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#NativeAmericans Hold #NationalDayOfMourning on #Thanksgiving

"'Thanksgiving' is a white-washed holiday designed to conceal its true origins of violence, #genocide, #LandTheft, and #ForcedAssimilation," - #IndigenousEnvironmentalNetwork.

Jessica Corbett
Nov 28, 2024

"In contrast with Thanksgiving celebrations across the United States on Thursday, Native Americans held a National Day of Mourning, promoted accurate history, and championed Indigenous voices and struggles.

"Despite rainy conditions, the United American Indians of New England held its 55th annual National Day of Mourning at Cole's Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Kisha James, who is an enrolled member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and also Oglala Lakota, shared how her grandfather founded the event in 1970 and pledged to continue to "tear down the Thanksgiving mythology."

"The past influences the present" and "the settler project" continues with racism, misogyny, and anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, James told the crowd. "The Pilgrims are not ancient history."

"James took aim at fossil fuel pipelines, oil rigs, skyscrapers, corporations, the U.S. military, mass incarceration, and the criminalization of immigrants, and declared that "no one is illegal on stolen on land."

"Jean-Luc Pierite, a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana and president of the board of directors of the North American Indian Center of Boston who helped organize this year's gathering, told USA Today that "while we are mourning some tragic history but also contemporary issues, we are also expressing gratitude for each [other] and building this community space."

"Coming together as a community for a feast and to express gratitude—that's not something that was imported to this continent because of colonization," Pierite said. "Indigenous peoples have had these practices going back beyond, beyond colonial contact."

This year's event in Plymouth included speeches about the suffering of Palestinians—as Israel wages a U.S. government-backed war on the Gaza Strip that has killed at least 44,330 people, injured 104,933, and led to a genocide case at the International Court of Justice—and of people impacted by extractive industries.

"The message from Indigenous peoples internationally has been consistent: that we need to center the development of traditional ecological knowledge, Indigenous knowledge, and move away from fossil fuel extractive economies," said Pierite. "At this time the world needs Indigenous peoples."

https://www.commondreams.org/news/native-americans-hold-national-day-of-mourning-on-thanksgiving

#FreePalestine #FreeLeonardPeltier #SettlerColonialism #FreePalestine #FreeGaza #WestBank #ClimateJustice #DayOfMourning #NoDAPL #LandBack #DefendTheSacred
#IndigenousClimateActivists #MMIWG
#TwoSpirits #NoPipelines
#LeaveItInTheGround
#ExtractiveMining
#NoMiningWithoutConsent
#WaterIsLife #HumanRightsAreNeverWrong #ExtractiveIndustries.
#TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge, #IndigenousKnowledge #PostFossilFuels
#LoveYourMotherEarth #ResistWhiteSupremacy
#CorporateColonialism #Capitalism

How you can still support the 2024 #NationalDayOfMourning even if you can’t come to #Plymouth

If you are unable to participate directly in the National Day of Mourning in Plymouth, MA, here are seven ways you can stand in solidarity with United American Indians of New England (UAINE) and the National Day of Mourning.

1. Watch the National Day of Mourning livestream from Plymouth beginning at 12 noon on November 28.

2. Help to spread the word about National Day of Mourning on social media. Would you rather support National Day of Mourning in Plymouth than engage in a celebration of white supremacy, the theft of a continent and the genocide of Indigenous peoples? Say why on your Facebook page, Twitter or Instagram account.

3. Donate! You can donate to UAINE here:
https://chuffed.org/project/116129-united-american-indians-of-new-
england-uaine-fundraiser

While we are grateful for your donations to UAINE, this year we want to urge everyone to make donations to
organizations that are currently able to have a direct impact on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Here are a few that have been recommended: Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, ANERA, Middle East Children’s Alliance, 1for3.org, Gaza Mental Health Foundation, MSF, Crips for E-sims, CareforGaza.

