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(Video published with permission. Credit: Marley Shebala)

Window Rock, AZ — On August 14, 2015 dozens of Diné (Navajo) took action to resist U.S. Senator John McCain’s attempts to steal precious water and desecrate sacred lands. McCain had private meetings scheduled at the Navajo Nation capitol with Diné and state politicians which included discussion of the controversial Navajo-Hopi Little Colorado River water rights settlement.

Dine-protest-john-mccain

Diné youth for a sit-in blocking the site where McCain was planning on meeting. Credit: Anon

Nearly a dozen Diné youth took action by chanting and linking arms in a roving sit-in at the Nation Nation museum where the meeting was to be held. The group was supported by dozens of other Diné community advocates who held signs such as, “John McCain = Indian Killer” and “Save Oak Flat.”

“Walking through our homeland has given us a deeper understanding of protecting the sacred, defending our homeland.” stated Nihígaal bee Iiná participants who were a significant part of the action on Friday, “Even if that means disrupting secret meetings with crooked politicians. We will no longer sit back, we will protect our water, land and livelihood for children, our grandchildren and honor our ancestors by any means necessary! WATER IS LIFE!”

At one point state and Tribal police blocked demonstrators from leaving the museum building. An elder intervened opening the door allowing the group to pursue after McCain’s convoy yelling, “Get off our land!” Police blocked access to the airport where McCain quickly departed. Despite heavy law enforcement presence, no arrests were made.

McCain has long established himself as an enemy of Indigenous lifeways. From furthering forced relocation on Black Mesa for coal mining (S.1003), political support for ski area desecration of the Holy San Francisco Peaks, to his most recent attack against San Carlos Apache Holy lands at Oak Flat for copper mining, McCain has long placed corporate interests over Diné and other Indigenous Nation’s survival.

McCain protested at Window Rock. Credit: Anon

McCain protested at Window Rock. Credit: Anon

In the face of ecological and climate crises, McCain and a handful of Navajo political collaborators continue to further extreme pollution from fracking, coal mining, and Coal-Fired power plants operating on the Navajo Nation. These actions appears to contradict other ecologically responsible measures such as the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act of 2005, which banned uranium mining and processing on Navajo lands, the 5 Year plan to clean up abandoned uranium mines, and the recently declared a state of emergency due to the Gold King mine disaster which threatens sacred and vital water ways such as the San Juan and Colorado.

This statement was issued on the day of the action by Collective voice of those united in solidarity, “NO MORE ALLOWING state or federal politicians and the corporations they represent entrance into our homelands. Those who are responsible for our people being poisoned, starved, kept in poverty and removed from our sacred territories, are not welcomed here!! We will take back our power and restore our homelands, take care of our water, protect our people and our sacred sites, and mentor a new generation of youth that will change this paradigm of exploitation and greed!”

Press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – August 14, 2015
Contact: navajoghostbusters@gmail.com

Citizens Demand Transparency and Protection of Diné Water Security

Window Rock, Arizona- Friday August 14th, 2015 a group of intergenerational Diné Citizens concerned about the intention of John McCain’s visit to the Navajo Nation staged a peaceful protest. Utilizing the power of song and prayer, a small group staged a sit-in in the room where the congregation was supposed to take place. A second group took position outside of the museum to greet elected Navajo officials, requesting them to stand strong as leaders.

“We were there to let our voice and presence be known that our water will never be given away and our rights, gifted to us by Diné Diyiin and Nihima Nahasdzaan, will not be taken away.” – Indigenize

Navajo Nation Speaker Lorenzo Bates and Arizona Senator Carlyle Begaye invited Senator John McCain to the Navajo Nation to meet with several Navajo Nation Council delegates—a meeting that was closed to the public. Despite the stated purpose of McCain’s visit to attend the annual Navajo Code Talker’s Celebration as a speaker,

MaCain spent the majority his four hour Window Rock visit in the company of Speaker Lorenzo Bates and Senator Carlyle Begaye. Senator McCain and Senator Carlyle face ongoing criticism for their close affiliation with corporate entities, particularly in the area of energy and mineral development, which has predominately disadvantaged Native American tribes throughout the Southwest. Navajo citizen’s demands for protection of existing water claims are framed within larger assertions of sovereignty over land and resources and Speaker Lorenzo Bate’s actions are contrary to these goals. A primary message of today’s protest was the centrality of water for Diné existence—both physically and spiritually. The use of drum and prayer during the demonstration was especially effective in gathering public affirmation and support.

“We would really like to thank the Code Talkers and their Families for gifting us with food and water, and taking time to learn about why we were here. It was beautiful seeing the younger generations and their grandmothers supporting the code talkers and extending that support to us when we shared with them what we were there for.” – Diné Advocate

It is evident that “business as usual” politics are no longer accepted and that greater accountability of all elected officials is demanded by those who understand the sacredness of Water. Water connects all life, connects all communities and connects all struggles.

