Idle No More supports and acknowledges the Mauna Kea Hui, protecting the Sacred Mauna Kea and surrounding water against construction of a Canadian funded proposal to build a massive 18-story telescope.  The structure will reach 20 feet underground and also  include a  21,000 square foot office building, road and parking lot all on conservation lands on Mauna Kea’s summit. This mega-telescope is called the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT).

Welcome to #INMroots Number Five!  The title of this newsletter “Reconnecting Through Resistance” honours a Saami protest and manifesto.  The goal of the #INMroots newsletter is to share news stories that promote Indigenous rights and sovereignty and the protection of land and water. The newsletter will share our stories and actions, and honour resistance, while celebrating the world that we are protecting.

Never forget!
#‎GulfSouthRising

April 20 marks the fifth year since BP's Deepwater Drilling Disaster fouled our shores causing an ecological and human health disaster that continues to this day. Frontline & impacted communities across the Gulf Coast region invite you to join us for this historic week of actions in its observance.

Send emails - Sign the petition

Guarani Kaiowá communities of the border between Brazil and Paraguay are seriously threatened, despite constitutional rights, the Convention 169 of the ILO, that Brazil had signed in 2002, the sponsors of the industrial agribusiness and monocultures, supported by the police and the Brazilian government want to evict these communities after March 16. In complete violation of the laws and surely with a maximum risk to cause dozens of deaths, the Brazilian government and agribusiness entrepreneurs continue with the idea of stripping all native peoples from their ancestral lands.

Action 8: Mourning Star - #‎FreeWestPapua" attracted the largest community of performers and supporters; we came together to demonstrate solidarity for the people West Papua at Auckland's iconic #‎PasifikaFestival on Saturday 14 March 2015. After five public 'interruptions' in the Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Cook Islands and on the periphery of the Aotearoa village, the women turned heads, opened eyes, engaged hearts and minds... thank you....

by Niillas Holmberg and Jenni Laiti
All Photos by Johannes Samuelsson

Sápmi, our homeland, has been colonized and exploited. We, the Saami people, have been dislocated and disconnected from the land and from each other. We are struggling to hold on to the remains of our self-determination, our territorial and cultural rights. Without having the rights to exist and determine our future, we are unable to live as a distinct society. Sápmi encompasses northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. The Saami people are the only Indigenous people in Europe. However, our Indigenous rights remain unrecognized and the Saami issues are still not taken seriously on national political agendas. A result of this situation is that we are not living; we struggle to survive.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 16, 2015

Youth and Elders joined by Grassy Narrows Drum Groups for public demonstrations at Weyerhaeuser, MNR, and Kenora Forest Products

Kenora—Today, Members of Grassy Narrows First Nation—Youth groups, Band Councilors, Drum Groups, Elders and others—are engaging in a multi-stage protest against logging in their territory.

People from Grassy Narrows First Nation are demonstrating to remind the Province and Logging Industry that Grassroots People from Grassy Narrows remain firm in their commitment to protect the land from industrial logging, and to demand that the Province remove all lands in Grassy Narrows Traditional Territory from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s (MNRF) Whiskey Jack Forest Management Unit, and that Weyerhaeuser and Kenora Forest Products (KFP) publicly commit to not taking any wood from Grassy Narrows Traditional Territory.

Welcome to #INMroots Number Four!  The goal of the #INMroots newsletter is to share news stories that promote Indigenous rights and sovereignty and the protection of land and water. The newsletter will share our stories and actions, and honour resistance, while celebrating the world that we are protecting.

We are all invited to add to this newsletter. Post your story now!The deadline for the next newsletter is midnight on Sunday March 15th. We will accept all submissions that are connected to Indigenous and environmental issues as long as they do not condone or promote violence or lateral violence or include hate speech.  

The next newsletter will be published on Monday March 23rd, so check your inboxes!

If you see a news story on your social media networks that is worth sharing, please tag #INMroots.

President Obama -- Thank you for VETOING Keystone XL - Now please uphold your commitment to indigenous youth and REJECT it before Big Oil and their cronies try to pull more tricks. TransCanada's permit in South Dakota has expired and there is no approved route. Oceti Sakowin and non-native youth in South Dakota are united in asking you reject the pipeline.  SIGN THE PETITION NOW!

Why is this important?

Submitted by Cherri Foytlin

This is my full speech from the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on Sunday, March 9, in commemoration of the 50th Commemoration of Bloody Sunday. Due to time constraints, the original was cut down to one minute, so I am sharing my full thoughts here.

Good afternoon! My name is Cherri Foytlin, I am the mother of six beautiful children, and I live in Rayne, Louisiana.

I would like to first recognize the land with which we are now standing as Muskogee Creek lands. I would like to remind you that the country known as the United States of America began with acts of genocide and that the blood of people of color spilled on this ground began 283 years ago. Violence in Selma against people of color did not begin or end 50 years ago – Selma is now!