Thursday, December 06, 2007

Urgent News from Margo Tamez/Indigenous Lands at Stake


Press Release: For Wide Distribution
From: Margo Tamez (Lipan Apache, Jumano Apache)
December 6, 2007
Re: Chertoff Announces Eminent Occupation of Land Title Holders Refusing to Sign NSA Waivers

Dear supporters of the Lipan Apache Women Title Holder Defenders:

Ahi'i'e for all your wonderful outpouring of support to our elders of El Calaboz. We need your help on our continuing efforts to protect and keep safe the elders of our struggle against U.S. tyranny.

Today we have serious news to share and to update on the situation unfolding in the traditional lands of the Lipan Apache communities of the Mexico-US militarized border region. Chertoff announced plans to force occupation of South Texas families who refuse
to allow the government access to their lands.

See the story in the Houston Chronicle:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5357676.html

United States occupation of South Texas people refusing Homeland Security access to their traditional lands is EMINENT. 'Refusers' such as the Lipan Apache Land Grant Women Defense, co-led by my mother, Dr. Eloisa Garcia Tamez (Lipan Apache, Basque-Apache), in the rancheria of El Calaboz, have frustrated the NSA, Border Patrol and Army Corps of Engineers officials for over two years, and increasingly in the last two months.

Using tactics such as public announcements over the news service, used as intimidation and as psychological warfare--NSA/Chertoff exploits the press to prepare the nation to invade South Texas--and indigenous peoples--who are being 'architected as the perpetual enemies of the United States. This is an old story of genocidal tactics and militarization.

This scenario played out before, in 19th century, in 20th century. And now the 21st, my mother, the 'child of lightning ceremony', is fighting for the vestiges of our traditional lands. My mother, and the ancestors of 'the place where the Lipan pray', have been critical to our land-based struggle, and they are leaders in an Apache struggle in the Mexico-US International Boundary region. Our elder voices direct us in a huge role that Apache people will play in standing up against tyranny of the settler society. We cannot do this without the support and the solidarity of our indigenous sisters and brothers who are also at the forefront of the 21st century battles for our rights as indigenous peole with ancient footprints on this land.

My mother, at this stage of our community-based struggle, indicates that she is prepared to receive national and international support for our small community on the peripheries of U.S. empire. She wrote a comment on the page of this newsstory out of Houston, Texas.

Today we are submitting our comments to the Environmental Impact Statement authorities, and parallel to that we are submitting an indepth case study of our histories under U.S., Mexican, Spanish, Vatican and corporate domination to the International Indian Treaty Council shadow report to be submitted to the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of Racism and Racial Discrimination in December.

Please read Chertoff's public announcement to occupy South Texas oppressed groups, and pass on WIDELY to all networks. I'm going to attach the CENSORED story, so new folks to our struggle can become educated rapidly. In peace in the struggle against tyranny.

Margo Tamez
(Lipan Apache, Jumano Apache)

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2007/11/urgent-call-for-helphomeland-
security.html
Urgent Call for Help from Lipan Apache Women Defense

http://www.kpfk.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3574
&Itemid=79&lang=en

American Indian Airwaves interview of Margo Tamez: "The Militarization of Indigenous Women's Lives at the Mexico-U.S. International Boundary."

http://www.nativewiki.org/Margo_Tamez

Lisa Alvarado

1 comment:

Sustenance Scout said...

This post and other current highlights from La Bloga have just been featured on my diversity blog, BEYOND Understanding. Thanks, Lisa, for spreading the word about this issue.

Karen DeGroot Carter
Denver