THE WATERS CONNECT US 2016 March 11-13 Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) AZ
THE WATERS CONNECT US With Poetry and Music Tribute To John Trudell in Phoenix
Gila River Indian Community, PiiPaashNyamat, AZ
The PiiPaashUumish (community) from the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) invites people to THE WATERS CONNECT US, a gathering to discuss how sacred water is being threatened and protected across the Southwest region and Continent, March 11-13th. Topics include: protecting sacred water, corporate contamination, impact of extractive energy industries, the use of reclaimed water on our lands, mine tailings spills to aquifers and rivers, overuse of aquifers and damming rivers, media strategizing, and other stories from the frontlines.
Keynote speaker DEBRA WHITE PLUME, Oglala Lakota/Northern Cheyenne from the Pine Ridge Homelands, will present stories from the Lakota territory, including threats to sacred water from new and expanding uranium mines near the Pine Ridge Reservation and the Black Hills, and the transportation of Tar Sands oils through the Keystone XL pipeline.
"They can't stop the earthquake, the volcano and the tornado. They can't stop power. We are a spiritual connection to the Earth. As individuals we have power and, collectively, we have the same power as the earthquake, the tornado, and the hurricanes.” -John Trudell
March 11-13thFRIDAY EVENING is dedicated to the great JOHN TRUDELL, who led by example and inspires us to continue on in the struggle…featuring resistance poets, singers and musicians who will honor his life and work. Poets and singers include Simon Ortiz (Acoma Pueblo), Louise Benally (Diné), Nina Was’te (Nakota, Cree), Mercury Bitsuie (Diné), Maldito Angel y Yolotlce (de Cultura O’ Muerte), Poet Phil Freedom, hip hop artist Kite 9d3, Poet Dominique Hunter, and hip hop artist chechrist (PiiPaash, Quechan), with host Rosy Torres from Chicago.
Presentations For Saturday and Sunday Include:
+Water struggles on the Gila River Indian Community with Reuben Cruz (PiiPaash) and O’otham community members
+The Legacy of Uranium mining in the Four Corners with Manny Pino (Acoma Pueblo), Leona Morgan (Diné) and Mercury Bitsuie (Diné)
+Idle No More organizing and mobilizing with founder Nina Was’te (Nakota/Cree)
+Gold King Mine Waste Spill on the Animas River, update from Janene Yazzie (Diné)
+The Apache Stronghold fight to stop Rio Tinto with Wendsler Nosie (Apache) and Naelyn Pike (Chiricahua Apache)
+Standing against Peabody Coal power plant at Black Mesa with Louise Benally from Big Mountain northern Arizona (Diné)
+Protecting Diné water and defeating a proposed coal fired plant with Elouise Brown from Chaco Rio, New Mexico
+The Impact and Role of Grassroots Media
Saturday evening features traditional Bird Songs and Dances from the PiiPaashUumish.
All of our precious, finite water sources are connected, from flowing surface streams across Mother Earth to the underground Aquifers below us, to the raindrops falling from the clouds above, all of water is connected. Water protectors and land defenders can gather during this time to honor water and ancestral lands, and strategize to strengthen and build solidarity to increase the effectiveness of the many movements to protect lands and waters.
It is our duty as caretakers of the Earth to become educated on how the waterways and aquifers are threatened, exploited and contaminated. Through knowledge and community building the movement strengthens to defend and protect the future of our pure, precious, and sacred waters.
The PiiPaash welcome those with open hearts and minds to their lands on the west end of the Gila River Indian Community, along the dry riverbed of their ancestors, at the base of the Sacred Estrella Mountains.
The events are being hosted by The PiiPaashUumish, Owe Aku and the Peoples Media Project, with the support of many individuals and organizations.
DETAILS: Friday, March 11th: 6-10 Tribute to John Trudell: A Night of Resistance Poetry , Music and Potluck. Please bring a dish to share. Open mic starts at 6:30PM, with features beginning at 7PM. (In Phoenix, at Puente, 1937 W. Adams Street)
Saturday, March 12th: 10-5pm presentations and discussion, with traditional PiiPaash Dance and Song in the evening. Lunch and dinner will be served. (Gila River Indian Community (GRIC), District 7, 8035 S. 83rd Ave., Laveen, AZ) Evening meal and traditional singing and dance @ 6:30 @ 8447 S. 91st Ave. Laveen, AZ)
Sunday, March 13th: 10-5PM Presentations, discussion and strategizing for next steps. Lunch will be served. (GRIC, District 7 8035 S. 83rd Ave., Laveen, AZ)
Bring a tent and sleeping bag for on-site camping, with limited shared housing for elders. Days should be in the 70’s, nights in 50’s. Bring a tent and sleeping bag for camping on Gila River @ the Sunn Residence- 8447 S. 91st Ave, Laveen, AZ. Days should be in the 70’s, nights in 50’s. If you plan to camp, let us know when you plan to arrive. Hotels and motels are in the area (McDowell between 51st Ave and 91st Avenue).
