The Black Mesa Colorado Caravan (BMCC) is the Denver area based group of grassroots, multi-racial, indigenous and non-native, intergenerational volunteers and activists who work in conjunction with Black Mesa Indigenous Support (BMIS) to support the indigenous peoples of Black Mesa, Arizona in their struggle for Life and Land; a people who are targeted by & resist an injustice of large-scale coal mining operations and forced relocation policies of the US government.
Since 2008, we have followed in the footsteps of many supporters who have come before us over the past four decades in organizing on-land support for resisting communities at Black Mesa. In the spring, fall and summer, volunteer work crews travel to Arizona to herd sheep, chop wood, haul water, work on maintenance and building projects and bring much needed to supplies to elders and their families who live in remote regions without running water or electricity. We work by listening to the families we have created relationships with and assisting them with what they ask for.
In the fall, our work crews converge with supporters from all directions in order to help support Black Mesa residents getting ready for winter. We bring donated food and supplies to be distributed by the Clan Dyken Beauty Way Tour, and work in conjunction with the BMIS Fall Caravan and Wood Run. In the spring and summer, we organize our own small work crews to continue the support of elders and families that we are cultivating relationships with.
The Black Mesa Colorado Caravan also works with residents of Black Mesa to create sustainable structures and gardens based on the ethics of indigenous permaculture. This work includes soil remediation, rain water collection and natural building techniques. In the fall of 2012, we supported an Indigenous Youth Permaculture Workshop to reconnect young people to their land and traditional life ways.
The Black Mesa Colorado Caravan also recognizes that we live in a dynamic world, and issues of resource extraction and continued colonization of indigenous communities is happening worldwide, and is also connected to all struggles for climate and environmental justice. We are united in our dedication against racism, colonization, and destruction and exploitation of all living communities, human and non-human alike.
While upholding and sustaining protection of Mother Earth, we stand committed to deepening friendships as well as listening to the requests of the people on the land and acting upon these needs.
For more information on the history of Black Mesa and related resources see:
- Black Mesa Indigenous Support
- Broken Rainbow Video, full length!
- Malcolm Benally, Bitter Water: Dine Oral Histories of the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute
- Andrea Smith, Conquest
- Howard Zinn, People’s History of the United States
- Bell Hooks, Race & Representation
- Taiaike Alfred, Wasáse
- Albert Memmi, The Colonizer and the Colonized
- The Revolution Will Not Be Funded – Beyond The Non-Profit Industrial Complex, INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence
Black Mesa Colorado Caravan 