Tuesday, April 21, 2009

journal 10 Native American/Indigenous Peoples handout

'No one lynches us. No citizenry chains us up and drags us from the backs of pick-up trucks. Just a thousand little cuts to our self-esteem, self identity. Rather than obliterating a people, simply obliterate the glue that binds them: culture".- Alani Apio

What are the "thousand little cuts"? A thousand little cuts are cuts to self identity and all the things that make up the culture of indigenous people, their esteem, self identity, cultural pride and their souls. Rather than obliterate the people, like so many Hitlers have tried, simply obliterate the glue that binds them: culture. Just enough slices to leave blood on the scene, but no actual bodies. Essentially what that means is Cultural Genocide, a slow bleeding to death through 1000 tiny cuts that no one knows how to stop and nobody will admit to doing.

What does Apio mean when he describes culture as the glue that binds people? In what sense does he view culture as glue?

The glue that binds the people is the the Native American peoples is their strength their power their identity; land, language, and way of life. Their power,strength, homeland, identity and way of life have all been taken away from them and treaties were signed for land rights. But laws continue to exist that attack their rights and assets and their treaties are not acknowledged and have been changed.

Slowly as time goes by the power of the native people become more powerless and passive and dominant groups take over. Stereotypes are also impressed upon the oppressed Native peoples as lazy, stupid, drunks,druggies, abusive to their family, live like animals etc... These stereotypes enable the dominant groups to gain more power and make them appear to be the better group. This gives them the power and support to continue their greedy mission and have the upper hand in gaining the Native Peoples land.

Every day according to Alani Apio; "Things happen in the government that makes money using Native lands, for example; in Hawaii state dollars go to Hawaii visitors and Convention Bureau which sells Hawaiians as the host culture to market the state, but there's never been a state-recognized, state funded hula halau. They want Hawaiians to forget the far distant past but certainly not the hula. So it's okay to remember all the things that make money through tourism and marketing. All the fun stuff is remembered hula, paddling , voyaging. but Hawaiians are shut down consistently when they need stuff that's going to cost something or make someone uncomfortable.

Well intentioned, educated, sympathetic, influential cuts that mask a greedy, hypocritical , arrogant decidedly American ideology. And that American Ideology is to forget the past because America was largely built on land stolen through government-sponsored genocide against Native Americans. While this generation benefits, it doesn't' want any moral responsibility for those atrocities. In Hawaii, many flat-out deny any connection between the past and present: Hawaiians aren't suffering now because even if wrongs were committed, they were done to your ancestors, and you've benefited greatly by being American. In other words "no dead bodies so shut up!" The genocide of Hawaiian culture may not be complete for another 20,another 50 years, but it will happen-unless they re-establish their sovereign nation.

People with Hawaiian blood will still be here , but the culture will have bled to death. Because if Hawaiians aren't needed that that saves a lot of land and power. Land and Power, it's all about land and power."

So slowly different government policies through the years take away rights and land from the Native Americans and as they wait in line for their turn for things to happen that were written on their treaties years ago. But as years pass things keep changing and slowly very slowly there is a genocide of this First American Peoples.


One of the government policies for the Native Indians culture has to prove that they are Indian by taken a blood quantum tests. This will allow a slow genocide of a culture of people as surely in years to come generation to generation blood quantum percentage will not be the same as their ancestors and will not be enough to prove that they are in fact Native Americans! Here again we have a system obliterating a culture of people, a slow genocide, killing their power and strength, the glue that holds them together.


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