January 21, 2008 by Jay Taber.

I remember the shocking real-time film from the siege of Sarajevo, as well as the attendant world outrage that led to UN and NATO engagement with Serbia. Reading yesterday’s post by Palestinian Red Crescent physician Mona El-Farra about the siege of Gaza by the State of Israel, I couldn’t help comparing the senseless brutality of ethnic cleansing in the two countries. As Dr. El-Farra observes, the collective punishment of denying food, water, medicine, and electricity to 1.5 million civilians does not create an atmosphere for constructive negotiation.

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January 11, 2008 by Rudolph Ryser.

US Senator Barack Obama is a student of political science, international relations and American law. He is a leading candidate for the presidency of the United States of America and he is the son of Barack Obama, Sr., of the Luo tribe in western Kenya. What will President Obama’s American Indian Policy be when he announces it in the Fall of 2009? What will President Obama’s policy be toward other Fourth World nations in the world…including those presently being shot and bombed in Iraq, Iran, Colombia, the Philippines and in Indonesia? In less than a year we will know how a Luo President of the United States handles nations in the Fourth World.

Senator Obama traveled with his wife Michelle and two daughters in 2006 to Kisumu, the port city of more than 300 thousand in Kenya on the eastern shores of Lake Alexandria to visit his father’s village to encourage AIDS prevention and to learn more about his family and the Luo tribe. Nyangoma Kogelo, Obama’s ancestral village, turned out to welcome the symbolic return of a native son. He has begun the task of rediscovering his Luo roots. He is coming to grips with a Fourth World reality that courses through his veins. He has a reality that may well serve all the people in the world to open mutual and beneficial communications of different peoples.

On President Obama’s list of Fourth World policies will be Climate Change and the significant role Fourth World nations must play in the negotiations of what will be called the Copenhagen Protocol.  Self-Government of Fourth World nations will be a prominent issue that not only concerns nations inside the  United States, but in Canada, Taiwan, subSaharan Africa, South America and of course Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Palestine.

President Obama will need to tune his Fourth World antennas very soon. The agenda may overtake him. Since many of the major issues facing Mr. Obama are rooted in Fourth World nations like the Luo, he will have to act swiftly to become familiar with the complexities of Fourth World Geopolitics.

A Luo may well become the President of the United States.  He will have a special duty to the world to bring clarity and focus to US Indian Policy and its Fourth World policies elsewhere in the world. The world deserves a president who will recognize the powerful realities in small places that affect peace and security for us all.

(c) 2008 Center for World Indigenous Studies

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December 31, 2007 by Jay Taber.

I’m only half way through A Quiet Revolution by Mary Elizabeth King, but I can already say that her analysis of the first Palestinian intifada, as well as her detailed documentation of the use of nonviolent resistance by the indigenous residents of the annexed and occupied territories over the last century of conflict with the Zionists, is unequivocally the most useful discussion of strategic opposition that I have read in a long time. For Americans, unaccustomed to thinking in the intergenerational time frames usually necessary for achieving independence — not to mention the requisite investment in the social infrastructure of ideas — King’s contribution to comprehending the arts of community-based political science is a most welcome addition to our sadly thin pool of knowledge. I look forward to adding it to our list of classic texts on communication for change.

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December 16, 2007 by Rudolph Ryser.

The battle between the “haves” and the “havenots” has been joined as Bolivia begins to consider fundamental changes in that country’s constitution. Originally designed to disenfranchise the majority indigenous populations and confirm power in the hands of the fewer descendants of conquistadors and immigrant settlers the present Constitution leaves the majority of Bolivia’s population on the outside of Bolivia. When the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on 13 September this year one question immediately emerged: how will the Declaration be implemented and where will the opposition come from in the world’s the states that voted favorably? We are seeing in Bolivia what will occur throughout the world as pressures begin to build in favor of implementing the Declaration.

Power and wealth are at the center of the growing confrontation between realizing the promises of the Declaration and preserving privilege among those who benefit from taking land, labor, living abundance and knowledge originally used and possessed by indigenous peoples. In Bolivia, the Aymara, Quechua and other indigenous peoples have long suffered as a result of the privileged using the government to confiscate indigenous peoples’ wealth. President Evo Morales and his supporters have advanced a new Bolivian Constitution that will redress the balance between the privileged few and the majority population.

