#Diné Coalition Opposes #Navajo President's Push for #CoalMining and #Uranium Transport

Dine' Coalition Press Statement, #CensoredNews, April 17, 2025

WINDOW ROCK, Arizona -- "A coalition of grassroots groups released a statement in response to recent announcements and actions by #NavajoNation President #BuuNygren regarding coal development, carbon market deals, and potential new mining projects.

"The coalition will host a Press Conference from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (MDT) on Monday, April 21, 2025, outside the Navajo Nation Council Chambers during the first day of the Navajo Nation Council’s Spring Session. Please bring a folding chair, water, hats, and sunscreen, and dress appropriately for the weather to keep yourself safe and comfortable during the Press Conference.

"Summary of full statement:

● We call on the Navajo Nation President to stop making deals that degrade our land, water, and future.

● We urge tribal leaders not to repeat historical mistakes with respect to uranium extraction: Leave this Nayee’, Łeetso, in the ground. The cleanup and remediation of hundreds of abandoned mines must be completed, prioritizing public health safety and ecosystem health.

● We stand against the transport of uranium ore across the Navajo Nation because it is inconsistent with the intent of the Navajo Radioactive and Related Substances, Equipment, Persons and Materials Transportation Act of 2012, regardless of jurisdictional limits on our highways and roads.

● We steadfastly OPPOSE coal development, which negatively impacts the lands, water, and health of the Navajo people and contributes to #ClimateChange.

● We stand in protection of our water, health, traditional lifeways, Earth bundles (#Jish), and #MotherEarth.

"We call on all Diné #LandDefenders, #WaterProtectors, healers, young leaders, #matriarchs and warriors to stand together at WINDOW ROCK on APRIL 21, 2025. Together, we will make our voices heard and remind our Navajo Nation government that they are entrusted to make decisions that protect our People and protect our sacred homelands.
Statement from Diné Coalition of Grassroots Organizers in response to Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren’s recent statements and actions regarding uranium, carbon markets, coal, and
other harmful extractive processes.
We are a coalition of Diné organizers, land defenders, water protectors, traditional knowledge holders, matriarchs, and young leaders. We are calling on our Diné people to stand united in protecting Mother Earth and our sacred homelands and waterways.

"The Nygren Administration’s recent statements and actions do not reflect the
will of the Diné People, and we call on our Navajo Nation Council to ensure that such actions are not taken in violation of our Free, Prior, and Informed Consent.

"With the Trump administration’s announced intent to ramp up production of 'mission-critical' uranium,
the private energy offenders are again targeting Diné lands with no intention of ensuring public health, safety, or environmental health. Diné land and water protectors understand that energy offenders operate through systematic #racism that does not adhere to
#PinyonPlain uranium mine,
radioactive haul trucks, in #GrandCanyon."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/04/dine-coalition-opposes-navajo.html

#WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #Dineteh #NukingTheNavajo #Havasupai #UraniumMines #EnvironmentalRacism #PinyonPlainUraniumMine #AirIsLife #UraniumMine #NoMiningWithoutConsent
#DontNukeTheGrandCanyon #DontNukeThePlanet #WeAreTheFuture #NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #DontNukeTheFuture #ReaderSupportedNews

Witness: Most tribal nations at #DakotaAccessPipeline #protest ‘didn’t know who #Greenpeace was’

By: Mary Steurer - March 3, 2025

"A #Lakota organizer said in a video deposition played to jurors Monday that the #StandingRockSiouxTribe led the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, not Greenpeace.

"#NickTilsen, an Oglala Sioux Tribe citizen and #activist, called the notion that Greenpeace orchestrated the protests 'paternalistic.'

"'I think that people underestimate the complexity and the sophistication of tribal nations,' Tilsen said.

"Tilsen’s deposition was the latest testimony heard by the nine-person jury in the marathon trial between pipeline developer Energy Transfer and Greenpeace.

"#EnergyTransfer claims Greenpeace secretly aided and abetted destructive and violent behavior by protesters during the #demonstrations, which took place in south central #NorthDakota near the #StandingRockReservation in 2016 and 2017. It also claims that Greenpeace orchestrated a misinformation campaign to defame the company, leading a group of banks to back out of financing the project. Energy Transfer seeks roughly $300 million from the environmental organization.

"Greenpeace denies Energy Transfer’s allegations. The group says it has never condoned violence, and only played a supporting role during the protests.

"Tilsen said he got involved in the protests before Greenpeace. He was invited to join the cause by former Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault and his sister, Jodi Archambault, he said.

"'They called me and said, ‘Hey, we need your help at Standing Rock,’ Tilsen said.

"Standing Rock has long opposed the Dakota Access Pipeline, stating the project poses a pollution threat, infringes on tribal sovereignty and has disrupted sacred cultural sites.

"It was Standing Rock leadership that laid the groundwork for the protests against the pipeline’s construction in 2016, Tilsen said.

