Thanksgiving provides us once again with an opportunity to introspect and appreciate our blessings. But for many Native Americans, the day is a reminder of all the slaughter, destruction and loss of lands inflicted on them by outsiders, starting with the pilgrims arriving in Massachusetts some 400 years ago.
The plights of indigenous people in other
places are, in many ways, similar with those in the Americas. To this day, they
still face challenges every day.
According to Amnesty
International, 370 million indigenous people across the world
constitute about 5% of the global population, living in more than 90 countries
and speaking over 4,000 languages. Wherever they live, they often face
discrimination, oppression, exploitation, eviction and other human rights
abuses. As expected, the COVID-19 pandemic has particularly impacted them due
to poverty, lack of clean water and access to health services.
In much of the world, indigenous people suffer from high
unemployment, poor education and domestic violence. They are often targeted for
mistreatment and abuse and have the least access to health services compared
with other groups. They are usually imprisoned disproportionately and some die
in custody.
Around the World
In Australia, indigenous people constitute around 3% of
the population, but they form more than a quarter of
the prison population. Their children are 17
times more likely to be incarcerated than non-indigenous
children.
In the Americas, indigenous people are subjected to
discrimination, harassment and violence, particularly in countries like Argentina, Chile,
Paraguay and Nicaragua, among others. They may also face unsubstantiated
charges that include sabotage, terrorism and murder and are particularly,
vulnerable to human trafficking. In Argentina, indigenous people are further
deprived of their rights to ancestral lands. In Paraguay, they continue being
evicted and denied their lands. In Peru, the killers of indigenous people are
often not brought to justice.
Similarly, Canada and
the United
States have discriminated, mistreated and manipulated their
indigenous people. Both of these nations have exploited and mismanaged the
assets of the native population. Canada has continued oppressing its indigenous
people, confiscating their lands and eliminating their cultures.
In June, more than 600 unmarked graves were discovered in
Canada at a Catholic-run school for indigenous children that operated from 1899
to 1997. This followed a previous report of 215
bodies at another Catholic school that was open from the late 19th century to 1969.
The Contributions of Native
Americans
The contributions of indigenous peoples to the world are
countless. Native Americans alone brought us many plants from beans and peanuts
to pineapple and herbal medicines. They also greatly contributed to our
democracy, inspiring the
Founding Fathers in fashioning the US government. The Six Nations, known by the
French as the Iroquois, provided a great example of participatory democracy
where the government was truly founded on the consent of the governed.
The delegates from the 13 English colonies were inspired by the
Native Americans who were endowed with a rich heritage over thousands of years
that included counseling among the elders in the affairs of the tribes. As
early as 1744, Canasatego, the Iroquois Confederation’s spokesman, advised the
colonists on how to form a union in order to become a powerful confederation.
The colonists listened to his advice in forming what became the United States
of America.
In 1751, Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter inspiring
the 13 colonies to follow the Iroquois Confederacy in forming a union. John
Hancock, speaking on behalf of the 1775 Continental Congress, expressed it well
when he said “the
Six Nations are wise people. Let us harken to their Council and teach our
children to follow it.” In 1988, the US Senate finally paid
tribute to the Native Americans by saying that the “confederation of the
original Thirteen Colonies into one republic was influenced by the political system developed
by the Iroquois Confederacy as were many of the democratic principles which
were incorporated into the Constitution itself.”
Giving Thanks
Those who live in democracies today, including the United States,
owe a lot to Native Americans for their freedom. Indigenous peoples have served
us well and deserve to be treated with respect, provided with the same
opportunities and appreciated for their contributions to the world. We should
work to ensure they have equal rights where they live and raise them out of
poverty, enabling them to have access to clean water, hygiene and health
services.
In the US, let us make this Thanksgiving Day special by embracing
our Native Americans, paving the way to remedy some of their wounds. As Amnesty
International recommends, we should follow other countries in the Americas by
replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day in recognition of their
contributions to the United States of America.
By Mehdi Alavi
*[Dr. Mehdi Alavi is the founder
and president of Peace Worldwide Organization, a non-religious, non-partisan and charitable
organization in the United States that promotes freedom and peace for all. It
recently released its Civility Report 2021, which can be downloaded here.]
This article was
originally published on Fair Observer
on November 24, 2021.
