Seattle Raging Grannies support Nickelsville

Eight of the Seattle Raging Grannies (including me) visited Nickelsville today and sang for the Nickelodeons. Some of them sang along with us. I forgot to take my camera! So I can't post a photo of today. In substitute, here's a photo of Seattle Raging Grannies singing at the Nickelsville Die-In, our last community rally before raising Nickelsville.

From the Seattle Raging Grannies:

We support the homeless people of Nickelsville, who are providing shelter and safety for themselves in a hard time.

We admire the courage and compassion of University Christian Church and we thank them for their gift to the community of Seattle, in hosting Nickelsville.

We call on Mayor Nickels to acknowledge the realities of homelessness in Seattle and stop the senseless sweeps of homeless encampments.

The Mayor knows that developers are destroying low-income housing three times faster than it is being created. The Mayor knows that thousands of homeless men, women, and children are left outside after all shelter space in Seattle is full. The Mayor knows that Alan Painter, the head of the Department of Human Services, told the Seattle City Council that all of the shelters are full. The Mayor has no excuse for harassing Nickelsville or its supporters.

The Mayor needs to stop wasting money on harassing homeless encampments, and turn his full energy to real steps to end homelessness. Stop the destruction of low-income housing. Open more emergency shelters. Stop portraying homeless people and advocates as the enemy, and help Seattle come together as a community.

The mission of the Seattle Raging Grannies is to promote global peace, justice, and social and economic equality by raising public awareness through the medium of song and humor. seattleraginggrannies.com

Two of the songs we sang were written/adapted especially for Nickelsville.

THERE IS A RENTAL IN THIS TOWN
(tune: There is a Tavern in the Town)

There is a rental in this town, in this town,
And there my fam'ly settled down, settled do-o-own.
We ate and slept and played there every day,
And paid our rent so we could stay.

Chorus:

Fare thee well for we must leave thee.
Do not let this parting grieve thee.
Our rent jumped sky high believe me,
And so we-e mu-ust part.

Adieu, adieu kind friends, adieu, yes, adieu.
We can no longer be with you, be with you.
We'll hang our clothes on a weeping willow tree,
And sleep in Nickelsville for free.

And:

NICKELSVILLE
(tune: Back of the Bus)

If you miss me at the front of the bus
You can't find me nowhere
Come on up to the driver's seat
I'll be driving up there.
I'll be driving up there, I'll be driving up there;
Come on up to the driver's seat, I'll be driving up there.

If you're looking for shelter
You can't find it nowhere
Come on up to the greenbelt,
Folks are camping up there.
Folks are camping up there, Folks are camping up there;
Come on up to the greenbelt, Folks are camping up there.

If you miss me in the greenbelt
You can't find me nowhere
Come on over to Nickelsville,
Folks are building up there.
Folks are building up there, Folks are building up there;
Come on over to Nickelsville, Folks are building up there.

If you miss me at Nickelsville
You can't find me nowhere
Come on down to the jailhouse,
We'll be bunking down there.
We'll be bunking down there, We'll be bunking down there;
We'll be bunking down there.

If you miss me at the jailhouse
You can't find me nowhere
That's cause we all stood together,
And we're still building up there!
We're still building up there!
We're still building up there!
That's cause we all stood together,
And we're still building up there!

Sing On!

w00t! Good news for Nickelsville!

I just learned a new word while reading the comments on Tim's blog today.

Tim always blogs much more actively than I do, and he's been posting a LOT on the Nickelsville saga. His most recent post reports some good news I had already heard: the United Indians of All tribes dropped off a letter stating full support of Nickelsville. w00t!

Also w00t! - Human Services manager Alan Painter admitted in an open City Council meeting on Friday that shelters are full. To a direct question on that from a Councilmember, he said yes, they are full, and when they aren't it's only due to special circumstances.

Legal status of Nickelsville: update

Turns out that UIATF (United Indians of All Tribes Foundation) leases the 20 acres that Daybreak Star is on from the City of Seattle. The federal government deeded land that used to be Fort Lawton to the City of Seattle, on condition that the City lease 20 acres of it to the UIATF.

