Date: Sat, 14 Mar 1998 20:05:03 -0800 (PST)
From: Alice McCombs <amccombs@igc.apc.org>

Contents

1. Indigenous Peoples Forum:::"The Genocide Must Stop!"
2. DEBATE: Gold mining by cyanide

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1. Indigenous Peoples Forum:::"The Genocide Must Stop!"

Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 02:11:19 -0800 (PST)
From: xxxX Beezee Bee Sheevashango Toohoohee Xxxx <bee3xxx@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 12:32:16 -1000
From: Richard Salvador <salvador@hawaii.edu>

Subject: Indigenous Peoples Forum
************************************

Aloha Allies,

I helped organize the Indigenous Peoples Forum last week which
attempted,
among other things, to raise the importance on the issue of the rights
of
Indigenous Peoples at the University of Hawai'i campus.  The two Forum
events drew considerable support among the University community.  Two of
the more important aims of coordinating the Forum were to facilitate
educational awareness of Indigenous Rights, primarily among Kanaka Maoli
and Pacific Island students and to the University community in
general, as
well as to link this awareness to the Indigenous Rights movement
globally.
The issues discussed covered a wide variety of topics some of which are
only at this time beginning to draw attention/scrutiny internationally,
for example, the severe negative impacts of economic globalization on
Indigenous Peoples and societies. This might be a good time to prompt
discussions on the importance of the influence of Indigenous Peoples
globally in relation to Kanaka Maoli peoples and the Hawaiian
Sovereignty
Movement.

Some of the important areas covered were the implications of cultural
and
intellectual property rights on Indigenous knowledge and the patenting
of
life forms, and how these may affect Kanaka Maoli.  In addition, the
closing of the U.N. Decolonization Committee and the unwillingness of
nation-states to respect the Indigenous right to self-determination
could
have a profound effect on the sovereignty movement here. We are
planning a
follow-up forum which will address these issues in more detail, and
welcome your mana'o and participation.  One of the presentations by Dr.
Ramon Lopez-Reyes introduced the concept of global peace zones, under
the
auspices of the U.N. Trusteeship Council. Indigenous Peoples would
be protected and mechanisms implemented leading to permament resolution
of social and political conflicts.  The up-coming forum will address, in
part, Indigenous strategies for the non-violent resolution of conflicts.
It is envisioned that Indigenous Peoples will provide substantially to
global peace in our time.

I would like to now present Tony Castanha's address at the Campus Center
event, which provided an overview of the global indigenous movement in a
historical context and the continuing impacts of the colonial legacy.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Aloha kakou 'o Akoni no au. Pehea 'oukou?! Welcome to the University of
Hawai'i indigenous peoples forum. My name is Tony Castanha. I am a
doctoral candidate in the Department of Political Science studying in
the
areas of conflict resolution and indigenous rights issues. I was born
and
raised in Hawai'i of a multi-ethnic background, and I am descendant of
the
Taino indigenous peoples of the Caribbean from the island of Boriken,
the
indigenous term for the island also known as Puerto Rico.

This forum was organized to educate and build awareness among students
and
the university community regarding issues of concern to indigenous
peoples, particularly indigenous peoples of the Pacific. As Kanaka Maoli
(indigenous Hawaiians) and Pacific Island students comprise a good
number
of the student body here, we believe there needs to be a greater
emphasis
upon the teaching of indigenous peoples issues, and indigenous
representation
among the faculty here. As the United Nations has dedicated a decade to
support the rights of indigenous peoples, we are hopeful the
University of
Hawai'i will be able to accommodate our desires.

The global indigenous movement is a recent phenomenon. At the first
United
Nations Conference on Human Rights in 1968 the term "indigenous people"
was not even a part of the vocabulary of the conference. At this time
indigenous peoples were basically considered "extinct," "a remnant of
the
past" inevitably assimilated into mainstream society. However,
indigenous
peoples and nations such as the Maori of Aotearoa (New Zealand),
Aborigines of Australia and various indigenous nations of Canada had
been
advocating for rights and the resolution of conflicts at the
international
level since the late 19th century. The 1957 creation of the
International
Labor Organizations Convention 107 attempted to protect the rights of
indigenous peoples, but the document formulated was criticized as
"assimilationist and paternalistic." According to Shanee scholar Glenn
Morris, ILO Convention 169 in 1989 "updated the archaic provisions of
107
but was reviled by many native peoples as ignoring the legitimate
aspirations of indigenous nations and continuing to protect states in
their denial of native claims for self-determination." The 1982
establishment of the United Nations Group on Indigenous Populations
(UNWGIP), the main body of the UN where indigenous peoples, nations and
organizations have been organizing to protect the rights of indigenous
peoples, led to the 1993 Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples. This most comprehensive document recognizes a multitude of
indigenous rights including the indigenous right to self-determination.

