Kuigi tähtaeg on möödas grupile palve selle oksjoni näitab meile palju pühapaiku, kes vajavad meie kaitset ja palve. See võib olla hea saata palve saidile lähim teile ja keskenduda selles piirkonnas. Siis saatke oma palved kõik teistes kohtades. Ameerika oleme tugevad ......... Ameerika oleme ausad .... Ameerika loome tasakaalu ...... tänan teid, Miriam

Koidutäht INSTITUUT
611 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20003
(202) 547-5531
Uudised avaldus Koheseks avaldamiseks

16-24 juuni seatud 2012 NATIONAL pühapaigad PALVE PÄEVA

Washington, DC (6/15/12)-kommete ja tseremooniate toimub kogu maa juunist 16 kuni 24. juuni tähistada 2012 National päevad Palve kaitsta Native American pühapaigad. Järgimine Washingtonis toimub kolmapäev 20 juuni kell 8:30 kohta USA Capitol põhjused, Lääne-Front rohtukasvanud ala (vt täpsemalt Washingtonis loetelu alfabeetilises loendis riigi järgmistel lehekülgedel ).

Kirjeldused teatud pühapaigad ja neid ähvardavad ohud, samuti ajad ja kohad avaliku mälestuspäev on loetletud allpool. Mõned kogunemised esile selles versioonis on haridus-foorumid, mitte usulisi tseremooniaid, ja on avatud üldsusele. Teised on tseremoniaalne ja võib teha privaatselt. Lisaks allpool loetletud, tekib kommete ja palved pakutakse teisi pühasid kohti, mis on ohus ja neid ei ohusta sel ajal.

"Emakeel ja võõrliigid inimesi riigis kogunevad seekord Solstice tseremooniaid ja au pühapaigad, kuid igaüks saab austame neid vääris maad ja veed kogu aeg lihtsalt austamine ja elu nad toetama ja mitte lasta neil olla kahjustatud, "ütles Suzan näidanud Harjo (Cheyenne & Hodulgee Muscogee). Ta on president Koidutäht Instituut, mis korraldab riiklikku pühapaigad Palve päevad. "Tseremooniad on käimas nagu liiga palju Native American rahvad tegelevad juriidilised võitleb föderaalasutustega et kõrvuti arendajad, mis ohustavad või hävitada Native pühapaiku," ütles pr Harjo.

"Kuna USA ülemkohtu otsuses 1988, et ei ole põhiseadusest ega seadusjärgseid hagi kaitsta Native pühapaigad, Indiaanlased on ainult rahvaste Ameerika Ühendriikides, kellel ei ole ukse kohtumaja kaitsta pühapaigad või saidi -konkreetsetel ametlikel üritustel, "ütles pr Harjo. "See lihtsalt peab muutuma õigluse ja võrdsuse. Native Rahvaste on cobbling koos kaitse põhineb kaitsemehhanisme teiste muul eesmärgil. Mõned ametid võivad lubada koht laua kui arengut peetakse silmas, kuid enamik seda ei tee ja põlisrahvad ei võeta tõsiselt, sest ametite ja arendajad teavad, et Riigikohus ei ole valmis kuulma kohtuasju, mis ei ole kohandatud õigus meetmeid. "

Ajal tema presidendivalimiste kampaania aastal 2008, siis-senaator Obama seda teemat osana tema Native American poliitika platvormi usuvabadus, kultuurilised õigused ja pühapaikade kaitse: "Native American pühapaigad ja kohaspetsiifiline tseremooniaid ohustavad arengut, reostus ja vandalism. Barack Obama toetab õigusliku kaitse kohta pühapaigad ja kultuuritraditsioone, sealhulgas Native esivanemate matmispaiku ja kirikud. "

Paljud põlisrahvaste heaks Kandidaat Obama, sest tema seisukoht Native pühapaigad, kuid on ahastusega suureneva erinevuse selle vahel, mida kandidaat toetatud ja millised presidendi administratsiooni on teinud pühapaigad. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, justiitsministeeriumi ja teiste föderaal-ametite aktiivselt ohustamist pühapaigad ja võitlevad põlisrahvad, kes üritavad kaitsta pühapaigad kohtu-ja haldusmenetluse protsesside.

Rahvuskongress Ameerika indiaanlased, vanim ja suurim rahvuspark India organisatsioon, nõudis kongressi sätestama põhikiri, mis annaks hagi, et president ajakohastada ja tugevdada olemasolevaid korraldusele, India pühapaikade ja mets Teenindus kasutada olemasolevate seaduste ja poliitika, et kaitsta Native American pühapaigad. Samal ajal, Forest Service on touted saavutus pühapaigad oma raporti projekti, mis oli otsekoheselt denonsseerida India riik, ja täiendatud aruande ta hoiab saladust, counter administratsioonile seisukoht tribal arutelu.

"President on palunud otse helistada Kongressi luua nõudeõigus, et saaksime kaitsta oma pühades paikades parandada korraldusega jaoks India pühapaikade ja lõpetada Forest Service ja teiste asutuste jätkuvatest oma aastakümneid kestnud rünnak vastu Native pühapaiku, "ütles pr Harjo. "Ma olen ikka optimistlik, et president saab ja teha neid asju, isegi kui kongress ei suuda teha edusamme selle või mõne ala. Veelkord, me palvetame, et see on viimane aasta oleme eitanud õigusemõistmine, täidesaatva, seadusandliku ja kohtuvõimu. "

ÜRO eriraportöör põlisrahvaste õiguste on soovitanud, et USA tagasi võtma föderaalse loa mis lubab privaatsõnum suusakeskus kasutada ringlussevõetud reovee teha lume peal San Francisco Peaks, mis on pühad paljudele põlisrahvaste edelas. Eriraportööri ka on kutsunud USA nõu ja tagasi pühapaigad et põlisrahvad.

"Native American rahvad julgustatakse et president muutis USA seisukohta ja kinnitas ÜRO deklaratsiooni põlisrahvaste õiguste kohta, ja ootan selle kohaldamist USA seaduste ja tavade," ütles pr Harjo.

Deklaratsioon sisaldab järgmisi avaldusi pühapaigad:

"Artikkel 11, 1: Põlisrahvastel on õigus teostada ja taaselustada oma kultuuri traditsioone ja kombeid. See sisaldab õigust säilitada, kaitsta ja arendada mineviku, oleviku ja tuleviku väljendusi nende kultuuride, näiteks arheoloogilisi ja ajaloolisi asupaiku, artefakte, kujundused, tseremooniaid, tehnoloogiaid ning visuaalseid ja lavakunsti ja kirjanduse.

"Artikkel 11, 2: Riigid võimaldavad heastamiseks tõhusad mehhanismid, milleks võib olla hüvitis, väljatöötatud koostegevuses põlisrahvastega, seoses nende kultuurilist, intellektuaalset, religioosset ja vaimset vara võetud neilt ilma nende vaba, eelneva ja informeeritud nõusolekuta või rikkudes nende seadusi, traditsioone ja kombeid. "

"Artikkel 12, 1: Põlisrahvastel on õigus kuulutada, teostada, arendada ja õpetada oma vaimseid ja religioosseid traditsioone, kombeid ja tseremooniaid; õigus säilitada, kaitsta ja omada privaatselt ligipääsu oma religioossetele ja kultuurilistele paikadele; õigus kasutamise ja kontrolli oma autasud esemeid; ja õigus kodumaale oma maiseid jäänuseid. "

"Artikkel 25: Põlisrahvastel on õigus säilitada ja tugevdada oma eristuvaid vaimseid suhteid oma traditsiooniliselt omatud või muul moel asustatud ja kasutatud maade, territooriumide, vete ja rannikualadega ja teiste varadega ning toetada nende vastutust tulevaste põlvkondade ees selles suhtes."

2012 Tseremoonia on kümnendik National Prayer päeva kaitsta Native American pühapaigad. Esimene National Prayer päev toimus 20. juunil 2003, mis käsitleb USA Capitol põhjused ja üleriigiliste rõhutada vajadust kongressil kehtestada nõude alust kaitsta Native pühapaigad. See vajadus on siiski olemas.

Palved pakutakse järgmisi pühapaigad, muu hulgas:

Antelope Hills. Apache hüpe. Badger Kaks Medicine. Badlands. Bear Butte. Bear Lake. Bear Medicine Lodge. Black Hills. Black Mesa. Blue Lake. Boboquivari Mountain. Bunchgrass Mountain. Cave Rock. Chief Cliff. Ranniku Chumash Sacred Lands Gaviota Coast. Cocopah matmine ja Ceremonial põhjused. Coldwater Springs. Colorado jõgi. Columbia River. Deer Meditsiin Rocks. Dzil Nchaa Si (Mount Graham). Eagle Rock. Everglades.

Fajada Butte. Ganondagan. Suur mägi (mägi Bottom). Mehhiko lahe. Haleakala kraater. Hatchet Mountain. Hickory Ground. Püha mägi. Hualapai Nation maastikuvormide sisse Truxton ja Crozier kanjonis. India Pass. Kahoolawe. Kasha-Katuwe. Katuktu. Kituwah. Klamath River. Kumeyaay Bändid matmine ja Ceremonial põhjused. Lake Superior. Luisenjo suguvõsa päritolu maastik. Mauna Kea. Maze. Meditsiin Bluff. Meditsiin Hole. Meditsiin Lake Highlands. Meditsiin Veljed. MIGI Zii wa patt (Eagle Rock). Mokuhinia. Moku'ula. Shasta mägi. Mount Taylor. Mount Tenabo. Nine Mile Canyon.

Ocmulgee Vana Valdkonnad ja National Monument. Onondaga järv. Palo Duro Canyon. Petroglüüfidest National Monument. Pipestone National Monument. Puget Sound. Puvungna. Pyramid Lake Stone ema. QUECHAN matmine ja Ceremonial põhjused. Rainbow Bridge. Rattlesnake Island. Rio Grande jõe. San Francisco Peaks. Serpent Mound. Snoqualmie. Sweetgrass Hills. Sutter Buttes. Tse nelipühade Zen Village. Tsi-litch Semiahmah Village. Valley of Chiefs. Valmont Butte. Wakarusa Märgalad. Walking Naiste koht. Woodruff Butte. Wolf jõgi. Yucca Mountain. Zuni Salt Lake. Pühapaigad kõigi eemaldatud Native Nations. Kõik pinnaveega ja märgaladega.

Arizona: Mount Graham, Dzil Nchaa Si

Mount Graham on püha Lääne Apache inimesed ja on teada, et San Carlos Apache nagu Dzil Nchaa Si. See on püha maastiku kui foorum või Mountain Kanged elada ja esivanemate Apache puhata. See on koht, tseremooniaid ja meditsiin taimede ja kodu ohustatud Mount Graham punane orav. Pinaleño mäed või Mount Graham on ainulaadne ökoloogiline aare. See on kõrgeim mägi Lõuna-Arizona ja hõlmab kuut erinevat elu esitanud orus korrusel oma haripunkti 10720 jalga nimetatakse "Sky Island" ökosüsteem, põlismetsadest Mount Grahami tippkohtumine on Arizona samaväärne vihmametsad. Rikkalik vedrud ja kõrgmäestiku niidud pakkunud ülalpidamiseks ja allikas paranemiseks Apache inimesed, kes elavad kõrbes. Jahe niiske omadused Mountain on hoida 18 eri taimede ja loomade leidu kusagil mujal maailmas.

Aastal 1980, Arizona ülikool ja tema partnerite ajal, sealhulgas Vatikani ja Smithsonian Institution, valis Mount Graham kui sait ehitada observatooriumi seitsme suure teleskoobid tuntud Columbus Project. Alates 1988 Arizona kongressi delegatsioon õnnestus saada erandeid projekti ohustatud liikide, keskkonna-, ajaloo säilitamine ja muude seadustega. Aastal 1989, University of Arizona anti 20-aastase erikasutuse luba, Coronado riigimets ja USA Forest Service ja assigneering ratturid hoida projekti loputage riiklike hüvitiste ilma järgima föderaalse seadusi ja määrusi, sealhulgas föderaalse India seaduste eesmärk on kaitsta usuvabadust, matmispaiku ja kultuuriväärtusi. Vatikani eestkõnelejad märkis, et Mount Graham ei olnud religioosne või püha paika. Ülikooli töötajate ja lobistid üritanud õõnestada maine Apache usujuhid ja praktikud ja säilitatakse vähemalt üks San Carlos tribal ametlik tunnistada, et Mountain polnud püha või olulist Apache rahvaid.

Aastakümneid Apache rahvad, teadlased, looduskaitsjad ja üliõpilased seisnud Arizona ülikooli otsuse ehitada teleskoope edasi Mountain tippkohtumisel. Kuigi sageli pilvkatte teeb teleskoop vaatamise marginaalne ja Mount Graham oli kohal 38. uuringus astronoomilised saitide USA, Arizona kongressi delegatsiooni ja ülikool on kestnud projektiga. Täna, ehitus teleskoobid ja tulemuseks föderaalse sulgemise Mountain top on teotava Mountain ja tema asendamatut suhted Apache rahvad.

Võitlus jätkub kaitsta looduskeskkonda ja kultuuripärandit Mount Graham pretsedenti hävitamine endiselt põhjustatud ülikooli hoone oma observatooriumi mäel Graham. Jõupingutusi kultuurilise ja keskkonnakaitse organisatsioonide ja mõjutatud hõimud kaitsta pühaduse Mount Graham vähenemise märke.

Arizona ülikooli Praegu tegutseb oma tähetorn ilma kehtiva erikasutuse luba. Tema 20-aastase föderaalse loa lõppenud 19. aprillil 2009. Ülikool on palunud Coronado riigimets uut luba, kuid alates juunist 2012 otsuse, kas anda luba ei ole veel tehtud. Forest Service on teinud kindlaks, et seda on vaja koostada keskkonnamõju avaldus (EIS), et koguda teavet selle plusse ja miinuseid anti uus luba. Ülikooli vastuväiteid esitanud visalt uus EIS. Kust vähe informatsiooni Mount Graham koalitsiooni ja San Carlos Apache hõim on õppinud, Forest Service ja ülikooli juristid on "aruteludesse" kindlaks lõplik loa vormi uuendamise protsess.

Seal on mitmeid põhjuseid Forest Service keelata uue loa. Kehtetud loa olnud mitmeid tingimusi, mis rikuti Ülikool. Paljud neist tingimustest oleks pidanud viima tunnistada luba kehtetuks, kuid ei teinud seda. Kõik need rikkumised tuleb uurida, kas ülikool on võimalik jälgida reeglite uue loa.

Tingimused Mount Graham oluliselt muutunud anti luba ja observatoorium on veelgi vähem kooskõlas usuliste ja ökoloogilist tähtsust Mount Graham. Kuna antud luba, "kuju" Mount Graham on kõlblikuna saated üleriigilise nimekirja ajalooliste paikade. Lisaks Forest Service nüüd tunnistab, et Mount Graham on traditsiooniline Kultuuriväärtuste Lääne Apache inimesed ja on astunud samme nõu (kuigi seal on pikk tee minna) traditsioonilise Apache umbes püha olemuse Mountain ja kuidas kaitsta see. Ülikool võib minna Kongressi järjekordne erand usuvabaduse ja keskkonnaalaste õigusaktide ja sundida Forest Service väljastada uue loa. Toetajad Mount Graham oleks viimane kuulda kõik lobitöö suunas ja tuleb kunagi valvas, et peatada seda juhtub.

Nendel ja paljudel muudel põhjustel, on tähtis, et toetajad Apache rahvaste ja Mount Graham kutsuda Forest Service eitada Ülikooli uue loa ja nõuavad, et olemasolevad teleskoobid Mount Graham eemaldada.

Pärast 20 aastat kestnud ehituse, suur teleskoop projekti ei ole veel lõpetatud ja väga rasked küsimused jäävad umbes selle olulisust, majapidamisruum ja funktsioon astronoomilised perspektiivi. Mis ei ole tegemist on jätkuva kuriteoga, Lääne Apache rahvad. Sama selge on ohtlik seisund emakeelena Mount Graham punane orav. Kõige hiljutise uuringu bioloogid hinnanguliselt vaid umbes 214 selle unikaalse liigid, leiti nüüd kusagil mujal maailmas, jäävad. Seda on nimetatud bioloogid on üks imetajate kõige tõenäolisemalt minna surnud USA lähemas tulevikus.

Mitmed tulekahjude laastatud tippu Mount Graham eelmistel aastatel. Nad olid võidelnud kaitsta teleskoobid üle ökosüsteemi ning selle tulemusena palju kahju teha Mountain mida oleks saanud vältida. Forest Service on otsustanud vedeldamiseks metsa ja muul viisil manipuleerida ökosüsteemi proovida kaitsta, mida jääb ja taastada, mida on kahjustatud. Praegune tulekahjud Ida-ja Lõuna Arizona tugevdada oht, et täiendavaid meetmeid võetakse kaitsta struktuuride üle elusloodusele ja vaimseid väärtusi.

Palved ja hoolsuse vajatakse nüüd rohkem kui kunagi varem Mount Graham. Ökosüsteem on tõsises ohus kliimamuutuste ja teiste mustrite hävitamiseks; seal on võimalus Forest Service keelata uue loa teleskoobid ja nõuavad nad eemaldada ja on olemas võimalus, et kaitsta olemasolevaid ökosüsteemi ja taastada mõned mida on katkenud. Ja pühaduse Mount Graham jätkuvalt peetakse kinni ning, kui mägi on võimeline kaitsma ennast, toetajad võivad aidata kaitsta.

