In recent history the massacres of Indian people in South America have been less frequent than in North America because of lower demand for the land and resources of the indigenous populations in South America. It appears that now the governments of South America are trying to compensate for their past laziness. Hunters licensed to shoot animals now pursue Natives as prey in South America, bringing back Indians as trophies. With the new Trans-Amazon highway plans, the Brazilian and other governments are performing "search and destroy" missions on the native people. A Brazilian museum advertised recently that "Indians and other beasts" could be found stuffed for display; this practice occurs at museums in urban centers throughout South America. In Paraguay, the hunting of Indian peoples is not illegal, because Indian people are not considered human beings. Who is more human?

Imported Racism

Colonialism tends to propogate. To alleviate racial tensions in Rhodesia the government has arranged for the emmigration of white Rhodesians to Bolivia. This mass population movement amounts to a government-approved and financed exportation of racism to South America. White Rhodesians have been sold Indian lands and resources to ensure the "progress and development" of the South American colonialist governments.

Motives

The name of the genocide game the Western Hemisphere governments are playing with the indigenous population is "Land and Resources." The land base is crucial to the native population, for our survival and the maintenance of our culture, but greedy multinational corporations and real estate conglomerates demand our land. The "desolate" patches of land in North America where Indian people live, given by treaty to the Indians--cover approximately 90 per cent of the uranium reserves and 50 per cent of energy resources. The vast uranium fields of both the south-western United States as well as Northern Brazil are inhabited principally by native people. Native people have lived harmoniously with the earth in the Americas for over 60,000 years, and now the economic interests of the industrial world demand to rape the earth for energy progress and promise little to the Indians in return.

When the indgenous delegates documented the persistent ethnocide of the governments of the Western Hemisphere, we were initially met with shock, which quickly turned to rage. The Non-Governmental Organization participants joined in solidarity with our struggles and goals as well as in condemnation of the policies of the Western Hemisphere countries. The world must no longer listen to Jimmy Carter's oratories on the importance of human rights, when in fact he governs the nation that has been most successful in human rights abuse. South American governments follow the North American lead; documents show their concern for human rights to be a travesty. Indigenous populations are unified. Colonialism is destined to lose the battle for land to the peoples and cultures that are native to this earth.

Winona La Duke Westigard '80 is a citizen of the Ojibwa Nation. She now serves as vice president of the American Indians at Harvard and is a staff member of the International Indian Treaty Council.