The new constitution would recognize the right of self-government in the indigenous communities among other things.  The power elites of four Bolivian Departments reject this fundamental right and seek to expand departmental powers to control tax revenues, land titles and security forces.  The five other departments have not joined the wealthiest.  Notice that land, revenue and security forces are at the center of the power elites’ concerns.  Indian peoples want to reclaim lands taken from them, maintain revenues coming from those lands for the benefit of all of the people and security that is used to enforce the laws and not become a club of violence used against indigenous peoples.

Indigenous peoples in countries the world over are pressing more vigorously for self-government and self-determination since the adoption of the Indigenous Peoples Declaration. In Taiwan, England, Spain, United States, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Belgium, and many other states, indigenous peoples seek a peaceful transformation of their lives to become fully self-determining peoples. Bolivia’s President Morales is moving to redress the balance between the “haves” and the “havenots”–to give meaning to the promise of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

(c) 2007 Center for World Indigenous Studies

Technorati Tags: Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Bolivia, self-determination

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December 9, 2007 by Rudolph Ryser.

It is often said that progress is inevitable and that things will always get better as a result of progress. In recent years my own observation, as I am sure that of many millions of others, is that this idea of progress isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. Nothing is actually inevitable, least of all progress.  Change certainly seems constant, but even change has its limits.

I went into a large Costco/Sams Club/Target type mass sales store the other day. I tried to buy a bed with a base and found it almost impossible to achieve.  The workers were over stressed. The scheduling for shipping was too complicated. The people in charge seemed to be uncertain about who was in charge and what would happen if a mistake was made.  I tried for two hours to buy the bed.  In the end I didn’t buy the bed or the base. No one seemed willing to make the final purchase possible.

On the other hand, I had a quite old cedar chest I wanted to have repaired and refinished.  I traveled five minutes to a small nearby town where I had been told there was a “carpenter” who would take care of this project. I met with the craftsman–his name is Cayetano, made an agreement for him to pick up the older cedar chest and agreed to the date (four days later) when he would complete the project and return a newly refinished and repaired cedar chest. A day earlier than agreed my craftsman returned with a beautifully restored sixty-year old chest with a new key to replace the lost one so it would lock again.

The difference between the mass store experience and the single craftsman was so striking that I couldn’t contain my sense of pleasure to find the convenience of a small shop with a skilled craftsman who responds to a simple agreement. There is no doubt that “progress” bites back and the mass retail store is a great example of this assault on our human sensibilities. Thanks to the world that contains diverse populations with human one-to-one transactions where the owner like Cayetano is the maker and the customer service person all in one. Service with a smile and high quality too.

(c) 2007 Center for World Indigenous Studies

Technorati Tags: progress, local, accessible

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October 4, 2007 by Jay Taber.

If the fabric of global society is analogous to a constantly shifting patchwork of cognitive relationships between tribes, institutions, markets and networks, then the fabric of each component of this weaving of narratives is comprised of the beliefs, opinions and views of the individuals interacting with each of these basic forms of human organization. As such, our foundational psychic identities, comprising ethnic or tribal origins and their cosmologies, are the sole authentic basis of determining who we are.

This is not to say that other, superficial identities, like race or religion, cannot exert powerful influences on our thoughts, words and deeds, but merely to point out that these identities – unlike our cultural heritage from original nations – are transitory. Much like ephemeral state boundaries arbitrarily overlaid on ancient lands and territories, coerced identities associated with modern states are transferable, even when underlying cultural characteristics remain.

Given the degree of disconnection today from our cultural and geographic roots, indeed from historical awareness, the voluntary and coerced identities we assume are largely superficial. But this doesn’t mean they are unimportant, only that they are more tenuous and vulnerable to subversion by dominant social ideologies. With few opportunities to find genuinely supportive social structures and organizations, most of us are left to fend for ourselves in creating an identity that both suits our needs and our understanding.

