211 Sweetbriar Street Mount Washington [Pittsburgh], Pennsylvania 15211 PHONE: [MAIN] (412) 866-6844 [VOICEMAIL ONLY HOTLINE] (412) 609-2079
Proclamation of Vigilance against Exploiters of American Indian Cultures
WHEREAS we
I SUPPORT
THE FOLLOWING:
Proclamation of Vigilance
against Exploiters
of American Indian Cultures
From
LaDonna Brave Bull -Tamakawaste win
WHEREAS we, as members of Native Nations, have survived more than 500 years
of unrelenting deliberate physical and bureaucratic attacks upon our existence
and;
WHEREAS our cultures, traditions, customs, identities and religions have
remained
as our heritage we honor from our ancestors and wish to preserve to pass along
intact
to our descendents and this cultural heritage has endured through systematic
attempts
to destroy us as peoples, as nations, and as individuals through disease,
genocidal
war campaigns, colonization, forced assimilation and bureaucratic policies of
annihilation, and;
WHEREAS we, as tribal people, have survived to today and partake of an age of
heretofore unparalleled mass and instant communication and by these means, have
had,
by extension of our participation in this media, the good fortune to become
members
of the internet community known as Indianz.com, and;
WHEREAS this forum, comprised of Indians from many tribes, is seen as an avenue
of
instant information sharing among tribal members and supporters as well as a
resource
for many in the combating of stereotypes, racist actions and exploitive attacks
upon
Indian identity and;
WHEREAS we experience the continual threats and constant attacks on our cultures
through the theft of our tribal customs by new age groups, hobbyists, emulators,
misinformed or misguided educators and other cultural thieves as well as the
distortion
of our image and identity by mascots, media caricatures and the promotional use
of
stereotypical images, and;
WHEREAS we witness the exploitation and desecration of our religions by Native
and
non-Native New Age Shamans, Fake Holy men and women, adopted Medicine men and
women,
Native religious thieves and Traffickers in stolen ceremonies (including tribal
members who betray the sacred trust and sell out tribal secrets, authorize the
use
and sale of ceremonies and beliefs in addition to those who lend traditions for
sale to outsiders,) and;
WHEREAS we observe the damage caused by the exploitation of our sovereignty by
imagined, self-created and invented tribes and others who appropriate and use
our
cultures, traditions, customs, identities, religions and images to further their
own agendas, and;
WHEREAS through their theft of the sacred, the profane, the profound and the
ordinary
aspects of American Indian Identity, they damage the views other nations of the
world
have of Native Nations and through their disgraceful actions cause our cultures
to be
mocked and abused in the non-native world and to be desecrated in the eyes of
the
members of our nations to whom those cultures are an integral and inseparable
part
of, and;
WHEREAS we wish to expose the damage done by these new-age groups, hobbyists,
mascots,
false shamans, misguided educators, caricatures, stereotypes, prejudices and
exploiters
of our peoples and to show the impact these actions have upon the publics’ view
of us
as fellow people to be respected.
THEREFORE, we, as members of Indianz.com, acting in concert as community members
or
as individuals, do hereby resolve as follows:
We declare a state of vigilance in monitoring and identifying threats to
American
Indian identity.
We will no longer be silent when an attack on Native cultures is identified.
We will speak out on the appropriation and misuse of our cultures, regardless of
the
medium, whether online, in the classroom, on the athletic grounds, in new age
camps
and organization gathering throughout the country or through the media.
We call upon New Age groups to cease appropriating our identities, cultures, and
histories and to stop exploiting those same for their own agenda or profit.
We call upon False Holy Men and Women and Fake “Plastic” Shamans to cease
selling and
exploiting American Indian spirituality for your own profit.
We call upon school groups, youth organizations, athletic teams, corporations
and other
organizations using Native American mascots, images or cultural artifacts, names
and
identifiers to cease their use of those images for their own profit.
We call upon educators to cease appropriating American Indian history, cultures
and
traditions and misrepresenting them to children, and to cease perpetuating
stereotypes
of Native Americans to children and to the public.
We call upon tribal members to stop the sale of our religious beliefs by
non-Indians.
We call upon tribal members to stop or to alert others to stop the sale of our
customs,
ceremonies and beliefs by tribal members.
We call upon our fellow Internet citizens to assist in identifying and reporting
cultural
attacks on Native Nations.
We pledge to alert the various tribal governments, grass-roots campaigns, elder
organizations and national Native organizations when an attack on tribal customs
and
cultures, through racism, misrepresentation or appropriation is identified,
particularly
direct attacks on specific tribes and their customs.
We pledge to assist in compiling information to be used in combating these
instances of
cultural appropriation through necessary means and to disseminate as needed.
We pledge to work towards utilizing and sharing our information and resources to
combat
anti-Indian racism wherever it is found, by whatever means necessary, regardless
of
whether the threat is on or offline and to share resources with and lend support
to
groups spearheading those fights when and where available.
We the undersigned affirm our desire to stand vigilant against the exploiters of
American Indian spirituality, cultures, traditions, customs, identities and
religions
in order to protect our heritage for future generations.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
NATIVE AMERICAN EMBASSY
1413 Union Avenue
McKeesport,
Pennsylvania 15132 USA
PHONE: [VOICEMAIL ONLY HOTLINE (News, Reports, etc.)]: (412) 436-3866
Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Office: (412) 689-9051
Pennsylvania, Johnstown Office: Private: Auto Transfers To Hawaiian Office
HAWAIIAN OFFICE & MAIN NORTH AMERICAN (U.S.) OFFICE: (808) 445-6576
CANADIAN OFFICE (British Columbia): (250) 900-0405
NEW YORK OFFICE: (631) 913-3475
OKLAHOMA OFFICE: (405) 225-6124
