Lunching at the appropriately named Porkbarrel Café for an awards ceremony, Gillard and Abbott became the target of a large crowd of demonstrators from the nearby Tent Embassy 40th year commemoration.

Earlier that morning 2000 of us had gathered at the Australian National University for a welcome, some talks, rap and dancing before marching up to Parliament House and then on to the Tent Embassy at Old Parliament House.

It was a fantastic march. At the front where I was we were chanting ‘What do we want? Land rights! and ‘When do we want it? Now!’, followed by ‘What have we got? Fuck all!’, all the time raising our clenched fists to the heavens in a show of defiance and solidarity.

As the head of the march reached a fork in the road we voted unanimously to go up to the New Parliament House. A bit further up, I turned around to see a sea of people, with aboriginal and other flags fluttering and banners raised, all accompanied by a  cacophony of sound.

There was joy and laughter, and love and hugs all around, but anger too.

The anger was directed at both Labor and Liberal governments who had done nothing but invade the Northern Territory; nothing to really address the life expectancy gap; nothing to end poverty and disease among Aboriginal people; nothing about sovereignty and paying the rent; nothing about land rights.

We reached the Tent Embassy, exhilarated.

Witnesses reported that during one of the speeches a woman interrupted to say that Tony Abbott had said the Tent Embassy should be moved on. He was fifty metres away with his twin in racism, Julia Gillard.

Why doesn’t he come here and tell us that, they asked? Then someone suggested if he wouldn’t come to them, they should go to him. It spread like wildfire through the crowd.

Soon about 200 of the demonstrators moved from the Tent Embassy commemoration to the café to tell Abbott what they thought of him.

There was a bit of banging on the glass walls.

The chants started as ‘Shame, shame’ and ‘Racists, racists’ and then became a steady “Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.’ This is a truth the one percent and their paid mouthpieces, Gillard and Abbott, cannot acknowledge let alone address.

The cops reacted as they always do when confronted by angry Aboriginal people.

The riot squad and the Prime Minister’s protection unit brutalised the crowd to clear a path for Gillard and Abbott, the two politicians of the Northern Territory invasion, the two politicians of hate, the two politicians of dispossession, the two politicians of aboriginal genocide.

Some of the demonstrators banged on Gillard’s car as it left and slowed down its exit.

It shows you how divorced from ordinary people Gillard and her Labor Party are that instead of coming out and talking to the protesters, she got her hired goons to attack them. I guess when you don’t have any case to make for having bettered Aboriginal lives then you need to use force rather than reason.

Then the cops tried to wreak their vengeance on the crowd – an Aboriginal crowd and their supporters – for having dared to protest against these two representatives of the mining companies that are stealing Aboriginal land. Together in a line, they walked slowly towards the protestors chanting ‘Move, move, move’ and in one case, shoved a pepper spray bottle into a demonstrators’ face.

According to the Maya calendar, Dec. 21, 2012 will mark the end of a grand cycle of 13 144,000-day “baktuns”, lasting 5,126 years.

But the end of a cycle does not mean the end of the world, and the collective hysteria triggered by the supposed 2012 Maya doomsday prediction does not at all reflect the thinking of today’s Maya Indians in Guatemala.

“There are leaders who let themselves be carried away by what they hear, or because ’13′ has very strong energy and they are worried that a catastrophe will happen, but none of that is true,” said Antonio Mendoza, an activist with Oxlajuj Ajpop, a local NGO whose name in the Maya Quiché language refers to the 13 forces represented by the Maya calendar.

On the contrary, he said, “this new stage is extremely important for reflection and analysis about human coexistence and nature,” he told IPS.

According to historians, the grand cycle began on Aug. 11, 3,114 BC, and ends on Dec. 21 this year, which marks the winter solstice – and the start of a new long-count cycle.

“What does cause us a great deal of concern is how to bring people together in the effort to refocus our behaviour with respect to nature, global warming and the neoliberal policies that only extract oil and minerals and install large factories, posing a serious threat to humanity,” Mendoza said.

Maya organisations in Guatemala have planned a series of activities this year, including seminars and gatherings to discuss opportunities for development for indigenous people.

“The idea is to come together in unity and solidarity and salvage the valuable (Maya) knowledge about nature and Mother Earth,” Mendoza said.

The ancient Maya civilisation was initially established around 2000 BC in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, western Belize and northwestern Honduras. It flourished until about 900 AD, which marked the start of the post-classic Maya period that ended with the Spanish conquest.

The contemporary Maya live in Guatemala, Belize, western Honduras and El Salvador, and five states in southeastern Mexico.

