Post by Okwes on Apr 30, 2006 19:17:31 GMT -5
Doug George-Kanentiio, Akwesasne Mohawk-How to Resolve Indian Land Claims
How to resolve Indian land claims
Apr. 27, 2006. 01:00 AM
DOUG GEORGE-KANENTIIO
As a former member of the land claims negotiating team for the
Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, I arrived at specific conclusions
regarding how territorial disputes may be resolved.
I quickly realized the importance of understanding the historical
factors that were an essential element of the claims. While
aboriginals attach deep spiritual significance to their ancestral
territories, equally as powerful was the desire by European
immigrants to possess land, an act denied most of them in their home
countries.
This compulsion was sufficient to cause millions of migrants to
leave their communities, break apart their families and embark on
perilous journeys into a new world. Yet the lure of owning their own
piece of earth was enough for them to master their fears and set
forth — only to fall prey to aggressive speculators and corrupt
colonial administrators. Thus, once the settler was in active
possession of land, natives would be hard-pressed to get it back.
The history of land claims is one of duplicity, fraud, intimidation
and bribery. Aboriginal nations fought a long, often bloody campaign
to preserve their territories but could not hold back the tidal wave
of European settlers. In the end, we were forcibly removed from our
homes, our cultures undermined, our economies destroyed and our
spirits shattered.
Yet we did not forget. Our dispossession had caused real,
demonstrable and enduring harm that the law decreed warranted
compensation.
Our negotiating team accepted the formidable challenge of seeking
equitable redress. We knew our task would be a long one and it might
be decades before we reached an acceptable settlement. But our
populations were rapidly increasing and there was, and is, a
pressing need to expand our existing reserve boundaries.
The problem was, the regions we identified as having been illegally
expropriated from us were now inhabited by homeowners who were not
parties to the initial thefts. They would be the ones most affected
by the claims by either losing their land through eminent domain or
having to pay additional taxes since we expected monetary payments
as well.
We did not want to alienate our neighbours or incur their wrath.
Neither could we repeat the mistakes of the past by simply ceding
land that was ours, by law. So we developed specific strategies that
may well be of use in the current wave of aboriginal land claims.
We had to ensure our claims had legal merit. We conducted extensive
research to prove our arguments. We had to show how we had been
harmed. This meant poring through archives and holding extensive
interviews with elders who revealed the suffering they had endured
once they were restricted to resource-poor reserves. Without access
to their former lifestyles they were easy prey for missionaries,
Indian agents and booze peddlers.
We realized the absolute need to establish a broad communications
strategy to enlighten not only our own people but the surrounding
communities about the reasons for our claim. Through interviews with
the media to meeting with civic groups and in school presentations
we explained who we were and why we felt compelled to act as we did.
We knew that if any final settlement was to be passed by the
governments involved, voters and taxpayers must support the final
deal. This could only happen if they were not placed in jeopardy.
We agreed to pay fair market value to anyone in the claim area who
elected to sell to us. We agreed to provide the regional governments
with financial compensation equal to, or above, the amount they
would lose as a result of lands being returned to non-taxable Indian
status.
We would set up a fund to underwrite the costs of educating native
children in area schools. We felt that by relieving some of the
taxes shouldered by our non-native neighbours, we would convince
them we were serious about being partners versus exploiters.
We would act as functioning governments on our lands. We would
demonstrate that we had the ability to govern effectively using
democratic principles inherent in our ancient traditions. By
reviving our own aboriginal justice, social and administrative
methods we would strengthen our identities and address one of the
most serious factors in our current lives: despair brought about by
cultural displacement.
All of this meant that we, as aboriginal people, had to act in a
respectful manner. We had to be patient, compassionate and just — in
essence the very opposite of how we had been treated, yet
characteristics inherent in our traditional ways.
If the residents of Caledonia knew the above was taking place, how
could they not support us?
We must not be provoked into compromising our dignity, but neither
should we ever concede what is rightfully ours.
We need to come to a state of being that in Mohawk is called
kanikonriio or, the "good mind." It means we are thinking clearly
and thereby able to make intelligent, sound decisions.
I believe it is an opportune time for our traditional values to take
over. Our leaders have a duty to explain to the people (native and
non-native) the land-claims process and to adopt strategies which
secure our land base and enable us to live in peace with our
neighbours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
Doug George-Kanentiio, Akwesasne Mohawk, is the former editor of
Akwesasne Notes and a co-founder of the Native American Journalists
Association.
