Robert J. MIller "Doctrine of Discovery" Blog

Native America, Discovered and Conquered

Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, and Manifest Destiny

by Robert J. Miller

Archive for the 'Doctrine of Discovery' Category

United Nations and the Doctrine of Discovery

Monday, July 4th, 2011

I am happy to see that the United Nations is going to consider the international law of colonialism – the Doctrine of Discovery – through its Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues over the coming year. Read more. I have been researching and writing on this topic since 2002. In my most recent work, I and [...]

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United Nations to study Doctrine of Discovery – Aboriginal leader urgues caution

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) has decided to focus on the Doctrine of Discovery. But Michael Anderson, leader of the 3,000 strong Euahlayi People Aboriginal Nation in contemporary Australia, issued a warning about the study of the Doctrine: “we must be assured that this is not another move by the United [...]

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Praise for “Native America, Discovered and Conquered”

Saturday, May 21st, 2011

My book, Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and Manifest Destiny, has been used in over 20 colleges in the past few years. Professor Robert Perez of University of California Riverside has used the book several times in undergraduate and graduate courses. He recently emailed me his impressions of my book [...]

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Christianity, American Indians, and the Doctrine of Discovery

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

I have posted a book chapter I wrote about Christianity and the doctrine of discovery on the Social Sciences Research Network (“SSRN”) webpage. You can download and read the book chapter for free. The chapter is published in REMEMBERING JAMESTOWN: HARD QUESTIONS ABOUT CHRISTIAN MISSION, Amos Yong, Barbara Brown Zikmund, eds., Pickwick Publications, 2010 Abstract: [...]

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Jemez Pueblo and Santa Fe National Forest sign historic pact

Friday, April 8th, 2011

Last December, the Pueblo of Jemez and the Santa Fe National Forest entered into a historic agreement that gives the Jemez nation decision making powers over its aboriginal lands. A Memorandum of Understanding signed by Pueblo of Jemez Governor Joshua Madalena and Acting Forest Supervisor of the Santa Fe National Forest Erin Connelly implements an [...]

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New article on the Doctrine of Discovery in Brazil

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

I just posted a 25,000 word article on SSRN entitled “Brazil, Indigenous Peoples, and the International Law of Discovery.” I co-wrote the article with a native of Brazil. In this article, we examine the legal history of Portugal and Brazil and conclude that Portugal applied the international law Doctrine of Discovery to claim and colonize [...]

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Doctrine of Discovery on the radio – tomorrow

Monday, February 21st, 2011

I will be speaking on the radio on Tuesday Feb. 22, 2011 from 10 am – noon Pacific Standard Time about the Doctrine of Discovery. I will be on Spingola Speaks, on Republic Broadcasting Network (RBN). RBN is heard nationally and internationally. Check out the guest Schedule: http://www.spingola.com/radio_schedule.html

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Book review of new book about the Doctrine of Discovery

Saturday, December 18th, 2010

Richard Walker, of Indian Country Today, reviews my latest book on the Doctrine of Discovery. I co-wrote it with Indigneous professors from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. He wrote: “Professor Robert J. Miller, author of a 2007 book about President Thomas Jefferson’s use of the Doctrine of Discovery to justify the United States’ expansion and [...]

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Australian Indigenous conferences

Sunday, December 12th, 2010

I’m in Australia again to attend conferences in Melbourne and Cairns to talk about the Doctrine of Discovery. I’ll blog more on what I’m learning here later.

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What did Columbus really discover first?

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

The news is reporting recent research that shows that Indigenous peoples of North America visited Europe five centuries before Columbus “discovered” the New World. (Check out another news report on Nov. 18.) I guess American Indians own Europe then under the Doctrine of Discovery? The news reports states that Christopher Columbus did not introduce the [...]

UNDRIP: Human Rights of the Future Generations

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Self Determination: It's not a question, it's a quest.

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’odham 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.

That President Evo Morales of Bolivia has been successful in having the UN adopt the international day of Mother Earth, allows the glimmer of hope to reignite among the Indigenous Peoples of the world.  We arrive at the Permanent Forum today in expectation of the foretold redefinition and clarification of the relationship of our human societies in relationship to the material world as one of a sacred and complementary nature and not the predatory patriarchal practices controlled by extractive industries whose corporations are driven only by profit and greed.

As so as we, the Nican Tlacah Cemanahuac – Indigenous Peoples of the World move towards realization of our self determination in conjunction with the work of the Permanent Forum, it is essential that we engage in a review as well of the guiding conceptual frameworks that have driven the processes of not only implementation strategies regarding the UNDRIP but the underlying paradigms of social cognition and policies of global governance related to the mandates of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples.

Clarification:

The Indigenous Peoples Global Caucus has submitted at this session the recommendation that the appropriate and special measures be undertaken, in view and review of the adoption of the UNDRIP, to redefine and clarify to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues that future sessions of the Permanent Forum be implemented as convenings of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples.

