That friend is the Arctic, or so it seem to residents of the Arctic. The third point of focus for this project, this forum on the radiating effects of climate change, is the Arctic. The arctic is the very cold canary that tell us what is happening with our climate before we feel it in more temperate zones. The changes, as we have heard here from Larry Merculieff, are more drastic and hit home not just to the large community of people who live above the imaginary line that describes the arctic Circle, but also the the rest of the world’s land and people. Changes include the much reported: spring thaws are earlier. Fall freeze-ups are later. Sea ice is shrinking. Unfamiliar species of plants and animals are appearing. Intense storms are more frequent.

[Thanks to Peter Coyote for sending this to his list.]

Friends,

We tend to forget that the suppression and exploitation of Native people continues unabated to this day. Here is a record of a so-called “public - input” meeting on the Navajo reservation recently. After strip mining their sacred mountains and lowering the water-table over 80 feet using drinking water to send coal to LA in a water-slurry, the Black Mesa project was finally stopped by the struggle of Native people. However they are dealing now with poisoned aquifers, and 30 years of pollution and neglect. My friend Vernon Masayesva, a traditional Hopi elder sent me this. He is looking for support in the on-going struggle against the ruination of the Hopi/Navajo reservations in the name of white ideas of progress. The electricity we burn in our homes to run our lights, tv’s DVD’s, computers and games comes in part from projects like Black Mesa. Where the average white person uses 50 gallons of water per person a day, the average Hopi uses 5. Not only is this a problem of our own wasteful way of living, but also of the Hopi/Navajo lack of power to defend themselves. As part of the probllem, the least we can do is to help them in their struggle. If any of you are moved to help you could contact Vernon at: