Authored by Diné elder, Chili Yazzie.
The Great Creator gave homelands to the four colors of humankind, lands we would belong to, lands that would belong to us, as a mother and child belong to each other. Our natural laws are rooted in an understanding of honor and reciprocity that is in direct contrast with the white man’s supercilious idea of land ownership. The Wetʼsuwetʼen people were blessed with the lands they have existed upon for millennia upon which they were to prosper in perpetuity. It is imperative the Wetʼsuwetʼen continue to live on these lands in harmony, in a relationship of caring for each other with our Earth Mother.
The white people newcomers came upon our lands with supremacy arrogance and destructive ways that have harmed Indigenous peoples and our lands immeasurably. The traumas persist after 530 years of genocide, brutal land grabs, ecocide, forced displacement, and stolen children. The newcomers have little or no regard for the Creator (God) given inherent rights and natural laws of Indigenous people. The attempted genocide of our peoples and our spirit has been and is being perpetrated by white man’s pursuit of wealth and power.
The illegal and reprehensible encroachment on Indigenous lands continues today by destructive extractive industries in partnership with complicit governments. The encroachment continues in violation of our human rights and our right to free, prior and informed consent. The destruction continues with full knowledge or ignorance of the irreversible harm being executed on the planet and the poisoning of the future of the world’s grandchildren for the sake of profit and greed.
In acknowledgement of these realities, we the Diné of Diné bi Kéyah, declare that we stand unequivocally, with our northern Athabaskan relatives, the Wetʼsuwetʼen, in their defense of their homelands, their ancestral territories. We rise with absolute repudiation of the illegal TC Energy Coastal Gaslink Pipeline that is being forced through their unceded territories. We join in opposing this destruction and demand the termination of this illegal pipeline project.
- Chili Yazzie Toohnii Binaneestˀąˀ Ałtaasˀéí Alliance chili_yazzie@hotmail.com
- Nicole Horseherder Toh Nizhoni Ani nhorseherder@gmail.com
- Louise Benally Big Mountain Dineh Nation louisebenally6@gmail.com
- Melanie Yazzie The Red Nation melanie.yazzie@gmail.com
- Anna Rondon NM Social Justice & Equity Institute anna@nmsocialjustice.org
- Leona Morgan Diné No Nukes leona.morgan.nm@gmail.com
- Klee Benally Protect the Peaks indigenousaction@gmail.com
- Percy Deal (Indigenous Community Leader) percy.deal@gmail.com
- Ed Becenti (People’s Ombudsman at Navajo Council) rezztone@yahoo.com
- Donna House Diné Centered Research & Evaluation nmnn@gmail.com
- Laurie Weahkee Diné, Cochiti & Zuni Earth Protector laurie.weahkee@gmail.com
- Hazel James-Tohe Diné Centered Research & Evaluation hazbah4nm@gmail.com
- Radmilla Cody (Diné Recording Artist & Storyteller) mscody@radmillacody.net
- Robyn Jackson Diné Citizens Against Ruining Environment chooshgai.bitsi@gmail.com
- Janene Yazzie Sixth World Solutions janne.y@sixth-world.com
- Len Foster International Indian Treaty Council- Diné lenfoster71@gmail.com
Listen to our latest episode regarding Wet’suwet’en here (also on all other podcast platforms): https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/21332375/tdest_id/1617341
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