How to resolve Indian land claims
Apr. 27, 2006. 01:00 AM
DOUG GEORGE-KANENTIIO
As a former member of the land claims negotiating team for the
Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, I arrived at specific conclusions
regarding how territorial disputes may be resolved.
I quickly realized the importance of understanding the historical
factors that were an essential element of the claims. While
aboriginals attach deep spiritual significance to their ancestral
territories, equally as powerful was the desire by European
immigrants to possess land, an act denied most of them in their home
countries.
This compulsion was sufficient to cause millions of migrants to
leave their communities, break apart their families and embark on
perilous journeys into a new world. Yet the lure of owning their own
piece of earth was enough for them to master their fears and set
forth — only to fall prey to aggressive speculators and corrupt
colonial administrators. Thus, once the settler was in active
possession of land, natives would be hard-pressed to get it back.
The history of land claims is one of duplicity, fraud, intimidation
and bribery. Aboriginal nations fought a long, often bloody campaign
to preserve their territories but could not hold back the tidal wave
of European settlers. In the end, we were forcibly removed from our
homes, our cultures undermined, our economies destroyed and our
spirits shattered.
Yet we did not forget. Our dispossession had caused real,
demonstrable and enduring harm that the law decreed warranted
compensation.
Our negotiating team accepted the formidable challenge of seeking
equitable redress. We knew our task would be a long one and it might
be decades before we reached an acceptable settlement. But our
populations were rapidly increasing and there was, and is, a
pressing need to expand our existing reserve boundaries.
The problem was, the regions we identified as having been illegally
expropriated from us were now inhabited by homeowners who were not
parties to the initial thefts. They would be the ones most affected
by the claims by either losing their land through eminent domain or
having to pay additional taxes since we expected monetary payments
as well.
We did not want to alienate our neighbours or incur their wrath.
Neither could we repeat the mistakes of the past by simply ceding
land that was ours, by law. So we developed specific strategies that
may well be of use in the current wave of aboriginal land claims.
We had to ensure our claims had legal merit. We conducted extensive
research to prove our arguments. We had to show how we had been
harmed. This meant poring through archives and holding extensive
interviews with elders who revealed the suffering they had endured
once they were restricted to resource-poor reserves. Without access
to their former lifestyles they were easy prey for missionaries,
Indian agents and booze peddlers.
We realized the absolute need to establish a broad communications
strategy to enlighten not only our own people but the surrounding
communities about the reasons for our claim. Through interviews with
the media to meeting with civic groups and in school presentations
we explained who we were and why we felt compelled to act as we did.
We knew that if any final settlement was to be passed by the
governments involved, voters and taxpayers must support the final
deal. This could only happen if they were not placed in jeopardy.
We agreed to pay fair market value to anyone in the claim area who
elected to sell to us. We agreed to provide the regional governments
with financial compensation equal to, or above, the amount they
would lose as a result of lands being returned to non-taxable Indian
status.
We would set up a fund to underwrite the costs of educating native
children in area schools. We felt that by relieving some of the
taxes shouldered by our non-native neighbours, we would convince
them we were serious about being partners versus exploiters.
We would act as functioning governments on our lands. We would
demonstrate that we had the ability to govern effectively using
democratic principles inherent in our ancient traditions. By
reviving our own aboriginal justice, social and administrative
methods we would strengthen our identities and address one of the
most serious factors in our current lives: despair brought about by
cultural displacement.
All of this meant that we, as aboriginal people, had to act in a
respectful manner. We had to be patient, compassionate and just — in
essence the very opposite of how we had been treated, yet
characteristics inherent in our traditional ways.
If the residents of Caledonia knew the above was taking place, how
could they not support us?
We must not be provoked into compromising our dignity, but neither
should we ever concede what is rightfully ours.
We need to come to a state of being that in Mohawk is called
kanikonriio or, the "good mind." It means we are thinking clearly
and thereby able to make intelligent, sound decisions.
I believe it is an opportune time for our traditional values to take
over. Our leaders have a duty to explain to the people (native and
non-native) the land-claims process and to adopt strategies which
secure our land base and enable us to live in peace with our
neighbours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
Doug George-Kanentiio, Akwesasne Mohawk, is the former editor of
Akwesasne Notes and a co-founder of the Native American Journalists
Association.