Lisateabe saamiseks võtke ühendust Mount Graham koalitsioon, Roger Featherstone, President, greenfire@featherstone.ws või Dinah Bear, sekretär, kell Bear6@verizon.net

Arizona: San Francisco Peaks

San Francisco piigid on püha Apache hopi, Hualapai, navaho, Yavapai ja teiste põlisrahvaste. San Francisco Peaks on koduks paljudele püha olendid, meditsiin kohti ja päritolu saitidele. Hulgaliselt tseremooniaid toimub seal ravi, heaolu, tasakaalu, mälestamine, ülekäikude ja maailma vee ja kasutusiga.

San Francisco piigid on deraalseadused jooksul Coconino riigimets. Tõepoolest, USA Forest Service on näidanud, et San Francisco piigid on püha ja püha on üle 13 hõimud Ühendriikide edelaosa.

Eeltoodust hoolimata Forest Service ja eraomandis Snowbowl suusakeskus, mis asub San Francisco Peaks, laiendamise plaan suusapiirkond ja kasutada ringlussevõetud reovee teha kunstlikku lund. Laiendamine ja reovee-to-lumi plaane võib olla katastroofiline mõju Native religioonide ja inimestele ning vee ja tervise kogu piirkonnas. Hiiliva puhke areng on mures Native vaimsed juhid ja tribal ametnikud aastakümneid, kuid praeguste plaanide ületavad viimase tegevuse juures abinõuna.

Snowbowl plaane selgepiiriline 74 aakri haruldaste alpine elupaik, mis on koduks ohustatud liikide uusi suusaradade ja liftid, lisada rohkem parkimiskohti ja ehitada 14,8 miil maetud torujuhtme vedada kuni 180 miljonit gallonit (ühe hooaja) reovee teha kunstlikku lund 205 aakri suurune. Hoolimata käimasolevate proteste ja näljastreike, Snowbowl on alanud ehitus oma reovee torujuhtme snowmaking, heakskiidul ja kaitse Forest Service ja USA põllumajandusministeerium.

Navajo Nation inimõiguste komisjoni esimees Duane H. Yazzie tunnistas enne Senati India asjade "2011 arutelu USA rakendamise ÜRO deklaratsiooni põlisrahvaste õiguste kohta:" Integreerimine deklaratsioon kehtivasse õigusesse keskendub sisuliselt edasi väärtus pühapaikade asemel koorma liigselt menetluse kohta. Samuti deklaratsioon rõhutavad rahvusvahelise poliitika asemel tugineda sisepoliitiline üksi. Seadusandlikult lahendada India seaduste praktika remondib võõrandamine Native American õigusi pühapaikade. "

ÜRO eriraportöör põlisrahvaste õiguste soovitas aastal 2011, et "Ameerika Ühendriikide valitsus tegelema põhjaliku ülevaate oma asjakohaste poliitikate ja meetmete väljatöötamiseks eesmärgiga tagada, et need on kooskõlas rahvusvaheliste standarditega seoses San Francisco Peaks ja muu Native American pühapaikade, ja et ta võtta asjakohaseid parandusmeetmeid .... valitsus peaks Alustada uuesti või jätkata konsultatsioone hõimud, kelle religioonide tavasid mõjutab suusa toiminguid San Francisco Peaks ja püüavad jõuda kokkuleppele nendega arengule suusapiirkond. Valitsus peaks tõsiselt kaaluma peatatakse loa muutmist Snowbowl kuni selline kokkulepe on võimalik saavutada või kuni puudumisel sellise kokkuleppe, kirjutatud tehakse kindlaks pädev valitsusasutus, et lõplik otsus selle kohta suusapiirkond muudatused on kooskõlas Ameerika Ühendriikide inimõigustega seotud rahvusvahelisi kohustusi.

"Eriraportöör soovib rõhutada vajadust tagada, et meetmed või otsused Valitsusasutused on kooskõlas, mitte ainult siseriikliku õiguse, vaid ka rahvusvahelisi standardeid, et kaitsta õigust Native American harjutada ja säilitada oma religioossetest traditsioonidest. Eriraportöör on teadlik olemasolevatest riiklikest programmidest ja poliitika konsulteerida põlisrahvaste ja arvestada nende religioossete traditsioonide valitsuse otsuste tegemise suhtes pühapaikade. Eriraportööri kutsub valitsust üles toetuma need programmid ja poliitikad vastavad rahvusvahelistele standarditele ning seda tehes luua hea tava ja asuda maailmas juhtpositsioonile, et ta suudab kaitsta põlisrahvaste õigusi. "

Põlisrahvaste ja keskkonnaorganisatsioonid on püüdnud kaitsta San Francisco Peaks kohtus. Ringkonnakohus otsustas arendamiseks 2006. Üheksas Circuit Apellatsioonikohus tühistas madalama astme kohtu otsus aastal 2007 ja otsustas, et Hopi hõimu, Navajo Nation jt. Kolmest kohtunikust koosnev kolleegium üheksanda Circuit otsustas, et Forest Service rikkunud Usuvabadus Restaureerimine seaduse ja National Environmental Policy Act, lubades Snowbowl Resort laiendada üle 100 aakri haruldaste Alpide ökosüsteemis, osa piirkonnast, mis on püha Native Peoples.

Föderaalvalitsus vaidlustas selle otsuse ja pöördus üheksanda Circuit jaoks rehearing üldkogu. Sellised avaldused on harva antud, kuid Esimese Astme Kohus rahuldas selle. Juhul väideti ees 11-kohtunik üldkogu paneel üheksanda Circuit Pasadenas detsembris 2007. Üheksas Circuit väljastatud otsus üldkogu paneel 8. augustil 2008 otsuse kasuks arengut. Native Rahvaste esitatud kohtukutset certiorari eest USA ülemkohus. 8. juunil 2009 Riigikohtu langes otsuse läbivaatamiseks.

Tribes proovisite jõuda mingi haldus majutusasutusi koos uue administratsiooniga, kuid need jõupingutused ei kandnud vilja. Säästa Peaks Koalitsioon hiljem esitada kohtusse kaebama föderaalvalitsus kohta NEPA küsimus, et Forest Service ei suutnud adekvaatselt kaaluda allaneelamine taastatud kanalisatsiooni vesi. Need olid samad õiguse ja fakte, et enne 3 kohtunikust koosnev kolleegium leidis, leides, et Forest Service ei täitnud NEPA. Eelneva otsuseta oli siiski muutunud mitte-precedential poolt üldkogu kohus navaho puhul. Olenemata üheksanda Circuit eelnev arutluskäik, võib kohtunik Murguia Ameerika Ühendriikide ringkonnakohus otsuse Salvesta Peaks Koalitsioon kõik loeb. Varsti pärast seda ta nimetas Obama üheksanda Circuit kinnitati. Säästa Peaks Koalitsioon kaebas otsuse.

Avalikult vaenulik kolmest kohtunikust koosnev kolleegium üheksanda Circuit mitte ainult mõistis koalitsioon, kuid märkis, et Säästa Peaks koalitsiooni ja nende advokaat oli kuritarvitanud kohtu kaudu - ilma alusel toetust oma süüdistusi. Snowbowl on praegu pärast hagejate ja nende pro bono advokaat isiklikult kahju summas umbes $ 280,000. Sama kolmest kohtunikust kuulda Snowbowl oma algatusel.

Vahepeal Snowbowl jätkab süüdistuse rahumeelsete meeleavaldajate ja otsib "kättemaksu" neilt. Mõned liikmed Flagstaff kogukond on hakanud näljastreiki. Kuna õiguslik ja praktiline küsimus, aga Snowbowl on nüüd vaba Häpäistä Püha San Francisco Peaks karistamatult.

Lisateabe saamiseks võtke ühendust: Howard M. Shanker, Shanker Law Firm, PLC, Tempe ja Flagstaff, Arizona, kell (480) 838-9433 või howard@shankerlaw.net

California: McCloud River - Winnemem Wintu Tribe valmistub Balas Chonos

Winnemem Wintu Tribe Põhja-California valmistub Balas Chonos, Täisealiseks Tseremoonia, vaatamata vastuseisu USA Forest Service. Tribe on palunud Forest Service sulgeda 400 meetrit on McCloud River puhke mootor boaters nelja päeva Tseremoonia, juuni 30 - juuli 3. Forest Service väidab, et ta on stymied büroo India asjade "föderaalse tunnustamise poliitika ja ei saa sulgeda jõe sest Tribe ei ole riiklikult tunnustatud.

