Petition Tag - indigenous

Affirming that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are equal to all other peoples, while recognizing the right of all peoples to be different, to consider themselves different, and to be respected as such; and

Recalling that Australia, in responding to the recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review at the United Nation’s Human Rights Council’s seventeenth session on 31 May 2011, committed to formally considering becoming a party to International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (ILO 169); and

Recalling that in April 2009, Australia supported the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ‘in the spirit of re-setting the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and building trust’; and

Noting the positive effect that ILO 169 has had on those Indigenous peoples living within or otherwise impacted upon by those nation states that have ratified the Convention, including Norway.

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The creators of any Aboriginal Racist Facebook pages are described as a potential breach of Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act and should remove all of the controversial pages.

The racist pages portray Aboriginal people as inferior drunks who sniff petrol and bludge off welfare and that’s only half the stuff what people are commenting.
The material is offensive and is depicting a whole race of people in a way that's negative, that's ridiculing them, that's mocking them and is offensive.

This petition is to get Facebook to remove the material, review guidelines about what the threshold is on racism and how racism is depicted on the Facebook site.

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We condemn the attack on Subanen tribal chieftain Timuay Lucenio Manda, which has resulted in the death of his 11-year-old son Jordan Manda. We call on President Benigno Aquino and DILG Secretary Mar Roxas to investigate the ambush and bring the perpetrators to justice.

For the past three years, Timuay Manda has received death threats because of his refusal to give free prior and informed consent (FPIC) to mining and logging companies. He also joined the filing of a petition for the Writ of Kalikasan to protect the Pinukis Range Forest, which is included in the claims of several mining companies. Mt. Pinukis is considered a sacred mountain by the Subanen tribe.

We call on every one to give support to our indigenous brothers and sisters, who stand in the front lines to protect Mother Nature. We call on the Philippine government, especially the Philippine National Police (PNP), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.

We call on President Benigno Aquino to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and to hold mining companies accountable for their human rights abuses against IPs and other citizens. End the culture of impunity! Stop extra-judicial killings! Protect the rights and lives of Indigenous Peoples!

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School are in need of an Educational Resource to teach Indigenous Cultures in the classroom in a respectful yet easy to use approach.

The new Australian Curricular places a heavy focus on Indigenous Cultural studies. Sharing Culture is an Indigenous Owned business that provides a voice to Indigenous Elders and ensures IP is held by the communities to which the knowledge belongs. The program provides a Two Way Learning opportunity but requires funding to extend the delivery of the service into ALL schools.

This petition is to showcase to the Government and funding partners the level of interest and need for Sharing Culture in schools.

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The Barefoot Rugby League Show has been produced by an Indigenous production company Maling Productions. For the last four years the Panel program profiles Rugby League from The NRL NSW Cup, Intrust Super Cup QLD & Grassroots rugby league. Including visits to remote Aboriginal Communities.

Hosted by Indigenous staff members, Brad Cooke & David Peachey with feature stories covered by Paula Maling.

This program has been the most popular program and highest rating program on The National Indigenous Television service for the past four years.

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One third of the NT population are indigenous and hold the linguistic future of Australia’s Indigenous Languages in their hearts and minds. But cannot alone control of the policies of assimilation to English only imposed on them promoting the death of our 50,000 year old Indigenous language heritage.

Linguistic diversity is part of the diversity of life and the loss of these languages threatens the cultural traditions and the fabric of local knowledge linguistic and biological diversity, making the world more fragile, more vulnerable, with less to hope for in the future.

Article 14.1 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, to which Australia is a signatory, says:

“Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning.”

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The Crocodile Islands Rangers are the last line of defence for the breeding and nesting sites of endangered species, heritage areas, endangered indigenous language and traditional ecological knowledge, the jewel of countless generations of intimate co-existence with the marine environment in the Northern Territory of Australia.

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PLEASE SUPPORT INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO EQUITABLE SUPPORT TO LIVE ON THEIR HOMELANDS AND PASS ON THEIR LANGUAGES.

THE NORTHER TERRITORY HOMELANDS:

The shining light of indigenous opportunity is the 500 homelands across the NT. These homelands are the key to the inter-generational transmission of the languages and culture of the first Australians and unique to this continent.

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For the past 25 years thousands of poor Cameroonians have been subjected to serious human rights abuses by Baba Ahmadou Danpullo a powerful multi-millionaire commercial rancher and a member of the Central Committee of the ruling CPDM Party, who travels on a Cameroon Diplomatic Passport!

As the biggest landowner after the state in the NW Region, he uses police, gendarmes, courts and government officials to persecute defenceless subsistence farmers, cattle herders, opposition activists and human rights defenders.

In 2003, the Office of the President of Cameroon ordered an investigation into these exactions. Hundreds of victims gave testimonies to the Jani Commission but since then the recommendations of the Commission have not been implemented by the Prime Minister’s Office.

The exactions include the following:

1. Illegal displacement of small-scale Kom, Kedjum and Esu farmers and Mbororo cattle herders from Ndawara area without compensation.

2. Illegal expropriation of small-scale farming and grazing lands; confiscation of properties in parts of North-West Region and systematic violation of all administrative and judicial decisions to resolve these conflicts.

3. Contested acquisition of Bakweri lands in Fako Division, South-West Region for his CTE tea plantations.

4. Use of his private TV station, Danpullo Broadcasting System (DBS) TV broadcasting across Cameroon and some African countries to attack indigenous groups he considers a threat to his land grab agendas. For example, in recent TV broadcasts his agents savagely attacked ‘Pygmies’ in an unprecedented xenophobic and racist outburst of its kind on TV in Cameroon.

5. Illegal interference and imposition of Ardos (Mbororo community leaders) across Cameroon creating community tensions e.g.in Sabga, North-West and Bertoua in the East Regions.

6. Systematic harassment, slander, arbitrary arrests, illegal detentions, trumped up charges and imprisonment of human rights activists and campaigners.

7. Forced marriages of Mbororo girls including those under 15 years, the legal minimum age for marriage for girls, harassment of any eventual partners and families of his ‘ex-partners’.

8. Systematic and sustained efforts to undermine Mbororo identity, dignity and self-organisation e.g. continuous effort to erase the name ‘Mbororo’ and to get the Mbororo organisation MBOSCUDA banned or dissolved.

9. Illegal establishment and operation of a Sharia Court in his private premises (Ndawara Alkali Court) – use of the ‘court’ to ‘try’ Mbororo herders including justification for illegal confiscation of their cattle.

10. Use of the Societe de Developpement d'Elevage et du Commerce (SODELCO) which is falsely portrayed as a ‘socio-cultural association’ to perpetrate xenophobia, oppress indigenous activists, advance his political and economic hegemony, as well as extorting money and cattle from Mbororo people by way of ‘shares’.

11. Destruction and obstruction of communal water resources and environmental pollution from pesticides and chemicals drained into water sources from ELBA Ranches.

Further information:

Justice and Dignity Website: http://www.justice-dignity.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JusticenDignity?sk=wall

You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/justiceanddignity1

Commission des droits de l'homme - Le Rapporteur spécial conjointement avec le Rapporteur Spécial sur l’indépendance des juges et des avocats et la Représentante spéciale du Secrétaire Général concernant la situation des défenseurs des droits de l’homme, a attiré l’attention du Gouvernement du Cameroun sur la situation des éleveurs Mbororos du Cameroun. Pages 24-28 (119-139): http://tinyurl.com/bmtvrw8

CAMEROON: Millionaire rancher probed for seizing land and cattle from tribesmen: http://tinyurl.com/cb6rm5d

Anti 'Pygmy' and Mbororo Hate Propaganda on DBS TV: http://tinyurl.com/dyvtdoh

UN Human Rights Council Denounces Ill-treatment Of Mbororos:http://tinyurl.com/d4ga6ey

L'ONU - Commission des droits de l'homme - Rapport soumis par le Rapporteur Spécial en application de la résolution 1998/38. Cf: Annexe II, (11) (17) & (53) Ardo Duni, Adamu Dohma, Mallam Dewa, Sarli Sardou Nana: http://tinyurl.com/cg374ou

The Rey Bouba of Ndawara: http://tinyurl.com/cugba6b

Cameroon: L'Onu interpelle le gouvernement sur les exactions dont seraient victimes la communauté Mbororo: http://tinyurl.com/c7qs2e7

Submission of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative for the Universal Periodic Review of Cameroon. See C(6) Minority rights: http://tinyurl.com/c4eaw7h

"Terror campaign" against Cameroonian herders: http://tinyurl.com/cnxhyay

Amnesty Internation: Detention without charge/Fear of Torture or ill-treatment: http://tinyurl.com/cwehf7v

Survival International: Cameroon: Mbororo Land Campaigners Freed: http://tinyurl.com/d5ak2b3

Bakweri Lands Claims Committee Documents: http://tinyurl.com/ce24n9w

Survival - Cameroon: four men arrested and tortured: http://tinyurl.com/bo9qz8w

Cultural Survival - Mbororo Appeal Acquittal in Torture Case: http://tinyurl.com/czk4ypg

CAMEROON: Amnesty International, Survival protest Mbororo arrests: http://tinyurl.com/cxzkz9j

Statement, 9th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples: http://tinyurl.com/d7thwvv

U.S. Embassy Cable on Sabga Lamidat: http://tinyurl.com/d6kbexw

Controversy surrounds BAD's acquisition of CDC Tea Estates:http://tinyurl.com/cgy4whe

Danpullo at the Origin of Babanki Fondom Crisis leading to the murder of Fon Vugah
The crisis started when the Fon sold land to Danpullo. The matter went to court and the verdict was in favour of the Babanki farmers. The then Governor of the NW Province created a Commission that granted the farmers circa FCFA 50 million, which Danpullo was asked to pay and leave the farmlands. He snubbed the decision. Details here:
http://tinyurl.com/cfl4nar

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Chevron a world company which resulted in an oilspill in the Amazon rainforest, which killed thousands possibly millions of animals and people living in the rainforest.

They also caused sorrow to and orphaned thousands more. Now they have vowed never to clean up their toxic mess. This is their mess and they should clean it up before any more lives are lost.

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The Map workshops are facilitated by Wisdom in Your Life Enterprises and provide a set of practical tools for improving self-care. The Map focuses on helping participants to be more aware and manage their mental and emotional state so that they can better take care of themselves and others around them.

