The Denver Caravan to Black Mesa Needs Your Help!
chatnoir
by Jason Bosch on Nov.16, 2009, under Blog
The Denver Caravan to Black Mesa Needs Your Help!
From November 21-28th, the Denver Caravan to Black Mesa is excited to
join crews from across the country to support the indigenous
residents
of the Big Mountain regions of Black Mesa. Members of both the Hopi
and Dineh tribes consider Black Mesa to be sacred land. On behalf of
the people, their ancestral lands and future generations, communities
on Black Mesa continue to resist efforts to destroy their land in the
name of coal. For 30 years, Peabody Coal has strip-mined the lands of
Black Mesa, representing the largest coal slurry and strip mining
project in the U.S.
We will be bringing food, supplies, tools and people to the Big
Mountain region of Black Mesa to help the families prepare for the
winter. Unfortunately, two of the most crucial vehicles we are
planning on using for the caravan have broken down this week. We are
in need of auto repair and/or a truck that can haul a trailer AND a
vehicle that can seat seven people. We are leaving Friday, November
20th so this is very urgent. We do have use of a 501(c)3 tax
deductible non-profit status although it is preferred to only use it
if we have to. We are also looking for the following items:
•Chainsaws!!
•Experienced or practiced chainsaw operators.
•Chainsaw files and bar/chain oil.
•Axe and Maul HANDLES. Wood is preferable over fiberglass.
•Axes and mauls.
•Lap-tops.
•Wood, if local.
•Hay.
•Building materials: Lumber, fencing, roofing materials, tar paper,
nails, screws, boxes of screws, nails, & chalking, rolls of barbed
wire,fence posts, leather gloves, etc.
•Funds or sponsorships for building materials.
•Vehicles to donate to families or to use during the caravan only.
Vehicles that are able to drive on rough terrain. Trucks are the best
but not necessary.
•Trucks to use during the week of the caravan.
•Tools of all kinds: Shovels, hoes, rakes, hammers, hand saws, hand
shears, picks, mattocks, posthole diggers, and extra tool handles.
•Portable generators.
•Work gloves.
•Portable stove / propane tanks, large pots to use during the
caravan.
•Food. Especially organic grains such as brown rice and oats, beans,
blue corn, squash, cornmeal, flour, eggs, canned food and healthy
meals that require little preparation.
•Organic coffee and tea.
•Water barrels, fittings, pumps.
•Solar panels, generators, wind turbines.
•Anyone who is self sufficient, has an open heart, and with a
willingness to work! And anyone who is skilled in carpentry,
permaculture, vehicular repairs, bodyworkers, electrical, etc. please
notifiy coordinators. Consider driving your vehicle, we are short of
vehicles heading to the caravan.
•Medicinal herbs. (Teas, dried herbs, fresh extracts, liniments, and
salves for stress, colds & flus, digestion, arthritis, diabetes,
altitude sickness, back-aches.)
•Blankets.
•Educational books for both youth and adults.
•solar parts (batteries)
•Donate money for the caravan to happen.
•Money for supporting the local arts and crafts made by families.
•Food stamps to purcahse food to take down, gas cards, etc…
We understand that money is short for many of us at this time but if
you can afford donate money it is greatly needed. We will need to
cover the cost of the caravan (gas, some food) and all money donated
beyond those costs will go to Black Mesa Indigenous Support and the
families on Big Mountain. Even five or ten dollars gets us much
closer to our goal.
The toxic effects of coal and colonialism effect all life and we ask
you to consider offering whatever assistance is within your means and
to support indigenous resistance to forced relocation and the
nightmare of coal mining.
please go to www.blackmesais.org for more about the history and
current news on Big Mountain and other ways to get involved.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,
The Denver Caravan to Black Mesa, Fall 2009
Meeting for the Fall 2009 caravan from Denver to Big Mountain
Black Mesa
Tuesday, November 17 5:00 PM
Green Spaces
2590 Walnut Street
Denver, CO 80205
Everyone is invited to our final public meeting before we leaving on
Friday, November 20th to bring food, supplies and a work party to the
Big Mountain region of Black Mesa. We will be discussing our final
logistics and making a plan to be ready to leave by the crack of dawn
on Friday. We are still in need of a truck (or mechanics to fix the
one we have) to carry all of us and our supplies to Big Mountain.
Everyone is invited but we ask if you want to attend the caravan,
this
is your first meeting and/or are unfamiliar with the long struggle
against relocation that you first thoroughly research the history as
well as read the Cultural Sensitivity and Preparedness Guide at