Tribe ütleb, et föderaalse tunnustamine on ainult üks föderaalse suhted hõimurahvaste. Californias 90% hõimud ei kuuluks võtta väga lühikese tunnustamise nimekiri, mis anti välja ilma hoiatuseta ajal Reagani administratsioon. Isegi need, kellel on pikaajaline registreeritud varasema suhte kui hõimud koos USA valitsus - need, kes olid alla kirjutanud ratifitseerimata välislepingutel ja need, California otsus Roll, näiteks -, arvati, et tunnustamine nimekirja. Umbes 300000 traditsiooniline inimesi ja nende inimõigusi tseremoonia on mõjutatud, sest selle poliitika. Vastavalt indiaani usuvabaduse seaduse, kõik föderaalsed asutused on kohustatud kaitsma ja säilitama Native American pühapaigad ja tseremooniaid, ja konsulteerima Native traditsioonilised religioossed juhid, sõltumata nende Föderaalse või mitte-föderaalse tunnustamise staatus.

Winnemem Wintu Tribe kinnitab oma õigust tseremoonia põlisrahvaste naiste artikli 11, 12 ja 25 ÜRO deklaratsiooni põlisrahvaste õiguste kohta. Winnemem Chief Caleen Sisk küsib kohustuslik sulgemise McCloud River Täisealiseks Tseremoonia jaoks Marisa Sisk, kes on järgmine Winnemem pealik. Kuigi Winnemem Wintu eelistaks keskenduda Pidusid, Tribe ütleb ta "peab jätkama pikk tee õiguskaitse, harida maailma kohta, mida ta on olla traditsiooniline Ameerika Ühendriikides."

Pärast mitterahuldav kohtumisi Forest Service ametnikud, Chief Sisk kutsus sõjatants või H'up Chonos, tseremoonia läbi viia, kui seal on midagi, mida saab teha peale palvetama. Üle 200 inimese tuli nii kaugele põhja Olympia, Washington, ja nii kaugele lõunasse kui Los Angeles toetada Winnemem koos vägivallatu sulgemine, suheldes boaters sellest, oli tseremoonia ja paludes neil seda austama. Sada protsenti Vabaaja boaters lugupidavalt pöördus ümber.

Tribe ütles, et "ainus häireid see vägivallatu tseremoonia oli USA Forest Rangers, kes iga päev tuli läbi kahes sõidukid, millest üks on koerteüksust ja Kuulujutuga meile oma paadid, mida toetab lisateenused rannavalve; edasi kolmandal päeval (Forest Service) ülevaatlikult sulgeda meie sulgemise jõupingutusi. "

Winnemem öelda, et Forest Service eitab sulgemine, kuigi ta on: 1) selged tõendid rassiline ahistamine, sekkumine ning töötervishoiu ja tööohutuse ohustatus poolt purjus, kiirust boaters kes ignoreerivad Forest Service "vabatahtlik lõpetamine"; 2) Farm Bill mis annab asutus sulgeda alad ja jõgede tseremoonia; 3) ÜRO deklaratsiooni põlisrahvaste õiguste kohta; 4) California AJR 39 ühisresolutsioon, mis kinnitab, et California osariik tunnistab Winnemem Wintu ja nõuab tungivalt, et USA Kongressi tunnistada Tribe; 5) mitteametlik küsitlus, mille kohalik Redding ajalehe, mis näitab, et avalikkus toetab austus õigus tseremoonia, samuti valdav internet toetus; ja 6) vastavad resolutsioonid toetuse Põlisrahvaste liidrite 2012 ÜRO alalise foorumi põlisrahvaste õiguste.

Tribe kutsub näidata jõu ja föderaalse tunnustamise küsimus "suitsu ja peeglite ning kui suits kaob, siis Tribe kahtlustab, et USA Forest Service mõjul büroo India asjade võib nimel tegutsevad erihuvid - Büroo tagasinõudmine ja Westlands Vesi, suurim vee ettevõtte maailmas, kes omab ala, mis on püha Winnemem. "Westlands tahab Shasta Lake tamm projekti, mis tõstab tammi mitu jalga. Tribe ütleb projekti "hakkab uppuma kõik pühapaigad mis praegu tulevad veest välja mõne nädala igal aastal, nagu naiste Healing Koht ja Puberteet Rock, ja nad kaovad igaveseks."

Chief Sisk ütleb Winnemem plaan "minna edasi väärikas Tseremoonia, shored poolt sõjatants palved ja toetavad lubadus 300-400 toetajaid tagasi 29. juunist sulgeda 400 meetrit on McCloud neli päeva Marisa poolt tulemine Vanus. On oluline, Marisa teada, mida ta peab tegema nendel rasketel aegadel juhina. Ajad on rahulik, nii rahulik ja väärikas tseremoonia ei saa kaotatud eesmärk. Eesmärk on teha parim saate ja kunagi loobuda on Winnemem.

"Winnemem Wintu küsida palved kõik head inimesed kogunesid National Palved Sacred Lands inimese õigus tseremoonia ilma vahet föderaalseadustega tunnustatud ja tunnustamata, ja spetsiaalselt õige hõimude naistel tseremoonia. Naised on püha kesklinnas elu. Palume palved, et Shasta Lake Dam rohkem ei esitata ja kaitse oma püha Winnemem jõgi, püha naiste tohterdamine kohti, Puberteet Rock ja Laste Rock, samuti ohutut tagasipöördumist hõimu lõhe Uus-Meremaa nende koju vetes ülal tamm. Palume palved, et Winnemem eluviis jätkub. Hee Chala Bes-ken! "

Kontakt: Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk kell caleenwintu@gmail.com või Misa Joo kell misa@misajoo.com

California: Meditsiin Lake Highlands ja kirves ja Bunchgrass mäed

Meditsiin Lake Highlands on kriitiliselt tähtis tribal piirkonnas asub kirdes Mount Shasta mägedes Põhja-California. Pit jõgi, Modoc, Shasta, Karukitele, Wintu ja teised hõimud austavad ala oma loomulikku tervenemist ja selle ühendusi nende hõimud "pikaajaline ajalugu. Näiteks Pit jõe hõimu usub, et Looja ja tema poeg supelnud Meditsiin järve pärast lõi maa, ja Looja kohta edasi oma vaimu vetes. Kuna järve pühadust, hõimud kaugusel rannikust California Rocky Mountains kasutada ümbrust nagu harjutusväljaku meditsiin inimesed. Highlands on ka ihalda geotermaalenergia ettevõtteid, mis on taotlenud areng seda võimaldab alates Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ja USA Forest Service (USFS), kes haldavad piirkonda.

Alates 1990 Pit jõe hõimu, Stanfordi Environmental Law kliinik ja muud toetajad kaitse püha Meditsiin Lake Highlands Kirde-California on raske BLM ja USFS suutmatusest piisav keskkonnaülevaade ja hõimude nõustamist tööstusliku energia arengu aastal mägismaa. On November 6, 2006, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the BLM and USFS original extension of Calpine Corporation's geothermal leases in the Highlands violated both the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). The agencies should have prepared an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) before renewing the leases and should have included a “no action” alternative. Because the agencies violated NEPA and NHPA, both the five-year lease extensions and the subsequent 40-year extensions were undone. The Court also said that BLM and USFS violated their fiduciary duty to the Pit River Tribe by failing to complete an EIS before extending the Calpine leases.

When the case was sent back to the trial court to implement the Ninth Circuit's decision, the trial judge ruled that, notwithstanding the invalidation of the lease extensions, the 1988 leases were still intact. In response, Stanford Environmental Law Clinic (SELC) filed an appeal challenging the lower court's interpretation, which went directly against the original Ninth Circuit ruling. At the new hearing on March 10, 2010, the SELC attorneys maintained that the leases, originally issued in 1988 for a duration of five years, and renewed once, expired by their own terms when the 1998 renewals for 40 years were declared null and void by the Ninth Circuit judges.

In August 2010, the Ninth Circuit Court Order indicated that while the Fourmile Hill lease extensions and the project decision remain unacceptable, the underlying leases themselves, granted to Calpine in 1988, continue to be in force. The Federal Agencies (Forest Service and BLM) will need to do a new Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) involving more environmental review and consultations with the Tribe in order to evaluate whether or not these leases should be extended.

Kohus otsustas, et asutused säilitavad ainupädevuses Fourmile Hill üürilepingu pikendamine. Therefore, all parties, the Pit River Tribe, BLM, United States Department of Justice and Cal Pine Energy Corporation continue negotiations on how a new EIS will look.

