Above photo: 1894 Sioux Nation Treaty Council, Rapid City, SD.
Middle of North America – The 1894 Sioux Nation Treaty Council (SNTC) which has been going to the United Nations (UN) for nearly forty (40) years, is recommending a “theme” to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The recommendation is that the Sioux Nation, which has a valid treaty with the United States (US), and other Indigenous nations with treaties and agreements with colonizing governments, be recommended in the CERD report to the General Assembly and allowed to participate in the processes of the UN Decolonization Committee as a colonized nation. This would mean the liberation and freedom of such Indigenous nations with the help of the UN. The processes take a few years.
The English speaking countries have been a block to this process since the inception of the UN nearly 77 years ago. However, In Oct. 2021, the UN Human Rights Council, led by China, passed a Resolution to negate the horrible legacy of colonization which includes forced assimilation and other racist and bigotted practices. The English and Spanish speaking colonizing governments have been the most adamant in their colonizing efforts over Indigenous nations and peoples in the western hemisphere.
The US will be one of the countries having to respond to the CERD at their meeting in August, 2022. Themes are issues that can be brought to the forefront in dialogues when the Committee asks questions of the US. The US responses will be available to the public in the CERD report to the General Assembly next Fall.