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U.N. to U.S. : Return Native American Lands
Flopping Aces ^ | 05-08-12 | Wordsmith

Posted on 05/08/2012 5:50:31 PM PDT by Starman417

"Isn’t it also time that western Asia rejoined the Mongol horde? And, return Spain to the Muslims." -Jim Hoft, Gateway Pundit

Maybe Elizabeth Warren can get 1/32 of it (Yeah, I know- Cherokee, not Sioux) and Ward Churchill...well...nevermind:

South Dakota's Black Hills, home to the granite faces carved into Mt. Rushmore, should be restored as Native American tribal lands, a United Nations official recently said.

James Anaya, a U.N. special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people, completed a fact-finding mission on Friday that included meetings with a number of Native American tribal leaders as well as White House officials. His investigation led him to suggest that the United States take additional steps to repair the nation's legacy of oppression against Native Americans.

Reuters:

[James Anaya] met with representatives of indigenous peoples in the District of Columbia, Arizona, Alaska, Oregon, Washington State, South Dakota, and Oklahoma. He also met with U.S. government officials.

"I have heard stories that make evident the profound hurt that indigenous peoples continue to feel because of the history of oppression they have faced," Anaya said in a statement issued by the U.N. human rights office in Geneva.

That oppression, he said, has included the seizure of lands and resources, the removal of children from their families and communities, the loss of languages, violation of treaties, and brutality, all grounded in racial discrimination.

Anaya welcomed the U.S. decision to endorse the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2010 and other steps the government has taken, but said more was needed. His findings will be included in a final report submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council. While not binding, the recommendations carry moral weight that can influence governments.

"It is clear that this history does not just blemish the past, but translates into present day disadvantage for indigenous peoples in the country," Anaya said.

"There have still not been adequate measures of reconciliation to overcome the persistent legacies of the history of oppression, and that there is still much healing that needs to be done," he said.

~~~

"Past uncontrolled and irresponsible extractive activities, including uranium mining in the Southwest, have resulted in the contamination of indigenous peoples' water sources and other resources, and in numerous documented negative health effects among Native Americans," he said.

He said indigenous peoples feel they have too little control over geographic regions considered sacred to them, like the San Francisco Peaks in Arizona and the Black Hills in South Dakota. Anaya suggested such lands should be returned to Native peoples.

"Securing the rights of indigenous peoples to their lands is of central importance to indigenous peoples' socioeconomic development, self-determination, and cultural integrity," Anaya said.

"Continued efforts to resolve, clarify, and strengthen the protection of indigenous lands, resources, and sacred sites should be made," he added.

Mount Rushmore, a popular tourist attraction, is located in the Black Hills, which the Sioux tribe consider to be sacred and have territorial claims to based on an 1868 treaty. Shortly after that treaty was signed, gold was discovered in the region. U.S. Congress eventually passed a law taking over the land.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that the seizure of the land was illegal and ordered the government to pay compensation. But the Sioux rejected the money and has continued to demand the return of the now public lands.

Are Native Americans still being oppressed? Are they a separate people from the rest of America? At what point in history do we let go and move on? A generation? 100 years? 200 years? A millennium? Never? To always hold grudges and claim victimhood for one's situation today due to what happened to one's ancestors, generations removed? And what of those Americans of "oppressed ancestry" who are currently experiencing great prosperity in today's America? Who have benefited because of the course America took- good and bad, just and unjust- in its formulation?

(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net...


TOPICS: Government; Politics
KEYWORDS: indians; un
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To: Starman417
US to UN, ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
21 posted on 05/08/2012 6:48:57 PM PDT by Sea Parrot (Nations are only truly great when it's people are struggling against all odds, growing and expanding)
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To: mamelukesabre
Just wait until Ban Ki Moon tells 1.3 billion Han Chinese not only to return Tibet to its rightful owners, but orders em back into the Yangzte River Valley pronto.

Then there's the matter of the Turks and Constantinople.

22 posted on 05/08/2012 6:54:48 PM PDT by skeeter
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To: skeeter

Don’t forget the arabs...they need to get their hairy backsides and their camels back to arabia.


23 posted on 05/08/2012 7:02:57 PM PDT by mamelukesabre
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To: Starman417

Guess I’ll just move back to Poland. Start all over. Let the US become like Africa. LOL


24 posted on 05/08/2012 7:07:31 PM PDT by deweyfrank
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To: Starman417

Hey UN, what’s the problem?

Indians got $24 worth of beads for NY, just like they asked for.

Now, the US gave the UN land in NYC worth a coupla hundred million, and you haven’t paid for it, so git the hell offa our land!!


25 posted on 05/08/2012 7:18:42 PM PDT by Noob1999 (Loose Lips, Sink Ships)
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To: DesertRhino

I agree many tribes have been devastated by U.S. government paternalism. But quite a few have found the path to unbridled capitalist prosperity with casinos and smoke shops.


26 posted on 05/08/2012 7:31:27 PM PDT by Bernard Marx
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To: Starman417

LOL! Many of us who are descended from the earliest Americans from Europe (Puritans, Huguenots, Presbyterians, Sephardim, all) are laughing with part-Indian eyes at the foolery.


27 posted on 05/08/2012 7:39:13 PM PDT by familyop ("Wanna cigarette? You're never too young to start." --Deacon, "Waterworld")
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To: Starman417

Uh, maybe the United Nations building in New York City, plus the land it directly sits on should be given to the Native American tribe that had that site within it’s hunting area before the arrival of Europeans?

In return, the USA would pay $ 1.00 in Euros as our total annual dues for membership in the United Nations.

What can be more fair? All of the Nations of the World occupying a few acres owned by the descendants of pre-European Native People.

Makes my heart swell with pride to KNOW that all of the Nation of the World will chip in to pay for the financial shortfall when the USA dues drop to $ 1.00 Euros per year.

BTW United Nations, be careful what you wish for - - - - .


28 posted on 05/08/2012 7:41:30 PM PDT by Graewoulf ((Dictator Baby-Doc Barack's obama"care" violates Sherman Anti-Trust Law, AND U.S. Constitution.))
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To: Graewoulf

Excellent idea. Give the UN building back to the Indians! Give ‘em Washington, DC, while we’re at it. ;-)

Only problem is, they wouldn’t want those dives.


29 posted on 05/08/2012 7:53:30 PM PDT by familyop ("Wanna cigarette? You're never too young to start." --Deacon, "Waterworld")
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To: Starman417

The UN needs to shut up!


30 posted on 05/08/2012 8:03:59 PM PDT by Shadowstrike (Be polite, Be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet.)
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To: Starman417

Isn’t the UN built on the Manhattoe Indian’s native lands?


31 posted on 05/08/2012 8:04:40 PM PDT by PeaceBeWithYou (De Oppresso Liber! (50 million and counting in Afghanistan and Iraq))
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To: Starman417

I wish, someday that a real American President would kick the UN out of our country.

Tell them that they have worn out their welcome and we will gladly pay for the move, but just get the hell out.


32 posted on 05/08/2012 8:15:17 PM PDT by Texas resident (Hunkered Down)
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To: Starman417

Maybe... after they return all the money we poured into their gaping maw.


33 posted on 05/08/2012 8:28:21 PM PDT by deputytess (Men of the West .....stand and FIGHT!)
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To: Starman417

I’m 1/64 indian. Do I get a share?


34 posted on 05/08/2012 8:30:11 PM PDT by BO Stinkss
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To: Starman417

Dear UN, go p!$$ into the wind !


35 posted on 05/08/2012 8:42:48 PM PDT by CORedneck
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