Ethnocide. Master’s Commission. Palin

(noon. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Read dogemperor’s “Sarah Palin used AK tax dollars to fund dominionist churches”

Sarah Palin, who has attacked Alaska Native Languages and Alaska Tribal Sovereignty, gave a speech at the Master’s Commission on September 2nd, 2008,

Source

It has only one mission, to throw defeat in the face of the Devil and see God’s people freed.

and the Master’s Commission has a branch that Christianizes Alaskan Natives.

Source

Although the Native Reservations of the lower 48 states may be off the beaten path, these tribes are easily accessible compared to the Native tribes of bush Alaska. Forgotten? Not by God! But the reality is reaching the indigenous people of this state is very difficult and very expensive!

Let’s look at the speech and how she’s attacked Alaska Native Languages and Alaska Tribal Sovereignty after briefly looking at the history of Missionary work in Alaska. Then, we’ll look at “Palin’s Pipeline”the TransCanada gas pipeline.

Crossposted at Native American Netroots

The Master’s Commission that Palin spoke to is continuing the old practice of Christianizing Indigenous People, and more than one denomination has proselytized Alaskan Natives since 1867.

http://books.google.com/books?…

Russian missionaries remained most successful among he Aleuts, although with the sale of Alaska to the United States in 1867, the status of the church suddenly changed. Its missionaries continued to work among the Native people of Alaska even after it became a foreign land, but their influence declined in the late nineteenth century, as other denominations began proselytizing.

Intellectual snobbery has a price attached to it, and what it may cost with the Military Commissions Act as law and a Dominionist Vice President, are the peaceful yet firm measures needed to prevent that rise to power.

Palin’s Church May Have Shaped Controversial Worldview

“Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God,” she (Palin) exhorted the congregants.

Text Transcript of Sarah Palin’s Speech of June 8, 2008 at Master’s Commission of Wasilla, Alaska

…but really all of that stuff doesn’t do any good if the people of Alaska’s heart isn’t right with God. And that’s going to be your job. As I’m doing my job, let’s strike this deal, your job is to going to be to be out there reaching the people, hurting people throughout Alaska, and we can work together to make sure that God’s will be done here.

– snip –

So all you Master’s Commission students and all of your supporters…and thank you so much for dedicating your lives to Jesus Christ! Thank you!

I wonder why Palin doesn’t mention it’s the TransCanada Pipeline, but just says it’s “a natural gas pipeline.”

Alaska House approves TransCanada gas pipeline

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 22 (Reuters) – Alaska’s House of Representatives voted late on Tuesday to allow TransCanada Corp.(TRP.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to build a massive pipeline to tap the vast natural gas resources of the state’s North Slope region.

The chamber voted 24-16 in the state capital of Juneau for a bill backed by Governor Sarah Palin that would grant TransCanada a state license for a 1,700-mile (2,700 km) pipeline to bring the gas to North American markets.

– snip –

Palin, a Republican, has endorsed TransCanada’s plan to build the pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to an existing hub on the Alberta-British Columbia border, shipping 4 billion cubic feet a day. She argues the company, as an independent pipeline operator, would free the state and the North Slope from the dominance of the major oil producers there — BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), ConocoPhillips (COP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Why doesn’t she mention it’s the TransCanada Pipeline?

Alaska Natives have lost all fishing rights and all hunting rights, “Alaska Native peoples are among the only Indigenous peoples in all of North America whose Indigenous Hunting and Fishing Rights have been extinguished by federal legislation.” Remember, “But the reality is reaching the indigenous people of this state is very difficult and very expensive!” Expensive to who?

Attorneys: Gov. Palin’s record on Alaska Natives

1. Palin has attacked Alaska Native Subsistence Fishing

– snip –

2. Palin has attacked Alaska Native Subsistence Hunting

– snip –

3. Palin has attacked Alaska Tribal Sovereignty

– snip –

4. Palin has attacked Alaska Native Languages

Source PDF file p.25

Native Alaskans

– snip –

Palin opposed subsistence preference.

“When asked about hunting and fishing rights, Palin said she did not want to amend the state constitution to allow preferences for certain Alaskans. ‘I’m pro subsistence for all Alaskans,’ she said, adding that she would seek to manage resources to provide ‘abundance.'”

Source

Palin has refused to accord proper respect to Alaska Native languages and voters by refusing to provide language assistance to Yup’ik speaking Alaska Native voters. As a result, Palin was just ordered by a special three-judge panel of federal judges to provide various forms of voter assistance to Yup’ik voters residing in southwest Alaska. Nick v. Bethel, No. 3:07-cv-0098-TMB (D. Ak.) (Order entered July 30, 2008). Citing years of State neglect, Palin was ordered to provide trained poll workers who are bilingual in English and Yup’ik; sample ballots in written Yup’ik; a written Yup’ik glossary of election terms; consultation with local Tribes to ensure the accuracy of Yup’ik translations; a Yup’ik language coordinator; and pre-election and post-election reports to the court to track the State’s efforts.

Palin said, “your job is to going to be to be out there reaching the people, hurting people throughout Alaska, and we can work together to make sure that God’s will be done here.” Are we to take that to mean that Christianizing Native Alaskans, that attacking Alaska Native Subsistence Hunting, that attacking Alaska Native Languages, that attacking Alaska Tribal Sovereignty, and that attacking Alaska Native Subsistence Fishing is to have an international gas pipeline and to drill for oil? She needs to be asked who the “hurting people throughout Alaska” are that she was referring to. If it was the following, the question would be answered in the affirmative.

