Look, the issue of Indians as wage-laborers is not central to the focus of Ward Churchill's writings. He is dealing with sovereignty issues. As such, he primarily interested in land ownership and treaties. This, in fact, is the number one question for Indans and their Marxist supporters (I guess I should say supporter, to be more accurate).
Last night "60 Minutes" had a segment on the "Kennewick Man" which is about the fight between anthropologists and Washington State Indians over who should control a 9600 year old skeleton that supposedly has a rounded skull instead of the more angular skull typical of Indians. (Why does this sort of discussion leave me feeling queasy. I know--it reminds me of early 20th century eugenics.)
The anthropologists want free rein to dig up an area near the Columbia River, where the skeleton was found in order to help support their thesis that the American Indians were not the first ones here. 60 Minutes was quite clear about the political implications. It would undermine sovereignty claims, which are under attack across the board.
This is something I wrote on warriornet:
Douglass Daley wrote me:
>Heynow,Louis,did you see that magazine w/the cover headline
>"America Before The Indians"?
>I was running out of a
>Raley's SuperStore on Gollumbus Day,& I saw it,
>thumbed thru it for a cuppla seconds only,
>never found the cover story.
>I'm sure it was about
>the skull found in the Columbia River
>or wherever it was, it mentioned something about
>NEW SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES Changing History,
>I was highly offended,'cause it really smacked of
>Anti-Indin propaganda,
>specially w/it hittin' the newsstands THAT day.
Hi, Doug. I trust that you won't object to me answering you publicly because you touched upon a very hot issue to indigenous peoples that should be of concern to everybody on warriornet.
Here are the facts. A 9600 year old skeleton was discovered in Kennewick county, Washington State about 4 years ago. Anthropologists (graverobbers with a PhD) are elated because it supposedly has Caucasian features, which would undercut the claim that American Indians were the original Americans. Now, my friend Jim Craven has made an important point around this sort of question. He says that one of the reasons many Indians do not choose to use the seemingly politically correct term "Native American" is because it gets into a problematic area with respect to who is more American than the next person. In reality, Indians should be uniting with all oppressed peoples wherever they came from to challenge the capitalist exploiters whose greed is destroying human beings indiscriminately. They hate Indians, Asians, gays, workers and women on a nonpreferential basis.
Having said that, there is no question that this "scientific" inquiry is just another expression of what Melville called the metaphysics of Indian-hating. It is interesting that it is based in the same state where the anti-Makah campaign has taken root. I wonder if Paul Watson is offering a cash reward if any graverobbers can come up with more skeletal remains.
********* The Rocky Mountain News(Denver, Co.)
July 12, 1998, Sunday,
KENNEWICK MAN'S ETHNIC ORIGINS WILL BE STUDIED; TESTS COULD BEGIN ON 9,200-YEAR-OLD BONES AFTER INDIAN CEREMONY
Mike Lee; Tri-City (Washington State) Herald
Unless Kennewick Man stumps the experts, his cultural identity should be known by July 1999. Study of the ancient bones will start in November at the Burke Museum in Seattle, according to a plan drafted by the Department of the Interior.
But that won't happen until American Indian tribes have a chance for another religious ceremony with the bones. And at all times during Kennewick Man's physical examination, the ancient remains "will be treated as a human ancestor deserving respect and consideration," the Interior Department said. Tests will focus on the possible link between the 9,200-year-old skeleton and modern American Indian tribes who claim him as an ancestor and want him reburied. Kennewick Man was found in July 1996 in the shallow waters of Columbia Park and later deter (Kenewick Man) "will be treated as a human ancestor deserving respect and consideration." mined to be one of the oldest near-complete skeletons found in North America. The Army Corps of Engineers was about to turn the bones over to a coalition of five American Indian tribes when a group of eight prominent scientists sued the corps, saying the bones could not be linked to modern peoples without more study. After nearly two years of controversy and worldwide interest in the bones, study appears to be imminent. It's not likely, however, that the plaintiff scientists will get to do the work as they hope - though some of their work is cited in the Interior Department's plan. The department submitted its plan Wednesday to U.S. District Court in Portland. According to the plan, the scientists, tribes and the government will inventory the bones in September. They have been stored for almost two years. Also in September, the government will allow for "tribal religious observances.". The government document does not appear to make the same religious observance provision for the Asatru Folk Assembly, a pre-Christian religious group that also claims kinship to the bones. Among the tests prescribed to begin in November are:
* An inventory of the bones and teeth. During this exam, scientists will look for tooth alignment and shape that are indicators of ethnic identity.
* Analysis of the stone point embedded in the pelvisto try to pinpoint the era in which the stone was made. * Measurement of skull and teeth. More than 78 measurements are proposed for the skull. They will be compared with existing measurements for different peoples.
* Assessment of trauma. Patterns of skeletal trauma and tooth wear can help identify a skeleton. Kennewick Man has several wounds that will be examined. If those tests don't show a cultural link to a modern people, the government will turn to radiocarbon dating and DNA extraction. The government wants to do the work at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington.
Louis Proyect
(http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)