Pillage and profit, from the Amazon to Ardoch

Pillage and profit, from the Amazon to Ardoch: An evening of film, music, and discussion about the exploitation of Indigenous peoples' lands by Canadian companies

Monday April 23, 2012, 5:30 to 7:30 pm
Auditorium of the Ottawa Public Library, Main Branch
120 Metcalfe St. (at Laurier)
Ottawa, unceded Algonquin Territory

Join us for an evening of discussion with Indigenous peoples resisting the plunder of their lands by Canadian oil and mining companies.

Coffee, tea and some snack will be provided.

The event will be opened with a Blessing by Algonquin Elder Albert Dumont. There will be a screening of the award-winning documentary “Chumpi & the Waterfall”. This film explores the way of life of an Achuar community in the Peruvian Amazon – a way of life that's under threat by Canadian oil company Talisman Energy's plans to drill oil in their hunting and fishing grounds.

"I have told the CEO of Talisman, John Manzoni, that the Achuar people do not want oil operations in our ancestral territory, but Talisman refuses to respect our right to live in peace and harmony," says Achuar leader Peas Peas Ayui.

The film will be followed by a panel discussion with:

• Peas Peas Ayui, Lucas Irar Miik, Lucas Chayat Ayui, and Puwaanch Kintui Antich, leaders from Achuar communities in the Amazon rainforest
• Gregor MacLennan, Peru Program Coordinator for Amazon Watch
• Mireille Lapointe, former chief of the Ardoch Algonquin, who have resisted uranium mining on their land
• Marcelo Saavedra-Vargas, of the Quechua-Aymara nation and professor of Aboriginal studies at the University of Ottawa

Musical performances by Three Little Birds (https://www.facebook.com/threelittlebirdstheband), and by Julie Comber, Josh Myles, & Ógui (http://snd.sc/IeHeLD).

Admission is free; donations to support the Achuar community will be gratefully accepted.

This event is hosted by Amazon Watch, Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa, and the Indigenous and Canadian Studies Students Association of the University of Ottawa.

Can't make it to the event? Please visit https://www.achuarmovie.org/ to:

- learn more about the Achuar
- Sign a petition demanding that Talisman Energy halt oil exploration in Achuar territory
- Donate to support the Achuar's cause

http://www.facebook.com/events/210214175756207/

Pororoka - The Great Destructive Noise (Tupi language)

The Belo Monte dam - Can it be stopped?

Zé Cláudio Ribeiro from the Amazon| He believes that killing trees is murder

For the next 7 generations

Mid-term 2012

Please follow the links below to find the documents I'll be sharing for the mid-term:
The Power Presentation in different formats. If you need to have it in some other format, please let me know: msaavedr@uOttawa.ca.

• Power Point presentation, PDF format (1 slide per page), a total of 142 pages, 15.7 MB;
• Power Point presentation, PDF format (6 slide per page), a total of 142 pages, 7.5 MB;
• Power Point presentation, PPT format,  a total of 142 slides, 50 MB;

Before printing take a moment and think about the Amazonian (or Boreal) trees. 

Amazonian Kayapo people under threat

“The chief Raoni cries when he learns that Brazilian president Dilma released the beginning of construction of the hydroelectric plant of Belo Monte, even after tens of thousands of letters and emails addressed to her and which were ignored as the more than 600 000 signatures. That is, the death sentence of the peoples of Great Bend of the Xingu river is enacted. Belo Monte will inundate at least 400,000 hectares of forest, an area bigger than the Panama Canal, thus expelling 40,000 indigenous and local populations and destroying habitat valuable for many species - all to produce electricity at a high social, economic and environmental cost, which could easily be generated with greater investments in energy efficiency.”

Stop the Belo Monte Monster Dam!

We've already delivered half a million signatures to Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, but we're just getting started. Help us stop the Belo Monte Dam by signing the petition here!

Timeline of exploration

1001: Leif Ericson explores North America

1265: Marco Polo begins his exploration of China and Asia

1432: Portuguese navigators discovered the Azores

1445 Dinis Dias sails the west coast of Africa

1456: Cape Verde islands are explored by Portuguese

1470 Portuguese begin African exploration

1488: Bartholomeu Dias of Portugal sails from the Iberian Peninsula to the south of Africa.

