Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

January 21, 2011

Censored: Top stories for week Jan 21, 2011

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Secrecy and freedom of speech were in the media spotlight this week. Wikileaks continued to release diplomatic cables revealing that the US trains Chilean police and the FBI investigates Indigenous activists in Chile. New cable releases from Iceland, reveal the United States' maneuvers to halt passage of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Censored News has new articles on both.
The top news stories at Censored News this week were "Law firm apologizes for insulting Yaqui prayer at Arizona Memorial," "Kahentinetha Horn: Resistance," and "Navajos protest uranium-funded inauguration."
Another article topping the list this week: Grassroots Navajos join legal actions to halt the pollution from Navajo power plants, defiling the air over their homeland and national parks, including the Grand Canyon. In Tucson, three people were arrested at Davis-Monthan Airforce Base protesting US drones and depleted uranium. The protest was on Monday, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.
On the right to free speech, Harlan McKosato, Sac and Fox and host of Native America Calling, speaking on the national live radio show, questioned if there is a double standard in this country, one for whites and another for people of color.
"While Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin can say anything they want, it seems that an Indian scholar doesn’t enjoy the same rights to free speech," McKosato said.
"Professor, historian and activist Waziyatawin (Dakota), also known as Dr. Angela Wilson, received calls from the FBI after she gave a speech in which she told students : “It’s time for American Indians to abandon symbolic demonstrations. We're going to need to take a different kind of action … we're going to need to recover our land base, by any means necessary."
During Thursday's live show, Waziyatawin said the best way to deal with the FBI is to make everything public, because they deal in fear and intimidation. When one radio caller expressed the desire for everyone to just all get along, the Dakota activist said it is naive to believe that genocide and land theft are a thing of the past. It continues today.
Censored News has readers in 189 countries. The largest number of readers this week were from: US, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom and France. Welcome to our newest readers from the Cayman Islands.
Here's this week's top stories at Censored News:
Law firm apologizes for insulting Yaqui prayer at Arizona Memorial
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/01/law-firm-apologizes-for-insulting-yaqui.html
Mohawk Kahentinetha Horn: Resistance
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/01/mohawk-kahentinetha-horn-resistance.html
Censored: Navajos protest uranium-funded inauguration
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/01/censored-navajos-protest-uranium-funded.html
Navajos join legal action against Navajo power plants pollution
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/01/navajos-join-legal-action-against.html
Tucson protest drones and depleted uranium: Three arrested honoring Martin Luther King, Jr:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/01/tucson-protest-drones-and-depleted.html
New articles: WIKI: Iceland's support of Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was 'impediment' to US/Iceland relations at the UN and WIKI: US investigates Indigenous Peoples and trains police in Chile
Censored News

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