Mohawk Women Condemn Fascist Arizona Law

Mohawk Nation News
http://www.mohawknationnews.com

MNN. May 14, 2010. On November 7, 2007 the Women Title Holders presented the Mohawk position to the Indigenous ‘Border’ Summit held at the Tohono O’Odham Territory. A wall is being built through the middle by Mexico and the US. Arizona’s new illegal laws on racial profiling and censoring truth in Arizona is trying to declare war on Indigenous and international law. They are destined to lose.

TO: The invaders of Great Turtle Island, all their criminal agencies and their international terrorist allies.

RE: Rotino’shonni:onwe freedom to traverse Onowaregeh, Great Turtle Island, and beyond without hindrance from the invading aliens and their agents; and to conduct trade and commerce without interference.

PREAMBLE: Only we, the original peoples, have sovereign authority on Onowaregeh, Great Turtle Island. We cannot forfeit our natural birthright. We survived mass murder, chemical and biological warfare, starvation, physical and mental torture, lies, ignorance and genocide.

Fabricated colonial nations of Canada, US and Mexico and other corporate ‘franchises’ of Europe are squatting on Indigenous lands that leech off our peoples and resources.

WAMPUM 44 Kaianereh’kowa [our constitution]. We the Kohtihon’tia:kwenio – Women Title Holders – are the caretakers of the land, water and air of “Onowaregeh”; we have the duty to preserve and protect the land for the future generations.

a.WHEREAS the Two Row Wampum Agreement and Wampum 58 of the Kaianereh’kowa, the Great Law, stipulate that no one shall restrict our freedom of passage on our lands and beyond; these imaginary lines [borders] were created by foreign capitalist corporations named “Canada”, “US” and “Mexico”. They illegally usurped and divided up our lands and resources, without our knowledge or consent; and we will continue to assert our sovereignty and alliances among our nations as we have done since time immemorial.

b.WHEREAS respect for our rights to our land are acknowledged in the “constitutions” of Canada and the US; they are not sovereign because they can never have our land.

c.WHEREAS the Charter of the United Nations requires respect by all members for equal rights and self-determination of all peoples; and to resolve differences peacefully.

d.WHEREAS these three colonies must respect our political rights as set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Prevention of Genocide, UN Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other international legal instruments.

e.WHEREAS General Assembly Resolution 1541 [XV] requires the informed consent of the people before they are included in another state, as affirmed by the international Court of Justice in the Western Sahara case. Sovereignty rests only with the people. We cannot become part of the colonial states that are squatting on our land. Canada, US and Mexico cannot force us to become citizens without our knowledge and consent.

f.WHEREAS according to article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Sections 1 and 2, every nation has a right to its nationality; and no nation can change another nation’s identity by imposing restrictions to travel, trade and commerce throughout all of the Americas.

g.WHEREAS these immigrants to our lands are committed to uphold equality of all peoples.

h.WHEREAS Canada, US, Mexico and all other colonial states cannot legally encroach on the true Indigenous people; and our perspectives on us, our land, resources, air and water cannot be ignored.

i.WHEREAS foreign invaders cannot force us to carry alien passports and other identity; we have agreements and identification to travel the lands of our Indigenous allies. The “Haudenosaunee Passport” is for travel outside of Onowaregeh.

j.WHEREAS the Two Row Wampum Agreement provides we are free to pass and re-pass by land or inland navigation or by air onto our territories; to carry on trade and commerce with each other; we may hunt and fish anywhere on our territory; foreigners cannot extort taxes, duties or fees from us; and we shall have free passage over all toll roads and bridges that have been built on Onowaregeh.

k.WHEREAS human life is sacred to us; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that every human being has the inherent right to life and fundamental freedom; these three colonies must stop murdering and detaining our people for crossing their illegally imposed economic borders.

l.WHEREAS the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been adopted by a majority of 144 states; we claim as collectives and as individuals all the human rights and fundamental freedoms provided in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international law, without forced assimilation, destruction of our culture and undermining of our nations.

m.WHEREAS torture is intentional, premeditated, systemic and scientific; it is designed to break down our dignity, social fabric and foment terror within our Peoples.

