Longest Walk faces off with Newmont Mining in Denver

29.3.08

By Brenda Norrell
Human rights editor
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report

DENVER – Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter issued a proclamation proclaiming March as Longest Walk Month in Colorado. After Gov. Ritter’s proclamation was read on the steps of the Colorado State Capitol, Long Walkers proceeded in a prayer vigil to Newmont Mining Corp., where security guards called Denver Police.The Longest Walk Northern Route marched to Newmont Mining Corp. in downtown Denver, in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples around the earth and Western Shoshone fighting gold mining on their lands. Western Shoshone demand that Newmont and other mining companies halt the destruction.Further, Western Shoshone demand that Newmont and other companies, such as Barrick, halt plans to continue the destruction and gold mining on Western Shoshone lands, including sacred Mount Tenabo near Elko, Nevada.Standing with the sacred staffs of eagle feathers offered in each community the Longest Walk Northern Route has passed through since leaving California, Long Walkers did not back down when Newmont’s security forces called Denver Police. Long Walkers continued with a drum song and prayer vigil when faced with the threat of arrest by Newmont security officers.After the threat of arrest by Newmont security, Jimbo Simmons, coordinator of the northern route, read the demands of the Western Shoshone to a representative of Newmont inside the building. The Newmont’s representative declined comment.During the rally on the steps of the Colorado Capitol, Simmons announced the Longest Walk’s nomination of Carrie Dann, Western Shoshone grandmother and long time defender of environmental and sacred areas' desecration, for the global Nuclear Free Future Award.Ernest House, Jr., secretary of the Colorado Commission on Indian Affairs, read Gov. Ritter's proclamation and Long Walkers. Colorado Senator Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora, spoke in support of the Longest Walk. Simmons delivered a powerful statement of American Indian rights on the steps of the capitol. Simmons said he hopes Gov. Ritter's words will translate into action in Colorado.On Friday, March 21, Long Walkers made the treacherous hike up Monarch Pass in the Colorado Rockies, climbing to 11,370 feet, with snowbanks up to eight feet high and sheer drop-offs.Rebecca Duncan, who walked up Monarch Pass with her 10-year-old grandchild, said, “After this, I feel like I can do anything.” Duncan’s husband Roger Duncan was an original walker on the Longest Walk 1978.“After that, he found me,” she said, expressing appreciation for the original walk. The Longest Walk 1978 halted anti-Indian legislation and resulted in a new era of American Indian rights.The Longest Walk Northern Route continues its sacred walk for the protection of Mother Earth on Hwy 50 across Colorado, staying at night this week in Pueblo, Colorado. A memorial will be held at Sand Creek on April 5 to remember the Cheyenne Arapahoe women, children, men and elderly massacred by the Colorado Militia in 1864.The Longest Walk Northern Route is being broadcast live by www.earthcycles.net daily, 10 am to 2 pm Pacific Time. More than 200 audio archives of interviews and music have been recorded since the Longest Walk Northern Route gathered for prayers on Feb. 11, then took their first steps from Rumsey Rancheria in California on Feb. 12.Since beginning the sacred walk, the northern route has been showered with hospitality by the students of DQ University and by the communities of Rumsey Rancheria, Miwok’s Shingle Springs and Pollock Pines in California; Lake Tahoe, Carson City, Austin, Ely Indian Community and Baker in Nevada; Salt Lake City, Salida, Richfield, Green River in Utah and Grand Junction, Ute Indian Museum, Montrose, Salida and Denver in Colorado.The northern route and southern route, led by American Indian Movement cofounder Dennis Banks, will converge in Washington D.C. on July 11, 2008. World leaders, and leaders of the United States, are invited to meet with the Longest Walkers and American Indian spiritual leaders to hear their messages to the world. A four day survival summit is also planned by the Longest Walk in Washington D.C.The walkers are bringing attention to issues of environmental injustice, protection of sacred places, cultural survival, youth empowerment, and eroding Native American rights. As a result of the first Longest Walk held in 1978, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed in 1978 and 11 legislative bills that would have abrogated Native American treaties were defeated.


Longest Walk northern and southern routes:
http://www.longestwalk.org/
Listen to Northern Route:
http://www.earthcycles.net/