The workshops are hands-on and suitable for Elders, health professionals and community members. Through art, music, stories, pictures, dance and acting participants learn how to become strong in themselves, their culture and their family.

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In 2006 the Human Rights Council began reviewing the human rights record of all 192 members of the UN as part of the new Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process. This involves a systematic peer review of all types of human rights in all countries belonging to the UN every four years. The initial review of all countries will be completed in 2011.

On 27 January 2011 Australia was reviewed by a Working Group of the Human Rights Council. Thirty of the 145 recommendations for Australia to improve human rights referred directly to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Many other recommendations will also impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Australia has yet to accept or reject any recommendations choosing instead, to formally respond at the June 2011 session of the Human Rights Council.

This is an opportunity for us as Australians to hold our Government accountable to the international human rights standards accepted by the rest of the world.

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Tell the Alberta and Canadian Governments to ensure Treaty rights are protected by ensuring Indigenous Baseline Water Flow needs are upheld within an Athabasca River water policy!

A long overdue report released December 9th titled 'As Long as the Rivers Flow: Athabasca River Knowledge, Use and Change' outlines how Treaty rights for the Indigenous people of the Athabasca Chipewyan and Mikisew Cree Nations have been undermined by increasingly low water quality and quantity within the Athabasca river. It points out concerns with the impacts of climate change and industrial development along the river, and makes specific requests with regards to water use and future tar sands development.

The report requests that water management plans for the river must assess the impacts on Treaty Rights and incorporate any rights- based recommendations including an Aboriginal Baseline Flow (ABF) and Aboriginal Extreme Flow (AXF) to guide management of oil sands-related water withdrawals from the Athabasca River. The report identified an initial ABF of approximately 1600 cubic meters of water (m3/s) and an AXF of 400 m3/s, subject to further monitoring and refinement.

At the moment the suggested in-stream extreme water flows for the Athabasca river is only 87m3/s - an amount more than 4 times lower than required by Indigenous people in the region.

The Athabasca river has seen decreasing water quantity and quality over the past 30+ years. The river is directly impacted by a massive hydro project, pulp and paper mills and the largest industrial project on the planet - the Tar Sands.

Low river flows not only inhibit the ability of people to travel on the rivers, but also contribute to a lower quality of water as concentration of pollutants increase, directly impacting the drinking water needed for plants, animals and people living in the region. Water allocations for the tar sands mining and insitu operations account from 76% of the water extracted from the Athabasca River each year. Plans for expansion will see the demand for water increase by more than 50%. Together, the planned and existing tar sands projects are expected to withdraw 529 million cubic metres of water from the Athabasca annually, more water than is used each year by the City of Toronto, which has a population greater than 2,500,000.

The time is now for action to ensure Treaty Rights are protected and that a high level of water is ensured for the health of the Athabasca river and ecosystems!

At present in the Athabasca River there are no protections or prioritization of water rights for the ecosystem, Treaty Rights or local community needs before that of the burgeoning industrial interests in the area. Any development of a water management framework provides an opportunity to ensure protections and prioritizations of water rights are made. In a region with increasing water scarcity and the largest industrial project on the planet, we can afford nothing less!

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On August 30, 2010, a partly Deaf Native American man, John T. Williams, was shot and killed by Officer Ian Birk of the Seattle police, after Williams was seen crossing Boren Avenue at Howell Street with a folding 3-inch carving knife and wooden board.


John T. Williams, courtesey of Chief Seattle Club

Williams was standing 9 to 10 feet away when Officer Birk, a rookie officer with just two years of experience, stopped his cruiser, got out, and shouted orders at him to drop the knife three times before he fatally shot Williams in the chest four times. The confrontation lasted less than 1 minute.

Williams was of the Ditidaht First Nation, a member nation of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth, and came from a long line of Indigenous American artists in the First Nations who carved wood. It is legal in Seattle to carry a 3 inch knife or shorter. Williams sold his small totem carvings at the Pike Place Market. It was widely known in the local community that Williams was deaf in one ear and had great difficulty in communicating with people. He was known to wear headphones or ear buds.

After initial reports that Williams advanced on Officer Birk, the Seattle Police Department said they could no longer be sure that had occurred and Williams had not moved threateningly towards Officer Birk.

The Seattle Police Department is now investigating but has released no information. The Seattle Police Department has been facing controversy in the aftermath of some recent brutality cases (cops abused a Hispanic suspect & called him “Mexican piss”, another incident where Seattle cops punched a 17 years old girl for jaywalking, not to mention 5 deaths in 1 week caused by Seattle cops).

Here are some important facts:

1. Williams was shot four times in the chest, which is brutal, excessive force.
2. The confrontation lasted less than 1 minute.
3. Officer Birks reacted too quickly.
4. Williams was killed in the afternoon in broad daylight at 4.30 pm.
5. Williams was partly deaf and unable to understand Officer Birk’s orders from 9 to 10 feet away.
6. It has been a long-lasting established tradition for Native Americans to be carving wood on the streets of Seattle, which has a large Indigenous population. It’s not unusual for Native Americans to carry knives around in Seattle.

William’s sudden, tragic death at the hands of the Seattle Police Department is a serious reminder that any Deaf person’s life could be in danger should a situation with the police ever arise.

