Dear Allies, We are in a critical phase of the campaign to STOP the STAMP Monster Data Center. And the outrages keep piling up. Yesterday, we learned that STREAM US Data Centers and their financial backer Apollo Global Management have submitted a new request for...
WESPAC Foundation’s Friends of Turtle of Island is a grassroots movement to increase awareness of Indigenous peoples’ ongoing struggles to protect their human and land rights, environment, sacred sites, dignity, language and traditions. We seek to build relationships, support Native sovereignty, challenge racism, and promote social and environmental healing. We support the reconnection of ancient Indigenous trade routes and the rekindling of those relations. We recognize the importance of freedom of movement for all First Nations peoples as they struggle to retain their ancestral lands, language, culture and identity. The balance of the ecosystem requires this freedom of movement, not only for people but for all creatures living within it. Please contact the office for more information and to get involved at 914.449.6514 or by email at [email protected].
Weaving Indigenous Futures: Free Community Workshops on Kichwa Textile Traditions
Imashinalla Sapiyaypak mashikuna, (Dear friends of Sapiyay) [Español abajo] I am pleased to share that with the support of ArtsWestchester and SARUSA (Saraguro Residents in the USA), the Sapiyay Collective and Wichana Foundation are proud to launch the second...
Tribute to WESPAC
Hello everyone! Here is Andrew's fabulous tribute to WESPAC with a couple of graphic tweaks! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrEb3fBmniY Thank you so much, and we look forward to celebrating with you at Red Hat on the River on June 10th! All details can be...
The Water Act
https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2025/05/13/water-act-reintroduction-trump/ Thank you again for your support of the WATER Act! Sen. Sanders and Reps. Watson Coleman and Khanna have just reintroduced the legislation to fully fund our water infrastructure. Please...
Animal Footnotes: Stories from Turtle Island
"Our current predicament requires more love, more accountability, and more solidarity for the benefit of our collective futures." — Kyle T. Mays Perhaps the animals can show us the way... STRENGTH IN NUMBERS In these dire times, the wisdom of wildlife encourages us...
Animal Footnotes: Stories from Turtle Island
Dear WESPAC members, WESPAC’s Friends of Turtle Island Committee is happy to announce the launch of Animal Footnotes—a new web blog about shifting away from a colonial mindset and experiencing what it means to live on Turtle Island together. At its core, Animal...
Onondaga Land Rights
Join us March 10th at Syracuse Stage & Check out our NEW #Lakeback website! Onondaga Land Rights & Our Common Future: The Quest for Justice Monday, March 10th, 6:30 pm at Syracuse Stage (820 E Genesee St, Syracuse) This event is free and open to the...
NOON Newsletter 2025
Welcome to the NOON e-newsletter for February 2025. Enjoy, and please share widely! This poem was written for the candlelight vigil preceding the Onondaga Nation’s Land Rights hearing in Federal District Court, October 18, 2007. For Onondaga By Robin Wall Kimmerer...
Animal Nations and the Doctrine of Discovery
Tracy Basile, co-founder of WESPAC’s Friends of Turtle Island, has published her latest essay that looks at the lives of animals and colonization. Please take a look and share with friends! Animal Nations and the Doctrine of Discovery
Repatriation of Cultural Items
Repatriation By Sue Eiholzer from NOON, Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation Repatriation is the returning of cultural items -- human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony -- to lineal descendants. In the United States this refers...
WESPAC on Facebook
Friday, October 9th at 6pm at the Barn at Vassar College! RSVPs required at [email protected]. Contributions for the farm collective can be made ahead of time. We can also arrange car pools.The WEBATUCK VALLEY FARM COLLABORATIVE (WVFC), established in 2023, is a regional food sovereignty and farm cooperative development initiative rooted in a larger movement for cultural reclamation, economic & racial justice, and community healing. Rock Steady Farm, Sweet Freedom Farm, and WILDSEED Community Farm & Healing Village leveraged a ten-year partnership to transform local farming, economic opportunity, and food access. They aim to remove barriers to entry for Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) and LGBTQ+ beginning farmers in ways that support the prosperity of our communities and the future of our planet.The current food system is built on exploited labor and land, leaving many hungry and malnourished despite excess and waste. WVFC works with communities within, against, and beyond this broken system to build resilient local economies. Their organizations collaboratively support New York State farmers through land access, training and apprenticeships, shared infrastructure, equipment and product aggregation, advocacy, community events, and employment. They advance land-based liberation by training young land stewards, supporting beginning farmers with land access, growing nutrient-dense and culturally relevant food and medicine, and distributing their harvests to families impacted by food scarcity or state violence.This year, that vision takes physical form. They are renovating two barns—one at Rock Steady which will winterize the barns, expand the cold storage three fold for aggregation, build much larger wash-pack space with new equipment, a retail store and new CSA pick-up, Rock Steady staff space and workplace kitchen, short term housing for all the trainees and facilitators and so much more. The barn at Wildseed will be home to a gorgeous event space, and an added value commercial kitchen. Sweet Freedom Farm will be stewarding grain processes equipment and grain processing space that has been a significant need of small to mid-sized grain producers in the area.This shared processing infrastructure will expand the capacity of over a dozen BIPOC- and LGBTQ+-led farms to wash, store, and process food year-round. It's an investment in a more resilient future where farmers across the region can enter a food system designed for their success.The Elias Foundation is kindly subsidizing the cost of the dinner so that more of the proceeds can support the farmers' fund! @followers
Friday, October 9th at 6pm at the Barn at Vassar College! RSVPs required at [email protected]. Contributions for the farm collective can be made ahead of time. We can also arrange car pools.The WEBATUCK VALLEY FARM COLLABORATIVE (WVFC), established in 2023, is a regional food sovereignty and farm cooperative development initiative rooted in a larger movement for cultural reclamation, economic & racial justice, and community healing. Rock Steady Farm, Sweet Freedom Farm, and WILDSEED Community Farm & Healing Village leveraged a ten-year partnership to transform local farming, economic opportunity, and food access. They aim to remove barriers to entry for Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) and LGBTQ+ beginning farmers in ways that support the prosperity of our communities and the future of our planet.The current food system is built on exploited labor and land, leaving many hungry and malnourished despite excess and waste. WVFC works with communities within, against, and beyond this broken system to build resilient local economies. Their organizations collaboratively support New York State farmers through land access, training and apprenticeships, shared infrastructure, equipment and product aggregation, advocacy, community events, and employment. They advance land-based liberation by training young land stewards, supporting beginning farmers with land access, growing nutrient-dense and culturally relevant food and medicine, and distributing their harvests to families impacted by food scarcity or state violence.
All are welcome and please share widely. We have several new people to WESPAC this summer. This gathering on September 16th would be a lovely introduction to the broader social justice community: @followers