At the height of the Maya culture, during the classic period – 250 to 900 AD – it was one of the most advanced civilisations in the world, noted for its architecture and city planning, sophisticated mathematics, accurate astronomical calculations and hieroglyphic writing system.

The Maya made lasting contributions in art, literature and science. Their modern-day descendants have their own languages, traditions and customs, and the majestic archaeological sites in the areas where they live draw a steady influx of tourists and academics.

According to official statistics, indigenous people comprise close to 40 percent of Guatemala’s population of 14 million, although native organisations put the figure at over 60 percent.

Mario Molina of the national network of Maya youth organisations, RENOJ, told IPS that Dec. 21 “will not mark the end of the Maya or the world, but will be a moment to assess the progress made in the development of nature and humanity.”

The activist expressed concern over the deterioration of the environment that is occurring worldwide, and global warming caused by human activities, which “is one of the fundamental issues to be discussed.”

“This is also a good time to build a unified multicultural country with a shared vision,” one of the long-standing aims of the historically marginalised indigenous people of Guatemala.

Extreme poverty and the lack of basic services like water, electricity, education and healthcare are pressing problems in the indigenous areas of Guatemala. In this Central American country, 54 percent of the population is poor and 13 percent lives in extreme poverty, according to the 2011 National Survey on Living Conditions.

Molina complained about the racism suffered by the Maya population, which is reflected in their low level of political participation and high poverty rates. He said they would take advantage of the end of the Maya calendar cycle to promote actions “in search of respect for dignity, life and human rights.”

Some see the change in the Maya calendar as presenting other opportunities. For example, the government tourism institute launched the “Dawn of the Maya” campaign to celebrate the end of baktun 13 and use it as a hook to draw tourists interested in the Maya culture and archaeological sites.

Maya elder Alejandro Cirilo Pérez, spiritual adviser to outgoing President Álvaro Colom – whose term ends Saturday Jan. 14 – told IPS that “This isn’t the end of the world. What has happened is that phenomena like earthquakes, tidal waves, tornados and disease have been aggravated by the enormous pollution caused by man.”

The idea that the world is going to end in December 2012 has spawned books, blogs, TV programmes and movies, as well as outlandish projects in different parts of the world, like underground survival shelters.

But the spiritual guide said “The Maya calendar is something that only the Maya understand, although academics, archaeologists, anthropologists and historians have written so many books about it, without understanding it.”

Pérez said the true Maya literature was burned by Diego de Landa, a Spanish bishop of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Yucatan in Mexico (1524-1579), who considered the Maya codices “superstition and lies of the devil.”

De Landa was one of the first Franciscan friars to reach the Yucatan peninsula, where he tried for years to evangelise the native Maya population, in the face of great resistance. In a 1562 public ceremony called an auto-da-fé, he burned scores of Maya codices and sculptures.

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106439

With her swearing-in on Friday January 13, Shannon Smallwood became the first Dene to hold the post, and completes an all-woman, five-judge panel.

“I think it’s significant. It shows the progress we’ve made in the Northwest Territories,” Smallwood told the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN). “Back when I was growing up in Fort Good Hope you didn’t see people thinking about going to university or becoming a doctor or a lawyer. And today they’re going to university, they’ve been becoming doctors, they’re becoming lawyers, and now, a judge.”

Born in Inuvik, she grew up in Fort Good Hope and dreamed of being a lawyer before knowing what one was, she told APTN.

“As I grew older and thought about and realized the impact that law has on everybody’s lives, I began to become interested in the law and wanted to pursue that career path.”

Her hard-working parents and grandparents inspired her, she said.

Smallwood was also sworn in as a justice for the Supreme Courts of Nunavut and Yukon, plus the courts of appeal for all three territories, CBC News reported, and is the first aboriginal to sit on any of those courts.

Except for Justice Edward Richard, who is retired but subs in when the other NWT Supreme Court judges aren’t available, the panel is all-female, CBC News said.

Marilyn Napier, president of the NWT Native Women’s Association, called Smallwood a role model, telling CBC News, “It’s really wonderful to see an aboriginal woman in a career like that.”

Read more:http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/01/16/first-ever-aboriginal-judge-sworn-in-as-northwest-territories-supreme-court-justice-72799 http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/01/16/first-ever-aboriginal-judge-sworn-in-as-northwest-territories-supreme-court-justice-72799#ixzz1ji1YFyK1

Indigenous Waves is a celebration of Indigenous cultures; locally, nationally and globally. Through music, storytelling, interviews, panel discussions, art and humour we explore the diversity of Indigenous Peoples.

http://www.ciut.fm/index.php/shows-2/indigenous-waves/

During the UN climate negotiations, a Global Alliance of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities against REDD+ and for Life was formed to bring attention to the lack of full recognition of Indigenous rights being problematic in the texts of the UN climate negotiations.

