Halito All: I have much today to discuss so I must do it in several postings as it covers disparate topics. I cannot resist the discussion about the treatment of our ancestors. Now I know this is not appropriate so I will only begin on this site and will transfer the debate to the other list if anyone chooses. However, our people are in terrible distress and danger not seen since the "Termination Period". Now I am going to disagree with people who have been quite helpful to others. Please don't take this personally, because it isn't. I only do this because I think it is very important and we must keep informed. I will not bring it up or discuss it on this site again. We must remember that the history books are written by Euro-Americans for consumption by Euro-Americans and the indoctrination of immigrants, children and other races into the glories of Western thought, history and superiority. In other words, with an Euro-centric and/or Euro-Americentric bias. Secondly, I am very happy to let the past go, if there were only some remorse on the part of the government, powerful and wealthy individuals as well as the numerous multi-national corporations who continue to perpetrate this genocide against the American Indian. If you don't believe this, lets just take a look at recent and current history. First let me begin with a person by the name of Raphael Lemkin. Raphael Lemkin was hired by the Carnegie Foundation to study war crimes in the "Third Reich" and to propose international legal solutions. He is also the person who invented the term "genocide". Lemkin gave the term genocide a 5-part definition, which I don't remember verbatim, but I certainly do remember all of the main elements. Genocide is the occupation and forced removal of sovereignty and/or political control and/or power from a people, which might also include changing the national language, destroying cultural institutions and churches, etc. It is the forced removal of a people from their land. It is the use of forced labor and/or labor under very dangerous conditions and very poor wages. It is the causing of the population of a people to decrease in its ability to reproduce. It is the destruction of their economy. Finally, it is extermination. You didn't have to have all of these things occurring to have genocide. The Nazis might have some people in slave labor and starved them, thereby reducing their ability to reproduce and slowly exterminating them; while with other groups they may have occupied their country, eliminated sovereignty, changed the national language, etc. Although the U.S. led the way for the "genocide Convention" it fought any passage of the treaty every step of the way. First, along with the U.S.S.R. and China the U.S. eliminated various parts of the genocide definition until it became virtually useless. When the various proposals were sent to Capital Hill for study, various senators and congressman objected against having Raphael Lemkin testify, because he wasn't white and was Jewish. An internationally renouned jurist and the person who invented the term genocide was prevented from testifying in our legislature because of anti-semitism. After years of fighting this treaty, making the definition useless and building in protections for itself that no other country has, and after considerable world condemnation, the U.S.became the last country to sign the treaty in the 1980s, very reluctantly I might add. Now why might the U.S. do this? Well in the 1940s in the south African-Americans were hanging from trees like"strange fruit" to borrow a line from a song made famous by Billie Holliday. The African-American also could not vote in the south. The American Indian after being drafted into service in one war without the benefit of citizenship, but yet volunteered at a higher rate than the general population in all of the wars of the 20th Century and had a better record than any other group, i.e. desertion, etc., then was forced to accept U.S. citizenship with the passage of the American Indian Citizenship Act. Now how does the U.S.reward this loyalty and bravery? Well, with allottment, removal and termination. All of these things done to African-Americans and the American Indian, not to mention other groups,would have been violations of the "genocide Treaty" using Raphael Lemkin's definition of genocide. That is why the U.S. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes http://finance.yahoo.com

Your piece was very interesting, but since the end of it was cut off at the following place shown below, I hope you will copy the latter part and forward it on to me. Thanks, Susan Now how does the U.S.reward this loyalty and bravery? Well, with allottment, removal and termination. All of these things done to African-Americans and the American Indian, not to mention other groups,would have been violations of the "genocide Treaty" using Raphael Lemkin's definition of genocide. That is why the U.S.