Despite the gains, however, the Draft Declaration and indigenous
rights in
general are constantly being subverted. Why is it that indigenous
peoples
have to continuously struggle to maintain rights and dignity? Why is it
that nation-states continuously exploit indigenous lands and resources?
Why is it that we even need to be here today presenting our case for
equality among all peoples?

The oppression of indigenous peoples is not new. The so-called European
"Age of Discovery," beginning with the Portuguese infiltration into
Africa
in the 1430s, set off a wave of mass genocide against indigenous
peoples,
where European universalistic ideology rang supreme. The slave trader
Christopher Columbus STUMBLED onto the Americas in 1492. This historic
moment signaled permanent change for indigenous peoples throughout the
hemisphere. Christian mythology, greed for gold and racism were the
basis
of the Spanish conquest. The Papal Bulls of 1493, which were decrees
issued by the Vatican hierarchy and yet to be revoked until this day,
essentially sanctioned the Spanish genocide campaign against indigenous
peoples of the Americas. The Bull "Inter Caetera" of May 3, 1493,
states,
in part: "the Catholic Faith and the Christian religion, particularly in
our times, shall be exalted and everywhere amplified and spread, (and)
that the salvation of souls may be provided for and barbarous nations
subjugated and brought to the very true faith. . . ." The colonial
Spanish
affirmed this arrogance claiming, as Bartolome de Las Casas writes, that
"the bulls gave them the right to use just war to convert local
populations who had refused to immediately accept Christianity." As a
result, tens of millions of indigenous peoples were destroyed, mostly
from
disease, by the end of the first century of the conquest. If you think
I'm
exaggerating this figure, you might want to pick up a copy of David
Stannard's "American Holocaust." Stannard carefully traces the Spanish
crusade from the Caribbean and then out into Central, North and South
America.

Approximately eight million of my Taino ancestors were wiped out through
enslavement, burnings, massacres and disease, first on the island of
Hispaniola, then throughout the islands of the Greater Antilles. As I
have
written, many Taino escaped to the mountain regions of various islands
and
many descendants of Taino remain today, many here in Hawai'i, the result
of Taino (Puerto Rican) migration in the early 1900s. The Taino have
existed for over 2,000 years in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean.
It
was Taino who led the fight against Spanish colonialism on the island of
Boriken for 400 years based on a love of freedom and independence! When
Taino migrated to Hawai'i they identified themselves as "Boricua
Indians"
or "Boriquenos," hence the racist sugar planter term "Borinkee," and
they
were proud of their indigenous heritage. Nevertheless, nearly all
writers
and scholars have written us off as "extinct." For example, the opening
sentence of Stevens-Arroyo's 1988 book titled "Cave of the Jagua" reads:
"The Tainos of the Caribbean islands are extinct." In 1990 Samuel Wilson
noted, "The Taino were the first New World population to be quickly and
completely eradicated as a consequence of the  European discovery."
However, the rethinking of the Columbus legacy brought on by the
quincentenary in 1992 and the reassertion of indigenous cultural
identity
worldwide has led to clear documentation of the continual existence of
the
Taino people for over the past 500 years. Today you can find Stevens-
Arroyo on various Taino internet sites, and in 1997 Wilson edited this
book titled, "The Indigenous People of the Caribbean," where he
finally acknowledged the existence of Taino and Carib peoples.

Make no mistake about this: Tainos are not Puerto Ricans. The term
"Puerto Rican" is a Spanish colonial term meant to define predominantly
indigenous, African and Spanish groups as one NATIONALITY (for what,
neocolonialism?!) of people. This denies Taino their rightful
self-identity and history, for most Puerto Ricans are not indigenous
peoples. This is equivalent to identifying Kanaka Maoli as Americans,
which robs them of their history, culture, spirituality and right of
existence. In the course of human history, 500 years is not a very long
time ago. For some of us it seems just like yesterday. I am proud to say
that after five centuries of disregard, the Taino people who
discovered a
very lost Columbus, whose lands he painted as some sort of "paradise" or
"heaven on earth," and who have been often described as the "peaceable
Arawaks," have survived the Spanish conquest and live on!

