“Where have all the Indians gone? - Indigenous Foundations of Truth, Equality and Human Rights, the Attempts by the U.S. to Annihilate the Peoples and their Ways and the current Resurgence of Indigenous Rights and Traditions – A way back for America?”

: The challenges ahead for the indigenous movement to regain land rights and human rights is a challenge for everyone in the United States as we address historic discrimination, injustice and environmental contamination in this country. The panel will delve into the “just war” that has been and continues to be performed against indigenous peoples in order to advance a Western approach to “civilized society” and morality in the United States. Indigenous spirituality and traditional laws will be discussed with stark examples of U.S. attempts to eliminate these teachings through physical genocide, forced assimilation, and legal mechanisms. The role of globalization and transnational corporate activities will also be reviewed as well as the clashes caused by the modern economic society and the traditional indigenous society. Over the last several years, and especially now with the growing awareness of global warming and climate change, the international system has exhibited a heightened focus on the concerns of indigenous peoples, giving rise to new international norms and procedures connected with the United Nations and regional organizations. At the same time, the extractive industry and non-renewable energy markets have not slowed, causing extreme cases of current environmental injustice and human rights violations against indigenous peoples across the United States and around the world as they struggle to protect their homelands.

Proposed speakers: Oren Lyons & Carrie Dann (Traditional Governance and Spirituality), Steve Newcomb (Doctrine of Discovery/History of Racism in the Americas), Julie Ann Fishel (UN CERD –Human Rights Mechanisms) Tupac Enrique Acosta (Resurgence of Indigenous Movement) -- Moderator: Tom Goldtooth