Skip to main content

Cherokees know their own history

Indian nations know their own history. Without respect for the right of ''full and effective participation'' of Indian nations in decisions affecting them, other rights can be ignored. Respect for these rights is the obligation of the U.S. government under legally binding international human rights treaties that the government has voluntarily ratified. Otherwise, a member of Congress, using disinformation, can gather support to determine what's best for any Indian nation and threaten its very survival.

Suzanne Jasper is the director of First Peoples Human Rights Coalition, a nonprofit educational organization specifically focusing on the human rights of indigenous peoples. A timeline summary of Cherokee history recently was sent to various members of Congress, along with a brief overview of certain fundamental human rights of indigenous peoples.

For the rest of the Story:
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096416202

Popular posts from this blog

Americanization of Native Americans

Americanization can refer to the policies of the United States government and public opinion that there is a standard set of cultural values that should be held in common by all citizens. Education was and is viewed as the primary method in the acculturation process. These opinions were harshly applied when it came to Americanization of Native Americans compared to immigrant populations who arrived with their "non-American traditions". The Americanization policies said that when indigenous people learned American customs and values they would soon merge tribal traditions with European-American culture and peacefully melt into the greater society. For example in the 1800s and early 1900s, traditional religious ceremonies were outlawed and it was mandatory for children to attend English speaking boarding schools where native languages and cultural traditions were forbidden. The Dawes Act of 1887 , which allotted tribal lands to individuals and resulted in an estimated total o
Read more

Indian Boarding Schools - the US Solution to the Indian Problem

American Indian Boarding Schools Haunt Many by Charla Bear This is the first in a two-part report. For the photos with this piece and the rest of the story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16516865 May 13, 2008 Col. Richard H. Pratt founded the first of the off-reservation Native American boarding schools based on the philosophy that, according to a speech he made in 1892, "all the Indian there is in the race should be dead." CORBIS 'Kill the Indian...Save the Man' According to Col. Richard Pratt's speech in 1892: "A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one, and that high sanction of his destruction has been an enormous factor in promoting Indian massacres. In a sense, I agree with the sentiment, but only in this: that all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man." From Need to 'National Tragedy' Early in the history of American Indian boarding schools, the
Read more

A Call to Action

Happy New Year! I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season. Many of us go back to work this week (those that had any time off at all, that is!), and it is now time for action. I am going to request that each of you, now that you have a fuller understanding of the issues between the Cherokee Nation and the UKB, take the time this week to compose letters of protest to both the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Larry EchoHawk, as well as the elected officials of the Cherokee Nation, in both the executive and legislative branches. In the 2000s, the UKB has attempted to place about 76 acres of land that they own as private property, and upon which their headquarters sits, into “trust.” Placing land into trust means that a parcel of property is held by the United States on behalf of a tribe. All Indian reservations are trust properties – legally held by the United States. All Indian casinos are required by federal law to be established only on trust prope
Read more