How does all this relate to today? We would not need to be here if the
genocide of indigenous peoples had stopped, but it hasn't. Some have
argued that the ideology of the Papal Bulls forms the basis of the Law
of
Nations, better known as the "Doctrine of Discovery," which in turn
forms
the basis of U.S. Federal "Indian" law today. Indigenous scholar Steven
Newcomb writes that in 1991 the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled
that the Gitksan Indians had no standing because of the Law of Nations.
Here, Christian supremacist ideology and seizure of lands are
intrinsically connected. Of course, the genocide of indigenous peoples
today usually takes on much subtler forms, but not always as witnessed
by
the Kurds of Kurdistan or the Maya of Chiapas. For the Maya, the same
brutal massacres that took place 500 years ago occurred again in 1994
and
most recently in December of last year. For Kanaka Maoli in Hawai'i
genocide, as defined under the Geneva Convention of 1948, means
continual
evictions from homelands and indiscriminate desecration of sacred sites
and burial grounds in the name of progress, profits and development. For
Yanomami of Northern Brasil it means illegal gold mining and indis-
criminate shootings in Yanomami territory, and death from intentionally
introduced diseases. . . . The genocide must stop.

Finally, we have gathered here today to address these issues and, more
importantly, strategies for the resolution of these conflicts. We
address
these issues, not only for the sake of indigenous peoples, but of ALL
peoples, for as Majid Tehranian has written, the world today "stands
at a
historical juncture between the roads to self-destruction and
self-renewal." Mahalo nui loa.

Back to top

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

2. DEBATE: Gold mining by cyanide

ar                             sci.environment             3:18 AM  Feb 11, 1998
(at sn2.ee.umist.ac.uk)                                   (From News system)

Hi All,

I am looking for pictures/articles (actually anything) to be used
against gold mining using the controversial cyanide leaching
process. The site is in Ovacik near Bergama-Turkiye where a company
called EuroGold is about to start mining in spite of countless numbers
of public protests and even a court verdict.

The material is to be used by an academic group (Chemical engineers in
fact!), based in Izmir. I have searched the net but so far have not
found much.  So anything/everything will be appreciated..

**Turk arkadaslar'dan da ozellikle bekliyoruz.**

--
reCep
_________________________________________________________________
Recep Akmese, Ph.D -- Dept. of EE&E, UMIST, Room MB/A2, PO Box 88
Manchester M60 1QD, UK.                  Tel: +44-(0)161-200-4741
E-mail: ar@sn2.ee.umist.ac.uk            Fax: +44-(0)161-200-4648

Topic 1015                  gold mining by cyanide         Response  1 of  4
cot10825                       sci.environment             6:55 AM  Feb 23, 1998
(at scs.unr.edu)                                          (From News system)

In article <6bs1er$drk$1@yama.mcc.ac.uk>,
  ar@sn2.ee.umist.ac.uk (reCep) wrote:

> I am looking for pictures/articles (actually anything) to be used against
gold mining using the controversial cyanide leaching process. The material is
to be used by an academic group (Chemical engineers in fact!), based in Izmir.

Dr. Akmese,

Your attitude towards the use of cyanide is distressing, particularly since
you are a chemical engineer. What type of chemicals do YOU use?

Here in Nevada(USA) we have routinely used cyanide to leach gold ores for
almost 100 years. Wildlife deaths from cyanide poisioning have been virtually
eliminated in the past ten years. This is due to the use of fencing, netting,
and various other devices that actively discourage and/or inhibit animals from
interacting with cyanide.

I know of no documented cases where cyanide bearing solutions from gold mines
has entered the water table, here in Nevada. There was a tailings dam failure
in Omai, which is in the tropics. In that case cyanide did enter into a river
system. This was widely reported by the media. What they didn't bother to
rep[ort was how unusual an occureance it actually was.

Other instances where cyanide has entered streams has also been due to design
failures. These failures have occured in areas that got unusually heavy
amounts of either rain or snow. Unless the proposed mine site has similar
climatic conditions, the chance of cyanide getting into drinking water is
almost nil.

Please do not believe the rhetoric of environmental extremists. They desire to
turn every action of man into some sort of catastrophe. Mining in the 1990's
means responsible stewardship of the lands. Check out the true facts, before
you condemn an entire industry.

