2010

 

 

Intervention to the Ninth Session on the United Nations

Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Item 5-Discussion on North America

Ethnic and Cultrual Identity April 22, 2010

 

U.S Policy’s towards Indigenous Amerindian Peoples.

 

Thank you Madam Chair, members of the Permanent Forum, States, brothers and sisters.

 

My name is RaDine Harrison representative for The Foundation for Indigenous Americans of Anasazi Heritage(FIAAH). FIAAH represents Indigenous American people born from Anasazi Women, ethnically identified as American Indian women-renamed by the English as American Negro’s since 1706.

 

The Foundation is compelled to draw attention to the continuation of discriminatory policy’s implemented by the United States that are a grave violation of the basic rights of Article 2 and 33 against the race of Indigenous Americans living in the U.S.. The United States 2010 Census does not have a category for indigenous Americans to represent themselves on the United States Census, and are classifying indigenous Americans who identify and respect the ethnic heritage to identify their ethnicity for themselves as African immigrants’ instead of indigenous people. This covert tactic and policy keeps invisible the Nation of Amerindian people still surviving in the Us invisible. Federally recognized tribes according to the US policy is the only population that will be respected for their ethnic right to identity on the census. This policy also keeps the correct population count remaining in the United States open for all forms of systematic manipulation and continue the persecution of Amerindian woman and their ability to sustain their collective viability in their arth inheritance homeland.

We find the blatant miss- representation of Indigenous Americans as federally recognized tribes a deceitful maneuver to mislead the International Community and cover up the Policies that implement systematic racism and commit human rights violations against the race of Indigenous Americans living within the U.S.

The United States Federal Tribal recognition is based on family groups of people who are descendants of Indigenous American men with non indigenous women. The U.S policy since 1906 for the status of Native American is: a person should consist of no more than 16% indigenous blood, a person with a stronger connection to indigenous American heritage are considered Negro/black Americans, this is not the international definition for indigenous persons or collectives.

Federal recognized tribes represents small minority groups of non-indigenous or multiethnic peoples who the U.S have chosen to be allowed to live- some on reservations and claim the indigenous ancestral American identities and culture. Currently the U.S higher public education policy instructs adults and children from indigenous American women, they should ignore their indigenous ethnic heritage from their mothers and grandmothers and should consider the US politically correct classification as African Americans.. The Political identity given to indigenous Amerindian people is not the ethnic identity of a people. Denying a people a way to recognize their ethnic identity is a blatant violation of the fundamental rights of all people in the world..

The blatant mis-use of the terminology for the ethnic identity “American Indian “being applied to U.S. federally recognized Indian tribes, allows any group of people with the status of “ tribe”, to have the status of federally recognized tribe today and can lose the status to become extinct tomorrow depending on how the U.S chooses to use the lands and resources the federally recognized tribe has been allowed to have stewardship over. The tribe will be subject to the limitations of domestic law solely for the purpose of securing the implementation of the rights and freedoms of corporate interest, which will have president over the general welfare, and privileges promoted as rights granted to the U.S. federally recognized tribe status.

In addition, the people born from indigenous American women are automatically/ forced to be naturalized as U.S. citizens if a women does not accept, the naturalization of their children the children will be taken away from them and put in US custody

Since 1868 the U.S has controlled the land Trust consisting of 700 million acres of land belonging to the Indigenous American race of people from the collective inheritance belonging to the indigenous American Indian women placed under the identity of Negro, known as the Public Land Trust, in effect placed indigenous Americans as domestic dependants/ subjects under U.S. domestic policy and law.

As naturalized (subjects ) citizens for the United States, the indigenous American Indians are allowed the privilege to vote, while being denied their basic human rights, and fundamental inherited right to self determination,, self sufficiency, culture, language, spirituality, education, social welfare, family development and relations, land , resources, collective wealth, while the U.S implements policy’s to undermining there collective means to develop and maintain their collective wealth as a way of means to stop their collective genocide and poverty.

Dr. Martin Luther King made reference to his indigenous American heritage and the frustration of his subjugation from his artificial citizenship with the United States in his historic speech “I have a Dream.” He states:" One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. Forty years later after Dr. Kings death , indigenous people labeled Negro are now being classified as African People. A political position is now being made a ethnic identity. Amerindians are now considered immigrants to America and the United States.

The U.S disingenuous attempts to promote U.S. policies towards federally recognized tribes as representing U.S. policies towards Indigenous Americans if accepted by the international community will allow the U.S to maintain the invisibility and domestic subject status the U.S has placed on 36 million Indigenous Americans and eliminate their fundamental human rights under all international declarations, conventions, resolutions and treaties.

The declaration professes to recognize inherit rights which are the foundation for human rights. In this regard, W hat mechanisms are available to indigenous peoples from the international community to help indigenous peoples combat the discrimination against them from the state for their fundamental rights.

 

 

Respectfully submitted by Dr. RaDine A. Harrison, Ambassador for FIAAH