Damond Gerard Corrie shared with us an interview he had on indigenous peoples and issues. Thank you Damond! I JUST THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE THIS INFO I JUST SENT TO AN INTERVIEWER: Hello, here are the answers to your questions in order: #1 Information about myself: Founder & President of the Pan-Tribal Confederacy of Indigenous Tribal Nations, co-founder and President of the Caribbean Amerindian Development Organization (CADO), CARICOM Commissioner on the Indigenous Commission for Communications Technologies in the Americas (ICCTA), member of the Indigenous Working Group on the Draft Declaration with the Organization of American States (OAS) since 2000, registered participant of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) since 2008, Chief of the Barbados chapter of the United Confederation of Taino People (UCTP); and hereditary heir to the Chieftaincy of the Eagle Clan Lokono-Arawaks of Guyana; contributor to LastRealIndians (LRI) International Indigenous Media Website. #2 - I became the International representative of the then Pan-Tribal Confederacy of Mongoloid (now called Indigenous and multi-racial in global scope) Tribal Nations in 2000, when Chief Roberto Borrero (President of the United Confederation of Taino People /UCTP) recommended me to the Organization of American States (OAS); and I became one of the 24 people hemisphere-wide that the OAS regularly sponsors to be a part of the Indigenous Caucus on the Draft Declaration of the Americas Working Group. I was trained (along with Chief Roberto Borrero) in 2001 in negotiations, conflict resolution, diplomacy, communications, International organizations and covenants concerning Indigenous Peoples; by Professor Sam Deloria - at the International Training Centre of Indigenous Peoples (ITCIP) in Sisimiut Greenland. I became an International representative of my people - the Eagle Clan Arawaks of Pakuri Territory in Guyana by appointment of democratically elected Chief Ernest Dundas during his first term of office in 2002. I became involved in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in 2008 via Tribal Link - when again Chief Roberto Borrero recommended me to Pamela Kraft & the Tribal Link Foundation. #3 - I think the greatest single challenge facing Indigenous peoples worldwide today, is the inability/unwillingness of dominant (and very paternalistic) non-indigenous society - to face and accept the truth...several truths really. Mainly - that they are today - the heirs and beneficiaries of terrible injustices committed on the first peoples of much of the globe, and it is NOT enough to offer verbal apologies or even financial remunerations/reparations....for this is the de-facto case of a descendant of an invader telling a descendant of a formerly sovereign and free indigenous people (that was invaded and is still living under a de-facto occupation) I feel terrible about what my ancestors did to yours, but I still dont really consider you to be my equal even though I am living on your land, so ill continue to keep you in a second-class citizen status - and though ill no longer physically persecute you as severely as we did before, ill keep the mental and legal oppression by refusing YOU and your people your inherent human right to enjoy complete sovereignty in your own lands - even though my descendants who inherited this theft of YOUR land - ARE enjoying complete sovereignty of our own recently invented political nations ON your land. Can there EVER be TRUE JUSTICE when the descendants of thieves continue to consider the lands their ancestors had stolen to be equally theirs as it is to the rightful indigenous landlords? The simple solution is not for non-indigenous peoples to pack up and leave the lands their ancestors have stolen, for from the very beginning the indigenous peoples were willing to share their lands with you, but as FRIENDS, BROTHERS, and EQUALS....not as conquered servant and conquering master. Restore the sovereignty to the indigenous nations that have suffered 500 years of genocide & ethnocide - who still remain, and make room for them to sit with you under their own flags and governments at the table of humanity - in the United Nations; as the Great Holy Spirit and creator of all mankind intended it to be. #4 - The role of the UN is still evolving, some insightful advances are being made (such as the UNDRIP), but some blatant examples of the conqueror attitude are still evident, such as the refusal of the United Nations to change the name of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous ISSUES (as if we are just a talking point), to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous PEOPLES - which is more appropriate and semantically correct in the context of a new paradigm in equitable relations. #5 - The UN is slowly evolving to become a more genuine representative of Indigenous Peoples, but as per the example cited above - still suffers from a Eurocentric neo-colonial bias at very high administration levels, Tribal Link is FAR more genuine - in all it says and actually does on behalf of - and with the guiding direction and input of actual traditionalist indigenous leaders from around the world. The UN still relies too much on assimilated indigenous leaders in formulating policy, and one cannot hope to ever achieve genuineness if one relies on input from these kinds of indigenous looking political pimps who are basically imitations/mascots of the dominant society. Find out who the traditionalist (not assimilationist frauds) indigenous people themselves consider to be their true representatives - NOT who the neo-colonial governments of the world consider to be their (pet) indigenous representatives. #6 - If they adopt these recommendations in answers #4 & #5 a great leap forward will be made. Yours sincerely, Damon Gerard Corrie
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 20:13:35 +0000
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