.
Dear Family and Friends
We have been told that tomorrow, July 1, 2009 is a VERY important day.
In a notice we received from Laura Davis, Associate Deputy Secretary of the Interior, Washington DC, it is stated that "The U.S. Supreme Cout issued an opinion interpreting a provision of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 ("IRA") that impacts the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for Tribes"
"Please see attachment for more info"
The importance is: "In keeping with Interior's commitment on government-to-government consultation.... key word being "CONSULTATION"....
We were given a TIP that many VERY IMPORTANT officials, state and federal will be attending tomorrow's CONSULTATION....
To all of you who have been following our plight for justice... we are asking you to attend the meeting(in force)scheduled for Wednesday, July 1, 2009 (9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.) - Hilton Sacramento Inn, Folsom room, Harvard Street, Sacramento, California (916) 922-4700
Today, we received info that many important officials from DC are in Sacramento today and will be at the meeting tomorrow, including legislatures.
Again... we were told... this is VERY IMPORTANT and officials are there to LISTEN... this would be a VERY GOOD OPPORTUNITY to get our critical situation brought to the awarness of these officials.
Unfortunately for us (the Tribe) we are afraid that if we leave the tribal property, the San Joaquin County Sheriff's will seize the opportunity to overtake our Tribal office, so we cannot leave these grounds.
We understand that this is quite a bit to ask of you... but many have asked what they can do to help us find a resolve to our issues and to get justice.... the irony is that our problem started in Sacramento and its fitting that the protest for justice for our Tribe, be brought up in Sacramento, again... consultation means that the officials are there to listen and anything of IMPORTANCE can be brought to the floor at that meeting.
PLEASE BE OUR VOICE.... The opportunity is here and now... put a stop to the injustices being inflicted upon us... help right the wrongs... Independence Day for the U.S. is just around the corner... help our tribe gain independece from the outside interferences of the Gaming Developer Albert D. Seeno and his associates (Chadd Everone and Velma Whitebear) who have been tring to destroy us by spreading false rumors of a split tribe, and a leadership dispute. Their lies have caused the Bureau to wrongfully withhold our 638 contract for 2008/2009 and their criminal actions of deliberately given misinformation to the California Gambling Control Commission have caused CGCC to illegally withhold our RSTF (Revenue Sharing Trust Fund) monies of which in near or over 5 million dollars.
There is no reason as to why we are sitting here pennyless, near homeless and IGNORED by not only the BIA but by Government Officials. We are a federally recgonized Tribe that is being abused and ignored... our suffering is great, our pain is great and through you are voice will be great..
Our hearts are filled with hope... anyone who can attend tomorrow meeting on our behalf will be bringing justice to our cause.. for those who cannot attend... please keep us in your prayers and know that we are still here fighting to survive.. not only as our Tribe... but as Indian people.
With much Respect and Many Blessings!!!
Let our cries be heard and our prayers be answered
/s/
Silvia Burley
Chairperson
s.burley@californiavalleymiwoktribe-nsn.gov
and the
Tribal Council & Tribal Members of the California Valley Miwok Tribe
office@cvmt.net
Mailing Address Physical Address
California Valley Miwok Tribe California Valley Miwok Tribe
1163 E. March Lane 10601 Escondido Pl
Suite D-PMB#812 Stockton, California 95212
Stockton, California 95210-4512
Tribal Office 209.931.4567 or 209.487.9519
Fax 209.931.4333 or 209.487.8579
My Tribal Cell Phone 209.470.5963
http://www.californiavalleymiwoktribe-nsn.gov
http://californiavalleymiwoktribe.us
For more information see my former blog on this topic
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The California Valley Miwok Tribe needs your help - tomorrow July 1, 2009
The genocide on Native Americans
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It is said that 100 million Natives Americans were killed when immigrants, or invaders, from Europe came to the new continent. Many Indians were enslaved as well and sometimes shipped to Europe or other places. The Indian tribes that remained were repatriated or assimilated, apart from a very few. In these days, many Native Americans have become part of Western society more or less. Those of the American Indians who want to keep more of their own identity and want to stay on their own land are forced to live on reservations, where numerous government regulations control the residents' lives.
These misdeeds are usally not justified at all, they have just been committed. Some feel the need though to pronounce justifications. I heard some religious Christian leaders claiming that although the murder on Indians wasn't right, it was inevitable that "Christian religion being the major instrument in God's providence" would become the dominating religion on the continent.
