Lol. Theres a temporary problem with my Hey canadian post from July 17. I tried writing and posting a response to you, Tashina, about the issue of continuing genocide in canada because it seemed as if you wanted to hear more so I will post it here because facebook wont let me post it on my own thread. The successful outcome and product of genocide against Indigenous peoples in canada, is canadian citizens who were Indigenous peoples. There have been many studies on the issue of whether or not it is genocide and I think the salient point comes down to interpretation and identity in some ways. For instance, when I asked if you were canadian you responded yes. This has tremendous impacts on the trajectory of questioning and interpretation, your bias, you will bring to the seeking of understanding. When applying reason to the question of genocide in canada, indeed north america, and whether or not it is occurring against indigenous peoples here I use the backdrop of the UN definition of the crime of genocide ( preventgenocide.org/genocide/officialtext-printerfriendly.htm ) and use it to evaluate the actions of the canadian state and its citizens. Article II of the convention reads thusly: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. The mental component is that there must be intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. Canada has long and often described its intentions to destroy us in whole and in part. Over the last 3 decades, the official stance has not been so blatant, the direction and focus and actions have been entirely unchanged since the killing the indian in the child days. In fact it has become more complex and effective. One way the efficacy has increased and has proven to be a legitimizing foundation of assimilation and genocide tactics, depending on interpretation and identity, is the action of possessing us all and literally enfranchising us as canadians and allowing us to vote in federal elections in 1951. Raphael Lemkin, the one who coined the phrase genocide back in 1944, introduced the word like this in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe ( ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007050 ): “By ‘genocide’ we mean the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group. This new word, coined by the author to denote an old practice in its modern development, is made from the ancient Greek word genos (race, tribe) and the Latin cide (killing)…. Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. Genocide is directed against the national group as an entity, and the actions involved are directed against individuals, not in their individual capacity, but as members of the national group” (80). -end quote- He later added, directly after Indigenous peoples were granted the right to vote I might add, that the very act of imposing national identity upon people is in itself an act of genocide and should be added to the UN Convention. It is consistent with his statement here: Genocide has two phases: one, destruction of the national pattern of the oppressed group; the other, the imposition of the national pattern of the oppressor. This imposition, in turn, may be made upon the oppressed population which is allowed to remain or upon the territory alone, after removal of the population and the colonization by the oppressors own nationals. and here in terms of the Ukrainian genocide which is applicable: Less well known was Lemkins view on crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Soviet Union. In 1953, in a speech given in New York City, he described the destruction of the Ukrainian nation as the classic example of Soviet genocide, going on to point out that the Ukrainian is not and never has been a Russian. His culture, his temperament, his language, his religion, are all different... to eliminate (Ukrainian) nationalism... the Ukrainian peasantry was sacrificed...a famine was necessary for the Soviet and so they got one to order... if the Soviet program succeeds completely, if the intelligentsia, the priest, and the peasant can be eliminated [then] Ukraine will be as dead as if every Ukrainian were killed, for it will have lost that part of it which has kept and developed its culture, its beliefs, its common ideas, which have guided it and given it a soul, which, in short, made it a nation... This is not simply a case of mass murder. It is a case of genocide, of the destruction, not of individuals only, but of a culture and a nation.[15] ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_Lemkin ) But lets go to the Articles themselves for analysis. Article A - Killing members of the group. Canadas police forces routinely kill Indigenous peoples and so does its citizenry. eg. missing and murdered Indigenous women, apprehended children being killed while in care, missing and murdered Indigenous men (in some areas at twice the rate of missing and murdered Indigenous women), indigenous peoples dying in police cells, starlight tours, etc. Article B - Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group. Canadas police forces and citizenry routinely on a widespread scale beat, taunt, ridicule, oppress, incarcerate, rape, mutilate and much more. Some of this even makes the news. eg. Marlene Bird, me and many people I know personally, Social Service agencies and workers who are racist and have the authority of the state to act on that racism to tear families apart, etc. etc. Article C - Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part. Confining our own agency through the Indian Act and supplanting and confining and defining our political, economic, social, legal, physical, territorial and spiritual practices so that they coincide with what is acceptable to them through the enforcement of their laws with the use of deadly force. eg. Gustafsen Lake, Oka, Burnt Church, Ipperwash, etc. etc. Article D - Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group. Canada and its citizenry have routinely forced women and men to be sterilized up to and including the 1990s. Article E - Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. There are more children in the care of the canadian state and its citizens today than there was during the height of the residential school era. This doesnt include the number of children who are incarcerated in youth correction facilities. And the number is growing. So thats a bit about that. And the historical record is much much worse. Scalp bounties, target practice on villages and boats and canoes from naval vessels of the canadian navy. I mean, it is truly horrendous what has been done in the past and the effects it has had on the intergenerational survivors of those tactics which were brutal and less refined than what tactics are being used today. I think the most fundamental and profound evidence of genocide however, is the belief you have that you are canadian. How did you come to be that? What processes and systems are responsible for you becoming a citizen of canada? A state which has categorically and systemically administered genocide against us for a very long time and has apologized but has not changed their focus, have not returned our lands, have not allowed us our freedom over our lives or our children? In fact has done and is still doing everything it can to stop us from becoming free? I encourage you to evaluate canadian and see if it fits into what you know about your peoples. What you know about yourself. I encourage this because the product of successful genocide, the final outcome of it is not piles of bodies of dead people, although that is true in some cases. The successful outcome and product of genocide against Indigenous peoples in canada, is canadian citizens who were Indigenous peoples.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 17:07:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015