SAN
FRANCISCO BAY AREA, California (September 20, 2017) - From September 30th
through October 14th, 2017, a delegation of Indigenous women from across the
United States who have been at the forefront of the Dakota Access Pipeline
(DAPL) resistance effort and other movements to stop fossil fuel extraction and
infrastructure which pose threats to Indigenous rights, self-determination,
lands and culture will travel to Norway, Switzerland and Germany.
The
delegation will urge financial institutions to divest and cancel credit
facilities from pipeline companies committing human rights violations and
neglecting Indigenous People's right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent
(FPIC) as outlined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples.
Norway,
Switzerland and Germany house several of the world's largest financial
institutions that, through either corporate level or project level finance,
support dangerous extraction projects across Indigenous territories in the U.S.
and globally - making these countries vital locations for frontline and impacted
women leaders to engage directly with banks, public officials, civil society
groups, and media.
The
Autumn 2017 Indigenous Women's Divestment Delegation, facilitated by the
Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International in partnership
with Indigenous women leaders and their directives, is part of a growing
movement that has found the pursuit of institutional divestment to be an
effective strategy to hold banks and fossil fuel related companies accountable
to indigenous rights and protection of land, climate and water.
Autumn
2017 Indigenous Women's Divestment Delegation members include - LaDonna Brave
Bull Allard (Lakota historian, member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and
founder/landowner of Sacred Stone Camp); Dr. Sara Jumping Eagle (Oglala Lakota
and Mdewakantonwan Dakota pediatrician, living and working on the Standing Rock
Reservation, North Dakota); Jackie Fielder (Mnicoujou Lakota and
Mandan-Hidatsa, Campaign Coordinator of Lakota People's Law Project and
organizer with Mazaska Talks); Michelle Cook (Diné/Navajo, human rights lawyer
and a founding member of the of the Water Protector Legal Collective at
Standing Rock); and Tara Houska (Anishinaabe, tribal attorney, National
Campaigns Director of Honor the Earth, former advisor on Native American
affairs to Bernie Sanders); along with Osprey Orielle Lake (WECAN Executive
Director and delegation facilitator).
Full
Delegate biographies available here:
wecaninternational.org/pages/autumn17-divestment-spokeswomen
In
addition to advocating for fossil fuel divestment and investment in a renewable
energy future, delegates will share vital updates regarding the Dakota Access
Pipeline, the growing pipeline resistance by Indigenous peoples and allies to
Keystone XL (TransCanada), Trans Mountain (Kinder Morgan), Energy East
(TransCanada), and Line 3 (Enbridge) pipeline projects; and the success of
municipal divestment campaigns across the United States.
The
Delegation will be based in Oslo, Norway from September 30 - October 4; in Zurich,
Switzerland from October 5 - 10; and in Munich and Frankfurt, Germany from
October 11 - 14. Press and media are encouraged to reach out to WECAN
International to schedule interviews, and for full details on events.
"We
stand to protect the water and our Mother Earth. We stand to divest from fossil
fuel so our children can live. We stand because we have no other choice. Min
Wiconi, Water is Life." explained LaDonna Brave Bull Allard (Lakota
historian, member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and founder/landowner of
Sacred Stone Camp)
"Indigenous
peoples impacted by DAPL and destructive fossil fuel development projects are
determined to continue education and advocacy efforts related to bank
divestment from companies causing and/or contributing to indigenous human
rights abuses in the United States. The Divestment Delegation is an opportunity
to evaluate the efficacy of banks' human rights policy as well as to educate
the public on the distinctions and contrasts between the normative human rights
standards of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) and its negative image; a
coercive indigenous consultation model practiced by state and non-state actors
for natural resource extraction in the U.S. In spite of the human rights
violations, it is also a time for indigenous peoples and communities to vision,
imagine, nurture, and create new and more just balanced economies."
explained Michelle Cook (Diné/Navajo, human rights lawyer and a founding member
of the of the Water Protector Legal Collective at Standing Rock)
"I
always knew that I had to prepare for something, a time when the people and
land would need me to be ready. That
time is now. What will you do when that
time has arrived? For those of us, who know that we need to change how all of
us live on this earth so that we may live, so our grandchildren who are not yet
born may have a chance - we have to stand up, and make our voices and our power
known. That time is now." explained Dr. Sara Jumping Eagle (Oglala Lakota
and Mdewakantonwan Dakota pediatrician, living and working on the Standing Rock
Reservation, North Dakota)
"We
will carry one message from our homelands to financial institutions in Europe:
respect indigenous women's rights to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent. If
banks continue to harm our women, children, and elders, we will continue to
push divestment and hurt what is most precious to them - their bottom
dollar." explained Jackie Fielder (Mnicoujou Lakota and Mandan-Hidatsa,
Campaign Coordinator of the Lakota People's Law Project and organizer with
Mazaska Talks)
"Gross
human rights violations associated with fossil fuel infrastructure are not
limited to the well-publicized fight at Standing Rock. All over the world,
indigenous peoples and Mother Earth's finite freshwater resources are
threatened by needless fossil fuels projects. We ask the banking industry to
take a stand for all people that big oil won't. Stop funding destruction and
abuse with consumer money. We want just transition to renewable energy and the
lives of your customers to matter more than oil profits." explained Tara
Houska (Anishinaabe, tribal attorney, National Campaigns Director of Honor the
Earth, former advisor on Native American affairs to Bernie Sanders)
"With extreme weather from devastating
floods to raging fires currently being experienced around the world - it could
not be more clear that the Earth is sending us an urgent message that we must
take immediate action to keep fossil fuels in the ground - and re-vision and
re-build a just and sustainable future for all. In the context of the global
Fossil Fuel Divestment movement, the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network
is working to ensure that Indigenous and frontline women have the opportunity
to speak for themselves, directly to the institutions, governments and policy
makers whose decisions are harming their communities and territories through
their continued investment in violent, destructive projects. It has never been
more vital to listen to the voices of Indigenous women leaders. Together, with
their voices at the forefront, we can restore the health of our communities,
transition to clean energy, and seek justice for those who continue to be
impacted on a daily basis by fossil fuel development at Standing Rock and
around the world." explained Osprey Orielle Lake (Executive Director and
Founder of the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network, WECAN)
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