In concurrence with this recommendation and in the spirit of self determination, as stated by the distinguished Chairperson in her opening remarks, “It is imperative that effective and meaningful participation in decision making bodies at all levels is insured,” we now submit that the shift in the framework of evaluation for mandates of the Permanent Forum called for by the UNDRIP is the necessary pivotal act in order to realize “effective and meaningful” implementation strategies related to the UNDRIP and the ongoing efforts of this Permanent Forum.

In this regard, the Indigenous Peoples Global Caucus has stated in our recommendation delivered in our opening remarks at this session of the Forum that:

“We affirm that the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples establishes a new framework of evaluation for the work of the Permanent Forum and all initiatives of the United Nations system.”

Taking this point of departure to elaborate on the implications for the dual mandates of the Permanent Forum, let us state an initial point of clarification:

The redefinition of the Permanent Forum as an institution of the UN on Indigenous Peoples, insists that there be acknowledgement, affirmation in policy and protocols of procedure in realization of the fact that we, the Indigenous Peoples of the world in partnership with member states of the UN system, have agreed to collaborate in the agenda of the Permanent Forum in accord with a mutual understanding that we shall complement our efforts under a Dual Mandate.

This principle and clarification is necessary and called for by the new paradigm in international relations mandated by the UNDRIP, and the redefinition for standards of international diplomacy in relation to Indigenous Peoples that the Permanent Forum must exemplify and implement as lead programme for the UN system.

In fact this clarification is nothing new, but in fact reflects the ancient protocols of Indigenous International Law, the jurisprudence of reality that commands all human societies to live in equilibrium with the natural world and each other.  We speak now of the laws of relationship among all the nations of life, whose constitution and charters are drawn by the intricate and powerful interdependence of ecosystems of the land, the waters, the winds, and the sacred fire.

In this context, and in complement to the principles referenced in the principles of the UNDRIP, the essential question is framed: Is the institution of the United Nations system an instrument of Human Society, a mechanism to promote sustainable social and economic development, or has the UN degraded itself into a tool of special interests and fractured allegiances driven by extractive economic processes that threaten to devour our very Mother Earth? 

In response, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples is uniquely positioned at the threshold of potential to conceptualize, act, evaluate and follow-up on the challenges of addressing the issues of our collective agenda.  In consequence, we submit the following affirmations and proposals for action:

• That the UNPFII take the necessary special measures to acknowledge and implement the UNDRIP as an instrument of world peace for all peoples.

• That implementation strategies of the UNDRIP across the UN system be complementary and systemic initiatives that link a Human Rights approach with the local, regional and international strategies addressing the climate change crisis.

• That the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent be respected and applied to the development and implementation of global economic infrastructures and recovery systems that operate as drivers of the global economy, as these may relate to the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in terms of self determination and development.  In the context of the UNDRIP, and within the horizon of the real threats of the climate change crisis, the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent cannot be applied on a merely project by project or region by region basis, but must be a systemic standard and instrument to address the need for cosmetric cultural transformation of our human society as a whole.

• That economic indicators of the Indigenous Peoples globally outside of the monetary “market based” systems of the government states be brought forward in order to assess and evaluate priorities and effective strategies of economic and social development within a framework that links a Human Rights approach with collective ecological responsibilities. (Such as: Seven Global Currencies of the Indigenous Peoples – Life Sustaining Systems of Exchange and Complementarity).

• We again reaffirm the call by the Indigenous Peoples Global Caucus for the Permanent Forum carry out a study assessing the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, contextualized by the new systemic standard of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, such study to be presented at its 9^th session in 2010.

• That as essential element in this process, the representation of regional organizations of the UN (such as the Organization of American States) respect the principles of self determination and Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples now codified in the UNDRIP, and mandated by UNGA 1514 and 1541.   Specifically, we call upon the member states of the OAS to comply in respect of Universal Human Rights and in particular our Rights as Indigenous Peoples in relation to international borders of the states and national immigration enforcement policies across our continent of Abya Yala [the Americas].

• That the UNPFII, as act of implementation and systemic standard setting, prepare for the arrival and official archiving of the body of Treaties, Constructive Arrangements and Accords between the Nations and Pueblos of Indigenous Peoples and the government states of the UN system, to be implemented during the 9^th Session of the Permanent Forum in 2010, and that the Martinez Treaty Study be integrated and updated accordingly.

• That the Secretariat of the UNPFII facilitate the officialization of interventions, oral and written, by the Indigenous Peoples Global and regional caucuses, delivered for submission to the UNPFII and in exchange among each other.

• That in follow-up to the above and in anticipation of emerging themes for future work, the UNPFII establish partnership with the diverse initiatives of the Indigenous Peoples across the planet in terms of Education and Human Rights of the Indigenous Peoples, in accord with the principles of the UNDRIP, and in particular as related to the development of complementary systems and services of social cognition, compilation and dissemination of bioregional planning instruments, such as the Indigenous Peoples Geography Project.

