Unity and Visibility

Depending on the circumstances, the Anti-Indigenous Movement — led by the government of the United States — deploys lethal force, as well as malicious harassment and psychological warfare against tribal peoples. F-16s used by the Israeli Air Force against Palestinians, M-16s used by the Colombian Army against Caucans, and Apache helicopters used by the Indonesian military against West Papuans, are all gifts from the United States Congress for the purpose of suppressing indigenous peoples.

As the acknowledged head of the group of four voting against the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the United States also has the wherewithal to ensure that campaigns for indigenous freedom are met with both overt and covert opposition. The three declared US partners in opposing indigenous liberation — Canada, Australia, and New Zealand — may at present limit themselves to police harassment and judicial corruption in forcefully subverting international laws protecting indigenous peoples, but their militaries and intelligence agencies are nonetheless actively engaged in undermining indigenous sovereignty.

Under the rubric of the Global War on Terror, many governments around the world threaten, assault and murder indigenous leaders. As resource wars intensify between the First and the Fourth World, indigenous peoples’ unity and visibility becomes an essential survival strategy; strategically countering the propaganda of the Anti-Indigenous Movement remains a key element of that cohesion.

(Jay Taber is a political analyst and strategist at Public Good Project.)