My Doctrine is: America for the American Indians. I mean the real native Americans from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego... like me or at least, almost the half of my genome.
Regards 2012/8/19 Jochen Fromm <j...@cas-group.net> > > Steve, thanks for the long and personal response. If it understand it > right, then every American is living on occupied land, since every corner > of America once belonged to native Americans. You are not the only one. In > the land of the free and the home of the brave freedom apparently does not > mean freedom for American Indians to live as they would like to do. But you > can judge the situation better than I do. You are right, it really seems to > be a complicated issue. > > An old Chinese proverb says 'better to bend in the wind than to break': > although the native Americans have to bend, they still can remain firmly > rooted in their unique heritage and rich cultural history. Maybe art and/or > tourism can offer a way out of the crisis. Who knows.. > > -J. > > Sent from Android > > Steve Smith <sasm...@swcp.com> wrote: > Jochen - > > I appreciate this post. > > In the recent edition of National Geographic there > > is an article about Native Americans named > > "In the shadow of wounded knee" > > http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/08/pine-ridge/fuller-text > I am very sensitive to this issue because *I* literally own/live-on a > small piece of land that was expropriated from a Native tribe very > recently. I also listen regularly to strong rhetoric against the > Israelis for their handling of the Palestinians while living amongst our > own Native Americans who have been treated (in past centuries) even more > brutally and in present times, perhaps less so, but still less than ideal. > > Some on this list will perceive your post and my response perhaps as > "political".. I try to remain relatively neutral in the politics, but I > believe this is a significant "humanitarian" issue. And by humanitarian > I don't just mean the humanity of those being abused, I'm concerned for > the humanity of the abusers... roughly "us". I am not religious so I > don't really think in terms of saved or lost "souls" but if I did, I'd > be much more worried about the souls of the occupiers than of the occupied. > > And a simple answer to simple question... NO, the cultural differences > (I'm reluctant to use the terms higher or lower) do not justify an > occupation. And to this list we can add many more examples (e.g. South > Africa) and open questions such as the "Mongolian" occupation of much of > Eastern Europe and the middle east, or the Roman Occupation of north > africa, middle east, europe, or the Moorish occupation of Spain, or the > Native American (Asian?) occupation of North America (did they have a > big hand in the die-off of the megafauna of North America?). > > My house is built on 1.5 acres among a section of 5.5 acres which Public > Service of NM took ownership for the purpose of building a natural gas > compression station. I do not know their mechanism for this, it *may > have been* a trade, but it also may have been a simple request to the > State or Fed to "condemn" the parcel they wanted, literally taking it by > (legal) force from the San Ildefonso Pueblo, a very small "tribe" on a > very small "reservation", Perhaps a thousand people on a few hundred > square miles. Apparently PNM changed their minds and decided not to > complete the project but managed to hold on to the land and sell it to a > private (Anglo) individual who then subdivided and resold (to more > Anglos). 4 homes were built on these properties in the 1980's and in > 2000 I bought mine from the original owner-builder. Reviewing the > title search, I discovered the provenance. It was a little > disturbing... the details I give here were not in the document, only the > record that PNM was the first "owner" after the pueblo itself. The > rest I pieced together from other information. > > So I am now, just like many of the Zionists in Israel, an occupier. I > feel somewhat innocent in my motivations, however i have to admit to > having coveted this location since before the homes were built 30 years > ago, knowing that it was "embedded" in the "reservation"... appreciating > it for it's location, including the proximity to this pueblo. > Romantically, I wanted to believe it was some small homestead from the > 1800s which had been deeded to the family of the hispanic original > occupants when NM became a state in 1912. Of course, the truth was not > nearly that romantic. > > The Natives have a much less adversarial stance with the non-native here > than say in Palestine. They were completely crushed into submission > centuries ago and have lived in relative peace with their "occupiers" > since then with only small abuses of the relationship such as the one > that lead to the expropriation of the piece of property that I live on. > I have a number of Native friends from cultures distributed mostly > throughout the southwest of the US, and a few from