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AN OPEN LETTER TO THE AMERICAN INDIAN COMMUNITY
OF DENVER ON THE OCCASION OF THE
VISIT OF POPE JOHN PAUL II
AUGUST 4, 1993
Next week, Pope John Paul II will be visiting Denver to
celebrate the Roman Catholic Church's "World Youth Day." As American
Indians we are taught to respect all spiritual beliefs, and to respect the
spiritual leaders who represent those belief systems. In that regard, all due
deference should be accorded the Pope in the spiritual aspects of his visit to
Denver. The American Indian Movement of Colorado believes that everyone has the
right to follow his/her own spiritual conscience. We are not in the business of
dictating a person's religious affiliation or conviction. As an indigenous
liberation movement, we believe that our traditional spiritual ways allow us an
understanding of life in this part of the world that no other spirituality can
offer. We are committed to the practice, maintenance and defense of our
traditional indigenous ceremonies and beliefs. Our commitment, however, also
requires that we respect other spiritual beliefs, and we condemn all religious
and spiritual bigotry.
It should be remembered, however, that the Pope is not
only a spiritual leader. He is a political head of state, of the Vatican, that
has its own domestic and foreign policy, that has diplomatic relations with
other governments and that has representation in the United Nations. The Pope is
also, in effect, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a massive economic
enterprise, with financial and real estate holdings around the world amounting
to hundreds of billions of dollars. The impact of these two areas of papal power
on American Indian peoples has been enormous, often enormously negative.
For those American Indians who would use an audience
with the Pope to press serious Indian issues over which the Pope has some
control, or for those who are sincere in their Catholicism, and who seek greater
spiritual awareness through the Pope's visit, we respect your efforts. For
others of you, who have no particular understanding of the Pope, Catholicism and
the Church, we ask that before you allow yourselves to be used as props for the
Pope's visit, that you consider what your participation will mean for you and
for future generations of American Indian people throughout the Americas. The
world is always seeking to exploit us for our dancing, singing, art, or cuisine,
but when we ask them to take us or our issues of land rights or treaty rights or
religious freedom seriously, we are no longer entertaining to them.
The Pope, and the Church, in their political, legal and
economic roles have been, and continue to be, the source of great suffering and
oppression for indigenous peoples around the world. The Church was at the
forefront of the colonization of the Americas, and the missionaries sent by the
Church not only sought to destroy our indigenous ways of life, but they have
left our communities with a legacy of psychological and physical destruction
that remains unhealed. The Church has never cared about American Indians, except
to satisfy its own needs and goals. We hope that you will remember that during
this next week. We hope that you will consider that when they ask you to
entertain them or to pose for a photo with the Pope as evidence of how nice the
Church is to Indians, and how good relations are between the Church and Indian
people.
- Right now, as you are reading this, the Vatican is a
partner in a project that is destroying a mountain, Dzil Nchaa si an(Mt.
Graham), that is sacred to the San Carlos Apache in Arizona; Through this
project, known as the Mt. Graham International Observatory, the Catholic
Church unilaterally determined that Dzil Nchaa si an was not sacred to the
Apache, and it has denied access to the mountain by the Apaches for their
traditional ceremonies. Father George Coyne, the head of the Vatican
Observatory, said that the Apache respect for the mountain and the Apache
opposition to the project represents "a kind of religiosity to which I
cannot subscribe, and which must be suppressed with all the force we can
muster." For further information on this continuing destruction of
Indian peoples, contact Ola Cassadore Davis, Apache Survival Coalition, Box
1237, San Carlos, AZ 85550, (602) 294-1863.
- The Pope and the Roman Catholic Church declared 1993
to be a year to Celebrate 500 Years of Evangelization of the Americas. What
does that mean? It means that they are celebrating the 500 year process of
the systematic destruction of Indian societies, cultures and spiritual
beliefs, and their replacement with European institutions. Indian
spirituality does not have missionaries. We do not tell people that we are
God's chosen people and if they do not believe our "truth" then
they will be damned to hell forever. Nor do we travel around the world, as
the Franciscans, Dominicans and Jesuits did, accompanying invading European
armies, and slaughtering hundreds of thousands of Indian people because they
would not convert to Catholicism. We do not kidnap children from their
families and physically and psychological abuse them, and indoctrinate them
in schools to forget their families and their nations. What exactly is the
Church celebrating in its 500 years of evangelization, and do you want to be
any part of it?
- Finally, in his capacity as a legal and political
leader, the Pope historically issued legal pronouncements known as Papal
Bulls. In the Papal Bull, lnter Caetera of May 3, 1493, Pope Alexander VI,
effectively granted the world to Spain to overthrow "barbarous [Indian]
nations" so that the "heathen could be drawn to embrace the
Catholic faith and be trained in good morals." This Papal Bull, and a
few others that followed, formed the legal and political foundation for the
stealing of the Americas from our indigenous nations and the slaughter of
our ancestors who would not Convert to christianity. The Catholic Church has
never rescinded or withdrawn these Bulls, and the church has never
apologized for its important role in the theft and destruction of our lands.
Indian law today continues to be constructed on the horrible principles of
this law.
The list of abuses and wrongs committed against Indian
peoples by the Pope and his Church could go on and on. These are three specific
and ongoing reasons why Colorado AIM believes that Indian people should not
participate in the Pope's activities. Each one of these issues has been raised
with the Vatican. Each time, the Church has turned a deaf ear. The Church has
used and abused Indians for 500 years, do not allow it to continue, please.
Instead, demand that the Pope do three things immediately to begin the long,
essential process of reconciliation with Indian peoples:
- Immediately withdraw Vatican support and
participation in the Mount Graham International Observatory project.
Recognize the sacredness of Dzil Nchaa si sn to the Apache people, and
respect their right to practice their spirituality in their traditional
places.
- Rescind the "Celebration of 500 Years of
Evangelization of the Americas." Recognize and apologize for the pain
and suffering caused by missionaries working in collusion with governments
and the military in destroying American Indian nations.
- Rescind end renounce the Papal Bull lnter Caetera,
and admit that the Pope never possessed the authority to divide or
distribute Indigenous peoples' territories.
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