Copyright © 1997 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved
EUROMEETING 95
Planning Session of Support Groups of
North American Indigenous PeopleS
Resolution on the Traditional Pikuni Blackfeet Nation
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Represented by Floyd (Tiny Man) Heavy Runner
Traditional Chief of the Brave Dog Society
of the (Pikuni) Blackfeet Nation.
WHEREAS according to the Blackfeet understanding of the Agreement
of 1895 the (Pikuni) Blackfeet Nation has never ceded by any
treaty the Badger-Two Medicine area to the United States of
America.
AND WHEREAS the entirety of the Badger-Two Medicine Area shall be
at the disposal of the Blackfeet Nation;
AND WHEREAS the Badger-Two Medicine, in evidence to the
traditions of the Blackfeet People, has been the religious and
cultural area of all Blackfeet since time immemorial;
AND WHEREAS therefore the Badger Two Medicine Area up to this day
is used to practice Sun Dance, vision quests, and other religious
ceremonies essential to the Blackfeet People;
AND WHEREAS the Badger Two Medicine Area as a whole is an unique
biotope with international acknowledgement, which, is
indispensable in providing the Blackfeet People with a variety of
medicinal plants and constitutes one of the last protected and
undisturbed habitats of the near-extinct grey wolf, of the
grizzly bear, and is a vital part of the migratory territory of
several other threatened species of wildlife; subject to the
Endangered Species Act.
AND WHEREAS the Badger Two Medicine Area has been targeted for
commercial exploitation by the oil-conglomerates CHEVRON (USA)
and PETROFINA (Belgium), although the chances to discover oil on
this area are less than 0.5% and at an improbable strike the
maximum yield would barely cover the average minimum United
States consumption of half a day;
AND WHEREAS any industrial violation of Badger Two Medicine Area
would not only drastically restrict the free practice of religion
for the Blackfeet People, but also cause irreparable damage to
the environment of this still pristine area and the bordering
Glacier National Park due to the standard methods routinely
employed to locate and recover fossil fuels;
NOW THEREFORE, we, the paricipants of the 10th European Planing
Session of Support Groups of North American Indigenous PeopleS,
representing Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, the
Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United
States and various aboriginal nations and organizations, do
hereby strongly demand:
- that the Blackfeet understanding of the Agreement of 1895 will
be honored and on all points complied with
- that the existing Environmental Impact Statement, determined by
the U.S Forest Service of the State of Montana, will be
superseded by a new report compiled by independent experts under
special consideration of the spiritual status of the Badger Two
Medicine Area, making it inaccessible to any industrial
exploitation
- that all permits issued for test drillings, (even illegal
according to U.S. law), to the Belgian oil-conglomerate
Petrofina are immediately revoked
- that all other projects to exploit the Badger Two Medicine Area
are likewise immediately stopped
- that this area of Badger Two Medicine be placed under the
protection of the UNO Convention for the Protection of the World
Cultural and Natural Heritage of UNESCO
- that the U.S. government must be required to honor its
agreement made with UNESCO, ratified by the US Congress in 1973
Moved by: Seconded by:
Marten Briese
Andrea Reindl
Association for the Support of
Society of the threatened peopleS
American Indigenous, Berlin-Germany
Austria and Germany
Passed:
Date:
July 29th - Aug 1st, 1995,
Les Geneves sur Coffrane, Switzerland
Chairperson of the Meeting
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EUROMEETING 95
Resoution on Dineh
Planning Session of Support Groups of
North American Indigenous PeopleS
RESOLUTION ON THE PROTECTION OF THE BLACK MESA PLATEAU
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WHEREAS, the Office of Surface Mining conducted an Environmental
Impact Study (EIS) 1990, for both the Black Mesa / Kayenta mines
was totally incomplete in regards to sacred sites, burial sites,
ceremonial sites, and social-economical adverse impacts to the
Dine and Hopi life tradtional styles.