farther north, but > really hardly any from the East. I also work with the Institute of > American Indian Art in Santa Fe which puts me in contact with native > students and faculty from all over North America. And I *should* put in > a plug for them... they accept students from anywhere, there is no > in/out state tuition... they are very affordable... many of their > students and studying there would be an amazing opportunity for anyone. > www.iaia.org > > New Mexico, as you may know, has the longest history of Native-European > interactions in the US. The first incursion of the Spanish into what > is now the USA and the first permanent settlement happened about 30 > miles from my house in the early 1500's well before the pilgrims or > Spanish settlements in Florida. They were (as the Spanish did in those > times) looking for vast hoards of gold. The Natives in the area > submitted somewhat willingly, being a relatively peace-loving people and > the Spanish were not brutal unless there was resistance to their > presence whereupon their horses and steel weapons and armor allowed them > to be crushingly brutal. Not long after their first settlement among the > Ohkay-Owinghe village, the Spanish Priests pulled rank on the Spanish > Noblemen and made them move the settlement to what is now Santa Fe... > The priests, no matter what else you may think of them, apparently were > looking after the mortal as well as the immortal souls of the "children > of god" they had come here to "save"... they saw that the presence of > the Spaniards was causing the natives grave harm, even without overt > abuses... I'm sure there were individual abuses, but in general, it is > said that the Spanish "occupiers" were relatively not unkind in this > period, but the priests already recognized that their mere presence was > very disturbing to the natives well being. > > As more Europeans arrived, things got worse of course and In the early > 1600's the natives pulled together and managed a widespread rebellion > large enough to push the Spanish back south of what is modern day El > Paso, the entire occupied Rio Grande River Valley for nearly 400 miles > was expunged of these foreign devils. A few years later, Juan de Onate > returned with a much more significant force and overwhelmed the natives > with their "modern weaponry", horses, and brutality. A relatively small > but significant group held out against this force on top of a mesa > within view of my house... these native warriors were able to use thier > knowlege of the terrain and some help from their people now subjugated > in the region to remain at large for months. Once they finally fell, > Onate and Spain "owned" the region again, and his first act to make the > point that rebellion would not be tolerated was to cut one foot off of > every able-bodied male of age to be a warrior as a preventative and a > reminder of his power (and intolerance). It was nearly 300 years later > before the last of the Apache, a much more warlike nomadic people > closely related to the Navajo were finally subjugated in the region. In > most if not all cases, subjugation of the native population in the > Americas was really near-extermination. Both California and Texas, two > of our largest, richest States have almost NO indigenous people left... > The bulk of the Native Americans *not* exterminated are in the > Southwest, concentrated in Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma. This of > course, excludes the very large native Population in Alaska where their > remoteness protected them from abuse and exploitation somewhat until > modern technology and our thirst for oil caused us to overrun them as well. > > I've lived among Natives all my life, meaning in regions where they > lived both on their own reservations and among the non-native > populations. I've had several good friends who are native. But I do > not pretend to understand the magnitude of what we did to them as a > population (even if I can pull the numbers and see the landscapes and > peoples). One of my friends is Lakota Sioux and he grew up near Pine > Ridge and came of age (teenager) during the Wounded Knee debacle. He > has spent his life becoming a very proud and capable artist and > craftsman but along the way he spent a great deal of it in the depths of > alcoholism and homelessness. He has had a number of children, only a > few of whom he remains close to. He is currently leading a large > effort/proposal among peers to win a grant to do an installation art > piece in South Dakota referencing not only the bad things that happened > to his people but also the good. I have worked with him to develop a > digital maquette of an oversized pile of buffalo skulls to be > constructed next to I-70 in this area as well, a huge pyramid in > testimony to another travesty we perpetrated with our railroads and our > rifles. > > But I do get queasy when our right-wing contingent supports Israel's > strong hawkish/occupational stances in Palestine and when some of our > left wing harsh attackers of