Last Updated on September 17, 2012
The acceleration of annihilation of Indigenous societies by states, that proceeds apace with the voracious appetite of the first world, is not just a manifestation of corporate greed, but is more fundamentally a symptom of a sickness in the soul of humanity. The fact the United Nations has accelerated the annihilation of Indigenous peoples, using Orwellian agencies posing as protectors of Indigenous cultures, illustrates the formidable challenge to the meaning of the entire human rights regime. Leaving aside for the moment the apparent conflicts of interest inherent in the UN sponsoring both the Human Rights Council and the rapacious World Bank, the fact the UN has invested itself in controlling the dialogue on Indigenous sovereignty through its Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and other socially-oriented departments of its monstrous bureaucracy, signals an urgent need on its part to be perceived as an honest broker while serving as an accelerant of humankind’s demise.
My concern in the present is how this Orwellian doublespeak by the UN, corporate media, and capitalist activists in the Big International Non-Governmental Organizations impacts the minds of young people — Indigenous or otherwise — who want to be a part of determining what type of world we will live in. A life in which diversity is rapidly diminishing toward synthetic monoculture in all its botanical and cultural aspects is daunting enough for the human psyche; imagining a role for oneself in simultaneously enduring this demise while engaging the psychological warfare attached to the fraud of the humanitarian industry is potentially overwhelming.
Rather than indulge in panic or depression or cynicism, however, anyone with skills in communication, philosophy or counseling now has an opportunity and obligation to help fend off the assaults on our psyches by the public relations parasites who live off the manipulation of our misery. As Nelson Mandela once remarked, the slogan is attack.
Across the world right now, Indigenous peoples are facing a renewed assault on their lands, rights, and ways of life.
From extractive industries pushing deeper into ancestral territories, to governments rolling back hard-won protections,
the threat is global—and it is growing.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is how little attention it receives.
Stories like this are disappearing in real time. Mainstream media
barely covers it and the coverage is fragmented. The public is left without the context
needed to understand what is truly at stake.
That is exactly why IC Magazine exists..
For more than 20 years, IC has reported on Indigenous struggles worldwide — consistently, independently, and without compromise.
We don’t follow news cycles; we trace patterns. We don’t sensationalize; we provide context.
And when the world looks away, we stay focused.
But this work is increasingly difficult to sustain.
We refuse to lock our reporting behind a paywall. We don’t sell access through subscriptions.
And we don’t answer to advertisers. IC Magazine survives solely because readers like you choose to
support independent Indigenous journalism.
Please donate today if you can. Every contribution helps us to continue this crucial work.
Thank you,
John Ahni Schertow
Founder and Editor in Chief
