Native Americans Launch ‘Love Water Not Oil’ Ride to Protest Fracking Pipeline

August 24, 2014, www.nationofchange.org | “Winona LaDuke, executive director of Native environmental group Honor the Earth, launched the “Love Water Not Oil” horse ride this week to draw attention to the group’s continued opposition to the Enbridge Sandpiper pipeline. It would carry fracked oil from North Dakota’s Bakken shale oil fields through the Sandy Lake and Rice Lake watersheds in northern Minnesota. The area is not only rich in recreational fishing facilities but it is also home to vast fields of wild rice or manoomim, a Native American staple.”

Kevin Village-Stone shared a link

via Native American Times.Native Americans Launch ‘Love Water Not Oil’ Ride to Protest Fracking Pipeline
www.nationofchange.org
Winona LaDuke, executive director of Native environmental group Honor the Earth, launched the “Love Water Not Oil”…

Feds to Release Water for Klamath and Trinity Salmon; Farm Districts Protest

(Dan Brekke/KQED)August 22, 2014, blogs.kqed.org | “The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced Friday that it will release water over the next several weeks to aid chinook salmon on the Klamath and Trinity rivers — a move that native tribes on the river have lobbied for to prevent a repeat of a catastrophic die-off that killed tens of thousands of fish headed upstream to spawn in 2002.”

BUREAUCRAT STANDS UP FOR SALMON
A big shout out to David Murillo, Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Regional Director, for his openness to new information about the risk of a disastrous fish kill in the Klamath River, and his courage to reverse his earlier decision to withhold water, knowing that he would now be immediately challenged in court.
Given the choice between a massive fish kill vs. a bit more irrigation water for the Central Valley, he made the right call. Bureaucrats who stand up to big money need our support, so let’s give it to him! Call his office at 916-978-5000 during business hours, Monday-Friday.
Photo: BUREAUCRAT STANDS UP FOR SALMON
A big shout out to David Murillo, Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Regional Director, for his openness to new information about the risk of a disastrous fish kill in the Klamath River, and his courage to reverse his earlier decision to withhold water, knowing that he would now be immediately challenged in court. 
Given the choice between a massive fish kill vs. a bit more irrigation water for the Central Valley, he made the right call. Bureaucrats who stand up to big money need our support, so let's give it to him!  Call his office at 916-978-5000 during business hours, Monday-Friday.

Gitxsan First Nation evicting rail, logging, sport fishing interests

The Gitxsan First Nation has issued eviction notices to rail , logging and fishing interests claiming their concerns are being ingored by the B.C. government.

July 11, 2014, www.cbc.ca | “British Columbia First Nations are wasting no time in enforcing their claim on traditional lands in light of a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision recognizing aboriginal land title.  The hereditary chiefs of the Gitxsan First Nations served notice Thursday to CN Rail, logging companies and sport fishermen to leave their territory along the Skeena River in a dispute with the federal and provincial governments over treaty talks.”

Pamela Benda shared a link

Gitxsan First Nation evicting rail, logging, fishing interests
www.cbc.ca
British Columbia First Nations are wasting no time in enforcing their claim on traditional lands in light of a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision recognizing aboriginal land title.”

Indigenous Rights & Rights of Nature

July 10, 2014, www.pachamama.org | “We work with our indigenous partners in Ecuador, and other organizations, to stand for the rights of indigenous people and Nature, safeguarding the rainforest and working in the industrialized world to shift the culture of overconsumption that threatens their Amazonian home and communities.”

“Our Accomplishments in the Amazon
For 16 years, in partnership with Fundación Pachamama, our work with our indigenous partners has resulted in the historic inclusion of Rights of Nature in the 2008 Ecuadorian Constitution, support of the i
Oil Free Amazon and other projects by Pachamama Alliance
www.pachamama.org
We work with our indigenous partners in Ecuador, and other organizations, to stand for the rights of indigenous people and Nature, safeguarding the rainforest and working in the industrialized world to shift the culture of overconsumption that…
  • Connie AshbyRita Jacinto, Maryska Azzena, and Luz Engelbrecht like this.

First Nations Take Their Last March Through Canada’s Dystopian Tar Sands

2014 Tar Sands Healing Walk

July 9, 2014, www.yesmagazine.org | “The fifth and final Tar Sands Healing Walk took place on June 28 in Fort McMurray, Canada. Hundreds of people joined First Nations leaders in a prayer-filled walk around the refineries and “land reclamation” projects operated by the oil company Syncrude.”

