CUAUHYOTL ABYA YALA
Nican Tlacah Ilhuitl
Matlactli ihuan ome Acatl Xihuitl
NICAN TLACAH ILHUITL
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Sunday March 13th, 2011
NAHUACALLI
Embassy of Indigenous Peoples
802 N. 7th Street Phoenix, AZ
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
A traditional gathering of Indigenous Nations and Pueblos
of
ABYA YALA
*******
Monday March 14, 2011
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Preliminary Study on the Impact on Indigenous Peoples of the
Doctrine of Discovery
Regional Hearing
Impact of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery on the Indigenous Peoples
Local - Regional - Continental - Global
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Pueblo Grande
Community Room
4619 E. Washington
Phoenix, AZ
***
The Doctrine of Discovery and U.S. Expansion
"No person shall be…deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…"
This idea, which is a bedrock of American democracy, is from the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was completed in 1787. That same year, the U.S. government enacted the Northwest Ordinance, which created the first organized territory out of the region that is today Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Among other regulations, the ordinance set forth a guiding principle for the treatment of Native Americans and their lands:
"The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their land and property shall never be taken without their consent; and, in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed."
Just seven years later, in 1794, the U.S. government sent a regiment led by General "Mad" Anthony Wayne to conquer a confederation of American Indian tribes attempting to keep hold of their lands. At the Battle of Fallen Timbers, a band of 800 Native Americans was slaughtered and 5,000 acres of crops were destroyed. The tribes of the region were forced into a treaty that limited them to the northern region of what is today Ohio, and it took them twenty years to recover from the loss of lives and property.
In 1802, President Jefferson signed the Georgia Compact, which stated that in exchange for land (what is today Alabama and Mississippi), the federal government would remove all American Indians within the territory of Georgia "as soon as it could be done reasonably and peacefully." By 1830, the U.S. government had passed the Indian Removal Act, which authorized the President to remove the remaining Eastern Indians to lands west of the Mississippi. Between 1938 and 1939, under President Andrew Jackson, 15,000 Cherokee Indians were forcibly taken from their land, herded into makeshift forts, and made to march-some in chains-a thousand miles to present-day Oklahoma. Over 4,000 Cherokee died from hunger, disease, and exhaustion on what they called Nunna daul Tsuny or the Trail of Tears. By the late 1840s almost all Native Americans had been moved to lands west of the Mississippi.
It seems astonishing that a country founded upon the ideal of "life, liberty, and property" could move from a policy of "good faith" toward the Native Americans to one of complete domination in the space of one generation. In order to understand how such a contradiction could occur, it is necessary to go back in time almost seven centuries before the American Revolution.
In 1095, at the beginning of the Crusades, Pope Urban II issued an edict-the Papal Bull Terra Nullius (meaning empty land). It gave the kings and princes of Europe the right to "discover" or claim land in non-Christian areas. This policy was extended in 1452 when Pope Nicholas V issued the bull Romanus Pontifex, declaring war against all non-Christians throughout the world and authorizing the conquest of their nations and territories. These edicts treated non-Christians as uncivilized and subhuman, and therefore without rights to any land or nation. Christian leaders claimed a God-given right to take control of all lands and used this idea to justify war, colonization, and even slavery.
By the time Christopher Columbus set sail in 1492, this Doctrine of Discovery was a well-established idea in the Christian world. When he reached the Americas, Columbus performed a ceremony to "take possession" of all lands "discovered," meaning all territory not occupied by Christians. Upon his return to Europe in 1493, Pope Alexander VI issued the bull Inter Cetera, granting Spain the right to conquer the lands that Columbus had already "discovered" and all lands that it might come upon in the future. This decree also expressed the Pope's wish to convert the natives of these lands to Catholicism in order to strengthen the "Christian Empire."
