And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: arthur <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ADate: 16/08/99 9:01:22 AM Subject: Peltier; a victim of the multinational corporations Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit 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 Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&