Why are indigenous rights so important?
HUMAN RIGHTS
It’s basic human decency and justice. They have been profoundly mistreated for centuries and millennia by Western society and mainstream society. They have been the target of genocide, theft, cultural suppression and extermination, systemic racism, slavery, and much more.
It does all of us good to treat them, and everyone, with decency, respect, and inclusivity.
LOW PRIORITY
Their rights continue to be ignored. They are far down on the list of minorities – LGBT+, descendants of slaves, disabled – that mainstream society is gradually taking seriously and including in any real way.
They have a low priority and deserve high priority.
ESSENTIAL WORLDVIEW
Their perspective and knowledge is immensely important for humanity as a whole, especially today in our global ecological crisis.
Their traditional worldview is medicine for the imbalances in our mainstream culture1.
WE HAVE THE INDIGENOUS IN US
We all have the indigenous in us. We all have a deep connection with nature outside and inside of us. We are nature. We are much more than patriarchy, dualism, hierarchy, a power-over mindset, and the rest glorified by our Western civilization. The genocide happens within each of us. The ecological crisis happens within each of us.
The way we treat the indigenous in the world is how we treat the indigenous in ourselves.
IMMENSELY IMPORTANT FOR THE WORLD AND OURSELVES
Taking the indigenous seriously is immensely important for them.
It’s also immensely important for the world and ourselves.
It’s one way for us to recover from the diseases of our current Western civilization.
NOTES
(1) Of course, there is a great diversity among indigenous cultures. I am talking here about the general tendency of indigenous cultures to be more nature-oriented and seeing humans as part of a larger web of life.