Acts of rebellion: The Ward Churchill reader

ACTS OF REBELLION
ALSO BY WARD CHURCHILL

ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, A DATE NOW AND FOREVER EMBLAZONED IN THE shorthand of popular consciousness as a correlation to the emergency dialing sequence, “9–1–1,” a quick but powerful series of assaults were carried out against the paramount symbols of U.S. global military/economic dominance, the Pentagon and the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Center (WTC). About one-fifth of the former structure was left in ruins, the latter in a state of utter obliteration. Some 3,000 U.S. citizens were killed, along with 78 British nationals, come to do business in the WTC, and perhaps 300 other “aliens,” the majority of them undocumented, assigned to scrub the floors and wash the windows of empire...

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: Acts of Rebellion: Notes on the Interaction of History and Justice / x

PART I. IN MATTERS OF LAW

1. “THE LAW STOOD SQUARELY ON ITS HEAD:” U.S. Doctrine, Indigenous Self-Determination, and the Question of World
Order / 3

2. THE NULLIFICATION OF NATIVE AMERICA? An Analysis of the 1990 American Indian Arts and Crafts Act / 21

3. CONFRONTING COLUMBUS DAY: An Argument Based in International Law / 39

PART II. STRUGGLES FOR LANDS AND LIVES

4. THE EARTH IS OUR MOTHER: Struggles for American Indian Land and Liberation in the Contemporary United States / 59

5. A BREACH OF TRUST: The Radioactive Colonization of Native North America / 103

6. LIKE SAND IN THE WIND: The Making of an American Indian Diaspora in the United States / 131

7. THE BLOODY WAKE OF ALCATRAZ: Repression of the American Indian Movement during the 1970s / 151
PART III. CULTURE WARS

8. FANTASIES OF THE MASTER RACE: The Cinematic Colonization of American Indians / 171

9. LET’S SPREAD THE “FUN” AROUND: The Issue of Sports Team Names and Mascots / 201

10. INDIANS ‘R’ Us: Reflections on the “Men’s Movement” / 205

11. FALSE PROMISES: An Indigenist Examination of Marxist Theory and Practice / 227

12. THE NEW FACE OF LIBERATION: Indigenous Rebellion, State Repression, and the Reality of the Fourth World / 241

13. I AM INDIGENIST: Notes on the Ideology of the Fourth World / 251

Permissions/Acknowledgments / 275

Notes / 277

Index / 443

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

MANY PEOPLE HAVE EXTENDED THEIR SUPPORT AND/OR CONTRIBUTED ADVICE and criticism as, over the years, I’ve written the essays included in this book. Among the more consistent have been Faith Attaguille, Aunt Bonnie, Bobby Castillo, Michelle Cheung, Vine Deloria, Jr., Dan Debo, Don Grinde, Moana Jackson, Elaine Katzenberger, Lilikala Kame‘eleihiwa, Steve Kelly, Barbara Mann, Barb and Harv Mathewes, Russ Means, Glenn Morris, Jim Page, Bob Robideau, Mike Ryan, George Tinker, Haunani-Kay Trask, Jim and Jenny Vander Wall, and Sharon Venne. I owe them each an eternal debt of gratitude for being there when and how it counted. Many thanks are also due Natsu Saito for having proofed every page and offered suggestions for improving most of them. As well, to my editors, Eric Nelson and Vik Mukhija at Routledge, for their good work and steady encouragement.

FOREWORD

I want my words to be as eloquent
As the sound of a rattle snake.
I want my actions to be as direct
As the strike of a rattle snake.
I want the results to be as conclusive
As the bite of a beautiful red and black coral snake.
—Jimmie Durham
Columbus Day

ACTS OF REBELLION
ALSO BY WARD CHURCHILL

ACTS OF REBELLION
THE WARD CHURCHILL READER
WARD CHURCHILL
ROUTLEDGE

New York London
Published in 2003 by
Routledge
29 West 35th Street
New York, New York 10001

www.routledge-ny.com
Published in Great Britain by
Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane
London EC4P 4EE

www.routledge.com
Copyright © 2003 by Taylor & Francis Books, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Churchill, Ward.

Acts of rebellion: The Ward Churchill reader/Ward Churchill.
p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-415-93155-X (Hardcover: alk. paper)—ISBN 0-415-93156-8 (Paperback: alk.
paper)
1. Indians of North America—Government relations.
2. Indians of North America— Social conditions.
3. Indians of North America—Land tenure.
I. Title.
E93 .C58 2002
973.0497–dc21 2002002693
ISBN 0-203-44951-7 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-45788-9 (Adobe eReader Format)