AND WHEREAS, Peabody Coal Company received a permit on July 6th
1995 by the Office of Surface Mining for another five years to
operate on the Black Mesa / Kayenta mines despite the opportunity
of public hearings and scientific evidence raised by the
residents of the HPL area.
AND WHEREAS, the Office of Surface Mining, and both the Navajo
and Hopi Tribal governments have failed to produce proper
reclamation policies which would perpetuate traditional medical
practices. That contaminated ponds and soil, has a toxicological
effects on vegetation, livestock and public health, as well as of
inter-active toxicological effects of selenium, copper and other
heavy metals in both surface and groundwater sources of the Black
Mesa region.
AND WHEREAS,the Office of Surface Mining has explicity allowed
Peabody Coal Company to ignore protections for graves, religious,
cultural and archeological sites and requirements to minimize
land disturbance.
WE THEREFORE, demand Peabody Coal Company to stop its mining
activities on Black Mesa immediatly, if this is not possible,
Peabody's permit should be re-evaluable if pending studies prove
that there exist health problem. These tests are beeing carried
out by Navajo and Hopi Tribal government, Department of Surface
Mining, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency
in co-operation with Dine Alliance, Dine C.A.R.E., Peabody Watch,
and Greenpeace.
Moved by: Seconded by:
Passed:
July 29th - Aug 1st,
Les Geneves sur Coffrane, Switzerland
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EUROMEETING 95
Resolution on Innu
Planning Session of Support Groups of
North American Indigenous PeopleS
Resolution about the Innu in Nitassinan.
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Whereas since time immemorial the Innu have been the inhabitants
of the area now used by Canadian, German, Dutch and British
airforces for military flight training;
And whereas they have never signed a treaty with the government
of Canada giving away their land, or given Canada any authority
to use their land and airspace for resource developments like
military flight training, logging or building dams.
And whereas during the last United Nation Working Group on
Indigenous Populations in Geneva, the delegation of Canada
,reviewing the developments pertaining to the promotion and
protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms of Indigenous
Populations, repeated the statement made at the inaugural
ceremony for the internnational Decade, during which was stated
that Canada's Aboriginal policy is following two broad themes:
Building a new partnership which is based on trust, mutual
respect and aboriginal participation in decision-making; and
strengthening Aboriginal communities through initiatives designed
to build stronger, healthier and more self-reliant communities
And whereas the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND)
spend $10 million to study the impacts, the Environmental
Assessment Panel reported that uncertainty remains with respect
to both the environmental and health effects of low-level flying
and the effectiveness of the DND's avoidance program;
And whereas on May 1st of this year, the Canadian government
conditionally approved an increase in the number of annual
military training sorties from 7,000 to 18,000, including 15,000
low-level sorties and an expansion of the Low-Level Training Area
(LLTA's) from a 100,000 square kilometers to a 130,000 square
kilometers with additional bombing ranges;
And whereas these decisions were made with complete disregard for
the rights, safety and future of the Innu people, and without
adequate protection for the environment on which the Innu
strongly depend for their livelihood, the continuation of their
traditional way of life, and their existence as a distinct
people;
And whereas the Innu people have stated, that low level flighing
is seriousley affecting their physical, psychological and
spiritual health and the natural and human environment, and is
contributing to the further collapse of Innu culture and society,
and as such is considered genocide
And whereas the Panel reported that these uncertainties, along
with the social tension and polarization around the project, were
such that a first reaction might be that the project should not
proceed;
And whereas the Panel concluded that the economic benefits of the
project to the largely non-aboriginal community of 8,600 people
in Happy Valley-Goose Bay outweighed the rights of the Innu and
environmental protection;
And whereas the Canadian Cabinet supported the recommendation of
the Panel to establish an Institute to monitor the military
flight training and to gather more information about the
environment, including Aboriginal land use;
And whereas the Innu Nation is not opposed to the idea of an
Institute, and even made a proposal to the Canadian Government
regarding how the Institute should be structured before their