Headlined on 9/11/08: An Alaska Native speaks out on Palin, Oil, and Alaska

I am writing this letter to raise awareness about the ongoing colonization and violation of human rights being carried out against Alaska Native peoples in the name of unsustainable progress, with a particular emphasis on the role of Sarah Palin and the Republican leadership. My hope is that it helps to elevate truth about the nature of Alaskan politics in relation to Alaska Native peoples and that it lays a framework for our path to justice.

Ever since the Russian claim to Alaska and the subsequent sale to the United States through the Treaty of Cession in 1867, the attitude and treatment towards Alaska Native peoples has been fairly consistent. We were initially referred to as less than human “uncivilized tribes”, so we were excluded from any dialogues and decisions regarding our lands, lives, and status. The dominating attitude within the Unites States at the time was called Manifest Destiny; that God had given Americans this great land to take from the Indians because they were non-Christian and incapable of self-government. Over the years since that time, this framework for relating to Alaska Native peoples has become entrenched in the United States legislative and legal systems in an ongoing direct violation of our human rights.

– snip –

Let me get specific about what is at stake and how this relates to Palin and the Republican leadership in Alaska and across this country. To this day, Alaska Native peoples are among the only Indigenous peoples in all of North America whose Indigenous Hunting and Fishing Rights have been extinguished by federal legislation and yet we are the most dependent people on this way of life. Most of our villages have no roads that connect them to cities; many live with poverty level incomes, and all rely to varying degrees on traditional hunting, fishing, and harvesting for survival. This has become known as the debate on Alaska Native Subsistence.

“Hurting people throughout Alaska” is an all inclusive statement, and it’s nothing new.

Capitalism, Calvinism and Chauvinism

It’s no coincidence that capitalism and Protestantism ascended simultaneously. Jean Calvin theologically discredited the feudal system in 1541, paving the way for an upwardly mobile merchant class to replace the landed aristocracy. The genius of Calvin, observed sociologist Max Weber in 1904, was the creation of a new concept of God.[7] Prior to this crucial paradigm shift, surplus wealth–i.e., capital–was expected to be donated to the Church.

Essentially, Calvinism was a variation of the chosen-race myth. Its key element was a spiritual “elect” whose elevated position is preordained. The only way one can know if he or she is among the Elect is by his or her level of worldly success[8]– in other words, if you’re rich, it’s because God loves you.

The Puritans of Plymouth Bay were staunch Calvinists and their legacy remains powerful. “American culture, in particular, is thoroughly Calvinist… [A]t the heart of the way Americans think and act, you’ll find this fierce and imposing reformer [Calvin].”[9]

Source

At the same time, Christianity was forced on the Native Peoples by the missionaries. Indeed, it took a special act of Congress, the 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA), to affirm religious freedom for the Native nations. The law…

Palin said in her speech to the Master’s Commission, whose goal is “to throw defeat in the face of the Devil and see God’s people freed,” “your job is to going to be to be out there reaching the people, hurting people throughout Alaska, and we can work together to make sure that God’s will be done here.” In addition, she has attacked Alaska Native Subsistence Hunting, attacked Alaska Native Languages, attacked Alaska Tribal Sovereignty, and attacked Alaska Native Subsistence Fishing while saying an international pipeline is God’s will. Consequently, that pipeline will run through sites that are sacred, but then again it’s “God’s will.” The Master’s Commission has a specific branch that Christianizes Alaskan Natives; we can safely assume that is also under her umbrella of “God’s will.” To summarize, christianizing Indigenous People destroys the identity of that people so that their land can be stolen; and, that’s easier on the consciences of the predators.

PERMANENT FORUM SPEAKERS SAY VIOLATION OF LANGUAGE RIGHTS ‘CULTURAL GENOCIDE’, CALL FOR CONCRETE PUBLIC POLICY TO PROTECT INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES

Mr. BAER said Governments tended to be highly unaware of the effects had by the loss of language — indigenous languages were a vessel of traditional knowledge on biological diversity, for example.  Many did little to reverse the trend.

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Some States were indeed promoting the use of indigenous languages, but many programmes were under-funded.

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He said the international community should begin to view the violation of language rights as a crime against humanity.  Many indigenous children were not getting access to education.  Most State education policies forced indigenous children to learn in the dominant State language, causing a “language shift”.  It encouraged a change in attitude towards indigenous languages, in that those languages were thought to be less “worthy” than dominant language.  Losing their language meant children became socially dislocated, ultimately leading to economic and social marginalization.  Indigenous children tended to have the lowest level of educational attainment.  They also suffered high rates of depression and teen suicide.  Violation of language rights was a form of cultural genocide, or “ethnocide”, and amounted to a crime against humanity.  The Forum was encouraged to consider appropriate action.

Missionary Conquest  By George E. Tinker. p. 10

http://books.google.com/books?…

Our understanding is certainly deficient if we overlook the relationship between missions and the Euroamerican economic interests. It was the interest of the fur trading companies, for example, to support the missionary enterprise, since the missionaries contributed to the pacification of Indian Nations, thereby aiding and abetting the companies exploitation of Indians, Indian lands, and Indian resources.

Sarah Palin: Alaskan Pipeline is “God’s Will”