American Indian Law Alliance
NGO in consultative status with the Economic & Social Council
NGO in consultative status with the Economic & Social Council
August 27, 2017
The American Indian Law Alliance denounces the United States
President Donald Trump's recent pardon of Joe Arpaio, former sheriff of
Maricopa County in Arizona. This despicable act by Trump sends an unequivocal
message to "white nationalists" across the United States and around
the world which may further incite violent acts of racism against Indigenous
Peoples. Joe Arpaio was recently found guilty of criminal contempt for
disregarding a US Federal court order in a racial-profiling case.
Such a pardon for a police agent of the state of Arizona who
has been found guilty of using the powers of the office of Sheriff of the
County of Maricopa to conduct a “War of Attrition” against the most vulnerable
members of the community in Arizona, disguised as “immigration enforcement”, is
absurd, shocking and a threat to international peace.
Trump's approval of these illegal tactics designed to
harass, terrorize and dehumanize people of color, clearly shows his seal of
approval and full participation in institutional racism. This mentality of
superiority stems from the Doctrine of Discovery that continues to perpetuate
the sentiments behind the idea of 'making America great again.' In reality, the
scenario that emanates from the Trump presidency is not about 'making America
great again' but rather about re-making America in the image and to the service
of the “white” elites - yet this land of the Great Turtle Island was never
“white man’s land” to begin with.
The pardon of Arpaio by President Trump closes off the hope
for any domestic remedies for seeking justice and accountability for the human
rights abuses perpetrated by Arpaio and the system which he constructed as
sheriff over twenty years, a system which remains in place under a new
administration.
In reports from our relatives of the O’otham Jevedga,
Traditional Territories of the O’otham Nations where Arpaio has his political
base, we know that the Human Rights abuses and violations of the Rights of our
Indigenous Peoples continue unabated and even grows in hatefulness and
intensity. That the agencies of the state are complicit in this evil
machination that deforms our common humanity is unacceptable. It is a
continuation in our time of the Doctrine of Discovery (October 12,1492)
upgraded to adapt the doctrine of “white supremacy” to an age where the “white
American” populations have become a numeral minority in the very states of
colonization that they created. Arizona
itself is a state that was created upon the foundation of “Racial Animus” by
the Anglo-Americans whose arrival in the territory came in open warfare on the
Original Nations of Indigenous Peoples.
Recognizing these historical facts, we support the call for
an International Tribunal of Justice to address the issues of violations of
Civil Rights, Human Rights, and Indigenous Rights in the territories of the
O’otham Jevedga, Traditional Territories of the O’otham Nations in the Spirit
of World Peace.
We support the call to the International Community by our relatives of the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico living in the O’odham Jevedga to
investigate the pardon of Arpaio as violation of the Peace established in 1848
by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo between the US and Mexico which ended the US
initiated war on Mexico, a war driven by the lust for territorial expansion of
the US under the racist regime of Manifest Destiny (1845).
We support the call that when such an International Tribunal
of Justice is to be established and the historical evidence is compiled to
prosecute the violations of Civil Rights, Human Rights, and Indigenous Rights
in the O’odham Jevedga territories, such proceeding will not be prejudiced by
the Doctrine of Discovery, which has been inscribed in US law under the 1823
Supreme Court Johnson v. M’Intosh decision which has been denounced, repudiated
and dismantled as a concept.
We recommend, as an initial point of reference for an
International Tribunal of Justice, the intervention titled In Imiuh Tenamaxtle by AILA Founder and then President Tonya Gonnella Frichner (Onondaga Nation),
before the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (2012). This
intervention is a Report of the Indigenous Peoples Forum on the Doctrine of Discovery, held at the Arizona State Capitol on March 12, 2012 and can serve to
begin the process towards a collective path of justice and peace for all.
We support the call for an International Tribunal of Justice
to address these issues due to the need to move forward together as the
surviving Indigenous Confederations of Peace of humanity to meet the threats to
our collective survival as the global chaos of climate change unfolds. Without
social justice as a norm, with the recognition and respect for the full and
equal human rights of Indigenous Peoples, there will be no real hope for
achieving climate justice either in our lifetimes or the future generations.
It is telling that Trump would make this announcement
regarding the pardon of Arpaio while those he governs braced for a category 4
hurricane along the Texas coast. The powers of nature will not be denied, yet
it is not innate in human nature to be racist or “white” for that matter. These
are cultural concepts that breed insecurity and fear, which inevitably lead to
violence in all its forms, including state sanctioned violence disguised as
law, such as the AZ SB1070.
Many of those whom are were falsely labeled as “illegal
immigrants" under the policies of Arpaio and Trump are Indigenous Peoples whose
histories as Original Nations in the O’otham Jevedga are thousands of years in
the making. These Original Nations of Indigenous Peoples are our relatives,
their existence, like ours, as cultures and nations precedes the history of the
states and the international borders imposed upon their territories
without the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of the Indigenous Peoples as is
mandated by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
(2007).
The situation is similar for us as Haudenosaunee, whose
rights as Original Nations of the Great Turtle Island are systematically
violated when we are prevented from freely passing, working and enjoying life
on our traditional lands, whether on the Canadian or US side of the
international border between these states in the north.
Sadly, it is no surprise to witness that the sentiments of
racism are being touted from the highest office of the US. The Haudenosaunee
were present in 1776 in Philadelphia at the birth of the USA when they broke
ties as colonies of England to become a federation of American States. It is a
historical tragedy still being played out today that the US was built on
racism, white supremacy, and the divisions of class and race, built on the
illegal colonization of stolen lands and through the enslavement of Indigenous
and Black Peoples.
We are reminded of the words of the Tadodaho of the
Haudenosaunee,
"Why does one man's freedom have to come at the expense of another?"
There are qualities which Haudenosaunee women look for in a
leader. The women of the Haudenosaunee are responsible for the selection of our
leadership, we watch our boys as they grow to find qualities such as strength
(not bullying), honor, integrity, the ability to take care of a Clan family,
kindness, pride (not arrogance), and being humble. We are disappointed that
this same level of care is not taken when vetting leaders of the US.
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This preliminary study establishes that the Doctrine of Discovery has been institutionalized in law and policy, on national and international levels, and lies at the root of the violations of indigenous peoples’ human rights, both individual and collective. This has resulted in State claims to and the mass appropriation of the lands, territories and resources of indigenous peoples. Both the Doctrine of Discovery and a holistic structure that we term the Framework of Dominance have resulted in centuries of virtually unlimited resource extraction from the traditional territories of indigenous peoples. This, in turn, has resulted in the dispossession and impoverishment of indigenous peoples, and the host of problems that they face today on a daily basis.