1492: The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus

1497: John Cabot and his son Sebastian discover Canada, landing on the coast of Newfoundland

1498: Vasco da Gama sails around the Cape of Good Hope and reaches India

1499: Alonzo de Ojeda explores Columbia  and Venezuela

1500:  Vicente Pinzon and Juan Dias de Solis discover Brazil

1501:  Amerigo Vespucci explores the coast of South America

1500:  Rodrigo de Bastidas and Juan de la Cosa discover Panama

1508:  Juan Dias de Solis explores Argentina

1513 Vasco Nunez de Balboa explores the Pacific coast of Panama and discovers Pacific Ocean

Juan Ponce de Leon explores Florida

1516: Juan Dias de Solis explores Uruguay

1517: Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba explores Yucatan

1518: Juan de Grijalava explores Mexico

1519 Ferdinand Magellan is the first to go around the world
               Hernando Cortez kidnaps Aztec Emperor Montezuma and loots the Aztec gold
               Alonzo de Pineda explores gulf Coast of America

1522: Gil Gonzales de Avila and Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba explore Nicaragua & Granada

1524 Giovanni Verrazano discovers New York Bay
               Hernando Cortes explores the Honduras
               Pedro de Alvarado explores Guatemala and El Salvador

1526: Francisco Montejo explores Yucatan

1528 Panfilo de Narvaez conquers Cuba and explores Florida
               Alvar Cabeza de Vaca explores Texas, Arizona and New Mexico

1531:  Francisco Pizarro explores Peru

1532:  Francisco Pizarro invades and loots the Incan Empire

1533:  Sebastian de Benalcazar explores Ecuador

1534: Jacques Cartier explores the Great Lakes and the the St. Lawrence River

1536: Pedro de Mendoza explores Paraguay

1539 Hernando de Soto explores south-eastern North America

1540 Francisco Vázquez de Coronado explores south-western North America
               Discovery of the Grand Canyon by Garcia Lopez de Cardenas
               Francisco de Orellana explores Amazon River

1541 Francisco Vásquez de Coronado explores Kansas

1542: Cabrillo explores and discovers the Californian coast
Rey Lopez de Villalobos explores the Philippines
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovers San Diego Bay, California

1559: Tristan de Luna explores North America

1562: John Hawkins sails to Africa

1563: Francisco de Ibarra explores New Mexico

1576: Sir Martin Frobisher explores Baffin Bay and the Hudson Strait

1577: Sir Francis Drake circumnavigates the world - December 13 1577 to September 26 1580

1584: Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe (both in the service of Sir Walter Raleigh) explore the coast of North Carolina

1585: Sir Walter Raleigh establishes the Roanoke colony

1593: Sir Richard Hawkins travels to the South Pacific

1595: Sir Walter Raleigh seeks golden city of El Dorado in South America
Cornelis de Houtman discovers Sea Route to Indonesia

1598: Juan de Archuleta explores Colorado

1607: Captain John Smith explorer and founder of Jamestown

1609: Henry Hudson explored parts of the Arctic Ocean and northeastern North America including the Hudson River

1642: Abel Tasman explores Tasmania and New Zealand

1652: Jan van Riebeeck explores Africa and founded Cape Town

1768: Captain James Cook discovers New Zealand

1791: George Vancouver explores Canada

1804: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark explore the Louisiana Territory

1820: Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen becomes the first person to see the Antarctic continent

1843: Dr. David Livingstone explores Africa

1897: Adrien de Gerlache explores Antarctica

1912: Roald Amundsen first on the South Pole followed by Robert F. Scott, Edward Wilson, Edgar Evans and Lawrence Oates

1959: Yuri Gagarin becomes the first Man in Space

1969: Moon Landing Neil Armstrong commander of the Apollo 11 mission, accompanied by Buzz Aldrin while their team mate Michael Collins controlled the command module Columbia

Green Week activities - Activités de la Semaine verte
http://www.facebook.com/events/241769825898823/

National Day of Action! Wednesday, 1st February 2012, MRT terrasse, 10:30
With the sustainable development crew!




Journée nationale d'action! Mercredi, 1er février 2012, MRT terrasse 10h30
Avec la gang de développment durable!

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Confronting UNsustainability! A panel about Austerity in a Time of
Ecological Crisis, Wednesday, February 1st
Alumni Auditorium (University Center of the University of Ottawa) at 7pm

L’austérité en temps de crise écologique : une discussion, Mercredi, 1er février
Auditorium des anciens (Centre universitaire de l'Université d'Ottawa) à 19h

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Aboriginal perspectives on environmental issues Monday, February 6th
90 University Lounge at 6pm

Perspectives autochtones sur les questions environnementales
Lundi, 6 février
Salon du 90 Université à 18h

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Farmers' Market Wednesday, February 8, 2012
University Centre, main floor, 9am to 4pm

Marché des fermiers Mercredi 8 février 2012 Centre Universitaire, plancher principal, 9h à 16h

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Let’s Get Some (direct) Action Workshop
Wednesday, February 8th at UCU 206, 1pm
In collaboration with the International Development Week

Atelier d'action directe dans un temps de crise environnementale Mercredi 8 février au UCU 206 à 13h,
En collaboration avec la Semaine du Développement Internationale

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Where’s our Tuition Going? Workshop with the Just Investment Coalition
Thursday, February 9 at MRT 250, 2:30pm
In collaboration with the International Development Week

Où vont nos frais de scolarité ? Atelier avec CIJIC sur l'investissement juste
Jeudi 9 février au MRT 250 à 14h30
En collaboration avec la Semaine du Développement Internationale

