All articles tagged with #indigenous land
President Trump revived the Ambler Road project in Alaska by ordering federal permits approval within 30 days, reversing the Biden administration's denial, but significant legal, financial, and landowner hurdles remain, making the project's future uncertain.
The city of Berkeley has voted to return a 2.2-acre parking lot, the only undeveloped portion of a shellmound in West Berkeley, to the Ohlone people through the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, marking a historic restoration of sacred native land dating back thousands of years. The site will be used for education, prayer, preservation, and as a place for native medicines and foods, wildlife, and youth to learn about their heritage. The agreement follows a six-year legal battle and involves the trust contributing $25.5 million and Berkeley paying $1.5 million to create a commemorative park with a new shellmound and cultural center.
Ben & Jerry's faced calls for a boycott after tweeting on July 4th that the United States should return "stolen indigenous land." The ice cream company has previously sparked controversy for its activism, including a boycott of West Bank settlements in 2021. Social media users called for a boycott in response to the tweet, and Ben & Jerry's parent company, Unilever, has lost nearly $2 billion in publicly traded stocks since the announcement. The controversy surrounding Ben & Jerry's is reminiscent of the recent Bud Light partnership with transgender social media personality Dylan Mulvaney, which also sparked calls for a boycott.
Utah Senator Mike Lee has vowed to never eat Ben & Jerry's ice cream again after the company tweeted on July 4th, calling for the return of land to the Sioux Nation. The tweet linked to a blog post discussing the history of Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills, urging support for the "Land Back movement." Senator Lee criticized the call to action and questioned the implications of returning land, suggesting it would involve expunging property rights or repatriating Americans to Europe. He endorsed Utah-based Brooker's Ice Cream as an alternative. Ben & Jerry's has a history of using its platform for various social campaigns.
Brazilian police and environmental protection agents were ambushed by illegal gold miners on the Yanomami Indigenous reservation in the Amazon, resulting in the death of four miners. The government team was attacked when they moved in to dismantle a wildcat mining camp run by an organized crime gang. Brazilian authorities are keen to show that they mean business in their efforts to remove the remainder of the wildcat miners on the reservation following the fatal shooting of a Yanomami man.