Almost all people these days don't even care about the indigneous, but it's great to see someone who cares like y'all =]

I was wanting to email you this through think but couldn't figure it out. Looking deeper into these myself. You just seemed interested in the subject when my wife posted the comment. This info was meant for you so erase from here if you'd like.

In the UN Millenium Declaration, which we will join if Obama gets his bill passed (S2433). Giving the UN the power to determin how much they will charge us taxes and the power to raise it without accountability. Anytime we give power like this to another governing body, we are outsourcing what we hire elected officials for.

The declaration lists • To take concerted action to end illicit traffic in small arms and light weapons, especially by making arms transfers more transparent and SUPPORTING REGIONAL DISARMAMENT MEASURES, taking account of all the recommendations of the forthcoming United Nations Conference on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons.

Here is a link to the declaration http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm

Lets hope our Native American Brothers fullfill the mission of forming the only free country in the world. Though many free nations have come before it none are alive today and still truely free. Wishes of peace and love to everyone associated with this movement. To its detractors, well, evil only wins when good sits still and it won't be sitting for much longer. It is messages like the Lakota's that can give a beacon of light to our childrens futures.

Peace and Love,
allnaturalhealer

[http://www.salmonforsavings.com]

ACLU Files Free Speech Lawsuit Against TriMet

FEBRUARY 20, 2008 – The ACLU of Oregon today filed a lawsuit against Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet), alleging the public bus company has violated federal and state constitutional free speech protections in its rejection of an advertisement it deems “political.”

The lawsuit was filed this morning in Multnomah County Circuit Court, on behalf of the Karuk Tribe of California and Friends of the River Foundation, who had sought to place an ad on TriMet buses regarding the damage done to salmon runs by electricity-generating dams, owned by Portland-based Pacific Power, on the Klamath River. The ad depicts three salmon facing a wall of electrical sockets, along with the caption, “Salmon shouldn’t run up your electric bill. They should run up the Klamath River.” The ad then directs the public to a website – http://www.salmonforsavings.com – for more information.

TriMet’s Advertising Standards Committee rejected the proposed ad on the grounds that it did not constitute an “advertisement” and that the public transit agency did not want its buses or property “to become a public forum for the dissemination, debate, and/or discussion of public issues.” The ACLU appealed the committee’s decision to TriMet’s general manager, who in a letter dated Jan. 18, 2008, upheld the rejection.

The ACLU contends that both rejections represent an unlawful restriction on speech in violation of Article 1, section 8, of the Oregon Constitution and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In filing its Petition for Writ of Review, the ACLU is asking the court to review these administrative decisions and determine whether TriMet’s advertising policies are unconstitutional.

“TriMet’s policies discriminate on speech based on its content, and we believe that is unconstitutional,” said David Fidanque, Executive Director of the ACLU of Oregon. “A public agency should not place itself in the role of deeming some speech acceptable and some speech objectionable. TriMet’s job is to transport riders, not to override free speech protections.”

The Karuk Tribe and Friends of the River seek to restore healthy salmon populations to the Klamath River. Their objective is the removal of PacifiCorp’s lower four Klamath River dams, allowing salmon to access more than 300 miles of their historic habitat.

“The Karuk Tribe has as much right to buy advertising space on publicly owned buses as anyone else,” said Leaf Hillman, Vice Chairman of the Karuk Tribe. “Our ad simply promotes a website with information about Pacific Power’s Klamath dams and how they impact the river as well as power rates. Refusing to run this ad is discriminatory and illegal.”

The Karuk Tribe and Friends of the River cite economic studies by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the California Energy Commission that show removing the dams and purchasing renewable replacement energy would save Pacific Power ratepayers about $100 million.

“We are trying to get the word out to Pacific Power’s customers that dam removal could save them a significant amount of money,” said Kelly Catlett, Hydropower Reform Policy Advocate for Friends of the River. “It’s unfortunate TriMet thinks that is a message that needs to be censored.”

The writ demands that TriMet turn over to the court, within two weeks, its documentation of the refusal of the ad. A court hearing then would follow.

Thomas M. Christ of Cosgrave Vergeer Kester LLP is ACLU’s cooperating attorney on this case.

See http://www.karuk.us , http://www.friendsoftheriver.org and ttp://www.salmonforsavings.com for more information.

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Posted By Alliance for Indigenous Rights to Native Rights News at 2/24/2008 09:39:00 PM

WASHINGTON, DC - December 20 - Lakota Sioux Indian representatives declared sovereign nation status today in Washington D.C. following Monday's withdrawal from all previously signed treaties with the United States Government. The withdrawal, hand delivered to Daniel Turner, Deputy Director of Public Liaison at the State Department, immediately and irrevocably ends all agreements between the Lakota Sioux Nation of Indians and the United States Government outlined in the 1851 and 1868 Treaties at Fort Laramie Wyoming. The representatives called on the U.S. government to immediately enter into diplomatic negotiations, warning that failure to do so could result in the Lakota government filing liens on all real estate transactions taking place within the boundaries of their nation. This includes much of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana. The delegation is calling on the international community to recognize their sovereign status as a nation state and has met with embassy officials for Bolivia and Venezuela.

One of the most important steps toward liberation of American Indians and other indigenous peoples around the world took place on Sept. 13, 2007 when the General Assembly of the United Nations enacted its Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Nations. A copy is available for reading and download at www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/declaration.html and we urge all persons to study it closely. This revolutionary document does not yet legally bind the nation states of the world. However, the declaration is the first in a series of steps that the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights also went through on the path toward becoming international law binding on nation states and enforceable through the World Court, sanctions, peace-keeping forces, etc. Eventually, this statement of the rights of indigenous peoples will become law, but only if we all work toward that goal, each in our own ways, and collectively as an alliance. It is interesting to note that the Declaration was enacted by a vote of 143 yes, 4 no, and 11 abstentions. The four no votes came from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and (you guessed it) the United States. Since the vote in September, Australia has changed its Prime Minister and now says it will change it vote to being in favor of the Declaration. What do you think of the fact that the U.S. and Canada voted against the Declaration? And what can/should we do about it?

Total Support! Check out my BLOG =)

December 14, 2007 -- Although indigenous peoples are affected first and most by climate change, and despite the fact that on September 13, 2007 the UN General Assembly adopted its Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples calling for, among other things, recognition of the inherent right of indigenous peoples to be included in decisions affecting their lives and lands, indigenous peoples were excluded from participating in the UN Conference on Climate Change that took place in Bali during the first two weeks of December 2007. It's ironic that the first governing entity to deprive indigenous people of their rights (post-Declaration)was an agency of the UN, the very body that declared these rights to be unalienable barely two months before. A good start has been made, but a long and difficult path lies ahead.