A Personal Report: Indigenous Peoples Worldwide Gather in Solidarity for the 10th Annual IEN Protecting Mother Earth Conference

Written by Alice Aguilar, 6/20/99

Compassion for Mother Earth and Her Peoples

At a National Indian Youth Leadership Project's camp, nestled between the sacred mountain, Mt. Taylor, and the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico, indigenous youths, adults and elders from around the world, as well as non-native folks, gathered for the 10th annual Indigenous Environmental Network's (IEN) "Protecting Mother Earth" Conference. Hosted by Dine Citizens Against Ruining the Environment (Dine CARE), the theme for the four day conference, which began on June 10th, was Lle Tsoo (Uraninite), which when translated from Dineh means, "A Creation Placed at the Foothills of our Sacred Mountains by our Holy People." Most of the conference topics focused on the effects of mining on indigenous peoples and the environment and the strategies needed to proceed with legislative reform, to build sustainable communities and to strive for self-determination of the indigenous peoples in order to preserve culture, tradition, language, spirituality.

Each day of the conference opened with a Sunrise Ceremony around the Sacred Fire to greet the day and prepare the spirits of the participants for the activities of the day. The mornings were scheduled with Plenary Circles where panels of speakers discussed topics such as, "Environmental Issues of the Southwest," Uranium & Indigenous Peoples," "Breaking the Borders of Colonialism," and "Respect of Sacredness." The afternoons were packed with workshops where indigenous peoples around the globe shared their experiences, their victories, and their struggles and educated others on the problems affecting their people and the land on topics such as, " Taking from the Earth - Extraction," "Biodiversity/Globalization," "Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA)," "Nuclear Colonialism," "Chemicals in our Community," "Border Justice," "Uranium Mining," "Coalition Building," and "Intro to Environmental Laws/Policies."

Hopeful Indigenous Youths Organize

Indigenous youths from Canada, the United States, and Mexico also gathered in meetings to discuss issues that affected them directly, such as alcoholism, drugs, AIDS, and teen pregnancy. The youths were also very articulate in explaining to others about their loss of land rights, culture and language. As a result of the meetings, the youths organized a committee, with the assistance of Thaayrohyadi Serafin Bermudez de la Cruz of the Otomi Nation, to plan an International Indigenous Youth Summit to be hosted by the Otomi Cultural Center in Mexico sometime next year. The committee is dedicated to invite other youths from nations that were not represented at the youth meeting to assist with the planning of the conference and to create the agenda for the Summit meeting in Mexico.

At the close of the conference, the Youth Planning Committee issued a statement that the youths "representing the nations of Mexico, the United States, and Canada understand that we have common problems, dreams and hopes. As youths, we assume the responsibility to organize and represent Turtle Island, the Eagle, and the Condor, for our nation's past, present and future." The Youth Planning Committee will be responsible for "communicating their interests, uniting in strength, deriving a plan of action to work together, encouraging the participation of nations to do work to organize and plan the Indigenous youth encounter at the Otomi Nation, Mexico, and serving as the centers for information." The representatives for the centers for information are the Native Youth Movement for Canada, Casa de Colores for the United States, and the Council of the Otomi Nation for Mexico.

A Global Issue: The Destructive Impacts of Resource Extraction on Indigenous Lands

One of the most alarming and glaringly obvious realizations that arose from the discussions at the IEN conference, is that the devastating effects of resource extraction on indigenous lands, whether it's uranium, gold, oil, timber, or other minerals, is a GLOBAL issue. Resource extraction, such as mining, has destroyed ecosystems and caused the relocation of indigenous peoples from their homelands. Those who have remained - workers, their families, and others who live in the vicinity of the mines - have been exposed to poisons, pollutants and other health hazards as a result of noxious mineral leaching, such as cyanide, the release of toxic dust, oil spills or other contaminants that have seeped into water and food sources. The identity of indigenous people - spiritual, traditional, and cultural - is central to their relationship to the land. When the land is destroyed, people are affected and uprooted, ecosystems fail and the people's connection to the land is changed forever.

