Judge Hanen Orders Condemnation and Possession of Indigenous Lands; Tamez Family Continues Fight for Lands & Ancestral Sites

"I am captive in my own land," Eloisa Tamez tells audience of researchers, scholars and indigenous peoples at Western Social Sciences Association 51st Annual Conference, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 16, 2009.



Eloisa Tamez, at the Albuquerque Peace & Justice Center, hours after hearing the news that the U.S. (Obama Administration) will take possession of her lands, irregardless of numerous attempts by her, Margo Tamez, attorneys, and the Lipan Apache Women Defense support community to encourage peace settlements, peace negotiations, and dignity for human and indigenous peoples' rights.

Press Release: Eloisa Tamez’ Land condemned for Border Wall
April 16, 2009



Albuquerque, New Mexico--A federal judge in Brownsville, TX issued an order today granting the federal government's request to condemn the ancestral land of the Tamez Family, who are Lipan Apaches. Although this land has been in the Tamez family prior to the Spanish colonization, and also designated to them through Spanish Crown law (1767, as of today, it is in the possession of the United States Department of Homeland Security.

The landowner, Eloisa Tamez, heard about Judge Hanen’s order while participating in the Western Social Sciences Association Conference in Albuquerque, where she was participating in a Three part panel: "Indigenous People's and the U.S.-Mexico Border: Militarization, Resistance, and Rights." She is with a group of colleagues from several bi-national Indigenous Border communities and experts on militarization and the impact of the border wall.

The Tamez family reports that this is an urgent situation which needs international attention and wide press coverage.

Opportunities for press interviews will be held at the WSSA Conference location, at the Hyatt Regency in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 330 Tijeras NW, following the panel discussions below.

Panel II Friday April 17 8:00am-9:30am Sendero Room 1 “Militarization”
Panel III Friday April 17th 2:45pm-4:15pm Sendero Room 2 “Resistance”

Contacts:
Cynthia Bejarano 575-571-7359
April Cotte acotte@igc.org



BOLETIN DE PRENSA

16 de abril

Albuquerque, Nuevo Mexico, EEUU--Un juez federal de Estados Unidos envío ordenes para otorgarle libertad al gobierno federal en "condenar" las tierras ancestrales de la familia Tamez, ubicadas en el pueblo de El Calaboz a la orilla del Río Bravo, estado de Tejas. Aun sin embargo dicha tierra ha pertenecido a la Familia Tamez y los apache Lipan desde la época colonial pero a partir de hoy, se convierte en propiedad de Homeland Security en perpetuidad.

Eloisa Tamez e hija (Margo Tamez) son integrantes de una numerosa comunidad de indígenas binacionales e individuos o grupos expertos en asuntos migratorios y militarización quienes han sostenido una serie de medidas de resistencia y rechazo a las amenazas de Homeland Security desde agosto 2007. Aunado a ello se han organizado para elevar sus protestas a los tribunales federales, y al Presidente Obama quien mañana se reúne con el Presidente Felipe Calderón en la Ciudad de México.

El aviso oficial con fecha 18 de abril fue presentado por la Corte Distrital de Estados Unidos en Brownsville Texas. En términos legales le avisan a la Dr. Eloisa Tamez que el gobierno federal le decomisa el terreno de 0.25 acres para instalar, construir y operar caminos, cercos, barreras vehiculares, sistema de vigilancia y estructuras diseñadas en relación a la seguridad del muro entre Estados Unidos y México dentro del Estado de Tejas.

A partir del 25 de febrero de 2009, el gobierno federal sometió una moción para lograr posesión de dicha propiedad. La familia Tamez inmediatamente se negó a negociar pero por medio del documento de hoy, se busca ignorar dicha rebeldía.

Como resultado del programa federal por construir cercos o mayores barreras fronterizas a lo largo de la división territorial entre Estados Unidos y México, actualmente están en pie de lucha varias familias quienes se encuentran en la misma situación.

Lo extraordinario es que entre los grupos de familias y pueblos indígenas, también se encuentran empresas privadas quienes ya han resuelto la problemática de tener un muro vergonzoso en sus propiedades exclusivas y costosas. Como resultado de dichas negociaciones “privadas”, hoy se pueden apreciar una serie de “hoyos” o interrupciones oficiales en la secuencia del muro. Pero son amparados por el poder político de grupos multimillonarios como las familias Hunt y Moody, al igual que la Universidad de Texas en Brownsville y el campo de golf River Bend Resort.