decision of May 1st;
And whereas the Canadian government completely ignored this
proposal and a request for a technical meeting;
And whereas decisions were taken without any further discussion
with, or notification to the Innu people;
And whereas the Dutch, German and British governments have to
follow strict laws and regulations to ensure the safety of their
citizens when conducting military flight training over their own
territories;
Now therefore the participants of the Tenth Annual Meeting of
Support Groups for North American Indigenous Peoples,
representing 25 organizations from 10 European countries,
strongly urge the Dutch, German and British governments to:
1) treat the Innu equal to their own citizens, and observe the
same laws and regulations concerning military flight activities
in Canada as they are obliged to meet in their own countries;
2) postpone renewal of the Multinational Memorandum of
Understanding until the environmental viability of current
training levels and possible increases has been determined by the
Institute;
3) recognize the Institute and its work only if:
- it is to be a regulatory Institute with decision-making power,
so that crucial environmental studies and decisions about
military low-level flying are not only made by the Canadian
Department of Defence;
- it is not based on the the philosophy of adaptive management,
which runs contrary to the protection of the environment and
disregards Innu rights and safety;
- Innu have an important decision-making role in the Institute,
because they are the people most affected by low-level flying;
- the Institute is structered so that decisions require a
majority of all of the members plus a majority of the Aboriginal
members;
4) cap the present sortie levels in the present zones;
5) renew the present MMOU only if the Institute decides that
current or increased levels of low-level flying are
environmentally viable, and then only with current sortie levels
in the present zones on a year to year basis, until the future of
low-level flying is determined in a comprehensive rights
agreement or sub- agreement between Canada and the Innu Nation.
Moved by: Seconded by
Mirjam Niemans,
Suzan Trubsbach
Innu Support Group
BIG MOUNTAIN Aktionsgruppe
Passed:
Date:
August 1st, 1995,
Les Geneveys-sur-Coffrane, Switzerland
Chairperson of the meeting
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EUROMEETING 95
Resolution on Leonard Peltier
Conf: Planning Session of Support Groups of
North American Indigenous PeopleS
Resolution for an External Investigation concerning
Leonard Peltiers Extradition from Canada
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WHEREAS Leonard Peltier, an Anishinabe/Lakota, leader of the
American Indian Movement (AIM), has been wrongly imprisoned for
19 years in the United States;
WHEREAS Peltier fled to Canada in fear of his life searching for
political asylum and protection in 1975;
WHEREAS Peltier was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
in Alberta, Canada on Feb. 6th, 1976;
WHEREAS Peltier was offered political asylum by the Kwakuitl
Nation on their sovereign territory;
WHEREAS Canada refused this right of the Kwakuitl Nation;
WHEREAS Leonard Peltier was extradited from Canada on false
testimonies and fabricated evidence presented by US officials and
the FBI;
WHEREAS the FBI today admits to this misconduct;
WHEREAS this fraudulent aberation of standard of procedure
between two friendly nations presents a violation of
International Law;
WHEREAS 60 members of the Canadian House of Commons, the Royal
Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Judge Rene Dussault of the
Quebec Court of Appeals, Canadian Lawyers Caucus and numerous
organizations have shown their support for Leonard Peltier
concerning the illegal extradition from Canada to the United
States;
WHEREAS the Canadian Justice Minister Allan Rock authorized a
review of Leonard Peltier's case March 7th, 1994;
WHEREAS this is the first time the Canadan Government has agreed
to re-evaluate their position concerning the extradition of
Leonard Peltier;
WHEREAS the Liberal Member of the Parliament Warren Almand
(chairperson of Canadian Parliament Justice Committee) , a former
Solicitor General, made strong recommendations that an
independent review be granted ;
THEREFORE we, the participants of the 10th European Meeting of
Support Groups of North American Indigenous PeopleS gathered in
Les Geneveyes sur Coffrane near Neuchatel, Switzerland, from July
30th to August 1st, 1995, including 14 Indigenous representatives
and 25 organizations from Austria, Belgium, England, France,
Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, United States of America and
Canada, demand that Minister Allan Rock authorize an independent
review by an external commission and grant a fair and neutral
inquiry concerning the misconduct of US officials and FBI
personnel in Leonard Peltier's extradition.