In 1573 Pope Paul II issued the papal bull Sublimis Deus, which denounced the idea that Native Americans "should be treated like irrational animals and used exclusively for our profit and our service," and Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644) formally excommunicated anyone still holding Indian slaves. By this time, however, the Doctrine of Discovery was deeply rooted and led nonetheless to the conquest of non-Christian lands and people in every corner of the world. Although the U.S. was founded on freedom from such tyranny, the idea that white people and Christians had certain divine rights was nevertheless ingrained in the young nation's policies. The slave trade, for example, and centuries of violence against black people depended upon the idea that non-Whites were less than human. The theft of Native American lands required a similar justification.
In 1823, the Doctrine of Discovery was written into U.S. law as a way to deny land rights to Native Americans in the Supreme Court case, Johnson v. McIntosh. It is ironic that the case did not directly involve any Native Americans since the decision stripped them of all rights to their independence. In 1775, Thomas Johnson and a group of British investors bought a tract of land from the Piankeshaw Indians. During the Revolutionary War, this land was taken from the British and became part of the U.S. in the "County of Illinois." In 1818, the U.S. government sold part of the land to William McIntosh, a citizen of Illinois. This prompted Joshua Johnson, the heir to one of the original buyers, to claim the land through a lawsuit (which he later lost).
In a unanimous decision, Chief Justice John Marshall wrote that the Christian European nations had assumed complete control over the lands of America during the "Age of Discovery." Upon winning independence in 1776, he noted, the U.S. inherited authority over these lands from Great Britain, "notwithstanding the occupancy of the natives, who were heathens…" According to the ruling, American Indians did not have any rights as independent nations, but only as tenants or residents of U.S. land. For Joshua Johnson, this meant that the original sale of land by the Piankeshaws was invalid because they were not the lawful owners. For Native Americans, this decision foreshadowed the Trail of Tears and a hundred years of forced removal and violence. Despite recent efforts to have the case repealed as a symbol of good will, Johnson v. McIntosh has never been overruled and remains good law.
In 1845, a democratic leader and prominent editor named John L. O'Sullivan gave the Doctrine of Discovery a uniquely American flavor when he coined the term Manifest Destiny to defend U.S. expansion and claims to new territory:
".... the right of our manifest destiny to over spread and to possess the whole of the continent which Providence has given us for the development of the great experiment of liberty… is right such as that of the tree to the space of air and the earth suitable for the full expansion of its principle and destiny of growth."
The idea of Manifest Destiny was publicized in newspapers and debated by politicians. It furthered the sense among U.S. citizens of an inevitable or natural right to expand the nation and to spread "freedom and democracy" (though only to those deemed capable of self-government, which certainly did not include Blacks or Native Americans).
Whether called the Doctrine of Discovery or Manifest Destiny, the principles that stimulated U.S. thirst for land have been disastrous for Native Americans, African Americans, Mexicans, and many others both in North America and abroad who lost life, liberty and property as the result of U.S. expansionism. The history of Christian law helps us to understand how our leaders-many considered heroes and role models today-undertook monstrous acts in the name of liberty. This insight into the prevailing ideas of the day, however, does not excuse their behavior. Some may have truly been misled by the ideals of Christian discovery, but others acted knowingly out of self-interest, greed and bigotry. Even as far back as Columbus, however, there were religious and political leaders, as well as ordinary citizens, who knew better and worked against racism, colonization and slavery.
When the Indian Removal Act of 1830 came up for debate in Congress, for example, New Jersey Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen, a strong believer in Christian compassion, led a bold attack with a six-hour speech that extended over three days. Frelinghuysen predicted terrible suffering and therefore argued to uphold the independence of the Cherokee Nation. Many other members of Congress, including Tennessean Davy Crockett, fought against the Act. Though it passed in both houses, 47% of Congress (116 of 246 members) voted in opposition to the bill.
It is tempting to view the problems of the past as ancient history-long resolved and no longer relevant to our lives. The effects of manifest destiny, however, continue today. American Indian Nations are still in court over land disputes, and countless native people suffer from extreme poverty and other social problems as a result of past policies. September 11th and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have ignited age-old debates about U.S. objectives. Though the public discourse no longer includes terms such as "expansion," "discovery," and "destiny," discussions about globalization, preemptive war, and the responsibilities of the world's only "superpower" echo familiar themes. It is perhaps fitting that this dialogue ensues as the country commemorates the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition, or Corps of Discovery, which paved the way for U.S. expansion. The anniversary presents an important opportunity to pay tribute to the victims and survivors of Indian genocide, to learn about contemporary native culture and issues, and to work against prejudice and discrimination in local communities.
