Friday, March 30, 2012

The Doctrine of Discovery: The International Law of Colonialism


Professor Robert J Miller, Lewis & Clark Law School

Johnson v. M’Intosh, 21 U.S. (8 Wheat.) 543 (1823).

Here are the 10 elements that I think constitute the Doctrine and are useful in analyzing and comparing how settler/colonizer societies have used this international law against Indigenous peoples around the globe.  Robert J. Miller, Native America, Discovered and Conquered: Thomas Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, and Manifest Destiny 3-5 (Praeger Publishers, 2006; paperback edition University of Nebraska Press, 2008).

1. First discovery.

The first European country to discover lands unknown to other Europeans claimed property and sovereign rights over the lands and native peoples. First discovery, however, was usually considered to have created only an incomplete title.

2. Actual occupancy and current possession. 

To turn first discovery into recognized title, a European country had to actually occupy and possess newly found lands. This was usually done by building forts or settlements. Physical possession had to be accomplished within a reasonable amount of time after the first discovery to create a complete title.

3. Preemption/European title.
 

Discovering European countries also claimed the power of preemption, that is, the sole right to buy the land from Indigenous peoples. This is a valuable property right similar to an exclusive option to purchase land. The government that owned the preemption right prevented or preempted any other European government or individual from buying land from the native owners.  The United States still claims this power over Indian lands today. 25 U.S.C. section 177 (2006).

4. Indian or Native title. 

After first discovery, Euro-American legal systems claimed that Indigenous Peoples and nations had lost their full property rights and full ownership of their lands. Europeans claimed that Indigenous nations only retained the rights to occupy and use their lands. Nevertheless, these rights could last forever if they never consented to sell to the European country that claimed the preemption power. If Indigenous nations did choose to sell, they were only supposed to deal with the government that held the preemption right. Thus, “Indian title” in the United States, and ‘Maori title’ in New Zealand, and Indigenous titles elsewhere allegedly defined limited ownership rights.

5. Tribal limited sovereign and commercial rights.
 

After a first discovery, Europeans considered that Indigenous Nations and Peoples had lost some aspects of their inherent sovereign powers and their rights to international free trade and diplomatic relations. Thereafter, they were only supposed to deal with the European government that had first discovered them.

6. Contiguity. 

Under Discovery, Europeans claimed a significant amount of land contiguous to and surrounding their actual discoveries and settlements in the New World. Contiguity became very important when different European countries had settlements somewhat close together. In that situation, each country claimed to hold rights over the unoccupied lands between their settlements to a point half way between the actual settlements. Moreover, contiguity held that the discovery of the mouth of a river gave the discovering country a claim over all the lands drained by that river; even if that was thousands of miles of territory. For example, refer to the boundaries of the Louisiana Territory and Oregon country as defined by the United States.

7. Terra nullius.

 This phrase literally means a land or earth that is null or void or empty. This element stated that if lands were not possessed or occupied by any person or nation, or even if they were occupied but were not being used in a fashion that European legal and property systems approved, then the lands were considered to be “empty” and available for Discovery claims. Europeans were very liberal in applying this element and often considered lands that were actually owned, occupied, and being used by Indigenous Peoples to be “vacant” and available for Discovery claims if they were not being “used” according to Euro-American laws and cultural mores.

8. Christianity. 

Religion was a significant aspect of the Doctrine of Discovery. Under Discovery, non-Christian peoples were not deemed to have the same rights to land, sovereignty, and self-determination as Christians.

9. Civilization. 

The European ideals of civilization were important parts of Discovery and of ideas of superiority. Europeans thought that God had directed them to bring civilized ways and education and religion to Indigenous Peoples and to exercise paternalism and guardianship powers over them.

10. Conquest.

 This element claimed that Europeans could acquire Indian title by military victories in “just” and “necessary” wars. In addition, conquest was also used as a term of art to describe the property rights Europeans claimed to have gained automatically over Indigenous Nations just by showing up and making a “first discovery.”


