=+=+=+=+ UNPLUG NORTH AMERICA OCTOBER 13 +=+=+=+=
=+=+=+=+ GIVE MOTHER EARTH A REST DAY +=+=+=+=
After Canadians, Americans are the largest consumers. The United States has the largest per capita energy market in the world. We are essentially gluttons, and need to think and act to change our pattern of consumption.

Approximately 2/3 of the nation's uranium deposits are located on Indian territory, as is 1/3 of all low-sulphur coal. Native lands also hold significant repositories of oil and natural gas. This has created a battle for Native People protecting our land from destruction by industries in search of natural resources.

Mass energy consumption in the United States supports the desecration of Indian lands and the environmental degradation throughout the country. It is time to take responsibility for our actions, and begin changing our practices.

UNPLUG NORTH AMERICA is a campaign introduced by the Seventh Generation Fund and the Indigenous Environmental Network as Native communities from James Bay/Northern Saskatchewan (Cree) to Havasupai and Northern Cheyenne struggle to protect their lands, and takes place on October 13 each year. It is a day to unplug ourselves from those things that support the exploitation of our natural resources. By joining in the UNPLUG NORTH AMERICA campaign we will demonstrate our respect for Mother Earth, and give her a break she deserves. Don't use electricity, drive a car, hit the computer.... Give it a try!!

Talk about it to your community...
Take action yourself...

October 13 is a day to realize our dependency on Mother Earth, and offers us an opportunity to enjoy time with our loved ones in an atmosphere apart from the one that challenges our existence. It is a day to explore renewable and sustainable energy systems and new ways to live and provide for generations to come.

For additional information, please contact your nearest Indigenous Environmental Network representative. 

     Tom Goldtooth                        Nilak Butler
     Great Lakes/Plains Regional IEN      Indigenous Women's Network/
     P.O. Box 485                         Greenpeace
     Bemidji MN 56601                     139 Townsend St.
     (218) 679-3959                       San Francisco CA 94107
     (218) 751-4967                       (415) 512- 9025

     Christopher Peters                   Winona LaDuke/Veronica Weaver
     Seventh Generation Fund              White Earth Land Recovery
     P.O. Box 2550                        Project/Seventh Generation
     McKinleyville CA 95521               Rt. 1  Box 358
     (707) 839-1178                       Ponsford MN 564
                                          (218) 573-3049
"October 13 is a day to show, through action, our love and respect for our Mother earth by not buying, using, consuming, exploiting 'natural resources'.

"THIS INCLUDES: Water, Gas, Electricity, T.V., Radio, Cars, Buses (emergencies excepted).

"It is a day to reflect on our dependency on Mother earth and all the Sacred Circles of Life - - A Time To Share With Our Families and Communities in the Celebration of the Gift of Life.

"It is a day to reflect on renewable and sustainable energy systems and on what we need to do to live a way of life that will provide also for the generations to come."

[This is from the back page of the magazine, Indigenous Woman, a publication of the Indigenous Women's Network, P.O. Box 174, Lake Elmo MN 55042 Ph: (612) 777-3629]

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