NAHUACALLI
Embassy of
Indigenous Peoples
802 N. 7th
Street Phoenix, AZ
www.nahuacalli.org
SIGNATURE
After
more than three decades of struggle at the international levels of UN diplomacy
and centuries of outright genocide and forced assimilation programs, the
Indigenous Peoples of the world are now finally acknowledged as full members of
global society with inherent rights of Self Determination under international
law. The passage of the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the UN General
Assembly on September 13, 2007 addresses both individual and collective rights,
cultural rights and identity, rights to education, health, employment, language
and Treaty Rights.
A
new day is upon us, the Indigenous Peoples Day - Nican Tlacah Ilhuitl.
Each
one of us, as members of the great and humble family of the Indigenous Nations
and Pueblos of this continent Abya Yala, have a story to tell in the long
battle to achieve recognition, respect and protection for the rights of our
Indigenous Peoples. Many of the
stories are told with sadness and even pain, as we recall the sufferings and
trauma that our peoples and the land itself have endured as the result of
centuries of colonization. In this
sense we are all veterans of the wars of colonization. The battle is still long from over;
centuries of trauma will take generations to fully heal, yet we have arrived at
the dawn of the day which was foretold by our traditions and prophecies.
And
how long is this day? How long shall it last? This day - the Nican Tlacah Ilhuitl - began with the first
rays of the original light of creation, when Life Giver made known the message
and meaning of life itself, among all of our relations of the natural world.
We, as Indigenous Peoples of the entire world continue to carry the meaning of
this message in our hearts and endeavor to pass this sacred tradition on to our
future generations.
May
our signatures here be a sign, of our continued commitment to encounter one
another and all of our brothers and sisters of the Family of Humanity along the
good road of Self Respect and Self Determination.
How
long is this day? As long as the Light….
Signature:_______________________________________________________________
Altepetl - Nation(s) of Indigenous Peoples:
__________________________________
Date: March 13, 2010
Indigenous Peoples Day
NAHUACALLI
Embassy of Indigenous Peoples
United Nations
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Eighth Session May 20, 2009
UN Headquarters New York, NY
Agenda Item: 4 (a) Human Rights
Implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Statement by Tupac Enrique Acosta, Yaotachcauh
Tlahtokan Nahuacalli, Izkalotlan Aztlan
O’Otham Nations Territories, Abya Yala North
Good greeting to all my relatives, relations of Indigenous Peoples from around the world and distinguished members of the Permanent Forum:
Madam Chair,
Ayo. Today we are called to address collectively a review and follow-up on recommendations made to the Permanent Forum regarding implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In the moment of reflection, and at a time of convergence that realizes the crises of climate change and global economic recession as the frame of collapse of the dominant planetary paradigms of human economic and social development, the work of the Permanent Forum and the self determination of the Nican Tlacah Cemanahuac – Indigenous Peoples of the World - also faces the challenge of redefinition and clarification.
At the initiation of this Eighth Session of the Permanent Forum, the Indigenous Peoples Global Caucus in our opening statement referred to this challenge as a foretelling of the call to all members of human society to recognize the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a necessary instrument to address comprehensively and simultaneously the global climate crisis and economic recession as a mechanism of world peace.
As process and product of standard setting at global scale, the UNDRIP integrates the self-determination of Indigenous Peoples with the principle of peaceful coexistence among all peoples as a Human Right. The realization of the UNDRIP expresses the universal and fundamental reality of all systems of international jurisprudence, emerging from the evolving inter-relations of customs and usages of distinct peoples, and finally codification in the statutes and mandates of the government states, individually and collectively.