"He said organizers later invited Greenpeace to support the camps, including by providing supplies and nonviolent direct action training. Tilsen said he only felt comfortable reaching out to Greenpeace because a friend of his, Cy Wagoner, worked there.

"He said since Wagoner is from the #NavajoNation, he trusted that Greenpeace would respect Standing Rock’s leadership of the camps.

"Indigenous communities are often reluctant to invite outside nonprofits to help with Native rights issues, Tilsen added. He said they often don’t understand Native nations’ unique relationship with the U.S. government.

"Greenpeace wasn’t a big part of the protests, Tilsen said.

"'To be honest, most of the tribal nations didn’t know who Greenpeace was,' he said.

"Countless other groups — including representatives from more than 300 Native nations — came to the protest camps in solidarity with Standing Rock, said Tilsen.

"'Quite frankly, our list of allies was hundreds,' he said.

"Tilsen said he was involved in several protest actions against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and 2017, including those that involved marching on the pipeline easement, jumping in front of equipment and using lockboxes — also known as 'sleeping dragons' — to disable construction machinery.

"None of the protest actions were coordinated by Greenpeace, he said.

"Tilsen said he never saw or endorsed any destruction of property or acts of violence toward construction workers or law enforcement. He also pushed back on the assertion that any of the protest activities he participated in qualified as trespassing.

"The pipeline passes through land recognized as belonging to the #SiouxNation under #treaties signed by the U.S. government in 1851 and 1868. The U.S. government later annexed that land in violation of those treaties.

"Tilsen asked how Lakota citizens could be trespassing on land that was unlawfully taken from them.

"'This is the conundrum we find ourselves in,' he said.

"Employees of Greenpeace said during video depositions played last week that the environmental organization brought 20 to 30 lockboxes to the camps.

"Tilsen said while he saw many lockboxes during protests, he wasn’t sure where any of them came from. He also said he never heard anyone from Greenpeace tell demonstrators to use the devices.

"Tilsen said that David Khoury, an employee for Greenpeace, helped identify potential sites for protest actions. Tilsen added that while Wagoner — another Greenpeace employee — didn’t plan protest activities, he trained people on how to conduct them.

"The trial, which is before Southwest Central Judicial District Judge James Gion, is expected to last roughly four more weeks."

Source:
https://northdakotamonitor.com/2025/03/03/witness-most-tribal-nations-at-dakota-access-pipeline-protest-didnt-know-who-greenpeace-was/
#StandWithStandingRock #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #KelcyWarren #Trump #BigOil #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #StandingRock #SLAPPs #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife #SLAPPsLawsuits #SilencingDissent #ACAB #EnergyTransfer #UnicornRiot #CriminalizingDissent #ACAB #Blackwater #ErikPrince

#NavajoNation is 'Back Peddling' by Allowing #Uranium Transport through #Dine' Communities and More Dumping on #Utes

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Feb. 8, 2025

TUBA CITY -- "#LeonaMorgan, Dine' co-founder of #HaulNo!, said the Navajo Nation is now "back peddling" by allowing radioactive uranium waste to be transported through Dine' communities. This radioactive transport from the #GrandCanyon means even more deadly waste for another Native community -- the #WhiteMesaUte community in #Utah.

"Now, with little or no information along the haul route, the Navajo government expects the Dine' Chapters on the route to each have an emergency preparedness plan. Leona asked if the Dine' communities are aware of this and whether the Navajo Chapters are certified to deal with radioactive emergencies.

"'Who are their First Responders?' Ultimately, Dine' will have to confront the Navajo President and the Navajo Department of Justice, she said.
'We were not included in that agreement,' Leona said of the agreement between the Navajo Nation and #Energy Fuels.

"'There was no free, prior and informed consent,' Leona said, quoting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [#UNDRIP]. 'The people in the communities were not consulted.'

"'How can they start transporting on February 12th, when there aren't even any checkpoints? We don't even have an #AirMonitoring system,' Leona said of the lack of preparation for radioactive
transport on the Navajo Nation.
Energy Fuels plans to pass through Navajo communities with six to ten trucks of radioactive waste,
beginning on Feb. 12, 2025.

"Leona urged communities to organize, and pointed out that Navajo Chapters can have their own checkpoints. With the new push for '#DrillBabyDrill,' by the U.S. President, the Navajo Nation faces an uncertain future, she said. The U.S. is investing money into the development of #CriticalEarthMinerals and investing in Energy Fuels mill at White Mesa Ute.

"'We need to push our government to do what we want -- not what the federal government wants.'

"'It's going to get worse because they think nuclear is clean energy,' Leona said of the push for alternative energy.

"The Navajo Nation's agreement with Energy Fuels means more dangerous radioactive dumping in the #WhiteMesaUte community. In the agreement, Energy Fuels states it will transport 10,000 tons of uranium-bearing cleanup materials from abandoned #UraniumMines within the Navajo Nation.

