Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Opposition in NZ to UNDDIR
ANGER OVER INDIGENOUS RIGHTS RULING
New Zealand Herald - 01/07/06
The United Nations has endorsed a declaration to protect the rights of indigenous peoples over New Zealand objections that sections of it are unworkable, potentially discriminatory and could see separate minorities break up countries.
The Maori Party has condemned New Zealand's opposition to the vote, calling the idea that Aotearoa (NZ) could go on record as having opposed the rights of indigenous people "deeply troubling".
The declaration was passed by a vote of 30-2 at the UN's Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva. New Zealand is not a member of the council and could not vote but, with fellow no-members Australia and the United States, issued a joint statement that said more time was needed to find a wording to suit all countries.
"The current text is confusing," it said. "Indigenous peoples are not defined. This means separatist or minority groups with traditional connections to the territory where they live could exploit this declaration to claim the right to self-determination, including exclusive control of territorial resources."
A spokeman for NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark, said New Zealand was one of the most respectful of nations regarding indigenous people, with an internationally acknowledged system of looking at issues of reparation and apologies.
[comments from my Maori Sister on the above article]
(This little piece of damage control was hidden away at the tail-end of our largest national daily newspaper. The only reference to the UN's declaration by other media probably received about 30 seconds airtime. The last paragraph is especially insulting to indigenous Aotearoa (NZ). Reparation and apologies only happened because the tribes fought. In the streets, in Parliament and in the Courts. AND, the fight has only just begun.)
Arohanui
[a response I have sent to my Maori Sister to pass on to Helen Clark, Prime Minister of the occupational government of the Aotearoa also known incorrectly as New Zealand]
Dear Helen Clark and appropriate spokespeople,
I can understand your objections to the UN Draft Declaration on Indgenous Rights. Afterall, yours is currently a colonialist nation who illegally occupies the land of other peoples. You are afraid of losing property or rights to property and any amount of the vast wealth you have stolen from the indigenous nations of the islands currently known as New Zealand by you and as Aotearoa by it's rightful inhabitants known as the Maori. If this document gets past the general assembly, you just might have to give back some of the vast amounts of wealth and property you have stolen from the Maori people, historically and currently, as well as have to pay for the crimes your government has committed against them such as genocide. So, I can understand your fear, but you should do what is right and sign on and pay your debts honestly to the people whose wealth you have stolen.
As an indigenous person in the United States, I am fond of telling everyone I meet that "I want it all back." The immediate reaction I get from non-Indians is a fear of deportation and possible retribution for crimes committed against my people historically and current. However, that would allege that I see the world like they do. Their ultimate fear is that I would treat them in a manner similar to the manner they treated me and my people. If I did that, that would make me like them, and honestly, I find their behavior reprehensible and a good example of how NOT to behave. However, this also shows their arrogance in only thinking of themselves.
They, like you, seem to refuse to think of the issues the indigenous populations of our respective nations. They refuse to think of the crimes current and historical. They refuse to acknowledge the suffering of our respective indigenous peoples. Like you, they think only of themselves and fear any possibility of having to give back any of the stolen wealth or the land back to its rightful owners (I don't like the term "owner" but I believe that is the only way you could understand what I am saying).
You also allege to be very respectful of the Maori of your nation. The Maori I know tell me that they had to FIGHT to get that respect from your occupational colonialist government. The stories I've read about the Maori current events would seem that they must still have to fight for respect from your government at every turn. The stories I've read about your colonialist occupational government seems to only have respect when the Maori demand it and then only with a fight, but NEVER an honest full respect.
So I can understand your fears, Helen and appropriate spokespeople. But let's look at reality.
Reality dictates that even if this document passes, you WILL choose to ignore it. That the Maori will have to fight for every detail in that document. You will try to change the wording in order to protect your stolen wealth and property and not because it is the right thing to do. Like ALL colonialist governments, you will want to protect your stolen goodies and the crimes you committed in order to get them, such as genocide. I'm no fool. I see this everyday here in the United States as an indigenous person.
So, I call upon you, Helen, to do what is right and support this document as it is, which I've read by the way. You have the authority as the Prime Minister of the occupational government of the nation you call New Zealand. We all know that you will continue to use the "rule of force" to protect your stolen goodies, so what difference does it make that you support this document. The U.S. has pretty much made the UN ineffectual to protect themselves from justice for the horrific crimes they commit globally and within their own borders to protect their own wealth.
All of that said, I will tell you about a vision a man I knew had. He had a vision of his own death. He saw big things he thought that were good things but hurt innumerable people. He had visions of small things he did that caused many good things to happen. When we pass on, if we haven't dealt with the things we've done in this life, we will have to deal with it in the spiritworld, and no one really knows what that looks like. I can tell you that I have many friends who are war veterans who have nightmares about the people they've killed. They try to create a world where no one will have to have those dreams. What do you think you'll have to pay for when you move on from this world, Helen and appropriate spokespeople? Who will you have hurt that you will have to deal with? What good things have to done that benefit the people and the world as a whole?
It's up to you what you do, but as an indigenous person (Siletz) of the United States, I ask you to do the right thing and support this document.