Israel seem to forget our own (not that far > in the past) heritage as not just occupiers but exterminators, > perpetrators of genocide. In many ways, our own brutality exceeded > anything that Israel has done by far. This does not excuse the > Palestinian Occupation, but it should remind us that we have our own > wicked heritage which continues (as the stories in your links remind > us). It is helpful to me in understanding the Israeli/Palestinian > problem to remind myself that I too am an occupier. Anyone living in > the Americas are occupiers, etc. My personal case is somewhat more > fresh, having been established as recently as the 1970's. > > I'm not likely to deed over my "legal" property out of guilt, yet I > recognize that makes me little different than the Zionists who are > pushing back the borders of the Palestinians on a daily basis. I came > to this location very respectful of the Natives, both intrinsically > because I've lived "among" them all my life, but also because I knew > that the land I was living on *was* expropriated from them at some point > in history. While I like where I live very much, I would accept being > "relocated" to relieve my "occupation" of their territory... I did > engage in the US real-estate market in good faith, and would expect > *someone* (US Govt, PNM?) to compensate me reasonably for this, but to > accept that my choice of "a good location" was misinformed and poorly > thought through and needed to be corrected. If the bulk of my > financial security were not based in my home ownership, I might also > consider truly, simply returning the property to the tribe. This of > course would be a drop in their bucket (1.5 acres out of a hundred > square miles) and a confrontation to my 3 neighbors who are in the same > circumstance, but perhaps spiritually a good gesture. > > The region enjoys a colorful "tricultural" experience of Native, > Hispanic and Anglo and this is part of what I love about it, and perhaps > even the Natives themselves can appreciate (every pueblo has a catholic > church in it, most natives have hispanic surnames, and many enjoy the > lifestyles afforded by working the jobs provided by the "occupying > force"). But it is quite disorienting when a modern hispanic man (this > is a very coveted role in the region) rides his horse into the plaza in > Santa Fe each year during Fiesta decked in armor, sword in hand and the > entire population shouts "Onate!", celebrating his 'return' to Santa Fe. > Nobody mentions the brutality of that moment, just the splendor. A > friend of this list worked with Robert Mirabal (Taos Pueblo) last year > to help him produce an extremely moving production called "Poh Peh > Speaks", re-enacting the life and experience and perspective of the > Native Spirit starting with the experience of the Taos Pueblo Native who > instigated the uprising nearly 400 years ago and leading up to the > present. It is very moving. He has even traveled to Spain this year to > present this performance. I hope that he can continue to reach a wider > audience. > > The problem of colonization and occupation is not an easy one. It is > very hard to undo things that were done. Things done centuries ago are > hard for one reason while things done today are hard for other reasons. > > Good issue, IMO, but probably too rich for this lists blood. We'll see. > > - Steve > > It contains a map ("the lost land") which shows > > the shrinking land of the Indian reservation (esp. the ones from the > > Sioux) during the 19th century. Once the native Americans owned the > > whole country, from the Apache in the south west to the Massachusett > > in the north east. Then the British settlers and European colonists > > came, and in the name of their god they occupied and invaded the > > country. Now the Indians live in ever shrinking reservations. > > http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/08/pine-ridge/reservation-map > > > > Somehow this reminded me of the shrinking land > > of the Palestinian people. Palestinians are a bit > > like the native Americans, they are the native > > inhabitants of a countried occupied by foreign > > settlers. Today they live in a small confined area. > > http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2006/05/10/the-shrinking-map-of-palestine/ > > > > In both cases, the occupying force justify the occupation with an > > higher entity which gave them the right to live there. Expelled from > > there original countries, the settlers (Puritans in American, Jews in > > Palestine) came to stay. > > > > In Australia, the native Australians ("Aborigines") > > are confined in aboriginal reserves. Like the > > native Americans, the indigenous Australians had not developed a > > system of writing. Does this > > lower cultural level justify an occupation? > > > > -J. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ============================================================ > > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > -- Alfredo
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