MOVED BY: Frank Dreaver, Leonard Peltier
Defence Committee - Canada
SECONDED BY: Sylvain Duez-Alesandrini,
Nitassinan - Comite de Soutien aux Indiens des
Ameriques, France, Leonard Peltier Support
Group (France)
PASSED: with one abstention
Chairperson of the Meeting
DATE: August 1st, 1995
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EUROMEETING 95
Planning Session of Support Groups of
North American Indigenous PeopleS
Resolution on Leonard Peltier
Resolution Concerning Executive Clemency for Leonard Peltier
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WHEREAS Leonard Peltier an Anishinabe/Lakota, has been imprisoned
for 19 years in the United States;
WHEREAS Peltier_s defense has brought proof of FBI misconduct and
the illegal fabrication of false evidence, coercion of witnesses,
perjury, which constitute the violation of Peltier_s
constitutional rights;
WHEREAS his third appeal to get a new and fair trial was denied
by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeal in St. Paul, Minnesota in
1993; and his only chance for freedom today is the granting of
executive clemency by the president of the United States of
America;
WHEREAS Leonard Peltier was declared to be a symbol of the
Campaign on 500 years of Indigenous, Black and Popular Resistance
at the Continental Meeting in Guatemala in 1991 and since gained
recognition of indigenous peoples_ movements from around the
world during the UN-International Year of Indigenous Peoples in
1993;
WHEREAS Leonard Peltier is known worldwide as one of the longest
held political prisoners and is supported internationally by: 55
members of the US-Congress, 50 members of the Canadian
Parliament, 67 members of the Italian Parliament, 48 members of
the Parliament of the Netherlands, 312 French municipalities and
communities, 165 presidents of Tribal Councils in the US,
US-Senator Daniel Inouye, Senator Paul Wellstone, former
Appellant Court Judge Gerald Heaney, former US Attorney General
Ramsey Clark, Nobel Peace Prize Winners: Rigoberta Menchu Tum,
Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Amnesty International and more than
26 million people in North America, totalling nearly 50 million
people worldwide;
THEREFORE we, the participants of the 10th European Meeting of
Support Groups of North American Indigenous PeopleS gathered in
Les Geneveyes sur Coffrane near Neuchatel, Switzerland, from July
30th to August 1st, 1995, including 14 Indigenous representatives
and 25 organizations from Austria, Belgium, England, France,
Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, United States of America and
Canada, urge in the name of justice and human rights the granting
of executive clemency for Leonard Peltier by President Clinton,
or at the very least, the granting of a new and fair trial.
