Lemmy should allow alt text for images: “If white Australia was hunted until only an estimated 10% of the entire population survived; would they demand the truth of their history was recorded & respected?”

  • @pingveno@lemmy.ml
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    12 years ago

    Is this contentious in Australia? There is lack of recognition in the US, but rarely active pushback.

    • They’re making more progress than in the US, but still not anywhere close to mainstream yet. Idk exactly what can be considered active pushback, but u can find lots of colonizer apologia & plain ignorance everywhere

      • @pingveno@lemmy.ml
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        22 years ago

        I’m curious what your perception is with the US. There’s been a lot of progress here recently, including a recently enacted federal recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, landmarks with names recommended by local tribes, and efforts to revive remaining indigenous culture from the edge of extinction. The areas where I would still fault the US is that there are still people who want to sweep atrocities under the rug in the name of patriotism or further trample tribal treaties in the name of profit.

        • @DPUGT2@lemmy.ml
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          22 years ago

          I am not exactly bleeding-heart, but on the subject of treaties…

          Various tribes were granted non-voting delegates in Congress. I’ve tried over the years in my casual research to identify all of them, but suffice it to say that the number must be in the high single digits. The easy example is the Cherokee Nation, but there are others.

          Why have they not been seated? Even if I did not care about this for their own sake, if our country makes such a promise we need to keep it. Just so that we can say we keep promises.

          Now, it’s also my understanding that such delegate, while being ineligible to vote in general sessions, would also be given seats on committees, with all the privileges that come with that. So they’d have some (significant) influence.

          • @pingveno@lemmy.ml
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            12 years ago

            I don’t disagree. Unfortunately, reversing centuries of discrimination and genocide takes time. Fortunately, there has been considerable improvement in how the federal government especially has interacted with American Indians starting in the 1970’s and continuing into the 21st century. For example, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has been led by an American Indian since 1977, with indigenous employees filling the ranks. That’s a considerable upgrade from before, when the FBI’s COINTELPRO targeted indigenous activist groups.