Urgent Action Needed to Protect Wampanoag Sacred Sites

Posted January 19, 2010 By Nancy and has no comments yet.

Nantucket Sunrise is Sacred to Wampanoag

The Wampanoag Indian Tribe of Massachusetts have spiritual practices that require them to visit sacred sites with a clear view of the rising sun when they perform special ceremonies on the solstices and upon the death of elders. The Cape Wind project would compromise the natural integrity of a sacred site for the Wampanoags by industrializing their view of the rising sun.

The Cape Wind Farm’s plan is to build 130 wind turbines, each over 400 feet tall. The project would be several miles from the Cape Cod shoreline covering a 25-square-mile section of federal land.

Action is urgently needed before February 29, 2010. Please write to Secretary Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, Department of the Interior, 1849 C St NW, Washington, DC 20240; or email Secretary Salazar at feedback@ios.doi.gov; or telephone the Department at 202-208-3100.

Please make the following points:
1. The Wampanoag, People of the First Light, require an unobstructed view of Nantucket Sound in order to view the rising sun on solstices when they perform their sacred ceremonies and upon the passing of elders.
2. Wampanoag ancestral remains are buried in the Sound and the wind turbines would dis

For more information contact: the Wampanoag.

Other resources, including an excellent photo of the sound with proposed Wind Turbines, can be found at: The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound.

Categories: Environmental, Letters Needed, american indian, preservation
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Lawsuit Filed to Protect Chumash Sacred Condor & Sacred Sites

Posted November 13, 2009 By Nancy

A coalition of groups filed a lawsuit to stop an exclusive development project that was to include high-priced homes, golf courses and hotels. The development called, Tejon Mountain Village resort, is slated to be built high in the pristine mountains of Kern County, located in southern California.

The groups fighting the development include the Chumash Indian Wishtoyo Foundation, the Center for Biological Diversity, the TriCounty Watchdogs and the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment.

Mati Waiya of the Wishtoyo Foundation says the development threatens Chumash sacred sites and the endangered condor whose habitat would be gravely disturbed. The condor is central to the perpetuation of Chumash culture and ceremonial practices. The magnificent bird features prominently in Chumash oral histories and in sacred cave paintings.

Condor

You can read more about the issues surrounding the lawsuit and the destructive development in the press release from the Center for Biological Diversity.

Categories: Chumash, Environmental, preservation
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Aboriginal Elders Say Quarry Will Destroy Sacred Sites

Posted November 12, 2009 By Nancy

Perth Aboriginal Elders and Nyoongar Elders say the German quarrying firm Hanson Construction recently filed an application with the Department of Indigenous Affairs seeking approval to destroy cultural heritage sites.

Aboriginal Elders fear the blasting will endanger sacred stones, fragile plants and animals central to their culture. The quarrying will contaminate their water flowing from a brook that feeds into the Swan River.

The site complex at Red Hill in the Darling Range includes petroglyphs, ceremonial sites, grinding stones and ochre deposits used in spiritual practices. Of special interest is the Guardian Ancestral Owl Stone. You can learn more at Perth Independent Media.

For more information please visit the Susannah Valley website.

Petrochemical development has been threatening other sacred sites in Australia. The Dampier Rock Art, Burrup Peninsula located in Murujaga, Australia was included on the Sacred Sites International 2005 Most Endangered List. The site was again listed on the SSIF 2008 List of Sites because it is still highly endangered.

Dampier Australia Petroglyph

Categories: Australia, Environmental, preservation
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Tara Hill, Ireland, Endangered Again

Posted November 10, 2009 By Nancy

Tara Hill, Ireland

In 2005 SSIF featured Tara Hill on our Most Endangered Sacred Sites List. The threat at that time, a freeway built right next to the sacred hill, is still the threat. Yet, another freeway!Fresh from the Irish government’s disgraceful ruination of the Tara-Skryne Valley sacred landscape, they’re planning another assault on the area containing many of Ireland’s primary ritual sites.Take a look at the link below. And watch this space; we’ll post details of who to contact as and when we know them.The Hill of Tara is not the only important heritage threatened by the Leinster Orbital Route. The Heritage Town of Trim is to be bisected.Check this story on Indymedia:http://www.indymedia.ie/article/94705UN MUST SAVE TARA PETITIONhttp://www.savetarapetition.net

Categories: Environmental, Tara Hill, preservation, site updates
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Urgent Action Needed for Lascaux Cave

Posted November 9, 2009 By Nancy

Lascaux Bulls

The magnificent prehistoric painted cave of Lascaux, located near Montignac, France, is in serious danger of being destroyed. The paintings are deteriorating from an overgrowth of black spots from fungus and bacterial growth. You can read more about this at the International Committee for the Preservation of Lascaux.

Urgent-Action Letters are desperately needed to urge the French Minister of Culture to work with the International Committee for the Preservation of Lascaux. Send letters to: Mr. Frederic Mitterand, Minister of Culture, 3 Rue de Valois, 75033 Paris Cedex 01, France.

Please send polite letters making the following points: 1) Please convene a committee of international experts to develop a study on the causes of the damage. 2) An effective scientific treatment must immediately be developed and employed to stop the proliferation of black fungus. 3) There must be scientific supervision of the cave; this is immediately needed and needs to be part of the ongoing management of the site. 4) An overall management plan for the cave should be developed and implemented with independent expert monitoring.