I'm writing these lines from the viewpoint of an outsider, more or less. I wasn't born as a Native American, but my desire that righteousness will be done forces me to look at the facts as they are.
I come at a standstill in my writing here. I just don't know what exactly should be done. The truth should be made clear, the word should go out, that's for sure. But could there be compensation for lost lives, for lost happiness? Something must be done....
The descendants of those who committed the crimes and the descendants of the victims both bear responsibility for finding a solution.
Descendants of the victims have to stand up because they owe it to their dead ancestors.
Descendants of the criminals inherited the legacy of the misdeeds of their ancestors. Though these descendants are not personally responsible, they still have to do something. When your parents left you with huge financial debts, you also are not personally responsible, but you have to do something about it else your life is miserable. Descendants of those who committed the crimes are obliged to stand up and do what can be done to makes things in order.
If they don't do it, they will not be able to find the path of original spirituality in their lives. Trying to forget about the sins of your ancestors is one of the causes of widespread materialism.
May 17, 2006
A glimpse of native European history
We lived in harmony with nature. The days were very cold, rarely the ice melted. We hunted the mammoth for their meat and skin. Their long ivory teeth made fine tent poles. When the buffaloes came, we went out for their meat. It took a very brave man to kill a sabre tooth tiger to use his teeth for daggers.
Our ancestors were always near to us and taught us the way from spirit world. Our women made beautiful pots. Each pot had it's shape and scripts. Some were for storing food, others for keeping medicines.
Then there came wild men from the east. These new people were wild men on horses, attacking us with their warrior axes made of stone. They killed many of us, took our women and changed the peaceful ways of our elders. Later nobody knew anymore better than that these invaders were part of the land. Now they are even called the ancestors or our children. For us, they came as enemies.
Later other tribes came from the east and from the south. From many i don't know their names. The Romans came and controlled everything for long time. The Franks in the spirit of the Romans, white people with wild beards from the north ravaged the land (how afraid we were, they kept coming back), the Spanish in the spirit of the Romans, the French in the spirit of the Romans, not long ago invaders from the east in the spirit of the Romans and in the spirit of the horse riders with stone axes.
So many more have come. Many of our enemies were invited by their friends, who were not always our friends, but who lived with us or became our husbands and wives and later our own children. It's all very confusing. You don't know anymore who is who. On earth, our story is not really known. It's only known to the eldest ancestors, the earliest natives of these lands.
Our pains are very, very old. I don't know of years anymore, were they thousands or were they hundreds. You don't count time from where this story is told. But our tears do count, even they are countless. We still remember the old days and do still honor many of our old traditions. Today's people don't understand anymore. They have become used to live with the enemies. Even we ourselves had to accept them as our daily neighbors, though very often it was still war.
May 15, 2006
Arrival of first Native Americans
Today i tell you a story that was told to me. The story is about how the first people came to America. Most, but not all of them, had a red skin. From where they came, life was good. Tribes of different skin colors lived in harmony. They had one chief, he was called the Primeaval Chief. The Creator had given the Primeaval Chief the task to unite the tribes. He gathered many tribes under him. He was of a race in which people got very old. Some of his relatives lived over 200 years. Also the Primeaval Chief became very old. He was very smart, but there was betrayal in his family. Because of that betrayal, evil tribes invaded and took away the good grounds from the good tribes. The Primeaval Chief sent the tribes away, to search for safe places. Some of the tribes went westwards. They eventually ended up in Western Europe. They went on until they reached the shores and could not go farther. Other tribes went to the northeast. The farther they got, the colder it got. They did not find good territory. They had decided to leave and could not go back. In front of them there was ice and water. They hunted on the way. The journey took several years. Sometimes water barred their way. They made boats to paddle to the next island of ice. Almost all of them died on the way. It was especially hard for the children. One man was very large. He loved children and he carried several of them during the entire journey. On arrival he died of exhaustion. His name was Massa.A small group managed to survive. Suddenly they could go southward again. It got warmer and better. They found a rich land.When the tribe had arrived, they had a gathering of chiefs and elders. They knew that their flight had been caused by betrayal that had given the upperhand to their enemies. To prevent betrayal in the future, they gave their tribe a new name: The Twin Brothers Tribe. Each person in the tribe had his twin brother. If needed, a twin brother would give his life for his brother.For long centuries, the new and good grounds were theirs. But the enemies that had chased them away from their original place grew in numbers and expanded their territory over the year-thousands. Eventually they also found America and brought with them the problems that had rested for so long.
