from An Phoblacht/Republican News
news and views of the Irish Republican movement-Sinn Fein
May 4, 1995
Native Americans - nations in struggle for survival
VERNON BELLECOURT, a member of the Chippewa tribe of the Lakota nation, has
been a political activist and spokesperson for Native Americans for over 25
years. A founding member of the American Indian Movement, Vernon, whose
Indian name WaBun-Inini means Man of Dawn, has been a principle leader in
actions ranging from the 1972 occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in
Washington to the Redskin Superbowl demonstrations of 1992.
During a fact-finding mission to Ireland which included attending Sinn Fein's
Ard Fheis, Vernon Bellecourt spoke to AP/RN about some of the many struggles
facing his people and their affinity with the struggle against British
oppression in Ireland.
Vernon: Let me begin by saying that, we, of the oppressed indigenous nations
of the Americas, are here in your sacred lands to support your quest for
peace. Wouldn't it be wonderful for the Irish people if after centuries of
struggle against foreign domination, if peace were to break out throughout
Ireland.
Perhaps the easiest way to illustrate the many ways in which the struggle of
the Irish people and that of Native Americans inter-twine is to share with
you the words of Oglala Lakota man Birgil Kills Straight as he outlines
''What is the American Indian Movement?'' You have only to substitute the
words the American Indian Movement with the Irish Republican Movement to draw
out the parallels.
Things will never be the same again and that is what the American Indian
Movement (AIM) is all about. They are respected by many, hated by some, but
they are never ignored. They are the catalyst for Indian sovereignty. From
the outset AIM people are tough people, they had to be. AIM was born out of
the dark violence of police brutality and the voiceless despair of Indian
people in the courts of Minneapolis, Minnesota. AIM people have known the
insides of jails. The American Indian Movement is then, the Warrior class of
this century, who are bound to the bond of the Drum, who vote with their
bodies instead of their mouths, their business is hope.
AP/RN: Irish republicans, particularly in the 1980s when British crown forces
launched a series of attacks on funerals, have fought long and hard for the
right to bury their dead in peace with dignity. At a time when republicans
are challenging the British government's refusal to release the body of
hanged IRA Volunteer Tom Williams, could you outline the continuing struggle
of Native Americans against the plunder of traditional burial grounds and
the campaign for the return and reburial of your ancestors?
Vernon: In the 1970s we first raised this very vital issue with the American
government and the American people who literally had tens of thousands of
skeletal remains of our patriots and martyrs in various universities,
anthropological centres and museums. To take just one example, the
Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC had over 20,000 Native American skulls
in their vaults.
Not only had our graves and sacred shrines been raided by the scientific
community for decades but in other cases the bodies of our martyrs were
never released for burial. In the late 19th Century, Charles Mayo, an
eminent American doctor to which the famous Mayo Clinic owes its name,
boiled the flesh from the bodies of 38 Lakota patriots, who had been executed
in a mass hanging in Mankato, Minnesota, to use their remains for medical
research.
In addition, artifact hunters, even today, raid the burial grounds of our
ancestors to profit from the lucrative trade in traditional funeral pots
and other sacred objects. Following a series of protests, AIM recently
succeeded in securing federal legislation. The Native American Grave
Protection and Repatriation Act has not only outlawed the practice of grave
robbing but also enables the return and reburial of all remains to the
indigenous nations from which they were stolen.
For these reasons AIM would fully support the Republican Movement's campaign
to repatriate the remains of Irish patriot Tom Williams. I was in court
during the recent hearing of the Williams' case in Belfast. As I witnessed
the proceedings, I had to question, at a time when great efforts towards
peace and reconciliation were underway, why those in positions of power and
authority don't simply do the humane and correct thing and release Tom
Williams' remains.
AP/RN: Recently during a match between England and Ireland, Dublin's
Lansdowne Road football grounds witnessed an out burst of anti-Irish racism
when a group of English fans attacked the crowd and chanted racist abuse.
Native Americans are not only subjected to this kind of racist abuse but
more fundamentally institutionalised racism within sport itself. As
chairperson of the National Coalition on Racism in Sport and Media, could
you outline the challenges facing Native Americans on this issue?
Vernon: AIM sees the Washington Redskins, the Atlanta Braves basketball teams,
Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Indians baseball teams with their grinning
buck-toothed mascot Chief Wahoo as demeaning the beautiful culture of the
indigenous nations of the Americas. We are a living people with a vibrant
culture and we refuse to have our identity trivialised and degraded. Indians
are people, not mascots for America's fun and games.
Of course the same is true of Hollywood films. In the past we had Chuck
Conners and Michael Ansara, who are not of our indigenous community, playing
the leading role in Geronomo and we've had Jay Silverheels playing Tonto to
the White hero the Lone Ranger. Today we have Graham Green, and former AIM
member Russell Means, but essentially we're getting the same old movies. Of
course we will not have our story told accurately until we have our own Spike
Lees, our own film makers and screen writers.
AP/RN: As Program Developer for the Heart of the Earth Survival School, what
importance would you attach to the teaching of native language and culture?.
Vernon: For centuries our people have been the victims of spiritual, cultural
and physical genocide at the hands of the American imperialist and their
settler regimes. AIM recognised the need very early on to start our own
schools where we teach our own culture, language, music and art. These Heart
of the Earth Survival schools have become a model that others have followed.
In 1989 a delegation of our students, spiritual leaders and artists first
witnessed the important work of Belfast's first Irish medium school, Bunscoil
Beal Feirste. In 1990 I also visited the bunscoil. Last week I became
reacquainted with many of the children I met during by first visit five years
ago, when I visited the Irish Meanscoil on the Falls Road.
Of course it is totally outrageous of the British government to refuse
funding for the Meanscoil, but it is not surprising. The centre of a human
being and the foundation of a nation is underpinned by their culture and
language. The supression of indigenous cultures has always been an intregral
part of imperialist conquest and domination.
Quotes from Vernon Bellecourt
Things will never be the same again and that is what the American Indian
Movement is all about. They are respected by many, hated by some, but they
are never ignored.
The centre of a human being and the foundation of a nation is underpinned by
their culture and language.
_________________________
in North America subscribe to:
An Phoblacht/Republican News
c/o HomeFront Library
363 Seventh Ave
Suite 405
New York, NY 10001
tel: 212-736-1916
sub: $100.00 per year
___________________________
posted in:
IRL-NEWS
to subscribe, send message:
<subscribe irl-news your name>
send to:
<listserv@rutvm1.rutgers.edu>