MOVED BY: Michael Eckhardt, Leonard Peltier
Defence Committee, Kansas, USA
SECONDED BY: Robert Glattau, Gesellschaft fur
bedrohte Volker - Austria, Leonard Peltier
Support Group Austria
PASSED: Unanimously
Chairperson of the Meeting
DATE: August 1st, 1995
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EUROMEETING 95
Lubicon support resolution
Planning Session of Support Groups of
North American Indigenous PeopleS
LUBICON SUPPORT RESOLUTION - 7-31-95
WHEREAS in 1899 the Government of Canada made a treaty with
indigenous peoples in the area surrounding the traditional
Lubicon territory purporting to extinguish indigenous land rights
in northern Alberta;
AND WHEREAS traditional Lubicon lands were isolated, inaccessible
and geographically unknown to the Government of Canada at the
time the Government of Canada entered into treaty with the
indigenous peoples in the area surrounding the traditional
Lubicon territory;
AND WHEREAS the Lubicon people were consequently missed by the
Canadian government treaty party, have never signed a treaty with
the Government of Canada extinguishing Lubicon ownership of
traditional Lubicon lands and therefore retain unceded aboriginal
title to traditional Lubicon lands;
AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada first established contact
with the Lubicon people in 1939, officially recognized that the
Lubicon people are a distinct indigenous society with land rights
and promised to establish a Lubicon reserve;
AND WHEREAS the Lubicon people have been seeking unsuccessfully
to negotiate a settlement of Lubicon land rights with the
Government of Canada ever since first contact in 1939;
AND WHEREAS indigenous societies negotiating land settlement
treaties with the Government of Canada have historically been
allowed to determine their own membership -- which has in turn
traditionally been used to calculate reserve land quantum;
AND WHEREAS successful negotiation of Lubicon land rights and
establishment of a Lubicon reserve was effectively blocked for a
number of years by the Alberta Provincial government demanding
the right to play a role in determination of the traditionally
related issues of Lubicon membership and reserve land quantum;
AND WHEREAS in October of 1988 then Alberta Provincial Premier
Getty resolved the long- standing dispute between the Lubicons
and the Provincial government over membership and reserve land
quantum by proposing to base the amount of land which the
Provincial government would be prepared to transfer to the
Federal government for purposes of negotiating a settlement of
Lubicon land rights and establishing a Lubicon reserve on what
the Premier and Lubicon Chief Ominayak as two honourable men
could agree was "fair".
AND WHEREAS the Premier and the Chief met in a northern Alberta
community called Grimshaw and agreed to a reserve land quantum of
95 square miles;
AND WHEREAS the reserve land agreement between the Premier and
the Chief is called the "Grimshaw Accord" after the community in
northern Alberta where it was made;
AND WHEREAS all that basically remained to achieve settlement of
Lubicon land rights following the "Grimshaw Accord" was for the
Federal government to negotiate reserve construction and
financial compensation with the Lubicon people -- as well as of
course for the Federal government to request transfer of the 95
square miles agreed at Grimshaw.
AND WHEREAS Federal officials deliberately broke down settlement
negotiations January of 1989 with a so-called
"take-it-or-leave-it" settlement offer which they knew in advance
was unacceptable since it did not make adequate provision for the
Lubicons to once again become economically self-sufficient -- a
conclusion not only of the Lubicons but of Premier Getty and
independent observers such as the Lubicon Settlement Commission
of Review;
AND WHEREAS following the break-down of negotiations in January
of 1989 the Federal government sent agents into northern Alberta
to try and organize the political overthrow of duly elected
Lubicon leadership;
AND WHEREAS when the effort to politically overthrow duly elected
Lubicon leadership failed Federal officials commenced a
well-documented campaign to dismember Lubicon society by creating
two new Indian Bands in the surrounding area and trying to entice
individual Lubicons into joining these new Bands by offering them
what Federal officials openly called "little bribes".
AND WHEREAS following Premier Getty's departure from office in
1992 Provincial officials also became actively involved in the
effort to tear Lubicon society asunder through "little bribes",
spreading disinformation about settlement issues and negotiations
among the Lubicon people, making unlikely promises to Lubicons
who cooperate with initiatives designed to undermine duly elected
Lubicon leadership, rubbing raw resulting tensions and divisions
within Lubicon society, encouraging and supporting dissent, and,
most recently, attempting to fragment Lubicon society still
further by organizing government sponsored dissenters into a
proposed new third Band.