For a comparative law analysis of the use of the Doctrine of Discovery in different European and settler societies, see generally Robert J. Miller, The International Law of Colonialism: A Comparative Analysis, 15 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 847 (2012); Robert J. Miller & Micheline D’Angelis, Brazil, Indigenous Peoples, and the International Law of Discovery, 37 Brooklyn J. Int’l Law 1 (2011); Robert J. Miller, Lisa Lesage & Sebastian Lopez Escarcena, The International Law of Discovery, Indigenous Peoples, and Chile, 89 Nebraska L. Rev. 819 (2011); Robert J. Miller, Jacinta Ruru, Larissa Behrendt & Tracey Lindberg, Discovering Indigenous Lands: The Doctrine of Discovery in the English Colonies (Oxford Univ. Press, 2010, paperback 2012); Robert J. Miller & Jacinta Ruru, An Indigenous Lens into Comparative Law: The Doctrine of Discovery in the United States and New Zealand, 111 West Vir. L. Rev. 849 (2009).

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Response from Andrew LeFevre, ADE March 26, 2012


Full Text of Monday March 26, 2012 Email from Andrew Lefevre, Arizona Department of Instruction to Tupac Enrique Acosta, TONATIERRA


From: LeFevre, Andrew Andrew.LeFevre@azed.gov
To: Tupac Enrique <chantlaca@tonatierra.org>
Date: Mon, Mar 26, 2012 at 12:19 PM
Subject: RE: Comuniqué to Arizona Department of Public Instruction J. Huppenthal 

Mr. Acosta:

Per our discussion while you were at ADE, I wanted to contact you regarding your request to meet with the Superintendent regarding the United Nations report “Preliminary Study on the Impact of Doctrine Discovery” and the inclusion of doctrine discovery in Arizona’s state standards and curriculum.

By what criteria is the designation of "white" pupils determined?
The Superintendent appreciates you bringing this issue to his attention and will review the information you provided and then bring it to the attention of the State Legislature and the State Board of Education for their consideration.  As we discussed last Friday, the Arizona Department of Education does not set the curriculum standards for the state, that authority is reserved for the legislature and State Board.  If those bodies determine that this should be included in the state standards, then ADE will work to ensure compliance with their directives.

Again, we greatly appreciate you bringing these issues to the Superintendent’s attention. At this time he is unavailable to meet with you, but recommends that you attempt to have your concerns addressed with members of the legislature and State Board of Education. If you have other issues that you would like him to review, please forward those to his attention. 

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Andy
--
Andrew T. LeFevre
Director of Public Relations
Office of Communications & Innovation
Arizona Department of Education
602-364-2425
602-542-5072 (press line) 
andrew.lefevre@azed.gov

LINK:
March 16, 2012 Comuniqué to Arizona Superintendent of Instruction J. Huppenthal


"Therefore, we as Nican Tlacah, Indigenous Peoples of Anahuac who reside in the territories of the O’otham Nations also known as the State of Arizona now present the following demands and recommendations in pursuit of realizing the intent of this letter:

In light of the fact that there is absolutely NO REFERENCE in the current Arizona State Curriculum Standards for a track of study on the relevance of the Doctrine of Discovery in terms of Social Studies, History or Public Policy:

We demand that the Preliminary Study on the Doctrine of Discovery, submitted to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues be integrated into the Social Studies Curriculum standards immediately for implementation across the spectrum of services delivered by the Arizona Department of Education at all levels across the state with no exceptions."


The Law of Exceptions


The Law of Exceptions
Open Letter to the Ministers of State and the Public Societies of Canada-US-Mexico


NAFTA and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

October 27, 2011


Greetings.  Today the ancient arc of pilgrimage of the Nations and Pueblos of the Indigenous Peoples of Anahuac, Turtle Island and Abya Yala [the Americas] purposefully intersects once more with the trajectory of the government states whom you represent on our continent.  Today the traditional representatives of the Wixarika Nation bring the case of the Defense of Wirikuta, sacred heart of Mexico, to the fore of the national, international and global agenda of discussions on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Rights of Mother Earth.  As Nican Tlacah, we are on a pilgrimage of purpose to generate the collective understanding necessary among all human society for the sacredness of life itself to be lived, to be celebrated, and to be protected in the homelands and sacred shrines of the Indigenous Peoples.

Today in Mexico City, and at the Canadian Embassy in Mexico a petition demanding respect and protection for the sacred sites of the Wirikuta is being delivered to the Mexican and Canadian governments. We here-now, Nican Tlacah Izkalotecah, extend our solidarity and commitment to rectify the historical and social injustices that have created the immoral and illegal complicity among corporate interests and government officials who should be defending the common good and not acting as agents of corporate profits. 

Context

Within the provisions of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) among your governments, each nation-state reserved the right to deny investors rights or preferences provided to “aboriginal peoples”, “socially or economically disadvantaged minorities”, or “socially or economically disadvantaged groups” in from two to five designated areas.  These provisions of exception are cited in Annex II, as follows:

·      “Canada reserves the right to adopt or maintain any measure denying investors of another Party and their investments, or service providers of another Party, any rights or preferences provided to aboriginal peoples,”

·      “The United States reserves the right to adopt or maintain any measure according rights or preferences to socially or economically disadvantaged minorities, including corporations organized under the laws of the State of Alaska in accordance with the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act,”

·      “Mexico reserves the right to adopt or maintain any measure according rights or preferences to socially or economically disadvantaged groups,”

In reference to these provisions of exception of NAFTA, professor Valerie J. Phillips correctly stated, “All three nation-states remembered indigenous peoples, but only long enough to put them in their place. All of these exemptions simply continue the ongoing nation-state subordination and marginalization of indigenous peoples.”

The terms subordination and marginalization are only the skin of the beast.  The actual process which has been ongoing since October 12, 1492 is genocide and colonialism, implemented via trade agreements and economic development policies that favor the process of colonization by European American “white” elites continentally and their corporate accomplices.  The Niña, the Pinta, the Santa Maria, the Mayflower: the NAFTA and the NARCO.

The invasion of Turtle Island Abya Yala continues, yet our resistance, as Indigenous Peoples is also unbroken.  We resist and rebel, we regenerate and call out once more today for rectification and clarity, purpose and solidarity as children of the Nations and Pueblos of Mother Earth.

Clarifications:

From the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the UN General Assembly September 13, 2007:

Article 32


States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or other resources.


It is evident that the of lack of processes and accountability for violations of the Right of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent for Indigenous Peoples is a fatal flaw not only the consultations which led to the NAFTA as a regional commercial compact, but for the actual ongoing implementation of the agreement.  The case of Wirikuta in Mexico is mirrored in the crisis of the Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada and Mt. Tenabo in Nevada as well as scores of other development projects impacting Indigenous Nations across North America including the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona. The violation of the right of Free, Prior and Informed Consent extends across the entire spectrum of economic development programs that are promoted and protected with preferential policies by the governments of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) regime.

The violations of the Right of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent is systemic under the neoliberal policies of these states, as is their complicity in the criminal exploitation and expropriation of the natural resources and labor of our Nations and Pueblos.  This is a grave foreign policy issue of crisis that must be addressed under the standards of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 13, 2007.

Focusing in on the US context of the issues, Anthony Bothwell, remarks that the European taking of America involved “the most extensive land fraud and the largest holocaust in world history”.  He argues persuasively that, within the United States, the Supreme Court distorted international “laws” or doctrines regarding conquest and discovery to “rationalize white supremacist usurpation of Indian nation sovereignty, even while conceding that the great injustice may have violated international law principles”.  Bothwell goes even further than the mere analysis of then-existing international laws to assert that the taking of America violated binding treaties, the law of nations as recognized in the U.S. Constitution, as well as the Supremacy, Commerce, Takings, Contracts, and Fifth Amendment Due Process Clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

Yet, in spite of these assessments and predictions of the Master’s Narrative, today the Wixarica speak to the World once more from the ceremonial ground of Mexico in pilgrimage of purpose and clarification. The Cuachichilcameh Izkalotecah respond and relay the following message, once more:

Continental Proclamation
Abya Yala
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Fifth Period of Sessions  May 15- 26, 2006
United Nations   NY, NY

Recalling the memory, will and spirit of our ancestors of time immemorial, they who gave origination to we the Indigenous Nations of the Continent Abya Yala,

Reclaiming the power of destiny as Peoples of Humanity,

In safeguard of the Rights of the Future Generations of our Nations of Indigenous Peoples,

Invoking the ancestral mandates of our Continental Confederation of the Eagle and the Condor, and the respective pronunciations ratified in Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples in Quito, Ecuador 2004, and in Mar de Plata, Argentina 2005,

WE HEREBY PROCLAIM

Presenting ourselves as Nations of the Indigenous Peoples of our continent Abya Yala before this Fifth Period of Sessions of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues of the United Nations, and upon being received as such by the convoking authorities on the floor of the General Assembly,