DAVID McLEAN
Consulting Minerals Exploration Geologist
Winnemucca, Nevada, USA

-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/   Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading

Topic 1015                  gold mining by cyanide         Response  2 of  4
rmorris                        sci.environment             1:27 AM  Feb 24, 1998
(at uow.edu.au)                                           (From News system)

Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Don Baccus wrote:
>
> In article <6ctcqh$f72$1@nnrp2.dejanews.com>,  <cot10825@scs.unr.edu> wrote:
>
> >Here in Nevada(USA) we have routinely used cyanide to leach gold ores for
> >almost 100 years. Wildlife deaths from cyanide poisioning have been virtually
> >eliminated in the past ten years.
>
> Why the last ten years?  I don't suppose it's because pressure from conservati
on
> organizations have led to laws and reforms that have helped mitigate (but not
> eliminate) the sins of the past.
>
> Nah, you won't admit this.  You'll simply say it's coincidence, that the indus
try
> would've done so without such presure.
>
> >This is due to the use of fencing, netting,
> >and various other devices that actively discourage and/or inhibit animals fro
m
> >interacting with cyanide.
>
> Blah blah.
>
> Of course, the real problem is the fact that ore grade is so low that tons
> are excavated for extremely small bits of gold, causing large-scale landscape
> changes.
>
> The industry argues that losing a mountain here or there is no great loss.
> Some differ in opinion.
>
> And, as one engineer friend has said, no liner is leakproof.  Period.
>
> >
> >I know of no documented cases where cyanide bearing solutions from gold mines
> >has entered the water table, here in Nevada. There was a tailings dam failure
> >in Omai, which is in the tropics. In that case cyanide did enter into a river
> >system. This was widely reported by the media. What they didn't bother to
> >rep[ort was how unusual an occureance it actually was.
>
> And an acceptably unusual occurance, in your mind.  That's the point, I suppos
e.
> The occasional wide-spread temporary sterilization of a river is OK, no sign
> of the process being environmentally harmful.
>
> >Other instances where cyanide has entered streams has also been due to design
> >failures.
>
> A cowboy in Harney, County OR - not exactly part of my enviro-whacko peer grou
p -
> once related to me how he quit the Battle Mountain gold mine because of repeat
ed
> spills into local watersheds.
>
> "You environmentalists are right, and you don't even know the half of it.  It
made
> me cry.  I quit and went back to chasing cows for $30/day and a bed and beef".
>
> >These failures have occured in areas that got unusually heavy
> >amounts of either rain or snow. Unless the proposed mine site has similar
> >climatic conditions, the chance of cyanide getting into drinking water is
> >almost nil.
>
> Hmmm...you cite Nevada as your source...this would be the state where there
> are so few people that they wouldn't notice if cyanide got into DRINKABLE
> (as opposed to currently utilized water source)?  A lot of crap is hidden
> in Nevada, the land where few roam.  I do, though.
>
> >Please do not believe the rhetoric of environmental extremists.
>
> Please do not believe the equivocatiosn of a man who doesn't even state
> upfront that the changes in the industry that have occured over the last
> 10 years (as he states in his first paragraph) only came about after bitter
> battles with the feds and conservation organization, and that much of the
> industry still insists that the reforms which led to his being able to make
> the "clean for 10 years" claim aren't necessary...
>
> This is an industry which fought against PVC stake claims, despite evidence
> of widespread bird mortality (I'm a bird guy) and the existence of
>>alternative,
> cheap technology (PVC pipes with pipe caps).
>
> >They desire to turn every action of man into some sort of catastrophe.
>
> While miners try to portray every mining action into a benign activity, despit
e
> widespread documentation to the contrary.
>
> >Mining in the 1990's means responsible stewardship of the lands.
>
> At $2.50/acre patent costs, but "oh, shit, we can't afford to pay more!" when
> anyone points out that inflation means that the $2.50 set in 1892 is hardly
> equivalent to the $2.50 in 1998 dollars that are spent.
>
> Mostly, though, realize that the "responsible stewardship" he talks about mean
s
> meeting the law minimally, and fighting any strengthening of the law tooth and
> nail.  They are more responsible today because they've been forced to, though
> in Nevada this is fairly minimal.
>
> They've refused to enter Oregon because our laws are "too tough", and yet clai
m
> we're the ones who suffer because we haven't let Atlas in to flatten its first
> mountain in eastern Oregon (actually, we agreed to let them in, they just
> whined that mitigation of environmental damage was too extreme, even though
> our laws are less strict than Montana's).
>
> >Check out the true facts, before you condemn an entire industry.
>
> Visit Nevada before you exonerate an entire industry, and ask why they
> needed to be FORCED to (minimally) reform when the next Libertarian
> claims that removal of regulation will result in a world where all
> industrialists, including miners. will move to some sort of nirvana
> state where they'll never do environmental harm.
>
> >DAVID McLEAN
> >Consulting Minerals Exploration Geologist
> >Winnemucca, Nevada, USA
>
> Winnefucca, yeah, know it well.  Geologist.  Know any plants or birds?
> --
>
> - Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza@pacifier.com>
>   Nature photos, on-line guides, at http://donb.photo.net

All well and good to blame the gold mining industry, but what is most
the gold used for?  Do you have a gold ring, watch, earing or other
jewelry?  Have you bought any to give to someone else?  Then you are
just as guilty.  The bulk of the gold mined is used for decorative
purposes only.  The mining companies are only filling a niche in the
market created by poeple who buy gold jewelry.

