RE: Nations, National Minorities and Genocide

["Craven, Jim" <jcraven@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ed George wrote:

But mechanical definitions of 'the nation' don't work. The only thing
that counts as a valid criterion of the existence of a nation is whether
or not the people concerned think they are a nation. Once you begin to
attempt to defend the existence of a nation against the begrudgers by
using objective criteria the very same begrudgers will come up with
other objective criteria to deny that nation's existence. If the
Blackfoot people think they are a nation then a nation is what they are.
There is no need to prove this to anybody. If they wish to express this
nationhood through 'national recognition, independence, sovereignty and
self-determination' (which are only four ways of saying the same thing)
then anyone - let's not even say Marxists - who even considers
themselves close to being a socialist or even a democrat is absolutely
duty bound to support them to the hilt. But self-determination needs to
be fought for.

Response (Jim C) The defining elements of a nation given by Lenin and Stalin
were not their own; by 1883 (see Wheaton, "International Law", 1883) they
were recognized criteria for nation recognition under international law. If
you say that international law is irrelevant, then this takes away a
potential weapon for building alliances and drawing upon international
support for our struggle for national recognition (not by those intent on
exterminating the Blackfoot and other Indigenous Nations, of course they
will always come up with something) but rather for drawing support from
other nations whose own existence and status will be compromised by denying
the same criteria under international law that they employ to assert their
own nationhood. Further, according to the Vienna Convention, Article 29,
Treaties are covenants/agreements among sovereign nations and any nation
that enters into a treaty, ipso facto recognizes the other party as a
sovereign nation and co-equal as far as ability/authority to form and keep a
treaty.
It is part of the authority we employ under international law to apply to
the UN for membership also.

The rest of this polemic reveals an abysmal ignorance of the state, status
power, issues and potential weapons of struggle available to Blackfoot and
all other Indigenous Nations. Under international law and under any
reasonable definition of a nation, you could not, for example, have a "Gay
Nation" or, I would argue, a Jewish nation or even an African-American
nation (given the present histories and localities of various groups and
strata of African-Americans). Yes, self-determination needs to be fought for
and defended; how and with what weapons is the question. With only 35,000
Blackfoot left, armed struggle is an impossibility at this time even when
linked up with other oppressed nations, classes, strata and national
minorities.

Rhetoric is great, and yes often international law is summarily ignored by
imperial forces and their collaborators, but properly applied, it can be
used as a weapon, and further, a world without international law, which is
developed by being asserted and defended, would be a world of potentially
lawless states each asserting (as does the U.S. for example) its own
"sovereign right" to do genocide or whatever. Of the over 200 "nations" in
the UN, over 100 were former colonies (and many are presently neo-colonies)
that became recognized as nations only since 1945. Further, when we assert
and defend our own nationhood, we provide and add to the vast pool of
evidence and theory of the ugly genocidal nature of imperialism and
capitalism and thus contribute to the struggles of other non-Indigenous
Peoples.

Blackfoot do not practice identity politics or have any need to get off
amongst ourselves to communicate with each other free of the non-Indigenous
folks. We welcome support and solidarity from all. We just ask that folks
give some serious thought and tangible research/evidence on the relevant
issues rather than party-line slogans and formulaics.

Jim Craven

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