Tohono O'odham Ofelia Rivas: In Defense of Territories Honduras Conference

Tohono O'odham Ofelia Rivas addresses the National Meeting of Peoples and Communities in Defense of their Territory in Honduras, with testimony from the regions of Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Bogota, Los Angeles and Madrid.

Article by Brenda Norrell
Statement by Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham
Spanish Translation by Alejandro Aguilar
Censored News

Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham, joined Indigenous from throughout the Americas defending their lands from corporations and governments on Friday and Saturday, via web in Honduras, at the .

During Ofelia's testimony, she described how invaders are stealing O'odham land south of the Arizona border. In the United States, the surveillance towers of Israel's Elbit Systems now stalk O'odham on their homeland.

"In the reality, Indigenous ways of life have long been compromised through forced relocation and immigration caused by governments and corporations taking over land.

"In moving towards a sustainable healthy community all Indigenous peoples must uphold their sacred ceremonies and original foods and languages. The world has continually been altered, but the natural world remains the same. Indigenous people, the original are apart of the natural world. All Indigenous people stand strong, the natural world is our ally and it is our obligation to do whatever we can to continue to support it.

"Much respect to all the land defenders and water defenders that gave their lives. I personally was imprisoned at Tapachula, Mexico immigration prison for my actions in defense of the people and land."

Read Ofelia's full testimony for Day 1 and Day 2 in English and Spanish at Censored News.
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2021/10/tohono-oodham-ofelia-rivas-speaks-in.html