East County Magazine to form carpools from San Diego to desert vigil June 23-24

By Miriam Raftery

June 13, 2012 (Ocotillo) –  As bulldozers raze their ancestors’ graves, Native American tribes across the southwest are asking for the public’s help to stop the desecration. 

If you believe this heartbreak funded by taxpayer dollars is wrong, please join with tribes of all nations to take a spiritual stand together against despoilment of these once protected desert lands for private corporate gain.

Determined to halt the Pattern Energy's Ocotillo Express wind energy project, tribes of all nations will gather for a traditional dusk-to-dawn ceremony to mourn disruption of their ancestors' burial sites. From 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 23 to dawn on Sunday, June 24, members of the public are encouraged to join with Native American neighbors in the Ocotillo desert for these spiritual ceremonies.

Public asked to join with tribes on June 23

“The snake was moved but kept coming back, just like our people.  We will continue to keep coming back.” – Preston Arrowweed, Quechan elder. He believes unusual animal visitations at site are signs from Indian spirits, asking his people to help.

By Miriam Raftery

Jim Pelley, Denee ‘Estevane’ Woolley, and Susan Massey also contributed to this report

June 7, 2012 (Ocotillo)—Neither blistering heat nor blowing dust dissuaded Native Americans from at least four tribes from taking part in a five-day occupation in Ocotillo last week. 

They came to be with the spirits of their ancestors.  They also aim to show that desert devastation occurring with construction of the Ocotillo Express wind facility is wrong and must be stopped. 

By Miriam Raftery
May 15, 2012 (Santa Ysabel) -- The Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel is accusing San Diego County officials of acting illegally in attempting seizure of the tribe’s governmental funds.

By Miriam Raftery

April 26, 2012 (Ocotillo) – A former firefighter who has parachuted into raging wildfires, Viejas Community Relations Director Charlie Brown (photo, left above) has no shortage of courage. But he choked back tears as he spoke about what Ocotillo and its ancient geoglyphs means to him and other tribes that have long considered the site sacred.

Brown has heard stories from his grandfather, who lived to be 109, about Ocotillo--where mountains are named in tribal creation stories. He has taken his own son there to learn about his heritage. One giant geoglyph is registered on the National Registry of Historic Places. Tribes across the southwest convene here for sacred ceremonies.

But soon, Brown fears, the sound of turbines atop his ancestors’ graves will “be like beating on somebody’s soul…sacrificing something that’s been there for 10,000 years.”  http://youtu.be/FbPmplN2UDA.

“We believe that DOI [Department of the Interior] is poised to violate the law and our rights to religious freedom and our cultural identities guaranteed by DOI’s own policies, the United States Constitution, and international declarations. We need your help.” --Chairman Anthony Pico, Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, in a letter to President Barack Obama

Part I in an ECM special report series on potential impacts of the Ocotilllo Wind Express project

By Miriam Raftery

March 23, 2012 (Ocotillo) – For months, Ocotillo residents and conservationists have been waging a David and Goliath battle seeking to stop Pattern Energy’s proposed Ocotillo Wind Express project. Now Kumeyaay, Cocopah,Quechan and other Native American tribes have banded together to oppose the massive project-- joining residents, desert conservation groups and outdoor enthusiasts who seek to protect resources from destruction—including hundreds of cultural and archaeological sites. 

On March 28, the Imperial Valley Planning Commission will rule on whether to approve the controversial project, which would generate power for San Diego County.  At the federal level, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior  is expected to issue a final decision  by May 1.  A petition seeking to stop the project has been launched by Ocotillo residents:  http://www.change.org/petitions/say-no- ... y-project#.  

San Diego Workshop Evaluates Controversial Large Solar and Wind Projects, Desert Conservation, “Rooftop” Solar and Distributed Energy Opportunities in Mexico and the U.S.

March 14, 2012 (San Diego) — Indigenous leaders from San Diego County and across the state are set to meet with renewable energy and conservation experts, and lawmakers in a workshop on Friday, March 16, to evaluate strategies for renewable energy implementation in Southern California and Northern Baja California, Mexico.

Controversial energy projects in the Southwest deserts have raised concerns about large-scale impacts to desert ecosystems, endangered and threatened species and Native American cultural resources. Several legal challenges by tribal and environmental groups are being heard in Federal Courts in the United States and Mexico. Projects have repeatedly been stopped and delayed.

March 1, 2012 (East San Diego County) -- The Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians has announced that they are donating $2,500 for the recovery of “Chance,” the dog that was found shot on the Viejas Reservation earlier this month.

February 18, 2012 (San Diego) -- The 41st annual American Indian Pow-Wow will be held on March 17 at San Diego State University.

This free event, which is open to the public, is sponsored by the San Diego State Alumni Association, Viejas Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, and the SDSU President's Leadership Fund.

Gourd dancing begins at 11 a.m. with a grand procession at 12 noon at the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center.

By Miriam Raftery

January 13, 2012 (El Cajon )—The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation has moved a step closer to its goal of tripling the size of its one-square-mile reservation along the Sweetwater River in Dehesa.