Absent the connectivity that defines relationships at a tribal or aboriginal level, we are faced with crafting a persona that blends and distinguishes what Manuel Castells calls the legitimizing identities of institutions, the project identities of reform, and the resistance identities of excluded peoples, depending on our view of history. Economic and political affiliations, of course, play a role in forming these views, but even they can be transcended by strong, determined individuals whose identities are supported by authentic philosophies and organized networks.

Fulfilling our various duties and responsibilities within this often frantic construct requires that we seek an identity we can live with; otherwise, when tested by the turbulence of social conflict, it will assuredly unravel.

(Jay Taber — recipient of the Defender of Democracy award — is an author, columnist, and research analyst at Public Good Project.)

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September 28, 2007 by Jay Taber.

My friend Paul de Armond once remarked that it seemed life in America was like a giant broken record in the sky that kept playing the same segment of a song he never really liked.

At the time he made this observation, Paul and I were up to our necks in sorting out the anti-Indian vigilantes from the run-of-the-mill bigots and real estate opportunists who inhabit the waterfront Indian reservations on Puget Sound. Our immediate task was trying to prevent lethal violence over treaty rights and environmental protection. As time went on, we discovered (with the help and guidance of people like Rudolph Ryser, Daniel Junas, and Tarso Luis Ramos) the anti-Indian movement to be a multi-tiered interlocking network of politicians, trade and industry executives, and white supremacy demagogues.

Reading in the news this week about a spokeswoman for one of the national anti-Indian associations based in Washington state, I was reminded how the anti-Indian movement manages to recycle its anti-sovereignty propaganda time and time again as new issues crop up in Congress, corporate board rooms, or racist rendezvous. I was also reminded how the racist rhetoric always seems new to young journalists, activists, and social scholars. It’s as though there is no institutional memory in our country, no community voice to supplant this broken record.

Rudolph, Paul, and I wrote about this phenomenon, as did Daniel and Tarso. Anti-Indian Movement on the Tribal Frontier is the classic text on the topic.
Wise Use in Northern Puget Sound is available online as is Reign of Terror. Yet despite the documentation of how anti-Indian bigotry is systematically organized, funded, and conducted, mainstream media shows little improvement in its understanding or historical consciousness. Perhaps they just don’t care.

Whatever the reasons for this widespread neglect of our collective memory, which might act as a community safeguard were it properly exercised and maintained, two obvious remedies to this sad situation are for humanitarian philanthropies to consistently fund archival repositories and indigenous media. Research and education rely on them, and curating knowledge is no less demanding a task than preserving more tangible artifacts used to help us comprehend where we’ve been and where we’re going. Haphazard, erratic support only guarantees that the anti-Indian movement will be able to continue exploiting public ignorance and forgetfulness.

Maybe the problem is in how philanthropies conceive social conflict, organization, and evolution. If they have no sense of continuity, then short-term campaigns and intermittent events make sense. Unfortunately, history betrays that notion.

(Jay Taber — recipient of the Defender of Democracy award — is an author, columnist, and research analyst at Public Good Project.)

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September 26, 2007 by Rudolph Ryser.

Bolivian president Evo Morales, an Aymaran, spoke before the United Nations General Assembly as a head of state. Before speaking Morales met with Haudenosaunee, Oglala Lakota and Cree leaders at a U.N. Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues hosted meeting requested by President Morales. The meeting of Bolivia’s president with Fourth World nation leaders in New York City came within days after the U.N. General Assembly approved the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Assembly of First Nations and the National Congress of American Indians scheduled and convened an international assembly in 1999 to sign a co-operation agreement to “confront common issues such as treaties and protecting native lands from government intrusions.” These rapid-fire events suggest a new effort to internationalize Indian Rights.

An international agreement concluded in August 2007 by nations in Canada’s British Columbia and the USA’s Washington State will establish an international alliance called a United League of Indigenous Nations initialed by representatives from eleven nations. This agreement is aimed at mutual assistance and cooperation particularly in connections with cultural property, trade and treaty rights.