The City contends that the lease requires the UIATF to abide by city land use codes, and that hosting Nickelsville would be a violation of those codes. The posted 72-hour "Notice to Remove" signs Thursday afternoon. The Northwest Justice Project has filed an injunction on Nickelsville's behalf, and the City has agreed to hold off on sweeping Nickelsville until after the court hearing Monday morning.

I was not at the legal meeting this afternoon, between NJP and Nickelsville, so I don't know what arguments they are actually using. From my own experience (not as a lawyer, but as a party involved in some relevant court cases) these are the arguments I think could be used:

1. The showdown between UIATF and the City over the People's Lodge established that, as Bernie Whitebear stated at the time, "We have the development and the administrative authority over our property."
   
   
2. The King County Court decision in 2001 that the City of Seattle has been wrong in denying a permit for El Centro de la Raza to host Tent City 3 established that a homeless encampment does not automatically violate land use codes.
   
   
3. A) Churches have the constitutional right to host homeless shelters or encampments on their property, and local governments have only the authority to establish reasonable health and safety standards for those uses. This has been well-established in court.
   B) Surely Native Americans have an equal right on their property.

We'll all find out on Monday morning. Stay tuned...

Nickelsville now on tribal land inside Discovery Park

Nickelsville has moved to tribal land! 75 tents are now up in Discovery Park, beside Daybreak Star Cultural Center on land that belongs to the United Indians of All Tribes.

Nickels was threatening to fine the state $150 a day for violation of land use codes if they allowed us to stay any longer on state land. Now that we are on Indian land, will he threaten the United Indians of All Tribes, or the federal government? Stay tuned...

Personally, I've had a sore throat/chest cold since Saturday, so I haven't camped out in the parking lot yet. I was out at the parking-lot site briefly today, then went back home to bed.

Seattle Raging Grannies had been planning to do a performance down at Nickelsville tonight, and I'd printed up song sheets; then we decided that the Nickelodeons seemed busy, and it might be best to come back after they were settled in the new site. Since I wasn't able to speak more than two sentences without my throat seizing up, I was actually relieved that I didn't have to sing. I gave out the song sheets to Nickelodeons, I'll print up more later.

I got up a couple hours ago; the news started posting to Google about 11. I have a WHEEL meeting at 10 AM; I'll find out more then.

read more | digg story

'Nickelsville' camp continues defiance of city's deadline

From the news: 'Organizers and residents of the homeless encampment dubbed "Nickelsville" in a jab at Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels are ignoring the city's order to pack up move and have begun constructing a wooden shantytown.' We're standing! Come and join us!

read more | digg story

Aimee Curl gets to say "Nickelsville is Here!"

Aimee Curl of the Seattle Weekly, who has been covering the planning stages of the Nickelsville homeless encampment, posts video of the setup Monday.

read more | digg story

Homeless people create 'Nickelsville' in Seattle

The next Nickelsville coverage is in the Seattle Times. With 2600 more homeless people than shelters, Mayor Greg Nickels still tears down homeless encampments. He ordered Nickelodeons to pack up their pink tents and vacate the property; they voted unanimously to stand their ground. "People here, working together, can help each other," a resident said.

read more | digg story

'Nickelsville' homeless camp springs up in South Seattle

I have, as usual, been too busy to post; I am catching up today before heading back out to Nickelsville. The first media story I found was from Northwest Cable News; it includes video. From the text: "Pink may not be the usual color people associate with homelessness, but the new camp is made up of 155 pink tents. They were erected around 4 a.m. Monday, and the people who hope to make this a long term homeless encampment say they don't care about the color as long as the tents keep them warm and safe."

read more | digg story

I'm off to Nickelsville!

Nickelsville, the Seattle shantytown for homeless people who have no other shelter, is going up NOW. For more about it, see Nickelsville on the web. I'll check in with updates when I can.