[nativestudies-l] [Fwd: 11 7-10 07 IndigenousPeoplesBorderSummit contact: http://www.TreatyCouncil.org]

[Alyssa Mt. Pleasant]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	11 7-10 07 IndigenousPeoplesBorderSummit contact: 
http://www.TreatyCouncil.org
Date: 	Sat, 3 Nov 2007 12:37:37 EDT
From: 	AgnesFay at aol.com
To: 	IWInitiatives at aol.com



The four-day November 7- 10, 2007 at Tohono O'odham Nation- Border 
Summit will host speakers and provide an opportunity for testimony on 
the militarization of the borders of US/Mexico and US/Canada, with a 
focus on Indigenous Peoples right of mobility in their ancestral 
territories.
Mike Flores, Tohono O'odham summit organizer, said, "It is necessary
for Tohono O'odham and other Indigenous Peoples of the border regions
to collectively address the adverse impacts that are increasingly
occurring on tribal lands.
"The Border Summit of the Americas II will provide us the opportunity
to do just that," said Flores, member of the International Indian
Treaty Council.
San Xavier District Chairman Austin Nunez joins Flores in welcoming
Indigenous Peoples to the Border Summit on Tohono O'odham land.
During the Border Summit, Indigenous Peoples will discuss the impacts
on Indigenous Peoples of borders throughout the world, especially for
women, children and the elderly, and new visa and passport policies.
Further, the impacts of border regulations on Indigenous Peoples'
ceremonies and cultures will be discussed.
The International Indian Treaty Council will host a panel on human
rights and the United Nations.The imprisonment of migrant children in
Texas, other migrant detention centers and experimental spy technology
along the US/Mexico border will be among the topics. Further, the
right of mobility of Native people in Canada, along the northern
border, and impacts on the environment will be presented.
Following the successful Border Summit in 2006, the San Xavier
District of the Tohono O'odham Nation will again host the summit this
year. The United Nations encouraged the Border Summit to be held for a
second time.

bordersummit2007 at yahoo.com <mailto:bordersummit2007 at yahoo.com>

Contacts:
Tohono O'odham Border Summit organizer Mike Flores: (520) 235-2406,
email: Michaelflores_ at hotmail.com <mailto:Michaelflores_ at hotmail.com>
San Xavier District: Kim Garcia at (520) 573-4000 or by e-mail at
kgarcia at waknet.org <mailto:kgarcia at waknet.org>

Treaty Council presents human rights training during Border Summit
Human Rights Training

Using the United Nations to hold the US accountable for Racism towards
Indigenous Peoples & Strategies for Implementing the UN Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) will conduct a workshop
focusing on holding the United States' accountable to its legally
binding obligations under the International Convention on the
Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

The US will be examined by the CERD Committee in March of 2008, in
Geneva, Switzerland. This workshop will provide information as to how
Indigenous Nations, tribes and organizations can use this historic
opportunity to inform the CERD Committee on the true state of racial
discrimination in this county and how it affects Indian Nations,
Peoples and communities. This information will be very important to
help the UN CERD experts get a more accurate picture of racial
discrimination in the US and hold the US accountable to their
obligations under international human rights law.

An additional focus will be on strategies to defend our human rights,
border rights, and protecting our sacred sites and traditional land
rights using the newly-adopted UN Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples from the local to the international levels.

PRESENTERS: Bill Means (Introduction & MC); Andrea Carmen (IITC
Executive Director); Ron Lameman (Confederacy of Treaty 6 First
Nations), Francisco Cali (CERD Member, IITC Board President)

This workshop is being held in conjunction with the Indigenous
Peoples' Border Summit of the Americas II" from November 7-10, 2007
which will be held at the San Xavier Community Center, 2018 W. San
Xavier Rd, Tohono O'odham Nation. For more information on the
Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit.
http://www.TreatyCouncil.org <http://www.treatycouncil.org/>

Working for the Rights and Recognition of Indigenous Peoples

BORDER SUMMIT PROVISIONAL AGENDA
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7th
6 am – Sunrise Ceremony
7 am – Breakfast
9 am – Introductions
Human rights, Indigenous Peoples and impacts current Border policies
12 pm – Lunch
1 pm – Humanitarian Aid and saving lives along the Border
3:30 pm – Break
4 – 5 pm – Indigenous Peoples' Rights and the Border: Human Rights,
Treaty Rights and Rights to Traditional Lands and Territories
6 pm -- Dinner
7 pm -- Oral Testimony
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 8th
6 am – Sunrise Ceremony
7 am – Breakfast
9 am – Immigration/Indigenous Traditional Mobility
12 pm – Lunch
1 pm - HUMAN RIGHTS TRAINING:
The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: a new
international framework for upholding our human rights
Current Review of the US by the UNCERD: "Using the UN to hold the US
Accountable for Racism towards Indigenous Peoples"
Other international developments to defend the Human Rights of
Indigenous Peoples
Questions and Discussion
6 pm – Dinner- on your own
7 pm - Oral Testimony
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 9th
6 am – Sunrise Ceremony
7 am – Breakfast
9 am – Implications on Lands, territories, and national resources & 
environment
12 pm – Lunch
1 pm – Religious/Cultural/Spiritual Rights, traditional mobility,
ceremonial practices and sacred sites
3:30 pm – Break
4 pm – Women/Children and the Borders
6 pm – Dinner – on your own
7 pm Oral Testimony
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 10th
6 am - Sunrise Ceremony
7 am – Breakfast
9 am – Militarization/Surveillance of the Border
10 am - Detention Centers/Prisoners of the Border
11 am – Oral Testimony
12 pm - Lunch
1 pm – Conclusions, Summaries, Recommendations & Resolutions
2 pm – Break, dinner on your own
7 pm – Concert
Indigenous Peoples Border Summit of the Americas II
Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit of the Americas II

INVITATION AND ANNOUNCEMENT

We are honored and pleased to invite you to the Indigenous Peoples'
Border Summit of the Americas II from November 7-10, 2007 at the San
Xavier Community Center, 2018 W. San Xavier Rd, Tohono O'odham Nation.