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I write on behalf of the Alyawarr people of Central Australia, as authorised by their kinsman and nominated spokesperson, Richard Downs.

The Alyawarr are leading a gathering of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Alice Springs during 6-9 July 2010 to protest against racism and the Intervention, and discuss ways of approaching these issues. They seek your support.

Three years after the Intervention was hurriedly implemented without consultation on the back of the Little Children Are Sacred report, and without incorporating the vast majority of the report’s recommendations, there is little evidence that the Intervention has achieved or will achieve its stated outcomes. The Alyawarr people are protesting against the Intervention as it has worsened their lives and community, and is clearly a racist policy.

The Alyawarr have walked off their prescribed community of Ampilatawatja and set up a protest camp on country. They are fighting for the Intervention to be rolled back, and for Aboriginal people to be allowed to direct their own lives with dignity and respect. They are resisting being pushed from pillar to post by government actions that, whatever their intention, result in further disadvantage, the indignity of compulsory income management and loss of control of their own community.

The Alyawarr elders are seeking your support for the Alyawarr people and the Intervention Walkoff. You can support them in two ways:

· attending or sending a representative/s to the Alice Springs gathering
· writing a letter of support, or agreeing to be a signatory to either of the ones enclosed

The Alyawarr people appreciate your consideration in this matter. Their action is a grass-roots movement, and your support will be significant. As anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, “A small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Find out more:

· Alice Springs gathering, 6-9 July 2010 www.defendingindigenousrights.wordpress.com

· Alyawarr Intervention Walkoff
www.interventionwalkoff.wordpress.com

· Contact Richard Downs on 0428 611 169

Take action:

· Attend the Alice Springs gathering 6-9 July 2010 www.defendingindigenousrights.wordpress.com

· Express your support:
- Write a letter of support. Please email to tammiedavidson17 [at] gmail.com by Monday 5 July 2010 if possible.

- OR be a signatory to the below letter of support - please click on the blue 'Sign the Petition' button below.

Again, thank you for your consideration of this request for support from the Alyawarr people. You can make a difference in the fight against Indigenous inequality. I hope that you or your representative/s will attend the gathering in Alice Springs. I look forward to seeing you there and working together toward achieving equality and justice for Indigenous peoples.

Yours sincerely,

Tammie Davidson
on behalf of

Richard Downs
Alyawarr spokesperson for the Intervention Walkoff
Phone: 0428 611 169

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The United Nations currently recognizes as indigenous any nation that declares itself as such, and according to section 10 of the UN General Assembly’s 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, “indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or territories. No relocation shall take place without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and after agreement on just and fair compensation and, where possible, with the option of return.”

Israel fits all the criteria to be recognized internationally as indigenous natives to the Land of Israel, and the only current requirement is a public declaration from a representative body of the Jewish people, whether it be from Israel’s Knesset, the WZO or even the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria.

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We as aboriginal people want the imports of aboriginal products banned. The imports are "fake" and are being sold as authentic aboriginal products.

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It is a well known fact, due to historical evidence, that the Assyrians are the indigenous people of Iraq. Yet the Assyrians currently do not have any indigenous rights and are suffering as a nation.

On September 13, 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted a non-binding declaration upholding the human, land and resources rights of the world's indigenous people. The declaration, also recognizes the right of indigenous peoples to self-determination and sets global human rights standards for them. It states that native peoples have the right "to the recognition, observance and enforcement of treaties" concluded with states or their successors.

Furthermore, it has been stated in the 111th Congress 1st session Senate resolution "Expressing the sense of the U.S. Senate on religious minorities in Iraq, October 26, 2009: (Whereas it is widely reported that only 500,000 to 700,000 indigenous Christians remain in Iraq as of 2009)". This is a dramatic reduction of the indigenous Assyrians considering that before the latest Iraqi War there were 1.3 million indigenous Assyrians in Iraq. It is worth noting that currently these people are suffering in neighboring countries due to lack of opportunities.

In conclusion, we are asking that you look into this matter so that the Assyrians do not become depleted from their motherland, and they be given their indigenous rights, so that there is a better chance for them to return to Iraq.

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Legislation currently before the Commonwealth Government includes plans to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act which was suspended when the Intervention was introduced into the Northern Territory in June, 2007.

However, this new Act will be a very restricted version to the one which was suspended in 2007. It will NOT have the powers to protect Aboriginal people from the consequences of so-called special measures.

For example, when the RDA was suspended, Aboriginal people had no means of appeal against compulsory acquisition of their land by government on 5-year leases. When this new Act is reinstated, NOTHING WILL CHANGE. There will be no legal avenue to address this issue, or any other issue related to the measures.

Regarding the 5-year leases, former High Court Justice, Michael Kirby, said, "if any other Australians, selected by reference to their race, suffered the imposition on their pre-existing property interests of non-consensual 5-year statutory leases.......it is difficult to believe that a challenge to such a law would fail...."

If this new legislation is implemented, the government will have again failed to keep its promise to Aboriginal people.

Calls to the Australian Government to reinstate an uncompromised Racial Discrimination Act have been ignored.

For Australia to be classified as a racist country is shameful for all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous.

If you wish to assist by conducting your own hard-copy petition, please indicate this in the comments column Thank you.

