Intercontinental Anti- 2010 Olympics Movement Launched In Sonora Mexico
For Immediate Release October 22, 2007
Vancouver
Indigenous representatives attending an Intercontinental Indigenous
Gathering in Vicam, Sonora, Mexico have called for a boycott of the 2010
Olympic Games. The meeting, which was attended by over 1500 delegates
and observers representing nations from the US, Canada, Mexico, Central
America and South America, began on October 11th and ended on October
14th. With many Canadian delegates returning home this week, a central
theme of the event the anti-2010 Olympics movement, is catching national
attention.
Delegates agreed that the 2010 Games, to be held in Vancouver BC, will
have a negative impact on Indigenous people¹s lands and lives. Reading
from the proposed resolutions delivered at the gathering, Gord Hill, a
Kwakwaka¹wakw delegate, stated that “Olympic related mega development on
Indigenous lands have already disrupted hunting and fishing grounds and
destroyed sacred sites”. The resolutions also drew attention to the
death of esteemed Elder Harriet Nahanee who died after she was
imprisoned for protesting the expansion of the Sea to Sky highway. In
the final statement, adopted resolution
number two states “We reject the 2010 Winter Olympics on sacred and
stolen territory of Turtle Island – Vancouver, Canada. Angela Sterritt,
Gitxsan participant, said “Not only are the 2010 Games destructive to
the environment, but they will accelerate an already present oppression
and violence against Indigenous women “.
The gathering, held on Yaqui territory, had been called by the Zapatista
National Liberation Army (EZLN), of Chiapas, Mexico. Indigenous
delegates representing Northern Turtle Island, also known as Canada,
agreed that defense and protection of the land and unity were key to
their effort towards selfdetermination and freedom. Activities leading
up to and during 2010 in Vancouver mark a great threat to Indigenous
people and to these goals.
Given the Olympic massacre of over 300 students in Mexico in 1968 and
the oppression of Indigenous people already taking place in Vancouver,
Indigenous peoples in Vicam agreed that stopping the 2010 Olympics is
imperative. Hundreds if not thousands of Indigenous people now plan to
attend the Olympic Games, not in celebration, but in opposition to the
danger the Olympics poses to Indigenous lands, identity, culture,
health, livelihoods, and to future generations.
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