“Hundreds of people joined First Nations leaders in a prayer-filled walk around the refineries and “land reclamation” projects operated by the oil company Syncrude. This isn’t protest or a rally,” organizer Crystal Lameman told the particip
First Nations in Canada March Against Tar Sands
www.yesmagazine.org
Organizers agreed that the annual marches have helped raise awareness about the mining project. But their work is far from done.

The Dark Side of Brazil: Police teargas Indians at anti-World Cup protest

May 30, 2014, www.survivalinternational.org | “Hundreds of Brazilian Indians are protesting against the World Cup this week, marching in the streets of Brasília and around the capital’s Mané Garrincha football stadium, calling for their lands and lives to be protected.”

INDIANS IN BRAZIL PROTEST SPENDING ON THE WORLD CUP GAMES
Millions spent on the world cup that should be spent protecting the Earth and tribal peoples. Hundreds of Brazilian Indians are protesting against the World Cup this week, marching in the streets of Brasília and around the capital’s Mané Garrincha football stadium, calling for their lands and lives to be protected.

Annual ‘Blessing Mount Ashland’ ceremony follows canceled ski season

April 9, 2014, www.mailtribune.com | “Bare trees, bright sun and wet snow greeted about 75 people of different spiritual walks who gathered Tuesday afternoon for the eighth annual “Blessing Mount Ashland” ceremony.”

REGIONAL NEWSPAPER HEADLINES A SPIRITUAL CEREMONY FOR THE EARTH!
When has this happened before? May it now happen more and more!This shows that we need no longer be shy about our feelings for the Earth.
Whenever you do a ceremony, don’t forget to tell the media.

More and more, people are realizing that things are different now than they have ever been, so they’ll be wanting to pay more attention to our larger home.

Here’s a link to the article. Photos and a video are linked to from here:
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20140409%2FNEWS%2F404090308

HEADLINE! “TO HONOR THE MOUNTAIN” – BLESSING MOUNT ASHLAND
Big thanks to Medford Mail Tribune Editor Bob Hunter for putting this powerful headline across the top of the front page! Big thanks to writer Nick Morgan and photographer Julia Moore for their excellent coverage.
And big thanks to the hundreds of people who have worked hard over the last 30 years to increase the environmental awareness of thousands of people in the Rogue Valley, so that now it has become a natural, common sense thing to Honor the Mountain, to Honor the Earth.
Photo: HEADLINE!  "TO HONOR THE MOUNTAIN" - BLESSING MOUNT ASHLAND<br />
Big thanks to Medford Mail Tribune Editor Bob Hunter for putting this powerful headline across the top of the front page!  Big thanks to writer Nick Morgan and photographer Julia Moore for their excellent coverage.<br />
And big thanks to the hundreds of people who have worked hard over the last 30 years to increase the environmental awareness of thousands of people in the Rogue Valley, so that now it has become a natural, common sense thing to Honor the Mountain, to Honor the Earth.

 

Landmark victory for the Ogiek

Ogiek, Kenya
March 31, 2014, www.survivalinternational.org | “After eighteen years of struggle, the Kenyan courts have finally ruled in favour of the Ogiek, one of Africa’s last hunter-gatherer tribes.  Hundreds of families were evicted nearly two decades ago from their ancestral lands in the Mau Forest, and the court has recognised that this violated their constitutional right to life.”

Brazil Kicks Out Illegal Loggers
us1.campaign-archive2.com
Over 60% of the illegal invaders on the land of the Awá tribe have now been evicted in a breakthrough operation in the Brazilian Amazon.”
  • Kevin Village-Stone, Connie Ashby, Maryska Azzena, Michael Sykes, Christine Forest Sea, Pavana Bohegian, Good Vibrations

BLESSING MOUNT ASHLAND

4 Weeks from Today -> BLESSING MOUNT ASHLAND, Tuesday, April 8, 1-3 pm, at the Ski Area in midweek when all is quiet. No speeches, no sermons . . . simply uninterrupted PRAYERS SPOKEN & MUSICAL, Different Cultures in Common Prayer for Our Common Ground — Mother Earth, 8th annual multi-cultural ceremony

More than any other time in memory, now is a time to come together for the Earth.

Unpredictable changes in the weather seem to mirror the chaos of the political systems below. As I write, snow and rain, sun and wind are alternating in the high country. Weather systems are sputtering from one extreme to another. Flowers in the valleys are acting like it’s springtime already, but we know that we have not yet really felt the storms of winter that have watered the gardens of our region and kept our streams full in the summer for thousands and thousands of years.

This year we have the chance to counter this chaos with our constancy, our consistent choice to take the time to journey to the top of a mountain and give thanks.

Please join us, and ask all of your friends to join us too.

Here’s who will be here with us, and more.

