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Title: Us Should Return Stolen Land To Indian Tribes, Says United Nations
Source:
GUARDIAN UK
URL Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/201 ... s-stolen-land-indian-tribes-un
Published: May 4, 2012
Author: GUARDIAN UK
Post Date: 2012-05-04 20:03:22 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 30345
Comments: 86
A United Nations investigator probing discrimination against Native Americans has called on the US government to return some of the land stolen from Indian tribes as a step toward combatting continuing and systemic racial discrimination. James Anaya, the UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, said no member of the US Congress would meet him as he investigated the part played by the government in the considerable difficulties faced by Indian tribes. Anaya said that in nearly two weeks of visiting Indian reservations, indigenous communities in Alaska and Hawaii, and Native Americans now living in cities, he encountered people who suffered a history of dispossession of their lands and resources, the breakdown of their societies and "numerous instances of outright brutality, all grounded on racial discrimination". "It's a racial discrimination that they feel is both systemic and also specific instances of ongoing discrimination that is felt at the individual level," he said. Anaya said racism extended from the broad relationship between federal or state governments and tribes down to local issues such as education. "For example, with the treatment of children in schools both by their peers and by teachers as well as the educational system itself; the way native Americans and indigenous peoples are reflected in the school curriculum and teaching," he said. "And discrimination in the sense of the invisibility of Native Americans in the country overall that often is reflected in the popular media. The idea that is often projected through the mainstream media and among public figures that indigenous peoples are either gone or as a group are insignificant or that they're out to get benefits in terms of handouts, or their communities and cultures are reduced to casinos, which are just flatly wrong." Close to a million people live on the US's 310 Native American reservations. Some tribes have done well from a boom in casinos on reservations but most have not. Anaya visited an Oglala Sioux reservation where the per capita income is around $7,000 a year, less than one-sixth of the national average, and life expectancy is about 50 years. The two Sioux reservations in South Dakota – Rosebud and Pine Ridge – have some of the country's poorest living conditions, including mass unemployment and the highest suicide rate in the western hemisphere with an epidemic of teenagers killing themselves. "You can see they're in a somewhat precarious situation in terms of their basic existence and the stability of their communities given that precarious land tenure situation. It's not like they have large fisheries as a resource base to sustain them. In basic economic terms it's a very difficult situation. You have upwards of 70% unemployment on the reservation and all kinds of social ills accompanying that. Very tough conditions," he said. Anaya said Rosebud is an example where returning land taken by the US government could improve a tribe's fortunes as well as contribute to a "process of reconciliation". "At Rosebud, that's a situation where indigenous people have seen over time encroachment on to their land and they've lost vast territories and there have been clear instances of broken treaty promises. It's undisputed that the Black Hills was guaranteed them by treaty and that treaty was just outright violated by the United States in the 1900s. That has been recognised by the United States supreme court," he said. Anaya said he would reserve detailed recommendations on a plan for land restoration until he presents his final report to the UN human rights council in September. "I'm talking about restoring to indigenous peoples what obviously they're entitled to and they have a legitimate claim to in a way that is not devisive but restorative. That's the idea behind reconciliation," he said. But any such proposal is likely to meet stiff resistance in Congress similar to that which has previously greeted calls for the US government to pay reparations for slavery to African-American communities. Anaya said he had received "exemplary cooperation" from the Obama administration but he declined to speculate on why no members of Congress would meet him. "I typically meet with members of the national legislature on my country visits and I don't know the reason," he said. Last month, the US justice and interior departments announced a $1 billion settlement over nearly 56 million acres of Indian land held in trust by Washington but exploited by commercial interests for timber, farming, mining and other uses with little benefit to the tribes. The attorney general, Eric Holder, said the settlement "fairly and honourably resolves historical grievances over the accounting and management of tribal trust funds, trust lands and other non-monetary trust resources that, for far too long, have been a source of conflict between Indian tribes and the United States." But Anaya said that was only a step in the right direction. "These are important steps but we're talking about mismanagement by the government of assets that were left to indigenous peoples," he said. "This money for the insults on top of the injury. It's not money for the initial problem itself, which is the taking of vast territories. This is very important and I think the administration should be commended for moving forward to settle these claims but there are these deeper issues that need to be addressed."
