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Buy Nothing Day Action Links Indigenous Cultural Survival & Environmental Justice

by IPOC (Shellmoundwalk [at] yahoo.com)
On the day after Thanksgiving, one of the busiest days in the American
retail calendar and the unofficial start of the international
Christmas-shopping season, Indian People Organizing for Change
(IPOC), invites all to the 5th Annual Buy Nothing Day Demonstration.

The site for the demonstration is the Bay Street Mall in Emeryville, CA,
which was recently built atop the Emeryville Shellmound despite protests
and strong objections from IPOC and supporters.
buynothing.jpg
Indian People Organizing for Change(IPOC), Announces a Call To Action for
5th Annual Buy Nothing Day In Support of Indigenous Cultural Survival and
Environmental Justice.

The earth, sacred sites, and ancestors are sacred, consumerism
and money are not!

When: November 24th 12:00PM - 4:00PM
Where: Bay Street Mall Emeryville Shellmound

On the day after Thanksgiving, one of the busiest days in the American
retail calendar and the unofficial start of the international
Christmas-shopping season, Indian People Organizing for Change
(IPOC), invites all to the 5th Annual Buy Nothing Day Demonstration.

The site for the demonstration is the Bay Street Mall in Emeryville, CA,
which was recently built atop the Emeryville Shellmound despite protests
and strong objections from IPOC and supporters. The shell mound was once
60 feet high and up to 600+ feet in diameter; it is older than
the pyramids in Egypt and formerly held at least four historical levels
of burial sites.

"Today these sites are threatened by developments that have no
respect for our way of life, and our spirituality, and our natural way of
life. We must continue to stand up for our beliefs. The spirit of the past
will rise to claim the future, that's what we are doing today" states
Jimbo
Simmons of the San Francisco based International Indian Treaty
Council.

Concerned citizens will come together at the Bay Street Mall, which has
been dubbed, "Dead Street Mall" to expose the environmental and ethical
consequences of over-consumption and bring attention to the ongoing
struggle for environmental justice and protection of Sacred Shellmounds
throughout the Bay Area and sacred sites everywhere from further desecration.

Ohlone activist and organizer Corrina Gould state,"We do this
the day after 'Unthanksgiving' even though the Shellmound, the land, has
been desecrated by this strip mall. We give out educational material
because it's a cemetery and ask people not to shop at the mall." "We will
give out educational material because this is a cemetery.

We will meet together to remember our ancestors and to educate shoppers
about the 3500 year old Ohlone burial site that was desecrated for
consumers shopping enjoyment.

We envision moving away from a culture of rampant consumerism and to a
culture of protecting sacred sites all over the world that are now in
danger from being desecrated such as what the Bay Street Mall has
done to Emeryville Shellmound.

Buy Nothing Day isn't just about changing your habits for one day.
It's about starting a lasting lifestyle commitment to consuming less and
producing less waste. Consumerism is desecrating the earth and its
resources. Thousands of activists and concerned citizens everywhere
will take a 24-hour consumer detox as part of the 14th annual Buy
Nothing Day, a global phenomenon.

IPOC has called this action to draw attention to the desecration and bring
justice to the sacred Shellmounds. A "die in" has been proposed to
signify has called this action to draw attention to the desecration and
bring justice to the sacred shell mounds. A "die in" has been proposed to
signify the grave sites that lay beneath the "dead Street Mall".


Contact Indian People Organizing for Change
to pick up fliers and to get involved!

Shellmoundwalk [at] yahoo.com
Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
Some 300 bodies were reburied in an unmarked grave on the mall site.
About 100 were taken from what later became the parking lot behind a
Victoria's Secret store.

It's estimated that hundreds more lie beneath the center's concrete
floor. Nobody knows how many remains were scooped up and taken to
landfills or incinerated during the toxic cleanup. Chuck Striplen, an
Ohlone descendant and archaeologist who worked on the excavation,
estimates dozens.

No sign exists to indicate the Emeryville spot was and remains a
burial site. But the workers saw everything.

The Earth and her inhabitants cant take this mentality anymore! Speak Out! Act Now! Justice Now!
by Just wondering
This is a brand new mall. Why wasn't action taken BEFORE it was built?
by that's what i'd say
i heard about it on kpfa a year or two ago
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Buy Nothing Day Action 4 Sacred Sites Protection: Reportback, Invite, &
Challenge!