THERE IS NO REGISTRATION FEE FOR THE GATHERING OR FOR THE TRIBUTE TO JOHN TRUDELL BUT DONATIONS ARE WELCOME.FOR MORE INFO about the events, visit our Facebook Pages: The Waters Connect Us and Tribute to John Trudell
CONTACTS: Reuben Cruz, PiiPaash(773) 747-2700, or press inquiries or to reach any of the participants contact, Kent Lebsock from Owe Aku @ 720/469-1178,
BIOS ON PARTICIPANTS:
LOUISE BENALLY is a 55 year old grandmother, mother and clan mother from Black Mesa community of Big Mountain in Northern Arizona. She is a farmer, permaculturist, herbalist, traditional counselor and advisor on different environmental foods. Louise will sing at the Tribute to John Trudell and present on his involvement with the struggle of Black Mesa against Peabody Coal and ties to water settlement in Navajo country. She is a lifelong activist in environmental issues around water, sacred sites, water and mining; and will share stories and lessons from her work.
MERCURY BITSUIE is a Diné sheepherder from Sanders, Arizona, who recently discovered that uranium mine waste form the Church Rock Spill in Rio Puerco had reached his community’s wells.
ELOUISE BROWN is from Chaco Rio, NM on the Diné Nation. In 2006, she found out that a massive proposed coal fired plant “Desert Rock” was drilling for water near her home. With love for the land, Eloise and her family set up a blockade. Two and a half years into the campaign, the proposed 1500 megawatt coal burning power plant was stopped. Elouise Brown President, Dooda( NO ) Desert Rock Organization Chaco Rio, Navajo Nation, NM
REUBEN CRUZ, (PiiPaash/Quechan)Waters on Gila River -- Reuben is a PiiPaash (Maricopa), Quechan father/musician/poet/organizer/humanist from the Estrella Mountains west of Phoenix, AZ. He documents stories of love and circumstance gathered from places he’s seen or lived. As an emcee (chechrist), he uses his storytelling skills to bring messages of social justice and respect for all peoples through positive hip-hop music. Reuben teaches writing workshops with youth in urban centers and in Native communities. He's been published in High Times, Waging NonViolence, As Us Journal, GhazalsFor Foley, and Hinchas de Poesia. He self-published HAARP (Heavy Anti-Authoritarian Rap Poems) in 2010. Reuben collaborates on events that use music, art and film to celebrate contemporary social movements. Reuben has collaborated with Prairie Dust Films on Crying Earth Rise Up and Standing Silent Nation and in the streets with Peoples Media Project.
LEONA MORGAN (Diné) from the Navajo Nation has worked as a community organizer and educator on uranium issues since 2007. Morgan has worked primarily to help prevent water contamination from a proposed ISL operation located in Eastern Navajo. In 2014, Morgan co-founded Diné No Nukes (DNN). DNN is an initiative focused on education about the entire Nuclear Fuel Chain with a special interest in the lands within the Diné Four Sacred Mountains.
WENDSLER NOSIE SR. is currently the Peridot District Councilman and the former Tribal Chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, which consists of nearly 15,000 members on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, in the southeastern portion of Arizona. Wendsler was born in 1959 and was raised in a traditional Apache way of life. In 2000, he founded the Spirit of the Mountain Runners, which is a traditional runners organization. He established the Apache Messenger Newspaper in 2011 and owns and operates the newspaper currently. Wendsler Nosie is married to Theresa Beard Nosie, a member of the Navajo Nation. They reside in Peridot, Arizona on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation and have six children: Lian, Vanessa, Wendsler, Jr., Angel, Alicia and Taegan and they also have 12 grandchildren. Wendsler Nosie is dedicated to the preservation and protection of Native American culture, artifacts, history religion, and tradition. He established the Apache Stronghold, which is still currently occupying Oak Flat over a year later. He is a lifelong advocate for indigenous rights and has dedicated himself to protecting the future for our next generations to come.
NAELYN PIKE is a 16-year old member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. She is in her junior year at Globe High School and a member in the National Honor Society. Naelyn has been a Spirit of the Mountain Runner since age 2, which is a group of traditional runners who continue to protect sacred Mount Graham from a telescope project by the University of Arizona and the Vatican. Naelyn is a member of the Apache Stronghold, who continues to occupy and defend holy Oak Flat from the foreign mining company Resolution Copper. Sacred Oak Flat was given away through a midnight rider placed on the National Defense Authorization Act of 2015. Naelyn has testified twice before Congress regarding the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and the Save Oak Flat Act. In 2015, she also traveled to DC with the Apache Stronghold Convoy unifying all people regarding the protection of Mother Earth and the future of the next generations.
