Indigenous Internationalism

http://utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/cjh.ach.52.3.06
Canadian Journal of History, Vol. 52, No. 3 (Winter 2017)
DOI: 10.3138/cjh.ach.52.3.06

The global Indigenous rights movement, born in the mid-1970s, found its primary inspiration in the Third-Worldism espoused by anti-colonial leaders over the previous decades. The leadership of both the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WCIP) and the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC), the two flagship organizations of the movement, drew on Pan-Africanism and decolonization in order to promote the rights of Indigenous peoples to self-determination. The two organizations, however, applied the logic of decolonization in different ways. The IITC consciously adopted the discourse of decolonization in order to seek leverage from the Third World voting bloc and gain recognition for new and independent nations at the United Nations. The WCIP wished to adapt the decolonization movement , not only by extending it geographically, but also by shifting it conceptually, in order to challenge the use of the nation state as the basic structure of global politics.

Résumé analytique : Le mouvement mondial de défense des droits des peuples autochtones, né au milieu des années 1970, a été principalement inspiré par le tiers-mondisme promu par les dirigeants anticoloniaux au cours des décennies précédentes. La direction du Conseil mondial des peuples indigènes (CMPI) et celui du Conseil international des traités indiens (CITI), les deux organisations vedettes du mouvement, se sont appuyés sur le panafricanisme et la décolonisation afin de promouvoir le droit à l'auto-détermination des peuples autochtones. Ces deux organismes, cependant, ont employé la logique de la décolonisation de différentes façons. Le CITI a délibérément adopté le discours de la décolonisation afin de mobiliser le bloc de vote du tiers monde et afin d'aider les nouvelles nations indépendantes a ` se faire reconnaıˆtre par les Nations Unies. Le CMPI a voulu contester l’idée que les états-nations doivent constituer la structure de base de la politique internationale. Pour ce faire, le CMPI a essayé d’adapter le mouvement de décolonisation en le répandant géographiquement et en le décalant de façon conceptuelle.

This book re-examines the territorial dispute between Japan and Russia, the so-called "Northern Territories" issue, by reinterpreting the role of the Indigenous Ainu of Japan. In studying Ainu history and historiography, one finds that the long-standing emphasis on Wajin-based legitimacy of rule and the annexation of northern areas has been forgotten in what amounts to a historical amnesia concerning the role and status of the Ainu. Focusing on Ainu understandings of local, regional/national and international historical events underscores the importance of de-nationalizing history by integrating the important perspectives of Indigeneity. The preponderance of nation-based studies has seriously inhibited the analysis of historical phenomena involving Indigenous peoples. This study offers a new perspective on the history of this important dispute and illustrates the importance of incorporating Indigenous perspectives and experience within traditional academic studies. Highly original, this analysis will be essential reading for students and scholars of History, Japan Studies, Native Studies and International Relations.

Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Waterloo (May 2014)

This dissertation investigates the history of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WCIP) and the broader movement of Indigenous internationalism. It argues that Indigenous internationalists were inspired by the process of decolonization, and used its logic to establish a new political identity. The foundation of the WCIP helped create a network of Indigenous peoples that expressed international solidarity between historically unconnected communities. The international efforts of Indigenous activists were encouraged both by personal experiences of international travel and post-secondary education, and by the general growth of international non-governmental organizations during the late twentieth century. The growing importance of international non-governmental organizations helped the WCIP secure funding from international developmental aid agencies, a factor which pushed the organization to increase its focus on apolitical economic development relative to the anti-colonial objectives which inspired its foundation. This dissertation examines how Indigenous international organizations became embroiled in the Cold War conflict in Latin America, and the difficulties this situation posed for both the WCIP and the International Indian Treaty Council. Finally, it examines how the prominence of the World Council faded, as major international bodies like the United Nations began to acknowledge the importance of Indigenous peoples, and as Indigenous organizations sought to participate directly in new international fora rather than contributing through the WCIP.