WE, THE KOHTIHON’TIA:WENIO, GIVE FULL NOTICE THAT:

Canada, US, Mexico and other colonial franchises must cease and desist their attempts to violate our authority; they must deal with us on a nation-to-nation basis as required by our inherent rights and international law; these foreign entities must go through proper diplomatic channels, which are the Governor General of Canada and the Presidents of the US and Mexico.

WE, THE KOHTIHON’TIA:KWENIO, AS MEMBERS OF THE ROTINO’SHONNI:ONWE, DEMAND THAT THE COLONIES OF CANADA, US, MEXICO OR ANY OF THEIR FRANCHISES, CORPORATIONS AND AGENTS:

1.Respect our inherent rights, laws, ancient customs, traditions and agreements.

2.Be held responsible for murder, torture and theft, which are violations of the Great Law, Two Row Wampum, the first laws of the Americas and international law; disarm, stop detaining, murdering, torturing, raping and robbing us; and stop imposing their illegal judicial harassment and prison system on us.

3.Put away their guns and corporate by-laws so we can resolve our differences peacefully by rediscovering the spirit of the Two Row Wampum and the Covenant Chain that affirmed our international relationship centuries ago.

4.Disband their puppet band and tribal councils; restore proper diplomatic relations with our inherent traditional governments; and respect their agreements with us and their obligations under international law.

5.Abuse of people on any basis, especially race, religion, nationality, belief or membership in any social group in unacceptable; colonizers must become partners with us to end the cycle of abuse, criminalization of our people, and to extend dignity, equality and a voice to all.

6.We extend our message to all peoples oppressed by colonizing forces.

KOHTIHON’TIA:KWENIO OF THE KANION’KE:HAKA OF THE ROTINO’SHONNI:ONWE:

May Day 2010 news round-up: Anti-SB1070, anti-capitalist, and anti-authoritarian actions from around the globe

Phoenix

Arizona protests and rallies
Flagstaff: May Day rally for migrant rights
Phoenix: 5,000 rally at state capitol
Tucson: 7,000 march in immigrant rally
Tucson: Fight Back! reports 15,000 at Tucson march

Anti-SB1070 Solidarity
Austin: 10,000 gather at Capitol to protest controversial Arizona law
Chicago: 10,000 march against Arizona anti-immigrant law
Denver: 10,000 march through Denver to protest Arizona immigration law
El Paso: Over 100 El Pasoans Protest Arizona Immigration Law
Fresno: 2,000 march for immigrant rights
Houston: 7,000 march against SB1070, for immigrants rights
Los Angeles: At 60,000, L.A.'s May Day immigration rally is nation's largest
Miami: Hundreds atMay Day Rally Cries Shame on Arizona
Milwaukee: Thousands march against Arizona's SB1070
Minneapolis: Thousands Rally Against Unjust SB1070 and Demand Equal Rights for Immigrants
Modesto:Thousands rally for immigration reform
New Mexico: New Mexicans protest Arizona immigration law
Oregon: Thousands march in Portland, 500 in Salem
Philadelphia: 100 gather against Arizona law
Seattle: Thousands march for immigration reform
San Diego: More than 1,000 march against Arizona law
San Francisco: Big S.F. protest of Arizona immigration law (Photos)
Watsonville: Hundreds rally for worker and immigrant rights in Watsonville (Photos)

Athens

Angry workers and anti-capitalist action
Albuquerque: Five Bank Of America Locations Vandalized
Chile: 86 Arrested After May Day Demonstrations
China: Forty-one injured in Macau May Day rally
Europe: May Day marked with protests
Gaza: May Day protest by Palestinians
Germany: 500 arrested in May Day clashes
Istanbul: Turks mark first May Day in Taksim Square in 30 years