The 1872 Mining Law and RECA: A Disgrace

Throughout the conference, two laws affecting the indigenous peoples and lands in the U.S, the 1872 Mining Law and the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), drew much fervor by the IEN participants to push for legislative reform. The 1872 Mining Law, originally written to promote mineral development when mining was done solely with a pick and shovel, does not address the environmental impacts with the use of current day mining technologies. The outdated 1872 Mining Law essentially protects the mining industry from public input and concerns and does not ensure that the mining industry must follow safe and responsible environmental practices. Mining has priority on the use of public lands and once a "valuable" mineral is discovered, miners can extract the minerals free of charge. Some groups seek reformation of the law to include a more stringent declaration allowing for public input and enforcing safe environmental practices to prevent damage to the ecosystem, while others seek a repeal of the 1872 Mining Law all together.

RECA was the U.S. government's attempt to compensate underground miners for health problems due to uranium exposure. Participants in the RECA workshop and others who spoke about Uranium exposure express that the law is flawed in that there is no consideration or compensation for other populations that were exposed from uranium dust or contact with the ore, such as those who transported or processed the ore as well as family members of the miners.

Manuel Pino, Acoma, explains how his people are dying from a variety of cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma, breast cancer, and stomach cancer due to being exposed to uranium being mined by the Anaconda Mining Company near the Acoma pueblo. Pino is incensed as he describes, "[The illnesses] have been documented and presented to our Tribal Leaders. But this is not enough. They need institutions, such as those from the University of New Mexico, to justify that there is a problem. They take their word instead of their own people's word." Pino is striving to get RECA amended, "We need a bill that would compensate miners… Anyone who worked in the Nuclear fuel cycle should be compensated."

During the closing statements of the IEN conference, Milton Martinez, Navajo, presented a letter to be to sent to Senator Oren Hatch (Utah) which was drawn up during a RECA workshop at the conference. The letter states that RECA "is a watered-down bill and is not to our satisfaction." Martinez pleads that we all must appeal to Senator Hatch and other representatives, "We need a bill to help people who have been exposed to uranium" and "We need support from around the country" to change legislation.

As the Dust Blows Across My Village: Education as Strategy

Education is a main strategy used by most participants in order to affect any change in legislation as well as in people's minds. Dorothy Purley, Laguna, is herself dying of cancer due to radiation exposure from working at the Jack Pile Mine and spoke of how the radioactive dust that blows across her village has also caused the children to be sick. She stresses that education is needed, "We must speak our stories." Her hope is that education will raise the children's awareness about the dangers of mining uranium.

From Northern Canada came Cindy Gilday, Dene of Great Bear Lake. She describes how her people live a subsistence lifestyle and follow the cycle of the fish and animals. She comes with the "cry of justice from all ore carriers of Northern Canada." Gilday told the story of the 1940's deal Canada made with the United States to dig up as much uranium as they wanted near her home to build the first atomic bomb.

All able-bodied Dene men where hired, and since the men of the tribe always bring the whole family where they go, the people migrated near the mines. The lakes where dredged for tailings when digging for uranium. Gilday pointed out, "Millions of tons of radioactive materials where dumped in the lake where people ate fish and moose. The dredge was then sold to the U.S." The men, dubbed "coolies," had to carry 100-pound bags of radioactive ore on their backs. The men were also dusty with the ore when they ate with their families. "The men started dying in the 1970's of various forms of cancers, like stomach and like cancer. It was the first time people heard of cancer," says Gilday.

Gilday talks of how they wrote formal letters to the Canadian government in the 1980's to do something about the mining. Then, "A letter came from the Minister of Mining that warned the white people to remove their clothing because the dust was hazardous. But the Dene laborers where never told," Gilday added.

Gilday now lives in a village of 600 widows. There are only 5 surviving Dene men from the mining days. Like Purley, Gilday stresses that education is needed. Gilday notes that the widows' stories have been documented in the story, "They Never Told Us These Things." The widows and the Dene want to share their stories with other people. Today, men in the 30's and 40's have lost their fathers, uncles and grandfathers. Gilday says that the Dene are a patrilineal society where fathers teach their sons to protect the survival of the tribe. "It is a tragedy to not have grandfathers to pass down cultural traditions, spiritual teachings."

Sharing Truths to Build Solidarity

In the "Taking from the Earth - Extraction" Workshop, indigenous peoples and representatives from around the world also offered their stories to educate others about the impacts of resource extraction on their communities:

• Brazil, South America - Leia Vale Oliviera, Waspishna, presented the problems facing her people in her home of Oraima. Oliviera spoke of how, since 1985, the "garemperos," people who mine legally or illegally, moved to their lands, extracted minerals such as gold, polluted the water, destroyed the land, abandoned mines and then would move on to a different place to mine. The impact on indigenous habitat and lifestyles was devastating. Oliviera says, "The people had to fight them [garemperos] and face the Brazilian Military. Indigenous people who faced the garemperos were killed in police stations. About 2000 indigenous peoples were killed between the years 1985 and 1995."

