#Indigenous Policy

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Researchers say newly discovered archival records reveal an important connection between Ontario First Nations and Irish famine victims.

The Irish Potato Famine was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland, and one of the most traumatic events in modern Irish history. Year after year, the country's potato crop failed. By the time the worst was over, one million people had died of disease and starvation. Survivors were forced to emigrate. In the summer of 1847, Toronto gave refuge to 38,000 Irish famine victims — at a time when Toronto's population was only 20,000.

The part of this history that is virtually unknown is the contribution to the relief fund from Indigenous communities in Canada.

"At least 15 bands answered the call and requested that donations be deducted from their government annuities, added to the fund, and then sent to 'our suffering fellow subjects and Christian brethren in Ireland and Scotland,'' according to Mark McGowan's research. McGowan is a professor of history at the University of Toronto and has spent time going through the archival documents. [...]

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Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[slyandthefamilybook]

me when I'm the dumbest motherfucker alive

[kelluinox]

Why does my family cling to Israel and Israel's continued existence? Simple. You see, when we were being persecuted and killed by the Nazis, and my family was chased out and was stripped of their citizenship, they tried to go to America. Only America turned them away. They had nowhere else to go. No one would accept them. No one wanted them. You know the only place that did? Israel

[rotzaprachim]

anyway the construct of the US as a monolingual anglophone nation is on multiple levels a white supremacist construct long before it is a reality

[shedontlovehuhself]

Seeing white women all over my twitter timeline yesterday crying about supposed dark scenarios to come while Black, Indigenous, & other marginalized people have been living said scenarios for a lifetime is truly something!

[steelbluehome]

July 4th is the birthday of Steve "Captain America" Rogers.

The celebrations will be nationwide in the United States of America.

Festivities may include: barbecue or grilling, loud music, your great-auntie's infamous potato salad, games (cornhole, baseball, basket ball, euchre, poker, tug-of-war, which couple will start fighting first, etc.), a body of water (lake, swimming pool, kiddie pool, the pond left in the yard after hours of kids running through the sprinkler), coolers of beverages, almost always some of which will be alcoholic, bags and bags of ice, fireworks displays (professional, amateur, illegal, dumbass, drunk dumbass, sparklers) and many generations coming together to yell and scream with and at eachother, and, always, pictures.

For many people this is an old and treasured tradition. Usually the only time it coincides with the state or condition of America as a country is when someone plays patriotic country music, or misplaced songs which are actually critical of America (Born in the USA, This is America, Living in the USA, Independence Day, Pink House's (Ain't That America), American Girl, American Woman, American Pie, etc.) which is funny as hell. Of course, there can be vicious political arguments as well. That's always fun.

The theme will be red, white, and blue.

Participation is voluntary.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

The EU-Mercosur trade deal will harm Brazil’s indigenous communities

Far-right president Jair Bolsonaro is gone but agribusiness and congress are still a threat to Brazil’s indigenous communities

The world watched in despair at the environmental damage President Jair Bolsonaro’s government wrought during his four years as presdident of Brazil.

Its crimes attracted global attention: from dismantling policies to protect the natural world, to the spiralling number of attacks on Indigenous People and incursions on their land, to deforestation reaching its highest levels for years.

For the European Union (EU), Brazil’s second largest trading partner and a large importer of the soy and beef driving deforestation in the country, alarm over these issues led to the suspension of a mammoth trade agreement, which had been 20 years in the making.

The free trade deal between the EU and Brazil and other Mercosur nations was approved in 2019 but was never ratified because of fears that it might intensify environmental and human rights abuses in Brazil.

Now, with Bolsonaro ejected from office by the electorate, and his successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, making efforts to end deforestation and protect land rights, finalising the EU Mercosur agreement is a priority once again. It will be high on the agenda in the summit taking place this week in Brussels between EU and Latin American heads of state.

Yet despite the change of government in Brazil, the assault on Indigenous People’s land rights continues.

Continue reading.

[ivygorgon]

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦Out with Incest Laws: Reconsider Blood Quantum Laws in Native Reparations

An open letter to State Governors & Legislatures

1 so far! Help us get to 5 signers!

I am writing to express profound concerns about the continued reliance on Blood Quantum Laws, or Indian Blood Laws, in Native Reparations Programs. These laws, established by federal and state governments as far back as 1705, define Native American status based on fractions of Native American ancestry, perpetuating harmful consequences for tribal communities and some, alarmingly, terminating before just 5 generations.

The use of Blood Quantum Laws has led to detrimental effects on Native American families and communities. It has incentivized harmful family planning practices, compelling individuals to marry within close kin networks to maintain "pure bloodlines." This practice not only violates individual autonomy but also jeopardizes genetic diversity and the long-term viability of tribal populations.

Of utmost concern is the declining population within many tribal communities, with some nearing critical thresholds of fewer than 1000 individuals. This situation is further exacerbated by the principles of population biology, particularly the 50/500 rule, which underscores the need for a minimum population of 500 individuals to reduce genetic drift and ensure sustained viability. It is troubling to note that these laws inadvertently encourage cousin marriages, posing additional risks to community health and resilience.