Don Mancio Serra de Leguisamo, 1589

"We found these kingdoms in such good order, and the said Incas governed them in such wise [manner] that throughout them there was not a thief, nor a vicious man, nor an adulteress, nor was a bad woman admitted among them, nor were there immoral people. The men had honest and useful occupations. The lands, forests, mines, pastures, houses and all kinds of products were regulated and distributed in such sort that each one knew his property without any other person seizing it or occupying it, nor were there law suits respecting it… the motive which obliges me to make this statement is the discharge of my conscience, as I find myself guilty. For we have destroyed by our evil example, the people who had such a government as was enjoyed by these natives. They were so free from the committal of crimes or excesses, as well men as women, that the Indian who had 100,000 pesos worth of gold or silver in his house, left it open merely placing a small stick against the door, as a sign that its master was out. With that, according to their custom, no one could enter or take anything that was there. When they saw that we put locks and keys on our doors, they supposed that it was from fear of them, that they might not kill us, but not because they believed that anyone would steal the property of another. So that when they found that we had thieves among us, and men who sought to make their daughters commit sin, they despised us."

The Great Conveyor Belt

Bundles and mandalas

By Marcelo Saavedra-Vargas

Andean Chakana

 A personal bundle/mandala

Bundles/Mandalas are sacred symbols we are all exposed to and are capable of creating. There are some straightforward guidelines that will allow you to creatively design your bundle/mandala, based on the teachings you acquire by reading the assigned material, attending class lectures and, more importantly, allowing yourself the proper psychological and transformational space. You are supposed to thoroughly enjoy the process of contemplating your existence in the cosmos, while doing your bundle/mandala. This is a very healing exercise.  

A Bolivian Quechua bundle with aguayo (tissue)

Getting in touch with our Ancestors

Bundles/Mandalas were designed by our Ancestors, either deliberately, unconsciously or naturally, and we can find them in a host of mature civilizations, as Gary Snyder used to call indigenous peoples. Bundle/Mandalas are ethnotext or metatext. They go beyond the written medium and do not rely on mnemonics (the ability to rationally remember and reproduce) but rather ignite your intuitive perception and interpretation capabilities. In this sense this internal conversation you hold with yourself, by doing your mandala or bundle, is sacred.

Once you begin your process of reflecting and actually doing your bundle or mandala you will find you get mysteriously drawn to this process. This is not surprising. This is a visit you pay to yourself! Enjoy it, fully engage and become an indigenous to this planet.

Past experience and painting talent are not prerequisites to making meaningful bundles/mandalas. They can be quite direct and down-to-earth or very abstract. You just need to open your heart and let flow your intuition.

A Bolivian bundle (quep'i)

Some tips to get going with designing your bundle/mandala:

·         You have to be relaxed and calm. This is why I suggest you give yourself time to do this.

·         Connecting:  Perhaps this is the most crucial part of the process. You need to find a suitable psychological space/time and calm your rational mind. Let go past and future events. Inhabit the present. This should express in a relaxed body and creative mind. Imagine yourself or sense yourself (breathing is the best vehicle to go around you). Once you are in touch with yourself gently reflect about what has brought you up to ‘here’ and what is holding and supporting you so you can continue your cosmic journey;

·         Sense the colors that express yourself;

·         Sense the elements that explain you and what you want to become;

·         Sense any patterns, geometric figures or specific objects (if you are drawing, sense the symbols that represent those objects);

·         Sense your surroundings past, present and those to come. Include them gently in your bundle/mandala.

·         Include any other element that would make sense to you.

These are your ‘raw’ materials. Now you can proceed to creating your bundle/mandala.

Creating your personal bundle/mandala

A healing circle (mandala)

Since a mandala is a circle (in Sanskrit) I suggest you complete a departing circle (large or small), acknowledging Pachamama, Taqpacha, all other nations, your own nation, your ancestors, your future generations, the sacredness of your relations, and the beauty of your own self. You can then draw the complementary piece of the already drawn circle (inwards or outwards, depending on your pre-disposition). You can also draw a square. Circles and squares  reflect the parity relations of all things, the opposite but complementary forces everything is made of.

If you are doing a bundle, it is meant to be like the womb of your mother, circular (spherical) in nature. Like with the mandala, be careful in complementing it with the content. The tissue (if you have chosen to have a tissue) is the form and the elements that you put in it are the content. They both complement and complete each other perfectly in a parity relationship. There cannot be a form without content and vice versa.

Now you can start including (drawing, painting, pasting, collating) the elements that you had reflected upon in the previous step. Remember that blank or empty spaces are also very meaningful.

A mandala

Bring to your mind the readings you have been doing and the teachings you have been acquiring. For this specific exercise, you have to include these elements in your mandala/bundle. Gain serenity, lose fear and become truly humble. It is your life; it is your symbolism you are creating. You are safe and peaceful.

Enjoy it!

Paschi!

Jallalla!