I am an anarchist. But this is a question that stumps me. If we advocate for self-determination for all peoples, how do we square critique of Israel with advocacy for indigenous land reparations? Israel is an apartheid state, perhaps even an ethnostate. But wouldn't "giving land back" to native peoples also constitute creating some sort of ethnostate? And how do we square "giving land back" with being anti-borders? History is a litany of groups of people taking land from other groups, invasions and injustices. Borders constantly shift. Nothing truly "belongs" to anyone; I have no claim on Ireland because my great grandparents lived there, I have no claim on African land because humans originated there. So why does Israel not get to have a claim on "ancestral lands" while indigenous people of the Americas do? Is it simply because Israel is an oppressive state or is there a deeper reasoning I'm missing?
Any recommended reading for this topic? Thanks.
Cultures like the Aztec, Inca, Mayan and Olmec seem to always be specified. The term Native American can mean anything from Inuit to Apache to Seminole or any cultural group in between. Also, Central and South American groups are usually referenced in a time specific manner but North American groups are often presented as static cultures that never changed over time. What caused or causes the difference in how these groups are viewed?
Whenever I see the political/military/diplomatic history of North America represented it always reduces indigenous actors to the status of “allies”.
Whether it’s the French and Indian War, or the Iroquois in the American Revolutionary War, or (the apparently Canadian) Tecumseh in the War if 1812, indigenous actors are always seen as subsidiaries or clients of the European colonizers.
Is this a dead reading of history and just a hangover from reading old encyclopedias, or is this still the frame that historians of North America operate in?
If I wanted a great book or two on the politics, motives and statecraft of indigenous peoples throughout this period, who should I read?
I know it's a nebulous question, but how much well native peoples understand the breadth of the land they inhabited? Would Plains cultures know about the coasts? Would Northeastern First Nations know about the ocean to the west? Would Mesoamerican cultures have interacted with any of the above?
I imagine different countries such as Spain, France and England probably wanted different things out of their colonies and, that these desires probably lead to them treating the native populations differently. But, I'm ignorant of the Russians colony in Alaska.
Was it their tribal names, did they have an all encompassing name. I think calling them "Indians" is taking away from their true heritage.
In Central / South American countries like Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, the indigenous phenotypes and cultures are still very persistent today even though they were colonized and speak European languages (Spanish and Portuguese). In the USA, however, there are very few Native Americans remaining outside of the reservations, and most Americans just look like European blends. Why did this happen? Different treatment by colonists? Different susceptibility to small pox? Manifest Destiny?
Just kidding but is got you just for a second. LDS has to either double down or gas light. The millions that converted in Latin America are de-converting or are largely inactive.Stakes are shutting down in Mexico. What good will it do to change the narrative now to the truth? Lamanites no longer special people but fiction? Naw?Change the narrative or double down? When CoC changed the narrative they lost nearly a quarter of their membership. Yeah the truth stinks for tithing revenue!
I'm sick and feverish, so I've been thinking about diseases a lot.
Are (or were there) any diseases that were common and maybe "manageable" for local indigenous populations that were as devastating as the ones explorers brought with them from Europe?
Obviously there are diseases like malaria, but those are spread by insects. So I guess I'm wondering more about person-to-person transmitted diseases, but open to hearing anything you've got!
