UK Daily Mail "James Anaya, the UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, unveiled his recommendations in Geneva on Friday after completing a 12-day visit to the U.S. where he met with representatives of indigenous peoples in six states.
"The U.S. is home to some two million Native Americans, nearly half of them living on 310 reservations. While some tribes have prospered thanks to the booming gambling business, others are trailing national averages in income and health."
Rick Moran: UN official says US should return land to the Indians "This is only one of the problems with satisfying land claims of "indigenous" people. The tribes with which we are familiar with today may have arrived relatively recently in the New World (3-5,000 years), according to some linguistic studies. Before their arrival, a group of Native Americans known as the Clovis people occupied much of the US and Canada. What happened to them? No one knows, but it's a pretty good bet that the newcomers either killed them off or interbreeding gradually eliminated the Clovis culture.
"The fact-finder also had a chance to meet members of the Obama administration and briefed the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, but no member of Congress agreed to meet with him." Here comes Alcatraz all over again.
Rick Moran: UN official says US should return land to the Indians "This is only one of the problems with satisfying land claims of "indigenous" people. The tribes with which we are familiar with today may have arrived relatively recently in the New World (3-5,000 years), according to some linguistic studies. Before their arrival, a group of Native Americans known as the Clovis people occupied much of the US and Canada. What happened to them? No one knows, but it's a pretty good bet that the newcomers either killed them off or interbreeding gradually eliminated the Clovis culture.
"What part of a Native American land repatriation would go to the ancestors of the Clovis people - assuming any could be found?
"For that matter, there isn't a European culture that didn't displace another one somewhere along the line. Do we give England back to the Celts? Or the Anglo Saxons? The Normans conquered England and oppressed the indigenous people as much or more as we oppressed the Indians. Where do you draw the line? How far back can one go to satisfy "indigenous" rights?"
1 comment:
You are correct. People/Groups have been displaced throughout history BUT we are talking about modern times (since the establishment of our current US government) in which the US Government had signed a binding treaty in 1868 with the Sioux Nation called the "Fort Laramie Treaty". Under Article 12 of the treaty, the Federal Government provided troops to keep the settlers and prospectors out of these hunting grounds. The treaty also established a series of rations and provisions which were paid to the Sioux annually. Since then, the US has continued to ignore the treaty, and the longest running lawsuit in American History still stands. The Sioux simply wants the Government to acknowledge and "honor the treaty". As for our national monument (within Sioux sacred grounds) some have equated it to erecting a monument of Hitler in downtown Jerusalem.
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