The culturally-important Hatchet and Bunchgrass Mountains and the surrounding lands in Traditional Pit River Indian Territory are in jeopardy of being destroyed, due to a plan to build 49 monolithic windmill energy turbines and related roads and ancillary, interconnections, operations and maintenance facilities in the heart of this region. Hatchet Ridge Wind Company, an affiliate of RES America Developments and Renewable Resources, is initiating its windmill construction project. The project would significantly and negatively alter over 100 acres of this natural region and include up to 49 turbines on steel towers with a height of up to 503 feet. Ancillary facilities would include a substation, an overhead transmission circuit, a switching/interconnection facility and a control room/operations and maintenance building. Access roads would be built, including 6.5 miles of 20-foot-wide permanent roads, and one mile of additional roads.

The project would have severe negative impact on sacred and cultural places, as well as on the winged and four-legged beings. Native people could no longer access particular ceremonial plants on Hatchet Mountain as part of their cultural practices and they do not support the project. The visual impact of the towers on the ridge destroys the integrity of the setting of this sacred area. Birds traditionally important to the local tribal culture, such as eagles, ospreys, ducks and geese, cross the ridge and would be shredded by the blades. Migration routes of deer across the ridge could be disrupted. Sound quality issues would also affect the serenity and isolation of the ridge, disrupting human experiences in the area.

Bunchgrass Mountain is just north of the area impacted by the project. An ancient trail runs along the top of the ridge top, connecting the Pit River to Goose Valley and sites downriver; in addition to regular travel, this trail is used to reach remote areas during vision quests and such quests continue among some young men. Clearly, the proposed windmill project will have severe negative impacts on the natural world, as well as the well being and cultural rights of Native peoples. Although these turbines have been built and are up and running, we are firm that this project is in violation of federal law and the Advocates for the Protection of Sacred Sites and their allies have protested against the project, will continue to do so and will not sit idly by and allow the destruction of important sacred and cultural regions to take place.

For more information on the efforts to protect the sacred Medicine Lake Highlands and Hatchet and Bunchgrass Mountains from the building of massive energy power facilities, contact the Advocates for the Protection of Sacred Sites: Radley Davis, Pit River Nation, 530-917-6064; Mark LeBeau, Pit River Nation, 916-801-4422; and James Hayward, Sr., Redding Rancheria, 530-410-2875

California: Needles – Ft. Mojave Indian Tribe, at the Topock Maze area
Saturday, June 23, 2012, at 6:00 am

The Ft. Mojave Indian Tribe remains in urgent need of prayer to protect the Maze and surrounding sacred areas along the Lower Colorado River. The Maze is both a physical manifestation and a spiritual pathway for the afterlife. It has always been, and will always be, an integral and significant part of the Mojave way of life, beliefs, traditions, culture and religion. The Mojave will observe the Prayer Day at the Topock Maze site.

Pacific Gas & Electric, by its ownership and operation of the Topock Natural Gas Compressor Station near Needles, California over the last 50 years, has polluted the groundwater under and around the Maze with hexavalent chromium, a toxic chemical that can cause numerous human and ecological health problems. PG&E, BLM and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control proceeded with Interim Measures to contain and investigate the contamination, which included the construction of a new Treatment Plant within the Maze area and the drilling of about 150 wells in California and Arizona, on either side of the Colorado River.

These, taken together, create continuing cumulative adverse impacts to the Mojave people, its sacred landscape and tribal religious beliefs.

In 2005, Ft. Mojave filed a state lawsuit seeking the removal of the plant, total restoration of the sacred area, an environmental baseline of prior to the plant's construction and any other actions that could serve to remedy the desecration. Settlement negotiations concluded in November 2006 aimed to achieve each of these goals and secure other remedies including repatriation of portions of the sacred area to tribal ownership, sensitivity training for PG&E employees and contractors, a written public apology and reimbursement of past and future Tribal costs.

In 2011, during selection of the Final Groundwater Remedy, DTSC made a finding that the Topock Cultural Area is an historic resource under state law and the BLM determined that a Traditional Cultural Property (TCP) or property of traditional religious and cultural significance within a 1,600 acre Area of Potential Effect is eligible for listing on the National Register under Criterion A, as part of what tribes have identified as a larger area of traditional and cultural importance.

Yet, DTSC and BLM failed to consult with the Tribe on the final mitigation measures, assuming they knew what was best for all the Tribal Governments along the Lower Colorado River and how the sacred area could be best protected. DTSC's failure to complete a legally adequate environment document, and failure to live up to certain terms in its settlement agreement with the Tribe, is the subject of a second lawsuit brought by the Tribe under state environmental laws. In its approval of the Final Groundwater Remedy, BLM has continued to put off dealing with mitigation for the continued impacts of up to 170 new wells and related infrastructure into the Tribe's sacred area, putting the sustainability of the Tribe's cultural and spiritual practices of the Tribe at further risk for decades to come.

Prayer is needed:
1) for DTSC and PG&E to swiftly bring to conclusion their settlements with the Tribe, and recognize the sovereignty of the tribal government and the agency's public policy goals of truly inclusive and transparent decision making,
2) for BLM and DOI to follow through on promises to require meaningful mitigation for tribal cultural concerns during groundwater and soils remedy design and to improve its management of the area,
3) for additional sacred land in this area to be repatriated to the Tribe and
4) to ask for forgiveness for any continuing desecration that may occur until the offending facilities, including the interim measure treatment plant, are finally removed and until other required restoration of the landscape occurs.

This issue is national in scope: the Maze has been officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978 and is formally recognized as nationally significant. Moreover, the failure of state and federal agencies to fully consider direct, indirect and cumulative impacts to Native Sacred Places during pollution remediation activities remains a national problem requiring Congressional Oversight. Pray that this oversight occurs at the highest levels.

Contact: Nora McDowell-Antone, Tribal Topock Project Manager, at (928) 768-4475, NoraMcDowell-Antone@fortmojave.com, or Courtney Ann Coyle, Tribal Attorney, at (858) 454-8687, CourtCoyle@aol.com

California: Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, Luiseño Ancestral Origin Landscape

Pechanga is in need of urgent prayer to continue to assist it in protecting the Luiseño Ancestral Origin Landscape from the Granite Construction Company's proposed Liberty Quarry. The proposed quarry would be located on a sacred mountain within the Luiseño People's sacred place of origin. Parts of this Origin Landscape have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973 as the Murrieta Creek Archaeological Area (exva Temeeku) and are also listed in the state's Sacred Lands File Inventory.

After many public hearings before the Riverside County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors, the quarry was DENIED this year! However, the Board on a 3:2 margin voted to APPROVE the inadequate environmental document under CEQA, potentially laying the groundwork for Granite to come back in the near future with a revised application to mine. This unusual turn of events means that the Origin Area is still at risk.

Granite wants to blast out the mountain, home to the Kammalam (ancestors in the form of rocks), so that it can produce aggregate. The quarry could operate for 75 years and, even after reclamation, would remain a permanent scar within the sacred landscape. It would also be located at the headwaters of the Santa Margarita River, the last remaining free flowing river to reach the Pacific Ocean in southern California, and be adjacent to the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve, which also includes part of the Origin Landscape.

The quarry would kill the mountain and forever disturb the sanctity of this incredibly beautiful and scenic area, located next to the reservation and at the doorstep of the City of Temecula.

In addition, the quarry would also pose environmental hazards to the Pechanga Community: air and water quality, visual and noise impacts, fire and emergency response, as well as sever a key wildlife linkage to and from the reservation. The Tribe was not consulted by the County of Riverside on these impacts during environmental review.

Pechanga respectfully requests prayer that:
1) Efforts to permanently prevent mining in any form at this location are successful and that
2) Tribal efforts to have this Origin Landscape formally recognized and protected will be successful.

For more information on the efforts to protect the Luiseño Ancestral Origin Landscape from the Liberty Quarry, contact Paul Macarro, Pechanga Cultural Coordinator at: pmacarro@pechanga-nsn.gov or (951) 770.8102 or Jacob Mejia at: jmejia@pechanga.com or (951) 770.2595.

California: Redlands – California-Pacific Committee on Native American Ministries of The United Methodist Church at the University of Redlands, Saturday, June 16, at 7:15 am

The California-Pacific Committee on Native American Ministries (CONAM) of The United Methodist Church will have prayer for sacred places on the Quad at the University of Redlands in Redlands, California. The public is welcome to join on Saturday, June 16, at 7:15 am

Contact: Suanne Ware-Diaz at soozware@yahoo.com or (571) 236-7274 for more information.

California: Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians – Burial & Ceremonial Grounds –
Traditional Mourning Ceremony, Saturday, June 23, Ocotillo Area, 7:00 pm

For over two years, the Viejas Band has been waging legal, political and public relations battles to save tribal burial grounds and ceremonial sites from destruction by local and federal agencies. Viejas has positive news to report one on front and heartbreaking news to report on another.

Padre Dam Site:

Over this last year, with your help, we made much progress towards protection and repatriation of a burial ground and ceremonial site on Padre Dam Municipal Water District property, which sought to develop a reservoir and pumping station on the site.