I don't see why you should'nt continue on this list as it does pertain to genealogy...and I'm sure in their searches the people of this list want to know the truth..else why bother with genealogy at all? But that's just my opinion.. Barbara ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Wilson" <imafo2002@yahoo.com> To: <CHOCTAW-SOUTHEAST-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2002 2:22 PM Subject: [CHOCTAW-SE] slavery > Halito All: > > I have much today to discuss so I must do it in > several postings as it covers disparate topics. I > cannot resist the discussion about the treatment of > our ancestors. Now I know this is not appropriate so I > will only begin on this site and will transfer the > debate to the other list if anyone chooses. However, > our people are in terrible distress and danger not > seen since the "Termination Period". Now I am going to > disagree with people who have been quite helpful to > others. Please don't take this personally, because it > isn't. I only do this because I think it is very > important and we must keep informed. I will not bring > it up or discuss it on this site again. > We must remember that the history books are > written by Euro-Americans for consumption by > Euro-Americans and the indoctrination of immigrants, > children and other races into the glories of Western > thought, history and superiority. In other words, with > an Euro-centric and/or Euro-Americentric bias. > Secondly, I am very happy to let the past go, if > there were only some remorse on the part of the > government, powerful and wealthy individuals as well > as the numerous multi-national corporations who > continue to perpetrate this genocide against the > American Indian. If you don't believe this, lets just > take a look at recent and current history. > First let me begin with a person by the name of > Raphael Lemkin. Raphael Lemkin was hired by the > Carnegie Foundation to study war crimes in the "Third > Reich" and to propose international legal solutions. > He is also the person who invented the term > "genocide". > Lemkin gave the term genocide a 5-part definition, > which I don't remember verbatim, but I certainly do > remember all of the main elements. Genocide is the > occupation and forced removal of sovereignty and/or > political control and/or power from a people, which > might also include changing the national language, > destroying cultural institutions and churches, etc. It > is the forced removal of a people from their land. It > is the use of forced labor and/or labor under very > dangerous conditions and very poor wages. It is the > causing of the population of a people to decrease in > its ability to reproduce. It is the destruction of > their economy. Finally, it is extermination. You > didn't have to have all of these things occurring to > have genocide. The Nazis might have some people in > slave labor and starved them, thereby reducing their > ability to reproduce and slowly exterminating them; > while with other groups they may have occupied their > country, eliminated sovereignty, changed the national > language, etc. > Although the U.S. led the way for the "genocide > Convention" it fought any passage of the treaty every > step of the way. First, along with the U.S.S.R. and > China the U.S. eliminated various parts of the > genocide definition until it became virtually useless. > When the various proposals were sent to Capital Hill > for study, various senators and congressman objected > against having Raphael Lemkin testify, because he > wasn't white and was Jewish. An internationally > renouned jurist and the person who invented the term > genocide was prevented from testifying in our > legislature because of anti-semitism. > After years of fighting this treaty, making the > definition useless and building in protections for > itself that no other country has, and after > considerable world condemnation, the U.S.became the > last country to sign the treaty in the 1980s, very > reluctantly I might add. > Now why might the U.S. do this? Well in the 1940s > in the south African-Americans were hanging from trees > like"strange fruit" to borrow a line from a song made > famous by Billie Holliday. The African-American also > could not vote in the south. The American Indian after > being drafted into service in one war without the > benefit of citizenship, but yet volunteered at a > higher rate than the general population in all of the > wars of the 20th Century and had a better record than > any other group, i.e. desertion, etc., then was forced > to accept U.S. citizenship with the passage of the > American Indian Citizenship Act. > Now how does the U.S.reward this loyalty and > bravery? Well, with allottment, removal and > termination. All of these things done to > African-Americans and the American Indian, not to > mention other groups,would have been violations of the > "genocide Treaty" using Raphael Lemkin's definition of > genocide. That is why the U.S. > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes > http://finance.yahoo.com > > > ==== CHOCTAW-SOUTHEAST Mailing List ==== > Need more CHOCTAW information. Try Judy White's NATIVE AMERICAN RESOURCE CENTER at http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native for rolls, newsletters, lookups, articles, etc. > >