Hasta la fecha la familia Tamez ha llevado sus quejas hasta los foros internacionales por medio de las Naciones Unidas, Foro Permanente de Asuntos Indígenas en su Séptima Sesión, Comisión Interamericana, OAS y Al-Jazeera, al igual que los medios europeos incluyendo numerosos diarios mexicanos como La Jornada, Reforma, El Universal, medios hispanos regionales y locales, etc.

Aun a pesar de ello se considera continuar insistiendo en la demanda de los grupos en rebeldía para obligar que el gobierno federal desista en condenar dichos terrenos. Entre los mas apremiantes continua la exigencia de que el gobierno inicie un dialogo conciliatorio lo cual han presentado por escrito pero hasta la fecha no han recibido respuesta alguna por el gobiernos federal.

Últimamente dichas familias presentaron una solicitud para negociar sobre la tenencia de la tierra argumentando que según los acuerdos virreinales –dicha oferta se les negó. Los afectados proponen llegar a un acuerdo pacifico pero ha fallado y aparentemente el gobierno prefiere la confrontación ancestral como el único medio para resolver los asuntos fronterizos.

LOS AFECTADOS SE ENCUENTRAN PARTICIPANDO EN LA CONFERENCIA ANUAL DE: WESTERN SOCIAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION ABRIL 15 – 18, 2009 EN ALBUQUERQUE, NUEVO MEXICO.


Como panelistas el grupo participara:
· Viernes 17 de 8:00 a 9:30 Cuarto Sendero I, sobre “Militarización” en la frontera.
· Viernes 17 de 2:45 a 4:15 Cuarto Sendero II, sobre “Resistencia” de los asuntos indígenas en la frontera.

A LAS 10:00 A.M. CONVOCAN A UNA CONFERENCIA DE PRENSA PARA LOS MEDIOS INTERESADOS EN MAYOR INFORMACION.

PARA ENTREVISTAS, FAVOR DE COMUNICARSE CON:

CYNTHIA BEJARANO (575) 571-7359
Por correo electrónico con Abril Cotte acotte@igc.org
Margo Tamez: 509-595-9666

The Final Step (DHS is land on the borderline)

Brownsville Herald

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/benavidez_85955___article.html/land_reyes.html

The Final Step

By Kevin Sieff/The Brownsville Herald

April 16, 2008 - 11:36PM

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has embarked on its final step before beginning construction of a border fence along the U.S.-Mexico border-purchasing land on which the structure will soon stand.

On Wednesday, officials from the Army Corps of Engineers offered Eduardo Benavidez $4,100 for a sliver of his 3.5 acres in El Calaboz, about 10 miles west of Brownsville. Because his land lies along the path of the border fence, officials told him, he'll have no choice but to sell.

Benavidez isn't ready to sell his land along the Rio Grande, even if it is to the federal government. "I'm not signing anything," he responded when DHS made their offer.

After the officials left, Benavidez, 86, called his brother. "These guys think they can do anything," he said.

DHS plans to construct 700 miles of fencing by the end of 2008. But first, the federal government must purchase land from several hundred South Texas landowners-including Benavidez, who was born on his property in 1922 and still earns a living cutting sheet metal there.

"We do have people beginning negotiations with landowners in the Valley," said Lloyd Easterling, an assistant chief for security operations for U.S. Border Patrol. "These are very initial negotiations."

Not all landowners have adopted Benavidez's refusal to sell. On Wednesday, his neighbor and cousin, Juanita Benavidez, agreed to part with .33 acres of her land for $12,500.

"It's a fair price," she said, "but I didn't want to sell it."

Benavidez said she felt pressured to sign documents from the Army Corps of Engineers.

"They were very forceful...and I don't want them to think I'm a communist or something like that," said Benevidez, who was given two weeks to consider the offer.

Benavidez, who speaks only Spanish, said she was given a copy of the government's offer in English. No written translation was provided. The officials did explain in Spanish the amount of money that was being offered to her.

Also, a list of relevant terms, including "acquisition," "easement," and "eminent domain" was also provided by the Army Corps of Engineers, but only in English.

The Cameron County Appraisal District estimates the value of Juanita Benavidez's 4.6 acres at $25,000. But like many of her neighbors, she doesn't care much for monetary evaluations.

"I've lived here for 37 years," she said. "I raised a family here."

The 18-foot tall fence will run through Benavidez's backyard, south of where the International Boundary and Water Commission's levee currently stands.

In rural Southmost, Jose Manuel Reyes and his three brothers are also considering the government's offer. The brothers live in adjacent houses along the Rio Grande.

Reyes was offered $2,200 for a 140 by 15-foot swath of land, roughly one sixth of his property. The appraisal district values the entire property at $12,000.