Settlement of the litigation is close at hand in which the site would be restored, protected in perpetuity and the land repatriated to the Tribe. Viejas is deeply grateful for the support it has received from the local community, Governor of California, Native American Heritage Commission and the Courts, which have sided with the Band on many different levels.

Viejas respectfully requests prayer for:
1) An appropriate alternative location for the project to be secured by the District,
2) The soils previously taken off site by the District to be returned to the property in as gentle a manner as possible and as quickly as possible, and
3) Forgiveness that the impacts occurred and that they will never happen again.

Ocotillo Express Wind Farm:

Meanwhile, Viejas and other tribes have been forced to defend our ancestors from further attacks and potential destruction of tribal cultural resources, sacred places and burial grounds by a number of major renewable energy and other utility projects in the local mountains and deserts that would forever alter the Cultural Landscape of the Kumeyaay Nation. These include: the Sunrise Powerlink Project, Tule Wind Project, Ocotillo Wind Express Project, Eco Station Project, Imperial Solar Project and others.

Just last month, over the strong objections of Kumeyaay Bands and the Quechan and Cocopah Peoples, local community members, environmental groups, unions, recreationists and state park supporters, the massively destructive Ocotillo Wind Express Facility was approved by the County of Imperial and the BLM. Ocotillo Express (Pattern Energy) wasted no time and immediately began clearing, scraping and destroying the area and would not agree to hold off on construction until a TRO could be heard.

The so called “Refined” Project would include 112 industrial-sized wind towers up to 460 feet high, 42 miles of new roads, 81 miles of undergrounded fiber optic cable, a 31-acre substation and switchyard, operation and maintenance building and other infrastructure such as parking, ponds and laydown areas that were not part of the NEPA and CEQA documents. The project Right of Way is across about 12,000 acres of federal public land and is surrounded by designated wilderness, Cultural Preserves, Areas of Critical Environmental Concern and shares a 5-mile border with Anza Borrego Desert State Park.

The project is within a valley that slopes from the mountains to the desert, and is mostly undeveloped Class L (Limited Use) lands. One ceremonial site, the Spoked Wheel Geoglyph, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2003, long before any wind project was proposed, and includes the whole viewscape from the site. The valley is ringed with sacred mountains — Coyote, Signal, Sombrero and Pinyon — and is used as a teaching area for tribal youth. Over 35,000 person hours were spent surveying and recording the massive amount of physical archaeology present at the site. The BLM relied solely on archeological values during the survey and only at the end of the NHPA Section 106 process acknowledged that the project area is a TCP within a larger TCP. Tribal Values considerations were an afterthought in the environmental documents and consultation was severely rushed due to arbitrary deadlines set by BLM to meet federal wind subsidy deadlines currently set for the end of 2012.

On June 23, Viejas and other Kumeyaay Bands will be holding a traditional Mourning Ceremony in the Ocotillo Area. The ceremony will begin at 7:00 pm and continue through the morning. The tribes will grieve for what has been lost and bring attention to efforts to save what is left of the area where the ancestors are laid to rest.

Viejas respectfully requests prayer that:
1) Preliminary Injunctions will issue to halt the destruction,
2) The BLM accepts historic human remains detection dog teams as a legitimate tool for identifying and avoiding ancestral cremation areas,
3) Subsidies and loans from federal and other entities are NOT granted for the project,
4) The Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) is NOT extended by Congress, and
5) That something good for the Tribal Peoples of our region comes out of this experience in the form of UNITY, DOCUMENTATION and RESPECT for traditional religious practices.

For more information, please contact: Robert Scheid, Viejas Public Relations Director, at (619) 659-2316 or by email at: rscheid@viejas-nsn.gov

Colorado: Boulder – Native American Rights Fund – Sunrise Ceremony, Wednesday, June 20
Please join us for a Sunrise Ceremony beginning at 7:00 am, on Wednesday, June 20, on the front lawn of the Native American Rights Fund, 1506 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado. The program and prayer service will last about one hour, followed by a potluck breakfast. Community members have been invited to speak, as well as other NARF staff. Speakers will be followed by a moment of silence to show concern for the sacred places that are being damaged and destroyed today.
In the United States, Native Americans are more closely tied to the land than any other group, yet the increasing exploitation of natural resources and population expansion has caused previously undisturbed tribal sacred places to become vulnerable to destruction. As part of its mission, the Native American Rights Fund has long advocated for sacred site protection, religious freedom efforts and cultural rights. Recently, NARF's Board of Directors has asked us to expand our efforts to protect lands that are sacred and precious to Native Americans.
Please show your solidarity for the protection of sacred places by joining us for the June 20 program. We ask you to bring food and/or beverages to share at the completion of the program.
Please join us! If you have any questions please contact Rose Cuny at 303-447-8760.

Kansas: Lawrence – Wakarusa Wetlands, Haskell Medicine Wheel – Open to the Public
Wednesday, June 20, at SUNRISE

Haskell Wetland Preservation Organization (WPO) and Save the Wakarusa Wetlands will observe National Prayer Day at SUNRISE, June 20th, beside the Wakarusa Wetlands at the Haskell Medicine Wheel, south of Lawrence, Kansas. Haskell WPO is a Native student organization. Save the Wakarusa Wetlands, Inc., is an association of local supporters, including Haskell Indian Nations University, Washburn University and Baker University alumni, students and supporters from all parts of the Lawrence community.

The ceremony will be held at the medicine wheel, where participants will erect a lodge pole at sunrise to mark the exact position of the Summer Solstice.

The event is open to all who wish to add their prayers to save this sacred place from the highway builders. Participants will ask for the protection of the Wakarusa Wetlands (aka, Haskell-Baker Wetlands), threatened by an eight-to-ten lane highway project approved by the Army Corps of Engineers, but delayed by a federal law suit filed by WPO and a consortium of supporter groups, including Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, Jayhawk Audubon, Kansas University Environs, Save the Wakarusa Wetlands, Kansas Sierra Club and KU EcoJustice.

Uuenda:
On January 20, 2012 a panel of federal appeals court judges heard oral arguments challenging the state's efforts to construct 8-10 lanes of traffic across wetlands that once served as the primary refuge for Native children resisting cultural genocide. The written opinion could come at any time, but may not be released before mid-summer. For more than two decades, Haskell students and their allies have managed to block efforts to pave this sacred place, which was “surplussed” away from Haskell during the Eisenhower termination era. More than two thirds of Haskell's campus was “given away” by BIA officials at the time.
Last year, Republican Governor Sam Brownback announced that $192 million in Kansas taxpayer funds was being allocated for completion of the South Lawrence Trafficway. The SLT began as a scheme to help local developers turn the southern edge of Lawrence into a regional shopping mecca. In recent years, the SLT project has been hijacked by trucking interests that dream of turning two nearby closed military bases into national hubs for NAFTA product distribution. Thus, the SLT has mushroomed into an eight-to-ten lane behemoth promoted as key infrastructure. This latest version of the old frontier booster fable that the metro area is destined to be “the next Chicago” has all the officials of nearby towns clamoring for completion of the SLT.

Ironically, while in Congress, then-Senator Brownback sponsored a US apology to Native Americans for past egregious actions, but it specifically prohibited Native Peoples from taking any legal action that would provide redress or remedy for any of the actions, causing many Native people to call it a “hollow apology.”

About 600 acres of the Wakarusa Wetlands were located directly south of the dorms at Haskell Institute, the nation's largest and most tribally diverse federal off-reservation boarding school. This last major remnant of the wetlands was a crucial refuge where Native children from all across the country survived sustained government efforts to exterminate their cultures. Indian students took refuge in the Wakarusa Wetlands refuge — where they could speak their languages, sing their sacred songs and conduct ceremonies and dances that were federally punishable with starvation and jail time — and refused to let school authorities “kill the Indian” in them.

Parents and other tribal leaders camped, sometimes for weeks or months, beside these wetlands on the north bank of the Wakarusa. They were awaiting permission from school officials to let them reclaim or at least visit their children. These elders used the Wakarusa Wetlands as an outdoor classroom to pass on final lessons about healing and other traditional knowledge.

The wetlands quickly became the most essential place where Haskell students could get news about family and friends. The wetlands was where they heard about what was happening back home in the crucial era of allotments and the “surplussing” of their homelands. The wetlands also provided the least censored opportunity to send messages home whenever someone speaking a related language arrived in camp. Otherwise, the children had to learn enough English to send a letter home by way of school censors, and then further screened by the Indian agent when it reached their reservation, and again modified when the interpreter read their message to parents who often could neither read nor speak English. This place is soaked in Indian history, layered with the stories of Native elders and is the last resting place of some who came to Haskell in its darkest days. Spirit release ceremonies and clandestine burials took place in these wetlands. The disappeared and runaways are remembered here.