Halito all, Richard, Thank you for the thought provoking topic. There are some things which we do as humans that I will never fathom and holding someone prisoner/enslaving them is one. I try to be humble when I think of my own ancestry, I am irish,german,choctaw, a smidgen of cherokee and scottish. I know that there were many crooks in the bunch, probably some slave owners/traders and/or slaves. And I know there was also unfairness toward many of them. The story that sticks with me the most is what my choctaw grandfather told my dad who told me. In the mid-to late 1800's, his mother's parents were murdered while the family was going home leaving my great grandmother (at age 10 or so) and her younger brother to fend for themselves far from civilization in the prairie. They were dying -literally-of thirst when my "adopted" white great-great grandfather (who had gotten lost on his way to pick up his mail order bride) saw them and stopped, put them in the wagon, fed them, eventually found his bride and said something like "see what I picked up on the way here". They were allowed to stay in Oklahoma to raise the children which they did. And they grew up and had children and so on. So my dad said for me to keep in mind that our family wouldn't be part anything if it wasn't for a ditsy white guy with a big heart. Best wishes to all, Patricia Johnson ----- Original Message ----- From: Richard Wilson <imafo2002@yahoo.com> To: <CHOCTAW-SOUTHEAST-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2002 12:22 PM Subject: [CHOCTAW-SE] slavery > Halito All: > > I have much today to discuss so I must do it in > several postings as it covers disparate topics. I > cannot resist the discussion about the treatment of > our ancestors. Now I know this is not appropriate so I > will only begin on this site and will transfer the > debate to the other list if anyone chooses. However, > our people are in terrible distress and danger not > seen since the "Termination Period". Now I am going to > disagree with people who have been quite helpful to > others. Please don't take this personally, because it > isn't. I only do this because I think it is very > important and we must keep informed. I will not bring > it up or discuss it on this site again. > We must remember that the history books are > written by Euro-Americans for consumption by > Euro-Americans and the indoctrination of immigrants, > children and other races into the glories of Western > thought, history and superiority. In other words, with > an Euro-centric and/or Euro-Americentric bias. > Secondly, I am very happy to let the past go, if > there were only some remorse on the part of the > government, powerful and wealthy individuals as well > as the numerous multi-national corporations who > continue to perpetrate this genocide against the > American Indian. If you don't believe this, lets just > take a look at recent and current history. > First let me begin with a person by the name of > Raphael Lemkin. Raphael Lemkin was hired by the > Carnegie Foundation to study war crimes in the "Third > Reich" and to propose international legal solutions. > He is also the person who invented the term > "genocide". > Lemkin gave the term genocide a 5-part definition, > which I don't remember verbatim, but I certainly do > remember all of the main elements. Genocide is the > occupation and forced removal of sovereignty and/or > political control and/or power from a people, which > might also include changing the national language, > destroying cultural institutions and churches, etc. It > is the forced removal of a people from their land. It > is the use of forced labor and/or labor under very > dangerous conditions and very poor wages. It is the > causing of the population of a people to decrease in > its ability to reproduce. It is the destruction of > their economy. Finally, it is extermination. You > didn't have to have all of these things occurring to > have genocide. The Nazis might have some people in > slave labor and starved them, thereby reducing their > ability to reproduce and slowly exterminating them; > while with other groups they may have occupied their > country, eliminated sovereignty, changed the national > language, etc. > Although the U.S. led the way for the "genocide > Convention" it fought any passage of the treaty every > step of the way. First, along with the U.S.S.R. and > China the U.S. eliminated various parts of the > genocide definition until it became virtually useless. > When the various proposals were sent to Capital Hill > for study, various senators and congressman objected > against having Raphael Lemkin testify, because he > wasn't white and was Jewish. An internationally > renouned jurist and the person who invented the term > genocide was prevented from testifying in our > legislature because of anti-semitism. > After years of fighting this treaty, making the > definition useless and building in protections for > itself that no other country has, and after > considerable world condemnation, the U.S.became the > last country to sign the treaty in the 1980s, very > reluctantly I might add. > Now why might the U.S. do this? Well in the 1940s > in the south African-Americans were hanging from trees > like"strange fruit" to borrow a line from a song made > famous by Billie Holliday. The African-American also > could not vote in the south. The American Indian after > being drafted into service in one war without the > benefit of citizenship, but yet volunteered at a > higher rate than the general population in all of the > wars of the 20th Century and had a better record than > any other group, i.e. desertion, etc., then was forced > to accept U.S. citizenship with the passage of the > American Indian Citizenship Act. > Now how does the U.S.reward this loyalty and > bravery? Well, with allottment, removal and > termination. All of these things done to > African-Americans and the American Indian, not to > mention other groups,would have been violations of the > "genocide Treaty" using Raphael Lemkin's definition of > genocide. That is why the U.S. > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes > http://finance.yahoo.com > > > ==== CHOCTAW-SOUTHEAST Mailing List ==== > Need more CHOCTAW information. Try Judy White's NATIVE AMERICAN RESOURCE CENTER at http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native for rolls, newsletters, lookups, articles, etc. >

The following website is something that everyone should read not only for the sake of understanding what happened in Australia, but also in what happened here...There are many people who do not know their true ancestry in this country, and it is because someone else wanted them to not know it...as if certain of our ancestors never existed..(In particular, Indian and African ancestors)To erase "their kind" entirely from the future as well as from the memory of descendants (that is, in the sense of ever reclaiming their heritage)was the plan, and I know that in many hearts that is still a hope..It is a very ugly thing..B. http://www.tim-richardson.net/misc/stolen_generation.html