"I'm not sure if this price takes devaluation into account," Reyes said. "How much will my property be worth when an 18-foot fence runs through the backyard?"

But Reyes is growing increasingly despondent. "It doesn't matter what what we do," he said. "They're going to put it up whether we like it or not."

Reyes acknowledges that he could hold out and let a federal judge mediate negotiations over the land's value, but he isn't eager to engage in a legal battle.

"After all that, I wonder if I would even gain anything," he said. "What if they take away our original offer?" he asked. "At least now we'll get something."

Lipan Apache Women (El Calaboz) Defense E-Portfolio Wins First Place

 

2007-08 WSU ePortfolio Contest Gallery The goal of the 2007 - 08 WSU ePortfolio Contest was to harness the interests and expertise of the WSU community to address real world problems encountered by communities both locally and globally. It called upon contestants to collaborate with community members - institutional, local, or global – to identify a problem, explore solutions, develop a plan, and then take steps toward implementing that plan. Contestants were asked to use electronic portfolios to capture and reflect on their collaborative problem-solving processes and the impact of their projects. As we saw with last year's contest, there were as many different issues and approaches as there were projects and ePortfolios. Judges from industry, the local community, and WSU used these criteria to evaluate the portfolios. Here are the results:   The Grand Prize ($1500) went to the Kayafungo Women's Water Project whose group members did excellent job of thoroughly documenting the development of their project, capturing how they adjusted to roadblocks, discussing cultural and economic issues from multiple perspectives, and evaluating the impact of their intervention. "In addition to a great project, the team has created a great portfolio. They have documented the development of the project and shown how their own thinking has developed along the way."   The First Place ($1000) prize was awarded to the El Calaboz ePortfolio, which chronicled the personal journey and growth of the author as she strove to mobilize more than 70 stakeholders in the border-wall conflict at the Mexican-U.S. border. Judges were struck not only the depth and richness of the material that was integrated but also the way in which the portfolio managed to bridge academic analysis and social activism. "Honest, informed and informative, thought-provoking, and controversial in ways that scholarship on issues of significant social impact should yet often fails to be."   One of the two Second Place ($700) winners was a WSU faculty member working with European colleagues whose ePortfolio, Understanding Ecodesign, captured the iterative and dynamic aspects of the engineering design process. Judges noted the effectiveness of the graphs, timelines, and multimedia to present the process. "The team used a variety of techniques to present their information in a dramatic and understandable way. I was impressed with their attempt to break down a very complex issue into understandable pieces."   The other Second Place ($700) winner was the EEG Patient Monitoring System, which impressed judges with its attempt to balance a formal business case study with an informal story of how the group members interacted with each other and how their learning evolved as the project evolved. " It appears that the team is stretching their conventional parameters and taking risks by entering into a field that is out of their comfort zone." "Participants showed real growth in a number of areas, including what they wanted to do, as well as their understanding of the complexity and risks of their proposed venture."   The three Third Place ($300) winners impressed the judges with their polished websites that tackled important issues at the institutional, local, and global levels. While these three didn't include as much of the processes behind the project, they were excellent examples of " harnessing the interests and expertise of the WSU community to address real-world problems."   The Edward R. Murrow School of Communication Alumni Site's goal was to "connect alumni and current students to emphasize lifelong learning…[by creating] a space that celebrates and cements the ongoing value of a degree from the Murrow School through a network resource that benefits the career and educational goals of all those involved." "Actively seeks out and incorporates other disciplinary, cultural, and stakeholder feedback as the project unfolds. Invites participation in different ways – blog, wiki, discussion forum."   The Grace Foundation Initiative was the background story of the development of The Grace Foundation, which seeks to "transform, act, and participate in" the potential of Nigeria by being "an interconnecting and strategic agency for communities as they pursue quality education, growth opportunities, and self-actualization, locally, nationally, and globally." "Overall this portfolio was very well put together and the finished product (the website) was very impressive."   Caring for Unwanted Horses on the Palouse tackled a serious and distressing problem that is both local and global, with implications that go beyond horses. The judges observed that the author went "from asking 'authority figures' about caring for unwanted horses' resources to being one in creating the website resource and becoming a rescue horse boarder." "I appreciate the work on this project and it is obvious there are not many resources to contribute to the success of this national issue. A very interesting and well-deserving topic."   Honorable Mentions ($100) went to two ePortfolios: Clean Biofuels for Africa and Conflict in Educational Dialogue. Commenting on Clean Biofuels for Africa, one judge said, "This is a valuable project. The portfolio documents some initial steps towards a solution."

The WSU 2007-2008 ePortfolio Contest was sponsored by the Washington State University Office of Undergraduate Education and Microsoft.