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The Supreme Court Ruled Against Diné water rights. Surprised?

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This is how resource colonialism operates.

Excerpts from Covid-19, Resource Colonialism & Indigenous Resistance by Klee Benally

Approximately 33% of Diné have no running water or electricity.

For 41 years coal mining operations on Black Mesa consumed 1.2 billion gallons a year of water from the Navajo aquifer beneath the area. Although the mines are now closed and the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) coal-fired power plant they fed is also shuttered, the impacts to health, the environment, and vital water sources in the area have been severe.

Since 1974 US congress has attempted to forcibly relocate Diné from this area.

The NGS project was initially established with the purpose of providing power to pump water to the massive metropolitan areas of Phoenix and Tucson.

For decades, while powerlines criss-crossed over Diné family’s homes and water was pumped hundreds of miles away for swimming pools and golf courses, thousands of Diné went without running water and electricity.

Today there are currently more than 20,000 natural gas wells and thousands more proposed in and near the Navajo Nation in the San Juan Basin.

The US EPA identifies the San Juan Basin as “the most productive coalbed methane basin in North America.” In 2007 alone, corporations extracted 1.32 trillion cubic feet of natural gas from the area, making it the largest source in the United States.

Halliburton, who “pioneered” hydraulic fracturing in 1947, has initiated “refracturing” of wells in the area. Fracking also wastes and pollutes an extreme amount of water. A single coalbed methane well can use up to 350,000 gallons, while a single horizontal shale well can use up to 10 million gallons of water.

The Navajo Nation government supports these leases including around the sacred area of Chaco Canyon.

The San Juan Basin is also viewed as “the most prolific producer of uranium in the United States.”

In 1979 the single largest accidental release of radioactivity occurred on Diné Bikéyah at the Church Rock uranium mill. More than more than 1,100 tons of solid radioactive mill waste and 94 million gallons of radioactive tailings poured into the Puerco River when an earthen dam broke. Today, water in the downstream community of “Sanders, Arizona” is poisoned with radioactive contamination from the spill.

There are more than 2,000 estimated toxic abandoned uranium mines on & around the Navajo Nation. Twenty-two wells that provide water for more than 50,000 Diné have been closed by the EPA due to high levels of radioactive contamination.

There has never been a comprehensive human health study on the impacts of uranium mining in the area.

In 2015 the EPA accidentally released more than 3 million gallons of toxic waste from the Gold King Mine into the Animas River. The toxic spill flowed throughout Diné communities polluting the “San Juan” river which many Diné farmers rely on. Crops were spoiled that year. As a measure of relief for the water crisis, the EPA initially sent rinsed out fracking barrels.

Diné have been fighting on multiple fronts against the US & our own colonially imposed government for generations to defend the sacred. 

While some celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision on ICWA as an affirmation of “Tribal sovereignty” we knew that the colonizer’s justice only serves to further colonial power

If capitalism & colonialism got us into this mess, it won’t get us out of it. When we stop begging politicians for change and expecting voting or anything to change a system that is anti-Earth and anti-Indigenous by design, then we’ll be moving towards liberation. 

Recall when the vice president of the World Bank stated that “the wars of the next century will be fought over water.” There are consequences for waging war against another Earth & it’s only going to get a whole lot worse. Respect existence or expect resistance.

Read the full piece here: https://www.indigenousaction.org/covid-19-resource-colonialism-indigenous-resistance/

Support autonomous Diné water projects! 
Tó Nizhóní Ání: www.tonizhoniani.org
DINE’ LAND & WATER: facebook.com/dinelandnwater
(beware the large non-profit$)

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ALERT: Imminent Uranium Mining Threat at Grand Canyon – Haul No!

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Underground blasting & above ground work has begun at Pinyon Plain/Canyon Mine, just miles from the Grand Canyon. 

Workers are readying to start mining uranium at the mine. According to the Forest Service, workers are blasting daily though no ore is being moved yet. Once Energy Fuels starts hauling out radioactive ore, they plan to haul 30 tons per day through Northern Arizona to the company’s processing mill 300 miles away. 

The Grand Canyon, sacred site Red Butte, precious water, and communities along the haul route are in danger! 

As all legal options have failed, we need you to join us to stand up and stop this nuclear catastrophe from permanently poisoning our communities!

Join our telegram channel to connect for actions and support: https://t.me/haulno

For more info & to donate for legal defense: www.haulno.com

Pinyon Plain/Canyon Mine Haul Route Facts:

* Total distance of 300 miles.

