Environment Minister John Gormley -- one of 19 VIPs and lottery winners allowed entry to the Neolithic chamber -- didn't get the blame for the sun failing to shine at the ancient Co Meath site. But the Green Party leader was heckled over his failure to reroute the M3 motorway from historic cultural sites at the Tara and Skryne Valley.
"When you come out Minister John Gormley, will your hands be untied?" shouted Heather Buchanan, from Co Meath. "He talks about sacred land but he doesn't practise what he preaches. I want to know what his intentions are going into the chamber, what does he hope to achieve by entering the chamber? What does he feel coming out of the chamber, I'd love to know, I'm sure the whole nation would love to know that."
This is the man whose party campaigned vigorously for the protection of the Hill of Tara, and then said he had no power to change the M3 motorway, when he got elected and appointed Minister, by Bertie Ahern.
Some attendees felt the confrontation of Gormley by other participants was disruptive to the ceremony. Others felt strongly that Gormley's entry into the sacred site, after so letting down the campaign for Tara, was the true desecration.
Sign the petition if you want to be able to watch the Scottish Gaelic TV channel via Freeview, or if you just want to make the channel available to more people, period. At present, access to the channel is limited according to your geographical location, or whether you have access to Sky TV.
And on the other side of the pond, Liam Ó Caiside has started a blog for the US National Mòd: A’ Seinn Còmhla The Blog of the U.S. National Mòd: Celebrating Scottish Gaelic Song, Music, Language & Culture.
An annual tradition since 1970, Day of Mourning is a solemn, spiritual and highly political day. Many of us fast from sundown the day before through the afternoon of that day (and have a social after Day of Mourning so that participants in DOM can break their fasts). We are mourning our ancestors and the genocide of our peoples and the theft of our lands. NDOM is a day when we mourn, but we also feel our strength in political action. Over the years, participants in Day of Mourning have buried Plymouth Rock a number of times, boarded the Mayflower replica, and placed ku klux klan sheets on the statue of William Bradford, etc.
WHEN AND WHERE IS DAY OF MOURNING?
Thursday, November 27, 2008 (U.S. "thanksgiving" day) at Cole's Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 12 noon SHARP. Cole's Hill is the hill above Plymouth Rock in the Plymouth historic waterfront area.
WILL THERE BE A MARCH?
There will be a march through the historic district of Plymouth. Plymouth has agreed, as part of the settlement of 10/19/98, that UAINE may march on Day of Mourning without the need for a permit as long as we give the town advance notice.
PROGRAM: Although we very much welcome our non-Native supporters to stand with us, it is a day when only Native people speak about our history and the struggles that are taking place throughout the Americas. Speakers will be by invitation only. This year's NDOM is once again dedicated to our brother Leonard Peltier.
SOCIAL: We hope there will be a pot-luck social held after the National Day of Mourning speak-out and march this year. Please check back to the website to confirm. We anticipate that the hall may not be large enough to seat everyone at once. We may have to do two seatings. Preference for the first seating will be given to Elders, young children and their mother/caretaker, pregnant women, Disabled people, and people who have traveled a long distance to join National Day of Mourning. Please respect our culture and our wish to ensure that these guests will be the first to be able to sit and eat. With this understanding in mind, please bring non-alcoholic beverages, desserts, fresh fruit & vegetables, and pre-cooked items (turkeys, hams, stuffing, vegetables, casseroles, rice & beans, etc.) that can be easily re-warmed at the social hall prior to the social. Thank you.
TRANSPORTATION: Limited carpool transportation may be available from Boston. Contact the Boston International Action Center at (617) 522-6626.
There is transportation from New York City via the International Action Center, for more information call 212-633-6646.
DIRECTIONS: National Day of Mourning is held by the statue of Massasoit at Cole's Hill. Cole's Hill is the hill rising above Plymouth Rock on the Plymouth waterfront. If you need directions, use Water Street and Leyden Street in Plymouth, MA as your destination at mapquest.com. That will bring you to within a few hundred feet of Plymouth Rock and Cole's Hill. You can probably find a place to park down on Water Street.
Donations: Monetary donations are gratefully accepted. Please make checks payable to the Metacom Education Project and mail to Metacom Education Project/UAINE at 284 Amory Street, Boston, MA 02130.
Many of you are aware of the severe blizzard that just past over South Dakota leaving much of the state and especially isolated reservations without power and ability to travel due to snow drifts of several feet high.