4. Use Thanksgiving Day as a ‘teachable moment’ and educate family and friends. If you gather for a Thanksgiving meal, read aloud to your friends and family about the real history of Thanksgiving and National Day of Mourning before you sit down to eat. Matthew Hughey’s “On Thanksgiving: Why Myths Matter” is one possible text that is just about the right length for a pre-meal reading. You can also read the suppressed speech of Wamsutta Frank James, the founder of National Day of Mourning, and check out the UAINE website. You can watch the livestream from Plymouth. If you or your family members are hungry for more truth-telling, you can recommend books for further reading such as Our
History Is The Future by Nick Estes, An Indigenous Peoples History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen, A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, and David Stannard’s American Holocaust: Columbus and the Conquest of the New World.

5. Spread the truth and give the “hidden” story of Thanksgiving a human face by arranging for a member of UAINE to give a talk at a school, church or community center near you. Email info@uaine.org for more information.

6. Help to champion Indigenous voices by supporting other Indigenous struggles. You can work to free the Native American activist Leonard Peltier freeleonardpeltiernow.org, who has been a political prisoner for 50 years. You can join the fight against racist and demeaning Native sports team mascots, name brands and products. You can support the fight to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day on the 2nd Monday in October. You can amplify Indigenous voices in raising awareness about Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit and Relatives. Check out the UAINE Facebook group and many other social media outlets for information about what is happening in your area and what you can do to help. Express your solidarity, and urge others in your community (trade union, social justice
organization, religious community, etc.) to help, too!

7. Support Indigenous climate activists and landback efforts. Indigenous people are on the frontlines defending the water and land from pipelines, fracking, mining and much more. Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas are fighting to stop fossil fuel extraction, megadams and mining and to preserve land, water and treaty rights. Support Indigenous-led climate justice organizations!

http://www.uaine.org/2024_ndom/How%20to%20support%20NDOM%202024.pdf

Livestream link: https://www.youtube.com/live/pdpBNKI31TA

#PlymouthMassachusetts #FreePalestine #FreeLeonardPeltier #FreeGaza #WestBank #ClimateJustice #DayOfMourning #NoDAPL #LandBack #DefendTheSacred #IndigenousClimateActivists #MMIWG #TwoSpirit #NoPipelines #LeaveItInTheGround #ExtractiveMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #WaterIsLife #HumanRightsAreNeverWrong #LoveYourMotherEarth #ResistWhiteSupremacy #CorporateColonialism #Capitalism

Federal Judge #DianeHumetewa, #Hopi, is First to Halt Interior Sec. #DebHaaland's #Lithium Drilling Permits in #Native #Ceremonial Places

By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Sept. 18, 2024

"Federal Judge Diane Humetewa, Hopi, is the first federal judge to halt the lithium permits being given out by Interior Sec. Deb Haaland. Humetewa granted a temporary restraining order halting an Australian company's lithium drilling at #Hualapai's Sacred Spring.

"Now, U.S. District Judge Humetewa will rule on whether to make it permanent. Humetewa is the first to ask attorneys to submit arguments concerning the federal laws that protect historic and archaeological sites and the environment.

"Judge Humetewa gave lawyers on both sides until next Tuesday to summarize their arguments and more specifically respond to questions she asked about the government’s compliance with the #NationalHistoricPreservationAct and the #NationalEnvironmentalPolicyAct.

"#Biden's Justice Dept attorneys joined the drillers in court to argue for the drilling to proceed. And the #NavajoTransitionalEnergyCompany, a tribal enterprise in Farmington, NM, plans to do the drilling. CEO #VernLund has joined the board of the Australian-owned company #Hawkstone / #ArizonaLithium of Perth, Australia.

"In a separate case, the #TohonoOodham and #SanCarlosApache have filed a lawsuit against Interior Sec. Haaland for the bulldozers now destroying ancient village sites, #burial places and #MedicineGrounds in southern #Arizona. A Tucson federal judge refused to halt the destruction by the #SunZia Transmission Lines, for a wind energy project that plans to take electricity from New Mexico to California. The wind energy company, #PattenEnergy, is owned by the #CanadianPensionFund.

"The lithium drilling continues at the #Paiute Massacre Site in northern Nevada by the Canadian-owned #LithiumAmericas / #LithiumNevada. #Paiute and #Shoshone elderly and mothers have been charged in a court case for defending the grounds where their ancestors remain. #Haaland said she supports the #LithiumMining.