That the Papal Bull Inter Caetera of Pope Alexander VI (1493) is hereby ANNULLED, as well as whatever Doctrine of Discovery proceeding from which that pretends to deform the relationship of Harmony, Justice, and Peace of we the Indigenous Peoples of Humanity in its entirety.
May 18, 2006
CONCLUSION

We call upon the ministers of government at all levels of Canada-US-Mexico and the public constituencies of their respective societies to address without prejudice or discrimination the above clarifications. We assert that these clarifications command rectification of the crime of colonialism by moratorium on all NAFTA economic development projects impacting the territories of the Nations and Pueblos of Indigenous Peoples until the right of Free, Prior and Informed Consent of the Indigenous Peoples is fully recognized, respected, and protected in the spirit of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as follows:

“Affirming that Indigenous Peoples are equal to all other peoples,…..”

NAHUACALLI
Embassy of Indigenous Peoples
www.nahuacalli.org


Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Indigenous Peoples Forum Calls for Collective Corrective Action to Address the Impact of the Doctrine of Discovery

Indigenous Peoples Forum
on the Impact of the Doctrine of Discovery


Call for Collective Corrective Action
to Address Violations of
Human Rights - Indigenous Rights - Rights of Mother Earth


We call for this process to continue and prevail in the Spirit of Truth over the distortions of doctrine, not for merely for the purpose of redress of past violations but to actually engage in collective corrective action in order to move forward with Self Determination towards our common destiny as Humanity and in maturity as Children of the Nations and Pueblos of Mother Earth.


Phoenix, AZ – In a historic act of presence and testament of Indigenous Nationhood and Self Determination, an Indigenous Peoples Forum convened on the floor of the Arizona State House of Representatives last week to address the impact of the Doctrine of Discovery on Indigenous Peoples from a range of perspectives that ranged from the O’otham Hemuchkam to the academic, from the legal to the educational, and from the economic to the cultural.   The event was organized by the Nahuacalli, Embassy of Indigenous Peoples as an expression of Self Determination and to move with healing into the future of the Nican Tlacah Ilhuitl, Indigenous Peoples Day.

The event was hosted by the Native American Caucus of the Arizona State Legislature, and presided over by the O’otham Hemuchkam upon whose traditional territories as O’otham Nations the capitol complex now stands.  The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on September 13, 2007 served as reference and standard of protocol for the Indigenous Peoples Forum. 

Taking reference from the UNDRIP, one of the official documents of the Forum read: “As Indigenous Peoples we are Peoples, equal to all other peoples, and our histories are equally part of the weave of Human Memory globally, and as such must be taken into account on an equal basis without discrimination to provide the necessary foundation for public policies of fairness and justice, in education and the delivery of services of public health and public safety by the states.”

The event was also streamed globally live from the floor of the state capitol complex via internet and is now an official proceeding to be archived within the processes of the Arizona State legislature.  A report of the Indigenous Peoples Forum on the Doctrine of Discovery, including the video record, will be submitted to the 11th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues(UNPFII).  The Doctrine of Discovery is to be the subject of a Special Theme for discussion on the agenda of the next session of the UNPFII in May 2012 in New York.

Going beyond the agenda of the UN, the Indigenous Peoples Forum also called for Collective Corrective Actions to be taken at all levels, from the local and community, to the regional and continental in order to bring to light the violations of Human Rights and Indigenous Rights which have been perpetrated and continue to damage the Spirit of Humanity under the guise of the “Doctrine of Discovery” and the underlying “Framework of Domination”.

Among the presenters who addressed the Indigenous Forum on the Doctrine of Discovery on Friday March 23 was Professor Robert Miller of Lewis and Clark University who expounded on the historical and conceptual connections between the Doctrine of Discovery and the doctrine of Manifest Destiny, including the framing of US jurisdiction over the Indigenous Peoples of North America based upon the Marshall Trilogy and the Johnson v. McIntosh decision by the US Supreme Court in 1823.

