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Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, testified on 16 December 2009 before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights about "The Law of the Land: U.S. Implementation of Human Rights Treaties." Mr. Henderson said, "The United States has clearly not taken seriously its human rights obligations toward the Indigenous peoples of this country, the First Americans, in a clear contradiction of well-established human rights principles and despite repeated condemnations by international human rights bodies. We strongly believe that civil and human rights must be measured by a single yardstick both at home and abroad. On issues such as these, Congress must step in and make sure that our country is living up to the standards that we are trying to establish throughout the rest of the world."
Full text of Mr. Henderson's statement: Senate site; LCCR site.
A webcast of the hearing is available at the Senate site.

The Lancet, one of the world's leading medical journals, has published a review of health issues and problems among Indigenous Peoples: Where are we now with Indigenous health?. "Imposed development and loss of land have had disastrous effects on the health of Indigenous people everywhere. Paradoxically, Indigenous people endure not only the ill health associated with poverty but also the chronic diseases that come with the lifestyle in industrialised countries - a situation that is directly attributable to loss of land and traditions and the resultant move to poor urban environments." The article is available free of charge after registration at the site.

Why the Amazon rubber 'boom' can still be heard

David Hill, researcher and campaigner for Survival International, the international movement supporting tribal peoples worldwide, writes on the parallels between the rubber boom of the early 20th century and the current threat to indigenous peoples' way of life. Earlier this year, indigenous people blockaded an Amazon tributary so the boats from a London-based company (which was recently permitted by Peru to drill for oil in the Amazon) couldn't ply further upriver to the area where it is working. The company's response? To break through the blockade with an escort from Peruvian navy gunboats. One hundred years ago, Peruvian navy gunboats helped the British rubber company throw its weight around too.
See full editorial in The Guardian Weekly.

Indigenous Statement to World Parliament on Religions

An "Indigenous Peoples' Statement to the World" was delivered to the World Parliament of Religions in Melbourne, Australia, on 10 December 2009. It criticized the "Doctrine of Christian Discovery that is still interwoven into laws and policies today," and "affirmed the right to educate our children in our earth-based education systems."
Full text of statement.

Mohawk Vision of Indigenous University

Steven McFadden interviews Doug George-Kanentio "about the power of great art, about our prophetic era, and about our relations with the land and each other." Kanentio "gave voice to the emerging vision of establishing an Indigenous University in America."
Full article in Spirit of Change magazine [Winter 2009].

Kawaiisu Nation Tribe of Tejon Sues to Stop Resort Project

A lawsuit filed 8 November 2009 in federal court in Fresno argues that the U.S. Department of Interior failed to recognize the Kawaiisu Tribe of Tejon's legitimate claim to areas of the 270,000-acre Tejon Ranch property where the Tejon Mountain Village project is planned. It also argues that Kern County supervisors ignored the existence of historic tribal sites when they approved the project last month. David Laughing Horse Robinson, acting as his own attorney and representing the Kawaiisu Tribe of Tejon, filed the suit in federal court against the U.S. Department of the Interior, Kern County and Tejon Mountain Village, LLC.
ABC News Story
The Mountain Enterprise Story
Federal Court Documents