AND WHEREAS Provincial officials are now falsely claiming that
the "Grimshaw Accord" was based on membership allegedly reduced
by Federal government creation of the two new Bands, that the
"Grimshaw Accord" should therefore effectively be abdicated, and,
as Provincial officials insisted before Premier Getty resolved
the long-standing dispute over land and membership with the
"Grimshaw Accord", that the Provincial government should be
involved in determination of Lubicon membership and reserve land
quantum;
AND WHEREAS representatives of European Support Groups were in
Alberta when the Grimshaw Accord was made and know that it was
not based on membership but was rather based on a proposal by
Premier Getty to set the question of membership aside and instead
base reserve land quantum on what the Premier and the Chief could
agree was "fair";
AND WHEREAS abdication of the Grimshaw Accord would push things
back to a point to before Premier Getty resolved the
long-standing land and membership dispute between the Provincial
government and the Lubicons, would significantly reduce any hope
of ever achieving an equitable settlement of Lubicon land rights
and would effectively reward both levels of Canadian government
for blatant divide and conquer tactics which no decent human
being could possibly countenance;
NOW THEREFORE the participants of the Tenth Annual Meeting of
Support Groups for North American Indigenous Peoples representing
25 organizations from 10 European countries hereby resolve to
work to ensure that the Alberta Provincial government:
1.) honour the Grimshaw Accord made between Premier Getty and
Chief Ominayak in October of 1988;
2.) stop spreading deliberately deceitful misinformation about
the basis and nature of the Grimshaw Accord;
3.) cease efforts to destabilize Lubicon society by creating,
encouraging and supporting dissent;
4.) Cooperate with hopefully sincere current efforts by the
Federal government to negotiate a fair and equitable settlement
of Lubicon land rights.
Moved by: Seconded by:
Robert Glattau, GfbV (Austria)
Renate Domnick, GfbV (Germany)
Passed:
Certified:
Dionys Zink, Chairperson of the Euromeeting
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EUROMEETING 95
Resolution on the death penalty
Planning Session of Support Groups of
North American Indigenous PeopleS
Pennsylvania Board of Pardons
333 Market Street, 1st floor
Harrisburg, PA 17126-2596
Dear Board Members,
We, the participants of the "Euromeeting 95, Planning
Session of Support Groups of North American Indigenous Peoples",
gathered in Les Geneveyes sur Coffrane, Switzerland, seek to
bring the following to your attention:
One of the issues of this meeting has been the case of
Leonard Peltier, a Native American political prisoner, who has
been in jail since 1976.
We have discovered similarities between Leonard Peltier's
case and the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, an African-American
journalist and political prisoner, who is scheduled to be
executed on August 17th, 1995. Both are the victims of the
COINTELPRO tactics and targetted by the FBI for the
neutralization of their respective organizations, the American
Indian Movement and the Black Panther Party. On June 28th, 1995,
Leonard Peltier himself had demanded a new and fair trial for
Mumia Abu- Jamal.
We support this statement of Leonard Peltier and urge you
to recommend to Governor Ridge a stay of execution and we also
support Mumia Abu-Jamal's demand of a new and fair trial.
Sincerely yours,
Chairperson of the meeting
Les Geneveyes sur Coffrane
Switzerland
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EUROMEETING 95
Resolution on Uranium mining
Planning Session of Support Groups of
North American Indigenous PeopleS
Resolution of the Uranium Workshop
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Taking into account that approximately 70% of the world's uranium
resources are under indigenous peoples land,
whereas indigenous peoples have been and continue to be the first
victims of uranium mining and thereby the first victims of the
nuclear fuel chain,
considering the detrimental effects of uranium mining on the
health of workers, population in the vicinty of the mines and
mills as well on the health as on the social structure /
societies of the respective indigenous peoples, as testified by
indigenous witnesses on many difernt occassions, the most
comprehensive at THE WORLD URANIUM HEARING in 1992,
WE, the particiapants fo the Euromeeting 1995, DEMAND THAT
- the mining and processing of uranium is stopped immediately.
We call upon the Governments and the people of the states of
Europe and on the European Union.
- to stop their policy of importing uranium from other parts of
the world,
- to take financial responsibility for the detrimental effects
created by uranium mining in the past through compensation of
workers and participating in the reclamation of those uranium
mining sites where uranium has been exploited under European
participation or has been exported to European states,
- to help in the creation of environmentally sound and socially
acceptable economic opportunities for the respective communities
as a sign of the new partnership between European states and
Indigenous Peoples as adopted by the European
Parliament.
From: Oliver Kluge
For More Information Email:
100303.703@compuserve.com
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