Moreover, Blood Quantum Laws impose an arbitrary expiration date on government-funded reparations and jeopardize the cultural continuity of these communities. By tethering Native American status to ancestry thresholds, these laws undermine the diversity and autonomy of tribal enrollment criteria.

I urge policymakers to urgently reconsider the use of Blood Quantum Laws in Native Reparations Programs and advocate for a more inclusive and sustainable approach to reparations. This approach should prioritize the cultural and social integrity of Native American communities, safeguarding their continued existence and resilience for future generations.

Our villages were razed by colonizers, our ancestors were genocide survivors, and, as ever, our children bear the enduring impacts of historical injustices.

Thank you for considering these critical issues and taking decisive action to address them.

Source:

📱 Text SIGN PBDXGL to 50409

🤯 Liked it? Text FOLLOW IVYPETITIONS to 50409

[factcheckandchill]

Very Angry Commentary on the State of Race Relations in Australia

In 2017 the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), whose raison d'etre is to take action against injustice related to racial discrimination, recommended that Australia “accelerate its efforts to implement the self-determination demands of Indigenous peoples, as set out in the “Uluru statement from the heart”.

The state of the rights and quality of life of indigenous people in Australia should be taken as an international embarrassment and action taken immediately to correct it. Whether it is a voice or a treaty, the status quo cannot continue.

And it's not like you can tell people they're being racist here, there is a semi-allergic reaction to even slightly being told you are a racist or racially insensitive. White people, get over yourself. we cannot correct the injustices that benefit you and only you, the injustices that are actively quashing everyone without drawing attention to them.

Do you get it?

Australia's image in the world literally depends on this bare minimum action called 'the voice'. Do you care that this will impact how Australians are viewed and treated out in the world? And more importantly, whether or not the quality of life of people who come from indigenous backgrounds.

If people are so reliant on their racism to feel a sense of worth in this country, then they don't care. They are so self-important that they don't care that the lack of voice, treaty, or adequate representation is killing children from preventable heart disease, it's pushing teenagers and young adults into impossible situations, it is putting children who could have had a different outcome behind bars because the same empathy that is given to upper-class white kids isn't extended to them.

Yet those racists (white or not) who believe that all of that injustice is justified continue to have a voice, representation, and power in society. Why are they allowed this?

Australia's brand of racism is so unique and impenetrable. refusing to be educated and would rather bring harm to itself than concede the imaginary supremacy that racists and their cronies from other ethnicities believe whites should have.

If white people are so much better, why are they… like that. (This isn't reverse racism, because that's not a thing.)

The Uluru statement from the heart is a simple and effective piece of literature in which some indigenous people were able to put forth their concerns in as loving a matter of fact as they could have. A diplomatic attitude that they honestly did not owe the settler communities. Yet that statement was met with derision and disrespect bordering on sociopathy from those who are interested in maintaining white supremacy in this country.

[rjzimmerman]

A Climate Policy That Works With the Land. (New York Times)

Excerpt from this story from the New York Times:

The daughter of activists in the American Indian Movement and a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in Canada, Eriel Tchekwie Deranger grew up immersed in her community’s fight to protect their lands and the animals they consider kin — caribou, bison, moose, water birds and fish. Her family camped in the boreal forest near the Peace-Athabasca Delta in Alberta.

One day, her father pointed out oil slicks on the road and explained that when white men arrived, they destroyed and polluted the land because their minds were consumed with greed and money. They don’t know how to take care of the land, he said, because they don’t know the land loves them. A few years later, Ms. Deranger returned after oil sands companies demolished the area and poisoned it with toxic waste. She was galvanized to become an activist.

Today, Ms. Deranger, 45, is the executive director and co-founder of Indigenous Climate Action and a member of the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change. Her organization works to empower Indigenous peoples to lead the way on climate justice and decolonize environmental policy. She recently spoke in a video interview about the effect Indigenous peoples can have on climate policy. The following conversation has been edited and condensed.

What would Indigenous climate policy look like?

Climate policy from Indigenous peoples comes from a different value set that looks at power with, as opposed to power over. It’s not consumed by money but by the health and wealth of our communities’ spirituality, our connections to our culture, our languages, our capacities to harvest from the land and not take more than you need. It’s about learning to listen to the land, because the land tells us how to govern ourselves and our territories and create systems based on reconnection to place.

It looks at a broad spectrum of questions. Not just “Can we make enough money to pay people to have a roof over their head?” But secondarily: “How are we ensuring having a roof over our head isn’t destroying the land? How are we ensuring that if we’re getting resources from somewhere else, that’s not contributing to the destruction of someone else? How do we coexist with nature and ensure our kin also have the capacities to thrive?”

What does it mean to decolonize climate policy?

