Oshkimaadzig Unity Camp

Uniting the New People

The word "Oshkimaadzig" refers to the "New People" of the Seven Fires Anishinaab ek Prophecy, the people who were prophesied to be the ones who would pick up the remnants of their traditional ways of life and values long repressed by colonia lism, and by reclaiming these values they will begin to unite all peoples for th e survival of humanity and Mother Earth. Onkwehn:we Rising is a revolutionary pan-onkwehn:we (indigenous) internet project. It s primary focus is revolutionary pan-onkwehn:we national liberation struggles, though it also strongly supports and promotes other national liberation and revo lutionary struggles. The intention of it is to grow into an ever more collaborat ive project with more and more voices being added to the mix. That said this project is not welcoming to just anyone pushing any old ideology. We are not interested in building unity with just anyone, as an uncritical unit y is an unprincipled unity. Some things do not need to be put on a bullet pointe d list: Onkwehn:we Rising is revolutionary not reformist, Onkwehn:we Rising is ant i-capitalist, we have no time for petty bourgeois and bourgeois wannabe settler ideologies of Indian capitalism . Onkwehn:we Rising is also anti-assimilationist and anti-integrationist. However there are also specifics to the line this site put s forth. To that end we put forward these basic points of unity for anyone inter ested in becoming involved or otherwise building with us. What We Understand 1. Onkwehn:we Rising Understands the World from an Unapologetically Third Worldis t, Indigenist & Anti-Colonialist Perspective. Onkwehn:we Rising understands that the current capitalist world system is one in which the overwhelmingly majority of humanity located primarily in the peripheral Third World with a minority in t he First World centred within the internal semi-colonies, migrant and prison pop ulations is ground down and exploited under the weight of a minority of imperial ist-led classes. These imperialist-classes are in the current era the numericall y dominant bloc in core First World countries. The contradiction between the mas ses exploited by imperialism and the minority of classes which benefit from impe rialism is primary today. It is the struggle to free the oppressed and exploited masses of the of the Third World, as well as those minority peoples in the core, that will bring about global new democracy, which in turn lays the foundations f or socialism and then communism. 2. Onkwehn:we Rising Understands and Upholds the Theory of the Labour Aristocracy . Onkwehn:we Rising understands that because of the wages of imperialism the majori ty of the peoples, including workers, in the First World countries are net-explo iters. In other words they receive an income greater than the value that they cr eate. This is the result of the heightened exploitation of the majority of the E arth s peoples, again who are located principally in the Third World. This combine d with other benefits in the form of social democracy and the status of Whitenes s (particularly in europe and the european settler-colonies of amerika, kanada, quebec, australia, israel and new zealand) has deadened class struggle by way of suppressing the otherwise antagonistic contradiction between the working classe s and bourgeoisies of the imperialist nations, creating social peace. This is no t a new process either, instead reaching all the way back to the parasitic origi ns of capitalism in primitive accumulation, though the era of capitalist-imperia lism heightened and intensified it. Because of this the workers of the exploiter nations do not fit Marx s classical definition of the proletariat as being those w ho have nothing left to loose but their chains. They are what Lenin, himself draw ing on Engels, labelled an aristocracy of labour or a labour aristocracy . Indeed the se workers have throughout euro-settler social development have organized agains t the most exploited and oppressed sectors within their own countries and have g enerally acted as agents of oppression and capitalist-imperialism globally.