"#ApacheStronghold filed a case before the U.S. #SupremeCourt [#SCOTUS] this week, to halt the planned destruction of their ceremonial place, #OakFlat in Arizona, targeted for a massive copper mine by Australia's #RioTinto and #BHP, and pushed by the Biden administration. Rio Tinto already blew up 46,000 years of sacred #Aboriginal teachings in caves in #Australia. Rio Tinto was forced to admit widespread sexual attacks in its mines, with the highest number in Australia and #SouthAfrica."

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/09/federal-judge-humetewa-hopi-is-first-to.html

#DefendTheSacred #ReaderSupportedNews #NoMiningWithoutConsent #NoLithiumMining #EnvironmentalRacism #environment #Greenwashing #EVs #WaterIsLife #NoLithiumMiningWithoutConsent #HumanRights #WaterIsLife #HumanRightsDefenders #IndigenousActivists #CorporateColonialism #SaveOakFlat
#CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #ExtractiveMining

#GreenColonialism, Rights of Women and Languages: Priorities of #Indigenous in Reports for #UnitedNations

by #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
April 27, 2024

NEW YORK -- "#FakeGreen projects, the removal of children from their homes, loss of languages, rise of hate speech, and war were among the top concerns cited in the reports by the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues as it closed its ten-day session on April 26, 2024.

"The rights of women, the need to protect endangered languages and redress for victims of boarding and residential schools were also priorities in the Permanent Forum's reports prepared for the U.N. Economic and Social Council.

"Some of their concerns:

- #Inuit: Children Removed, Women Victims of Doctors

- Green Colonialism: Immediate Moratorium

- Loss of languages

- Rights of Women

The following are topics, "prepared by Censored News, from the draft documents prepared by the Permanent Forum for the U.N. Economic and Social Council." For full text of the draft documents, visit the link below.

- Increasing Violence and #HateSpeech Toward #IndigenousPeoples

- Free, Prior and Informed Consent

- War and Displacement

- #CrimeanTartar in Ukraine

- Central and #SouthAmerica and #Caribbean: Hate Speech

- #Australia: Harsh Incarceration and Suicides of Youths

- #NewZealand: Harsh Measures Against #Maori

- #US and #Canada #Line5

- Rights of #RapaNui People and #Kanuk

- #Honduras and #Indonesia

- #WestPapua

- #Bolivia

- #Pacific: Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls

- #Sami

- #Africa

- #BoardingSchools and #ResidentialSchools

- The Protection of Indigenous #Women and #Girls

- Indigenous young people

- Right to Remain in #Isolation

- #CriticalMinerals

- Protection of #Languages

- #IntellectualPropertyRights

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/04/green-colonialism-rights-of-women-and.html

#NoLithiumMiningWithoutConsent #LithiumMining #CobaltMining #IndigenousPeoples #HumanRights #WaterIsLife #HumanRightsDefenders #IndigenousActivists #NoPipelines #NoDAPL #CorporateColonialism #RioTinto #SaveOakFlat #Genocide #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #ExtractiveMining #TraditionalLanguage #IndigenousLanguages #TraditionalKnowledge

#Activists Who Sacrificed Their Lives To Save The #AmazonRainforest

by Jana Gregorio
July 31 2020

"According to reports, on average, one activist has been killed in #Brazil every week since 2002. Most of the killings happened in remote areas of the Amazon.

"#ChicoMendes was a labor leader and activist who fought against the #deforestation of the #AmazonRainforest. In 1988, Mendes was shot and killed in front of his house by a cattle rancher named Darcy Alves.

"#NazildoDosSantosBrito was an anti-#PalmOil campaigner. In 2018, Brito was shot and killed, but none of his possessions were missing. Rights groups say he was killed due to his activism in the Amazon.

"Maxciel Pereira dos Santos was a defender of Brazil’s Indigenous people. In 2019, he was killed execution-style in front of his family members.

"For decades, the Amazon Rainforest has been the target of #CattleRanchers, #farmers, #loggers, and #miners who seek to take the forest’s land and natural resources. Over the past 50 years, about 17% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed."