Greetings and Introduction to the use of the large white crystal sound healing bowl filled with water that will grace the center of our circle
Suzanne Mathis McQueen (Four Seasons in Four Weeks)
Confirmed this year for prayers . . . Musical . . . and Spoken
Prayer/Invocation ~ Bobcat Robert Brothers (GoodNews FortheEarth)
“Oh Mount Ashland, Ahl-ke-tah, Cloud catcher, Snow holder, Water giver”
Nancy Bloom, vocals, hand drum
Rabbi Joshua Boettiger (Temple Emek Shalom)
Cantor Bella Feldman (Temple Emek Shalom)
Sara Tone, vocals, hand drum
Coach Louise Rouse, vocals, “Can you feel it?”
Windsong Martin, vocals, guitar
Don Diego & Beth Brown (Rainbow Family), vocals and mandolin, songs in Spanish & Hebrew

We are waiting to hear from a few more people who have been invited to offer prayers this year.

POTLUCK AFTER: 3:00-5:30 pm, location to be announced. Volunteers needed. Please call Bobcat, 707-601-0818
Everyone Welcome! Whether you make it up the Mountain or not J

Tuesday, April 8, 2014 is the date that has been set with the Ski Area folks. It’s a week earlier because the week when we usually hold our ceremony marks the beginning of Passover and the holy week before Easter this year. In order to allow space for the people honoring these traditions to attend our multi-cultural ceremony as well, we will hold our ceremony a week earlier than usual.

Tuesday was chosen because on that day all will be quiet on the mountain. The Ski Area is closed in midweek, and no machines will be grooming the trails. The following weekend is scheduled to be the last chance for skiing this season, so hopefully our prayers will bring lots of nice powdery snow for the next weekend, as has happened many times in the past. There is a drought now, but as the Pineapple Express is showing us, there is no need for it to continue!

When we stand together in ceremony, the receptive crystals of water in the snow feel the gratitude that we have for the Mountain. These feelings spread from the snow beneath our feet, down the rolling slopes and under the trees all around the Mountain a blanket of blessings. In the warm sun of springtime, the snow crystals full of love become water flowing downhill, into the creeks, into the rivers, into the ocean, rising and falling again as rain or snow, carrying our blessings to all beings.

Please let me know if you will be able to join us in person. If not, please join us from wherever you may be, Each year the ceremony gets more powerful, as we learn better how to be present with the mountain and
receive its blessings. Spread the word widely about this unique opportunity to give and to receive.

Also, please stay tuned to our website as people confirm that they will be offering prayers, spoken or musical, at the ceremony this year.

As always, there will be an uninterrupted flow of prayer from beginning to end — no introductions, no speeches, no sermons, just heart-sharing to bring us in closer touch with the mountain, the Earth, and each other.

At the culmination of the ceremony, we reach out and feel thanks, touch the snow, and spread the blessings all around the mountain.

And afterwards, there will be a potluck! Volunteers are needed to help with this, and with setting up the chairs and sound system for the ceremony.

For more info, check out this video of the ceremony in 2010, the story of the ceremony in 2012, and lots more at www.blessingmountainsinthesnow.org

Much love and many blessings to you all!

Bobcat

p.s. Every day of the year I sing this song with my prayers:

Ahl-ke-tah, Cloud Catcher, Snow Holder, Water Giver
We’re going to bless Mount Ashland, show her that we care,
We’re going to touch the snow, spread our blessings everywhere,
When we let our love flow, wherever it may go high or low, don’t say no,
We’re going to reap just what we sow when we let our love flow, through the snow.

Photo: 4 Weeks from Today -> BLESSING MOUNT ASHLAND, Tuesday, April 8, 1-3 pm, at the Ski Area in midweek when all is quiet. No speeches, no sermons . . . simply uninterrupted PRAYERS SPOKEN & MUSICAL,  Different Cultures in Common Prayer for Our Common Ground -- Mother Earth, 8th annual multi-cultural ceremony

More than any other time in memory, now is a time to come together for the Earth.

Unpredictable changes in the weather seem to mirror the chaos of the political systems below. As I write, snow and rain, sun and wind are alternating in the high country.  Weather systems are sputtering from one extreme to another.  Flowers in the valleys are acting like it's springtime already, but we know that we have not yet really felt the storms of winter that have watered the gardens of our region and kept our streams full in the summer for thousands and thousands of years.

This year we have the chance to counter this chaos with our constancy, our consistent choice to take the time to journey to the top of a mountain and give thanks.

Please join us, and ask all of your friends to join us too.

Here's who will be here with us, and more.

