Indispensable Momaday

running after evil in the night,
whole and indispensable in what they did.
because of them, perspective, proportion, design in the universe.
meaning.
they ran with great dignity and calm, not in the hope of anything,
but hopelessly, neither in fear nor hatred nor despair of evil.
evil was abroad in the night; they must venture out to the confrontation.

Edge of Oblivion

In House Made of Dawn, Pulitzer Prize-winning Kiowa author N. Scott Momaday writes about the exhilaration of recognizing the mystery and magic embedded in the majesty of creation. He also writes about the hardness that is fashioned within those who have faced extinction.

Describing one such indigenous tribe, he observes that having made the journey along the edge of oblivion, they had got a keener sense of humility, and paradoxically a greater sense of pride. Having acquired a tragic sense, he remarks, gave them a certain dignity and bearing.

Indigenous Peoples Movement

On January 10, 2013, WBAI New York's Tiokasin Ghosthorse of First Voices Indigenous Radio interviewed John Schertow, editor and publisher of Intercontinental Cry (IC) magazine, about the world indigenous peoples' movement and the Idle No More campaign in Canada. Discussing his latest publication, Indigenous Struggles 2012: Dispatches From The Fourth World, Schertow highlighted some of the hot spots around the world, where indigenous nations are challenging modern states to abide by international law.

On February 7, 2013, Jay Taber, IC columnist and contributing editor of Fourth World Journal, joined Ghosthorse and Schertow in discussing the history of the world indigenous peoples' movement, and the redistribution of power now taking place between indigenous nations and modern states. Noting the forthcoming World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, scheduled for September 2014 at UN headquarters in New York City, Taber emphasized the vital role indigenous media like First Voices and IC -- along with indigenous think tanks like the Center for World Indigenous Studies -- play in making the struggle visible.

Politics Nations and Wilderness

Three books that might be of interest:

The Politics of Resource Extraction by Suzana Sawyer

Rebuilding Native Nations by Miriam Jorgensen

Stein: The Way of the River by Michael M'Gonigle

Totalitarianism

For romantic revolutionaries, totalitarianism of the crude fascist variety we associate with mid-20th Century police states remains a conceptual impediment to effective resistance against the totalitarianism of neoliberal capitalism. While neoliberalism is equally brutal, it differs in that it seeks to limit our ability to imagine a different reality through its pervasive corruption of all aspects of human existence. By corroding every sphere of human endeavor, it destroys humankind’s capacity for recovery, reflection and renewal, steadily consuming the soul of humanity.

A Matter of Trust

Culture is a complex entity of political, economic and spiritual dimensions. The language, beliefs and values of a culture find expression in such things as music, song and dance, as well as in arts and crafts, fashion and style. As cultural properties, these attributes join governance and religion in distinguishing one particular culture from another. In the case of indigenous cultures, traditional food and medicine are included in the list of properties, all of which combined are celebrated in Fourth World media, literature and philosophy.

In the United States, the trust responsibility between the state and the tribal nations is defined as the obligation of the US Government to preserve, protect and guarantee the property of American Indians. Environmental protection and restoration are part of that obligation, as is self-governance and religious freedom. Respecting tribal laws, rules and regulations on Indian lands is also part of honoring the trust responsibility.

Beyond the borders of reservations, though, tribal properties such as sacred sites, fish and wildlife also come under the obligation of trust responsibility. Allowing the desecration of holy areas, or the extinction of species, is a breach of this trust. Likewise the intrusion of US agencies on Indian territory for purposes of property confiscation or taxation.

Under international human rights law, these properties are sacrosanct, and states that fail to protect them transgress established norms by which states and nations are obligated to relate. Neglecting these obligations of trust and mutual respect is what leads to most of the conflicts in the world.

As a reluctant supporter of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the United States nevertheless has obligated itself to not only protect tribal properties, but to implement the principles of this international accord. As such, the US Government habit of allowing the desecration and confiscation of some tribal properties by corporations, and colluding with them in the theft of many others, must come to an end. Put simply, it's a matter of trust.

Act Intelligently

Reading articles on militant direct action at Wrong Kind of Green and anarchism at Green is the New Red, I am concerned about the attraction of vigilantism to frustrated activists that leads them to commit felonies. There are good reasons for not condoning these acts, even when righteously motivated, not the least of which is doing hard time. Perhaps more importantly, though, is the effect on social movements of vigilantism and terrorism, which might not be adequately considered by those contemplating these militant direct actions.

 

While perspective and judgement are understandably not fully developed in young activists, their energy and enthusiasm, devotion and commitment is an asset social movements can ill afford to squander. Martyring political prisoners who committed acts of terrorism in South Africa or Northern Ireland as part of organized social movements with a political agenda of establishing democratic good governance is one thing; martyring rudderless young people is another.

 

Will Potter at Green is the New Red rightly condemns the FBI witch hunts against anarchists, but anarchists who see themselves as unconstrained by societal norms bring some of this on themselves. Compare the American anarchists’ culture of vigilantism with the Greek anarchists culture of defending democracy, and you can see what I mean. When American anarchists can start speaking in churches and schools about their values in a way that resonates with civil and human rights, then they will have the moral authority to enter the much needed political discussions. Until then, they will remain bogeymen used by the Department of Justice to suspend civil liberties and repress free speech.

 

While I discussed resistance warfare in my essay The Power of Moral Sanction, I did not get into the subject of terrorism. My friend Paul de Armond did, though, in his essay Terrorists and Terrorism Experts. Paul has considerable experience in dealing with right-wing terrorists in the United States, so it’s a subject he knows something about.

 

When DAN organized direct action during the 1999 Seattle WTO protests in the form of civil disobedience, the protest and demonstration against globalization entered the consciousness of billions worldwide. Likewise the 1994 Zapatista social netwar in Mexico. One can follow the development of this consciousness to #Occupy and the Indignados and the student strikes in Europe and Quebec.

 

I do not think WKOG or Green is the New Red are promoting terrorism. Wrong Kind of Green and its featured speaker Steve Best are both making valuable contributions to the understanding of activism, liberation movements and the social context within which they operate. Something Paul and I have attempted to do through Public Good Project.

 

WKOG’s estimate of the situation is informative, and my remarks are intended to address the self-isolating culture of vigilantism some self-identified anarchists have adopted–”fetishizing violence” as Dr. Best described it. Terrorism is a tactical tool,  not a way of life.

I agree with Best’s analysis of confrontation as a means of mobilizing resistance. I myself have used this to good effect in community organizing, which is very hard work. If she were still alive, I would say ask Judi Bari.

The type of discussion WKOG and Dr. Best are making possible through journalism and public speaking is a vital one; I would only note that recruiting, socializing and nurturing activists sympathetic to our goals, but constrained by pacifist faiths like Quakerism, is something we need to take into consideration. When I faced down armed militias threatening environmental and human rights activists in the 1990s, the people who showed up to support me were Quakers and Catholic Workers. A lesson about “liberation theology” I’ll always remember.

As Best stated, act intelligently.

Power to the peaceful!