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  • Louisiana Tribe Fears the Worst as Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Reaches Coast

    The Chief of the Point-au-Chien Tribe of Biloxi-Chitimacha Indians is keeping a nervous eye on his community after news that oil from a massive spill has reached the coast of Louisiana.

    Pointe-au-Chien is about an hour and a half’s drive southwest of New Orleans, LA. Chief Charles “Chuckie” Verdin told mediaINDIGENA in a phone call this afternoon that almost 80% of his over 700 community members rely on fishing for their livelihoods.

    Point-au-Chien is still feeling the effects of Hurricane Katrina and if the oil spill can’t be contained, he says, the effect on his community will be devastating.

    Trying to predict exactly where and how far the spill will go is still a guessing game.

    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been releasing regular trajectory maps, the latest of which show a potential for the oil to spread westerly toward Point-au-Chien.

    Meanwhile, other media and public sources have attempted to use the web to try and convey the scope, scale and course of the oil spill: Louisiana Bucket Brigade, Google Crisis Response and Nola.com.

  • First Nations, Ontario Agree to Fight for Continued Tax Exemption from Impending HST

    A press release issued today from the Ontario government states that the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Minister of Revenue have entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) committing both parties to

    work together to realize the continuation of the First Nation point of sale tax exemption within the framework of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), which is set to come into effect on July 1, 2010.

    The Agreement awaits formal ratification by COO’s membership.

    [Image via Toronto Star / Rick Eglinton]

  • Innocent Indigenous Women Finally Released From Mexican Prison


    Al Jazeera    ‘s Franc Contreras files this report on the release of Alberta Alcántara and Teresa González Cornelio, two Indigenous Otomi women falsely charged with holding federal police officers hostage. Additional background on their case is available through Amnesty International. The Associated Press also filed a story about their release.

    But the women’s convictions were only overturned (due to lack of evidence) after they had spent over 3 and a half years in jail. The case has called attention to a justice system criticised for jailing innocent Indigenous people.

  • Number of Murdered & Missing Aboriginal Women in Canada Grows to Nearly 600

    In the second of a series, we have an update for you concerning our map of missing and murdered Aboriginal women across Canada, which has now reached the 50-name mark. In our initial post, we featured a woman’s story for every province or territory. Now, with the addition of 37 more names, the map includes at least one story for every year dating back to 1980.

    Roughly coincidental with this update is the release of a comprehensive new report by the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC). What Their Stories Tell Us: Research findings from the Sisters In Spirit initiative synthesizes and distills the raw contents of NWAC’s database tracking the disappearance or death of over 580 Aboriginal women and girls across Canada (as of Mar. 31, 2010).

    Five years in the making, the report explores “the circumstances, root causes and trends leading to violence against Aboriginal women in Canada,” and highlights some of the stories and experiences shared by the families of the missing and murdered.

    Among its key findings:

    • Of all female homicides in Canada between 2000 and 2008, apx 10% (or 153 cases) involved Aboriginal women — even though Aboriginal women constitute just 3% of Canada’s total female population
    • The majority of women/girls were murdered; 115 women/girls are still missing
    • The majority (over two-thirds) of disappearances and deaths occurred in the western provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan
    • A great majority of the women were young; more than half under the age of 31
    • Many of the women — 88%  — were mothers and sometimes grandmothers (applies to cases where next of kin information is known)
    • Nationally, nearly half (40%) of murder cases remain unsolved
    • The majority of cases occurred in urban areas: 70% of disappearances, 60% of murders

    [Image via insurgent photo]

  • More Indigenous Response Re: New Arizona Immigration Law (Senate Bill 1070)

    The rhetoric continues to rage over Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070 — aka the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act — and, as MI just discussed, there is every possibility that Indigenous peoples in the area (on either side of the border) could face repercussions from its enforcement.

    One obviously implicated people are the members of the Tohono O’odham Nation, who share 63 miles of southwestern Arizona border with Mexico. Some of its youth are very active in the border debate via the O’odham Solidarity Across Borders Collective. You may appreciate their efforts at providing some historical background and context to this whole issue, including discussion of the cultural bonds that seem to persist despite the US/Mexico border.

    But, in reality, as Indian Country Today columnist Steve Russell recently pointed out, the law could affect any and all Indians who just so happen to be in the state:

    One thing about being Indian is that, regardless of complexion, you always have “papers.” In my tribe, there’s the “white card” (CDIB) and the “blue card” (Cherokee Nation Registry). Lucky I keep these cards in my wallet … If I am forced to visit Arizona while this license to harass brown people is in effect, I shall have to as a matter of principle speak only Spanish to police officers. Having spent the last 10 years in the Midwest, my Spanish needs a lot of brushing up. I presume that if I get arrested they will find my white card and my blue card at the booking desk and decide that I’m a U.S. citizen.

    [Image by Jeffry D. Scott via aliciapatterson.org]