May 12, 2006
Monday, June 29, 2009
Native Americans pursue the return of ancestral remains for reburial
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Since about two decades Native Americans are pursuing to have human remains of their ancestors and accompanying artifacts return to them. These human remains are then reburied in ceremonies.
Important pieces of legislation to make this possible were enacted in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Major Native American collections are held at two museums, the National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of the American Indian, both independent Smithsonian institutes
Called home: Native Americans pursue the return of ancestral remains to places of origin for reburial- Montrose Daily Press
“After decades of excavation by archaeologists and displays of Native American remains in museums, a movement began about 20 years ago to reverse that trend. In the early 1990s, various Indian tribes petitioned Congress for laws to return not only human remains of Native Americans to their places of origin, but accompanying artifacts as well.
"Tribes didn't like it (the practice), but there was nothing they could do about it until now," McCook said."
“To date, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History has identified 18,000 out of 33,000 human remains as belonging to Native Americans. Of 5,400 of the human remains, 3,652 have been repatriated. A large number (90,159) of funerary objects have also been disbursed back to tribes.”
See also
-
SULAIR: Native American Repatriation & Reburial - "Issues Relevant to Reburial of Native American Human Remains at Stanford,"
-
Reburial Dispute - At some point the remains will be repatriated for reburial. Documents related to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
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Smithsonian Institution - America's national educational facility with 19 museums, 9 research centers and over 140 affiliate museums around the world.
Image via Wikipedia
Hall of Mammals at the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Native foods endangered by GMO foods
In an effort to reduce corn stem-borer infestations, corporate and public researchers partner to develop local [transgenic] Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) corn varieties suitable for Kenya.
Image via Wikipedia
"Pale blue Araucana chicken eggs in Chile, 500-year-old raisin varieties in Afghanistan and Wenchi volcanic honey in Ethiopia, are just a few examples of the indigenous and artisanal products Slow Food International unites around the world.
Slow Food is a grassroots, eco-gastronomic nonprofit organization; founded in 1986 in Italy to protest the opening of a McDonald’s near the Spanish steps of Rome, it’s now a global movement."
"Today, genetically modified crops, biopiracy, environmental degradation and the growing distance of tribal members from traditional food production and consumption threaten many of these indigenous food products.
Manoonim, or wild rice, in the oral history of the Anishinaabeg in Minnesota is a gift from the Creator, and is a centerpiece of the nutrition and sustenance of their community. For generations, each September people set out in canoes to harvest the wild rice, an aquatic grass from the remote lakes of northern Minnesota. Today, the high quality wild rice, which dates back to prehistory, has to compete on the market with cultivated wild rice grown in Californian man-made paddies."
Read the entire article in Indian Country Today
Read more
- 75% of all processed foods in US contain GMO ingredients (rawlivingfoods.typepad.com)
- Genetically Modified Foods May Genetically Modify You (takepart.com)
- Demand Better Oversight From USDA For Genetically Modified Crops (takepart.com)
- Europeans ban Monsanto's Modified Maize - HURRAH! (iflizwerequeen.com)
- Genetically Modified Food Experiments Use Kids for Guinea Pigs (ecochildsplay.com)
- US Association of Physicians calls for Moratorium on GMO Foods (isiria.wordpress.com)
Video about genetically modified food
The Dangers of Genetically Modified Food - Jeffery Smith Lecture - FULL VERSION - 1:00:08 - Nov 21, 2007
This lecture was created by combining the 6 pieces posted on YouTube by The Kick Them All Out Project. http://www.KickThemAllOut.com This project shows you how we can take back control of Congress from the special interests that control it now and put an end to things like GMO foods. This lecture by Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception, summarizes the contents of his book, which explains the health dangers of genetically modified foods, and the industry cover-up.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Remote Aboriginal settlements to be shut down
Australia Labor government moves to shut down remote Aboriginal settlements
By Susan Allan
27 June 2009
Read more
- Helping Aborigines 'to take time' (news.bbc.co.uk)
- Sina Brown-Davis : Australia promises to end racial discrimination - editor.novajoservo@gmail.com (angryindian.blogspot.com)
- Australia backs indigenous rights (news.bbc.co.uk)
Saturday, June 20, 2009
California Valley Miwok tribal eviction in process - help!