* 12 trucks with capacity to haul up to 30 tons of highly radioactive ore per day.

* Truck loads to be covered with thin tarps, the only shielding from uranium and only protection from environmental contamination.

* Proposed route will go through high population areas such as Valle, Williams, and Flagstaff; as well as through rural Navajo reservation communities including Cameron, Tuba City, and Kayenta; near the Hopi reservation, and finally arrive at Energy Fuel’s White Mesa Mill only three miles from the Ute Mountain Ute tribal community of White Mesa, Utah.

#haulno #stoppinyonplainmine

#nonukes

#dontnukethegrandcanyon

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The Intercept and Grist begin release of 50,000 TigerSwan spy documents

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Article by Brenda Norrell, Censored News
Reprinted with permission.

April 14, 2023

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075796248532

The Intercept and Grist began releasing new TigerSwan spy documents in new coverage of the mercenaries hired by the Dakota Access Pipeline. They now have 50,000 TigerSwan spy documents, and another 9,000 are held up in the court battle for now. The documents reveal TigerSwan spying on Water Protectors at Standing Rock in North Dakota, Bold Iowa, and at other locations.

Reporters Alleen Brown and Naveena Sadasivam expose the new spy documents in their article, After Spying on Standing Rock, TigerSwan Shopped Anti-Protest ‘Countinsurgency’ to Other Oil Companies.

The article follows an expensive court battle by The Intercept seeking the release of the documents. The North Dakota Supreme Court ordered the release after TigerSwan was found operating without a license in North Dakota.

“The released documents provide startling new details about how TigerSwan used social media monitoring, aerial surveillance, radio eavesdropping, undercover personnel, and subscription-based records databases to build watchlists and dossiers on Indigenous activists and environmental organizations,” The Intercept writes. Read the article at The Intercept: https://theintercept.com/2023/04/13/standing-rock-tigerswan-protests/

Paiute journalist, drone activist and filmmaker Myron Dewey was among those that TigerSwan spied on and stalked at Standing Rock 2016-2017, as revealed in the new documents that were ordered released by the court.

On Tuesday, the driver that killed Myron Dewey on an isolated road near his family’s home in Yomba, Nevada, entered a surprise plea bargain deal that was cut with a new prosecutor assigned to the case in Nye County, Nevada.  John Walsh pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of vehicular manslaughter.

This TigerSwan spy document, showing TigerSwan stalking Myron Dewey and Prolific the Rapper at Standing Rock on Dec. 17, 2016, is from the new documents at The Intercept. Document link: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23773105-tigerswan-document-daily-intelligence-update-20161217

Below: From the TigerSwan spy files just released: The power of the global movement, with its heart in Standing Rock.

Below: The first flood of documents show how rattled DAPL was over the involvement of celebrities, the Standing Rock Chairman at the United Nations, Bernie Sanders, the Palestinian flag flying, and big orgs. The doc is from a pitch that TigerSwan made for more work, hustling another pipeline to spy on resistance.

Above: TigerSwan surveillance used drones and helicopters.https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23773104-tigerswan-document-daily-intelligence-update-20161014

Above: TigerSwan spy file at Bold Iowa. The mercenaries hired by the Dakota Access Pipeline called Bold Iowa Water Protectors “belligerents.” Document link:

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23773109/tigerswan-document-information-summary-20161012.pdf

TigerSwan spied on, and stalked the media, including Paiute journalist Myron Dewey, Amy Goodman at Democracy Now, and myself, publisher of Censored News, as revealed in the newly released documents by The Intercept and Grist. TigerSwan used its surveillance on the media in its pitches for more spy work to other oil and pipeline companies.

TigerSwan turned its surveillance at Standing Rock into a potential money maker, using it for powerpoints in its pitches to other oil and pipeline companies for spy work.

T

TigerSwan even stalked the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, in its high-stakes spying for dollars.

TigerSwan’s Opposition Model, shown below, was used as a potential maker in PowerPoints to other oil and pipeline companies.

The Intercept described the battle for these documents.

“A discovery request filed as part of the case forced thousands of new internal TigerSwan documents into the public record. Energy Transfer’s lawyers fought for nearly two years to keep the documents secret, until North Dakota’s Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that the material falls under the state’s open records statute,” The Intercept said.

“Because an arrangement between North Dakota and Energy Transfer allows the fossil fuel company to weigh in on which documents should be redacted, the state has yet to release over 9,000 disputed pages containing material that Energy Transfer is, for now at least, fighting to keep out of the public eye.”

TigerSwan spy documents on Water Protectors

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23773105-tigerswan-document-daily-intelligence-update-20161217
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23773100-tigerswan-document-presentation-for-dominion

Note: The documents show that TigerSwan spied on Censored News, as shown in today’s article at The Intercept.

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