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#1. To: Brian S (#0)
Anaya visited an Oglala Sioux reservation where the per capita income is around $7,000 a year, less than one-sixth of the national average, That isn't counting the welfare,food stamps,free utilities,and various other "freebies" they get because they are "victums". and life expectancy is about 50 years. That's because any tribal member with enough ambition to come in out of the rain (and sober enough to do so) left the reservation to go get a job the instant they turned old enough to catch a bus,leaving the parasites behind. They only live a average of 50 years because they never work (exercise),stay drunk,and eat too much of the wrong foods. They die from drinking,fighting,and diabetes.
"It is impossible to talk reason with those who can only parrot Party Slogans." sneakypete Sept 2011 Stay Hungry...Stay Foolish --Steve Jobs Steve Jobs,life-long Dim,and major Barry Soetoro supporter.
Just wait 'til the UN singles out "African Racism Repayment" as well. WoW! This is cool that the US supports the UN with tax-payer dollars.
a good and just finding. I profoundly agree with them.
Then get the F out of America. You are squatting on Indian land. When do you depart?
edited
Why are you squatting on Indian land?
I don't squat, I use the toilet when I have to do number two. What does that have to do with anything?
You said you agree with the UN that you are squatting on Indian land. There is more then one definition of a squatter.
Squatting your editorialized take on this. That is not what the U.N. said.
Maybe he has "high cheekbones" like his phony indian candidate?
Obama's watch stopped on 24 May 2008, but he's been too busy smoking crack to notice.
You got something against Indians?
honddope, You got something against Indians?
No. Against hypocrites. You know ones who say Yes Yes UN we should give back Indian lands. Then they say I'm not a squatter. Nothing against Indians. I am proudly part Cherokee.
The only thing high is you.
We have never respected or kept a single treaty we have made with native Americans. We have never respected their religion and culture. I see a very reasonable finding that we return part of what we stole. That is light years short of your alleged posture that they call for all the toothpaste to get back in the tube.
What part? Specifically.
Appropriate parts. What do you mean by specifically? Which tribe are you thinking about for one thing? I am not the arbitration entity here. Not to mention you seem more interested in positioning for a 'gotcha' then any discussion on this.
I might add, I know quite a bit on the topic. It is a very complex and sad story what our culture has done in this hemisphere to the indigenous peoples of these two continents.
Hey Mike. The Bible promised that would happen to cultures that reject God. It is in Leviticus or a book near that. Yes I was preparing a gotcha. But that is because your idea to "give" some land back to the Indians is a stupid one. Every nation earth was formed by the displacing of other inhabitants on the land. That is a fact of earth. Do you want the French to give their land back. What about the Chinese. The Russians? The Germans? No it is only Americans and Jews that you say that about. It is because your father the devil has an animosity towards God and his people just like you do.
White folks had more diseases to spread then we encountered. many people here before us did not survive that. here in the Willamette Valley most natives died from them. The native Americans in Southwestern Oregon fought for their land and rights and the gold hunter set they were having the most trouble with and others were intensely engaged in an attempt to genealogically rub them out. The Yakama Indians of Washington state are angry at the loss of their fishing grounds and want the U.S. to respect agreed upon hunting rights in that state. They should have these rights respected, and I'l like to see the dams removed from the Columbia River and the fisheries restored to closer to what they were before we came here. I have been to their reservation and knw then quite well. They are very pragmatic and no doubt would settle for far less then I would like to see them -- and ultimately us get.
You do not know anything about the papal Bull, The Doctrine of Discovery. You should read it before you spout such stupidity. For one thing, the Cherokees had assimilated out culture and religion. They asked President Jefferson if they could be assimilated and come under our flag and were refused on the basis of elements of that doctrine. They went off and helped us fight the Seminole Wars in Florida, they translated your Bible into their language. Yet greedy white farmers coveted their lands and farms that were indistinguishable from our own. Why were they not punished for their transgression of a key commandment? The Trail of Tears was an atrocity by our government. And your ignorance of these people and the details and circumstances of their exile from their lands is unimpressive; to say the least.
Do you have high cheekbones? Are you a big dick?
