Rise Vol. 2 Issue No. 1

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ANN MARIE SAYERS

As a Costanoan Ohlone, Sayers continues to live in her ancestral land. California Indians suffered a brutal history of colonization, diseases and heinous violence and servitude during the Gold Rush and California Missions era. “In 1854 alone, the government spent 1.4 million – $5 a head, 50 cents a scalp for professional Indian killers,” says Sayers. As the population of Natives precipitously shrunk during the Gold Rush, the Canyon served as a safe haven for those who were able to find it after passing through a swamp.

Sayers used the Allotment Act of 1887 to reclaim land that had been in her family for centuries in the Indian Canyon. The canyon is a mile long and has lush streams and a cascading waterfall when the rains are plentiful. “The canyon is alive through the power of ceremonies,” Sayers says. And she has taken to heart the painful history of religious persecution Native Americans endured, when they were prohibited from practicing their traditional spirituality until 1978. “My mother believed that when ceremonies stop, so does the Earth. And I do too. We opened up my great grandfather’s trust allotment for all Indigenous Peoples who need traditional lands for ceremonies.”

The canyon has a large arbor, where storytelling gatherings, cultural dances and ancient chants bring together Indigenous Peoples from around the world. The canyon receives thousands of visitors every year – from the Maoris of New Zealand to the Gwich’in of Alaska. “I can feel my ancestors dancing when there is ceremony,” Sayers says. The canyon is also home to the Costanoan Indian Research Inc., which has ancient tools and artifacts that were used by Ohlones and ancestors of Sayers.

“It seems the society today is absent of the sacred. Many places that should have remained have been destroyed,” she says. Sayers has devoted her time to honor the legacy of her Ohlone ancestors and their sacred connection to land. Last year, she was involved in organizing efforts, where voters in San Benito County passed a measure to ban fracking.

Sayers remains committed to educating and empowering youth to reconnect their sacred relationship to Earth. “Today, people are short-sighted. When you make a decision, think how this will affect the next seven generations. And we need our youth to start thinking this way.” Last year, Sayers was also instrumental in organizing “Ohlone Elders and Youth Speak: Restoring a California Legacy” an exhibit that illuminated the history of Ohlones and their efforts for cultural revitalization.

Ann Marie Sayers was born and raised in Indian Canyon. “Since Native Americans did not have the right to practice their religion freely until 1978, and so I opened up my great grandfather’s trust allotment for all Indigenous Peoples who are in need of traditional land for ceremonies,” shared Sayers.

https://www.indigenousgoddessgang.com/matriarch-monday/2019/1/21/ann-marie-sayers

GUARDIANS OF THE FOREST

Following an election campaign marked by an anti-indigenous assimilationist speech on the first day of his term, current President Jair Bolsonaro edited Provisional Presidential Decree No. 870/2019, which, among other offensives, cut one of the oldest bodies of the Brazilian government, the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), transferring the demarcation of indigenous and Quilombola lands to Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food Supply (MAPA), a portfolio historically led by the agribusiness lobby.

The Ministry of Agriculture is headed by farmer Tereza Cristina, one of the largest agribusiness political leaders in Brazil, known as the “poisonous muse.” This year alone, she released 239 pesticides in the face of MAPA, 26% of them are banned in the European Union due to the risks to human health and the environment.

One of the consequences of this anti-environmental policy is precisely the considerable jump of the slash-and-burn in Brazil. It has spiked by 82% more compared to the same period last year, the highest and also the most significant number on record in 7 years in the country, according to the Programa Queimadas from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE)

The correlation between deforestation, which increased only this year by 63% (INPE), and fire are intrinsic. The ten towns of the Amazon region that reported the most slash-and-burn also had 43% of deforestation detected by July. The records are higher in the states of Acre, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Rondônia, and Roraima, where a significant population of our people resides. It is also in this region that most of the last isolated peoples in Brazil live, as reported by COIAB – The Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) in a recently published notation.

All of these crimes are unpunished and are incited on a daily basis by authorities such as the President of Brazil, the Ministry of the Environment, or Governors of states like Acre, who publicly stated that if any farmer was fined for environmental crime, he could appeal it with him, ” for it is he who rules there now.”

