Our position is that there is scientific proof that this land around the Cape was inhabited up to 100 000 years ago, the climate allowed for farming, so the myth that the Khoe people were Hunter gatherers can be greatly debunked as there were cattle grazing animals and plenty of indigenous fruit. At the Cape there was a civilisation and they even defeated a Portugueese attempt to colonise as far back as the 1500s. So the people found at the Cape were not primitive and barbaric as we were taught by the Colonialist. They had a well developed culture, language, customs and religious belief system, The extent of the genocide of the first people at the Cape remains a mystery but that it was extensive and sought to annihilate almost every aspect of the lifestyle and traditions of the Khoe and the San people was an obvious fact. Now the claim for First Nation Status under United Nations provisions is legitimate and substantive. Who qualifies for this status as INDIGENOUS FIRST NATION that has to be defined, do only those who still physically resemble and who still practice the original culture and language or can this definition be applied to all who claim and wish to be identified as Indigenous or Aboriginal. The close relationship between the Khoe, the San and the Slave brought to the Cape as part of the Colonial Oppression Internationally and most importantly the refuge and asylum given to slaves was a political act of rebellion against the colonizers. The nation that emerged from this bond of oppressed peoples as well as from the influx of indentured labour and Indian merchants and the development of a Creole language Afrikaans and a common culture and identity is but a natural extension of the legitimate descendants of the First Indigenous Nation. Our contention is that all who has roots to any of these ancestors, be they Khoe, San, Slaves or Indentured Labour should have protection as First Nation of South Afrika and therefore be exempted from all discriminatory labels such as Coloured or Indian and all discriminatory legislation such as Employment Equity and compulsory race classification. Despite the fact that many of our mixed heritage includes European and colonial DNA it is our common history of suffering oppression and continued discrimination that informs our claim to First Nation status.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 18:28:04 +0000
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