Hello!

Hope I’m not violating protocol here by cross-posting this diary that just slipped off the radar over at dKos faster than you can say kiss-my-jackpine-savage-ass! So I guess  this is  a “reject” from the Big Orange Frat room (isn’t that what some people call it? –we kid the Kos, really, we do!) In the few months I’ve been lurking in the liberal blogosphere, I’ve gotten the sense that sensitivities over here might be a bit more sympathetic to a diary of this nature. If I am breaking the rules or stepping on toes in posting this, please flame my ass outta here! The diary will vaporize into the memory hole as fast as it appeared from somewhere outta nowhere or way out there [somewhere http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/books/bid1412.htm].
This diary began as a comment posted to Chris Kulcycki’s dKos diary yesterday on “Poverty and Energy”. As much as I appreciate all the great work Chris and other Kossacks are doing on matters that are of great concern to me, as a person of Native American descent whose “patriotism” has very little to do with the “lofty ideals” and “noble principles” upon which this country was founded, it is impossible not to note the glaring absence not only of American Indian and Alaskan Native posters on this site, but above all the conspicuous lack of consciousness or awareness of Native issues on the part of the remaining posters.

One example is the persistent reiteration of paeans to the above-cited “lofty principles” upon which this country was founded, which is most evident in the absolute absence of awareness of the fact that the US Constitution and the “American” democratic model were substantially derived from indigenous models of democracy that were not smuggled into this country on the Mayflower with the Magna Carta or dredged up from the depths of profundity as recorded in the annals of history compiled by a cadre of dead white men who trace their intellectual genealogy back to Greece–but that is a subject of another diary, coming soon.

Another example involves the debate around ANWR (and the otherwise extremely laudable efforts to defeat the legislation) . ANWR: the only piece of good news I’ve read in weeks. My sincerest appreciation and praise to all those who have stayed on this issue and helped the rest of us Kossacks stay on it. Elise’s diary from a few days ago comes to mind as exemplary in this regard: admittedly, I had given up on ANWR by then, and the diary prompted me to participate in those last-ditch efforts to stop the stealth legislation in the Budget Bill. So special thanks to Elise.

But, even there, as I pointed out in a comment to that diary: the absence of awareness of and consciousness for the Native people’s issues involved stood out like a sore thumb. That is not intended as a personal criticism of Elise. It is indicative of a larger pattern of erasure that is apparent throughout the liberal/progressive/Democratic world of political activism. In the long run, ANWR isn’t about saving “wildlife” and “hugging trees” so that American citizens can reserve for themselves one last patch of “pristine wilderness” as a playground for “nature lovers.” It is, very fundamentally, about preserving a way of life for a people who have no interest in partaking of the perils, the spoils and guilty “pleasures” of the invasive culture of destruction that has been hell-bent on eradicating every last shred of sanity and/or serenity within its territorial bounds and beyond–for centuries, not just for the past 5 years. If ANWR belongs to anyone, it belongs to the Gwich’in people.

It’s not popular, I know, to persistently remind the people of the United States of America of the fact that the “lofty ideals” and “noble principles” upon which this country was built include slavery and genocide–not to mention the biggest, most outrageous land grab in the history of humanity. From my perspective (and of course, I speak only for myself, not for the ca. 3.5 million survivors of the American Holocaust. This reminder, however “friendly” or “unfriendly” it is phrased, seems particularly unpopular in liberal/progressive/Democratic circles–it upsets the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria-narrative of the “noble civilizers” and knocks the winds from the sails of the good ship Democracy, or so it seems.

OK, so everyone knows, of course,  that November is American Indian Heritage Month, right? (I thought so). So even if I’ve already pissed you off or scared you away with too much truth to take at a time in this country’s history when even the surface truths are  brutal enough to make you vomit, please: humor me. Let some of these deeper truths penetrate the thick-skinned surface of denial that enshrouds and keeps some truths safely buried well-below the radar in what is clearly an intellectual survival strategy that involves a flagrant, flagrant case of “intellectual dishonesty.” Understand that this “intellectual dishonesty” which is apparent in 90% of the diaries posted here renders dKos a very inhospitable place for American Indians–it is painful to be here, excruciating to note, again and again, the precipitous gap between my perception and most of your perceptions of this country and its history. I am here because if there’s one thing we do agree on, it is the present  “state of the nation.”  So if you ever wonder about why there are so few Indians posting here or in other remote corners of the liberal blogosphere–this is why. You need to decide whether you want to join the foundering fathers in eradicating American Indians from your consciousness and from the future of this country, or wheter you want to include them. If that is what you want, you must: and yes, this is a must–you must accept them on their terms this time, not yours. And that cannot happen as long as there is absolutely no awareness or consciousness of what those terms are.

This is the first in a series of diaries on Native American issues I will be posting throughout the month of November, in celebration of American Indian Heritage Month and in an attempt to provide the opportunity to develop some awareness of some issues and perspectives that are central to any embrace of Indian people/s, Indian cultures, and Indian futures in your future plans for this country your forefathers built on our backs and with the blood of our ancestors dripping from their hands.

Your heroes are not our heroes  

First, please consider this:

Contrary to what the mainstream media reports on Indian Gaming, the reality is that Indian reservations have a poverty rate of 26%– the highest poverty rate of any ethnic grouping in America. Indian unemployment is disproportionately high. Indian health, education and income statistics are the worst in the country. While a few tribes have achieved a measure of success, the vast majority of tribes continue to be mired in a severe economic depression caused by decades of marginalization. Tribes are striving to achieve economic stability and self-sufficiency by using the growing tools of self-governance. The strength of sovereignty is beginning to bear fruit in many Indian communities. Yet, it is critical that economic development and job growth in Indian communities have a high priority.

And this

As other communities focus on bringing Internet connectivity to their citizens, many American Indians and Alaska Natives have yet to be connected to a basic telephone network. In 1999, three reports examining the state of connectivity in Indian Country found that Native Americans face an urgent situation – one in which telecommunications and information technology infrastructure capabilities fall far behind the rest of the United States.

And some of these statistics

  • The poverty rate for Native Americans is approximately 26 percent–2.6 times higher than that for whites and more than twice the average for all Americans, at approximately 12 percent.
  • Homeless: Approximately 90,000 Native families are homeless or under-housed.
  • Overcrowding: In tribal areas, 14.7 percent of homes are overcrowded, compared to 5.7 percent of homes of the general U.S. population.
  • Plumbing: On Native American lands, 11.7 percent of residents lack complete plumbing facilities, compared to 1.2 percent of the general U.S. population.
  • Telephone Service: Compared to the 2.4 percent of the American population, 16.9 percent of Native Americans in tribal areas lack telephone service.
  • American Indians and Alaska Natives have the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the world.
  • American Indians and Alaska Natives die at higher rates than other Americans from alcoholism (770 percent), tuberculosis (750 percent), diabetes (420 percent), accidents (280 percent), homicide (210 percent) and suicide (190 percent).
  • American Indians and Alaska Natives born today have a life expectancy that is almost 6 years less than the U.S. population (70.6 years to 76.5 years Infants in American Indian and Alaska Native communities die at a rate of 8 per every 1,000 live births, as compared to 7.2 per 1,000 for the U.S. population
  • Studies show that unemployment on or near Indian reservations commonly exceeds 50 percent and in some areas that figure jumps to over 90 percent.
  • Unemployment in Indian country has placed more than 500,000 people who live on or near Indian reservations at or below the poverty level. These obstacles are further compounded by the rural location of most Indian reservations. As result of these factors, Indian country accounts for many of the poorest areas in the United States.

    • In addition, please consider this oft-overlooked Article of the US Constitution

    Article I, Section 8,

    The U.S. Constitution recognizes that Indian tribes are independent governmental entities. Like state governments and foreign governments, Indian tribes have the inherent power to govern their people and their lands. A fundamental contract was created in the treaties. Indian tribes ceded millions of acres that make the United States what it is today; in return, tribes received the guarantee that the federal government would protect the tribes’ right to govern their own people and their reservations as homelands for tribal cultures, religions, languages, and ways of life. Since the time of the Constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed the fundamental principle that Indian tribes retain their government powers unless specifically limited by treaty or by federal law.

    Which is of course what GWB, speaking on August 13, 2004, didn’t seem to get when he made this now infamous statement:

    “Tribal sovereignty means just that; it’s sovereign. You’re a–you’ve been given sovereignty and you’re viewed as a sovereign entity.”

    Actually what it means is that the relationship between American Indian and Alaskan Native Tribal Governments is a government-to-government relationship: Indian tribes are independent governmental entities. The tribes, unlike other racial and/or ethnic minorities in this country, exist as national entities with which the US government has entered into legal, contractual agreements (i.e., treaties), many of which have been unilaterally violated by the United States government in a travesty that has led to the creation of the above-described Third World Nations within the nation that goes by the name of the “United States of America.”

    Like many of the Third World Nations presented in this diary, Native American nations located within the territorial boundaries of the USA have similarly begun developing economic models that harness the potential of renewable energy as a way of alleviating poverty within their nations while at the same time delivering alternative economic and environmental models which have the potential to solve many of the energy problems currently crippling the “host” nation of the USA.  

    My point being: one need not look to the distant reaches of the southern hemisphere for projects in Third World countries from which we might learn. There are many such initiatives underway right in your backyard, but since your government, your teachers, probably your parents and your whole environment has taught you to ignore certain basic facts (like the fact that Native Americans still do exist and are actually at the forefront of development in many of these areas, or the fact that what tribal sovereignty means is just that: sovereignty, i.e., nations which stand in legally binding government-to-government relationship with the United States, its federal, local and state governments. Based on the above-cited statistics, this means that there are de facto “Third World nations” extant within the territorial bounds of your own country).

    I encourage anyone who is interested in these issues (alleviating Third World poverty, improving living conditions for Third World countries, developing sustainable, renewable energy sources) to include in your research those projects and problems a bit closer to home.

    One good place to start would be the upcoming Native Renewables Energy Summit this weekend  in Denver CO.  

    Native Renewables Energy Summit – Solutions For Tribes & Cities

    November 15-17, 2005

    Core Message: Tribes and Cities can help each other

     At a time when the government in Washington is frozen in polarized positions, it becomes all the more important for progressive forces to find new goals and rallying grounds at the state, local & tribal levels. Supporting Native Renewables both in capital markets and for local “healthy” community development will do just that. With Green Tags and Renewable Energy Credits, Native Renewables projects can generate immediate financial rewards to revitalize Native economies. In the long run, they offer Tribes a way to invest wisely in sustainable economic development. For towns & cities, Native Renewables offer clean electricity to mitigate air pollution and climate change.

    Another place to look would be here

    Seek and ye shall find–and, remember,  you don’t have to go to Africa to find Third World countries to help, or to learn from.