'concerned Australians'

UPDATE 10 July 2010

Thank you to all who signed this petition. The same petition was also circulated in hard copy and the total number of signatures received was 5,404. The petitions were sent every three or four days over the last two months to the Committee for the Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination at the UN.

There were many signatures from the Northern Territory and this included signatures from almost forty communities: : Willowra, Kalkaringi, Daguragi, Yuendumu, Lajamanu, Utopia, Papunya, Kintore, Nyiripi, Areyonga, Docker River, Ulpanydi, Ti Tree, Santa Theresa, Hermannsburg, Ali Curong, Barron Creek, Mt. Allan, Ampilatwatja, Epenarra, Mungalwurra, Katliwumpa Homeland, Maningrida, Nakara, Mataranka, Galiwin’ku, Nhulunbuy, Tiwi, Yirrkala, Bama, Mairrngatja, Gangan, Raymangirr, Buymarr, Djarrkpi, Baly Baly, Dhalinybuy, Imangara, Suburbs of Alice Springs, Darwin, Katherine and Tennant Creek.

The seventy-seventh session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination will be held at the United Nations Office in Geneva in August 2010. The Australian Government will report to the Committee on the 10th and 11th of the month and non-government organisations, including ‘concerned Australians’ will also provide reports. If you wish to send your own comments to the Committee expressing your own concerns, the email address to write to is ghabtom@ ohchr.org

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Professor James Anaya, United Nations Human Rights Rapporteur, will be visiting Australia during the second half of August.

After his visit, he will be providing the UN Human Rights Council with a report on his assessment of human rights in Australia. The Australian government will be expected to respond.

This is a unique opportunity for us to highlight our concerns about the government's treatment of Aboriginal Australians.

Our government is now planning to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act in the Northern Territory which we welcome, but we are concerned that their proposed changes will still not comply adequately human rights principles.

Our government is conducting inadequate consultations with a view to ensuring Aboriginal people accept the imposition of 'special measures' on those living in the 73 prescribed areas of the Northern Territory.

Under human rights principles people have the right to free, prior and informed consent in relation to any such measures. The extent to which our government's consultation process constitutes such consent is highly dubious.

Help us ensure that Professor Anaya addresses our concerns by adding your name to this open letter.

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As we speak, there exist a life-threatening state of fear and anxiety in a traditional Native American community in Arizona. Big Mountain on Black Mesa is the only place in the United States where two Indian nations can still define cultural coexistence and shared territories, and now have become endangered aboriginal peoples.

The U.S. courts have ordered eviction on the remaining traditional Dineh People and keep the areas sealed and isolated. Peabody Coal Company has taken the last aquifer of clean drinking water that is sacred to the Dineh' and uses it to slurry coal for American citizens.

This leaves the people without access to or maintenance of water wells and subject to other government actions like: limitation or complete denial of crop cultivation and livestock husbandry, community and religious activities, disregard for elder residents’ safety needs to attain wood fuels for heating and cooking, deliberate breaking up of family and clan structures, controlled national media that portray the Big Mountain story as a result of legitimate and humane court decisions, Peabody mines that create daily detonation that causes micro-quakes, and massive emissions of coal dust and engine exhaust.

The United States is allowing this tragedy and genocide to be sustained under the guise that relocation is on a voluntary basis. These traditional resisters hold great knowledge and wisdom of ancient information and natural existence that are culturally irreplaceable, and it is our responsibility to stop the United States and its largest coal-producer, Peabody Energy, from executing this crime against humanity and mega-environmental destruction. It is 2009, will we let the Trail of Tears happen all over again and stand witness to it?

On December 22, 2008, Office of Surface Mining (OSM) issued a record of decision approving Peabody Western Coal Company’s mine permit revision application for the Black Mesa Complex. Through policies such as PL93-531, the U.S. has already forcibly relocated more than 14,000 Dine’ people from their ancestral homelands.

At this moment, the decision makers in Washington D.C. and Peabody Energy are planning ways to expand their occupation of sacred tribal lands to extract mineral & other resources.

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The NT and Federal Governments have withdrawn support for having small schools or what are known as 'outstation learning centres' in the homelands/outstations.

This will inevitably have a worsening effect on Indigenous education, which is woefully problematic already.

Education which is delivered by dedicated teachers and which is relevant to the survival of outstation businesses, organisations and members is vital to a healthy Indigenous society in the remote regions.

This is just another unexamined ploy to force people back into overcrowded and dysfunctional communities under the guise of economic rationalism/expediency.

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In November 2007, Amnesty International published an article highlighting the lack of support and services for Indigenous women and children who are victims of sexual abuse.

Nine males pleaded guilty to raping a ten-year-old Aboriginal girl in the community of Aurukun in Cape York, Queensland in 2006. None of the offenders, who were tried in Queensland District Court, will serve a custodial sentence. Six boys were sentenced to 12-month probation orders, with no convictions recorded, while three others aged 17, 18 and 26 were given suspended sentences.

The Queensland Crown Prosecutor Steve Carted described perpetrators as "naughty" and the act as a "childish experiment" to which the victim willingly consented. In her sentencing statement, Judge Sarah Bradley stated that the girl was "not forced" and "probably agreed to have sex" with the offenders (Pandora, 2007).

