from the Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM)
MIM Notes, Issue 69: October, 1992
Indigenous Nations Strive Toward Greater Unity
by MC251
October 12, 1992 marks 500 years since the start of the European
invasion of this hemisphere. The imperialist governments of Europe
and the colonial settler governments on this continent are pouring
millions of dollars and much hype into celebrations on this happy
date for oppressor nations.
Because of this, representatives from indigenous nations have
begun organizing at an unprecedented level to oppose the
celebration of the genocide of their nations and peoples. This
fledgling unity among indigenous nations of the hemisphere has
resulted in two hemispheric conferences of indigenous peoples, one
in Ecuador and one in Guatemala last year. According to Chief
Billy Tayac of the Piscataway Nation, this is the first time in
history that representatives of indigenous nations throughout the
hemisphere have met to coordinate resistance to colonial settler
domination.
Within Amerika, a new organization has formed to promote this
unity among indigenous nations, called the League of Indigenous
Sovereign Nations (LISN). According to LISN spokesperson
Dacajewiah, "the long range objective of the League is to
establish a hemispheric congress to develop a constitution wherein
the traditional people of all native lands and native nations
would govern ourselves according to our original forms of
government -- our own social, economic and political ways."(1)
MIM shares the analysis with LISN that indigenous people are not
Amerikan citizens, but belong to independent indigenous nations
with the right to self-determination. To MIM, this insight is
fundamental to properly understanding the struggle of indigenous
peoples.
To achieve true liberation, indigenous people don't need a few
civil rights or charity programs from the same Amerikan settlers
that have oppressed them for 500 years. Indigenous nations suffer
oppression from the colonial settler Amerikan nation, which was
built through the conquest of entire indigenous populations.
MIM also sees that it is not just the Amerikan ruling elites which
benefits from their oppression of indigenous nations. Rather,
throughout the history of Amerika, it has been the vast majority
of Amerikan citizens, often led by the white working class, who
have vehemently fought to run indigenous nations out of existence
with the building of the vast Amerikan settler empire. [For a
thorough historical account of the making of Amerika, order
_Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat_ by J. Sakai,
available from MIM for $10]
>From the understanding that indigenous people are oppressed
nations comes the understanding that to achieve liberation, there
needs to be a struggle for national liberation. LISN appears to
recognize this; in an interview, Chief Tayac of the Piscataway
Nation expressed agreement with MIM's line that the principal
contradiction in the world today is between oppressor and
oppressed nations.
Another LISN spokesperson, Dacajewiah, refers to their struggle as
one, "to maintain our land. It is a struggle to maintain control
and to redevelop our means of economic self-sufficiency."(2) He
also refers to their struggle as one against" the international
and domestic domination by the U.S. imperialist corporate
structure," and he calls on indigenous peoples to "unite ourselves
and identify the nature of U.S. colonialism as it affects the
indigenous nations throughout the hemisphere and support the right
of indigenous people to resist the decimation of their lands."(1)
MIM has a high level of unity with these statements. They
recognize Amerikan imperialism inside and outside Amerika's
borders. They identify land and territory as central to the
struggle for national liberation, and call for economic
self-sufficiency.
LISN is attempting to gain a voting seat in the United Nations as
its main campaign. Currently, the International Indian Treaty
Council is granted Non-Governmental Organization status by the
U.N., but indigenous people have no voting seat. LISN believes
that the struggle against U.S. imperialism for the liberation of
indigenous nations will be better served by an indigenous vote in
the U.N. General Assembly.
U.N.: "Voice of mankind" or prop of imperialism?
MIM supports LISN's long-range goals of getting rid of the
neo-colonial tribal councils governing reservations, and of
creating economic and political self-sufficiency for indigenous
nations. However, the short-term goal of trying to get a voting
seat in the U.N. is inconsistent with these long-term goals.
MIM differs with LISN over the basic nature of the U.N. as an
institution. Underlying LISN's goal of representation in the U.N.
is the idea that the U.N. is an impartial international body not
inherently dominated by imperialist interests. Chief Tayac says as
much: "Every race of people in the world, regardless of who they
are -- black, white and yellow, have a voice in mankind. We don't.
We don't have any voice in mankind whatsoever . We want a voice
and we want a vote."
But does a voting seat in the U.N. General Assembly equal a voice
in humanity? Is it the source of indigenous national sovereignty?
MIM says no. After the Gulf War in 1991 it should be painfully
clear that the U.N. serves as an international prop for
imperialist interests. For the U.N. to maintain any credibility,
oppressed nations are allowed to speak out a little bit.
Occasionally resolutions are passed condemning various abuses by
imperialist countries. But even in these cases, the United States
can just ignore the U.N. and do what it wants anyway, as it did in
Nicaragua during the 1980s even after the U.S. counterinsurgency
there was condemned by the U.N. World Court. The U.N. is a body
that imperialist nations can rely on to give credibility to their
international maneuvers. It is not a body that oppressed nations
can count on to help end imperialism and bring liberation. To try
to convince people otherwise by lobbying to be allowed into the
U.N. is just leading people down a dead-end road.
While MIM believes that indigenous nations can do much better than
gaining one seat in the U.N., we support LISN's goals of
self-determination and greater unity in struggle against
imperialism among indigenous peoples. MIM supports LISN's call for
liberation for indigenous nations, and looks forward to seeing
revolutionary strategies to achieve that liberation rather than
attempts to be let into an imperialist-controlled institution.
Notes: Washington Peace Letter 9/92, p. 5.
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