Oil Issues affecting Indigenous People

September 21, 2006 Listen to the Show

Global Warming Takes a Toll in Alaska, Faith Gemmill Describes the Indigenous Fight Against Big Oil; Taking on the Doctrine of Discovery: Tonya Gonnella Frichner Sets the Record Straight

Indigenous News Roundup

Traditional and tribal activists are organizing a Border Summit of the Americas in Tucson, Arizona for the end of the month. Derechos Humanos Coalition, the American Indian Movement and the International Indian Treaty Council are making the urgent call for the summit. They plan to develop recommendations for border tribal governments to communicate with local, state, national and international governing bodies. They say it’s being held in response to the Bush administration’s immigration policies and ever-increasing militarization of the border. There are currently at least eight tribes/nations on the U.S./Mexico border directly affected by migrations across their reservation lands; these are the Kumeyaay, Cocopah, Tohono O”odham, Yaqui, Gila River, Pima, Yavapai, Ysleta del Sur (Tigua) and Kickapoo nations.

Courts across Canada are reviewing the $1.9 billion settlement for Native victims of residential school abuse. The government of Canada, churches and former students reached the deal last November. It applies to roughly 80,000 people who attended the residential schools. Judges in several provinces must approve the deal before it is finalized. They are holding public hearings to determine whether the payout is fair. Over the past two decades, there have been thousands of lawsuits against the government and churches alleging sexual, physical and other kinds of abuse. Under the proposed deal, claimants will receive $10,000 for the first year they attended a school, plus $3,000 for subsequent years. People who were sexually or physically abused or suffered psychological damage can receive additional settlements of between $5,000 and $275,000. Other funds are set aside for a healing fund, a truth and reconciliation process and commemorative projects.

A District court in Illinois ruled 2-1 on Tuesday that dances performed by the University of Illinois' controversial mascot do not violate the state's discrimination law. The mascot is Chief Illiniwek, a barefoot student in a buckskin costume and a feather headdress who performs at athletic events. The Illinois Native American Bar Association said the mascot's performances humiliate Native students and create a hostile environment. But the court cited a state law that recognized the chief as an "honored symbol." The NCAA still considers the mascot to be hostile and abusive. The school is said to be dropping the use of the chief in order to continue hosting post-season tournaments.

In Navajo country, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit last week charging the Sage Memorial Hospital in Ganado, Arizona with discrimination in its pay to doctors. The lawsuit claims the hospital paid white doctors more than it paid seven non-white doctors. This includes individuals of Native American, Asian, African and Hispanic heritage, and East Indian, Pakistani, Nigerian and Puerto Rican national origins. The lawsuit also claims that when the seven complainants and the former medical director complained about the wage difference and filed discrimination charges with the EEOC, hospital officials threatened them with termination and changes to the terms and conditions of their contracts. The hospital’s attorney said the Hospital and the Navajo Health Foundation, which oversees its operations, deny all charges. The hospital is fighting the charges on jurisdiction grounds since it is technically a tribal organization. While federal law prohibits employers from engaging in discriminatory practices, Congress exempted Indian tribes to enable them to give preferential hiring to Native Americans. But the EEOC said the hospital is not exempt from their regulations. One EEOC attorney said, “All American employers must abide by federal civil rights law.”

And in Australia, A federal judge surprised the nation by recognizing Native title to the entire metropolitan area of Perth. It’s the first decision in which a large metropolitan area in Australia has been determined to belong to the indigenous people who lived there before white settlers arrived. It sent lawyers, homeowners and officials scurrying to assess the impact. Lawyer Christine Lovitt, who is a specialist in native land titles, said the ruling could lead to similar claims over other cities like Sydney and Melbourne. Prime Minister John Howard told reporters on Wednesday that the federal government would consider joining an appeal against the ruling. The judge's decision does not turn over any land to Aborigines. But it would require the government to ensure the Noongar people have access to the land and can continue to hunt, fish and maintain sacred sites.

Neets’aii Gwich’in Describes Global Warming’s Impact in Alaska
We look at the interrelated issues of big oil and climate change and how Native people are rallying to combat these things…Faith Gemmill is a Pit River/Wintu and Neets’aii Gwich’in Athabascan from Arctic Village, Alaska. She is also the outreach coordinator of the organization REDOIL – Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands. Faith Gemmill was a part of a national speaking tour on Oil and Global Warming that visited New York City this week. Tuesday night she spoke at the Judson Memorial Church in Washington Square Park.
Faith Gemmill, (Pit River/Wintu, Neets’aii Gwich’in Athabascan), she is outreach coordinator for REDOIL – Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands.

Taking on the Doctrine of Discovery: Tonya Gonnella Frichner Sets the Record Straight
We play a speech by Tonya Gonnella Frichner, who was at the United Nations for the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 2006
Tonya Gonnella Frichner, Esq. (Snipe Clan, Onondaga Nation, Haudenosaunee) is President and founder of the American Indian Law Alliance, a lawyer and activist, whose academic and professional life has been devoted to the pursuit of human rights for Indigenous peoples.