Colonialism, capitalism, extractivism, white supremacy and patriarchy are at the root of the climate crisis. We can’t just talk about reducing greenhouse gases. If we don’t address those root causes, we are going to continue to build systems predicated on severing our relationships and looking at the world as our dominion to be conquered. These systems allow us to justify business as usual in sectors that have been destroying people and the planet for centuries.

Everyone has a role in decolonization, which is dismantling the structures that have marginalized, oppressed and subjugated certain peoples and places, including nature. Then recreating them with more equal and just frameworks. In the context of the climate crisis, Indigenous knowledge systems are in line with and, in many cases, can bolster Western empirical science and data, and they can allow us to create stronger frameworks to build better solutions.

[fatbitchswag]

Please look after the disabled people in your community. We will need all the help we can get in the coming years

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Protesters gathered in front of the Royal Bank of Canada's (RBC) downtown Montreal office on Saturday to demand that the bank stop investing in fossil fuels.

It was one of dozens of protests held across Canada as part of a multi-day campaign to put pressure on the financial institution ahead of its annual general meeting next week.

Rajendra Kapila Basdeo, co-ordinator of the Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers) solidarity collective, was one of the people who showed up. 

"The bank should be a good example for people to put their money in, and they should divest from fossil fuels," he said. "It's the only proper way to protect our environment."

Last year, a Banking on Climate Chaos report found that RBC was the world's foremost funder of fossil fuels in 2022. Between 2016 and 2021, the bank ranked fifth in financing fossil fuels, according to the report. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland, @vague-humanoid, @palipunk

Notes from the poster @el-shab-hussein: Unfriendly reminder that RBC has over 2 million shares worth more than 76 million CAD in a zionist military tech company that uses AI to murder and spy on Palestinians. RBC also invests in zionist settlements in the West Bank, something that is by every standard of international law completely and totally illegal.

[lachiennearoo]

Angry Rant from a Sad Frenchie

I'd advise you read this entire thing before you comment, reblog or get any opinion on this. Just to make sure you have the full context.

Alright...

Recently I found this image

It made me mad, for obvious reasons, as I am a québécois. And so I made a big rant about it in DMs with my anglo Irish boyfriend, who's always very happy to talk, and I love him very much-

ANYWAYS.

I realized that not everyone would understand my anger. Some people might even agree with this post.

But I think it's out of ignorance. Not out of anything else

And so, I will share the rant I did. Have fun

All and all, this may not sound like much, but pronouncing words in another language correctly is basic respect.

I think that if you don't care about the way you pronounce other languages' words, you just don't care about their culture or about respecting them. It's not hard to take that extra step and learn how to correctly say words.

When I say French, English, Spanish, Japanese- words, I'll always try to say them the right way. It's the least I can do to show respect.

[catgirltoes]

The state of tribal children in these traumatic residential schools is worse. The truth is that students in these schools are being stripped off their identities, and even after multiple exposés on deaths and sexual abuse cases in government-run residential tribal schools in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Assam, no concrete measures are being taken. Instead, the government plans to set up more residential schools by 2022 under the garb of tribal education and development. Every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons will have an Ekalavya Model Residential School, said the finance minister in his budget speech this February.

India has never evaluated the dangers, purpose and politics of setting up these residential model schools for tribal children. Since the mid 1990s, post liberalisation, many corporations have started operating residential tribal schools as a part of their CSR policies. These companies have a strategic interest in the lands that tribal communities inhabit. Most private-run residential schools in India receive large amounts of funds from companies which wrest control over tribal lands. In fact, residential schools have become a new-age displacement mechanism, under the pretence of an assimilationist education system.

This seems extremely similar to the explicitly genocidal Indian Residential Schools in Canada.

[urmomsstuntdouble]

not to be political but I've seen a lot of people saying that those who call Israel an apartheid don't know what they're talking about and um. As someone who has studied South African apartheid as well as grown up in a Jewish community. This claim has more merit than you think

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jennifer Bendery at HuffPost:

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has formally apologized for the church’s role in inflicting trauma and abuse on generations of Native American children and families through its participation in Indian boarding schools. By a 181-2 vote, the conference on Friday approved a 56-page document titled “Keeping Christ’s Sacred Promise: A Pastoral Framework for Indigenous Ministry.” In it, the bishops lamented that “many Indigenous Catholics have felt a sense of abandonment” by church leaders who don’t understand “their unique cultural needs.” The bishops also acknowledged the role the church played in running Indian boarding schools.

“The Church recognizes that it has played a part in traumas experienced by Native children,” the bishops said. Elsewhere in the document, they said, “We apologize for the failure to nurture, strengthen, honor, recognize, and appreciate those entrusted to our pastoral care.” For nearly a century, from 1869 through the 1960s, the U.S. government removed hundreds of thousands of Indigenous children from tribal lands and forced them into boarding schools to assimilate them into white culture. Children endured abuse and violence and even died at these schools, all the while being cut off from their families. Most of the more than 500 Indian boarding schools were run by the U.S. government, but the Catholic Church operated more than 80 of them.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issues a formal apology for the American Catholic Church’s role of forcibly assimilating indigenous peoples and abusing them for generations upon generations.