NATIVE AMERICANS DEHUMANIZED BY DEMONIZING COLONIAL PROPAGANDA

San Francisco CA

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NATIVE AMERICANS DEHUMANIZED BY DEMONIZING COLONIAL PROPAGANDA "Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race." - Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.” NOTE: The following description of Systemic Racism, although it relates to events in localized areas of the Americas, is also applicable to all parts of the two Continents. British officialdom, to keep English Subjects suitably aroused against the Eastern Amerindians, blamed them for a good many of the crimes - they used the term "outrages"in their reports - committed in their colonies. In the case of the Mi'kmaq, without evidence, they blamed them for all the so-called "outrages" that occurred in Acadia. In fact, there is very little evidence to support a contention that the Mi'kmaq ever indulged in organized atrocities against their enemies. Renegade Mi'kmaq may have indulged in some, but, these were not condoned or sanctioned by Mi'kmaq governments, and were exceptions, not the rule. The use of demonizing propaganda by governments, for the purpose of arousing public opinion to support their cause, is a well-established practice around the world. It was used for such during the 1990 Persian Gulf War. During that conflict, incidents of brutality, or invented ones, were reported widely by both sides. The propaganda used to protray opponents as barbarians during the Gulf War was a modern version of the colonial demonizing propaganda that was used so effectively by European colonial authorities to dehumanize the First Nations Peoples of the Americas, which depicted them as bloodthirsty heathen savages. ********************* EUROPEAN COLONIAL HISTORY To provide an overview of the horrendous treatment suffered by First Nation Peoples since the European invasion commenced, I’ll lightly touch upon European colonial history with one condensed paragraph. This is necessary because one would need volumes of books to adequately describe it in detail, which we do not have the time for today. The European subjugation of the indigenous Peoples of the Americas was a crime against humanity that knows no equal in human history. By the time the invaders had managed to appropriate all the lands in the Americas that our ancestors had owned and occupied for millenniums, of the hundreds of diverse civilizations that had existed prior to Columbus, not one was left intact, and tens of millions were dead. During the process, indigenous people suffered every barbarity imaginable, mass murder, germ warfare, enslavement, rape, enforced starvation, relocation, etc. One of the favourite means used by the English to ethnically cleanse the land of its original inhabitants in North America was proclamations offering bounties for the scalps of First Nation men, women, and children. A barbarous means used by them, on three occasions against the Mi'kmaq, in Nova Scotia. Stemming from it, some United States jurisdictions continued to use these ungodly proclamations until the 1860s to try to eliminate some First Nation populations. The following, related to the systemic racism created for First Nations by dehumanizing demonizing colonial propaganda, contains examples of some of the abhorrent acts that were visited upon First Nations Peoples. One can be certain, if enlightened action is not taken to stop it, similar abhorrent acts will continue to occur for the foreseeable future WHY RACISM AND OTHER FORMS OF INTOLERANCE ATTITUDES PERSIST In his discourse in, Lessons at the Halfway Point, Michael Levine accurately identifies why intolerance exists: "If you don't personally get to know people from other racial, religious or cultural groups, its very easy to believe ugly things about them and make them frightening in your mind." If Europeans had gotten to know, and had accepted indigenous Americans and Africans as equals during colonial times, instead of adopting White supremacist racist beliefs that negatively, and erroneously, depicted both Peoples as wild inhuman savages for the better part of five centuries, these peoples of colour would not have suffered the indescribable hells they did across the Americas, and, in far too many cases, still do. The following shows how the racism problem that First Nation Peoples suffer is pervasive and, why a Nation of civilized people must fight together to overcome it! FIRST NATION INVISIBILITY Buffy Saint-Marie, a member of the Cree Nation, acclaimed singer and human rights activist, stated during an October 1970, interview with the Los Angeles Times, that Indian children “are not taught to be proud they’re Indian. Here the melting pot stands with arms open - if you’re willing to get bleached first.” This statement by Dalhousie University professor Susan Sherwin about the underlying cause of racism is the best description I’ve ever read. It puts into words why it is so hard to get society to recognize, and accept, that the systemic racism that victimizes First Nations Peoples exists: “....the greatest danger of oppression lies where bias is so pervasive as to be invisible...” Examples of First Nation invisibility in Canada The following is a quote from a story published in the May 30, 2007 edition of the Globe and Mail. “Tim Horton’s serves up some controversy” No Drunken Indians Allowed.' The sign was put up by a young employee at an Alberta outlet. The incident