Cemayo.

Tupac Enrique Acosta, Yaotachcauh

Tlahtokan Nahaucalli

TONATIERRA

NAHUACALLI

Embassy of Indigenous Peoples

PO Box 24009  Phoenix, AZ   85074

Email: chantlaca@tonatierra.org

www.nahuacalli.org

###

The Wars of Petropolis

The Battle for Middle Earth:  Carbon Trading and the Commodification of the Sky

“In this sense, I think that the issue of carbon is an external concept. For us, all natural things contribute to life. The air supports us, the birds take care of us as well, as do the fishes, the trees, the mammals, and all the things that are alive. If we consider all natural things as a web of life, we can not separate one from another. When the policies of the big institutions such as the World Bank and others make plans with our resources, but only taking them into account as carbon sequestration, an external concept to indigenous languages, the indigenous communities are forced to change their own vision of their resources.  I think that for a better understanding between financial organisations and indigenous communities we should create a communication mechanism based on our traditional models. By this I mean that we should look for a dialogue mechanism such as those used by the indigenous peoples to take decisions without discrimination, and to reinforce the continuity of natural resources.”

http://www.climatefrontlines.org/en-GB/node/197

Alí García Segura, an indigenous Bribri from Abya Yala, [Costa Rica -Central America]

*************
Soundcloud :

Seven Global Currencies

of the

Indigenous Peoples

Life Sustaining Systems of Exchange and Reciprocity

An Evaluation Matrix for the Global Economy and Millennium Development Goals

The Breath of Life

The Water of Life

The Givers of Life

The Sustainers of Life

The Foundation of Life

The Sharers of Life

The Seed of Life

*************************************

The Breath of Life: The Air, Winds and Atmosphere

     The Water of Life: The Waters, the Clouds, Waterways, Rivers and Streams, and Oceans

          The Givers of Life: The Sacred Species: Buffalo, Deer, Salmon, and Eagle

               The Sustainers of Life:  Corn, Beans. Squash (agriculture)

                    The Foundation of Life:  The Land and Territory, Mother Earth

                         The Sharers of Life:  Community and Nations

                              The Seed of Life:                   Spirit – Light

www.tonatierra.org

Oversight Hearing: UNDRIP Thursday June 9, 2011 - US Senate

OVERSIGHT HEARING on Setting the Standard: Domestic Policy Implications of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Thursday, June 9 2011
2:15PM
Dirksen Senate Office Building 628

Description:

The hearing will explore the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as an international policy goal to which the United States is signatory, the current ways existing domestic policy achieves the UNDRIP goals, and additional domestic policy considerations to make the United States a world leader in indigenous rights and implementation of the UNDRIP.

WITNESS LIST

Panel I

MR. DONALD “DEL” LAVERDURE, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC

Panel II

MR. ROBERT T. COULTER, Executive Director, Indian Law Resource Center, Helena, MT

MR. JAMES ANAYA, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, United Nations, Tucson, AZ

MR. LINDSAY G. ROBERTSON, Professor of Law / Faculty Director of the American Indian Law and Policy Center  / Judge Haskell A. Holloman Professor / and Sam K. Viersen Presidential Professor, University of Oklahoma College of Law, Norman, Oklahoma

MR. RYAN RED CORN, Filmmaker / Member, 1491s, Pawhuska, OK

Panel III

THE HONORABLE FAWN SHARP, President, Quinault Indian Nation, Taholah, WA

MR. FRANK ETTAWAGESHIK, Executive Director, United Tribes of Michigan, Harbor Springs, MI

MR. DUANE YAZZIE, Chairperson, Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission, Window Rock, AZ

MS. MELANIE KNIGHT, Secretary of State, Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah, OK

Witnesses

Contact Us

Committee on Indian Affairs
United States Senate
838 Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Phone: (202) 224-2251

Majority Fax: (202) 228.2589

Minority Fax: (202) 224-5429 

comments@indian.senate.gov

TONATIERRA: South Mountain Freeway extension of the Loop 202

TONATIERRA

Community Development Institute

PO Box 24009  Phoenix, AZ 85074

www.tonatierra.org

June 3, 2011

ADOT Five Year Program

Communication and Community Partnerships

206 South 17th Avenue

Phoenix, AZ 85007

Re:  South Mountain Freeway extension to the Loop 202

To all concerned:

Please take this comment as opposition to the South Mountain extensions to the loop 202 Freeway under consideration by ADOT, and in support of the NO BUILD option.  As an urban community based organization of Indigenous Peoples, we relate to the ancestral ties that the O’odham Nations of the territory maintain with Muadag Do’ag (South Mountain) as a Traditional Sacred Site, and are particularly concerned with relevant issues being brought forward by members of the Gila River Indian Community regarding the negative impact of the proposed projects.