In reaction to the verdict in this case, the Queensland Government stood down the QLD Crown Prosecutor, pending an investigation into the handling of the case. The QLD Attorney General, Kerry Sine, has intervened and petitioned for an appeal and a review of 75 similar cases in the last two years.

This incident has now brought attention to the neglect of indigenous females, both adults and children, in the Australian judicial system. Ella-Duncan (2006) states that Aboriginal females are almost two and half times more likely to be victims of child sexual assault than non-Aboriginal females and that data collected only reflects incidents of child sexual assault in Aboriginal communities that are reported and where the Aboriginality of the victim is recorded and that child sexual assault is under reported in Aboriginal communities.

Many Aboriginal girls and women are often neglected by the judicial system as high-lighted in the QLD rape case and demonstrate the urgent need to reform the judicial system to better protect girls' right to live free from violence (Pandora, 2007).

In present day Australia, Human Rights are currently being violated and neglected, as in the instance of the QLD gang rape ruling. This case highlights a need to ensure all legal personnel, including prosecutors and judges, are properly trained to treat violence against women and girls as grave human rights violations.
Like many Aboriginal females before her, this 10 year old girl has endured the degrading and cruel act of rape. Even more horrifying, she was abused by the hands of nine men and boys from within her own community. The decision by the judge to sentence the three men to six months' imprisonment, with the sentence suspended for 12 months, and to place the six teenage juveniles on a 12-month probation order, without a conviction recorded, minimised completely the gravity of the offence and the long-term effects of the offence on the victim and her family.

By bringing this story of social injustice and issues surrounding it such as child sexual assault, Indigenous Rights and the violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, lack of assault and rehabilitation services for indigenous child abuse victims, their families, communities and the perpetrators to the public’s attention will hopefully lead to social and political change within Australia.

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With the culture and history of the traditional custodians of Australia somewhat neglected since colinisation, it is now time to address this imbalance.

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It has flown grandly in triumph and been raised defiantly in the face of defeat.
For centuries it has instilled in schoolchildren their first sense of something
larger than themselves, and it has accompanied countless men and women to
their final resting place.

In American life, it is the closest thing we have to a holy symbol. And it needs to
be changed as soon as possible.

Respect for the United States abroad stands at an all-time low. Once revered as
a bastion of freedom and self-expression, America is increasingly viewed abroad
as a ruthless bully, imposing its will on others not through persuasive ideas but
superior firepower.

Nor is this discontent confined to foreign shores; in recent polls, over 70% of
the American people stated that they believed their country to be headed in the
wrong direction. The collective perspective is calling for positive change. For the
sake of this nation, a new beginning is desperately needed. What better way to
symbolize a new course of action than to alter the very embodiment of that country: the American flag?

We propose changing two of the banner’s white stripes to balanced stripes of
yellow. This is not merely a cosmetic switch. Yellow has powerful connotations
that represent the ideals to which the United States wish to rededicate itself:
wisdom, intelligence, optimism, joy, energy and creativity. To some the idea of
altering the flag’s appearance borders on the heretical. But why is this? The fact
is that the Star-Spangled Banner has worn many faces since it was first
introduced in 1776. The map is not the territory: it is not the cloth or the
design that is sacred but the principles for which they stand.

By adding a new color to the flag, we are announcing to the world that we are
serious about moving in a healthy and sustainable direction. The yellow stripes
will represent a host of new ideas. America is a nation forged from diversity, yet
only two of the primary colors are present in its standard. With the addition of
yellow, all colors of the rainbow will be manifested.

Yellow and blue together create green, which could represent America’s new
commitment to the world environment. The yellow also symbolizes an honoring
of America’s Indigenous population. Our Native brothers and sisters are of
Earth-honoring traditions whose wisdom and knowledge have been tragically
ignored for far too long.

Adding yellow on behalf of America’s Native family would serve to heal the
ancestral wound and balance life perspective as we seek to thrive in peace and
oneness. We also propose that a professional class of environmental stewards be
created, composed primarily of American Indians, whose unemployment levels
are presently catastrophic. Such a step will move the color change beyond the
realm of symbolism and into meaningful real-world change.

The yellow of the rising sun announces the dawn of a new day. The yellow
stripes of a new American flag will similarly make an announcement: that we
are sincere about ushering in an era of respect, determination and reverence as
we address the many and serious problems that know no borders but affect the
entire planet.

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Raoghat needs to be protected if we have to save planet earth.

One of the Newpaper today stated that a MOU to plunder the Raoghat Hills will be signed at Delhi on 6th August,2007.

If at all this projects comes up it will be doomsday to the beautiful flaura and fauna and the rich culture and traditions of the Indigenous people residing in Bastar.

On 3rd july 2007 the Business Community of Narainpur District in North Bastar called for a "Bund"(closure) .The reason was the fight between the Business Communities of Narainpur and Antagarh District for the ownership of Raoghat Township once the Raoghat mines start.

This looks like a well planned conspiracy to divert the mind of the people from the real issues surrounding the RaoGhat Mines and the Rail Project.Is it because this project was rejected in the nineties by the Enviroment and Forest Ministry?Why the State Government feels that now when there is a worlwide concern to save Environment that they will get clearance from the Ministry?

Why are the sentiments of the Indigenous people being completely ignored?