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/10-people-who-died-to-save-the-amazon.html

#DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #ExtractiveMining #IndigenistasAssociados #EnvironmentalRacism #IndigenousPeople #IndigenousActivists #EarthDefenders #SouthAmerica #LatinAmerica

#Mining company hunts for precious #minerals under #Aberdeenshire #farms

By John Sleigh
9th September 2022

"A North East mining company is searching for cobalt, nickel and copper under Aberdeenshire farmland.

“Starting this weekend, Aberdeen Minerals will be flying a helicopter in the area between Maud in the north down to Belhelvie in the south and from the coast to Insch in the west. Using a machine which produces an electronic pulse, the helicopter will produce data to map the geology of the area with the daily flights taking a month to complete the 3700km survey. The aircraft will travel in strips at 200metre intervals at a height of 100m off the ground, moving at the relatively slow speed of 50mph in a bid to discover the precious minerals.

“The project is being led by a group of #investors who set up a company in 2018 after working in mineral exploration across the globe. They picked Aberdeenshire as previous surveys have suggested that there are deposits of #cobalt, #nickel and #copper. The minerals are in high demand for making #LithiumBatteries which are increasingly important as the economy phases out #FossilFuels. The nickel price is currently sitting at around $21,000 per ton which has nearly doubled since March 2020.

“The focus on the search is around the #Arthath area which is 6km north of Ellon. Currently the company has agreements with around 20 farms for access and exploration. Most of the farms own their mineral rights – however in some cases the original owning estates have retained the rights [through #ManorialRights ], which has resulted in a three-party split on the agreement.

“CEO of Aberdeen Minerals, Fraser Gardiner, said: 'We are looking at where the demand will be in five to ten years and all the indications are that cobalt, nickel and copper will be needed and we don’t produce any in the UK. There was a lot of work done in the area in the 1970s and again in 2006 which all indicates there is deposits under the ground in Aberdeenshire. At the time when the original research was conducted the price environment was different and the technology was not as advanced so little was done to bring it to extraction.

“'But the mineral potential is there, it is even recognised by the local authority planning authority,' noted Mr Gardiner. 'The historic data and the research we have done since has been sufficient encouragement for our investors to progress with an aerial survey.'

“The particular type of rock which the company is searching for is gabbro – coarse-grained igneous rock, similar to granite. The rock type is common across the North East of Scotland but rare in the rest of the country and can hold copper, cobalt and nickel.

“Mr Gardiner explained: 'The rock often holds small but rich enough deposits of the precious minerals to make extraction financially viable. We are at a very early stage, as we don’t know where the deposits are and if they even exist.'

“Typically in other areas with similar geology, these types of deposits are 300 to 400 meters below the surface and in concentrations which suit underground mining. Some of the initial public reaction has been mixed to the prospect of mining, with many locals nervous about the enterprise. However, Mr Gardner is keen to stress that they are staying away entirely from an open cast mining system.

“If the helicopter survey indicates that cobalt, nickel and copper are in the ground then further agreements will be needed with some land owners for investigations to take place.

“Mr Fraser explained: 'If the helicopter survey shows further investigation is worthy then it would be between three and five years of work to get to a position where we needed to decide if a mine is to be developed. To put this into context, prospects like here have a one in 100 chance of coming to fruition. There are so many technical, economic and environmental factors at play. But having said that, all the indications so far make it worthy of further investigation.

“Currently all three minerals which are being searched for are imported to the #UK. However the UK Government publish a #Mineral Strategy which is encouraging more domestic production. At the moment the nearest copper mines to the UK are in #Spain, #Poland and #Scandinavia. Nickel and cobalt are also mined in Scandinavia. But globally the biggest producers of coppers are in #SouthAmerica, #cobalt from the #Congo and Nickel from #Russia and #Indonesia."

https://www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk/news/21222892.mining-company-hunts-precious-minerals-aberdeenshire-farms/

#AbolishTheMonarchy #ExtractiveMining #Scotland #environment

A proposed #lithium mine presents a #climate versus #environment conflict

By David Boraks
November 12, 2022

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - “As world leaders meet for another climate summit in Egypt, the U.S. is pushing to mine more lithium for electric vehicle batteries at home. #EVs will help cut pollution from transportation, the nation's largest source of #GreenhouseGas emissions that cause global warming. But there's a tradeoff, as residents have learned near #CharlotteNC, where a big #OpenPit mine is proposed.

