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Hello everyone

On July 23rd Sol Communications lead a caravan of 8 people and 3 vehicles
from LA out to Big Mountain. The people of the caravan were:

Joelle Davis and El Eggart of Sol Communications
One representative of "Walking Shield", a non-profit organization that
donated pallets of bottled water, brand new boots, school supplies, games,
food, new clothing, a 160lb bag of dog food
4 volunteers that work with "Walking Shield"
David Adair, who drove the U-Haul

The following were donated by individuals and also taken up in the U-Haul:
2 filing cabinets, 2 office chairs, one bookshelf, and 2 computer desks
(these are for Marsha's office on the land), and more food and clothing.

The purpose of this trip was to introduce the people of Walking Shield to
the Dineh grandmothers/families of Big Mountain so that they can meet the
people that are "living" the atrocities known as the "Genocide of Big
Mountain"," and to take donations that had been gathered from Walking Shield
and others to the people of Big Mountain.

Due to the size of the donations it was necessary to rent a 17 foot U-Haul
truck. Thank you, Kimberly King-Burns for donating towards the cost of the
U-Haul truck and for raising the rest of the funds we needed for that truck
plus a little extra in only 5 days. Thanks also to Dotty Taylor, Elkanah
Burns, Sharon King, and Karol Black for donating towards the U-Hual truck.
And to Sol Communications, Nancy Butterfly, Suzanne Fletcher, thank you for
donating money towards this caravan. This caravan would not have happened
without your contributions.

Also, a big thanks to Wayne Nelson, who loaned me his "peach" of a
customed-out GMC extended cab, open bed, dual tired truck, complete with his
personal gas card to cover the gas for his vehicle on this trip, and a
hidded stash of emergency money that I found out about after we returned.
This vehicle was needed to carry the excess donations, mostly 2x4's for
KeeZee's corral, and so that David, El and I could ride back together after
David dropped off the U-Haul truck in Flagstaff, AZ.

We visited five families, all getting drops of donations:
KeeZee and Alice Begay (a grandmother and grandfather. He has a broken
hip and a bad heart)
Catherine Smith (one of the strongest resisting grandmothers-it was a
real honor for us to visit her)
Joan Yellowhair
Anna and Ella Begay (legends in their own right)
Glenna Begay (another strong resisting grandmother)
Our support via outreach on the mountain not only provides physical
necessities, but also helps keep up moral.

You should have seen that U-Haul truck going all over the Mesa-through
washes, ruts, puddles (it had rained recently), mud.....David, you were
amazing. Thank you so much for plugging right along and keeping a smile on
your face.

The looks on people's faces as they drove down the Mesa, seeing this U-Haul
truck go by....I'll never forget it.

Anyways, the trip was a success, we accomplished everything we set out to
do, and we got 6 new people up to the Mountain, so that their hearts could
be personally touched by the grandmothers and grandfathers, the families
that are literally putting their lives on the line to stay on their sacred
land.

Until the next caravan,

Joelle Davis

SOL COmmunications