Racewire Blog, Leticia Miranda, October 20 2009

The Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras/Indigenous Alliance Without Borders has just launched a new campaign to secure the homelands of indigenous tribes living along the US-Mexico border from California to Texas. According to an article at Narcosphere: Indigenous Peoples living along the border in their traditional homelands, from California to Texas, continue to be harassed and intimidated by US federal agents, including the US Border Patrol, and local enforcement agencies working with Homeland Security. The situation has not improved under the Obama Administration.

While the United States piously demands that other countries assure basic human rights to their citizens, the United States remains one of the greatest offenders of the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The United States was one of only four countries who refused to sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people. In a statement in response to the US quietly voting “no” on the declaration, the alliance stated:

The militarization of the southern US border with Mexico threatens the survival of Indigenous Peoples living on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico borderline. Our survival as Peoples depends largely on our ability to practice our ancient Indigenous languages, spiritual beliefs, culture and ceremonies in privacy and community without interference. This is not merely a cultural and spiritual concern; it is a matter of human rights that exists in the U.S. legal statues, U.S. Constitution and International Law.

Jose Matus, director of the Indigenous Alliance Without Borders, said that over the 30 years that he’s traveled to Yaqui communities in Sonora, Mexico to bring ceremonial leaders to the US, he has been harassed and has witnessed the detainment of those leaders and their families at the border.

The group plans to confront Homeland Security, the Obama administration, the United Nations and other international organizations to secure themselves the right to live on their own lands.