MANUEL PINO Is from Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico. He is currently a professor of sociology and coordinator of American Indian Studies at Scottsdale Community College. Manuel’s research addresses environmental issues as they impact American Indians and Indigenous Peoples throughout the world. His major focus is the nuclear fuel chain in particular uranium mining and its impact on Indigenous Peoples. Manuel has served as a delegate to numerous international environmental conferences at the United Nations and currently sits on numerous boards of environmental organizations throughout the United States. Manuel is currently working with uranium workers in New Mexico, Arizona, South Dakota and Washington on health issues related to radiation exposure and in communities opposing nuclear waste storage and future mining. In 2008 he received the Nuclear Free Future Award in Munich, Germany for activism.
SUREE TOWFIGHNIA, (Grassroots and Mainstream Media Strategies ) is a director, producer, DP, and documentary educator. She directed and co-produced Crying Earth Rise Up (2015), a PBS documentary revealing the impact of uranium mining on the water and people of the Great Plains. Suree previously directed Standing Silent Nation (2007), a PBS documentary chronicling a Native American family's struggle to grow industrial hemp on their sovereign Reservation lands. She began the Lakota Media Project (LMP) with Owe Aku in 2003 to train and mentor Lakota girls and women seeking to tell their own documentary stories. Suree teaches youth, elders and everyone in between documentation skills and media strategy in organizations, communities, universities and schools. Suree is a Persian, Mexican, Polish/German woman born in Chicago, who currently resides in Arizona with her husband and two children.
NINA WAS’TE WILSON is from the Treaty 4 Territory in southeastern Saskatchewan. Nina is a mother, grandmother and co-founder of the Idle No More Movement that erupted globally in 2012. Nina’s focus within the movement is how to become the best Defender of Sacred Water and Mother Earth one can be through strategizing, organizing and developing skills required in defense and protection. Nina is also immersed deeply in her language and culture and follows the Traditional Laws of the Nakota Dakota Nehiyawak. Nina believes in and practices culture and empowerment with the young women of her community, family, and nation with support and endorsement from her relatives of the Treaty 4 Territory and beyond. Nina teaches propaganda analysis, warrior development and deconstruction of colonial pathology.
DEBRA WHITE PLUME, born in 1954, descended from the Red Cloud Tiospaye on her father’s side, and the Northern Cheyenne Nation on her mother’s side, is an enrolled member of the Oglala Band of the Lakota Nation. Debra has lived on the Pine Ridge, SD Indian Reservation all her life, and along the banks of Wounded Knee Creek for 30 years. Debra began work in the area of Treaty and Land Rights and to preserve and revitalize Lakota culture at the age of 17 upon high school graduation. She works on such issues from the local through the international arena. Her tribe honored her with a Tribal Flag in the 1990’s. In 1997, Debra co-founded on the Pine Ridge, a grassroots non-governmental social change organization called “Owe Aku”, Bring Back the Way. Debra is the Mother of 3 children, the Grandmother of 15, the Spiritual Mother and Grandmother of many youth across many Nations. Debra is a published author and poet, has served as film producer, radio DJ, newspaper editor and publisher.
ROSEBUD WHITE PLUME is a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation and the White Plume tiospaye (extended family). Since 2002, Rosebud has studied documentary film theory, technique and production and currently leads the Lakota Media Project. Rosebud is inspired to use media to work preserving her way of life through documenting stories and issues that present alternatives to the limited representations of her people by mainstream media. She makes short videos about the Lakota way of life, social justice movements in indigenous communities, youth on the Pine Ridge Reservation and directs The Indigenous View, an online television program. Rosebud is a dedicated mother of seven who lives along the banks of the Wounded Knee Creek.
JANENE YAZZIE is a human rights and Indigenous rights advocate that co-founded Sixth World Solutions, a company focused on nurturing sustainable community development on the Navajo Nation. Originally from Lupton, Arizona, she grew up in a region of the Navajo Nation impacted by uranium mining in Church Rock. Her experiences led her to collaborate with other water security advocates on the Navajo Nation to co-found the Little Colorado River Watershed Chapters Association (LCRWCA), for which she works as a Senior Planner helping to develop a model for community-led watershed planning and management that nurtures local autonomy and self-determination to create water security, food security and climate change resiliency for present and future generations using traditional ecological knowledge.