It is hosted and coordinated by the San Xavier Tohono O'odham District
Community.The Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit of the Americas II
will provide the opportunity for Indigenous peoples of the border
regions to exchange experiences and information about how the
international borders impact their respective communities.

It will also create a way to unite Indigenous Peoples to address and
resolve issues of mutual concern affecting our traditional homelands,
cultural and ceremonial practices, sacred sites, treaty rights, health
and way of life.

The San Xavier Community/District previously hosted border summits in
1989 and 2006, recognizing the critical issues facing the Tohono
O'odham and other indigenous nations divided by international borders
(US/Mexico/Canada). By again hosting an Indigenous Peoples' Border
Summit of the Americas, San Xavier Community wants to promote the
human rights of indigenous peoples and support each other in our
common struggles.

The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) is co-sponsoring the
Summit, and will be the fiscal sponsor. The IITC is an organization of
Indigenous Peoples from North, Central, South America and the Pacific,
working for the sovereignty and self-determination of Indigenous
Peoples and the recognition and protection of Indigenous rights,
Treaties, traditional cultures and sacred lands.

IITC representatives will provide training and updates on new
developments at the United Nations during the Summit, including the
recent adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples and how we can use the UN to hold countries,
including the US, accountable for human rights violations.

The Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit of the Americas II, will build
awareness and educate all peoples about the impacts of polices and
practices being carried out along the borders. We hope that you, your
Nations and your organizations can participate and we look forward to
seeing you in the San Xavier Community in November, 2007.




Planning session on Sunday, Sept. 9. Photo Brenda Norrell

The Border and Indigenous Peoples
By Michelle Cook (Navajo, University of Arizona student and human
rights activist)

Since time immemorial Indigenous peoples have lived and thrived in the
lands now referred to as the United States border. Indigenous peoples
throughout these regions maintain their rich cultures, languages, and
customs. However these strong cultures and peoples are facing a great
challenge, they are facing the border.

These lands have now become a war zone and a place that harbors
injustice, racism, and darkness. These lands and the communities bear
witness to the construction of walls of borders that divide tribal
nations, communities, and families. These lands and peoples now bear
witness to the preventable and needless deaths of immigrants. Many of
whom are Indigenous Peoples themselves searching for a better and more
secure life.

This border creates hardship for Indigenous peoples who are unable to
cross the border for ceremonial purposes. These ceremonies are
integral to their sacred religion, cultural survival, and dignity. The
bodies of indigenous peoples and immigrants testify to the need for
urgent and immediate action to stop the violence and bring peace to
the people most impacted by the border. The Border Summit of the
Americas hears the call and is responding to this need.

The Indigenous Border Summit of the Americas emerges from the urgent
need to educate and advocate for the human rights of indigenous
peoples living on the border. This summit seeks to raise awareness on
local, state, national and international arenas about the realities of
living on both sides of the U.S Mexico border.

This summit aims to empower and create solidarity with border
communities, to hear their testimonies and stories, and most
importantly to create solutions that will address and remedy the human
rights violations they collectively experience.

The Border Summit of the Americas aims to create peace and harmony, to
shed light on the realities of living on the border, and work towards
a future that will include needs and voices of the original peoples,
the indigenous peoples.

News coverage of Border Summit in 2006
News coverage from the 2006 summit:

Indigenous Border Summit Opposes Border Wall and Militarization
Americas Program, International Relations Center (IRC) 2006
http://www.americaspolicy.org/
By Brenda Norrell
Indigenous peoples at the Border Summit of the Americas on Tohono
O'odham tribal land opposed the construction of a border wall, which
will dissect indigenous communities on ancestral lands split by the
U.S.-Mexico border. They also issued a strong statement against the
ongoing militarization of their homelands.
During the Border Summit, held Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 2006, organized by
Tohono O'odham Mike Flores and facilitated by the International Indian
Treaty Council and the American Indian Movement, indigenous peoples
unanimously opposed the Secure Fence Act, passed by the Senate. The
wall will divide the ancestral lands of many Indian Nations, including
the Kumeyaay in California, Cocopah and Tohono O'odham in Arizona, and
the Kickapoo in Texas. The wall is expected to be completed by May
2008.
Describing it as "psychological oppression and terrorism," the
participants representing many tribes from the United States and
Mexico also called for a halt to the militarization of their ancestral
homelands and sacred places along the border.
Read article:
http://americas.irc-online.org/amcit/3648
 

Press Conference to announce the Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit of 
the Americas II


Time: Thursday, October 25, 2007, 11 a.m.
Place: San Xavier District Community Center, 2018 W. San Xavier Rd.,
Tohono O'odham Nation

Speakers: San Xavier District Chairman Austin Nunez and Tohono O'odham 
Border Summit organizer Mike Flores
Indigenous Peoples' Border Summit of the Americas II will be held from 
November 7-10, 2007 at the San Xavier Community Center, 2018 W. San 
Xavier Rd, Tohono O'odham Nation.




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