The California Valley Miwok Tribe is threatened with eviction from their homes and land. At this moment they have barricaded themselves in.
The first section of this blog is from a bulletin by my friend Shahuna, who took upon him the task to help this tribe and who is in contact with them. Please do what you can to help this native tribe. What's happening to them will happen to all natives, if we don't stand up and fight together.
From what Shahuna told me, this matter is complex. The tribe is threatened with a foreclosure.
Yet, as i see it this is not just about recent financial and legal affairs. There is a longer history to it. Native American tribes lost their land long ago and were put away in reservations where they have very limited economic opportunities. This historic perspective should be considered first of all. The wrongs of the past need to be corrected first of all. Cosmic Eagles
---------------------------------------------
Shahuna's bulletin
I'd like to ask y'all to sign and circulate this petition. The Miwok Nation are about to be evicted from their homes and land. We need as many people on this as possible.
Thank you in advance.
http:/ /www.petitionspot.com/petitions/cvmtUCSD/
We the students of UCSD, our friends, and allies stand in solidarity to the injustice that is occurring to our brothers and sisters of the California Valley Miwok Tribe (CVMT). They are a federally recognized Tribe, (listed in the Federal Register and in the Dept. of the Interior/Bureau of Indian Affairs, Tribal Leaders Directory, Winter 2009), yet they received an eviction notice to leave their tribal lands TODAY JUNE 17!
The entire tribe, elders and children included, is going to be removed by force from their land with no place to go. They are forced to barricade themselves in the tribal office. Using filing cabinets and anything else they can use to secure the building in hopes to protect their culture, their people, and basically everything they have.
We ask that Miwok tribe be allowed to stay in the land they have lived on for 7 years and be given the chance to dialogue with the appropriate legislatures and/or officials about the matter.
If you can help; by all means contact Silvia Burley, Chairperson of the California Valley Miwok Tribal Council, at 209 931 4567
More info: http://intercontinentalcry.org/alert-court-ordered-eviction-of-california-valley-miwok-tribe/
Thank you,
from the Office of Local Affairs at University of California: San Diego
email: aslocalaffairs@ucsd.edu
----------------------------------------------------
More information and videos
From the website of the tribe
"The local Bureau of Indian Affairs office has been influenced by a group that intends to take over the Tribe in order to conduct casino gaming under the Tribe’s name. The Tribe is fighting to protect our tribal sovereignty to determine our membership and elect our own leadership.
California Valley Miwok Tribe - Tribal Extinction Conducted by the BIA/Developers - Part 2 (part 1 is the video above)
California Valley Miwok Tribe Chairperson Silvia Burley Native Voice TV Interview - Part 1
California Valley Miwok Tribe Chairperson Silvia Burley Native Voice TV Interview - Part 2
California Valley Miwok Tribe Chairperson Silvia Burley Native Voice TV Interview - Part 3
News Article
ALERT: Court Ordered Eviction of California Valley Miwok Tribe
Bay Area Indymedia - ‎Jun 18, 2009‎If you can help, please do not hesitate calling Silvia Burley, Chairperson of the California Valley Miwok Tribal Council, at 209 931 4567
Friday, June 19, 2009
Australian Aboriginals state their rights in Darwin meeting
Akaka Bill debate renewed (Hawaii)
Most mainstream groups in Hawaii support the bill but some opponents say its approval would perpetuate wrongs rooted in the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.
Cosmic Eagles
News articles
-- Akaka Bill debate renewed News from Indian Country
"Opposition to a proposed Native Hawaiian government comes from those who fear race-based privileges and Hawaiians who believe it would forfeit their 116-year-old claims to independence.
Most mainstream groups, including the state government’s Hawaiian agency and leaders of both political parties, support passage of the legislation, which began moving through Congress again this year with its first committee hearing June 11. But even they would like to make changes to it.
Backers of the Akaka Bill, named after Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka, say the measure has never stood a better chance of becoming law since it was first introduced in Congress in 2000 and brought up every session since. Hawaii-born President Barack Obama has said he would sign the bill."
-- Akaka Bill should pass with new amendments Honolulu Star-Bulletin
-- HAKU MO'OLELO Maui News
Videos
Akaka Bill To Be Presented On Capitol Hill Again
..
The Akaka Bill: Part 1 of 3
The Akaka Bill: Part 2 of 3
The Akaka Bill: Part 3 of 3
More information
-- Akaka Bill Full Text, As Introduced in the United States Senate
US Senate apologizes for slavery - is that all?
Apologies are cheap. Similar apologies were uttered for what was done against American natives and Austrian aboriginals. Little or nothing has been done meanwhile for improving their actual conditions. Nothing is ever going to change until things are really changed. Wrong words can be corrected with good words. Misdeeds are not corrected with words, but only with corrective deeds.
Words can be used to start off correction, but words can also be misused to stop victims from demanding real indemnity to be paid. Cosmic Eagles
News items on this topic
Madam President, the clerk just read for the first time ever in this body what we should have done a long time ago. An apology for slavery and the Jim-Crow laws which, for a century after emancipation, deprived millions of Americans their basic human rights, equal justice under law and equal opportunities. Today the senate will unanimously make that apology."
--Senate approves resolution apologizing for slavery CNN
Thursday, June 18, 2009
International protests against Peruvian forest laws
International solidarity protests against Peruvian forest laws
"Thousands of demonstrators on two continents have joined the struggle to defend the rights of indigenous peoples in Peru, who have been staging road and pipeline blockades for more than 50 days.
Advocates are fighting against a series of Forest Laws that facilitate the seizing of indigenous land by various corporations as part of a Free Trade Agreement with the United States, and that criminalize protest and provide immunity to military who kill demonstrators.
This year’s demonstrations follow actions staged last year when Peruvian indigenous leaders shut down parts of the country and lifted the strikes weeks later after being promised concessions. The concessions, according to spokespeople, did not materialize and the Inter-ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Amazon or AIDESEP renewed the struggle in April with the help of 40,000 indigenous peoples. As the blockades and counter-measures unfolded, some allies have responded with protests of their own. One of the more highly visible actions took place in New York City May 23 in front of the Peruvian Mission to the United Nations."
Read the entire article in Indian Country Today:
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/home/content/47043272.html
Video: Peru's indigenous groups vow to fight for land - 12 Jun 09 Al Jazeera
More articles on this topic
Peru moves to reconcile with protesting indigenous peoples
"Peru’s government is moving toward reconciliation with the indigenous peoples after two months of rioting and protest that left over fifty people dead. The government of President Alan García wants to delay the implementation of two plans to open parts of the Peruvian Amazon to foreign investment.
Related articles
ROMANIAN GYPSIES ATTACKED IN NORTHERN IRELAND
Related links
CHINA BEGINS BUILDING A SECOND RAILWAY TO TIBET
by the crossing of the Caihong Railway Bridge
along the Qinghai-Tibet railway
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Blog Archive
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2009
(16)
-
▼
June
(15)
- The California Valley Miwok Tribe needs your help ...
- The genocide on Native Americans
- A glimpse of native European history
- Arrival of first Native Americans
- Native Americans pursue the return of ancestral re...
- Native foods endangered by GMO foods
- Remote Aboriginal settlements to be shut down
- California Valley Miwok tribal eviction in process...
- Australian Aboriginals state their rights in Darwi...
- Akaka Bill debate renewed (Hawaii)
- US Senate apologizes for slavery - is that all?
- International protests against Peruvian forest laws
- Peru moves to reconcile with protesting indigenous...
- ROMANIAN GYPSIES ATTACKED IN NORTHERN IRELAND
- CHINA BEGINS BUILDING A SECOND RAILWAY TO TIBET
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▼
June
(15)
About Me
- Cosmic Eagles
- Poem to the God who Voids my Languishing... I am rather faithless... That the God of the faiths that's... The god of religions... Is the God of my visions... The God of my love... I mean the God of the peace dove... And the God of eternity... Who casts all in velocity... Moves us to do good... The Creator who's our root... Conjures all into harmony... Abhors affections for money... The God of my heart... Who stands as my guard... Is for us to discover... For all lives to recover... Leaves me wondering... Pondering... Wondering and pondering... I have to make me new... Each morning, a fresh dew... Oh God, blow into this existence... Your winds to delete all resistance... So we may hear your language... And we need no more to languish...