Macau, China

Anti-authoritarian action
Asheville: Vandals destroy downtown Asheville storefronts, car windows
Athens: 2,500 anarchists march on May Day (Photos)
Athens: Fire Bomb Hit Greece Police During May Day Protest (Video)
Denver: Wells Fargo Smashed Up in Denver in May Day Attack
New York City: American Apparel Under Attack... Again (Video)
Nijmegen, Netherlands: Photos from the May Day demonstration
Pittsburgh: Highway banner drop
Prague: 200 anarchists march
San Francisco: Anarcha-Feminists Take to the Streets ...Because We Don't Need Anyone's Permission
San Francisco: Photos from Reclaim the Streets (2)
San Francisco: Anarchists occupy abandoned school for May Day, 11 arrested say police
San Francisco: Post-Immigration march scuffle targets National "Anarchists"
Santa Cruz: Video of May Day riot
Victoria, B.C.: Police station attacked

San Francisco

Protesters decry AZ bill at Nogales, Sonora rally

By Jonathan Clark
Nogales International

Waving banners that said “We are border residents, not criminals,” and encouraged by the approving honks of passing motorists, people from both sides of the border raised their voices against Arizona’s tough new immigration bill at a protest Tuesday in Nogales, Sonora.

“At this very moment, the Arizona Legislature is passing a law that is completely against us as migrants, as Mexicans and as Latin Americans,” Nogales, Ariz., resident Gustavo Lozano told the approximately 40 protesters – many of them recently deported migrants – who gathered just south of the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry.

“We are here to send a message to the elected officials of Arizona that we reject this law that criminalizes all of us.”

The gathering was part of a series of protests against the measure that stretched from Phoenix to Tucson and Nogales, Sonora on Tuesday, the day after it was approved by the state Senate. No similar protests were visible in Nogales, Ariz.

The bill, which now awaits Gov. Jan Brewer’s signature, would make illegal immigration a state crime and would require local police to ask people about their immigration status when there are reasonable grounds for suspicion.

Advocates of the plan say it will allow the state to address a problem that the federal government has failed to confront. Opponents, such as those at Tuesday’s protest, say it will promote discrimination and other rights abuses, and foment fear in immigrant communities.

Nogales, Ariz., resident Salvador Flores, spokesman for the civil rights advocacy group Fronteras Desiguales (Unequal Borders), said the fact that local police are not trained in immigration enforcement could cause them to consider a person’s physical characteristics as an indicator of immigration status.

“We feel that it will be a case of racial profiling, and that’s called discrimination,” Flores said, as the protesters around him struck up a chant of “Frontera, escucha, el pueblo esta en la lucha “ (“Listen, border, the people have joined the struggle.”)

Others, such as Sister Maria en Gracia Robles, a member of the Catholic migrant aid charity Iniciativa Kino Binacional para la Frontera (Kino Binational Border Initiative), worry that the law will result in more migrant deaths and give border-crossers more reason to fear.

“Migrants go (to the United States) because of hunger, because they want to work, and they are not going to stop because of this law,” she said. “But there are going to be more deaths in the desert because they are going to go by more dangerous, more isolated routes.”

Robles said the new law would further damage Arizona’s image among Mexicans, making it look like a “Hitler-esque state.”

Protester Gerardo Lozano, a 32-year-old Chevrolet employee from Nogales, Sonora, warned that the law will be an insult to Sonorans who support the Arizona economy by crossing the border legally to shop, but who may now face increased scrutiny over their immigration status.

Lozano, whose border-crossing card recently expired, wondered if it was worth the trouble to renew it.

“I have family on the other side, and that’s the only reason now for me to renew it,” he said.

“If they weren’t there, I would have no reason.”

http://www.nogalesinternational.com/articles/2010/04/23/news/doc4bd1bef7ccac6643115834.txt