This International Indigenous Treaty opposing the Keystone XL pipeline and “tar sands” extraction relies on the language of Article 32 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.  

See Article III:  http://www.protectthesacred.org/international_treaty

We would love to see this level of commitment coming from Great Lakes Tribes and First Nations.

We are Idle No More

The Plains Tribes, in both the US and Canada, who are fighting the Keystone XL pipeline, are using many of the same arguments that Article32.org is using in its fight against fracking and other environmental threats across the Upper Great Lakes.  

We are Idle No More.

Native American leaders storm out of Keystone XL talks

http://www.vancouverobserver.com/environment/native-american-leaders-storm-out-keystone-xl-talks

This article chronicles the movement of the frackers into white-middle-class suburbia (near Cleveland), and compares this suburban environmental destruction to that faced by poor folk and Native people across the continent.  

A refreshing acknowledgement of the extent of the fracking threat.

Fracking the Suburbs: An Explosive Combination?

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/16447-fracking-the-suburbs-an-explosive-combination

In this Canadian Supreme Court case, the Behn family was asserting individual rights to the land wherein they ran their trap line in British Columbia.  The Moulton logging company was given a permit by “the Crown” to log that area.  The Behr family set up their camp in such a way as to prevent the logging company from accessing the area to be logged.  The Canadian Supreme Court held that because the First Nation did not take action to halt the logging operation, or authorize the “blockade” set up by the Behn family, the “collective rights” of that First Nation were not violated.

As it’s reported by the Turtle Talk blog, this is a “cautionary tale” for those individuals who would engage in “civil disobedience” in defense of  “collective” rights.  The big difference between the Behn family action and my placing an Eagle Feather on the Beaver Creek well-head is simple –my right to engage in “individual” “historically traditional activities” is guaranteed under the Consent Decree.

http://turtletalk.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/moulton-contracting-v-british-columbia-collective-rights-vs-individual-rights/

This article was published by the New York Times on June 26, 1012, but it’s still relevant today as Article32.org prepares its lawsuit to force the State of Michigan to comply with the 2007 Inland Consent Decree.  That is, we will be asking the Court to “protect the resource” of Clean Air within the 1836 Treaty Ceded Territories by limiting the amount of carbon emissions from the Territory.  

In this case, we will be asking the Court to bar any further releases of carbon during the entire fracking process, which includes, most importantly, the burning of the fracked gases, releasing the “sequestered carbon” into the atmosphere.  

Better to just leave it where it is.

Court Backs E.P.A. Over Emissions Limits Intended to Reduce Global Warming

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/science/earth/epa-emissions-rules-backed-by-court.html?_r=0

Although this article doesn’t mention it, I did point out at the rally that 75% of the oil & gas leases sold at this auction are not on “public lands,” at all –those are Treaty Lands, as are all of the other 3.5 million acres the DNR calls “their own.”

Mention of Article32.org and Idle No More:

http://ecowatch.com/2013/michigan-groups-rally-stop-fracking-public-lands/

This article is about the Ceremony that I and others conducted at the White Lake Township Critical Dune Sanctuary.  There is a “happy ending” to this attempt to destroy this Sanctuary by constructing a 1100-foot  “driveway” through the length of it –the Michigan DNR rejected the “driveway” application.  So, at least for now, the Sanctuary will remain intact.

American Indian activist hopes to ward off dune driveway by consecrating White River Township Barrier Dunes Sanctuary

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2013/05/native_american_environmental.html#comments

Images can be found here:
http://photos.mlive.com/muskegonchronicle/2013/05/american_indian_activist_hopes.html

This link will take you to the Crawford County Avalanche article relating the “Saga of Beaver Creek and the Eagle Feather.”  I went to the Beaver Creek fracking site today (May 8), and the Feather is gone, as are the four Sacred Ash trees that were planted late Friday, May 3.  But the frackers are there in force:

http://crawfordcountyavalanche.com/articles/2013/05/08/news/doc518a6f2a9af19197245305.txt

Apparently, the Canadian Government should pay a whole lot more attention to the justified grievances of Aboriginal People, including Idle No More.

John Ivison: Grim report warns Canada vulnerable to an aboriginal insurrection

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/05/01/john-ivison-grim-report-warns-canada-vulnerable-to-an-aboriginal-insurrection/

This post shows what can happen if a State ignores its responsibilities in Treaty Rights cases: 

Federal District Court Orders Washington StateAgencies to Repair Culverts that Block Fish Passage inViolation of Tribes’ Treaty Fishing Right

http://www.vnf.com/news-alerts-830.html