Steve Newcomb, of the Indigenous Law Institute revealed the underlying Framework of Domination that prescribes the imposition by colonization of the Doctrine of Discovery and the Yoke of Subjugation that is the history of US Federal Indian Law.  He also revealed the lineage of racial profiling and “white privilege” that derives from the Doctrine of Discovery that is codified in the Federal and State Constitutions and Colonial Charters which serve to this day as the Organic Acts for the justification of jurisdiction by the states of the Americas (Arizona included) over the inherent rights of self determination of the Indigenous Peoples as Nations.  Under the standards of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, these regimes of conception are now unacceptable at the global level, and at the local level it is the intent of the Indigenous Peoples Forum to bring forward the necessary systemic standards as collective corrective actions under the protocols of the UNDRIP and the Prerogatives of the Peoples: Tehan Titlacah.

Shannon Rivers, Akimel O’otham who facilitated the forum gave a stark and factual account as a member of the O’otham Nations on the impact of the Doctrine of Discovery on the Indigenous Peoples of the territory.  He also spoke of the work that is ongoing by the O’otham Hemuchkam to restore and heal from centuries of genocide and trauma that continues to be perpetuated by policies in Arizona that derive from the Doctrine of Discovery in violation of Human Rights and Indigenous Rights as articulated in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Attorney Julie Cavanaugh Bill and Larson Bill of the Western Shoshone Defense Project, gave an in depth report on how the battle of the Western Shoshone to defend their rights of Self Determination under the 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty with the US Government has led them into the battle fields of the US Courts, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and the UN Commission for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in Geneva., Switzerland.  The Western Shoshone, in particular through the efforts of Carrie Dann and her sister Mary Dann for decades have been at the forefront of the international struggle for Indigenous Rights and are known around the world for their persistence and the integrity of their legal position.  For the Western Shoshone the principles of jurisprudence that provide the lens of definition for the issues are the Sacred Laws of Relationship among the Four Elements of the Natural World: Land-Air-Water-Spirit: LAWS.

La Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras (Indigenous Alliance Without Borders) represented by Monica Carrasco, gave a sweeping presentation on the regional aspects of 500 years of colonization from the perspective of the Nations and Pueblos of Indigenous Peoples whose territories were divided by the imposition of the international border between the US and Mexico in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and then again in 1853 with the Gadsden Purchase.  The lack of Free, Prior and Informed Consent with Indigenous Peoples in the processes that led to these international agreements among the government states in the territory is a clear violation of the Human Rights, Indigenous Rights including rights of mobility and territorial rights that are now inscribed in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted on September 13, 2007.  These violations are exacerbated even further by the economic policies of exploitation and expropriation of the natural resources and labor of Indigenous Peoples under the NAFTA regime.


Coming from Santa Maria Ocotan in the state of Durango, Mexico Virginia Flores Flores of the O’dam Nation spoke in her native language to the assembly of Indigenous Peoples and special guests who attended the event at the State Capitol, filling the floor of the House of Representatives and spilling into the upper level balcony.  She spoke in O’dam and was understood by the attending O’otham Hemuchkam who nodded their heads in appreciation for her message as she spoke.  Virginia spoke of the history of the migrations and displacements that her O’dam relatives in Mexico have experiences going back for centuries, and even thousands of years.  She told the story of how she came to speak at the Indigenous Peoples Forum after having participated with the Nahuacalli, Embassy of Indigenous Peoples at a similar event in Mexico City three years ago.  Since that first meeting in Mexico, she came to Arizona last year and now this time she is meeting with local O’otham Peoples to realize a gathering of the O’dam of Durango Mexico with the O’Otham of Sonora and Arizona.  The O’dam of Durango possess a vast territorial base along the eastern flank of the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico and number over 15,000 members many of whom are fluent O’dam speakers.

Gustavo Gutierrez, elder of the Opata Nation brought forty years of perspective to the event by relating the stories of the battles fought at the Arizona State legislature during the Farm worker Movement days of Cesar Chavez, when Native American leaders joined forces with the movement to organize for public policies of social justice.  Gustavo strongly denounced the “ethnic cleansing” policies that would try to define Xicano Mexicano families as “Latinos or Hispanics”, caused by the trauma inflicted over generations by the Doctrine of Discovery. He denounced these policies as a premeditated pogrom of “psychological mind warfare” whose purpose is the imposition of a regime of intellectual apartheid in Arizona by the European American elites on both sides of the border working in collusion.
Star Turtle's Island

One of the specific local issues brought forward to Indigenous Peoples Forum was the demand by two traditional Mexican indigenous communities of the territory, the Tlamanalco and the Izkaloteca.  These two Callpolli presented a DEMAND to the Arizona Department of Education culminating a ceremonial three day run from Tucson to Phoenix earlier in the month that called for instruction on the impact of the Doctrine of Discovery in the pubic schools across the state.

