Reclamation of everything stolen from the original Peoples LANDBACK Organizing
Principles [https://landback.org/manifesto/] 1. Don’t burn bridges: even when
there is conflict between groups or organizers remember that we are fighting for
all of our peoples and we will continue to be in community even after this
battle 2. Don’t defend our ways 3. Organize to win 4. Move from abundance – We
come from a space of scarcity. We must work from a place of abundance 5. We
bring our people with us 6. Deep relationships by attraction, not promotion 7.
Divest/invest 8. We value our warriors 9. Room for grace—be able to be human 10.
We cannot let our oppressors inhumanity take away from ours 11. Strategy
includes guidance 12. Realness: Sometimes the truth hurts 13. Unapologetic but
keep it classy
Sorry for the delayed answer, this message has sat in my inbox for far too long! But it was too polite and informative to keep unanswered.
I think I mostly react to the vagueness of the proposal, and personal mefiance towards references to a mythical past. These have been tools of various far-right factions where I am from and gave me the habit of asking specifics.
I still think it is a good idea to ask what system is proposed by the people who want to overthrow or gain independence from another system.
There are many fucked up things in the US system, but its democratic culture also incorporates a lot of native American democratic practices (that have been whitewashed quite a bit). Obviously a modern indigenous nation/state/country/territory/self-managed zone would not just use traditions and historical constructions but also modernize them. The devil is in the details and on such basis you can build things that go from anarchism to fascist caste societies. It is important to know which we support.
I am totally in support of resisting oppression and colonialism from indigenous people, but that does not mean I will automatically consider good any proposal that comes from them. For instance I am in support of the Tibetans’ struggle but am opposed to the proposal of a buddhist theocracy.
I am very suspicious of people who propose to ditch anti-oppression safeguards as “colonialist ideas” or “western values”. I think freedom of religion, freedom to ditch the “traditional identities” people throw on you at birth are important rights and fear that societies that build themselves in opposition to the “colonial western” values may “forget” to keep these.
I usually think it is easier to fix the current system and fighting oppressions one by one than to design a totally new one from within starting on vague premises.
Sorry for the delayed answer, this message has sat in my inbox for far too long! But it was too polite and informative to keep unanswered.
I think I mostly react to the vagueness of the proposal, and personal mefiance towards references to a mythical past. These have been tools of various far-right factions where I am from and gave me the habit of asking specifics.
I still think it is a good idea to ask what system is proposed by the people who want to overthrow or gain independence from another system.
There are many fucked up things in the US system, but its democratic culture also incorporates a lot of native American democratic practices (that have been whitewashed quite a bit). Obviously a modern indigenous nation/state/country/territory/self-managed zone would not just use traditions and historical constructions but also modernize them. The devil is in the details and on such basis you can build things that go from anarchism to fascist caste societies. It is important to know which we support.
I am totally in support of resisting oppression and colonialism from indigenous people, but that does not mean I will automatically consider good any proposal that comes from them. For instance I am in support of the Tibetans’ struggle but am opposed to the proposal of a buddhist theocracy.
I am very suspicious of people who propose to ditch anti-oppression safeguards as “colonialist ideas” or “western values”. I think freedom of religion, freedom to ditch the “traditional identities” people throw on you at birth are important rights and fear that societies that build themselves in opposition to the “colonial western” values may “forget” to keep these.
I usually think it is easier to fix the current system and fighting oppressions one by one than to design a totally new one from within starting on vague premises.