But, Oliviera offers a ray of hope. She says that her people are involved in a process to move the garemperos off their lands. Oliviera says that they've been conducting an international media campaign to alert people all over the world. Her people have also created a tribunal to look into who is responsible for the deaths of the indigenous peoples and the problems occuring within their territories and borders. The tribunal has sparked a process to have the territories marked and surveyed so that the people can control who is coming in to their lands.

• Columbia, South America - Steve Kretzmann, with the U'wa Defense Working Group and Project Underground, discussed the impacts of oil development on the U'wa people. Kretzmann explains that in the 1500's when "Conquistadors came in search of gold, the U'wa chose collective suicide rather than be slaves to the conquistadors." Now, Kretzmann says, big oil companies, such as Oxydental Oil Co. of Los Angeles, CA and Eco Petrol, a Columbian company, are doing the same. To the U'wa, oil is sacred and is the "blood" of Mother Earth. Kretzmann says that the U'wa believe that "any exploit of it [oil] signifies upcoming imbalance in the world…and the U'wa will be forced to live in slavery."

The U'wa are determined to resist any oil development on their lands. According to Kretzmann, Oxydental and Eco Petrol are using a series of "divide and rule" tactics with the U'wa to get permits for exploratory projects on their land. The oil companies would only meet with a few U'was who are less concerned with traditional values. "Even the Columbian government wants a trade off… They'll give the U'was more land, but they will have to allow oil exploration," adds Kretzmann. The environmental impacts of any oil exploration and development would "devastate the most biodiverse and pristine ecosystem. And any discharges from oil exploration will contaminate their sources of drinking water," says Kretzmann.

• Surinam, South America - Martin Misiedjan, Maroon, tells the story that his people are descendants of African slaves who escaped the Spanish slaveships in the 17th century. Now, Maroon communities are being invaded by "garemperos" (gold miners). The gold mining has polluted rivers and destroyed cultural plots. Timber was also taken away to clear land for mining activities. "The people who could afford it, ran to the cities just to survive, while the elderly were left behind because they related to the village," says Misiedjan. According to Misiedjan, "The Surinam government wants to exploit gold in the interior without the consent of the people, because the interior is rich in natural resources… The government allows the garemperos to invade our communities to suppress the maroon community." Since last December, fighting between Maroons and garemperos has been explosive. Misiedjan expresses, "The only weapons are ourselves. No one else will fight for our rights."



• Cordillera, Phillippines - Beverly Longid, Igarot or "People of the Mountains", explains that historically her people mined gold, with very little environmental impact, to barter for salt and livestock with the low-lands people. They only used water and gravity to mine for gold, and the maximum tunnel lengths were 100 meters where the entrances were only large enough to fit a person crouching. Longid, says, "The presence of traditional miners was enough for the Spaniards to justify taking gold." But the people had a history of armed resistance and fought to protect their resources and land from the Spaniards. Then American soldiers successfully colonized Igarot lands and were the first to lay claims for gold. Longid says that Americans tried to get the indigenous people to do the mining for them.

By 1995, a mining law was enacted that allowed trans-international corporations to apply for mines, with no fees, no taxes and with water, timber, and mineral rights. Longid explains, "This law liberalized the mining industry… And now 80% of the land has pending mining leases." "It is now an issue of mining beyond environmental destruction, and an issue of self-determination, sovereignty and human rights…[this destruction] will destroy the identity of the indigenous people. The government brings in military groups to secure the mining areas," says Longid. The people have decided to take a militant position, opting for arms struggle. Longid says that the people "want solidarity with others who are affected by the mining industry."

• Ghana, Africa - William Apierre, a representative from the Third World Network, explained how the World Bank told the Ghana government to liberalize the mining industry and extract resources to pay their debts. So the government liberalized labor and immigration laws allowing mining companies to enter the country. Apierre says, "only 20% of revenues stay in the country while 80% goes off-shore." There are currently 10 trans-international mining companies going into the tropical forest reserves and destroying the forests because of loose mining practices. Apierre comments, "The laws do not affect them, they can do what they want."