As stated on March 12, 2012 in the Nahuacalli Educators Alliance “In Imiuh Tenamaztle” communiqué to Mr. John Huppenthal Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction:

“In light of the fact that there is absolutely NO REFERENCE in the current Arizona State Curriculum Standards for a track of study on the relevance of the Doctrine of Discovery in terms of Social Studies, History or Public Policy:

We demand that the Preliminary Study on the Doctrine of Discovery, submitted to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues be integrated into the Social Studies Curriculum standards immediately for implementation across the spectrum of services delivered by the Arizona Department of Education at all levels across the state with no exceptions."

On Monday March 26, 2012 the NAHUACALLI received a response to this demand from the offices of Superintendent Huppenthal written by Andrew T. LeFevre, Director of Public Relations Arizona Department of Education that stated:  

"Per our discussion while you were at ADE, I wanted to contact you regarding your request to meet with the Superintendent regarding the United Nations report “Preliminary Study on the Impact of Doctrine Discovery” and the inclusion of doctrine discovery in Arizona’s state standards and curriculum.

The Superintendent appreciates you bringing this issue to his attention and will review the information you provided and then bring it to the attention of the State Legislature and the State Board of Education for their consideration.  As we discussed last Friday, the Arizona Department of Education does not set the curriculum standards for the state, that authority is reserved for the legislature and State Board.  If those bodies determine that this should be included in the state standards, then ADE will work to ensure compliance with their directives."

The Indigenous Peoples Forum event concluded with a traditional meal at the NAHUACALLI, Embassy of Indigenous Peoples.  A working group based out of the Nahuacalli will continue to compile the report of the Indigenous Peoples Forum on the Impact of the Doctrine of Discovery for submission in May to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. 

One part of the task at hand is to disseminate the UNPFII Preliminary Report on the Impact of the Doctrine of Discovery in the Spanish language for comment and evaluation by the Indigenous Movement in Mexico, an assignment that Virginia Flores Flores has assumed with the support of the Nahuacalli. 

The blog site for the Indigenous Peoples Forum on the Impact of the Doctrine of Discovery will remain open for submission by Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Organizations, and individual allies and colleagues until May 2012.

###

NAHUACALLI
Embassy of Indigenous Peoples
www.nahuacalli.org
a TONATIERRA project






Friday, March 23, 2012

II Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples and Nations Abya Yala



Kito Kara Territories
Quito, Ecuador July 21-25, 2004
Resolution for Action Presented to Plenary Session
Submitted by:  Tlahtokan Nahuacalli, Izkalotlan Pueblo, Aztlan

Issue: Call for Tribunal of Justice, by all Humanity, in the Court of the Indigenous Peoples Abya Yala regarding the Doctrine of Discovery of the Americas, specifically the ongoing colonization and genocide perpetrated with the guise of intellectual authorization of the Papal Bull INTER CETERA of Pope Alexander VI, 1493.

Action: We call for a permanent tribunal of justice at all levels of humanity across the globe, to address this issue in the historical and legal context of the universal principles of justice and jurisprudence of the Indigenous Peoples.

Precedent:

Geneva, August 1, 1991
Chief of State of the Vatican
Pope John Paul II
Rome, Italy

The indigenous delegates present at the Palace of Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland, in debate regarding the Universal Declaration of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, convened by the "Working Group on Indigenous People" of the United Nations, hereby present and declare:

In view of the declaration on May 3, 4, 1493, of the Papal Bull INTER CETERA, by which territories of Indigenous Peoples are conceded to Spain and Portugal, without taking into account the material or spiritual rights  of the Indigenous Peoples in the case of ABYA YALA (America) and other parts of the world;
In defence of the sacred rights of the indigenous people, and in promotion of human dignity and harmony that should reign among humanity on this planet;
For all these purposes:

1) We demand from the Vatican state a denunciation of the unilateral treaty of Pope Alexander VI (TORDESILLAS) as being contrary to the Universal Human Rights of Peoples.