This sacred wetland, a place between land and water, is the largest intact trace of the original Wakarusa Bottoms, an 18,000-acre prairie wetland environment. It existed for thousands of years before white school officials obtained federal funds to drain it. Before Haskell opened, this place supplied Native Peoples of the region with valuable medicinal plants, important ceremonial items, waterfowl, furbearers and other relatives central to their ways of life.

Elders have said the Creator caused the course of the Wakarusa River to go directly east toward the rising sun, in sharp contrast to the other rivers in the region, as a sign of the abundant gifts to be found there.

Despite massive efforts to drain the wetlands in the early twentieth century — and Haskell's loss of all but a few acres of this property during the termination era — the Wakarusa Wetlands, like Haskell Indian Nations University itself, has survived and flourished. The entire historic Haskell campus, including the Wetlands, is being considered for designation as a National Historic Heritage area, but should have been declared a Traditional Cultural Property long ago.

Contact: Cleta Labrie cletalabrie@gmail.com President of Haskell Wetlands Preservation Organization (WPO); Dr. Dan Wildcat (WPO faculty adviser) at dwildcat@sunflower.com; or Michael Caron at (785) 842-6293 or by email at mcaron@sunflower.com with Save the Wakarusa Wetlands, Inc. Friend the Wetlands Preservation Organization on FACEBOOK.

Nebraska: Lincoln – National Congress of American Indians, Mid-Year Session
Nebraska State Capitol Grounds, North Plaza
Tuesday, June 19, Sunrise Ceremony

The National Congress of American Indians will sponsor a Sunrise Ceremony on Tuesday morning, June 19, at the Nebraska State Capitol grounds on the North Plaza. The NCAI is conducting its 2012 Mid-Year Session in Lincoln, Nebraska, June 17-20.

The NCAI Sunrise Ceremony will be held as a part of the observances and ceremonies during the National Days of Prayer to Protect Native American Sacred Places, from June 16 through June 24.

The public is invited to attend NCAI's respectful observance to honor sacred places, sacred beings and sacred waters, and all those who care for them and protect them from harm. Participants are asked to arrive no later than 7:00 am

For information about NCAI's Sunrise Ceremony, contact NCAI Deputy Director Robert Holden, 202.466.7767, email: rholden@ncai.org

New York: Ganondagan State Historic Site, at the Great White Pine Tree of Peace
Wednesday, June 20, at Noon

At Ganondagan State Historic Site in New York, there will be a Gahnonyoh (Thanksgiving), starting at Noon, on Wednesday, June 20, to protect sacred places and to promote world peace. “We invite spiritual leaders and the general public to join us on that day as we offer words of Thanksgiving or Gahnonyoh in Seneca,” says G. Peter Jemison (Seneca), who is the Caretaker of Ganondagan.

“We will gather before noon near the Great White Pine at the head of the Trail of Peace to offer words of Thanksgiving to the Creator,” says Jemison. “The event is open to the general public and all are welcome, but no photography, please.”

Ganondagan is the site of the seventeenth century town, once the capitol of the Seneca Nation, which was destroyed by the French in 1687. Today, it is the only historic site in New York dedicated to a Native American theme. Ganondagan is sacred to the Seneca People because nearby are the remains of Jikonhsaseh the Mother of Nations, who was the first person to accept the message of Peace brought by the Peacemaker, who united the Haudenosaunee or Five Nations: Seneca Nation, Cayuga Nation, Onondaga Nation, Oneida Nation and Mohawk Nation.

Contact: G. Peter Jemison at (585) 924-5848 or by e-mail at mailto:pjemison@rochester.rr.com

New York: New York City – Prayer of Remembrance for Sacred Places
Thursday, June 21, 1:00 pm
Hudson River at Bethune & West Streets

A Prayer of Remembrance for Sacred Places will take place on Thursday, June 21, at 1:00 pm The group will gather at the Hudson River in New York City at Bethune and West Streets.

The event is sponsored by Spiderwoman Theater, The Silvercloud Singers and the American Indian Community House.

Contact: Murial Borst-Tarrant at mborst1@msn.com or 551-208-3536.

Ohio: Peebles - Serpent Mound, kolmapäev, 20. juuni 10:00-09:00
Newark – Newark Earthworks, Great Circle entryway, Thursday, June 21, 6:00 am/8:00 pm
Chillicothe – Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Mound City
Thursday, June 21, 7:00 pm
Oregonia – Fort Ancient Earthworks, Saturday, June 23, 5:30 am

In Ohio, there will be gatherings at the four major remaining earthworks sites to honor the brilliant achievements of the Indigenous Peoples who lived in the Ohio Valley 2,000 years ago and built enormous earthen architecture. Gatherings will occur near Peebles, in Newark, near Chillicothe and near Oregonia to acknowledge the original landscape, what has been lost and all that continues into the future. The public is invited to observe the National Day of Prayer to Protect Sacred Places at these places.

Two thousand years ago, Indigenous Peoples built more than 600 groups of earthworks, each group consisting of several large earthen geometric shapes with specific purposes. The earthworks were built by design, near creeks and rivers. Many of the earthworks are enormous, measuring from 20 to more than 50 acres in area, with walls varying from 3 to 30 feet tall and connected by walled earthen roadways; the design guided the Peoples through the earthworks along a ceremonial road. Large circles with entryways facing the east, squares with rounded corners and entryways, octagons with eight entryways, huge rectangular flat-topped or oval mounds, tall conical mounds and ceremonial roadways mark the Ohio Valley as a sacred landscape. In addition to using geometric forms to convey meaning and purpose, the builders used a standard unit of measure and other mathematical consistencies in the spacing of the earthworks. Distances between earthworks at Newark can be measured in multiples of 1,054 feet.

The Newark Earthworks consisted of four large earthworks built 2,000 years ago over a four-square mile area by the Peoples of the Hopewell Culture. Two remain preserved. The Octagon Earthworks is an astronomical calendar tracking the 18.6-year lunar cycle, marking the lunar standstills in spectacular moonrises. It was built in the shape of a circle and an octagon connected by a walled ceremonial road. The nearby Great Circle is itself nearly 1,200 feet in diameter and possibly had many uses, as a ceremonial center, for formal games such as stickball and as places of gathering. The Ellipse was a walled cemetery with many burial mounds and contained a number of earthen circles open to the east before it was excavated to clear the land for canals, railroads and heavy industry. The Wright Square stood between the Great Circle and the Ellipse cemetery, but has been destroyed by development.

Of the four major remaining sections of the Newark Earthworks, all but one have been acknowledged as sacred places and have become state parks/monuments. However, the Octagon Earthworks are leased to a private country club and open to the public only four days per year. The Ellipse cemetery is owned privately and currently being prepared for sale as an industrial park.

Serpent Mound is one of two effigy mounds in Ohio, and one of the largest anywhere in the world. Its iconic aerial outline is known far beyond the borders of this state. Nearly a quarter of a mile long, the undulating coils made of three foot tall earthen walls curve from a spiral tail to a head pointing across the Brush Creek valley at the point on the southwestern horizon where the sun sets on the summer solstice. Recent scholarly work points to a construction of this unique mound at about 1070 CE, later than many of the more geometric enclosures around Ohio. The landscape is also marked by geological interest. A “crypto-explosion” crater cradles the arc of the valley where Serpent Mound lays on a bluff; the result of a meteorite that folded the crust of the earth when it struck 250 million years ago. This bluff of sandstone also has interest, as a visitor may walk down to creek side and look back up at the point where the “serpent's head” ends, and see a snake headed prow of stone poke out over the water below.

Hopewell Culture National Historical Park is made up of five sites in and around the city of Chillicothe, Ohio, where once could be seen the largest concentration of earthworks complexes anywhere in the world. Mound City is the name for the central enclosure, a rounded-cornered square that was one of the ancient cemeteries alongside the Scioto River where the National Park Service has its visitor center. Almost entirely destroyed during World War I by the construction of training camps and industry to support the war effort, it was rebuilt from the original foundations and above surviving parts of mounds during the 1930s and in another major effort during the 1960s and 1970s. An alignment along three of these reconstructed mounds, pointing towards a southwestern corner gateway of Mound City, is a dramatic view, and casts the entire complex into vivid contrast. The possible astronomical alignments for this and other units, such as the Hopewell Mound Group west of the city, are still being studied, using both old maps and surveys, and non-intrusive studies that can trace where walls and their associated clays still can be seen.