Residents are asking for help in many ways with heat, food, basic needs and warm clothing.
Here is a quick and direct way you can get help to them. Cangleska Inc. is a women & children's shelter on Pine Ridge Reservation that houses moms and their kids who are in domestic violence situations and/or have become recently homeless. One of our sponsored families who suffered a fire is now in shelter.
They are asking for items for winter and for the upcoming Christmas holiday. MANY children will receive nothing at all. Most families do celebrate this holiday. Every child wants to receive a gift on Christmas day. Especially those in shelters who generally are forced to leave their homes suddenly with only what they are wearing. You can help!!
Cangleska Shelter is asking for (NEW) blankets, coats of all sizes (infant to large teens), NEW foot gear such as winter boots and sturdy athletic shoes, diapers, formula, non-perishable baby foots, cereals, powdered milk, etc.
If you have the ability and can find it in your heart, please send a new unwrapped toy (such as an art-type item ((crayons, paints & paper, art kits)) and other suitable gifts that don't require batteries or additional items to Cangleska to help with their holiday gift program for the kids. Teens could use winter clothing and age appropriate books or scientific non-battery operated game.
Please send all items directly to the shelter -- they will know how best to distribute them to their residents and in their community outreach program.
We thank you for your help and assistance. Below are addresses you can send things via UPS, Fed-Ex or postal service:
Please let them know you heard about them from Save Our Tribal Youth - we have begun working with them to help. Thank you!
Via UPS or FedEx Ground: (FED EX AND UPS WON'T SHIP TO PO BOXES) Cangleska, Inc. 1 Cangleska Road Kyle, SD 57752
VIA US MAIL - POSTAL SERVICE Cangleska, Inc. P.O. Box 638 Kyle, SD 57752
PILAMAYA! S.O.T.Y.
ETA: SOTY also has PayPal for donations on their website, and has other programs for sponsoring children and youth in need: http://www.saveourtribalyouth.com/
On Wednesday afternoon, areas of Western South Dakota were slammed with a major blizzard that lasted thru Thursday. The storm left thousands of people stranded and without power and heating. Winds were clocked at 105 miles per hour in some areas and remained at 60-80 mph throughout the 24 hour period. Areas of the Black Hills had snow drifts of over 20 feet in some areas. Record amounts of snowfall for one day, fell in the Hills. Temperatures with the wind chill were just above zero.
Many of the rez's were also hit hard including Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Cheyenne River and no word about Standing Rock, or others further east as of yet. There are still hundreds of people on the rez's without power and heating and many roads still un-plowed.
The frustrating part is, the media gave us no warnings in the days prior, about this blizzard. They kept referring to 2-3 inches of snow on Thursday, nothing about a blizzard until it was already upon us and to late. This left people completely unprepared for what was to come. With the proper warning, folks could have gotten out of the countryside and into town until it was over.
My power was out for almost three days, my house was 45 degrees. Luckily enough in my case, power was restored this morning. However, there are elders and folks with small children on the rez's that endured this cold and still are. Some elderly that are on oxygen and/or dialysis, were having to go without because of no power and no way to travel.
So, Mel Gibson is filming a movie here. Unfortunately, they're building sets up on Mt. Sugarloaf.
Despite it having a bit of development up there already (a simple road, a couple parking lots, a picnic area and an observation tower) the site is sacred to the first peoples of this area, and many of us who live here now acknowledge the mountains and their role in the local creation/destruction legends. So some of us are pretty disgruntled they're building stuff and trucking in equipment up there.
Some folks protested the other day, but the coverage didn't mention the sacred site angle.
Any local folks want to protest this with us? I'm not too sure what the upcoming shooting schedule is, but I'll bet we could find out without too much trouble.
Hartman is one of the protesters who was attacked, pepper-sprayed and arrested, and the one whose blood Ego (Vampire) Fraud stole and rubbed on her drum.
It's good to hear more details on what happened. Other good news is that the case has been continued without finding, with no time served and no guilty verdicts.
Though the protestor's aim of destroying the drum was not achieved at that action, I think it was the brutality shown by the cops and the "peaceful" nuagers, as well as Ego Fraud's chilling blood incident, that really got the ball rolling on this. Hartman and his crew are my heroes for their bravery that day, and I'm relieved they haven't had to serve any time for it.
Thanks to their confrontation, word and outrage spread, so it was a success.
May it continue to spread, till the bloody fraud drum is destroyed and Holzwarth is forced to find a new career.