Yours Sincerely,
Eugene Johnson
New Zealand Herald - 01/07/06
The United Nations has endorsed a declaration to protect the rights of indigenous peoples over New Zealand objections that sections of it are unworkable, potentially discriminatory and could see separate minorities break up countries.
The Maori Party has condemned New Zealand's opposition to the vote, calling the idea that Aotearoa (NZ) could go on record as having opposed the rights of indigenous people "deeply troubling".
The declaration was passed by a vote of 30-2 at the UN's Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva. New Zealand is not a member of the council and could not vote but, with fellow no-members Australia and the United States, issued a joint statement that said more time was needed to find a wording to suit all countries.
"The current text is confusing," it said. "Indigenous peoples are not defined. This means separatist or minority groups with traditional connections to the territory where they live could exploit this declaration to claim the right to self-determination, including exclusive control of territorial resources."
A spokeman for NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark, said New Zealand was one of the most respectful of nations regarding indigenous people, with an internationally acknowledged system of looking at issues of reparation and apologies.
[comments from my Maori Sister on the above article]
(This little piece of damage control was hidden away at the tail-end of our largest national daily newspaper. The only reference to the UN's declaration by other media probably received about 30 seconds airtime. The last paragraph is especially insulting to indigenous Aotearoa (NZ). Reparation and apologies only happened because the tribes fought. In the streets, in Parliament and in the Courts. AND, the fight has only just begun.)
Arohanui
[a response I have sent to my Maori Sister to pass on to Helen Clark, Prime Minister of the occupational government of the Aotearoa also known incorrectly as New Zealand]
Dear Helen Clark and appropriate spokespeople,
I can understand your objections to the UN Draft Declaration on Indgenous Rights. Afterall, yours is currently a colonialist nation who illegally occupies the land of other peoples. You are afraid of losing property or rights to property and any amount of the vast wealth you have stolen from the indigenous nations of the islands currently known as New Zealand by you and as Aotearoa by it's rightful inhabitants known as the Maori. If this document gets past the general assembly, you just might have to give back some of the vast amounts of wealth and property you have stolen from the Maori people, historically and currently, as well as have to pay for the crimes your government has committed against them such as genocide. So, I can understand your fear, but you should do what is right and sign on and pay your debts honestly to the people whose wealth you have stolen.
As an indigenous person in the United States, I am fond of telling everyone I meet that "I want it all back." The immediate reaction I get from non-Indians is a fear of deportation and possible retribution for crimes committed against my people historically and current. However, that would allege that I see the world like they do. Their ultimate fear is that I would treat them in a manner similar to the manner they treated me and my people. If I did that, that would make me like them, and honestly, I find their behavior reprehensible and a good example of how NOT to behave. However, this also shows their arrogance in only thinking of themselves.
They, like you, seem to refuse to think of the issues the indigenous populations of our respective nations. They refuse to think of the crimes current and historical. They refuse to acknowledge the suffering of our respective indigenous peoples. Like you, they think only of themselves and fear any possibility of having to give back any of the stolen wealth or the land back to its rightful owners (I don't like the term "owner" but I believe that is the only way you could understand what I am saying).
You also allege to be very respectful of the Maori of your nation. The Maori I know tell me that they had to FIGHT to get that respect from your occupational colonialist government. The stories I've read about the Maori current events would seem that they must still have to fight for respect from your government at every turn. The stories I've read about your colonialist occupational government seems to only have respect when the Maori demand it and then only with a fight, but NEVER an honest full respect.
So I can understand your fears, Helen and appropriate spokespeople. But let's look at reality.
Reality dictates that even if this document passes, you WILL choose to ignore it. That the Maori will have to fight for every detail in that document. You will try to change the wording in order to protect your stolen wealth and property and not because it is the right thing to do. Like ALL colonialist governments, you will want to protect your stolen goodies and the crimes you committed in order to get them, such as genocide. I'm no fool. I see this everyday here in the United States as an indigenous person.
So, I call upon you, Helen, to do what is right and support this document as it is, which I've read by the way. You have the authority as the Prime Minister of the occupational government of the nation you call New Zealand. We all know that you will continue to use the "rule of force" to protect your stolen goodies, so what difference does it make that you support this document. The U.S. has pretty much made the UN ineffectual to protect themselves from justice for the horrific crimes they commit globally and within their own borders to protect their own wealth.
All of that said, I will tell you about a vision a man I knew had. He had a vision of his own death. He saw big things he thought that were good things but hurt innumerable people. He had visions of small things he did that caused many good things to happen. When we pass on, if we haven't dealt with the things we've done in this life, we will have to deal with it in the spiritworld, and no one really knows what that looks like. I can tell you that I have many friends who are war veterans who have nightmares about the people they've killed. They try to create a world where no one will have to have those dreams. What do you think you'll have to pay for when you move on from this world, Helen and appropriate spokespeople? Who will you have hurt that you will have to deal with? What good things have to done that benefit the people and the world as a whole?
It's up to you what you do, but as an indigenous person (Siletz) of the United States, I ask you to do the right thing and support this document.
Yours Sincerely,
Eugene Johnson
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