provides a great example of how deeply ingrained in Canadian society systemic racist beliefs about First Nations Peoples are. When a young Caucasian teenager hangs a sign stating "No Drunken Indians Allowed," it shows that she has been taught by others that expressing such racist garbage about First Nation Peoples is not wrong. Her action exposes the reality that there is a long festering sickness loose in Canadian society that needs to be dealt with by federal and provincial governments effectively. After all, it was their predecessors, and British colonial administrations, that instilled in the subconscious of this society, by using dehumanizing demonizing propaganda about First Nations Peoples, the systemic racism that plagues our Peoples today. Our home, un-native land First Nations initially overlooked in list of things defining Canada By GREGORY BONNELL The Canadian Press Thu. Jul 17, 2008 - 4:32 AM TORONTO — Aboriginal people have been granted the 102nd spot on a government-sponsored list of 101 things that most define Canada after online respondents pointed out that First Nations people, culture and symbols weren’t included in the original tally. The oversight and late addition reflects how the historic marginalization of First Nations people has pushed them to the fringes of Canadian consciousness, an aboriginal studies instructor said... REVISIONIST HISTORY In the case of First Nations it's their factual History, which is slowly replacing the fairy tale Caucasian version of demonizing European colonial propaganda, that is branded by those who believe in the supremacy of the European to be "revisionist history". The fairy tale version, unfortunately, is still widely accepted and used by many writers as undisputed fact. I can attest to the veracity of this statement from first hand experience. When my book, We Were Not the Savages, was first published, which outed the widespread use of scalp proclamations by the British, and other atrocities committed by them against Eastern North American First Nations Peoples, I was roundly condemned by many Anglo individuals, from across the spectrum of society, as a “revisionist.” THE DEHUMANIZING EFFECTS OF SYSTEMIC RACISM Systemic racism is an evil that tarnishes the good name of most of the "civilized" societies of the Americas. In my view, a society which permits it's First Nations Peoples, in modern times, to continue to be degraded by dehumanizing Eurocentric colonial propaganda is more than a little short on the civilized side. The negativity that First Nations Peoples suffer from systemic racism in modern times is pervasive and a burden that prevents equal participation in the good life that the majority enjoy. ******************************************************* First Nations Peoples Dehumanized and Victimized "Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race." - Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.” “I want to get rid of the Indian problem. I do not think as a matter of fact, that the country ought to continuously protect a class of people who are able to stand alone… Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic and there is no Indian question, and no Indian Department, that is the whole object of this Bill.” Dr. Duncan Campbell Scott - 1920 Scott made his mark in Canadian history as the head of the Department of Indian Affairs from 1913 to 1932, a department he had served since joining the federal civil service in 1879. Even before Confederation, the Canadian government adopted a policy of assimilation (actually, it was the continuation of a policy that British colonial officials had pursued since 1713). The long term goal was to bring the Native peoples from what the white supremacist politicians and bureaucrats described as their ‘savage and unproductive state’ and force (English style) civilization upon them, thus making Canada a homogeneous society in the Anglo-Saxon and Christian tradition. In 1920, under Scott's direction, it became mandatory for all native children between the ages of seven and fifteen to attend one of Canada's Residential Schools. The following two quotes are from a presentation that I made as Chair of the Council on Mi’kmaq Education, on November 23, 2007, to the Nova Scotia Government’s Teacher Training Review Panel. “I’ll start this discourse by thanking the Panel for providing the Council with an opportunity to put forward a proposal for reforming Nova Scotia’s teacher training program to the extent that graduating students will leave a training school with a positive opinion of the Mi’kmaq Nation. To achieve this goal we will advocate that true Mi’kmaq history be a required course for teacher training students. As matters now stand, which doesn’t enhance the effort to effectively counter the systemic stereotype racist image held by most of the majority towards our People, most teachers graduating from teaching training entities in this province know little, or nothing, about First Nations Peoples. And, unfortunately, much of what they do know can be categorized as “White washed history.” Before proceeding further, I want to diverge from the subject for a moment to state, related to the fact that systemic racism has often caused me to suffer the indignity of being discriminated against because of who I am, that this opportunity to propose positive proactive action to correct a historical wrong through education is something that I’ve been wanting to do for