As guardians of the sacredness and vital spiritual significance that Muadag Do’ag has had for millennia for the Indigenous Peoples of the O’odham Nations, and by extended relations with all Indigenous Peoples, it is fundamental that the traditional O’dham voice of the Gila River Community members and the O’0dham Nations of the territory be considered and respected not only as members and rights-holders within the GRIC reservation system, but as Guardians of the Rights of Mother Earth.

We are beyond the turning point and well into the tipping point of the climate crisis globally, but the impact of further economic development in the region that would sacrifice the cultural, spiritual, and ecological well being of our communities and future generations, begins with an assault on the Sacredness of the Earth itself and her children: Those who still see with the Sacred Sight of the original instructions of Creation the Spirit of Muadag Do’ag.

Vandana Shiva has stated:

“When we think of wars in our times, our minds turn to Iraq and Afghanistan. But the bigger war is the war against the planet. This war has its roots in an economy that fails to respect ecological and ethical limits – limits to inequality, limits to injustice, limits to greed and economic concentration…..A handful of corporations and of powerful countries seeks to control the earth’s resources and transform the planet into a supermarket in which everything is for sale. They want to sell our water, genes, cells, organs, knowledge, cultures and future.  The war against the earth begins in the mind. Violent thoughts shape violent actions. Violent categories construct violent tools….”

Is violence against the Indigenous Peoples of the O’odham Nations the official policy of the Arizona Department of Transportation planners who are proposing the two routes of extension for the 202 loop?  While we are told that one of the routes is “off reservation” we have not been given the legal evidence of the mechanisms that reduced the traditional territories of the O’odham Nations to the present reservation boundaries.  Until this occurs, such planning processes will continue to be flawed and suspect in not only historical and legal terms, but financial concerns may be raised when bond ratings related to the ADOT Regional Transportation Plan-Freeway Plan (RTPFP) come under question due to lack of due diligence and violations of due process.

Planning without effective participation is not democracy, and at worse can be corruption and collusion.  It is of great concern that we are told that at a community outreach meeting on Saturday May 7th, 2011, at the District 6 Learning Center that one community elder stated:

“All we’ve been hearing is that this freeway is going to happen and we don’t have any say. It seems like the Community’s voice is being overlooked.”  

We are also aware that there is a call by Gila River Community Members to uphold past Community resolutions against the freeway, and are supporting a community referendum that calls for “No Build” on GRIC tribal land.

Let us clarify at this point:

The reference to “GRIC tribal land” is a designation that projects the territorial jurisdiction of the Gila River Indian Community as a US federally recognized Native American tribe with status under the 1934 Howard Wheeler Act enacting a tribal council of government established pursuant to the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution which states:

(Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The United States Congress shall have power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes".

The realm of traditional jurisprudence which emanates from Muadag Do’ag, is a jurisdiction of interdependent responsibilities that is millennial in continuity, not limited by the colonizing superstructures of the states of the Americas established under the Doctrine of Discovery, and supersedes the local and state jurisdictions of Arizona.  From this rights holder position, and as stated in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted on September 13, 2007 and reaffirmed by formal resolution of the Gila River Tribal Council on May 21, 2008:

Article 18
Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision-making in matters which would affect their rights, through representatives chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures, as well as to maintain and develop their own indigenous decision-making institutions.

Therefore, may we respectfully submit that until the voice and position of the Traditional O’odham Nations of the territory is acknowledged and integrated into the planning processes with full implementation of the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent for the South Mountain Freeway extension to Loop 202, we can only oppose these projects as acts of violence in concept, plan, and practice in violation of the Right of Self Determination of Indigenous Peoples.

Further may we at this point also recommend that the Principles and Process of the Arizona Community Commerce Compact be brought forward in order to address these issues proactively with an overarching purpose and strategy intended to guide the realization of a Just and Sustainable Economy for Arizona.

• The Community Commerce Compact is an instrument of a long range, generational Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy that purposefully intends to drive the future of Arizona into a Just and Sustainable Economy.

•  The underlying values of Respect for the Rights of Mother Earth, as fundamental to any sustainable economic development plan, is the point of departure and continuous evaluation for the Community Commerce Compact.

• The recognition and implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as an instrument of contemporary international Human Rights Law is fundamental to the Arizona Community Commerce Compact.

• The Principles of Tocualnemiliztli, Living with Wellness, shall be integrated into the Regional Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy.