Fort Ancient is a vast, irregular enclosure with three miles of wall atop a pair of plateaus next to the Little Miami River valley. Military language was attributed to this location by early European occupants, who named features “North Fort” and “South Fort,” but later studies show that combat and conflict seem to have been entirely absent from this sacred site. Fort Ancient is the archaeological label used for a later cultural phase in Ohio, but much of the site was built around the same time as Newark and Chillicothe. Reflecting pools of water were built into the site to create a sense of place – world above, world below. More recent surveys have shown that four compass aligned stone mounds in the “North Fort,” were built alongside the traces of a circle, perhaps a “woodhenge” where posts in a circle aided in astronomical calculation and prediction. Fires were built on top of stone mounds into the historic era. From one of those stone mounds, on mornings near the summer solstice, a particular entryway to the northeast pours a path of light across the leveled plaza, until it paints the surface of the mound.

Many of the major earthworks in Ohio are now under consideration for designation as World Heritage Sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and a proposal is being prepared. For additional information about the Earthworks, see: http://whc.unesco. org/en/tentative lists/5243/. For more information about Solstice events see: www.AncientOhioTrail.org

Tennessee: Muscogee “Creek” Citizens Gathering, The Great Mound of Mound Bottom, Saturday, June 23, 10:00 am
Sellars Farm State Archaeological Area, Lebanon, Wilson County
Sunday, June 24, 2:00 pm

A Muscogee “Creek” Citizens Gathering will take place on Saturday, June 23, at 10:00 am, at The Great Mound, Mound Bottom archaeological site, in observance of the National Sacred Places Prayer Days. “This gathering will be ceremonial to honor and lift up the Mound,” said Melba Checote-Eads (Muscogee), who is organizing the gathering. “We will observe a day of prayer, singing, gifting and feasting at Mound Bottom, as is Muscogee tradition. Water will be furnished by Muscogee Citizens.”

Ms. Checote-Eads asks people to reserve a space by calling her at 615-765-5854, to bring a bag lunch and beverage, to wear hiking boots and to meet in the picnic area: “We will meet at the picnic area near the Harpeth River beside the Mound. We will walk one mile to the Mound and transportation will be provided for those unable to make the walk.” The group will tour the Mound at 10:00 am with Ranger Gary Patterson.

Mound Bottom is located in Cheatham County along the horseshoe bend of the Harpeth River. Mound Bottom is approximately one mile north of the point where US Route 70 crosses the Harpeth River, on the outskirts of Kingston Springs, Tennessee. The site is managed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation as part of Harpeth River State Park. The Great Mound of Mound Bottom dates to the Mississippian era (900 AD-1300). Mound Bottom is about 100 acres and is nearly surrounded by the Harpeth River.

The flat-topped embankment that dominates the view from Mace Bluff is the largest of at least 14 Mounds that remain. The Great Mound stands 25 feet tall and 47 square feet in area; the remains of an earthen ramp leading from the plaza to the top of this Mound can still be seen. The entire complex, which is believed to have included hundreds of houses, was surrounded by an earthen wall topped with a palisade of upright logs. Mound Bottom likely began as a ceremonial meeting place around 950 AD and grew to become a fortified city with a population numbering in the thousands. Mound Bottom was part of a vast trade network that extended to Native Peoples in the Great Lakes area, Gulf Coast region and the Appalachian Mountains.

There also will be a gathering at the Sellars Farm on the following day, Sunday, June 24, at 2:00 pm The Sellars Farm State Archaeological Area is located in Wilson County: off Hwy-70 left at Poplar Rd., in Lebanon, Tennessee. The group will tour the Mound area and walk the path around the Mound, which is near Spring Creek, a tributary of the Cumberland River. Participants are asked to bring a bag lunch.

Ms. Checote-Eads describes the Mound site as covered with trees, grasses and wild flowers. It was a large village and trade area during the Mississippian Period. In 1939, a farmer dug up four statues, which were made between 600 and 800 years ago. Two of the statues are in the McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and have been featured on a US postage stamp.

For additional information, contact: Melba Checote Eads at melbaceads@dtccom.net or 615 765-5854.

Washington, DC: United States Capitol, West Front Grassy Area
June 20, Wednesday, at 8:30 am

The observance in Washington, DC, will take place at the US Capitol on the West Front Grassy Area on Wednesday, June 20, at 8:30 am The public is invited to attend this respectful observance to honor sacred places, sacred beings and sacred waters, and all those who care for them and protect them from harm. The observance will take the form of a talking circle.

All are welcome to offer good words, songs or a moment of silence for all sacred places, beings and waters, especially for those that are being threatened, desecrated or damaged at this time.

This observance is organized by The Morning Star Institute, a national Native rights organization founded in 1984 and dedicated to Native Peoples' cultural and traditional rights, including religious freedom and sacred places protection. The observance will be conducted by Mary Phillips (Omaha & Laguna Pueblo).

Contact: The Morning Star Institute at (202) 547-5531, Suzan Shown Harjo at suzan_harjo@yahoo.com or Mary Phillips at trumpetnative@aol.com or 510-205-4501.

Washington: Snoqualmie Falls, at the Cedar Tree, Friday, June 22, 11:30 am

Water is universally a Sacred Being, part of sacred ceremonies in all faiths and religions.

Snoqualmie Falls in Washington State is a place recognized as Sacred for thousands of years. For the Snoqualmie and other Tribes of the Puget Sound region, this is the Transformer's gift to the People.

It is a 268-foot waterfall listed on the Register of Historic Places as a Traditional Cultural Property. Over two million people come from all over the world to visit Snoqualmie Falls annually. Puget Sound Energy owns and operates a hydroelectric facility there. Snoqualmie Falls is impacted and desecrated by diversion of a significant portion of the water from the river by a hydroelectric facility before it can complete the Sacred Cycle of reaching the base of the falls and creating a healing connection by its transformation to legendary mists that connect worlds, carry prayers, and deliver blessings.

Puget Sound Energy, a public utility, owns and operates a public park located there. A popular hiking trail down to the viewing area near the base of the falls continues to be closed to visitors until sometime in 2013. Access to the base of the Falls, specifically a spiritually powerful location, is blocked.

On Friday, June 22nd, at 11:30 am, there will be a gathering, rain or shine, at Snoqualmie Falls.

We welcome anyone who would like to respectfully join together in Spirit for observance of our Sacred Places across the globe that are in need. Join us and others that are gathering to pray, each in our own way for their protection.

“When one is uplifted, we all are uplifted”.

“We give thanks for the teachings of the Sacred. We give thanks that we are still here. We give thanks for the breath of the Spirit”.

We pray for one another.

In the Spirit of Snoqualmie Falls, Lois Sweet Dorman.

Contact: Lois Sweet Dorman, Snoqualmie, at nightfishes@qwest.net.

World Peace & Prayer Days – Gray Horn Butte (Devil's Tower), June 16
Medicine Wheel, June 17
Grand Tetons, June 18 – 21
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 21

Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe: “Once again I am sending my voice to all Nations upon Mother Earth, those who can hear my sincerity with their hearts – - unite together at our Sacred Sites creating an energy shift of a great healing on this June 21st. We need to see and listen to the wamakas'ka (the animals) who are more than ever now showing their sacred color of white, there are so many. This color represents the direction of when physical life now goes into the spirit journey. They are trying to warn us to pay attention to our responsibilities as a Global Nation. In order to protect the remaining sacredness that is trying to survive upon Mother Earth, which includes even our own children, we now have no choice but to unify and make positive decisions together.

“To honor the birthplace of World Peace and Prayer Day/Honoring Sacred Sites where it all began in 1996, we will gather at Gray Horn Butte, aka “Devils Tower” on June 16th. Peace Riders who made the '96 journey from Canada to
Gray Horn on horse back, will join us and offer prayers as well and plant a Peace Pole reading “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in 4 different languages. We will do the same offering on June 17th at Medicine Wheel. On June 18th we will gather at the Grand Tetons to begin one of the many events of WPPD throughout the world. The Grand Tetons will be the beginning of a four day event to bring attention for the need to protect the last of the true wild Buffalo (bison) that exist in Yellow Stone National Park, they are in constant danger of being massacred when caught off park property.

“On June 21st I will pray with thousands of People at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development or Rio+20 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As part of the various gatherings and celebrations that will be held as part of the Sacred Earth Gathering in Aldeia Nova Terra during the month of June parallel to the conference, there will be a very special ceremony to celebrate World Peace and Prayer Day/Honoring Sacred Sites along with various representatives of the Brazilian indigenous tribes and spiritual leaders from different nations. The intent is to honor this day not only in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil but to also invite the participation of other WPPD activities worldwide to join though simultaneous acts of prayer and song so as to be united spiritually on this June 21st to celebrate the 2012 World Peace and Prayer Day/Honoring Sacred Sites. Onipiktec'a (that we shall live).”

Contact: Paula Horne-Mullen, Wolakota.org http://wppd2012.com/

The Morning Star Institute, 611 Pennsylvania Ave., SE #377, Washington, DC 20003 (202) 547-5531