Mother Earth and Treaties
EXERCISE 2 - Nation to Nation
Learning Objectives
In this exercise you will become familiar with the following:
- 1-Why Indigenous refer to the Earth as their Mother
- EXCLUSIVE VIDEO Elder Jones Benally (Lesson 1, Video 1)
- 2-Treaties (Brief History)
- 3-Wampum Belts
- 4-EXCLUSIVE VIDEO Klee Benally (Lesson 1, Video 2) shares an Indigenous view on: Treaties, Wampum Belts, and Assertion of Sovereignty
- We ask do policy makers understand
- We ask whether Wampum Belts were respected
- We ask how the Treaties of the Navajo were negotiated
- 5-The Long Walk
- 6-Links to additional Navajo information websites
1- Indigenous Belief in Mother Earth
(See Lecture 1 and Video 1)
Dictionary Definition
Moth·er Earth
ˈməT͟Hər ərTH/
noun
noun: Mother Earth; plural noun: Mother Earths
the earth considered as the source of all its living beings and inanimate things
HONOURING EARTH (Defined by the Assembly of First Nations of Canada)
“From the realms of the human world, the sky dwellers, the water beings, forest creatures and all other forms of life, the beautiful Mother Earth gives birth to, nurtures and sustains all life. Mother Earth provides us with our food and clean water sources. She bestows us with materials for our homes, clothes and tools. She provides all life with raw materials for our industry, ingenuity and progress. She is the basis of who we are as “real human beings” that include our languages, our cultures, our knowledge and wisdom to know how to conduct ourselves in a good way. If we listen from the place of connection to the Spirit That Lives in All Things, Mother Earth teaches what we need to know to take care of her and all her children. All are provided by our mother, the Earth.
Indigenous peoples are caretakers of Mother Earth and realize and respect her gifts of water, air and fire. First Nations peoples’ have a special relationship with the earth and all living things in it. This relationship is based on a profound spiritual connection to Mother Earth that guided indigenous peoples to practice reverence, humility and reciprocity. It is also based on the subsistence needs and values extending back thousands of years. Hunting, gathering, and fishing to secure food includes harvesting food for self, family, the elderly, widows, the community, and for ceremonial purposes. Everything is taken and used with the understanding that we take only what we need, and we must use great care and be aware of how we take and how much of it so that future generations will not be put in peril.”
http://www.afn.ca/honoring-earth/
2-Treaty
Definition: trea·ty noun: treaty; plural noun: treaties a formally concluded and ratified agreement between countries.
Treaty- Wikipedia: A treaty is an agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an (international) agreement, protocol, covenant, convention, pact, or exchange of letters, among other terms.
Treaties with Aboriginal People in Canada
The Government of Canada and the courts understand treaties between the Crown and Aboriginal people to be solemn agreements that set out promises, obligations and benefits for both parties.
Starting in 1701, in what was to eventually become Canada, the British Crown entered into solemn treaties to encourage peaceful relations between First Nations and non-Aboriginal people. Over the next several centuries, treaties were signed to define, among other things, the respective rights of Aboriginal people and governments to use and enjoy lands that Aboriginal people traditionally occupied.
Treaties include historic treaties made between 1701 and 1923 and modern-day treaties known as comprehensive land claim settlements.
Treaty rights already in existence in 1982 (the year the Constitution Act was passed), and those that came afterwards, are recognized and affirmed by Canada's Constitution.
The Government of Canada and the courts understand treaties between the Crown and Aboriginal people to be solemn agreements that set out promises, obligations and benefits for both parties.
Starting in 1701, in what was to eventually become Canada, the British Crown entered into solemn treaties to encourage peaceful relations between First Nations and non-Aboriginal people. Over the next several centuries, treaties were signed to define, among other things, the respective rights of Aboriginal people and governments to use and enjoy lands that Aboriginal people traditionally occupied.
Treaties include historic treaties made between 1701 and 1923 and modern-day treaties known as comprehensive land claim settlements.
Treaty rights already in existence in 1982 (the year the Constitution Act was passed), and those that came afterwards, are recognized and affirmed by Canada's Constitution. (http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/)
3- Wampum Belts
“Bound on strings, wampum beads were used to create intricate patterns on belts. These belts are used as a guide to narrate Haudenosaunee history, traditions and laws, The origins of wampum beads can be traced to Aiionwatha, commonly known as Hiawatha at the founding of the League of Five Nations. Archeological study however, has found it to have been used long before the union of the nations.
Most commonly made from the Quahog, a round clam shell, the word wampum comes from the Algonquin term for the shells. While it is called Ote-ko-a in the language, wampum is the most widely recognized term.” - ww.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com
For more information please visit:
http://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/wampum.htm...
4- Watch Klee Benally (Lesson 1, Video 2)
5- The Long Walk
The Long Walk – The Navajo’s Trail of Tears
In the early 1860s, Americans of European descent began invading Navajo lands, leading to conflict between the US and the Navajo.
As Diné resisted colonial encroachment on their lands, Brig. Gen. James Carlton, commander of the Department of New Mexico announced his plan to forcibly relocate them to a desolate area close to Fort Sumner. His plan was to assimilate them to “white America”, by teaching them to farm, instructing them in Christian virtues and educating their children.
In 1863, he ordered Colonel Kit Carson to Navajo lands to burn their crops, destroy their food supplies and their hogans (traditional Navajo homes), poison their water and kill their livestock. By late 1863,thousands of Navajo had been starved into submission and surrendered.
In 1864, the forced exile of thousands of Navajo from their homelands to an encampment in Bosque Redondo, in what is commonly known as the Long Walk of the Navajo began. The Long Walk was actually a series of marches over four different routes between Fort Defiance and Fort Sumner, ranging between 375 and 425 miles. The Navajo were never told were they were going and many wouldn’t survive the journey. Having been starved into submission many started the journey exhausted, malnourished and without proper clothing. The American army was not kind to them along the way, reportedly shooting them if they complained of being sick or tired, it’s also said that if a Navajo woman went into labour, she was shot and killed. Hundreds died on route.
The Navajo that made it to Bosque Redondo were held there at gunpoint by the US Army, 9,000 Navajo men, women and children cramped into an area just 104 km 2. To make matters worse, there was not enough food for all of these people, their corn crops were plagued by army-worms, the Pecos River flooded, destroying irrigation systems, they were constantly raided by the Comanches and the brackish water of the Pecos caused intestinal problems and disease ran rampant. A census taken in May 1868 set the total population of Bosque Redondo at 7,304, meaning at least 2,000 Navajos died during what they refer to as this “fearing time”.
On June 1, 1868, the Treaty of Bosque Redondo was signed between the US Government and the Navajo people, granting them the right to return to their ancestral lands. The treaty included the creation of a reservation, restrictions of raiding, the implementation of a resident Indian Agent and agency, compulsory education for children, the supply of seeds, protected Navajo rights and compensation to tribe members. The Navajo were granted 3.5 million acres of land between their four sacred mountains, just a fraction of their former lands.
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-navajolongwalk...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Walk_of_the_Nav...
(Notes: The above text was borrowed from the above site but altered by Klee Benally for content)
6- Links to other resources:
http://navajopeople.org/navajo-history.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_Nation
CONTINUE TO ELDER JONES BENALLY ON THE CONNECTION TO ALL THINGS LIVING