5 More Bodies This Week

U.S. border policies continue to claim lives.

Five illegal immigrants were found dead Monday through Wednesday along Arizona’s stretch of the U.S-Mexican border, the U.S. Border Patrol reported.

Border Patrol agents also carried out three notable rescues of illegal immigrants, including helping a woman six months pregnant who was dehydrated, said Rob Daniels, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman.

Four of the five bodies were found on the Tohono O’odham Reservation. Of the last 14 bodies recovered in the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, 12 have been found on the reservation.

Arizona Daily Star

And speaking of the Tohono O’odham – De Tod@s Para Tod@s shares this info from the same reporter as the above article at the Star:

Tohono O’odham Chairman Ned Norris Jr. has grown incensed with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff — who has rebuffed requests to meet and invoked a waiver to build border barriers on current and ancestral O’odham land. With the Tohono O’odham Nation spanning 75 miles of U.S.-Mexican border in the busiest stretch for illegal immigration, drug smuggling and border deaths, Norris says Chertoff owes him a meeting.

Why would Chertoff want to meet? It’s so much easier to violate laws on a whim.

 

Tohono O’odham Burial Remains Returned

Great news. Thank you to everyone who signed the petition over the summer demanding that the U.S. government return the burial remains of Tohono O’odham ancestors who had their eternal rest violated to make way for the Great Wall of America™.

From the mailbag:

Hello Everyone,

This e-mail is being sent out to you because you signed the “Return the Remains” petition a few months back to have O’odham remains that were dug up during construction of the U.S. Mexico Apartheid wall returned to their ancestors for traditional reburial.

I am very happy to inform you that the remains were returned, and have been given a traditional reburial by the ancestors of those who were dug up.

This just goes to show that sometimes, something as simple as signing a petition really can make a difference.

Thank you all so much!

Please click on the following link to read the statement of appreciation written by the Traditional Leaders of the O’odham Territory thanking you and everyone who signed the petition for helping them get their ancestors remains returned.

Statement of Appreciation

This desecration was unacceptable from the very beginning. My thoughts and prayers go out to the descendants of those buried who endured months of heartache and righteous outrage. You will always find solidarity here at this humble blog.

 

Tohono O’odham Burial Site Desecrated

While lawmakers far, far away from the borderlands dictate to us what will happen in our own backyards – such as increased military presence, permanent roadblocks/checkpoints, several-hundred foot observation towers, increased roads and barriers across previously undisturbed land, etc. etc. etc. – the respect of indigenous people is being sacrificed.

The Tohono O’odham Nation (map to the right) is split in two by the current configuration of the International Border. With the egregious actions of the Department of Homeland Security continuing unabated, something terrible like this was bound to happen sooner or later.

To: Tohono O’odham Nation Tribal Government

Statement from the Elders of Ali Jegk Community of the Tohono O’odham Nation

We Demand the Return of Human Remains Unearthed During a Recent Desecration of a Sacred Burial Ground

On May 17th and May 21st of 2007 the remains of at least three humans were unearthed during the construction of a border zone “Vehicle Barrier” wall. These remains were found buried near the International Border, inside of Tohono O’odham Nation lands in Arizona.

The unearthed people are the direct ancestors of five families living in the Ali Jegk community of the Tohono O’odham Nation. The remains are currently in the possession of the tribal government’s cultural authority – an institution that has a non-O’odham director.

Initially, when the remains were unearthed during construction of the “Vehicle Barrier,” the tribal government authorities stopped the construction to investigate the findings. Unfortunately, they failed to protect the remains from desecration as is required of them under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA).

linkage to full text of petition demanding action

I urge you all to please sign the petition and spread the word that this type of disrespect is utterly unacceptable. Also, please contact Congressman Grijalva’s office, if you’re in CD87, and ask him to put pressure on the Department of Homeland Security to never make a mistake like this again.

The people within the nation will deal with their own internal politics with respect to the involvement of the Tribal Leadership, but we can put pressure on our end.

This makes me sick beyond belief.

“Why do these non-O’odham continue to mistreat us? We are humans, we do not go to their [Anglo] graves and dig them up and put them in boxes.”

Indeed.

Tip of the sombrero to Daniel Patterson for the heads up on this

 

Arizona News Round-Up

Picking up where we left off last week, the grassroots leadership in Willcox is working to make sure there’s plenty to do during the summer.

Willcox Against Substance Abuse (WASA), Willcox Parks and Recreation and Southwest Transmission Linemen (AEPCO) sponsor the summer activities.

Total cost for the programs this summer will run about $9,000, said Sally White, director of WASA. “With the Southwest Transmission Linemen’s donation of $4,500 from their charity golf tournament, their support means the difference between an “OK” summer program and a truly great summer program,” White said. “We deeply appreciate the wonderful support we receive from this great group.”

Arizona Range News

Heading south down to the Bisbee, Tombstone, Sierra Vista area, we can find plenty of heat – as in hot rods.

“When he rolled in, the car show just stopped. Everybody stopped and looked,” he said.

Ward’s enthusiasm for the cars hasn’t quieted since. He and his wife, Shari, are organizers of the 9th Annual National T-Bucket Alliance Nationals on June 21-23, with events in Bisbee, Tombstone and Sierra Vista.

Sierra Vista Herald

Taking the scenic route from SV, through Patagonia to the Nogales area, the history of Santa Cruz County is being presevered by the efforts of local initiative

David Yubeta has a passion for dirt-and that’s not bad. He describes himself as “voracious” in his fervent goal to stabilize every aging, crumbling, adobe building and wall that is in peril.

Yubeta, a preservation specialist with the National Park Service at the Tumac‡cori National Historic Park, is recognized as one of the premier authorities in his field.

In 1998, he was presented with the National Park Service’s top award in Washington, D.C., for cultural preservation.

Doubtless, Yubeta is at the right place to hone his adobe-preservation skills. The Tumac‡cori park protects Spanish colonial missions on three sites. The largest, with a mission church constructed of adobe, was established in January 1691 by Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino. The park includes the ruins of the circa-1691 Los Santos çngeles de Guevavi south of Rio Rico and circa-1756 San Cayetano de Calabazas in Rio Rico.

Nogales International

Meanwhile, on the Tohono O’odham Nation to the northwest, the Sonoran Desert is continuing to claim lives of economic refugees

Fewer illegal immigrants may be crossing the Arizona desert than last year, but more are dying.

Authorities found the bodies of at least six migrants along the border during the first six days in June, adding to a death toll that has outpaced last year’s, despite falling arrest figures.

According to the U.S. Border Patrol, 96 illegal immigrants had died as of Wednesday, a 12 percent increase over the same period last year, when the Border Patrol counted 86 dead.

Tucson Citizen

Over in Ajo, watch out for wildcats (decidedly NOT of UA origin)

Rabies has been confirmed in a fox and a bobcat killed in Ajo during the past week. At least two people have started rabies shots after being attacked by the bobcat. Residents are urged to report any animal behaving oddly and to get pets vaccinated and keep them indoors.

Ajo Copper News

And since we’re having chilly temperatures this week (it’s 92 in the Old Pueblo at the moment), lets take our chances in Gila Bend before the real heat begins. The town’s website alerts us to a Mark-Your-Calendar moment for November

5th Annual Desert Shrimp Festival

November 3, 2007
10:00 am – 10:00 pm
Community Center Park (Euclid Ave.)

More info at the Town of Gila Bend website

Hmmmm, I guess I’ll have to put the “I’ll try anything once” motto to the test.

What’s going on in your part of the world?