Endurance

Contrary to the propaganda of modern states now morphed into criminal enterprises, social organization under indigenous nations was well-ordered according to natural laws. What we have now, under the transnational criminal networks posing as legitimate states, is indeed chaos. In fact, the anarchy of militarized consumerism poses the greatest threat to human survival ever experienced in our long perilous journey as a species.

Marshal law imposed on indigenous Mapuche by the Chilean state protects logging companies stealing the Mapuche forest. Born Guilty is the Mapuche story.

The indigenous way of life did not destroy the ozone, pollute the rivers, or create mountains of radioactive waste; the industrial way of life did. Continuing to invest in industrialized corruption, aggression, and pollution is literally a dead end. The path to restitution is to be found in a return to the indigenous way of life: cooperation, conservation and reciprocity; there is simply no other way.

Raping the earth, like raping women, is an act of violence. Violent acts, in consumer society, are often mechanical reactions to other acts of violence; brutality begets brutality.

Breaking the chain of violence in consumer society means curbing demand, and curbing demand requires exercising restraint--learning to do without the commodities that require violence to obtain.

Exiting consumerism is a bold act of independence, requiring strength of character and self-discipline. Making ourselves strong enough to resist the propaganda of advertising is key to healing the earth, our society and ourselves.

How can you work within the system, when the system doesn't work?

BINGO neocolonialism is undermining activism while destroying forests. According to indigenous NGOs in Papua New Guinea, big international NGOs involved in the conservation real estate industry work hand in hand with other transnational corporations and Third World dictators to thwart indigenous conservation efforts. Friends of Peoples Close to Nature says it's all part of the game of protecting the profits of these planetary patrones.

Shoshone gold is the subject of international crime. The criminals, according to the United Nations, are Canada and the US.

World Indigenous Movement

Background

• The world-wide war conducted by modern states, religions, and markets against indigenous peoples never ended; it just took new forms.

• State-centric and market-oriented international institutions presently pose a major threat to the survival of the world’s first nations.

• The World Indigenous Movement is now fighting the final battles to protect their lands, knowledge, and ways of life from annihilation.

• These Fourth World battles for cultural diversity and self-determination constitute the defining struggle for human dignity.

After the demise of European colonies subsequent to World War II, indigenous peoples and their bedrock nations struggled to regain autonomy from the modern states whose boundaries overlaid their ancient territories. Through various mechanisms and venues, these ancient political entities began to rebuild and repair what survived of their aboriginal societies. Over time, the traumas of genocide and other atrocities were documented, studied, and discussed by these autochthonous peoples in order to heal and to prepare themselves for an indigenous resurgence. That time has come.

Throughout the so-called post-colonial era, the First Nations of Canada have played a vital leadership role in organizing the World Indigenous Movement we see today. Chiefs like George Manuel from the Shuswap Nation of British Columbia were instrumental in catalyzing global consciousness and communication between indigenous peoples on all continents. As co-founders of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples, the original peoples of Canada helped prepare the Fourth World to defend itself from new forms of colonialism perpetrated by institutions like the World Trade Organization and World Bank, while simultaneously challenging the state-controlled decolonizing process by agencies such as the recently-formed United Nations Human Rights Council.

In order to provide critical scholarly support to the world’s indigenous peoples as they developed the capacity to confront these institutions for redress of their grievances and resolution of the violent conflicts waged against them, in 1979 the World Council of Indigenous Peoples asked the Center for World Indigenous Studies to act as a global repository of documents, papers, and other archival materials critical to their struggles for self-determination. As CWIS Chair, Dr. Rudolph C. Ryser recently remarked, “What the people in the Fourth World nations think, decide and do on their own behalf will decide much of the world’s international policies for generations to come.”

Reducing carbon footprint is now a phrase used by some to express an environmental awareness. Like calorie-counting for healthier diets, I expect that BTU consciousness might result in more mindful walking and less mindless driving. Shutting off the furnace and putting on a sweater, likewise.

Moving the discussion into an acknowledgment that every gallon kills could make conservation a human rights issue.