From Native American Rights Fund, we relay the following video that addresses how access to sacred places can relieve the intense loss and grieving experienced by Indigenous communities following extractive damage.
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Category Archives: DP
Consider the Caterpillar
Now comes esteemed DP correspondent Joseph A. Jackson with a lucid & concise commentary on recent events within our beleaguered Republic:
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Drill, Baby, Drill
First off, we relay yesterday’s press release from the nonpartisan conservation organization, The Center for Western Priorities:
DENVER—President-elect Donald Trump announced at Mar-a-Lago tonight that he intends to nominate North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to serve as Secretary of the Interior.
The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala:
“Doug Burgum comes from an oil state, but North Dakota is not a public lands state. His cozy relationship with oil billionaires may endear him to Donald Trump, but he has no experience that qualifies him to oversee the management of 20 percent of America’s lands.
“Running the Interior department requires someone who can find balance between recreation, conservation, hunting, ranching, mining, and—yes—oil drilling. If Doug Burgum tries to turn America’s public lands into an even bigger cash cow for the oil and gas industry, or tries to shrink America’s parks and national monuments, he’ll quickly discover he’s on the wrong side of history.”
In April 2024, Doug Burgum and oil billionaire Harold Hamm organized a dinner at Mar-a-Lago where Donald Trump suggested oil and gas executives raise $1 billion for his campaign. At the dinner, Trump promised the executives they’d save far more than that after he repealed President Biden’s climate policies.
Quick facts
- The federal government owns less than 4 percent of North Dakota’s land — 1.7 million acres out of 44.4 million total acres.
- Seventy percent of Western voters want to protect clean water, air quality and wildlife habitats while providing opportunities to visit and recreate on public lands, compared to just 26 percent of voters who would rather ensure more domestic energy production by maximizing the amount of public lands available for responsible oil and gas drilling and mining, according to Colorado College’s 2024 State of the Rockies poll.
- Prioritizing conservation over maximizing energy production received majority support among Republicans, Democrats, and independents in the poll.
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Second, regarding the utter disgrace of COP29, we relay a quote from Dawda Cham, representing the Gambian NGO HELP-Gambia :
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Big Gifts For A Little Man
Now comes the brilliant master of photomontage John Heartfield with a timely broadside, dating from the 1930s.
MOTTO: MILLIONS STAND BEHIND ME
This Terrible Swamp
We are grateful for a DP correspondent for steering towards an excellent essay by the distinguished critic of hypertrophic technophilia, Andrew Nikiforuk , first published by The Tyee in January.
Excerpts below, with an image & caption added by DP.
FETISH OBJECT SUBJECTED TO SCRUTINY, CRITICISM AND CONTROL
A Dangerous Experiment
Now comes climate crisis researcher-writer David Wallace-Wells, with a few critically important and lucid comments made in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton within the lost paradise of Florida.
Here at DP, we have a strong suspicion, what the answer will be; an answer most are not prepared to contemplate, let alone live with the consequences.
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Everything Is Burning
Now comes the voice of Megaron Txucarramãe, an Indigenous elder and leader from the Amazon state of Mato Grosso, with a cry of urgency, agony and despair delivered within the context of a recent report (together with many valuable links), worthy of your close consideration.
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Of Wildness & Patriarchy
Now comes the vibrant voice of Pam Houston, author of the recently published book, Without Exception: Reclaiming Abortion, Personhood and Freedom. Excerpts from a recent interview below:
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Deep Sea Mamae
The maori word “mamae” translates as pain, sore, hardship, ache; “mamae tahi” as pain together or condolences.
For many years, Trans Tasman Resources (TTR), an Australian mining company, has applied to mine iron sand off the coast of Taranaki, strenuously opposed by local iwi. Rukutai Watene (Taranaki), is one of the local leaders that have stood against TTR’s proposed project, strengthened by Tangaroa, spiritual guardian of the sea.
TTR initially receiving resource consent to extract iron ore from the seabed in 2017, yet this decision was challenged by local iwi in collaboration with other opponents, and eventually overturned by the High Court in 2018. In 2021, The New Zealand Supreme Court unanimously dismissed TTR’s appeal.
The company now hopes that the rightwing government’s recently approved fast-tracking consent bill will open a path for the infliction of severe environmental mamae. A video update, below:
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In a recent report published by the Guardian, Rachel Arnott and Graham Young, representatives from a local iwi (Ngāti Ruanui) stressed that the land, sea and iwi are all inextricably linked: “We will be out there loud and proud – we will do whatever delay tactics we can do. Because it is not about me, or us, it’s about the future.”
Nature Is the Boss
On this last day of a crazy month, we relay a keynote address delivered by Chief Oren Lyons to the Bioneers Conference, held this past April; Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation, reminding us who is in control and who must learn to be humble. Listen & repeat.
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Desperado Philosophy 