“It was very disappointing that our efforts to strengthen the vague Indigenous rights REDD safeguards from the Cancun Agreements evaporated as the Durban UN negotiations went on. It is clear that the focus was not on strong, binding commitments on Indigenous rights and safeguards, nor limiting emissions, but on creating a framework for financing and carbon markets, which they did. Now Indigenous Peoples’ forests may really be up for grabs,” says Alberto Saldamando, legal counsel participating in the Indigenous Environmental Network delegation.

Berenice Sanchez of the Mesoamerica Indigenous Women’s Biodiversity Network says, “Instead of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 80% like we need, the UN is promoting false solutions to climate change like carbon trading and offsets, through the Clean Development Mechanism and the proposed REDD+ which provide polluters with permits to pollute. The UN climate negotiation is not about saving the climate, it is about privatization of forests, agriculture and the air.”

Tom Goldtooth, Director of Indigenous Environmental Network based in Minnesota, USA does not mince words. “By refusing to take immediate binding action to reduce the concentration of greenhouse gas emissions, industrialized countries like the United States and Canada are essentially incinerating Africa and drowning the small island states of the Pacific. The sea ice of the Inupiat, Yupik and Inuit of the Arctic is melting right before their eyes, creating a forced choice to adapt or perish. This constitutes climate racism, ecocide and genocide of an unprecedented scale.”

Of particular concern for indigenous peoples is a forest offset scheme known as REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). Hyped as a way of saving the climate and paying communities to take care of forests as sponges for Northern pollution, REDD+ is rife with fundamental flaws that make it little more than a green mask for more pollution and the expansion of monoculture tree plantations. The Global Alliance of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities against REDD+ and for Life, formed at the Durban UN climate negotiations, call for an immediate moratorium on REDD+-type projects because they fear that REDD+ could result in “the biggest land grab of all time,” thus threatening the very survival of indigenous peoples and local communities.

“At Durban, CDM and REDD carbon and emission offset regimes were prioritized, not emission reductions. All I saw was the UN, World Bank, industrialized countries and private investors marketing solutions to market pollution. This is unacceptable. The solutions for climate change must not be placed in the hands of financiers and corporate polluters. I fear that local communities could increasingly become the victims of carbon cowboys, without adequate and binding mechanisms to ensure that the rights of indigenous peoples and local forested and agricultural communities are respected,” Goldtooth added.

“We call for an immediate moratorium on REDD+-type policies and projects because REDD is a monster that is already violating our rights and destroying our forests,” Monica González of the Kukapa People and Head of Indigenous Issues of the Mexican human rights organization Comision Ciudadana de Derechos Humanos del Noreste.

The President of the Ogiek Council of Elders of the Mau Forest of Kenya, Joseph K. Towett, said “We support the moratorium because anything that hurts our cousins, hurts us all.”

“We will not allow our sacred Amazon rainforest to be turned into a carbon dump. REDD is a hypocrisy that does not stop global warming,” said Marlon Santi, leader of the Kichwa community of Sarayaku, Ecuador and long time participant of UN and climate change meetings.

Contact: Tom Goldtooth

Tel (USA): (218) 760 – 0442

NO REDD Resources http://noredd.makenoise.org

No REDD Papers – volume One (from noredd.makenoise.org).

http://rio20.net/en/documentos/indigenous-peoples-condemn-climate-talks-fiasco-and-demand-moratoria-on-redd

The decision to ban Chicano and Native American books follows the 4 to 1 vote on Tuesday by the Tucson Unified School District board to succumb to the State of Arizona, and forbid Mexican American Studies, rather than fight the state decision.

Students said the banned books were seized from their classrooms and out of their hands, after Tucson schools banned Mexican American Studies, including a book of photos of Mexico. Crying, students said it was like Nazi Germany, and they were unable to sleep since it happened.

The museum, Musee du quay Branly describes the exhibit as a testimony to a strong and living culture. It affirms a people’s will to master their own future by emphasising tino rangatiratanga: Maori self-determination and control over things Maori.

The exhibition presents a great range of artwork, including sculpture, adornment, daily and sacred objects, architectural elements, photographs, audiovisual and other documents. It highlights the links between taonga (ancestral Maori treasures) and contemporary art, shedding light on important issues and debates for Maori today.