We know that indigenous territories are the most preserved in the world. In the Brazilian Amazon, communities protect 27% of the forest; forest reserves provide 5.2 billion tons of water per day.

The United Nations (UN) report on climate change has, for the first time cited the strengthening of indigenous peoples ‘and local communities’ land rights as a solution to the climate crisis. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Climate Change and Land, released in early August, recognizes that our traditional knowledge and sustainable management of our lands and forests is critical to reducing global emissions and removing CO2 from the atmosphere.

Brazil has suffered the dismantling of FUNAI and environmental policies and inspections through the demoralization and dismantling of IBAMA, ICMBio, and INPE. Also, there are constant struggles with attempted criminalization on top of recurring lies against civil society organizations. Now, the indigenous peoples are forced to guard their own territories at their own risk.

We recently saw the case of the Munduruku people who expelled loggers and palm growers from their territories in the Sawré Muybu Indigenous Territory (southwestern Pará). The same happens in the north of Mato Grosso and many other regions of the Amazon.

In response to so many threats, from August 9 to 14, 2019, Brazil’s Indigenous People Articulation (APIB) held the Indigenous Women’s March in Brasilia, bringing together 2,500 women from over 130 different indigenous peoples, representing every region of Brazil. This initiative was the first of indigenous women carried out by the Brazil Indigenous Peoples Articulation at a national level.

The peoples faced with the worsening scenario are being pushed into a war that has no end in sight. They have an increasing need for the solidarity of national and international public opinion. The indigenous peoples lack the support of Brazilian institutions and international courts. That support is what they require to guarantee Justice and protection for themselves in Brazil; what was lacking in the recent case of the assassination of chief Emirá Wajãpi, in Amapá.

The attacks also come from the corporate field, which has accumulated major environmental disasters, such as the latest mining tragedies in Minas Gerais. These directly affected the populations living near large mining companies, such as the Krenak and Pataxó peoples, who relied on the Rio Doce and the Parauapeba River as essential ecosystems for their survival – some of them had to evacuate their habitat.  The government, for its part, has not yet taken all reasonable measures to repair those affected by the major disasters, and is not being responsible and demanding justice from the corporations and multinationals that are in charge of the mining companies.

https://en.nenhumagotamais.org/contexto

MARIAH BAHE

Mariah Bahe is a quiet and unassuming teenager, but she trains with the intensity of a seasoned prizefighter. She’s made headlines as a fighter—Bahe won the 2018 Arizona State Junior Olympics title in her weight class and the bronze medal at the 2018 Nationals—even though she’s barely out of middle school. And she is already recognized as a leader at the Damon-Bahe Boxing Gym, a storied institution in her small town of Chinle, Arizona that was founded by her family.

Bahe says that she fights to honor her family and its boxing legacy, but her success in the ring is important to her community in Chinle, too. And life in this part of the Navajo Nation isn’t easy. As Michael Powell, a New York Times reporter who visited Chinle observed in 2017, “Poverty casts a long shadow, as do the ravages of booze and dope.” The gym offers a temporary refuge: “We keep our kids straight,” Bahe’s grandmother says. “No drugs or alcohol. They have to have good grades, or no boxing.”

Another writer, Hamilton Nolan of Splinter, noted, “Chinle is an hour-and-a-half’s drive from the nearest movie theater, Walmart, or non-chain restaurant. The landscape is stunning, but development is almost nonexistent.” And in some cases, the gym is a potential path to greatness on the world stage. The program has produced many great amateur athletes, but no one has made a substantial mark on the big leagues—yet. We spoke to Bahe about how she plans to change that.

On opening doors for other young women
Some of my friends see me, the boxer, as being a different person than me, their friend. Girls in general ask me a lot of questions about boxing and yeah, it has definitely brought more of them into the gym. Compared to other sports, I think boxing is more complicated and more difficult. It’s a bigger challenge, and I tell other girls they can handle it. People are curious and we get all kinds in the gym. Everyone is welcome here.

On finding focus
The most important things in boxing are to stay focused, and to be confident and independent. In order to do what I do, you need to set your priorities and make choices about what you pay attention to and what you block out. I pay so much attention to boxing because it’s what I love.

