Posted on 04/22/2012 1:00:35 PM PDT by Steelfish
UN To Investigate Plight of US Native Americans For First Time The UN human rights inquiry will focus on the living conditions of the 2.7 million Native Americans living in the US
Ewen MacAskill 22 April 2012
Many US Native Americans live in federally recognised tribal areas plagued with poverty, alcoholism other social problems.
The UN is to conduct an investigation into the plight of US Native Americans, the first such mission in its history.
The human rights inquiry led by James Anaya, the UN special rapporteur on indigenous peoples, is scheduled to begin on Monday.
Many of the country's estimated 2.7 million Native Americans live in federally recognised tribal areas which are plagued with unemployment, alcoholism, high suicide rates, incest and other social problems.
The UN mission is potentially contentious, with some US conservatives likely to object to international interference in domestic matters. Since being appointed as rapporteur in 2008, Anaya has focused on natives of Central and South America.
A UN statement said: "This will be the first mission to the US by an independent expert designated by the UN human rights council to report on the rights of the indigenous peoples."
Anaya, a University of Arizona professor of human rights, said: "I will examine the situation of the American Indian/Native American, Alaska Native and Hawaiian peoples against the background of the United States' endorsement of the UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples."
The US signed up in 2010 to the declaration, which establishes minimum basic rights for indigenous people globally.
Anaya said: "My visit aims at assessing how the standards of the declaration are reflected in US law and policy, and identifying needed reforms and good practices."
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
The UN can go pound sand, far as I’m concerned.
Really? “The plight?” It is my understanding that they have reservations over which they and they alone exercise jurisdiction, that if any one of them can demonstrate 1/8th Native American blood, they get tribal benefits, and that the equal protection clause of the US Constitution is set aside in their case. Some plight. The fact that some of them drink firewater, won’t go to school and are still fighting the war is not the UN’s business.
This is stupid. Under our system, the Indian Nation exists as a Nation itself. The tribal councils rule on their land kinda like any other government or embassy has a certain sovereignty on our soil.
The casinos in Oklahoma also seem to keep the dollars rolling to the tribal coffers too.
What gets lost in reporting such as this, is that Indians are American citizens, and are not required to live on reservations. They can and do move into mainstream society, if they choose to do so.
Talk of alcoholism, unemployment, poverty, etc. on Indian reservations is similar to such discussions about conditions in ghettos, if you think about it.
I may get flamed for saying this, but, Indians on reservations which have casinos are doing well. Some of those reservations are using casino profits to develop businesses other than gambling, to the benefit of their people.
Bottom line is that Indians can and do move out of the bad conditions found on some reservations. And we should encourage that trend. And maybe someday, the reservations can be done away with altogether.
What should be investigated (but not by the UN) is the distribution of casino profits, as well as the ‘salaries’ or fees paid to Natives before any profit is declared.
Maybe the UN can devise some kind of Casinos For Food program.
Best thing we could do is give the Indians all the BLM, Fed Park Land, Wilderness Lands for them to operate or take care of;;;fire every last one of the Fed employees doing it now. The Indians would do a better job at it and wouldn't be chasing hunters, prospectors, and all other Americans off our land. The Indians have pretty much had all their lands stolen over the last 150 years anyway, by our govt. Indians really are good stewards of the land, kinda central to how they see the world.
Dear U.N.:
Pound sand.
Thank you.
I’m living for the day when those blue helmeted bastards are run out of town by the great American uprising, and their stinking wannabe Tower of Babel razed to the ground.
U.N. SPOKESMAN: "Genocide in Darfur? Huh? What's a Darfur? What's your point?
...anyhoo, just another fascist racist reparations scheme against the conservative white man.
UN PC BS
For the list.
UN Spox: “What genocide in Tibet? What slave trade in Cameroon? What nuclear cooperation between Iran and the DPRK?”
Just turn the UN building into a giant brothel; that would be a fitting tribute.
The UN doesn’t pay for it—they rape it.
Look at Africa.
I doubt the tribes would EVER let the reservations be “done away with”. and sure, Native Americans are not required to live on reservations.
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