3. Onkwehn:we Rising Understands that Global Class Analysis is Essential to the M odern Revolutionary Project. Onkwehn:we Rising contends that the failure to under stand the class composition within the imperialist countries as well as the gene ral alignment of forces globally is the key reason for the failure of ostensibly revolutionary forces to organize serious opposition to capitalism and imperiali sm within the imperialist core, currently and over the course of the last centur y. A correct understanding of the internal class composition of the imperialist core countries and an understanding of class formations globally is essential fo r the success of the modern revolutionary project. 4. Onkwehn:we Rising Understands that the Struggle Around Treaties Cannot be an E nd Unto Itself. Onkwehn:we Rising understands that while at times it is necessary for onkwehn:we to make struggle around Our so-called treaty rights in order to res ist the final stages of genocide and the assimilation of the remnants of Our peo ples into imperialist First World society we also understand that at the same ti me struggle around treaties and for Our treaty rights cannot be an end unto them selves. The treaties, whether the Numbered or the Two-Row, amerikan or kanadian, were only ever a formalized legal method to make official the dispossession of the land, resources and rights from their original owners Us. There is not a sin gle one that was ever entered into into by the settler nations in what the Kanie n keh:ka call Kanikonriio (good mind, reasonableness), so the sidestepping or complet e bulldozing of supposed treaty rights by the settler parasites to access the natu ral resources there and otherwise continue the genocidal assault on Our peoples is neither an unfortunate occurrence nor an illegal occurrence, but one that is to be fully expected in the scope of Our 500 years of relations with western civi lization . If we as a people are to become truly free we must move beyond the para digm that focuses on the treaties. 5. Onkwehn:we Rising Understands that the United Nations and Other Imperialist Gl obal Bodies Cannot Act as Vehicles for Our Liberation. Often times combined with the treaty paradigm is one that sees the United Nations, its various constituen t bodies and other like-minded world organizations as vehicles through which we can liberate Ourselves, often through the idea that we can use them to force the s ettler-colonial states to obey international law and uphold their treaties with Our various nations. This has become particularly apparent since the adoption by the UN of the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People, but it in fact go es back as far as the 1977 UN Conference on Indigenous Affairs. Onkwehn:we Rising however understands that the UN and other such bodies are bodies created and ru n by the imperialists and their neocolonial allies. While there are various bour geois nationalist and other progressive anti-imperialist governments represented within them they are a tiny minority. No body primarily run for and by the impe rialists and their allies can ever be a vehicle for Our liberation. 6. Onkwehn:we Rising Understands and Rejects Cultural Nationalism. Our cultures a nd traditions, both spiritual and socio-political, have long played a powerful r ole in Our resistance to genocide and conquest. This is because Our traditional cultural values are generally communistic values and hence are fundamentally at odds with the western capitalist civilization that has attempted to encircle and destroy Us since first contact. Because Our traditions represented powerful liv ing counter-examples to the expanding capitalist settler states it was not an un common occurrance for settlers to flee their own societies and become citizens o f Our nations. Even settlers who were captured in battle attempted to return to onkwehn:we society after, often at the point of a settler rifle, repatriating to settler society. Hence Our cultures and traditions had to be annihilated. This w as the basis for the genocidal residential schools run by the amerikan and kanad ian states, which sought to kill the Indian to save the man . Even today Our tradit ional cultures play a powerful role in inspiring and driving Our resistance move ments. However, we must beware the trap of cultural nationalism. Cultural nation alism teaches that Our traditional cultures on their own can liberate us, that i

