COLONIALISM: Zero Tolerance

June 30, 2018
 

Today, this morning in the dawn's early light, standing before the Northwest Detention Center at Tacoma, Washington in the Traditional Territories of the Nisqually Nation, a commission of Indigenous Peoples presented themselves in the spirit of ceremony and self-determination.

Standing before the gates of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE detention center, which is run by the for-profit Geo Group, the call was made to the families inside the compound, families of the thousands of children who have been separated from their mothers and fathers over the past month since the ICE pogrom of persecution called "Zero Tolerance" by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Today the sea of emergence crested in power and prayer, and the tide turned.

The Indigenous Peoples returned to their traditional lands in Tacoma to welcome and greet the relatives from the south detained by the force of state power in illegal violation of Treaty Rights, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Rights of the Family and the Rights of the Child.  Affirming that "As Indigenous Peoples, we are not immigrants in our own continent," the delegation shared their vision of a renewed relationship of respect, equality, and self-determination among all peoples of Mother Earth.
 

In order for such an initiative to take root, grow and flourish the constituency of Indigenous Peoples in direct action of self-determination proclaimed to the world the end of the age of colonialism has come to the state of Washington.
 

Today the commission of Indigenous Peoples attending the Protecting Mother Earth Conference at Frank's Landing proclaimed at the gates of the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma that the illegal normalization of colonialism will be challenged now, again and forevermore as long as the grass grows and the rivers flow.

The challenge to the normalization of  525 years of colonialism and white supremacy across the continent of the Great Turtle Island Abya Yala [Americas] will be met in peaceful purpose and prayer as many times as necessary with ZERO TOLERANCE.

 

United Nations Preliminary Study on the Impact of the Doctrine of Discovery

This preliminary study establishes that the Doctrine of Discovery has been institutionalized in law and policy, on national and international levels, and lies at the root of the violations of Indigenous Peoples’ human rights, both individual and collective. This has resulted in State claims to and the mass appropriation of the lands, territories and resources of indigenous peoples. Both the Doctrine of Discovery and a holistic structure that we term the Framework of Dominance have resulted in centuries of virtually unlimited resource extraction from the traditional territories of indigenous peoples. This, in turn, has resulted in the dispossession and impoverishment of indigenous peoples, and the host of problems that they face today on a daily basis.

YouTube:
#ColonialismZeroTolerance
June 30, 2018
Northwest Detention Center -Tacoma, Washington 
Traditional Territories of the Nisqually Nation
Commission of Indigenous Peoples

MAZAMEH

Clanes de Destino

The Doctrine of Discovery and Immigration Legislation

UNPFIP Network
Statement of Global Indigenous Peoples Caucus

 

It must be recognized that in fundamental terms, the doctrine of discovery challenges the just claims of Indigenous Peoples, in particular with respect to processes of decolonization and the implementation of Article 3 of the Declaration respecting self-determination.

The discussion of the doctrine of discovery must include reference to domestic legislation of member states, such as immigration legislation, as well as challenge the establishment of state borders, which do not reflect the traditional lands and territories of Indigenous peoples, that have been established further to the doctrine of discovery.  We fundamentally disagree with the current practices of states to criminalize the movements of Indigenous Peoples across borders.