Indigenous Peoples Message to the U.S. Anti-War Movement

We call on the U.S. antiwar movement to acknowledge that the very establishment of the United States and it's expansion was built on the genocide against the First Nations/Indigenous Peoples of the continent, along with the enslavement of African peoples & exploitation of peoples from around the globe.


Iraq (and the over 130 countries that have a presence of U.S. military) is just a continuation of "Manifest Destiny" which cleared the continent for settler colonization. Thus it's not a "mistake" of U.S. policy, but is at the core of the very foundation of the U.S. from it's beginnings continuing thru to today.


Thus, we say that the antiwar mobilizations that are taking place on August 2, October 11, Dec 2008; April 2009.


1) have an indigenous person opening the events acknowledging the above history and it's continuation into the present day and how U.S. history is linked to today's war(s).


2) that there be an organized and visible collective presence of contingents focused on indigenous peoples concerns at the mobilizations along with that presence being also on the websites, press releases, media spokespeople, et. all of these groups/mobilizations.


3) that the indigenous names of cities/towns in the various indigenous languages be acknowledged by also being mentioned to remind people of the indigenous origins of this land (for example "Manatay" for what is now called Manhattan ) along with the peoples (for example: Lenape (& others)) and the original languages.