I don't know if my cheekbones are considered high or low or in the middle. The thought never crossed my mind. The second question is kind of strange.
We just don't need to know the answer to question two, Stone. Leave it at that.
I'd write the joke about it if I had the time.
Only the fake ones from the Ded Kennedy tribe. You approve of her stealing from genuine Native Americans? Obama's watch stopped on 24 May 2008, but he's been too busy smoking crack to notice.
Are you a big dick? Hey Fred, shut the fuck up will you? Don't you have homework from your mentor to finish? Run along now.
You are either a illegal squatter/invader,or you don't believe your own dogma. Which is it? BTW,what is your opinion on the surviving Indian tribes giving up the land once they get it and paying repertations to any surviving members of the tribes THEY stole the land from? On a related note,what is your plan for getting the welfare blacks and the His and Her Panics to pay the Indians for the "Indian land" THEY are squatting on? How far back do you want to take this thing?
"It is impossible to talk reason with those who can only parrot Party Slogans." sneakypete Sept 2011 Stay Hungry...Stay Foolish --Steve Jobs Steve Jobs,life-long Dim,and major Barry Soetoro supporter.
"We iz da wurld....... We iz da peep-pulls...." I see a very reasonable finding that we return part of what we stole. Ok,why don't you start with the part you are standing or sitting on? Think your distant relatives in Ireland will be glad to see you and give you a free place to squat there?
"It is impossible to talk reason with those who can only parrot Party Slogans." sneakypete Sept 2011 Stay Hungry...Stay Foolish --Steve Jobs Steve Jobs,life-long Dim,and major Barry Soetoro supporter.
Yup,it's a shame what we did to them poor,peace-loving,Ghia worshipping innocent chil-runs. After all,they were just minding their own business as they went about their cultural traditions of genocide of other tribes,capturing slaves,torturing their enemies to death,etc,etc,etc,and here we come along and force civilization on them. The horrors! Day be vict-tums! VICK-TUMS AH TELLS YA!
"It is impossible to talk reason with those who can only parrot Party Slogans." sneakypete Sept 2011 Stay Hungry...Stay Foolish --Steve Jobs Steve Jobs,life-long Dim,and major Barry Soetoro supporter.
OUCH!
"It is impossible to talk reason with those who can only parrot Party Slogans." sneakypete Sept 2011 Stay Hungry...Stay Foolish --Steve Jobs Steve Jobs,life-long Dim,and major Barry Soetoro supporter.
You'd have to go some to surpass Elizabethan England in the torture department.
Anyone claiming to be an expert is selling something. I brandish my ignorance like a crucifix at vampires. Aaron Bady
They own sovereign land right now, within the US, as we type. I see a very reasonable finding that we return part of what we stole. We didn't steal. Every nation on this Earth was formed from conquest of some sort. Every land on this earth used to be someone elses. Does the entire planet give their land back to the original inhabitants, or just the US? This entire argument is simply a tool to further divide America. Humans owned the land before, humans own it now. Race and/or culture only matters to the race and culture pimps. Should the shia muslims give Iraq back to the sunni muslims? And who controlled it before the sunni's? Does it go back to the sunni's or whomever controlled it before them? The entire argument is ridiculous.
Evil white bastards! All us white folks should kill ourselves! That's race pimping 101, Mike.
This entire argument is simply a tool to further divide America. Humans owned the land before, humans own it now. Race and/or culture only matters to the race and culture pimps. Should the shia muslims give Iraq back to the sunni muslims? And who controlled it before the sunni's? Does it go back to the sunni's or whomever controlled it before them? The entire argument is ridiculous. Very good, sound points, but the terminally STUPID will continue to reject it, even though they have NO sound solutions of their own.
"A friend will calm you down when you are angry, but a best friend will skip beside you with a baseball bat singing, "someone's gonna get it"
"Yet greedy white farmers" "Evil white bastards! All us white folks should kill ourselves!" LOL! I think you're right, WTP, we should just kill ourselves...MIKE, you go first since you seem to feel worse than most of us, I promise, we'll follow you.....sarc/off
"A friend will calm you down when you are angry, but a best friend will skip beside you with a baseball bat singing, "someone's gonna get it"
Here's another monkey wrench in your race pimping spokes... One of the fastest growing demographic groups in the United States is Hispanics. This is a relatively NEW phenomena. Will the brown people have to give the land back to us white people before we can give it back to the red people?