Has anyone bothered to find out about the name "Rao Ghat"?According to the local belief Rao Ghat is home too the Creator of this world Lord "Raja Rao Natraj" and Goddess "Mata Maoli"(sister of Maa Danteshwari) and their family.

Not only the local people come here to worship daily but also they gather in large numbers throughout the year and take out "Jatra"(procession) of the God and Godess.Even lot of foreign tourist come here to enjoy the wonderful eco-system present at Rao Ghat.

So any mining at RaoGhat will be like destroying the God and Goddess of the Tribals thus will come under the SC/ST Atrocities Act of the Constitution of India.

Is the State Government planning a revolt by the Indigenous people so that they can kill and displace more tribals as they have been doing since the start of Salwa Judum??

Just because "Dalli Rajhara" mines are over Bhilai Steel plant now wants "Rao Ghat" mines.What will happen once the "Rao Ghat" mines are also exhausted?

Is it really the BSP which wants the mines or they are playing in the hands of Tata,Essar,Jindal and other Sponge Iron Units of Chhattisgarh? Afterall the "Bailadilla" mines in Dantewada District which belongs to the NMDC is now being allotted to the likes of Tata Steel,Essar Steel and other mining companies?

In the days of Global Warming,Tsunami and Weather Change do we really need to destroy the most beautiful and amazing eco-system still existing in RaoGhat?

Is BSP playing in the hands of Tata and Essar Steel?
Are we not worried that our future generation won't have fresh air to breathe or will there be a future generations at all???

The Locals in Raoghat area have strong belief in their God and Goddess and they feel that if RaoGhat is disturbed it will bring an end to the human race.

Is the State Government and the Government at the Center listening?May be the State Government and the Business Community for once should think about what they are leaving for the future generations and not their immediate gains....

As per the provisions of the Constitution of India, the resolve of the village council is supreme in Bastar District. No body can play with the resolve of the tribal village council. However, contrary to those provisions, state government is acting as the agent of the private industrial houses, did not bothered to educate the tribals about the importance of public hearing at a village council to manage the favorable resolve of the village council.

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On August 4th 2006, there was a gathering of nations at Mato Paha (Bear Butte).

At this summit Lakota, Cheyenne, Arapahoe, and many other indigenous nations from north and south america were present.

At this summit it was decided that the papal bull of 1493 and the 1496 royal charter of the church of England must be recinded.

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The ACCC has accepted the term "Aboriginal Style" to describe non-authentic aboriginal product. It is estimated that about 90% of product sold in retail as Aboriginal product or "Aboriginal Style" is non-authentic product. Quite often this product is imported into Australia.

This confusion in the marketplace undermines the integrity of authentic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander products, threatens the viability of genuine retailers and greatly impinges on the incomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The ban of imports of Aboriginal product and the abolition of the term "Aboriginal Style" will decrease the amount of non-authentic Aboriginal product and greatly increase the opportunities for authentic Aboriginal product to enter the marketplace. In turn, economic returns from Aboriginal products should flow to Aboriginal and Torres Strait people. It will increase consumer confidence and restore integrity in authentic Aboriginal product

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The ACCC has accepted the term "Aboriginal Style" to describe non-authentic aboriginal product. It is estimated that about 90% of product sold in retail as Aboriginal product or "Aboriginal Style" is non-authentic product. Quite often this product is imported into Australia.

This confusion in the marketplace undermines the integrity of authentic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander products, threatens the viability of genuine retailers and greatly impinges on the incomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The ban of imports of Aboriginal product and the abolition of the term "Aboriginal Style" will decrease the amount of non-authentic Aboriginal product and greatly increase the opportunities for authentic Aboriginal product to enter the marketplace. In turn, economic returns from Aboriginal products should flow to Aboriginal and Torres Strait people. It will increase consumer confidence and restore integrity in authentic Aboriginal product.

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This is a petition to urge CBS to apologize for the use of degrading stereotypes on the Thursday September 29, 2005 episode of "Survivor Guatemala".

PETITION TO CBS and Mark Burnett, producer of the reality show "Survivor Guatemala"

As citizens against racism in any form, we are deeply offended by the degrading misrepresentations of Indigenous culture that were broadcast on the CBS primetime show, "Survivor Guatemala". The producers of the show demonstrated a shocking lack of intelligence and sensitivity in airing a program that demeaned and stereotyped a race and culture with a long history of cultural and political struggle in South America, the Mayan Indians.

We are forming this petition to put CBS and its sponsors on notice as to how much business they can loose through repeated racial insensitivity, not just from Indigenous Americans, but from all American consumers who possess a social conscience.

Cause for Petition

1.) CBS has an extremely poor track record in terms of presenting Indigenous cultures respectfully and accurately. In 2004, they broadcast a performance by Outkast which mocked Native Americans by presenting non-Natives in day glow green fringed outfits behaving in an offensive and stereotypical manner. While this performance precipitated cries of outrage from Native Americans around the country, CBS has yet to correct its attitude toward Native Americans. CBS has again demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice sanctity for profit and an unacceptable tolerance for racist stereotypes in its programming choices.

