por la Tribu Elem Pomo
Members of Elem Tribe protest violation of sacred place
East Bay Millionaire John Nady has begun building his vacation home on Rattlesnake Island, the ancient political and religious center of the Elem Tribe, in Lake County. Nady bought the island 8 years ago, reportedly for $2.5 million. Using his wealth and influence, he has already strong-armed his way through the planning regulations. He began laying foundations for his vacation home at the end of November. John Nady is part of the 1%.
Nady is one of the wealthiest people in the East Bay, amongst his houses, is the vast Sweetland Mansion in the exclusive neighborhood of Piedmont. On Saturday December 17th, Elem Tribal members and their supporters will participate in a spiritual walk from the Grand Lake Theater, Lakepark & Grand Ave, into Piedmont. They hope to show Nady that from Lake County to the Bay Area people will oppose this desecration.
Businessmen from San Francisco stole the island in the 19th Century.
They used their money and connections to fraudulently claim the island under the Homestead Act. Since then the island has changed hands several times, as one wealthy elite after another bought it. Despite not having legal ownership of it, the Elem have continued to use the island in many of their traditional ways. No non-native person has ever lived on the island or built on it until now. Nady is building a vacation home on top of a site where people have prayed for at least the last 6,000 years.
Now the Elem Tribe calls on the people of Oakland to support them to stop the desecration. Whether it’s for gold, silver, coal, uranium or leisure, John Nady is part of a long history of the 1% who have exploited Indigenous lands.
Much of the Elem’s traditional land was promised to them under a treaty signed by the American government in 1851. But Congress refused to ratify the treaties, a decision Tribes in Lake County, didn’t hear about until more than 50 years later. Meanwhile, tribal land, including Rattlesnake Island, was claimed by settlers. In the end, it was the US Government which enabled the 1% to steal their land.
Jim Brown, a traditional cultural leader of the Elem Tribe, says: ‘We, the 99% are tired of the 1% controlling everything with their wealth, with their greed, and with the hypocrisy they brought to the United States. We need to chase these foreign governments out of our land and turn it back 4over to the people. We need everyone to support our aboriginal rights”.
On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Oct. 10, more than 100 people marched with Elem Tribal members to Nady’s offices in Emeryville to deliver a letter asking him not to build on their most sacred site. Now that he has begun construction work on the island, they will take to the streets again to demand he stop, this time closer to home.
A march was held on Dec. 17 and then met on the grass outside the Lakeview Branch of Oakland Public Library.
Elem Pomo assert aboriginal title to Rattlesnake Island http://www.elemmodun.org/2011/nady-systems-closes/.