Naaah... that was just the result of the rich, mainly white 1 percent trying to take parts of Mexico over for their own private playground via NAFTA and other meddling in Mexico's economy. Which everyone knew would fail. The poor Mexicans either move or die so to your neighborhood they go. It's the least you can do for the elites...by helping them prevent a revolution and all that other nastiness.
Almost every country in the Middle East is awash in oil, and we have to side with the one that has nothing but joos. Goddamn, that was good thinkin'. Esso posted on 2012-01-13 7:37:56 ET
The lighter skinned Spanish took over Mexico from the darker skinned indigenous peoples of Mexico. Do they give the land back too? Or should the mixed 'race' mestizo's rightfully get the land? It's all so confusing.
One of the fastest growing demographic groups in the United States is Hispanics. This is a relatively NEW phenomena. It is only because the US government does not perform the job of guarding the US border.
Comments (41 - 86) not displayed.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#2. To: sneakypete (#1)
#3. To: Brian S (#0)
#4. To: Ferret Mike (#3)
a good and just finding. I profoundly agree with them.
#5. To: A K A Stone (#4)
#6. To: Ferret Mike (#5)
#7. To: A K A Stone (#6)
#8. To: Ferret Mike (#7)
#9. To: A K A Stone (#8)
#10. To: A K A Stone, Ferret Mike (#6)
Why are you squatting on Indian land?
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
#11. To: A K A Stone (#4)
#12. To: hondo68 (#10)
You got something against Indians?
#13. To: Fred Mertz (#11)
You got something against Indians?
#14. To: hondo68 (#10)
#15. To: A K A Stone (#13)
#16. To: Ferret Mike (#15)
I see a very reasonable finding that we return part of what we stole.
#17. To: A K A Stone (#16)
(Edited)
#18. To: A K A Stone (#16)
#19. To: Ferret Mike (#18)
I might add, I know quite a bit on the topic. It is a very complex and sad story what our culture has done in this hemisphere to the indigenous peoples of these two continents.
#20. To: A K A Stone (#16)
#21. To: A K A Stone (#19)
#22. To: A K A Stone (#13)
(Edited)
Nothing against Indians. I am proudly part Cherokee.
#23. To: Fred Mertz (#22)
#24. To: A K A Stone (#23)
#25. To: A K A Stone (#23)
The second question is kind of strange.
#26. To: Fred Mertz, *Liberal Rehab Staff* (#12)
(Edited)
You got something against Indians?
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
#27. To: Fred Mertz (#22)
Do you have high cheekbones?
#28. To: Ferret Mike (#7)
I don't squat,
#29. To: Ferret Mike (#15)
(Edited)
We have never respected or kept a single treaty we have made with native Americans. We have never respected their religion and culture.
#30. To: Ferret Mike (#18)
It is a very complex and sad story what our culture has done in this hemisphere to the indigenous peoples of these two continents.
#31. To: hondo68 (#26)
Only the fake ones from the Ded Kennedy tribe. You approve of her stealing from genuine Native Americans?
#32. To: sneakypete (#30)
Yup,it's a shame what we did to them poor,peace-loving,Ghia worshipping innocent chil-runs. After all,they were just minding their own business as they went about their cultural traditions of genocide of other tribes,capturing slaves,torturing their enemies to death,etc,etc,etc,and here we come along and force civilization on them.
#33. To: Ferret Mike (#15)
We have never respected or kept a single treaty we have made with native Americans.
#34. To: Ferret Mike (#21)
Yet greedy white farmers
#35. To: We The People (#33)
Does the entire planet give their land back to the original inhabitants, or just the US?
#36. To: We The People, Ferret Mike (#34)
#37. To: Ferret Mike (#21)
your ignorance of these people and the details and circumstances of their exile from their lands
#38. To: We The People (#37)
Will the brown people have to give the land back to us white people before we can give it back to the red people?
#39. To: Ferret Mike (#37)
#40. To: We The People (#37)
Here's another monkey wrench in your race pimping spokes...
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