years. If our proposal is accepted, and followed through, it will eventually help realize a long sought after result; non-First Nation peoples accepting our People as equals from a different progressive culture. Therefore, because I see it as essential for the success of the Mi’kmaq People’s future endeavours and prosperity in Nova Scotia, I do hope that during our discourse we can persuade the Panel to embrace what we will propose.” To-date, nothing of substance has evolved from the presentation. THE WHY AND HOW SYSTEMIC RACISM EVOLVES A quote from an October 15, 2006 article by Stephanie M. Schwartz, The Arrogance of Ignorance; Hidden Away, Out of Sight and Out of Mind “This is an article of facts about the lives of modern-day American Indians, a topic most mainstream American news organizations will not discuss.... It is not a plea for charity. It is not a promotion for non-profit organizations. It is not aimed for pity.... It is, however, an effort to dispel ignorance…. a massive, pervasive, societal ignorance filled with illusions and caricatures which, ultimately, serve only to corrupt the intelligence and decent intent of the average mainstream citizen. Only through knowledge and understanding can solutions be found....” I recently received an Email from an American Indian leader asking if I could offer an explanation about why racial discrimination in the United States against First Nation Peoples is yet so widespread and pervasive. The following is an edited version of my reply: “It’s the same on both sides of the border. Somehow, someway, pride in origins needs to be re-instilled in our People, and the non-First Nation population must be educated about the true histories of our Peoples. Then, somehow, someway, a desire to return to the self-sufficiency that was part and parcel of pre-European invasion First Nation existence must be reinstated into the expectations of our Peoples. Depending on another race of people's charity for survival is degrading and fosters feelings of inferiority and insecurity. The end result is that the idleness created for able-bodied People by living on handouts leads to drug, alcohol, family abuse, etc.” TWO MAJOR PROBLEMS First: The white man's condescending paternalism. The following is essential for First Nations Peoples to restore self-esteem. We need to come to know, and promote the truth; our intellectual abilities are equal to those of any race of people on the face of Mother Earth! We have the intellectual capability to do things for ourselves, we don’t need others to do things for us. Because we've been treated as mental incompetents, incapable of managing our own affairs by another race of people for centuries, doesn't mean that we have to accept the fabrication as fact. We have much to be proud of. Our People survived the hell on Mother Earth that the European invasion begot them, and are still here. That alone is something to be immensely proud of. Second: The lack of knowledge about the true histories of First Nations among ourselves, and the general population is almost universal, with very negative results for First Nations. This is a vacuum that Canadian provinces can easily correct by proactive reform, if the will can be found, of education systems, which will require mandatory teaching of real First Nations history in schools. Such won’t be easy to accomplish. Elected officials will have to muster the fortitude to override the obstruction efforts of influential closet white supremacist individuals, who will fight diligently to preserve the status quo, which presently excludes real First Nations history from being included in the Province’s school curriculums. One of the most serious problems arising for our Peoples, out of our historical exclusion, is, as mentioned, most First Nations Peoples have very little knowledge about their histories. For instance, most Mi’kmaq haven’t any knowledge whatsoever about the fact that their ancestors, trying to save their country from theft by invaders, fought the British bravely for over one hundred and thirty years. All most know about our culture is dancing and artwork. The before-mentioned can be attributed in a large part to the hunter writing the history. Read most history books written by white men about the invasion and colonizing of the eastern seaboard of North America by Europeans, and you will find nary a positive comment about the heroic efforts made by the area’s original inhabitants to preserve their cultures and homelands. Most of them do not even acknowledge the existence of the great First Nations that once prospered in the area. When they do, it generally is in the most unflattering terms, barbarous people, savages, heathens, etc. One notable exception was made by Joseph Howe in an anti-Confederation speech he delivered in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, in 1867: “The Indians who fought your forefathers were open enemies, and had good reason for what they did. They were fighting for their country, which they loved, as we have loved it in these latter years. It was a wilderness. There was perhaps not a square mile of cultivation, or a road or a bridge anywhere. But it was their home, and what God in His bounty had given them they defended like brave and true men. They fought the old pioneers of our civilization for a hundred and thirty years, and during all that time they were true to each other and to their country, wilderness though it was....”