August 31, 2006 Listen to the Show

Resisting Waste-Culture and Reducing Toxicity; Native Inupiats Describe Their Harrowing Experience with Oil; and Saving Lake Teshekpuk

Zero Waste: Setting Goals to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Resist!
GAIA is an expanding international alliance that includes individuals, NGOs, community-based organizations and academics. This alliance is working to end the incineration of all forms of waste. They also work to promote sustainable waste prevention. GAIA means Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives and was initially conceived in 2000 by participants in Africa, Asia, North and South America and the Middle East. GAIA's first global campaign goal is to stop the World Bank from funding incinerators around the world. They support local communities being targeted by the Bank for incineration and help them with alternatives. During the Indigenous Environmental Network conference, Govinda Dalton interviewed these GAIA members. We speak with Ann Leonard and Monica Wilson.
Links: www.no-burn.org and www.ienearth.org

The Battle to Save Lake Teshekpuk
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced on Tuesday plans will go forward to drill in the North Slope region of Alaska. The Interior department will sell oil leases to nearly 500,000 acres north and east of Lake Teshekpuk. It is in the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska, an area set aside in 1923 for its energy resource. But environmentalists and some congress members are opposed to the lease sale. The National Audubon Society and the Wilderness Society have filed a federal court appeals claiming the government's Resource Management Plan for the reserve is inadequate. We hear about this opposition and what is at stake in the plan to drill around Teshekpuk Lake.
Stan Senner, Executive Director of Alaska Audubon
Links: Alaska Audubon and National Audubon Society

Voices From the Arctic: Native Inupiats Describe How Oil Drilling has Devastated their Community
Indigenous peoples voices are often lost in the discussion on drilling in Alaska, which is why we spend to much time here giving those voices a chance to be heard. We hear some of those voices from the remote and small village of Nuiqsut, Alaska. As the long-running debate rages on over what the consequences could be of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) or around Lake Teshekpuk, we can look to an Inupiat village that began its own experiment with drilling a decade ago. Nuiqsut is located in the northernmost regions of Alaska, less than 20 miles south of Beaufort Sea, where the edge of Alaska meets the Arctic waters. It is remote even by Alaskan standards.

In 2003, there were just 416 residents in Nuiqsut, of which roughly 92% are Inupiat. Nuiqsut village sits atop one of the nation's largest oil fields: to the east is Prudhoe Bay and the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska to the west. When drilling was proposed just outside the town limits in the early 1990s, Nuiqsut residents were told it would boost their fortunes. A decade later, many residents say the reality has not matched the promises. So how are they faring?

August 24, 2006 Listen to the Show

Yaqui Man Defies Tribe and U.S. Border Guard, Provides Aid to Migrants Crossing Border; Former Chief of Neets'aii Gwichi'in Details How Big Oil in Alaska Threatens Sustainability

Saving Lives at the Border: Yaqui Man Aids Migrants Crossing From Mexico
"Tribal Police were confiscating my water stations." Along a 75 mile stretch of the US-Mexico border lies the Tohono O’odham nation. It’s one of the most arid and remote regions of the country. It’s also the site of tens of thousands of border crossings from Mexico each year. Undocumented immigrants face not only searing temperatures and rugged terrain, but also the threat of capture by US border patrol, vigilantes and even tribal police. The Tohono O’odham nation said it is spending $3 million annually on monitoring the border. The tribal government is calling for the Department of Homeland Security to provide more funds. The tribal police department, with 65 officers, spends 60% of its time on border security. U.S. Border Patrol agents reportedly scour the tribe’s land, and the tribe recently approved allowing the National Guard onto its reservation. Well, there are some tribal members who are more concerned with the human cost of US border policy. Rather than merely focusing on the financial toll, they are more concerned about the death toll, and are doing something about it.
Mike Wilson, a member of the traditional O’odham nation and has been providing humanitarian aid to those stranded in his territory. He is on the line from Phoenix, Arizona. Related Link: www.humaneborders.org

Gwichi'in Nation Takes on Big Oil, Struggles to Combat U.S. Oil Dependency
Oil giant BP suffered another blow this week when it admitted that oil was still leaking from one of its wells that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina a year ago. BP said the leak was dormant for four months before starting again in late May. In the past 2 years, BP was responsible for a massive oil spill in Alaska and a refinery explosion in Texas that killed 15 people. Earlier this month, BP discovered oil leaks caused by corrosion in its Alaskan Prudhoe Bay pipeline system. This forced a partial shutdown of the largest oil-producing field in the United States.
Evon Peter, Chairman and Executive Director of the Native Movement. He is Neets'aii Gwichi'in and former Chief of the Neets'aii Gwichi'in from Arctic Village in northeastern Alaska. He has served as the Co-Chair of the Gwich’in Council International and on the Executive Board of the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council. Related Link: IEN Web site

March 16, 2006

Oil Pipeline in Peru Ruptures a Fifth Time: How Amazon Indians are Being Burned

IDB, Peruvian Government and Amazon Pipeline Consortia Evade Questions and Criticism about Camisea Failures. The major oil pipeline Camisea in Peru ruptured for a fifth time in 18 months, triggering a fire that injured local residents of the village of Echarate in the southern region of Cuzco, Peru. A Health Ministry report stated 25 families were affected. Doctors have banned the consumption of fish from local rivers and vegetables grown in the area until the degree of pollution caused by the spill can be assessed. A report earlier this year revealed a large part of the pipeline was built using severely corroded pipes left over from earlier projects in Brazil and Ecuador and the welding was done by unskilled workers. Another report shows how indigenous communities that come into contact with pipeline workers are suffering and dying from diseases they are vulnerable to as a result of isolation. We talk to Amazon Watch director Atossa Soltani about the Camisea Natural Gas Project, the first major gas development in Peru. It is located in one of the world's most ecologically prized rainforests in the remote Lower Urubamba Valley of the Peruvian Amazon.

Atossa Soltani, executive director of Amazon Watch, a non-profit organization that works to defend the environment and rights of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin.