DOODA DESERT ROCK VIGIL UPDATE, December 31, 2006

 

The resistance Camp is still running strong. It is now being called a Vigil. IEN was able to send in a technical dude with a bus that has set-up a low-watt radio system and is now web-casting/streaming through the web. The camp is now radio broadcasting to the surrounding communities, and getting 35 mile coverage. They are broadcasting information about the proposed coal-fired power plant from sunrise to sunset. The energy is provided by solar, with limited battery storage at this time. Communicating as an organizing tool out to the remote areas of the Navajo reservation is a priority.

 

People throughout the world can tune into the broadcasts and web casts by going to www.earthcycles.net

 

The resisters and supporters spent Christmas huddled around a campfire. Since the police and rangers came into the Camp last week (the 21^st) they have kept some tribal police there. The Camp is constantly being watched 24 hours/day. It has been pretty quiet this week. There has been a steady stream of support people coming and going. The Dine’ people that are resisting this proposed coal-fired power plant NEED YOUR SUPPORT! They are inviting supporters to come to the Vigil to stand with them. A Fire has been burning day and night, with many Prayer Ceremonies taking place.  The Resisters have vowed to be at the Camp for the long-haul.

 

The DOODA Desert Rock Committee members are preparing for Court on January 3^rd.  This is related to the injunction filed against them. A lawyer has been retained and doing a good job. Dine’ Power Authority (DPA) and Sithe Global Power, LLC sought the injunction and have their attorneys all lined up. We are calling Sithe Global Power, the “SITHE LORDS” (Star Wars – Dark Force peeps).

 

Since the police came in on December 21^st and moved the Camp, there has been constant activity across the way with semi-trucks and other company vehicles getting ready to do drilling for water testing and road building crews. The police are reported to play with their night vision stuff at night. The Camp now has a dog and there have been no attempts lately by the police to enter the Camp at night snooping around.

 

Last Friday, Grandma Lucy Willie butchered a sheep and the youth supporters learned the techniques of meat cutting and learned of the various dishes that mutton can make.  Lucy walked around proudly because it was a time to build bridges between the young and the old.  She taught the younger ones the importance of the fight for the traditional ways of the Dine’ to protect Mother Earth.  They now know what it means to be part of the land; not only as an individual but as a community protecting what is sacred and what is rightfully theirs.  

 

During the past week, the Navajo Nation Communications Office of the President has been waging a media-campaign to discredit the Dooda Desert Rock Committee and its supporters. The stakes are high. The Resisters are dealing with an energy development that has big bucks and the big boys behind it.

 

More information about what is going on can be found on the

 

http://www.desert-rock-blog.com

 

A second site is being put together now, it will be at

http://www.doodadesertrock.org