“A company called #PiedmontLithium wants to build a mine and processing operation on 1,500 acres in northern Gaston County, about 30 miles west of Charlotte.

“Emily Winter, a community relations coordinator and geologist for Piedmont, leads the way to a large rock outcrop near what someday might be the mine's South Pit.

“'So within this rock, it contains spodumene, the mineral. And that mineral spodumene contains lithium that we can convert to lithium hydroxide that then goes into batteries,' Winter explains.

“Lithium deposits run through the county in a mile-wide north-south band, known as the Carolina #Tin-#Spodumene Belt. For decades in the 20th century, mines here supplied most of the world's lithium, until cheaper sources were found in #SouthAmerica and #Australia. Now the element is in high demand for electric vehicle #batteries, and #investors see an opportunity.

“'There is very little production of lithium raw materials, or any battery raw materials, in the US. The potential's there, but it'll take time to bring it online,' says Piedmont Lithium CEO Keith Phillips.

“When Piedmont Lithium dedicated its new headquarters in the nearby town of Belmont this summer, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis was there. The North Carolina Republican said the U.S. needs its own sources of lithium and lithium processing to counter #China.

“'The Chinese have a stated strategy of being the world's economic and military superpower by 2050. And they don't intend to do that through a great war. They intend to do it by putting their tentacles around the globe, economically,' Tillis said. 'They intend to make sure that the western world is dependent upon them for lithium, for tantalum, for #RareEarthMinerals, so that they can literally beat us by never firing a shot.'

“Tillis said that's why he supports Piedmont Lithium's efforts to open a new mine - as long as it's done in an #EnvironmentallyResponsible way. But that's the catch.

“Piedmont's plans call for four open-pit mines 500 feet deep. That means demolishing houses, digging up #farm #fields and #woods, and disrupting #streams. Some neighbors have sold their land to the company. But others whose property borders the site aren't happy.

“Locke Bell owns 120 acres backing up to the planned South Pit. 'Relative to the proposed mine, I have 4,160 feet of common boundary,' he says.

“Bell is a former district attorney and has been following Piedmont's plans since 2017, when the company approached him about mining on his land. He declined the offer after seeing a detailed map of the proposed mine.

“'Suddenly, I saw these massive mines - open pits... We have enough of that around here that's #toxic already,'' he says.

“He's talking about old lithium mines nearby that closed in the 1980s and 1990s and are now contaminated with arsenic, which occurs naturally in the area's soil and rocks.

“A few miles away on the other side of the mine site, Warren Snowdon has similar concerns. His family's old farm is just across a stream, about 600 yards, from the planned #EastPit. He's helping to lead an opposition group called #StopPiedmontLithium.

“'Our issue is on every front: It's water. It's air. It's light pollution. It's noise. It's traffic. Get us a solar farm. Get us a wind farm,' says Snowdon, who is quick to say he's not opposed to the country's transition to #renewable energy.

“State and local officials still must approve the mine

“Piedmont Lithium still needs key approvals, including state air and mining permits. Both are delayed while the company responds to requests for more information from North Carolina agencies. Piedmont also faces local political opposition.

“Chad Brown chairs the Gaston County Commission, which will have to approve a rezoning for the mine.

“'With the information I have right now, I probably would not call for a vote on this,' Brown says. 'I would have to have tons of more information just for the environmental side, and as far as #AirQuality, #WaterQuality, different things like that.'

“Last year, the commission adopted a 60-day moratorium so it could update its zoning rules to allow a mine. The ordinance has some teeth - it limits blasting and truck traffic, Brown says. But he's not sure Piedmont will be able to get the electricity and water it needs for mining and processing.

“Asked if he thinks the mining project will happen, he says, 'I think right now, you're still at 50-50, just for the simple fact of it's a long way out.'

“Still, Piedmont Lithium's CEO Keith Phillips is optimistic.

“'So the permitting process is more involved, and it will take longer. And our plan, our hope, is that we'll be in production in Carolina in 2026, and will be fully permitted and approved and funded sometime in 2024,' he says.

“While it pursues that goal, the company has a backup plan: It's building a processing plant in #Tennessee with help from a $141.7 million federal grant. And it's counting on mines in #Quebec and #Ghana to supply lithium ore.

