Colombia. Today, I feel
>hundreds of years of American Indian deaths in my heart. More news space
>will be devoted to Joltin' Joe DiMaggio than to the hundreds of thousands of
>Indians being murdered in Guatemala, Colombia and Chiapas."
>
>Regarding Washinawatok, Means said: "She was the epitome of young Indian
>women leadership. She (left) some very big moccasins to fill. We'd like our
>daughters or our granddaughters to be an Ingrid. She left us a strong spirit
>to carry on in our children."
>
>Apesanahkwat, chief of the Menominee nation, said that even if leftist
>guerrillas were responsible, the plight of the poor and the indigenous, and
>the movement for democracy in Colombia will still be credible.
>
>The cowardly execution of the three only hints at the violence, kidnappings
>and executions that are part of everyday life in Colombia. Despite the
>contradictory messages emanating from every sector imaginable, the community
>of human rights activists and indigenous people in the Americas is clear that
>these deaths should not be in vain, and that they must lead to the
cessation of
>the bloodiest war in the hemisphere, which has caused more than 3,000
political
>killings per year.
>
>The sad reality, said Robin Kirk, a spokesperson for Human Rights Watch, is
>that most of these casualties involve noncombatants, and all parties, but
>mostly the right wing, are involved in kidnappings, murders and the drug
trade.
>"We cannot allow what happened in Guatemala to happen in Colombia," said Luz
>Guerra, an activist from Austin, Texas, who was Washinawatok's friend. "We
>can't wait 25 years for a truth commission to tell us what is happening in
>Colombia today."
>
>Additionally, what should be remembered are the pleas of the U'wa people --
>the indigenous community from Colombia, who in the past have threatened a
mass
>suicide if petroleum companies are allowed to desecrate their lands, lands
>they hold to be sacred.
>
>The International Indian Treaty Council is calling upon the United Nations
>to investigate the deaths and is also contemplating its own independent
>investigation. These killings are bringing native peoples together once
again.
>In 1992, elders across the Americas said that the Eagle and the Condor,
>meaning native peoples in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, had
united in
>fulfillment of ancient prophesies. An offense against one Indian became an
>offense against all.
>
>That consciousness permits indigenous people to monitor human-rights
>violations anywhere in the Americas. Din� (Navajo) activist Eulynda
>Toledo-Benalli, who recently went with an indigenous delegation to Chiapas,
>said that Indians recognize no borders and, therefore, have the right to
travel
>to Mexico, Guatemala or Colombia. "We're all related," she said. "This is
deep
>in our culture. When an Indian person needs a helping hand, you reach out."
>
>This consciousness goes beyond solidarity in that all indigenous people have
>the duty to actively assist other native communities, Toledo-Benalli said.
For
>instance, she has been instrumental in registering an indigenous brigade from
>New Mexico to participate in the national Zapatista "consulta," or political
>referendum, regarding the status of indigenous peoples in Mexico, which will
>take place there next week. "It's important for people in Chiapas to know
that
>Indian people in the United States care about them."
>
>Finally, as Guerra pointed out, all eyes will now be on Colombia, ensuring
>perhaps that the martyrs' deaths will bring about peace with justice to that
>war-torn nation.
>
>
>COPYRIGHT 1999 UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
>
>
>*** In a communique after our column went to press, the Fuerzas Armadas
>Revolucionarias (FARC) admitted to its role by some of its members in the
>kidnapping and execution of Ingrid Washinawatok, Lahe'ena'egay and Terence
>Freitas.
>
>Despite the mourning and the disconcerting nature of all that has happened,
>all those whom we have spoken throughout the country desire that the
legacy of
>the three will result in peace in Colombia -- a nation which has been ripped
>apart by a genocidal war reminiscent of Central America. More information
>regarding the situation in Colombia can be obtained by writing to the
Colombia
>Support Network at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit their website at:
>www.igc.apc.org/csn
>
>* A fund has been created in honor of Ingrid at: c/o Gina Washinawatok --
>Ingrid Washinawatok Memorial Fund, PO BOX 67 Kesheena, Wisc 54135. For more
>info, call 715-799-5114
>
>* Both writers can be reached at PO BOX 7905, Albq NM 87194-7904,
505-242-7282
>or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Gonzales's direct line is 505-248-0092 or
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