Topic 1015                  gold mining by cyanide         Response  3 of  4
unsal_tr                       sci.environment            12:19 PM  Feb 23, 1998
(at hotmail.com)                                          (From News system)

In article <6ctcqh$f72$1@nnrp2.dejanews.com>,
  cot10825@scs.unr.edu wrote:
>
> In article <6bs1er$drk$1@yama.mcc.ac.uk>,
>   ar@sn2.ee.umist.ac.uk (reCep) wrote:
>
> > I am looking for pictures/articles (actually anything) to be used against
> gold mining using the controversial cyanide leaching process. The material
is
> to be used by an academic group (Chemical engineers in fact!), based in
Izmir.
>
> Dr. Akmese,
>
> Your attitude towards the use of cyanide is distressing, particularly since
> you are a chemical engineer. What type of chemicals do YOU use?
>
> Here in Nevada(USA) we have routinely used cyanide to leach gold ores for
> almost 100 years. Wildlife deaths from cyanide poisioning have been
virtually
> eliminated in the past ten years. This is due to the use of fencing,
netting,
> and various other devices that actively discourage and/or inhibit animals
from
> interacting with cyanide.

With strict regulations in USA, any firm has to work safe.  Otherwise, someone
will prosecute for what for you have done to inhabitants and environment.
But with ones in somewhere, greed, low cost and possible immunity to law
any international company would not care about the nature.

If you say that there would be full coverage of protective measurements,
I would say that would be total wrong.  I would rather suggest you to capture
the logic of internationals and answer this question: if there are some
reserves in developed countries such as Germany, why they are not mining
((Nevada would be, sure, underpopulated and desert region.)  My answer would
be that even recent technologies does not reduce the possibility of a leakage
or any hazard to ZERO so it is better exploit low cost areas.

I am sensitive about the subject because there would be a pit in my hometown,
Artvin.  I am asking same question again:

What is the real cost of mining?

And another:
What is the contribution of will-be-mined reserves to the world economics

Best regards,
nsal Yusufgil
Industrial Engineer

> I know of no documented cases where cyanide bearing solutions from gold
mines
> has entered the water table, here in Nevada. There was a tailings dam
failure
> in Omai, which is in the tropics. In that case cyanide did enter into a
river
> system. This was widely reported by the media. What they didn't bother to
> rep[ort was how unusual an occureance it actually was.
>
> Other instances where cyanide has entered streams has also been due to
design
> failures. These failures have occured in areas that got unusually heavy
> amounts of either rain or snow. Unless the proposed mine site has similar
> climatic conditions, the chance of cyanide getting into drinking water is
> almost nil.
>
> Please do not believe the rhetoric of environmental extremists. They desire
to
> turn every action of man into some sort of catastrophe. Mining in the 1990's
> means responsible stewardship of the lands. Check out the true facts, before
> you condemn an entire industry.
>
> DAVID McLEAN
> Consulting Minerals Exploration Geologist
> Winnemucca, Nevada, USA
>
> -----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
> http://www.dejanews.com/   Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading

-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/   Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading

Topic 1015                  gold mining by cyanide         Response  4 of  4
info                           sci.environment             3:52 PM  Feb 26, 1998
(at osl.u-net.com)                                        (From News system)

Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

unsal_tr@hotmail.com wrote:
>

> > > I am looking for pictures/articles (actually anything) to be used against
> > gold mining using the controversial cyanide leaching process. The material
> is
> > to be used by an academic group (Chemical engineers in fact!), based in
> Izmir.
> >

Just for information, a UK firm has developed a gold leaching process
which doesn't use cynanide. I think it uses thiouracil instead, but I'm
relying on memory. The company is called Minmet, and is currently mining
for gold in Portugal and the south western UK.

--
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
David McKendrick                            Open Software Library Ltd
Email: info@osl.u-net.com              WWW: http://www.osl.u-net.com/
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

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