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On Wed, 6 Dec 1995, Andrew Gray wrote:
> On Wed., Dec. 6 1995, Nelson Wong wrote a lot of stuff about US
> and Canadian subjugation of Native Americans, in response to a comment
> about Malaysian treatment of traditional forest dwellers (e.g. Penan).
>
A lot of stuff ? And I thought I was talking about real history. Back to
the drawing-board. Maybe, if one is from the third world, it is only
stuffs or words.
>
> Reply: I will be the last to defend the actions of my ancestors, and,
> indeed, of my government in the last decades, in their treatment of
> Native Americans on this continent. Many of those actions were pure
> and simply genocidal; most of the rest were intended to deny natives
> of any power and most of the means for their own self-determination.
> Nelson Wong needn't have gone back to the 19th century for
> evidence;
>
Why not ? Because it bites too deeply ? The evidence says that even after
100, 200, or even 300 years of abuses against the North American Indians,
the bullying continues to this very present day.
>
> there was a confrontation at Wounded Knee in the 1970's,
> and just a few years ago there were confrontations between Indians and
> non-Indians over fishing rights (I think it was the Mohawk in
> Michigan--somewhere east of the Mississippi anyway!).
>
Let me refresh your memory. The US government took away five miilion
acres of land, east of Lake Michigan, at the turn of the 19th. century,
from the Indians. I doubt the US government ever paid for the land.
>
> Although much still needs to be done to redress past wrongs and
> address current ones, I think it is important to point out the gains
> that have been made by many tribes. All my examples come from the
> West coast of the US; I can't say how representative they are.
> Several tribes in Washington state regained their treaty rights to
> half of all the anadromous fish caught in the state. At least one
> tribe in Oregon and one in Washington have regained some ancestral
> properties from the federal government that were originally granted by
> treaty. The natural resource management of many tribes is emerging
> from the heavy hand of the federal bureacracy so that they can set
> their policy. And although it's a shaky relationship, all tribes have
> government status in relations with state and federal government.
>
> Of course, with all the focus on North American tribes, Mr. Wong
> never did tell us about the Penan...
>
I won't tell you about the Penans, but I'll go one step further. Why
don't you come over and visit the Penans yourself. We welcome any
visitors who are concern about our natives and forest dwellers. Come and
see for yourself. We have nothing to hide. Afterall, seeing is believing.
Talk to them, befriend them. They are very friendly. Once you're their
friend, you're also part of their family.
>
> He is not entirely correct in saying that Native American issues have
> been ignored by environmental groups in this country--cultural
> genocide is an issue linked with preservation of natural ecosystems in
> several countries, including the Cree and hydroelectic development in
> Quebec, which was a major priority of NRDC and several other groups,
> and Clayoquot Sound in British Columbia, in which Rainforest Action
> Network has been involved; I suppose addressing current "destruction"
> is more of an issue for these groups than redressing past wrongs
> (maybe rightly so?).
>
I think it's a matter of convenience for RAN and most 'green' groups. If
they can milk the public on 'green' issues. The agenda will be on
'green' issues. If it's the natives of the third world, then they'll go
'native'.
Are we too presumptuous here ? I don't think so. Let's take a look at some
very interesting figures here:
NAMES AMOUNT RAISED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S
(USD Million) SALARY (USD '000)
The Nature Conservancy 216.2 185
National Wildlife Federation 87.7 232
World Wildlife Fund 55.9 185
National Audobon Society 43.4 178
Sierra Club 43.2 90
Greenpeace USA 40.7 64
Environmental Defense Fund 21.9 125
Natural Resources Defense Council 17.0 145
The Wilderness Society 16.5 120
Conservation International 11.2 125
Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund 10.5 104
Defenders of Wildlife 5.4 104
TOTAL: US$ 569.6 Million
Sources: OUTSIDE, March 1994 issue.
I don't have anything on the Rainforest Action Network. Maybe someone on
this list can help. But you may want to know this:
In 1993, Randy Hayes, Executive Director, RAN, visited Sarawak. Upon his
return to USA, he fabricated RAN's appeal letter for fund raising that
the Penans of Sarawak have been abused, tortured and even raped.
Subsequent investigation shown that he never met the people he claimed to
have met. He never went to the places he claimed he did. Later on, he was
exposed by a fellow American, Eric Hansen, who said that RAN expected to
raised at least US$ 20,000 from the appeal letters. Furthermore, Randy
Hayes has been writing frictional stories on the Penans to solicit funds
which will never benefit the Penans or local environmental cause.
We have enough evidence to nail Randy Hayes and RAN before a Grand Jury.
But the US government will never prosecute. After all Randy Hayes is a
folk hero now. Where else can one be a liar and a hero at the same time ?
>
> Andrew Gray
> graya@fsl.orst.edu
>
Nelson Wong
Malaysian Timber Council
http://www.mtc.com.my
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