Taino People affiliated with the International Indian Treaty Council

UCTP Taino News - The United Confederation of Taino People (UCTP) has been formally accepted as affiliates of the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) by consensus of the IITC Board of Directors. The Taino affiliation will be reconfirmed by the indigenous assembly gathered at the upcoming IITC Treaty Conference which will be held from 4-7 April 2008 in Guatemala. The theme of the 2008 IITC Treaty Conference will be “Implementing the UN Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Right to Free Prior Informed Consent”.

The IITC is an organization of Indigenous Peoples from North, Central, South America and the Pacific working for the sovereignty and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples and the recognition and protection of indigenous rights, treaties, traditional cultures and sacred lands. The IITC was founded in 1974 at a gathering by the American Indian Movement in Standing Rock, South Dakota attended by more than 5000 representatives of 98 Indigenous Nations.

The UCTP represents indigenous Taino People from throughout the Caribbean region at the international level as well as supports local Taino organizations and community representatives at the local and national levels.

UCTPTN 01.01.2008

Floyd Red Crow Westerman Crosses Over Into the Spirit World

The UCTP pauses to offer condolences to the family of Floyd Red Crow Westerman (Dakota) who crossed over into the spirit world this morning in Los Angeles, California. A renowned American Indian activist-singer-songwriter, Westerman made his big screen debut in the movie Renegades (1989) and is best remembered for his role as elder/leader Ten Bear in Dances with Wolves (1990). His songs like "Custer Died For Your Sins" and "BIA Blues" have helped spread the American Indian Movement's message throughout the world. Floyd performed with countless musicians including Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Don Henley in large benefit concerts for Indian self-determination, human rights and environmental protection. He toured the world with Sting to publicize the plight of the Rainforest People who are dying along with the Rainforests and, as caretakers, must be protected if the rain forests are to go on providing for all life on Earth. Red Crow has been an ambassador of good will representing the International Indian Treaty Council from the time of its founding. Services are pending.

An announcement from the Transform Columbus Day Alliance (TDC):

The Rocky Mountain News made a public records request and received all our TCD Defenders' summons and complaints from the police. They have posted them all as PDFs on their website, redacting only social security numbers.

This means people's home addresses and other personal info, including their charges and the terms of their arrests, are now on the web. This is legal, but extremely invasive; the Rocky doesn't do this for all arrests.

This is a special act of nastiness towards us.

Arrests are public information, but this is highly irresponsible journalism, and clearly part of the Rocky's ongoing malevolence towards this alliance, the American Indian Movement and Indian people generally.

Call or email the Rocky Mountain News and demand they remove this information from their websites. It serves no public need and is clearly intended as a form of harassment of our defenders and their families.

Main number 303-954-5000
Main newsroom number 303-954-5201

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Related Article:

Protest lawyer cites international law
Gerash takes case in Columbus Day demonstrations
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5719597,00.html

Related Archived Interviews Online:

Challenging Columbus Day: Denver Organizers Discuss Why They Protest the Holiday (Friday, October 6th, 2006)
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/06/1350258

Indigenous Activists Blast Columbus Day as "Propping Up of Racist Propaganda" (Monday, October 10th, 2005)
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/10/1335225&mode=thread&tid=25

Transforming Columbus Day in Denver 2006...

Denver, Colorado (UCTP Taino News) – Hundreds of participants from throughout the country took part in the annual of Denver’s Columbus Day Parade on Monday, October 9, 2006.

The protest was organized by the Transform Columbus Day Alliance, which has been protesting the Columbus Day Parade in Denver since 1989. According to the Alliance's website, "The celebration of Columbus is the veneration of colonialism, conquest, and genocide. As people of conscience, we must move our society closer to the democratic values of equality for all, through historical accuracy, justice in the judicial and political processes of the country, and respect for diverse peoples and cultures."

On the night of October 6th, a Four Directions March brought together people of all Nations who wound through downtown Denver, singing traditional tribal songs, and displaying various banners and signs. The march actually converged from the four directions at the protest camp at Veteran's Park in front of the state's capitol building.

Representatives from the American Indian Movement of Colorado offered prayers and local tribes expressed their concerns with the celebration of Columbus Day, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, sacred sites protection and ongoing struggles for Indigenous People's rights.

Glen Spagnuolo, a member of the group Progressive Italians to Transform the Columbus Holiday, urged peaceful action against the parade and called for national support to halt the 100th year of the Columbus Day celebration scheduled for 2007.

The beginning of this years parade only fueled more tensions as the Sons of Italy's Columbus Day Parade began with the mounted Calvary from Fort Carson's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. The 3rd Colorado Calvary is infamous for its role in the 1864 "Sand Creek Massacre" in which hundreds of Cheyenne and Arapaho including women and children were killed and mutilated. According to historic reports the Calvary reportedly “paraded” scalps and other body parts, including human fetuses and genitalia through the streets of Denver.

The Sons of Italy procession ended with additional messages of intolerance as several vehicles proudly displayed slogans such as, "Homosexuality is a sin that will kill" and "Stop gay marriage".

Recognizing the significance of the event, UCTP Liaison Officer Dr. Enid "Tati" Conley (Taino Arawak) noted "The Denver Columbus Day Protest is an important event because we need to be agents of change and promote the truth about our history. Columbus was not an explorer, he was a SPANISH criminal who was a pirate and slave trader. There was nothing romantic about the man - he was a theif, and a mass murder."

Conley who was invited to attend the action by the organizers continued stating "I believe in my heart that all of us must promote social justice and truth and remember that our silence becomes the ally of the racists and the colonists who still exist today."


Transforming Columbus Day in Denver: (from left) Glenn Morris (Colorado AIM), Kim Morris,

Kenny Frost, Dr. Enid Conley, and John Scott. Photo: UCTP News