[PEN-L:3890] Dark Night Field Notes: a journal of indigenous struggles

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

I just received my first issue of "Dark Night Field Notes," (number 14). I
strongly recommend it to anybody with interests in indigenous struggles,
which should really include anybody with progressive politics. The great
advantage of this journal is that places indigenous struggles in the
context of political economy, where they really belong.

Articles on the Makah struggle against ecoimperialism forms the centerpiece
of this issue. Included is a powerful point-by-point refutation of Sea
Shepherd's leader Paul Watson by Clark economics professor and Blackfoot
activist Jim Craven. Watson has aligned himself with the most dubious sort
of allies in his battle against the Makah's right to hunt whales, including
Congressman Jack Metcalf, a right-wing ally of the Wise Use movement.
Another ally is Willis Carto, whose neo-Nazi activities extend back for
decades.

Other articles make clear that assaults on sovereignty rights generally
overlap with the corporate agenda, including the right to pollute without
penalty. Cree activist Chief Ernest Sundown has an article on ecopiracy on
his people's homeland, while an article on the Zapatistas describes efforts
by cellulose corporations to use "brownmail" to force the people of Chiapas
to sacrifice food-producing land for plantations that would only benefit
outside interests.

Ward Churchill, who is on the editorial board, is the author of an article
(part one) on the radioactive colonization of indigenous lands in North
America. While most people are aware that New Mexico was the birthplace of
the atomic bomb, not so many are aware that uranium mining cost the lives
of thousands of Navajo miners. Like the people of Chiapas, they were
offered jobs in exchange for their lives.

Dark Nights is edited by Michele Cheung, a professor and activist who spoke
up forcefully for Jim Craven's right to use Clark College email to
communicate with other professors and activists. I understand that Jim has
won a partial victory with the administration, but I'll allow him to give
us the details.

Subscriptions are $18 per year, $25 in Mexico/Canada, $38 everywhere else.
For senior citizens, a sub is $10. Send to:

Dark Night Press
PO Box 3629
Chicago, IL 60690-3629
207-839-5794
darknight@xxxxxxxxxxx


Louis Proyect
(http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)