Respectfully submitted,

Tupac Enrique Acosta, Yaotachcauh 
Tlahtokan Nahuacalli

Eve Reyes-Aguirre, Calpixqui
Tlahtokan Nahuacalli 

 

Rafael Reyes, Tenamaztli – Quetzalcoatl 
Tlahtokan Nahuacalli

Lupe Parra, Tenamaztli - Huitzilopochtli

Tlahtokan Nahuacalli

Mario Chihuahua, Tenamaztli-Tezcatlipoca

Tlahtokan Nahuacalli

NAHUACALLI

Embassy of Indigenous Peoples

www.nahuacalli.org

A project of

TONATIERRA

WWW.TONATIERRA.ORG

Email: chantlaca@tonatierra.org

Message of the Hopi at the UN December 12, 1992

Message of the Hopi

at the

United Nations

December 12, 1992

AN ADDRESS BY THOMAS BANYACYA,

KYKOTSMOVI, HOPI SOVEREIGN NATION

The presentation by Mr Thomas Banyacya, the final speaker, was preceded by three shouts by Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper of the Six Nations, and first speaker of the day. The shouts were a spiritual announcement to the Great Spirit of the people assembled and the intention to give a message of spiritual importance.

Thomas then sprinkled corn meal next to the podium of the General Assembly and made a brief remark in Hopi that translates as follows:

Hopi Spiritual leaders had an ancient prophecy that some day world leaders would gather in a Great House of Mica with rules and regulations to solve the world problems without war. I am amazed to see the prophecy has come true and you are here today! But only a handful of United Nations Delegates are present to hear the Motee Sinom (Hopi for First People) from around the world who spoke here today.

(In English:) My name is Banyacya of the Wolf, Fox and Coyote Clan and I am a member of the Hopi sovereign nation. Hopi in our language means a peaceful, kind, gentle, truthful people. The traditional Hopi follows the spiritual path that was given to us by Massau'u the Great Spirit. We made a sacred covenant to follow his life plan at all times, which includes the responsibility of taking care of this land and life for his divine purpose. We have never made treaties with any foreign nation, including the United States, but for many centuries we have honored this sacred agreement. Our goals are not to gain political control, monetary wealth nor military power, but rather to pray and to promote the welfare of all living beings and to preserve the world in a natural way. We still have our ancient sacred stone tablets and spiritual religious societies which are the foundations of the Hopi way of life. Our history says our white brother should have retained those same sacred objects and spiritual foundations.

In 1948, all traditional Hopi spiritual leaders met and spoke of things I felt strongly were of great importance to all people. They selected four interpreters to carry their message of which I am the only one still living today. At the time, I was given a sacred prayer feather by the spiritual leaders. I made a commitment to carry the Hopi message of peace and deliver warnings from prophesies known since the time the previous world was destroyed by flood and our ancestors came to this land.

My mission was to open the doors of this Great House of Mica to native peoples. The Elders said to knock four times and this commitment was fulfilled when I delivered a letter and the sacred prayer feather I had been given to John Washburn in the Secretary General's office in October, 1991. I am bringing part of the Hopi message to you here today. We have only ten minutes to speak and time is late so I am making my statement short.

At the meeting in 1948, Hopi leaders 80, 90 and even 100 years old explained that the creator made the first world in perfect balance where humans spoke one language, but humans turned away from moral and spiritual principles. They misused their spiritual powers for selfish purposes. They did not follow nature's rules. Eventually the world was destroyed by sinking of land and separation of land by what you would call major earthquakes. Many died and only a small handful survived.

Then this handful of peaceful people came into the second world. They repeated their mistakes and the world was destroyed by freezing which you call the great Ice Age.

The few survivors entered the third world. That world lasted a long time and as in previous worlds, the people spoke one language. The people invented many machines and conveniences of high technology, some of which have not yet been seen in this age. They even had spiritual powers that they used for good. They gradually turned away from natural laws and pursued only material things and finally only gambled while they ridiculed spiritual principles. No one stopped them from this course and the world was destroyed by the great flood that many nations still recall in their ancient history or in their religions.

The Elders said again only small groups escaped and came to this fourth world where we now live. Our world is in terrible shape again even though the Great Spirit gave us different languages and sent us to four corners of the world and told us to take care the the Earth and all that is in it.

This Hopi ceremonial rattle represents Mother Earth. The line running around it is a time line and indicates that we are in the final days of the prophecy. What have you, as individuals, as nations and as the world body been doing to to take care of this Earth? In the Earth today, humans poison their own food, water and air with pollution. Many of us, including children, are left to starve. Many wars are still being fought. Greed and concern for material things is a common disease.

In this western hemisphere, our homeland, many original native people are landless, homeless, starving and have no medical help.

The Hopi knew humans would develop many powerful technologies that would be abused. In this century, we have seen the First World War and the Second World War in which the predicted gourd of ashes, which you call the atomic bomb, fell from the sky with great destruction. Many thousands of people were destroyed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

For many years there has been great fear and danger of World War Three. The Hopi believe the Persian Gulf War was the beginning of World War Three but it was stopped and the worst weapons of destruction were not used. This is now a time to weigh the choices for our future. We do have a choice. If you, the nations of this Earth, create another great war, the Hopi believe we humans will burn ourselves to death with ashes. That's why the spiritual Elders stress strongly that the United Nations fully open the door for native spiritual leaders as soon as possible.