The day after 'Unthanksgiving' and one of the busiest days in
the American retail calendar -- around 100 or so people gathered at
the Bay Street Mall in Emeryville for the 5th Annual Buy Nothing Day
Demonstration called by Indian People Organizing for Change (IPOC).

With colorful flags, song, heartfelt statements, prayer, and
literature, we demonstrated at the busy intersection of Shellmound
Drive and Ohlone Way. After a couple hours, we then marched together
in the hustle and bustle throughout the mall (against police orders
not to leave our designated protest area!) to expose the environmental
and ethical consequences of over-consumption and to bring attention to
the ongoing struggle for environmental justice and protection of
sacred shellmounds throughout the Bay Area -- and sacred sites
everywhere -- from further desecration.

The Bay Street Mall, which has been dubbed the "Dead Street Mall," was
recently built atop the Emeryville Shellmound, despite protests and
strong objections from IPOC and supporters. A sacred burial site, this
shellmound was once 60 feet high and up to 600 feet in diameter. It is
older than the pyramids in Egypt and held at least four historical
levels of burial sites.

Many do not know that there is a growing movement of people unified
around efforts to demand environmental justice and to raise awareness
about sacred sites -- of which there are many in the Bay Area and
throughout the continent.

Indigenous resistance campaigns to protect sacred sites across North
America and around the world are growing more powerful, more organized
and focused, and are quickly becoming more collaborative. Native
peoples have been and are joining with each other regionally and
globally, as well as with attuned non-native groups. The call is out!

Victory in reclaiming the earth will require a broad movement that can
help bridge cultures, issues, and nations. Indigenous peoples need
allies from the outside -- not leadership, but supporters and
collaborators, especially from the environmental, women's, and global
justice movements, human rights advocates, and many others.

Most of the strength at Friday's protest came from the Bay Area Native
American communities' efforts to protect sacred sites. As with the
Save the Peaks events in San Francisco this past September, I was
saddened not to see more non-native Bay Area activists out in a show
of support -- particularly members of groups whose mission is closely
aligned with the struggle to save sacred sites or having to do with
environmental justice, confronting environmental racism, and demanding
corporate responsibility, to name a few.

There are roughly 350 million indigenous people in 5,000 distinct
societies on the planet. A recent study found that the world's last
remaining resources and pristine areas are on indigenous lands. Now this
global corporate, eurocentric model is targeting these communities for
the last dregs of resorces. Indigenous people's are on the front
lines!

Whatever our movements can do to further the indigenous cause -- in
its many struggles and forms -- also furthers our own, and our
children's. Often, it is indigenous peoples who embody a vision which
is vastly different from the dominant dominant, corporate, eurocentric
worldview. The progress and success of these campaigns as defined by the
First Nations require active participation and support from allies. The
campaigns to protect sacred sites are being determined by indigenous
peoples, on their own terms. I challenge you to support
these important movements. It is more critical than ever to bring
environmental justice by protect sacred sites and defending human rights
and indigenous culture by attending events, visiting websites,
volunteering, responding to requests, and talking in your own groups about
how we can link our efforts.

Thank you.
In solidarity,
~dixie
dixieb [at] riseup.net

PS. Pictures from various photographers of the Buy Nothing Day Everyday at Dead St. Mall Action will be posted onto http://www.indybay.org soon!
by dirty_mermaid
Why dont you fond out more of the history before you make ignorant comments


KPFA's show Terre Verde interviews activists in the streets who are are at
Buy Nothing Day actions thoughout the Bay Area. Ohlone activist Corrina
Gould with Indian People Organizing for Change breaks it down listeners
about the struggle for protecting shellmounds and tells us about the Buy
Nothing Day demonstration at Bay St. Mall, which is a sacred shellmound
burial site. She tells us what the site was like before colonization and
how there are more sites still in need of protection:
15 minutes into the show:
http://www.kpfa.org/cgi-bin/gen-mpegurl.m3u?server=aud1.kpfa.org&port=80&file=dummy.m3u&mount=/data/20061124-Fri1300.mp3

KPFA's show called Living Room has audio interviews with activists in the
streets on Buy Nothing Day. Here's Wounded Knee discussing Sacred Sites
from the Buy Nothing Day demonstration at the desecrated sacred Shellmound
site and burial ground which is now Bay St. Mall in Emeryville, CA.

35 minutes into the show:
http://www.kpfa.org/cgi-bin/gen-mpegurl.m3u?server=aud1.kpfa.org&port=80&file=dummy.m3u&mount=/data/20061124-Fri1200.mp3
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