"Leona was recently voted by the Navajo Nation Council to serve on the Diné #UraniumRemediation Advisory Commission, in an advisory position to the Navajo President and Council.

"Speaking in #TubaCity on Saturday, Leona said Haul No! began in 2016 when it became known that the Pinyon Plain uranium mine would begin mining in the Grand Canyon. Now, there is the new battle as the Navajo Nation government has approved uranium transport through Navajo communities to the White Mesa Ute community.

"Energy Fuels #PinyonPlain Mine, and the mill in southern Utah, threaten Native communities throughout the region."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/02/tuba-city-community-forum-and-walk-shut.html
#BuuNygren #IndigenousAction #IndigenousResistance #NuclearColonialism #ReaderSupportedNews #Dine #RestInPowerKleeBenally #NoUraniumTransport #DefendTheSacred #ProtectTheSacred #UraniumMine #NoNukes #NuclearFreeWorld #NoNuclear #NoWar #NuclearWaste #NoMoreMining
#NoMoreTransportationOfUranium
#NoNuclearWeapons
#NoNuclearPowerPlants #NoMining #NoUraniumMining #UteNation #NoUraniumMining #Navajo #Havasupai #GrandCanyon #NuclearWeapons #InformedConsent
#EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife

#KristiNoem and friends are taking revenge on #FirstNations! They were concerned that would happen!

#NativeAmerican tribes say #ICE harassing members amid raids

by Erin Alberty,
Russell Contreras, January 28, 2025

"Some Native American tribes say tribal members are being harassed by federal immigration agents, while others fear they could be wrongly caught up in immigration raids.

Why it matters: The angst among some #Indigenous tribes reflects the confusion and fear even among legal citizens during the #Trump administration's immigration raids.

The big picture: Several tribes have issued warnings and advice to their members based on what they say have been encounters in which U.S. immigration agents have demanded proof of citizenship — episodes that the tribes have linked to #RacialProfiling.

The alarm comes as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says its agents are arresting more than 1,000 undocumented immigrants a day, part of President Trump's push to deport "millions" of people not authorized to stay in the U.S.

Immigration raids in cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles — and Trump's new directives to allow searches in schools and churches in addition to workplaces and homes — have heightened concerns in communities across the country.

Zoom in: The #NavajoNation, one of the nation's largest tribes, said federal immigration agents have been questioning its members.

"My office has received multiple reports from Navajo citizens that they have had negative, and sometimes traumatizing, experiences with federal agents targeting undocumented immigrants," Navajo President #BuuNygren said in a statement.

Navajo Nation officials told CNN on Monday that at least 15 Indigenous people in the southwestern U.S. have reported being questioned or detained by immigration officers in the past week.

The 17.5 million-acre Navajo Nation is in northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. It's larger than 10 states.

ICE offices in Utah and Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment.

Zoom out: The #MescaleroApache Tribe in New Mexico announced that a member was confronted by ICE agents last week and was asked for ID — first in Spanish, although the member spoke English.

The #SissetonWahpetonOyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation in South Dakota said it was temporarily waiving all fees for issuing or replacing tribal IDs amid members' concerns about ICE encounters.
#Ute Indian Tribe Business Committee — the tribe's governing body — promised in a statement Saturday to "aggressively defend our rights and interests."
The tribe offered legal counsel to members who are "improperly detained or questioned," as did the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah.

The San Juan Southern #Paiute Tribe, whose land crosses the Utah-Arizona border, advised its citizens to record encounters with ICE, ask for agents' badges and keep their doors closed and ask for a warrant if approached at home.

What they're saying: Trump's immigration executive orders have "raised concern among our tribal members, particularly regarding the potential targeting of our community by immigration agents," #ChippewaCree Tribe chairman Harat BaRete said in a statement.

The north-central Montana tribe then released a set of guidelines urging members to remain silent, keep ID handy and report encounters to tribal officials.
"The #RosebudSioux Tribe is in the process of assessing the legal effects of the unlawful and unconstitutional Trump administration Executive Orders and will fiercely defend against any threat to the sovereignty," the South Dakota tribe said in a statement.

Between the lines: It's not unusual for ICE or DEA agents to enter tribal lands for immigration or drug enforcement.

Since the Obama administration, U.S. agents have aggressively targeted human smuggling rings that use isolated Indigenous lands to try to move undetected.

Congress didn't grant citizenship to Native Americans until 1924 — a development President Trump's lawyers cited in their attempt to justify his temporarily blocked executive order to overturn birthright citizenship.

The administration's attorneys last week invoked an 1884 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that denied citizenship to members of tribes to argue that "birth in the United States does not by itself entitle a person to citizenship."

Some tribal leaders saw the argument as a threat against their members' U.S. citizenship."

https://www.axios.com/2025/01/29/native-american-immigration-raids-navajo-nation?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
#ICERaids #IndigenousPeople #IndigenousNews #Fascism #SettlerColonialism