Categories: Lascaux Cave, Letters Needed, Uncategorized, World Heritage Site, letter writing, policy, preservation
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Endangered Sacred Kaya Forests added to UNESCO List

Posted October 6, 2009 By Nancy

UNESCO’s List of Intangible Culture Inscribes Sacred Kaya Forests

The latest UNESCO list of Intangible Culture includes several sacred sites and sacred traditions. The Committee considered these cultural elements as endangered despite the efforts of the communities or groups concerned. Following the inscription, States concerned will implement specific safeguarding plans, as indicated in their nomination files. Intangible cultural elements in need of urgent safeguarding will be eligible for financial assistance from the Fund established to this end.

We can thank the National Museums of Kenya for their efforts in nominating the forests and for the efforts of scholars such as Celia Nyamweru who has been working with the Coastal Forests Conservation Unit, a division of the National Museums of Kenya. Visit the Sacred Sites Map on this website by clicking here for more information on Kaya Forests in an article by Celia Nyamweru.

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Categories: Africa, Environmental, preservation

Urgent Action Letters Needed

Posted August 5, 2009 By Nancy

A proposed wind turbine development, Pairc Wind Farm, is being planned for the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. It is near the sacred standing stone circles of Callanish. Reasons to oppose the development: 26 of the wind turbines will be visible from the stone circles. The pristine countryside will be torn up by roads bringing in equipment and turbines. Migrating birds will be killed by the turbines. The landscape is favored by hikers and other nature lovers.Write polite letters of protest to:Mr. Michael Russell MSP, Scottish Minister for Environment, Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh EH99 1SP, Scotland

Categories: Callanish Standing Stones, Letters Needed, Scotland, preservation

Looting Native American Graves

Posted June 16, 2009 By Nancy

The Los Angeles Times and numerous other news sources have reported the arrest of 24 people who were charged with looting Native American grave sites in the United States Four Corners region. Artifacts stolen include ceramic bowls, woven baskets, tools and a rug made with turkey feathers. Looting Native American graves is a great concern to members of all Indian Nations. In 1990, President George H. W. Bush, signed into law the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, providing sanctity for graves on public land and the return of human remains and grave goods to their tribes from any museum receiving federal funds. NAGPRA, as it is called, does not prevent looting, but it means that looters will be prosecuted. 

We worked on an urban site that was a cemetery and ritualistic site. The Native American descendant assigned to the site decided to leave the site alone and allow a commercial development to be built on top of the burials. Considerations were as follows: it is better not to disturb ancestral burial sites; grave objects should remain with the dead and it protected the site from looting. The subject is dealt with in an excellent book, Sacred Objects and Sacred Places by Andrew Gulliford. It is a benefit of membership in Sacred Sites International at the Donor Level. In 1990, President George H. W. Bush, signed into law the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, providing sanctity for graves on public land and the return of human remains and grave goods to their tribes from any museum receiving federal funds.

Categories: american indian, preservation

Sacred Mountain Wins, Another Loses

Posted June 10, 2009 By Nancy

This week has been a provisional wind for the sacred Mount Taylor, in New Mexico and a loss for the sacred San Francisco Peaks in Arizona.The San Francisco Peaks, located in Northern Arizona, are sacred to the Navajo, Hopi, Havasupai, Hualapai, and Apache Nations as home to their deities. As reported in the Arizona Republic, the San Francisco Peaks, lost a long court battle when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a case filed by the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation contended that using artificial snow made from wastewater, was akin to dumping sewage on their sacred mountain. The Ninth Circuit Court had previously ruled against the Navajo and in favor of the management of Arizona Snowbowl.One major problem in the San Francisco Peaks case concerns mandated multiple uses of federal land by the public. The court ruling said religious use can not trump the mandated mixed use of federal lands. The Arizona Snowbowl is a permitted use within the Coconino National Forest.In the 1970s-1980s, a coalition of Native Americans and environmentalists had fought Snowbowl in court to prevent the resort’s owner from making “improvements.” That case was also lost in appellate court and the Supreme Court refused to hear the case.For more background information on these sacred mountains, consult Edwin Bernbaum’s Sacred Mountains of the World.  

Categories: Sacred Mountains, american indian, preservation

Mount Taylor Wins Reprive

Posted June 9, 2009 By Nancy

As reported in the New Mexico Independent, Mount Taylor in New Mexico has been granted temporary Cultural Property Status. This came after being listed as a National Trust Most Endangered Places. We hope that the site gains permanent status and is protected from mining and recreational development projects. Mount Taylor was listed on the National Trust Most Endangered List because of its significance to the Acoma who call the sacred mountain, Kaweshtima.The mountain, in addition, is considered sacred to more than 30 American Indian Nations.

The Navajo call the mountain, Tsoodzil; it as part of their creation story as one of four sacred mountains created by First Man and First Woman. It is the sacred mountain marking the southern direction. Navajo singers traditionally went to the mountain to gather medicinal herbs used in healing ceremonies.The mountain has been abused over time as it was exploited for uranium, a pursuit legal because oil, gas, mining leases are allowed regardless of a site’s cultural or spiritual significance to native people. It is sadly ironic that a place of healing is now contaminated.In addition to mining, the people of Grants, New Mexico, approved the building of a female penitentiary, which sits on a place of healing, happiness and well-being to native people. Now, with preliminary preservation status, native people must be consulted before leases are granted for the desecration of their holy mountain. We hope the mountain will be granted permanent preservation status.

Categories: Mount Taylor, american indian, preservation