In traditional indigenous societies, land means life. Following is a documentary on the struggle of two Western Shoshone elders against mining threats to their ancestral lands from the United States in Crescent City, Nevada.
Tag: indigenous rights
Argentina: The Second Conquest of Patagonia’s Indigenous
Documentary film on indigenous communities in Chubut province in Patagonia, Argentina, their struggle over land rights and the threats from mining its mineral wealth, cutting its trees and development by other multinational interests.
Idle No More LA: Poetry and Prayer at Petroleum Conference
Idle No More Los Angeles offered drumming, prayer, poetry, and healing at the September 3rd protest at the downtown Pacific Oil Conference and Trade Show. Called “The Western Summit” for petroleum marketers, around 50 people demonstrated peacefully, holding down the corner of a busy thoroughfare of LA Live! for three hours, in the shadow of the towering new Marriott-Ritz Carlton.
“Sustainable” Palm Oil Conference Condones Honduran Land Conflicts
International environmental and human rights campaigners condemn the 4th Latin American Palm Oil Conference to be held by the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Honduras on 6th-8th August. The site of deadly conflicts over land rights with alarming impacts to ecosystems and communities, sustainably produced palm oil in this Central American country is impossible. The World Wildlife Fund among other sponsors, are charged with greenwashing and condoning human rights abuses.
Oren Lyons: On the Unity of the Earth
Chief Oren Lyons, distinguished member of the United Nations Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival, lectures on what happened to the millions of indigenous people who lived in North and South America when they were “discovered” and the past and present challenges for the Peacemakers, recently featured on KPFK’s “American Indian Airwaves.” Listen to the first part of the speech below. We also included a short talk from the Sacred Land Film Project.
Idle No More: Round Dance for Mother Earth
Idle No More has awakened indigenous voices from all over North America, blockading highways and border crossings, flash-mobbing in shopping malls, facing arrest and imprisonment. At issue are sovereignty and treaty rights, dancing and demonstrating for Mother Earth: for the protection of the air, the water, and the land, motivating native peoples out of their idleness and into the streets.
South American Indigenous Rights: Voice of the Mapuche
In this independent documentary, the Mapuche vision of the world is the basis to understand the struggle to protect their land and culture. The music, the paintings, the poetry, the language, the rituals, the traditions, and the strength of nature and the ancestors are present in “The Voice of the Mapuche”.