“Piedmont's North Carolina neighbors are rooting for that backup plan instead of the open-pit lithium mine in their community."

https://www.npr.org/2022/11/12/1131365516/a-proposed-lithium-mine-presents-a-climate-versus-environment-conflict

#ExtractiveMining #WaterIsLife

Will #ClimateBill lead to more #mining in #Virginia?

Four of the five 'critical minerals' for electric vehicle #EV batteries have been mined in the state in the past. Will their economics now change?

by Dwayne Yancey August 18, 2022

"The key to electric vehicle #batteries are five so-called 'critical minerals' – #lithium, #nickel, #cobalt, #manganese and #graphite. Four of these five minerals have been mined in Virginia in the past; the fifth (lithium) is suspected in Virginia but has yet to be proven. Will increased demand for these minerals make these deposits economically viable again?

"To some extent, this is unknowable because we don’t know what that demand – and those future prices – will be. In theory, if a single fleck of something is worth a billion dollars, then some company could spend a half billion to dig it out and still make a fortune. We also don’t know whether mining for these minerals will be allowed in Virginia. There’s a large deposit of #uranium in Virginia that’s never been mined and probably won’t be.

"In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court #SCOTUS upheld Virginia’s moratorium on #UraniumMining. There’s a #gold vein in Virginia, too, that’s been mined in the past. There’s also a state study underway over whether to allow or ban gold mining in the future. Even just the potential of gold mining has stirred controversy in Buckingham County. All the minerals we’ll deal with today occur outside the traditional coal-mining country of Southwest Virginia, so who knows what the state or local reaction will be if and when someone proposes to open a mine somewhere else?

"So let’s look at what we do know.

"Electric vehicles may be #EnvironmentallyFriendly in the sense that they’re not spewing #carbon into the atmosphere, but they do require six times more #minerals than conventional vehicles, according to the International Energy Administration – so a lot more #mining will be needed to support electric vehicles than the ones we have now. Mining is generally not considered an environmentally friendly thing to do so here’s a classic trade-off: A green-friendly climate bill is actually going to promote more mining somewhere, if not in the #UnitedStates then somewhere on the planet."

https://cardinalnews.org/2022/08/18/will-climate-bill-lead-to-more-mining-in-virginia/

#ExtractiveMining #OpenPitMining #WaterIsLife #Greenwashing

North #Wales market town at centre of royal claim over '#ManorialRights' to its minerals

Residents of #Pwllheli receive letters saying Crown Estate wants to register ownership of the minerals beneath their homes

Dean Kirby
Thursday 04 February 2016

“It is over 600 years since Pwllheli in North Wales was given its charter by Edward, the Black Prince.

“But now the ancient market town is at the centre of a #Royal claim over the 'manorial rights' to the ground on which its foundations are built. Around 1,300 homeowners in Pwllheli and nearby Morfa Nefyn have been sent letters saying the Crown Estate wants to register ownership of mines and minerals beneath their houses.

“The estate, which manages sovereign land, says it has owned rights over the minerals for many centuries and is now having to register its ownership after protection over these rights was withdrawn under new land registration laws.

“But the letters sent out by the Land Registry notifying residents of the claim have sparked 'worry and alarm' according to the town’s MP, who says the Crown Estate’s bid mirrors the 'grasping, unprincipled landlordism' that has bedevilled Wales in the past.

“The row comes two years after residents in Anglesey and the Arfon area of Gwynedd pledged to challenge similar notices sent out on behalf of the Crown Estate claiming ownership over ancient rights to minerals and mining.

“Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, which includes Pwllheli, said: 'This has alarmed my constituents and has been the cause of great worry for local people

“'Staking claim to mining and mineral rights reeks of the 19th century, not the 21st century. There is no place for this kind of approach today.'

“Mike Parry, a town councillor in Pwllheli, said: 'These letters are worrying for people, especially the elderly, who are concerned about what will happen to their homes.'

“The Crown Estate is an independent commercial business, with a history dating back to 1066. It has been tasked by Parliament since 1760 with managing the sovereign’s land.

“Over the last 10 years it has returned a £2.3bn profit to the Treasury. Its portfolio includes Regent Street and much of St James’s in London – and the entire UK seabed.

