Author Archive

Keystone XL Rejection: Indigenous Resistance Exults, Trudeau ‘Disappointed’

Indian Country: Indigenous activists and environmentalists hailed President Barack Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline on Friday November 6, calling it a victory for Mother Earth and a step toward shutting down the Alberta oil sands entirely. “In the fight against Keystone XL our efforts as indigenous peoples, whether Lakota, Dakota, Assiniboine, Ponca, Cree, Dene or other, has always been in the defense of Mother Earth and the sacredness of the water,” said Tom Goldtooth, head of the Indigenous Environmental...

10 Powerful Images from Mauna Kea

Indian Country: Dennis Miller Photography has set up a Facebook page called We Are Mauna Kea to document what’s been happening on the sacred mountain, where protectors recently were able to stop construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope “until further notice.” We wanted to call attention to some of these powerful images, which the page calls “reflections of aloha and of a people fighting for the protection of sacred lands.” The page says the images are meant to “support this integral effort to preserve pristine...

PBS Sacred Site Documentary to Detail Roadmap Mauna Kea Victory

Indian Country: This April, Craig Neff was among 31 Native Hawaiians and supporters from around the world who were arrested for blockading the construction crews headed to the summit of the sacred mountain Mauna Kea, where an international coalition of scientists and universities had been authorized by the state of Hawaii to build the massive, $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). The wave of social media and news reports that followed the arrests represented a crescendo for the burgeoning movement to protect...

4 Ways Show Your Support for Mauna Kea

Indian Country: The construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), which would be a huge structure on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, has sparked strong feelings among Native Hawaiians, who believe the mountain to be sacred. Many have been protesting the project since March 30. “We are not going to stop until this issue is brought to a halt,” said Jon Osorio, professor in the Hawai‘inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, at a press conference following a university walk-out, which...

Video: Dancing & Rallying for Mauna Kea

Indian Country: Thousands are rallying atop Mauna Kea to make sure the Thousand Meter Telescope is not built, but that’s not all it’s about. “It is a rally call that has unified our people, the Hawaiian community,” says protester Hina Wong in the video, posted by KITV on YouTube on April 13. Wong goes on to say that this isn’t just about a telescope, “This is really about our political status, our rights as a Native people of this land.” “So much strength gathered today, so much mana gathered… the power of...

Treaty Council Calls for US and International Support for Mauna Kea

Indian Country: The International Indian Treaty Council has issued a statement calling for international support to stop the desecration of Native Hawaiians’ sacred Mauna Kea Mountain. The statement also calls on the United States to abide by its international obligation to protect human rights and Indigenous Peoples’ sacred sites. The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) is a 41-year-old non-governmental organization of Indigenous Peoples from North, Central and South America, the Caribbean and the Pacific...

Ozone layer could be further depleted by thunderstorms, scientists say

Indian Country: What do climate change, ultraviolet radiation and ozone have in common? Thunderstorms. Maybe. Scientists are positing a possible link between the three based on a new study. The logic goes something like this: Summer thunderstorms in the U.S. inject water vapor much higher in the atmosphere than anyone realized. The result is a “cascade of chemical reactions,” as the journal Nature put it, that may, coupled with global warming, punch more holes in the ozone layer. More holes in the ozone...

Drought grips U.S., including Indian country

Indian Country: Two-thirds of the United States is gripped in drought, the most severe bout since the 1950s, the National Climatic Data Center says in its latest report. June’s hot, dry weather not only spawned devastating wildfires but is also hitting the cornbelt, USA Today reported, and we can expect to see that reflected in food prices later in the year. “In the 18 primary corn-growing states, 30 percent of the crop is now in poor or very poor condition,” meteorologist Rich Tinker of the Climate Prediction...