Shadow Report: “Indian Reservation Apartheid”

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

…human rights violations and an institutionalized racism against indigenous peoples is alive and thriving in the United States…

Consolidated Indigenous Shadow Report

III. Indian Reservation Apartheid

“Apartheid” is certainly a strong word. And certainly, there are recognized tribes in the U.S. that are now achieving certain levels of relative prosperity primarily due to federal law allowing them to operate casinos, But the data contained in this section as well as others in this report (see, e.g., Violence Against Women, The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health) reflect what only can be described as a system of Apartheid on many Indian Reservations, where Indigenous people are warehoused in poverty and neglect. By purpose or effect, their only option is forced assimilation, the abandonment of their land, families, language and cultures in search of a better life.

The Shadow Report Outlines the following: critical things the U.S. Periodic Report omitted that were supposed to have been reported to the Human Rights Committee; Un – recognized Indigenous Peoples of which “many have waited decades” for recognition; the “Indian Reservation Apartheid;” the “Life Expectancy on the Indian Reservation” with its “high rate of infant mortality, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease;” poverty and unemployment, overall problems with justice;  “Racially Discriminatory Constitutional Foundations;” religious freedom as it relates to access to sacred lands; “Environmental Racism and  its effects on Indigenous Human Rights,” that “you cannot damage the land without damaging those who live upon it;” “The Denial of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the Political, Economic, Social, Cultural, or any Other Field of Public Life;”  “Racist Science and the Collective Right of Free, Prior and Informed Consent;” “Articles 6 and 7,” which mention the devastation of Indian Boarding Schools and “Racist Sports Mascots and Logos;” and finally, “The United States and its Transnational Companies and Violations of the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples Abroad.”

To begin with, let’s give an example of  this: “But the data contained in this section as well as others in this report (see, e.g., Violence Against Women, The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health) reflect what only be described as a system of Apartheid on many Indian Reservations, where Indigenous people are warehoused in poverty and neglect.”

McCain (was) Instrumental in Removing Dine(h)-Navajo Tribe

A public research website: http://www.cain2008.org has brought together diverse historical elements of factual proof that Senator John McCain’s was the key “point man” introducing, enacting and enforcing law that removed Dineh-Navajo Families from their reservation on the Black Mesa in Arizona.

No wonder the U.S. Periodic Report omitted critical things that were supposed to have been reported to the Human Rights Committee.

How long is a tribe supposed to wait for federal recognition while keeping in mind the “Life Expectancy on the Indian Reservation,” which is “disturbingly low (by the few scattered statistics available)?” Maybe that answer is long enough for them to not be a “problem” anymore in lieu of “what only can be described as a system of Apartheid on many Indian Reservations.” Is there at least one “law” that is still being used that serves as a legal foundation for stealing and damaging sacred land with a cold heart?

 Yes, a “Racially Discriminatory Constitutional Foundation” is found in Johnson v. M’Intosh,

Source

The Doctrine of Discovery provided that by law and divine intention European Christian countries gained power and legal rights over indigenous non-Christian peoples immediately upon their “discovery” by Europeans. Various European monarchs and their legal systems developed this principle to benefit their own countries. The Discovery Doctrine was then adopted into American colonial and state law and into the United States Constitution, and was then adopted by the federal legislative and executive branches, and finally by the U.S. Supreme Court in Johnson v. M’Intosh in 1823. Johnson is still federal law today and the Doctrine of Discovery is still being applied to Indian individuals and the American Indian Nations notwithstanding its Eurocentric, religious, and racial underpinnings.

which necessarily affects religious freedom as it relates to access to sacred lands. Indeed, “you cannot damage the land without damaging those who live upon it.” I have written before that

A web of land theft in a “a new kind of Indian war” is taking place. Non Indians’ racism and genocide denial, who engage in attempting to steal tribal sovereignty through the court system, ignore an obvious question. Where would they meet to practice their religion, a white Caucasian word, if their churches were stolen, condemned, and being used to drill for oil and uranium?

Next and skipping to “Articles 6 & 7,”  “Articles 6 & 7” mention the devastation of Indian Boarding Schools and “Racist Sports Mascots and Logos,” Indian Boarding Schools weren’t the result of any “Peace Policy,” and there shouldn’t be any question about whether or “Racist Sports Mascots and Logos” are racist. Furthermore, I wrote the following not having its broader reaching implications in mind in “Dead Indian Creek” & Cultural Hegemony.

So once again, why say “Dead Warrior Creek,” when racism fuels cultural hegemony so well?

It makes stealing –

“They want the land given back to them on a platter,” Landow told FRONTLINE when he refused an on-camera interview. “They brought in innocent people like me. They’re a bunch of goddamn uneducated Indians.”

– easier.

A Norman woman challenged the name in 1997, complaining the name was too similar to a notorious saying attributed to Maj. Gen. Phillip H. Sheridan that “the only good Indian is a dead Indian.”

easy as driving down the street in your car,

or going to see the Sound of Music.

Source

Cultural hegemony is the concept that a diverse culture can be ruled or dominated by one group or class, that everyday practices and shared beliefs provide the foundation for complex systems of domination.

So as well as the “institutionalized racism against indigenous peoples is (being) alive and thriving in the United States” makes stealing here easier, it also makes stealing abroad easier as outlined in the last section of the Shadow Report entitled “The United States and its Transnational Companies and Violations of the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples Abroad.”

The last section of the Shadow Report contains the following paragraph.

In addition to being complicit the racial discrimination practiced by their trans – nationals, the United States itself practices Environmental Racism indirectly and directly affecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples abroad, These direct racist practices should be stopped.

To conclude, here’s one more element I think that needs to be thought of along with the above paragraph with some final thoughts.

I spent three years living with the indigenous people in Ecuador in the Amazon…at that time were beginning to fight the oil companies…In fact the largest environmental lawsuit in the world has just been brought by these people against Texaco, Chevron.

How To Destabalize Countries Legally .Economic Hitman Part 1

People who come in to overthrow governments and assassinate their leaders…also come out of private industry…It’s done by private consultants that are brought in to do this work (overthrow governments and assassinate their leaders)…

Finally, the next time you hear or read someone say or write something like this,

Indians mark centennial with protest march at state Capitol

To all my Indian brethren – for those who are unhappy with what the “imperialists” did to your culture – move to the panhandle, set up teepees, and hunt for your food. If that’s what you want to go back to, quit whining and protesting and JUST DO IT!

you’ll understand much more just how racist it is, unless you already knew. In either case try on this thought,

Even the most blatant bigots, when made aware of their racism, can change.

Charles R. Ridley

along with one of the greatest things I was ever taught which is – there is no defense against unconditional love.

Crossposted at Native American Netroots