• Utah, United States - Hazel Merritt, Navajo, tells her story of the 900 oil wells in the Aneth Oil fields around her home in Southeast Utah. She describes oil spills that have not been cleaned up and the resulting soil contamination. Merritt gave details of the 1996 oil explosion that emitted poisonous gases and contaminated the drinking water. The people were not informed of the hazards following the explosion. Merritt explained that in response to the explosion and following contamination, the people gathered together and had a "standoff and closed the gates of the oil company." Her people received a settlement from the oil company where 80 % of the funds go directly to help people with hardships and for education.

• Alaska, United States - Faith Gimmell, Gwich'in and Pit River, from Arctic Village, AK and a representative of the Gwich'in Steering Committee and International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), explains how her organization is hard at work to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Coastal Plains from oil exploration and development. According to the Gwich'in, the area known as ANWR is considered the birth place of the Porcupine Caribou herd. Gimmell says, "This place is sacred to our people. It is 'the sacred place where life begins'… We believe that if oil companies are allowed to to go into the birthplace to explore for oil, our culture will be destoyed forever." Gimmell speaks of how there are 10,000 Gwich'in people living in Northeast Alaska and Northwest Canada, where 15 villages are located on the migratory route of the caribou herd. Gimmell describes that her people "hunt caribou in respectful ways, in ways our grandfather's ancestors taught us… Lots of our songs and dances from long ago tell of our relationship to the caribou and how we are spiritually connected to the caribou, as well."

Oil companies, such as Exxon, BP, Chevron, and ARCO, want to explore oil in ANWR. Meanwhile, 90% of Alaska's northern coast is already open to oil development, yet these oil companies want the remaining 10% - which is ANWR. Currently, the Gwich'in Steering committee are opposing two oil development bills in Congress, the 3-D Seismic Testing bill and a general oil development bill on the coastal plains introduced by Rep. Don Young (AK). If passed, the 3-D Seismic Testing bill will allow the use of explosive charges of dynamite or huge "thumper" trucks to determine the amount of oil that exists in ANWR.

Gimmell says, "We do have one positive bill that is going forward, which is the Wilderness Bill. This bill will designate the coastal plains as wilderness forever. We have a lot of support for that bill and are looking for more co-sponsoship for that bill… We have the Clinton Administration behind us on this issue verbally, but they have not formally endorsed the Wilderness Bill. And that is what we want people to pressure the Clinton Adminstration to do."

Taking Actions Towards Resolution

Many more stories where told about the struggles of indigenous peoples around the world who are being relocated and whose land rights and titles are being taken away as government legislation and military presence, and sometimes force, are used to protect corporate economic interests in natural resource extraction. But just as many stories were told about the victories and strategies that people are using to face their battles. From the "Taking the From the Earth - Extraction" workshop, strategies describing how to take action to move towards a resolution of the issues affecting indigenous peoples were shared by the group:

• Network with others


• Attend International and National Conferences to gather information


• Organize tribunals locally, nationally and internationally


• Push for legislative reform and legal redress


• Use physical resistance


• Educate others to raise awareness about the issues


• Organize protests and stand-offs


• Build coalitions and nonprofit organizations


• Understand and rewrite treaties


• Unify with other Indigenous and non-Native peoples to build a support network


• Take up an arms struggle when all other options are exhausted in order to protect the land and way of life


• Remember to pray and know traditional ceremonies


• Never lose the ability to laugh at one's self


• Keep alive the memories of the people who have fought and died for our struggles

Protecting the Future of Indigenous Peoples

One may have thought that these heart-breaking stories that tell how indigenous people have to endure each day just to maintain their way of life would only create feelings of hopelessness, but this was not the case. The participants came from all over the world to travel the long and dusty road and congregate at camp in view of the sacred mountain, Mt. Taylor. They believed their stories could make a difference by educating others about their struggles and sharing their strategies. People brought their strength, hopes, and visions in solidarity with others and came to build coalitions with other peoples facing similar issues.

It is evident by the stories and efforts of the indigenous peoples who gathered at the IEN conference that any outside forces that choose to destroy Mother Earth and her peoples will be met with a powerful resistance. Rose Main, of Fort Belknap White Clay Society in Montana, shares her strength to protect the future of her people:

"Indigenous peoples were placed here with instructions to protect the land. It will take cultural recovery and there are not many elders left…so we cannot forget to pass on our traditions, revive our language and culture, and identify who we are as peoples."

Browse photos from the IEN conference. Photos by Alice Aguilar and Andy Bessler.

Copyright © 1999, Alice Aguilar. All rights reserved.

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