f we drum enough, dance enough, sing enough, smudge enough that we can make Ours elves free. This is a reactionary path that takes us away from revolutionary str uggle and turns the battle for the overturning of Our oppressive conditions into one that is purely and solely about individualistic and spiritual self-change. Only when paired with a revolutionary analysis and perspective do Our traditiona l cultures have the ability to free Us. What We Want 7. Onkwehn:we Rising Wants National Liberation. Onkwehn:we Rising demands national liberation not only for onkwehn:we, but also for Our brother and sister indigeno us nations on this continent Aztln & Borikn as well the captive (New) Afrikan nati on. Onkwehn:we Rising seeks the complete political, economic and social dismember ment of the oppressor settler states on this continent (amerika, kanada and queb ec). Onkwehn:we Rising rejects models and programmes that attempt to assimilate Us and the other captive nations of the settler empire into some kind of sociali zed settler dominated state. Internationally Onkwehn:we Rising fully supports the struggle for national liberation of the Palestinian people and other oppressed and exploited nations. Additionally within the context of the internal semi-colo nies of the imperialist countries we promote the view that Our struggles are a d etachment of the wider struggle for global new democracy, socialism, and communi sm. 8. Onkwehn:we Rising Wants the Total and Complete Liberation of Wimmin, Same Gend er Loving & Two-Spirit People. Prior to the european assault on Turtle Island ma ny onkwehn:we societies included, and indeed deeply honoured, people whose gender and sexual expression fell outside the traditional euro-christian sex-gender bi nary and accepted sexual norms. In modern times these are often labelled gay, le sbian or trans, but none of these european terms truly capture the total complex ity of what We practiced, nor do they have a meaningful reference point within O ur cultures. Additionally settler society has heaped insulting terms onto these members of Our societies such queer and berdache. Our collective nations have ha d many words for these peoples, but today we use the modern but culturally relev ant terms two-spirit and same gender loving to describe those within Our nations who fall outside the euro-christian sex-gender binary and accepted sexual norms . Additionally, many onkwehn:we societies were far more empowering for wimmin tha n any period of european society social development. In many nations and confede racies while men held superficial official power, it was the wimmin, the mothers , the clanmothers, the grandmothers, who held true power. Wimmin placed the men into their positions, and could recall them at will if they did not live up to e xpectation. Wimmin were also those who often decided when it was necessary to go to war. Wimmin, like two-spirit and same gender loving people, were also deeply honoured spiritual leaders. As such, a central aspect of the european assault o n our continent was the violent imposition of hetero-patriarchy and the conseque nt attempt to completely exterminate same gender loving and two-spirit people an d destroy the traditions of wimmin s power. As such Onkwehn:we Rising demands a wor ld without hetero-patriarchy, a world without rape, without the sexual exploitat ion of wimmin and children, a world without gender oppression and imposition, a world where wimmin, same gender loving and two-spirit people have total and comp lete control over their bodies, their identities and their personal lives. Onkwe hn:we Rising uncompromisingly supports the participation and leadership of wimmin , same gender loving and Two-Spirit people in proletarian struggles for anti-imp erialist, socialist, and communist revolutions towards the end of the complete e radication of hetero-patriarchy. 9. Onkwehn:we Rising Wants an Ecological Revolution. One of the greatest sins of the revolutions of the past century is that they followed too closely the capita list industrial model of development, a model rooted in Western civilization. Th is model, or rather this worldview, is one which sees the natural world as a sou rce of infinite resources just ripe for exploitation, and something which exists

solely to be dominated by humynkind, especially the remaining wild spaces. Capita list industrial civilization has driven Us to a point where the very future of O ur planet is in doubt. Massive species die offs are no longer news to Us. Neithe r are reports of rising global temperatures, ocean acidification levels, coral b leaching, deforestation and desertification. We now stand on the verge of total ecological collapse. We must forge a new path forward. Onkwehn:we Rising demands a paradigmatic shift in how revolutionary forces view the natural world that sur rounds Us, as well as our uncritical reliance on technology, industrialism and e nergy. Revolutionary forces must not only be warriors of the people, but also as guardians of all of Our relations: the animals, the plants, the lands, the seas and the skies. The struggle to liberate the oppressed and exploited nations of the world must also a struggle for the future of Our planet. 10. Onkwehn:we Rising Wants Genuine Allies & Class Traitors. Onkwehn:we Rising wan ts genuine allies from amongst the ranks the oppressor nations and exploiter cou ntries. Onkwehn:we Rising wants those who are class traitors individual members o f exploiter classes who choose to side with the world s oppressed and exploited ma sses. Onkwehn:we Rising wants them to commit class suicide, to abandon the creatu re comforts of the parasitic path laid before them over the last 500 years and t o instead enthusiastically join hands with the oppressed and exploited and walk down the road of struggle and revolution. Onkwehn:we Rising wants those who are willing to eschew norms to organize and work for revolution; who forsake their o wn class for a better future for humynity at large.