Agreements between Fourth World nations are not new, but the recent events suggest a renewed interest in international cooperation and collaboration. The National Congress of American Indians and the National Indian Brotherhood (predecessor to the Assembly of First Nations) concluded agreements of cooperation in 1971 leading to the eventual formation of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples in 1977. A similar effort had been undertaken earlier to form the International Indian Treaty Council and the Inuits formed another international body called the Inuit Circumpolar Conference.

Notable alliances between Fourth World nations that have endured include the All Indian Pueblo Council and the Haudenosaunee. Treaties and agreements have been struck for mutual support as well as common defense.

The greatest difficulty experienced by Fourth World nations has been sustaining and enforcing treaty agreements. Indian nations in the United States concluded more than 450 treaties with the United States government from 1620 up to the present. The United States has violated virtually all of them. There has been no serious effort at enforcement except occasional appeals to the US court system. Indian nations in Canada have experienced the same pattern of treaty relations with that government. In Mexico, agreements made between Indian nations and the Spanish Crown have frequently been violated and commitments made by the Mexican governments have too often been violated (consider the 1994 repeal of the ejido system of land tenure first established in the Constitution in 1934 that was to guarantee land rights to Indian peoples).

Agreements struck between Fourth World nations have suffered a fate similar to those concluded with Canada, Mexico and the US. Not long after agreements have been made, limited resources, uncertainty about leadership tenure and complicated issue schedules have combined to undermine inter-nation agreements.

International agreements involving Fourth World nations, to be effective, must be specific, contain provisions for successive political administrations, include provisions for enforcement and must be guaranteed by an external party. Without such conditions having been met, Fourth World international agreements will fail to protect and advance the rights of Indian peoples. Such agreements can and will constitute a new body of law in the international arena if and only if Fourth World nations take the initiative todefend and promote such agreements with strict conditions.

President Morales can do more by offering to have Bolivia serve as an external guarantor for Fourth World treaties and agreements. If Bolivia played such a role, then internationalizing Indian Rights will be fully achieved. If Morales can hold onto his seat as President, there is a possibility that this new dimension of international relations can be achieved.

(c) 2007 Center for World Indigenous Studies

Technorati Tags: international, agreements, treaty, Morales, NCAI

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August 19, 2007 by Jay Taber.

In this 2005 Mother Jones article by Julia Whitty, we meet Blackfeet Nation banker Elouise Pepion Cobell, who has made it her mission in life to recover the $176 billion of Indian trust fund money lost, looted, and mismanaged by the U.S. government. 40 years into her battle with the Department of Interior, this great-granddaughter of the legendary Blackfeet warrior Mountain Chief, is closing in on what federal judge Lamberth termed, “an utterly depraved bureaucracy withholding payments from people struggling to survive.”

The Blackfeet, a quarter of whom died in the 1883 Winter of Starvation and were buried in mass graves by U.S. soldiers, have endured much. As Elouise Cobell put it, “I’m fighting for them, fighting the same government that tried to get rid of this entire race of people.”

Today, as Congress and the White House try to weasel out of this obligation, claiming the United States of America cannot afford to pay the money back, we are heartened that Ms. Cobell is still on the warpath. As she notes, “It’s not your money and never was.”

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August 17, 2007 by Jay Taber.

As an American, I think indigenous identity is something diasporaed Europeans are still getting a handle on, and it seems to help to communicate with our still-rooted relations on the peninsula and islands even if we haven’t managed to travel there in person. Having had the good fortune to do so, though, I find it comforting to know that there is a place where we, too, have long histories, cultures, and tangible evidence that our pre-industrial ancestors developed an appreciation for the sacred comparable to the indigenous of this continent where we are still getting a feel for things.

This morning I looked at old photos of Penzance where we stayed for a week seven years ago, recalling our ensuite accommodation above the Dock Inn pub where we spent evenings with our Cornish hosts listening to local musicians play around the fireplace overlooking the harbor, and read about the Barbary pirates who once raided this remote outpost that provided Gilbert and Sullivan with a theme for one of their plays. And I remembered sailing on Mount’s Bay on a fine summer day with a crew of sailors from the inn that we suspected were perhaps descendants of pirates, smugglers, and creative salvagers, but were now content to entertain tourists with local tales and standing stones in pastures nearby.

In times of social upheaval, it is good to know there is a place where you still belong.

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