Nature itself does not speak with a voice that we can easily understand. Neither can the animals and birds we are threatening with extinction talk to us. Who in this world can speak for nature and the spiritual energy that creates and flows through all life? In every continent are human beings who are like you but who have not separated themselves from the land and from nature. It is through their voice that Nature can speak to us. You have heard those voices and many messages from the four corners of the world today. I have studied comparative religion and I think in your own nations and cultures you have knowledge of the consequences of living out of balance with nature and spirit. The native peoples of the world have seen and spoken to you about the destruction of their lives and homelands, the ruination of nature and the desecration of their sacred sites. It is time the United Nations used its rules to investigate these occurrences and stop them now.

The Four Corners area of the Hopi is bordered by four sacred mountains. The spiritual center within is a sacred site our prophecies say will have special purpose in the future for mankind to survive and now should be left in its natural state. All nations must protect this spiritual center.

The Hopi and all original native people hold the land in balance by prayer, fasting and performing ceremonies. Our spiritual Elders still hold the land in the Western Hemisphere in balance for all living beings, including humans. No one should be relocated from their sacred homelands in this Western Hemisphere or anywhere in the world. Acts of forced relocation, such as Public Law 93-531 in the United States, must be repealed.

The United Nations stands on our native homeland. The United Nations talks about human rights, equality and justice and yet the native people have never had a real opportunity to speak to this assembly since its establishment until today. It should be the mission of your nations and this assembly to use your power and rules to examine and work to cure the damage people have done to this Earth and to each other. Hopi Elders know that was your mission and they wait to see whether you will act on it now.

Nature, the First People and the spirit of our ancestors are giving you loud warnings. Today, December 10, 1992, you see increasing floods, more damaging hurricanes, hail storms, climate changes and earthquakes as our prophesies said would come. Even animals and birds are warning us with strange change in their behavior such as the beaching of whales. Why do animals act like they know about the earth's problems and most humans act like they know nothing? If we humans do not wake up to the warnings, the great purification will come to destroy this world just as the previous worlds were destroyed.

(Thomas and Oren Lyons held up a picture of a large rock drawing in Hopiland) 

This rock drawing shows part of the Hopi prophecy. There are two paths. The first with technology but separate from natural and spiritual law leads to these jagged lines representing chaos. The lower path is one that remains in harmony with natural law. Here we see a line that represents a choice like a bridge joining the paths. If we return to spiritual harmony and live from our hearts, we can experience a paradise in this world. If we continue only on this upper path, we will come to destruction.

Its up to all of us, as children of Mother Earth, to clean up this mess before it's too late.  The Elders request that during this International Year for the Worlds Indigenous Peoples, the United Nations keep that door open for spiritual leaders from the four corners of the world to come to speak to you for more than a few minutes as soon as possible. The Elders also request that eight investigative teams visit the native areas of the world to observe and tell the truth about what is being done and stop these nations from moving in this self- destructive direction.

If any of you leaders want to learn more about the spiritual vision and power of the Elders, I invite you to come out to Hopiland and sit down with our real spiritual leaders in their sacred Kivas where they will reveal the ancient secrets of survival and balance.

I hope that all members of this assembly that know the spiritual way will not just talk about it, but in order to have real peace and harmony, will follow what it says across the United Nations wall: "They will beat their swords into plowshares and study war no more." Lets, together, do that now!

Epilogue

The night before the presentations of the native people from around the world to the General Assembly, there was a total eclipse of the moon over New York City and the sky was clear. The evening after the presentation by Mr Banyacya and the other native spokespersons, heavy rain and strong wind began. The weathermen had been calling for a snowstorm but what came the following day were the worst floods in New York's memory. Major highways were washed away by the sea and the United Nations itself experienced flooding of its lower subfloors, forcing a shutdown of its heating and air conditioning and all personnel were dismissed at three o'clock.

In the ground floor meeting room, where on December 11, native peoples were meeting representatives of various UN agencies, Thomas Banyacya spontaneously called on all the participants, including UN officials, to form a great circle. All the Elders were in the center and Thomas called in some non-native people as well. Each silently said a prayer. The forming of the circle of unity of all people from the four corners of the Earth was more than just a symbolic act. One participant said she had never felt herself to be in such a safe place. Later, several people present noted that no further storm damage occurred in Manhattan and that the storm itself abated that afternoon.

Draft Report: 11th Session Provisional Agenda - Special Theme "Doctrine of Discovery'

United Nations

E/C.19/2011/L.8

Economic and Social Council

Distr.: Limited  25 May 2011

Original: English

Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Tenth session

New York, 16-27 May 2011            

Draft report

Rapporteur: Ms. Paimaneh Hasteh

Chapter I

Matters calling for action by the Economic and Social Council or brought to its attention

A.