2) Whereas the year 1993 completes 500 years of a supposed spiritual conquest without clear rectification of this universal injustice, allowing the nation-states that have benefited from the inheritance of Pope Alejandro VI to continue programmes of genocide and ethnocide, denying the indigenous people the recuperation of a harmony based on reciprocal human respect, we demand that the Papal Bull of May 3, 4, 1493 ÍNTER CETERA be annulled.

3) We direct John Paul II to accede to universal concepts of justice including the spiritual and material rights of Indigenous Peoples, in furtherance of life, harmony of human beings with our Sacred Mother Earth, and the spiritual peace of the Great Creator in accord with the cosmovision of each one of our Indigenous Peoples, free from all oppression.

Thus we proclaim in the name of Human Dignity, in harmony with our Mother Nature and in the Spirit of Truth.

Signed,

The indigenous delegates, and organizations.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Native American Caucus to host Indigenous Peoples Forum at state capitol

Rep. Albert Hale
D-Flagstaff (District 2)


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: C. Murphy Hebert

March 22, 2012
(602) 926-5848



Native American Caucus to host Indigenous Peoples Forum at state capitol

STATE CAPITOL, PHOENIX – Rep. Albert Hale, D-Flagstaff (District 2), will join the Native American Caucus in hosting the 2012 Indigenous Peoples Forum at the state capitol on Friday, March 23.

The purpose of the forum is to discuss the preliminary study on the Doctrine of Discovery.  The event will include an overview of the topics that will be discussed at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in May. 

The Doctrine of Discovery empowers an invading nation to take possession of the lands belonging to native people. It has impacted native people since the 1800s.

“This is an important opportunity to discuss the issues facing indigenous people and the sources of these issues which includes the Doctrine of Discovery. The Doctrine of Discovery is the basis of laws that determine how indigenous peoples in the Americas were treated and continue to be treated,” Hale said. “Indigenous people are under constant pressure to submit to increasingly restrictive federal laws which could threaten the sovereignty of these nations. This is a much needed conversation that will lead to much needed action.”

The forum will feature a variety of speakers representing various Native American communities to cover topics including the Doctrine of Discovery, the impact on indigenous people and what advocates can do to protect Indigenous rights.

-30-

C. Murphy Hebert
Communications Director
House Democratic Staff
 

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Indigenous Peoples Forum on the Impact of the Doctrine of Discovery

2012
Indigenous Peoples Forum
on the
Impact of the Doctrine of Discovery

Friday March 23, 2012
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Arizona State Capitol - House of Representatives
1700 West Washington    Phoenix, AZ
Hosted by the Native American Caucus
O'otham Hemuchkam
NAHUACALLI
Embassy of Indigenous Peoples

A regional forum to address the implications of the
by the
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
in context of the standards established by the adoption on September 13, 2007 of the
Local - Regional - Continental - Global


2012
Indigenous Peoples Forum
on the
Impact of the Doctrine of Discovery

Preliminary study of the impact on Indigenous Peoples of the legal construct
known as the Doctrine of Discovery
Submitted to United Nations Economic and Social Council
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Ninth Session
New York, April 19-30, 2010

“This preliminary study establishes that the Doctrine of Discovery has been institutionalized in law and policy, on national and international levels, and lies at the root of the violations of Indigenous Peoples human rights, both individual and collective.”

AGENDA
9:00            Opening Ceremony O’otham Hemuchkam
9:15            Welcome from the Native American Caucus
9:20            Installation of the Presidium – O’otham Hemuchkam
9:30            Tupac Enrique Acosta, Izkaloteka: Objectives of the Indigenous Peoples Forum
9:40            Steve Newcomb, Indigenous Law Institute: Domination and Colonization
10:10            Shannon Rivers, O’odham Hemuchkam: Impact on O’otham Nations and Territories
10:25            Julie Cavanaugh Bill and Larson Bill, Western Shoshone Defense Project:
                    International Context
10:55            Professor Robert Miller, Lewis and Clark University:
                    The Doctrine of Discovery and Manifest Destiny
11:30            Jose Matus, Alianza Indigena Sin Fronteras:
                     The Doctrine of Discovery and International Borders           
11:40            Summary and Plan of Action           
12:00            Closing Ceremony and Farewell
***************************************
United Nations
Adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 13, 2007

“Affirming that indigenous peoples are equal to all other peoples...”

LUNCH provided at NAHUACALLI
802 N. 7TH STREET
Phoenix, AZ