"Acting
in Responsible Relationship with First Nations People"
A Worship Committee Sponsored Service
Ms. Chris Wallace and Members of the Undoing Racism Committee
October 12, 2008
HOMILY:
Tomorrow is Columbus Day, a national holiday that first began
honoring the discovery of America on October 12th, 1792 in New York
City.
Then, San Francisco's Italian community held their first Columbus
Day celebration in 1869.
In 1892, president Harrison urged the citizens to participate in
the 400th anniversary celebration of Columbus' first voyage.
It was during this event that the Pledge of Allegiance, was recited
publicly for the first time.
The first state to observe the holiday was Colorado in 1905.
In 1937, FDR, proclaimed October 12 as "Columbus Day"
and finally in 1971, Nixon declared the second Monday of October
a national holiday.
Today we want to discuss the UUA recognition of Columbus Day, which
we now call Indigenous People's Day.
As UU's we honor this day in place of Columbus Day. Why?
Because the UUA has passed several resolutions on Native American
and Indigenous Peoples' rights since the 1970's.
In 1993, the General Assembly passed a resolution on Justice for
Indigenous Peoples, where the UUA resolved to learn from indigenous
peoples about the richness of their cultures and about the problems
and issues they face, support local indigenous peoples' political
action committees in their struggles for social justice and religious
freedom,
and act individually and through coalitions to respect and support
indigenous peoples in preserving their cultural pride and heritage
and in protecting their natural resources.
Thus, I ask you, how can we be in responsible relationship with
First Nations people, right here, right now, in our own lives.
In order to work towards acting for the rights of First Nations
peoples, we first must look at some of the pieces to the puzzle.
As UU's, one of our own spiritual principles is "Respect for
the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part,"
We also draw from the "Spiritual teachings of earth-centered
traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct
us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature."
But let us ponder for a moment how we are connected economically,
politically, and socially. In the book, The Color of Wealth…
the authors explore this history between European Americans, the
government that represents us, and First Nations here in the US.
The authors state, "American Indian tribes are the single largest
private landholders in the Unites States today. But their relationships
to this wealth is different than any other group of Americans."
Imagine for a moment that you have inherited a large amount of wealth
from your very wealthy Aunt, What would you do with that inheritance?
You would visit with an attorney, gather legal advice, set up a
trust, and invest in mutual funds, although considering these economic
times, you might just keep the cash under your mattress!
But the point is, most of us would follow the basic principles of
asset management.
However, these principles are not available to Native Americans,
whose wealth and assets are managed by the federal government.
There are over 562 federally recognized tribal nations in the US
today, not counting the ones that our government refuses to recognize,
such as our own Ramapo nation here in New Jersey.
There are over 100 million acres of reservation lands, which are
rich in natural resources and include 4% of US oil and gas reserve,
30% of the low-sulfur coal reserves, and 40% of the privately held
uranium deposits.
So for these lands to be so rich, than why are the people who live
on them so poor?
According to 2000 Census bureau, Native Americans have the highest
poverty rate in the nation.
With all the 2008 campaign talk about energy independence and clean-coal
resources,
I don't hear any of the candidates discussing the need to empower
Native American people towards advancing natural resources here.
I don't hear any talk about investing billions of dollars to pay
First Nations to develop these resources in order to get our energy
from these lands?
Why is this so?
In 1942, the Supreme Court ruled that the government has the duty
to keep its promises and act in then best interests of the tribes
as "the doctrine of trust responsibility."
However, if a third party was responsible for managing your assets
and that great big inheritance you received from your aunt, do you
think there might be some mismanagement along the way? Of course!
Especially if that third party is eager to mine for the rich coal
and harvest the lumber that is on your rich land.
The mismanagement by our own government has led to lost and stolen
funds, these lost funds are the basis of a $137 billion lawsuit
against the department of the Interior.
In addition to a cultural genocide, our own elected officials carry
out this wealth genocide in order to control the vast resources
that should be managed by the people who live on the land.
We have a vast history that must be recognized and dealt with in
order to change this cycle of disempowerment.
Our government has broken over 400 treaties with First Nations,
yet we have yet to fully recognize our part in this history. Although
we must educate ourselves and others in this history, we must also
commit to take action.
Yes, we can sit here are contemplate about all the bad our country
has done and how this could have happened.
But instead of focusing on the past, lets work together to figure
out how we as Uus can work in responsible relationship with First
Nations people right here in our own community.
When we go to the election booths on November 4th, let's make an
educated decision on which candidate might be willing to even begin
the conversation about First Nations rights
Which candidate will support the rebuilding of the wealth of the
people who live on the richest lands in our nation.
I would like to leave you with some words of wisdom from Tim Wise,
who is a white anti-racist author and lecturer.
In his book, White Like Me, he says " We are never merely individuals;
we are never alone; we are always in the company, as uncomfortable
as it sometimes can be, of others, the past, of history. We become
part of that history just as surely as it becomes part of us…
It is how we bear the past that matters."
There are some anti-Native acts which continue to cause harm in
the present.
With committed action, they can be reversed; Unitarian Universalists
can play a pivotal role by taking any of the following steps to
help undo the harm that they and the rest of U.S. society have caused
and are still causing American Indians:
(1) Eradicate names in our atlas that disrespect Native peoples;
(2) Give up American Indian names and mascots;
(3) Rename Columbus Day;
(4) Evaluate how American Indian history is taught in nearby school
districts and, when needed, critique and improve the treatment.
(5) Visit the Undoing Racism Resource center
(6) support the anti-racist training
Finally, let us not just talk about the rights of Indigenous peoples
on this holiday weekend, let us continue the discussion every day
all year long and work towards committed action and make a pledge
to honor our future by supporting First Nations people.
|