On dealing with bad days
When I’m having a hard day in training sometimes, I just talk to my mom or go running and clear my mind. And then I just get back to work. Right now I’m ranked first in my division, so I have a lot to lose. In a way it’s easier for me to fight when I’m the underdog compared to when I’m on top, but I just focus on staying at the top. That’s all I can do.

On representing her community
I know that people in the community are watching and depending on me, but I really just try and concentrate on my boxing. All my experience in the ring has definitely helped me get better with handling pressure. I just think about everything that led to this point. I say to myself, “I know I got this,” and remember all the hours of hard training.

On how her brothers make her stronger
Fighting with my brothers is good for me because they know how to get inside my head and make me mad. That’s always the hardest part—much harder than the difference in size and experience. It’s very frustrating for me, but that only makes me stronger.

On the power of perspective
My brothers and my dad really help me appreciate that the image I have of my competitors is just an image of them, and doesn’t say anything about how they really fight. [My opponents] might have the equipment and the money to do things I can’t do, but if they get everything they want and things are just handed to them, they might not have the confidence, independence, or discipline I have because I’ve had to work so hard.

On her Olympic dream
Making the Olympic team would mean everything to me. I’m so focused on that goal, and a lot of the practice and hard work is with the Olympics in mind. It’s always in my thoughts, motivating me. There’s a lot I want to do with my life. After the Olympics I want to go into the Air Force, and after that I want to go back to school, but I’m sure I’ll always return to boxing.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ne54gw/mariah-bahe-15-year-old-boxer-is-fighting-her-way-to-the-olympics

DR VIVIAN AYOUNGMAN

Dr. Ayoungman could remember her mother always being complimented on her beautiful and elegant handwriting.

“My mother would say ‘it’s all the practice I got from writing: I must never speak Blackfoot again.”

Ayoungman and her mother are residential school survivors who were often punished for speaking their native language.

Today, Ayoungman is an educator at Old Sun Community College – a former residential school – where she teaches a Blackfoot class and has developed a language learning app that supports students in the learning of the language.

Using an app platform was essential to Ayoungman because it’s building on pre-existing habits.

“Lets face it, everywhere you look our young people are on their phones or iPads,” says Ayoungman. “They’re listening to music, watching videos, why not use this to our advantage.”

The app includes 29 categories of phrases, greetings, morning routines, etc.

It not only gives users the opportunity to hear and read the word but it offers them the ability to record themselves speaking it, and the option of playing it back.

Aside from being a language tool, the app also has cultural significance because includes several cultural songs, lullabies, historical images and videos.

Student Dann McMaster says the app allows her to learn at her own pace.

“All it takes is my effort, and how badly I want to learn. That’s what the app does for me; it puts me in a position to learn and encourage myself,” says McMaster.

The Blackfoot app is available for iPhones, iPads and is soon to be accessible on Android devices as well.

https://www.calgaryjournal.ca/news/3197-blackfoot-app-developed-in-former-residential-school.html

ILIANA ZEPHIER

Iliana Zephier is from the Yankton Sioux and Hunkpapa Tribe. Iliana graduated on June 06, 2019 at Roosevelt High School with the Rose Rees Peace Award. Iliana is also known for her outstanding work with the Missing Murdered Indigenous Women presentation lesson plans for the Department of Human Services in St.Paul and in the health classes at school. She has also received the J.P. Story Scholarship. Iliana has received outstanding awards and credits on her work with research on school climate, for example micro aggression within the schools, between Native Americans and the relationship of school staff and understanding relationships with minorities and advocates that are available to them.
Iliana also works with native youth and youth workers in the Ogichidaa Oyate Youth Council.  Projects ideas for the youth council was to be helping out with the community and elders.

Iliana plans to intern with Indian Education over the summer and attend the UNITY conference with her youth council in Florida. In the fall she will be attending MCTC and plans to do the Auggie Plan for two years, transfer to Augsburg as a Junior where she then will graduate with a 4 year degree from Augsburg University.

Iliana has friends family and two younger sisters who all look up to her, she plans to continue to be a great role model to them and wants others to know around her that there are programs and outlets in their community that will help you advance your career and life goals. Miigwech Iliana for fighting for our future generation and all the work you do in the community. Please share her story to inspire others and Iliana’s hard work.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/MMIWDATABASE/permalink/2920893367937640/