Indigenous People's Struggles-Which Way Forward?

An indigenous rights supporter left this comment on this post.

There is one significant problem with alot of your theories and such. Indigenous Peoples struggles are completly outside the left to right spectrum. We stand for self determination based on our respective values as Tribal Nations. Such assertions are not a threat to the US, Canada, New Zealand, etc. Fundamentally, as legally and politically distinct Peoples, why should someone form a Maori Iwi or hapu have to go to the local authority to build an outhouse on their own land? Simply put, it is about autonomy.

The Left can be just as destructive toward Indigenous Peoples aspirations as the Right. These Leftists have very different agendas from those asserting tino rangatiratanga and mana motuhake. Our issues and struggles sometimes are aligned, but it is also fair to say that sometimes Right wing issues also align. For us, we will work with any who are willing to support us. Ultimately, for most of us involved in Indigenous Peoples assertions of self determination, it is oour traditional spiritual beliefs that form our philosophical political views, not the writings or actions of non-Indigenous.

One major reason for this Blog is to expose the Marxist manipulation of indigenous people's movements and racial/religious minorities and oppressed groups.

This is called National Question politics. It ranges from stirring up the most brutal racial conflict imaginable (common in the third world) to the Communist Party USA's subtle manipulation of black and Latino voters to ensure Democratic Party election victories.

The Aboriginal rights movement in Australia, the American Indian movement in the US and Canada, the struggle of the Islamic minority in the Southern Philippines, the indigenous struggles of Mexico, Guatemala, Chile, Peru and Argentina are all manipulated by local Marxist parties or organisations.

That said, the above commentator is partly right.

In New Zealand we can see Maori Party MPs like Hone Harawira praise maori business initiatives on one hand and communist dictatorship on the other.

Most radical Maori are not Marxists or anarchists. Most are nationalists. However a significant number are Marxists, or are sympatheic to leftist ideals.

These people are willing to co-operate with Marxists and their agendas.

It only takes a few well networked activists to sway a whole population in a certain direction.

The ACT Party and certain elements in the National Party realise that though the Maori Party is dominated by the left, there is a big constituency in the Party for liberal ideas like school choice and devolution of state power.

Therefore ACT will happily engage with the Maori Party or other Maori activists in pursuing liberal ideals, while strongly opposing socialist proposals from the same quarters.

I work to expose the Marxist and anarchist manipulations of "indigenous" movements because they are so little understood and so destructive.

That does not mean I am blind to the positive side of these movements.

I am all for "self determination", but will only support such movements it when they are heading in a liberal rather than a socialist direction.

Indigenous peoples are individuals first. Their future freedom and prosperity depends, like everyone else's, in embracing economic liberalism, private property rights and limited constitutional government.

Subcomandante Marcos, Che Guevara, Noam Chomsky, Franz Fanon, Louis Farrakhan and Malcolm X offer nothing.

Thomas Sowell, Adam Smith and Hernando de Soto point the way forward.