The UN Charter itself proposes to defend this process as an instrument of world peace, by implementing mechanisms of combined effort among the Peoples of the United Nations through international cooperation.
In review and follow-up to the recommendations made to the UNPFII over the past eight sessions, it is evident that taken as a whole, the implementation of the UNDRIP institutes a new systemic standard that calls for complementary readjustment among entities of the government states and the Nations of the Indigenous Peoples, normalizing peaceful relations based on mutual respect and cooperation.
The potential that this systemic standard may serve to assist in addressing the global climate crisis is only just beginning to emerge. By linking and codifying the principle of respect for cultural diversity with acknowledgement of collective ecological responsibilities, the UNDRIP establishes a new framework for the ancient principle of respect for Human Rights of the Future Generations of all peoples. The immediate challenge is to bring to scale the necessary economic policies of accountability to the processes driving the global economy, in accord with the parallel principle of global ecological responsibility.
Espejo de la Tierra
Earth Mirror
The day will come
when
the shards of rubble,
will be swept away;
the remains
of loved ones will be carefully laid to rest in
places
at that moment where
worlds that were
will also be
no more, and
new world’s
Discovery brought us all a shudder of horror
to have lost those who through knowing them,
being
with them and of them,
made us
human.
The day that comes,
comes for us all.
The coldest winds before that dawn,
the shards of humans being inhuman
to each other and themselves, look for the broken
places in our
mind
and heart,
look to wounds searching for caves of fear, far
beyond the chasing
conscience of the One:
At that moment shall appear,
When the ground is finally clear,
A shining dust
A mirror of earth, and she will speak again.
“What have you done to my children?”
And foundations of Heaven’s Earth, respond -
In justice of war gods unbound.
Decía la Llorona cuando se
miraba pa' el norte -
" Y mis hijos -
Que les pasará?
Reconocerán la lucha
de sus tatas?
Sentirán el calor
de su historia indígena,
como yo los enseñe?
Serán ahogados
en el río
de la historia europea, o
nomás
mojados?"
IXTLALLI
Han sido siglos y siglos
Pero para nosotros ya no son.
Por que nosotros no somos
seguidores de los siglos.
Nosotros
somos contadores de los cielos
Y ahora
Es este cielo que nos esta
Llamando
Con las llamas de un Fuego Sagrado
Azulado la tierra
Azulado el viento
Y la Abuelita Mar
Nos hace recordar
Conociendo y reconciendo
El sonido del suspiro del creador
A tocar la costa de cada continente
De Cemanahuac.
Nos hacen sentir la responsabilidad
De ser
lo que somos.
Somos responsables con la Madre Tierra,
Somos tambien responsables con la Abeulita
Mar
Y el Viento de Fuego, el Fuego de Vientos
Nos hacen sentir
Lo que ahora nosotros
Hemos creado
En un un momento
Para cumplir.
AYO
The Teotlachtli of
Huehuetlapallan
And then I realized that I
was in the netemihuiliztli, I was a ballplayer on the court in and within the
field of play, along with many others. Some of these others I could sense were
my teammates, relatives, allies and ancestors as we ran in crisscrossing surges
on the grass winds of the verdant court.
The ball court walls rose
on either side beyond dimension to the turquoise sky, following the design left
by Smoking Star when he released the Arrow of Awe into the world drawing the
quadrant window in the sky, rising and turning like the great canyon walls of
our beloved Huehuetlapallan and her sacred waters that carry the Rain of Time.
And the tlachtli, the
pulse, the momentous sacred ball whose presence was movement, direction, and
measure, the all of alls - shone.
Tlahuilia. In the
illumination, a line was defined: one side black, one side red. One side was
the shade of light, the other the colors of light. It was the boundary of the ball court, the teotlachtli: the
context of the contest.
And so it occurred. With
the shift of polarity, the intermission of the xinachtli released the
regeneration of the Izkalotekah and sent the ball along the boundary line, and
then, across. And I - ollamani, a ballplayer: I followed and so here I am now.
(As told by Tupac Enrique
Acosta, Ikalotekatl)