Draft decisions recommended by the Permanent Forum for adoption by the Council

The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues recommends to the Economic and Social Council the adoption of the following draft decisions:

Draft decision I

International expert group meeting on the theme “Combating violence against indigenous women and girls: article 22 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”

The Economic and Social Council decides to authorize a three-day international expert group meeting on the theme “Combating violence against indigenous women and girls: article 22 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, and requests that the results of the meeting be reported to the Permanent Forum at its eleventh session, to the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session and to the Commission on the Status of Women at its fifty-sixth session in 2012.

Draft decision II

Venue and dates of the eleventh session of the Permanent Forum

The Economic and Social Council decides that the eleventh session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues shall be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York, from 7 to 18 May 2012.

Draft decision III

Provisional agenda for the eleventh session of the Permanent Forum

The Economic and Social Council approves the following provisional agenda for the eleventh session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues:

1. Election of officers.

2. Adoption of the agenda and organization of work.

3. Discussion on the special theme for the year: “The Doctrine of Discovery: its enduring impact on indigenous peoples and the right to redress for past conquests (articles 28 and 37 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples)”.

4. Human rights:

(a) Implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;

(b) Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Chair of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

5. Comprehensive dialogue with United Nations agencies and funds.

6. Half-day discussion on the right to food and food sovereignty.

7. Half-day discussion on the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples.

8. Half-day discussion on Central and Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia.

9. Future work of the Permanent Forum, including issues of the Economic and Social Council and emerging issues.

10. Draft agenda for the twelfth session of the Permanent Forum.

11. Adoption of the report of the Permanent Forum on its eleventh session.

Mandate of the Indigenous Peoples - Spring 2003

Ehecatl

El Viento de Aztlan

Primavera   Xihuitl  Nahui  Acatl   Spring

2003

Mandate of the Indigenous Peoples

“All peoples have the right to self determination.”  These are the words of United Nations General Assembly resolution 1514, passed on December 14, 1960, in the wake of the cresting global movement to declare colonization a crime against humanity, a violation of the international law of nation states.

The declaration of colonization as a violation of international law for the first time in the context of the United Nations system, placed the government states who were in violation under the scrutiny of the General Assembly, and procedures were put in place to identify criteria that would specifically describe the Non-Self-Governing Territories under colonization and also establish a reporting system for the violating government states.

From the same resolution, GA 1514:

The General Assembly,

Solemnly proclaims the necessity of bringing to speedy and unconditional end colonialism in all its forms and manifestations…

For over 3,500 years our relatives have been contending with colonization under the Aryan philosophy of racial and cultural superiority in their traditional territories, ever since even before they were invaded by Alexander the Great.  They also, like we native nations of this continent are mistakenly called Indians. They call themselves the ADIVASI, one of the Indigenous Peoples of the Indian subcontinent. Along with the Adivasi, the Maori of Aotearoa (AKA New Zealand), the multiple and diverse Indigenous Nations from the former Soviet Union, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, the Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, Indigenous Peoples of the Southeast Asian Peninsula as well as the Mainland, we joined as the Indigenous Nations of Abya Yala (AKA the Americas), Africa, Europe and Australia to witness and strengthen the global political position of the Indigenous Peoples upon the inauguration of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, May 13, 2002 in New York.

The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is a 16 member body of independent experts, eight of whom are nominated by the government states, and eight nominated by the Indigenous Peoples themselves in a process that reflects 7 geo-cultural regions of the world with one rotating seat. Established as an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council, the Permanent Forum creates for the first time within the global system of governance that is the United Nations, a vehicle by which the Indigenous Peoples and Nations can represent their interests directly to the UN. The inaugural session of the Permanent Forum was opened by the Tadodaho (traditional chief) from Onandaga, guardians of the Grand Council Fire of the Haudenosaunee Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy, upon whose traditional territories the UN building itself stands.  Among the Xicanos of Aztlan, there exists an especially strong tie of culture and kinship with the Haudenosaunee that goes back to the Wounded Knee conflict of 1973, and further still to Mad Bear Anderson's continental Unity Caravan under the White Roots of Peace and the initiative he led to Cuba, attempting to achieve international recognition for the Haudenosaunee passport and nationality on a par with those of the US or any other government state. More profoundly, among the archives of traditional memory of the Tezcatlipoca Aztlan, there exists the teaching of relations between the founder of the Six Nations Confederacy, called the Peacekeeper, and the disciples of the teachings of Quetzalcoatl Ce Acatl in Mexico.

As the first week of the Permanent Forum drew to a close, a sense of urgency and acknowledgment united the indigenous representatives at the UN.  The Indigenous Peoples - our nations, communities, and families are on the front line of the assault being systematically waged as the global multinational corporate structure voraciously extracts natural resources and spews contamination in order to maintain industrial dominance of the current consumer market model of economic globalization. At the Permanent Forum, the Indigenous Nations testified repeatedly that time is running out to rectify the relationship of the human society globally in order to achieve sustainability within the natural ecosystems of the Earth.  It will soon be too late for words, too late to reverse the effects of the petroleum based industrial model that has pushed the world into the scenario of what will inevitably be the terrible effects of global warming, environmental degradation, and deforestation.