The exhibition presents Maori culture as seen by Maori, free from Western views and biases. The heart of the exhibition features art that addresses the political, spiritual, and aesthetic developments that have shaped Maori culture.

The exhibit was accompanied by a Paris-based Taiwanese puppet show troupe who staged a performance at the museum to tell the story of Maori and New Zealand’s birth.

The performance, staged by, “Theatre du Petit Miroir” (Theatre of the Small Mirror) led by French puppeteer Jean-Luc Penso, featured shadows, puppets and percussion music in a story telling how the Maori migrated to New Zealand over 1,000 years ago.

The show reflects the stories of distant ancestors of Taiwan’s aboriginal peoples — within the broader Austronesian linguistic group — who are also believed to have island-hopped from Taiwan to New Zealand or the other way around over a period lasting several thousand years.

The show, on the sidelines of the exhibit, was staged twice every day until Dec. 30.

Penso studied puppetry in Taipei with the late Master Li Tien-lu, one of the greatest puppeteers in Taiwan. After he founded the (the Theatre of the Small Mirror) in 1978, Penso also learned the techniques of shadow puppets in Taiwan. His troupe has since performed around the world in a wide variety of languages.

His Taiwanese wife, Liao Lin-ni, composed the music for the show. Taiwanese musician Yang Yi-ping played percussion, which echoed the ancestral voyages by waka by those looking for a new home.

Maori, their treasures have souls, is only open for a short time and ends on 22 January 2012.

• There are a series of incredibly interesting videos on the museum’s website – including interviews with artists from the exhibit.

(NY Post)  The six-page, single-spaced letter that Nancy Dondero and about 50 of her relatives received last month was generously salted with legal citations and footnotes. But its meaning was brutally simple. “It is the decision by a majority of the Tribal Council,” the letter said, “that you are hereby disenrolled.”

NAS is an interdisciplinary major that has classes from departments like Native American Studies, English department and art department. It was first approved by the Board of Control (known as the Board of Trustees today) on Dec. 13, 1996.

“Hands down, every student that wishes to better themselves and others around them should take NAS 101 before graduation, because it is unlike anything they could ever imagine,” said Levi Warnos, a junior English major. “A typical day spent in [class] varied but was always structured around a holistic approach to learning a language with the model idea of going back to your roots.

“Just as an infant would learn any language [students would learn] by hearing, touching, repeating and building your way from the bottom up.”

Melissa Hearn from the English department saw NMU as being in a unique area for students to learn about Native American culture, said April Lindala, director of Native American Studies.

There are five tribes that have been federally recognized within the area. Four of the tribes are Ojibwa: Behweting (Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), Ketegitigaaning (Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa), Gnoozhekaaning (Bay Mills Indian Community) and Gichi-wiikwedong (Keweenaw Bay Community).

The fifth reservation community is home of the Potawatomi (Hannahville Indian Community), located just west of Escanaba.

Though no official event is being held in honor of NAS’s 15th anniversary, events throughout the semester have been sharing cultural heritage and the Anishinaabe language with NMU students and the Marquette community.

Some of these events included: First Nations Food Taster, a faculty and staff email with an Anishinaabe word of the month, giving the pronunciation and the meaning of the word.

Dec. 8 there will be a presentation on the Decolonizing Diet Project.

The Decolonizing Diet Project is an upcoming research study of the indigenous people’s relationship between humans and food of the Great Lakes region.

The 25 research candidates will eat indigenous food items at a 25 to 100 percent daily capacity.

The annual “Learning to Walk Together” Traditional PowWow will take place March 17-18, in the Vandament Arena.

The PowWow is a Native American cultural festival where purification, sweet grass and sage will be burnt, much like incense, to purify drums, clothes and participants.

Participants can expect traditional songs, dancing, smells of food, colors, crowds and a traditional fire.
“Hear it first, smell it second and see it last,” Lindala said.

All of these events celebrate the revitalization of language and a reconnection to their culture. Anishinaabe is a threatened language, lost through years of assimilation.

“In the five years I’ve been here, one of my students took the initiative to introduce Anishinaabe into the community,” said Kenn Pitawanakwat, Anishinaabemowin instructor. “Through the YMCA, the student got a hall to hold classes in. The students range from three to 60 years old. This was a great success.

“[It] reflects on the community and the work the individuals have done. [Anishinaabe] is taking place in the community centers, garages, wherever.”

http://www.thenorthwindonline.com/?p=3863216