“Homeowners in Pwllheli have been told they can challenge the claim, but must provide evidence that they are entitled to whatever minerals might lie beneath their homes.

“The minerals, if they exist at all, might include deposits of sand, rock or even quartz. But they would not include coal, oil, gas, silver or gold, which are covered by other legislation.

“A spokeswoman for the Crown Estate said: 'Along with many other landowners, the Crown Estate is in the process of registering historical mineral rights with the Land Registry.

“'These claims are not new and we would like to reassure local residents that the registration process is in no way an indication of our intent to begin mining, which in any event would require planning permission and the surface owner’s consent.'"

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/north-wales-market-town-at-centre-of-royal-claim-over-manorial-rights-to-its-minerals-a6852111.html

#AbolishTheMonarchy #ExtractiveMining #UK #MedievalLaws #LearnToBeASerf

#ChurchOfEngland claims #Mineral rights under North-East countryside

LANDOWNERS across the region are being notified of a Church of England bid to register ownership of mineral rights under their property.

By Joe Willis
14th August 2013

"The Land Registry has served notices on scores of owners following a change in the law that requires holders of mineral rights to register them by October this year - or risk losing them.

"Much of the land affected may once have been owned by the Church, which retained the mineral rights when the land was sold – in some cases centuries ago.

"It is understood the letters have come as a shock to some landowners who feared the Church may want to exercise their rights and begin #mining for minerals.

“However, Church of England bosses have stressed that the letters are just part of an administration exercise.

“A Church spokeswoman said: 'We are simply registering our mineral interests in land with the Land Registry requirements, as any responsible landowner is doing before the end of October deadline.

'“The Church Commissioners began a programme of registering all of their rural holdings following the introduction of the Land Registration Act 2002.

“'This does not create any new interests or rights and is confined to properly registering what the commissioners have in most cases owned for many years, and in some cases for centuries.'

“Barbara Smith, who farms near Toft Hill, County Durham, said the letter from the Land Registry had caused them concern.

“'It came out of the blue. We looked on the internet and spoke to other farmers in the area who had also received one.

“'In the end we took the decision just to ignore it.'

“James Copeland, environment and land use adviser for the NFU North-East, said it had provided advice to several members who were concerned after receiving letters.

“He added: 'If people are getting these letters and there is concern, the first thing is to check with your solicitor to ascertain who owns the mineral rights.'

“Owners can challenge an application if they think the Church’s claim is unfounded.

“The Church is not claiming rights to coal or petroleum, which were nationalised, nor gold and silver, which belong to the Crown.

“It also denied the registering of mineral rights was linked to the controversial extraction of gas and oil by fracking.“

https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/10612606.church-england-claims-mineral-rights-north-east-countryside/

#ManorialRights #ExtractiveMining #UK

#Mining Critical to #Renewable Energy Tied to Hundreds of Alleged #HumanRights Abuses

A report released Wednesday faults the #US and other nations for providing incentives for the mining of rare metals like #lithium and #cobalt without enacting adequate #labor and #environmental safeguards.

By Katie Surma
June 7, 2023

"Over the past dozen years, hundreds of alleged human rights abuses have been committed by over 90 #corporations mining minerals critical to the production of #CleanEnergy, a U.K.-based human rights organization said in a report released on Wednesday.

"The Business and Human Rights Resource Center said the alleged abuses involve global mining for #copper, lithium, cobalt, #manganese, #nickel and #zinc, all used in critical renewable technologies like #SolarPanels, vehicle (#EV) batteries and #windmills.

"The abuses, the report concluded, stem from the failure of the #UnitedStates and other nations to develop appropriate labor and environmental safeguards for resource extraction critical to the green energy transition, a key aim of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act.

"Beyond alleged incidents of assaults, child labor, arbitrary arrests and detentions, the report’s database of 510 alleged violations includes #environmental crimes involving the #pollution of drinking #water and other natural resources, and violations of communities’ rights to be consulted about projects that affect them."

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07062023/mining-clean-energy-human-rights/

#EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife #ExtractiveMining #LithiumMining #LaxRegulations #NoConsent #CorporateColonialism

#ExtractiveMining

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