Greetings and Introduction to the use of the large white crystal sound healing bowl filled with water that will grace the center of our circle 
-- Suzanne Mathis McQueen (Four Seasons in Four Weeks)      
Confirmed this year for prayers . . . Musical . . . and Spoken
Prayer/Invocation ~ Bobcat Robert Brothers  (GoodNews FortheEarth)
"Oh Mount Ashland, Ahl-ke-tah, Cloud catcher, Snow holder, Water giver" 
Nancy Bloom, vocals, hand drum
Rabbi Joshua Boettiger (Temple Emek Shalom)
Cantor Bella Feldman (Temple Emek Shalom)
Sara Tone, vocals, hand drum
Coach Louise Rouse, vocals, “Can you feel it?”
Windsong Martin, vocals, guitar
Don Diego & Beth Brown (Rainbow Family), vocals and mandolin, songs in Spanish & Hebrew

We are waiting to hear from a few more people who have been invited to offer prayers this year.

POTLUCK AFTER:  3:00-5:30 pm, location to be announced. Volunteers needed. Please call Bobcat, 707-601-0818
Everyone Welcome! Whether you make it up the Mountain or not J

Tuesday, April 8, 2014 is the date that has been set with the Ski Area folks.  It’s a week earlier because the week when we usually hold our ceremony marks the beginning of Passover and the holy week before Easter this year.  In order to allow space for the people honoring these traditions to attend our multi-cultural ceremony as well, we will hold our ceremony a week earlier than usual.  

Tuesday was chosen because on that day all will be quiet on the mountain.  The Ski Area is closed in midweek, and no machines will be grooming the trails.  The following weekend is scheduled to be the last chance for skiing this season, so hopefully our prayers will bring lots of nice powdery snow for the next weekend, as has happened many times in the past.  There is a drought now, but as the Pineapple Express is showing us, there is no need for it to continue!

When we stand together in ceremony, the receptive crystals of water in the snow feel the gratitude that we have for the Mountain. These feelings spread from the snow beneath our feet, down the rolling slopes and under the trees all around the Mountain  a blanket of blessings. In the warm sun of springtime, the snow crystals full of love become water flowing downhill, into the creeks, into the rivers, into the ocean, rising and falling again as rain or snow, carrying our blessings to all beings.

Please let me know if you will be able to join us in person.  If not, please join us from wherever you may be, Each year the ceremony gets more powerful, as we learn better how to be present with the mountain and
receive its blessings.  Spread the word widely about this unique opportunity to give and to receive.

Also, please stay tuned to our website as people confirm that they will be offering prayers, spoken or musical, at the ceremony this year. 

As always, there will be an uninterrupted flow of prayer from beginning to end -- no introductions, no speeches, no sermons, just heart-sharing to bring us in closer touch with the mountain, the Earth, and each other. 

At the culmination of the ceremony, we reach out and feel thanks, touch the snow, and spread the blessings all around the mountain. 

And afterwards, there will be a potluck!  Volunteers are needed to help with this, and with setting up the chairs and sound system for the ceremony.

For more info, check out this video of the ceremony in 2010, the story of the ceremony in 2012, and lots more at www.blessingmountainsinthesnow.org

Much love and many blessings to you all!

Bobcat

p.s.  Every day of the year I sing this song with my prayers:

Ahl-ke-tah, Cloud Catcher, Snow Holder, Water Giver
We’re going to bless Mount Ashland, show her that we care,
We’re going to touch the snow, spread our blessings everywhere,
When we let our love flow, wherever it may go high or low, don’t say no,
We’re going to reap just what we sow when we let our love flow, through the snow.

Operation to save Earth’s most threatened tribe: first stage complete

The Awá depend on their forest for their survival.

February 14, 2014, us1.campaign-archive2.com | “The first stage of the Brazilian government’s operation to remove illegal loggers and ranchers from the land of the Awá tribe is now complete; all have been told that they must leave.  A total of 427 notices have been issued, giving the non-Indians 40 days to leave the territory or be removed.”

“Brazil Protects Forests and Native People from Illegal Logging
us1.campaign-archive2.com
The first stage of the Brazilian government’s operation to remove illegal loggers and ranchers from the land of the Awá tribe is now complete;…”
  • Kevin Village-Stone, Eva Van Tieghem, Elizabeth McGorian, Frank Bodine, Stoned Angel, Connie Ashby, Andrew Wolcott, Jean Andrew, Libby Goines, Rita Jacinto, Pam Cooper, Nigel Vajrapadmapa, Sandra Beal, Renata Maixnerová, Good Vibrations, Dawn Ti, Martin Williams, Alison Jones, Wendy Rolls, and Chantelle Leoni like this.