This article is from the twice monthly newspaper, News From Indian
Country. It is published by Indian Country Communications, Inc.
with offices at Rt.2 Box 2900A, Hayward, WI 54843. They may be
contacted by calling (715) 634-5226; FAX (715) 634-3243.
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Late Sept. 1993
Parliament's chair nullifies "Vision" as delegates leave
By Valerie Taliman [taliman@shadow.scs.unr.edu]
Chicago - (ICC) As more than 7,500 spiritual leaders and
participants from around the globe convened at the Parliament of
World Religions, Native people -- as the first peoples of this
continent -- welcomed them and established a distinct presence
during the nine-day gathering.
At the opening ceremonies, before a crowd of thousands, Native
American elders and medicine men offered prayers in their native
languages. Alfred and Alice Yazzie of the Navajo Nation, Thomas
Banyacya of the Hopi Nation, Thomas Yellowtail and Burton Pretty On
Top of the Crow Nation, and Ernest Pidgeon of the Potowatomie
Nation jointly offered a blessing for the four directions and the
center.
Thomas Banyacya of the Hopi Nation spoke briefly after the
prayers telling religious leaders, "It's about time that all
directions think of the Earth as a Mother, a powerful living being.
Many wrong things have been done to this Mother Earth and all the
recent flooding is a message from the Father above telling us we are
not doing something right."
The need to appreciate and respect Native spiritual beliefs was
the focus of many of the workshops by the 55-member Native
delegation.
The Native delegation caucused for several hours each evening to
develop a "Declaration of Vision" that was presented to the general
assembly on the last day of the gathering calling on the world's
religions to support Native peoples' struggles. Only one person
voted against the resolution.
However, Dr. David Ramage, Jr., Chairman of the Council
Parliament, later overruled the vote and questioned the accuracy of
one section of the declaration which attributes the deaths of
millions of indigenous people to the Inter Cetera Bull, a papal
doctrine which labeled Native people as "heathens" and called for
the Christian Empire to take dominion over Native lands.
On Sunday, September 5th, at a post parliament meeting, the
organizers ruled that all resolutions passed at the session had no
standing, since the assembly was intended "only to exchange
insights, not take groups actions."
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DECLARATION OF VISION
Toward the Next 500 Years from the gathering of the 1993 United
Indigenous Peoples at the Parliament of World's Religions Chicago,
Illinois. 1993
We as Indigenous Peoples and Native Nations, honoring our
ancestors and our future generations, do hereby declare our present
and continuing survival within our sacred homelands in the Western
Hemisphere.
Since time immemorial, we have lived in a spiritual way in
keeping with our sacred laws, principles and values given to us by
the Creator. Our ways of life are based on respect for Mother
Earth, a sacred regard for all relations and the survival of our
languages, cultures and traditions.
In the "Year of the Indigenous Peoples", while the United Nations
Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is still
being prepared, we ask for solidarity in our cause from the
religions of the world.
We call upon the people of conscience in the Roman Catholic
hierarchy to persuade Pope John Paul II to formally revoke the
Inter Cetera Bull of May 4, 1492, which will restore our
fundamental rights. That Papal document called for our Nations
and Peoples to be subjugated so that the Christian Empire and its
doctrines be propagated. The United States Supreme Court ruling,
Johnson vs. McIntosh 8 Wheat 543 (1843), has adopted the same
principle of subjugation expressed in the Inter Cetera Bull. This
Papal Bull has been, and continues to be, devastating to our
religions, our cultures, and the survival of our populations. Since
1492, 85% of our 145,000,000 in population has been decimated by
the effect of the Papal Bull!
We call upon the People of conscience in the many other
organized religions whose historical actions have participated
in the dehumanization of our Indigenous Nations, to help us put
an end to the violation of our Peoples human rights.
We call for an end to the deafening silence of religious
denominations and groups regarding the violations of our
peoples' rights, because this silence implies complicity
and tolerance of the effects.
One hundred years ago, during the 1893 Parliament of World
Religions, the profoundly religious Original Peoples of the Western
Hemisphere were not invited. We are still here and still struggling
to be heard for the sake of our Mother Earth and our children. Our
spiritual and physical survival continues to be threatened all over
the hemisphere, we feel compelled to ask you to join us in
restoring the balances of humanity and Mother Earth in these ways:
A. Acknowledgement of the myriad of messengers of the Creator,
the Great Mystery, to the peoples of the Western Hemisphere.
B. Support in promoting, preserving and maintaining our
Indigenous languages and cultures.
C. Involvement in the world outcry against the continuing
genocide of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, by taking
direct action in support of the International Conventions
prohibiting genocide in their various countries.
D. Protection and return of the sacred sites and traditional
lands of the Indigenous Peoples.
E. Reversal of the environmental degradation that endangers
our traditional lifeways and threatens our very existence.
F. Repatriation of our ancestors and sacred objects from the
museums and holdings of the world.
WITH RESPECT FOR ALL LIFE, WE THANK YOU.
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"When we walk upon Mother Earth, we always plant our feet carefully
because we know the faces of our future generations are looking
up at us from beneath the ground. We never forget them."
-Oren Lyons, Onondaga Nation
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milo@scicom.alphacdc.com Michele Lord Alpha Institute
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