Among the Indigenous Caucus convened at the UN in New York, it has also become mutually acknowledged and reinforced at each international conference where the Indigenous Peoples are in attendance, that the Indigenous Peoples worldwide are the best hope as a strategic political bloc with global context, history, and coherence that is not controlled by the fractured allegiances or ideologies of the nation state paradigm, nor captured by the values of the multinational corporate regime of global resource expropriation.  At the core of this mutual acknowledgment is an appreciation for the spirituality of the ancient and diverse Indigenous Peoples as caretakers of the Earth.  This enduring foundation has provided the precept of a planetary constitution that describes the Indigenous Nations and Peoples as a global confederation of families, communities, organizations, nations, and Nations of Nations in alliance. In this hemisphere, this precept is known as the prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor.

When Pope Alexander the VI, himself a member of the infamous Borgia family, issued the Papal Bull Inter Cetera on May 3-4,1493 the precursor estates that have led to the present colonial nation state formation on this continent were given their empowerment in terms of the international legal system of the so called “West.”  It was under the jurisprudence of this international decree, clothed in the religious authority of the Vatican, that the colonization, terracide and genocide of this hemisphere acquired its initial justification as a civilized action, again in terms of the “West”, and specifically for the representative political powers of the time: the royal families of Spain and Portugal. Under this edict, the geographical fact of discovery was tied to the politico-religious act of dominion implemented with exclusivity in favor of the European American invaders.  This Papal Bull has never been officially abrogated or annulled and remains in effect.

The New World was such for the West not just in the geographical sense, it was new and revolutionary in the fact that the Indigenous Peoples social contract that gave context to the political infrastructure of the culture emanated through a spirituality appreciative of the elemental forces of nature, in which there was no concept of things outside of nature or “supernatural.”  Nor was the human society given preference or exclusivity as the being the dominant personality of society, which included the other life forms of winged, crawling, swimming, etc., creatures in the natural world order.  It was these egalitarian political precepts that upon arrival in the Europe of the 1500’s, gave germination to the revolutions of liberation which eventually toppled the rule by royalty in this hemisphere, and gave birth to the modern republic-states presently internationally recognized and in status as members of the UN.  

In the transition, however, from colony to republic, not one of the newly formed nation states of the hemisphere has revoked the initial claim to jurisdiction established under the Papal Bull of 1493. 

In fact, although the UN General Assembly resolution 1514 proclaims colonization as a violation of international law, and the criteria and protocols for decolonization clearly are relevant and should be applied to the indigenous nation territories, a Doctrine of Denial and complicity exists among the government states of the western hemisphere to block implementation by the Indigenous Nations and Peoples to the right to decolonization.  In other words, the processes of decolonization applied after World War II to the African continent and other colonial territories is not to be repeated or made inclusive of the Indigenous Peoples.  To accomplish this duplicity, the government states of the United Nation systems have refused to accede to identifying the Indigenous Peoples as Peoples, referring to us as "indigenous populations" only or in the singular as “indigenous people” thus precluding the right to self determination and collective rights within the global matrix which is the established international legal system of the so called “civilized world.”

Specific to North, South and Central America, the OAS government states of the continent have colluded to enforce the Doctrine of Denial under the international legal system and the United Nations, within which these governments are recognized as "indigenous to the hemisphere" thus shielding them collectively as violators of UN General Assembly Resolution 1514.

The call for a permanent forum within the United Nations system for Indigenous Peoples derives from the historical resistance movement of the Indigenous Peoples and Nations worldwide to colonization.  In the implementation, the UN has established within the Economic and Social Council the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The concept of a forum is a description of social space, wherein a dialogue is possible.  Any true dialogue requires a minimum of two perspectives, a dynamic of duality must be present at all phases of the process, including planning, implementation, and evaluation. Within the diplomatic language of the international system, unless the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is to be simply a disempowering token exercise for the Indigenous Peoples, there must be recognition from the start that the Permanent Forum operates under a Dual Mandate.

We have arrived at the moment in history of the world where a dialogue among civilizations and world views is necessary at the global level.  Only so will the hope for Peace and Dignity with justice for our human society survive, established through a sustainable ecological relationship to the Mother Earth itself as foundation.

This is the Mandate of the Indigenous Peoples; it supersedes that of the United Nations system; it is an expression of the jurisprudence of indigenous international law: it is the path of Tradition and Liberation.

NAHUACALLI

Embassy of Indigenous Peoples

www.nahuacalli.org

Contact: Tupac Enrique Acosta, Yaotachcauh

Tel: (602) 254-5230

chantlaca@tonatierra.org

TONATIERRA

www.tonatierra.org