American Indian Sovereignty

[Cartoonist]

Last edited Mon Nov 24, 2014, 11:24 AM - Edit history (1)

This text was presented as the inaugural lecture in the American Indian Civics Project at Humboldt State University (Arcata, CA, USA), on October 24, 1997, sponsored by the HSU Center for Indian Community Development.

http://people.umass.edu/derrico/nowyouseeit.html

On the part of the king, Don Fernando, and of Doña Juana, his daughter, queen of Castile and Leon, subduers of the barbarous nations, we their servants notify and make known to you, as best we can, that the Lord our God, living and eternal, created the heaven and the earth, and one man and one woman, of whom you and we, and all the men of the world, were and are descendants, and all those who come after us. ...
Of all these nations God our Lord gave charge to one man, called St. Peter, that he should be lord and superior of all the men in the world, that all should obey him, and that he should be the head of the whole human race, wherever men should live, and under whatever law, sect, or belief they should be; and he gave him the world for his kingdom and jurisdiction.
...
One of these pontiffs, who succeeded that St. Peter as lord of the world in the dignity and seat which I have before mentioned, made donation of these isles and Terra-firma to the aforesaid king and queen and to their successors, our lords, with all that there are in these territories,....
... Wherefore, as best we can, we ask and require you that you consider what we have said to you, and that you take the time that shall be necessary to understand and deliberate upon it, and that you acknowledge the Church as the ruler and superior of the whole world, ....
...
But if you do not do this, and maliciously make delay in it, I certify to you that, with the help of God, we shall powerfully enter into your country, and shall make war against you in all ways and manners that we can, and shall subject you to the yoke and obedience of the Church and of their highnesses; we shall take you, and your wives, and your children, and shall make slaves of them, and as such shall sell and dispose of them as their highnesses may command; and we shall take away your goods, and shall do you all the mischief and damage that we can, as to vassals who do not obey, and refuse to receive their lord, and resist and contradict him: and we protest that the deaths and losses which shall accrue from this are your fault, and not that of their highnesses, or ours, nor of these cavaliers who come with us. ....

[Prophet 451]

1. OK

Mildly interesting for historical perspective but I'm not sure what there is to discuss about it?

[Cartoonist]

2. You are free to ignore anything I post. nt

[SamKnause]

3. Very interesting.

Thanks for posting.

[Cartoonist]

4. An apology to readers who wonder why I have posted these

I'll stop at three. A google search of "native american opinion christianity" resulted in 1,260,000 hits. There was a wide variety of opinion, as is usual with any topic. I focused on these three because some posters here, one in particular, is completely clueless as to the history of the world. Despite the evidence, I am sure she will remain clueless, but you can't blame a guy for trying.

The main thrust of many of my comments here in Religion is the evil perpetuated by Christianity. It is why I am an anti-theist. Some apologists for Christianity even go so far as to deny any connection between religion and the evil it perpetuates. I just post what I think are the facts as discussed by other scholars and let others make up their own minds.

This is a common topic here, so in the future, when I mention these articles, you'll know what I am referring to. I certainly would be happy to discuss these articles should anyone so desire. I think they are important in understanding Christanity, and to dismiss them is disingenous at best and woefully ignorant at worst. It also reveals a bias that does not reflect well on the denier.

[AtheistCrusader]

5. The indigenous peoples of North America have no Sovereignty.

They have a pile of broken treaties, un-restituted thefts, unavenged murders, etc.

To some degree, every treaty I'm aware of has been broken by the US Government. Every single one. Canada isn't much better.

See this shit?

"After the end of the Indian Wars, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the government outlawed the practice of traditional religious ceremonies. It established Native American boarding schools which children were required to attend. In these schools they were forced to speak English, study standard subjects, attend church, and leave tribal traditions behind."

The First Amendment has always been a lie. Our government installed church resources in some reservations to convert them to Christianity. It's gotten marginally better in the last 35 years, but only marginally.