2.) On Thursday, September 29, 2005 "Survivor Guatemala" presented a derogatory depiction of ancient Mayan warriors. The producers intentionally provided the contestants with fake feathers, war paint and Mayan style headbands and encouraged them to engage in the mockery of traditional Mayan customs. The Survivor contestants' callous treatment of Mayan cultural and spiritual imagery, and by extension all Indigenous cultural and spiritual imagery, was insensitive, ignorant and offensive. The producers provided the contestants with materials which were clearly intended to impose a North American Plains Indian stereotype on a distinct South American culture and to imply that all Indigenous cultures are inter-changeable. Neither the contestants nor the viewing public, were educated as to the richness and complexity of Mayan culture. The producers of "Survivor Guatemala" failed to honestly research the true spiritual and cultural significance of the objects used to objectify Mayan people and culture. This spectacle amounted to nothing more than a 21st Century Minstrel show.

3.) The producers of the show have been exploiting the Mayan aesthetic throughout the season. They have been actively encouraging the contestants to adopt the harmful stereotype of Mayan Indians as superstitious savages and promoting the racist and culturally uninformed perceptions of anthropologists and missionaries over the interpretations of contemporary Indigenous scholars. The traditions, history and culture of Indigenous Guatemalans have been used throughout the season as a mere gimmick for a trivial entertainment show and exploited for their entertainment value.

4.) There are currently NO redeeming Native American characters on the CBS network nor has there ever been a Native American contestant on "Survivor". Throughout CBS's programming, Native Americans are almost never depicted as contemporary citizens with something valuable to contribute to society.

5.) CBS continues to offer programming where stereotypes dominate in portrayals of Native Americans and to cater to the racist expectations of an uninformed public. They violate their own stated goals regarding diversity in trivializing and distorting Mayan culture for American consumption.

6.) The producers of Survivor have been irresponsible in failing to present the realities of everyday life of contemporary Mayan Indians living in Guatemala. They offered the legitimate political and cultural leaders of this community, no control over their own ethnic identity.

The Harm of Broadcasting Racist Stereotypes.

CBS is a major network with the obligation to use the public airwaves responsibly. Survivor, clearly the most blatantly racist show on network television, has ignored its obligation to respect and reflect the diversity of the public it serves. Instead, the producers have chosen to project negative stereotypes into millions of American homes. The distortion of Indigenous values to conform to the formula for a reality show, the use of campy immunity idols and other imagery and the deliberate objectification of a politically powerless cultural minority is damaging to everyone who views it.

It reinforces existing misconceptions and racial stereotypes in the non-Native population and it imposes additional barriers for Native youth in developing positive identities and in acquiring the self esteem necessary for full participation in American society.

When the producers of Survivor encourage non-Native contestants to appropriate Mayan culture for the sole purpose of winning $1 million dollars, they have every incentive to reproduce derogatory stereotypes for the audience's entertainment and no incentive to put any effort into respectfully learning about and appreciating the diversity and complexity of Indigenous cultures.

This teaches the viewing audience that it is acceptable to rely on stereotypical images and that no effort to discover the richness and inherent value of Indigenous cultures is necessary.

It further reinforces the idea that Native Americans need not be treated as full human beings and that it is acceptable to use them as fodder for play-acting. CBS has hypocritically ignored its stated commitment to promoting diversity and commoditized Mayan heritage in order to sell blockbuster movies, running shoes and automobiles. This corporate racial insensitivity is unacceptable.

Our Demands

We call on CBS and the producers of Survivor Guatemala to take immediate steps to mitigate the harm they have done by airing this episode on national television. We urge CBS to abandon its hypocrisy and follow its own diversity statement.

As broadcasters, CBS should aim to ensure that the national viewing audience is reflected accurately and respectfully in ALL its programming.

1.) The producers of Survivor and anyone responsible for providing the contestants with feathers and war paint should make a thoughtful and genuine apology on the program as soon as possible.

2.) CBS should end all non-Native portrayals of Native American culture. All information about Native culture should be presented only after the producers have sought out the consent, advice and permission from authentic Native American cultural and political leaders.

3.) Any information about Indigenous culture should be presented fairly and accurately in its proper cultural context. More Indigenous voices should be included in CBS's programming. A sincere effort should be made to include contemporary Native playwrights, film-makers, poets and rap artists in special programming designed to inform the audience about the realities of contemporary Indigenous American life as well as the historical foundations of existing racist stereotypes. Native people should be allowed an opportunity to express their own culture in their own voices.

4.) CBS should also make a sincere effort to include positive Native American role models in its programming, to broadcast Native produced programs and to include Native American actors as contestants in reality shows and as actors in its programs.

The Survivor Guatemala challenge was as appropriate as having a "Sambo" challenge for Survivor Africa. The Play-acting of stereotypes of Native American people is inexcusable in primetime American television.

We the undersigned will no longer tolerate cultural symbols used in such an insensitive and garish manner. We believe that the exploitation of cultural beliefs and symbols for entertainment must not go unchallenged.

If the producers of Survivor Guatemala do not make amends for their mockery of Indigenous culture, we will boycott the sponsors of the show. We also call on CBS to take definite steps to stop all its programming that depicts any racial group in a derogatory light.

We demand that CBS adopt and implement plans to air programs which emphasize cultural sensitivity and awareness and to refrain from ever again using racial stereotypes as a source of entertainment.

The undersigned

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