INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK
Conference Planning Office
P.O.Box 2259
Cherokee, NC 28719
ph: (704)497-5203 fax: (704) 497-5033
National Office
P.O.Box 485
Bemidji, MN 56601
ph: (218) 751-4967 fax: (218) 751-0561
email: ien@igc.apc.org
NATIVE-AMERICANS TO CONVENE ON THE ENVIRONMENT THIS MONTH:
The human health threat of nuclear waste and other man-made pollutants of
major concern.
Cherokee, NC --- Native Tribes in Ward Valley, Nevada and Prairie Island
Minnesota are fighting to save their homelands from environmental
degradation. These and other native communities faced with severe
environmental issues will join other grassroots organization at the seventh
annual Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), Protect Mother Earth
conference in Cherokee North Carolina on June 13-16.
The IEN, an alliance of indigenous community based people, has a mission to
strengthen, maintain, protect and respect the traditional teachings,
lifestyles and spiritual interdependence and the sacredness of mother earth
and natural laws.
The annual gathering, this year, bear the theme, "Our Rivers Are Life," and
features educational workshops in areas such as environmental protection,
traditional ecological knowledge, natural resource management protection of
endangered species, sustainable development and community based organizing.
One key focus of the event will be to expose the link between man-made
pollutants to global health problems and the decline in the environment,
especially where Native Americans live. Another major issue will be the
negative impacts of mining on Native lands. A special report will be made
available at the conference detailing the extensive water contamination due
to mining, as well as, the destruction of sacred sites and the decline in
habitats and vegetation, including medicinal plants that are relied on by
native communities.
"Indigenous people are continually faced with threats to our environment.
Not only our land but our food we eat and water we drink. Man-made chemical
hazards such as nuclear waste and chlorine are not only threatening our
environment but our health and our future generations." Jackie Warledo, IEN
Conference Coordinator and Native Lands Campaigner with Greenpeace. "As far
as mining is concerned, entire Native cultures are experiencing detrimental
affects especially since Native culture is a subsistent culture."
The residents of Ward Valley have received national attention for their
struggle to stop the siting of a low-level radioactive waste dump in that
area. Prairie Island nuclear waste storage borders the community who has
spent years trying to keep their homes from becoming a dump site.
Representatives from both these communities will be on hand to offer
organizing tips to other tribes faced with similar struggles. Some of the
other workshops offered are; Water and Soil Testing, Stopping Nuclear and
Toxic Dumping on Indigenous Lands, Organizing Around Health Concerns, and
a Youth Circle of teens and young adults.
The conference organizers expect approximately 1,200 people from over a
hundred Indigenous Nations and numerous grassroots communities. Workshops
and plenaries will be focusing on environmental issues, traditional eco-
knowledge community development and community-based strategies.
Contact:Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director IEN (218) 751-4967
Jackie Warledo, Conference Coordinator (918) 743-6530
IEN Conference Office (704) 497-5203