Solidarity and Condolences from the Secwepemc Nation

Dear Tupac:

Good to hear from you.  Here is the research we talked about. http://www.legionmagazine.com/en/index.php/2006/03/the-invasion-of-el-salvador/

It was very disheartening to hear of the massacre of 30 thousand of our peoples in the 1932.  see: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/el-salvador-archives-74/2338-indigenous-peoples-in-el-salvador-commemorate-1932-massacre-  

The Legion Magazine article titled "The Invasion of El Salvador" confirms Canada's participation in militarily supporting the British economic interests which was the root cause of the reason behind the massacre.  Canada's involvement was in fact the military dynamics behind this tragic violation of the human rights of the Indigenous Peoples of El Salvador.  

Please pass on my condolences on behalf of myself from the Secwepemc Peoples here in Canada, to the people who are still suffering from this human rights violation participated by Canada.  Canada did this as a settler state government under Britain and was totally wrong.  No question about it.   

I am glad they are raising this matter to Prof. James Anya, United Nations, Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples. This situation clearly draws the link between Canada and other state government genocide toward indigenous peoples.  

Feliciano Ama

It is clear that Indigenous Peoples were massacred because we were caught in between the left wing – right wing struggle between capitalists and communists.  Indigenous Peoples are not left or right wingers, we are Indigenous Peoples, the owners of our territory. The struggle of Indigenous Peoples goes deeper than private or collective ownership of property but to the very sovereignty we enjoy regarding our territories and culture.  

We cannot fall subject to the categorizing our struggle as a fight between the left and the right.  That is purely a western government approach to justify their ongoing theft of our territories.  It does not address the fundamental issue that the Colonial Doctrines of Discovery is a racist property concept that gives white explores the power to claim our land right from under our feet.

This racist property concept is as out dated as the slave laws which used to say that white people could own black people as property. Using the Colonial Doctrines of Discovery as the basis for our land to vest in Colonial governments is wrong and has always been wrong.  

Atonal, Nahuat Pipil Nation

Self-determination and our struggle to eradicate the Colonial Doctrines of Discovery is a manifestation of our rights as human beings.  Our people who were massacred were part of our struggle we are presently in and we have made progress.  

Through the determination of those who you are engage with we now have the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, The Expert Mechanism on Indigenous Peoples and of course the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples.  

But the struggle carries on and I wish the Indigenous Peoples of El Salvador my warmest regards and respect.

In solidarity   

Arthur

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Arthur Manuel

Indigenous Network on Economics and Trade (INET)

Secwepemc Nation

Neskonlith Indian Reserve

British Columbia, Canada

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Link:

Mo(u)rning in El Salvador