''Struggle for the Land: Native North American Resistance to Genocide, Ecocide and Colonization'' is a book by Ward Churchill. It is a collection of essays on the efforts of

Native Americans in the United States Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Americans, and other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the mainland United States ( Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, Alaska and territories of the United State ...

and in Canada to maintain their land tenure

claims Claim may refer to: * Claim (legal) * Claim of Right Act 1689 * Claims-based identity * Claim (philosophy) * Land claim * A ''main contention'', see conclusion of law * Patent claim * The assertion of a proposition; see Douglas N. Walton * A righ ...

against

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

and corporate infringement. Equating

colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

with

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

and ecocide, the author provides examples of

resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

. Beginning with an overview of the impact of legal doctrines established by the United States and Canada on Native people, and moving on to explore a series of case studies indicative of the effects of domination "by North America's settler-states," the book concludes with a discussion paper offering a scenario for an alternate future.

Publishing information

It was first published with the subtitle ''Indigenous Resistance to Genocide, Ecocide and Expropriation in Contemporary North America'' by Common Courage Press in 1993 (hardcover: , paperback: ). In 1999, it was resubtitled and released in a revised and expanded edition by Arbeiter Ring Publishing (

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, ). City Lights Publishers (

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

) published it in 2002 as a 460-page hardcover () and paperback ({{ISBN, 0-87286-414-6).

Synopsis

As its foreword, the book features a poem by

Jimmie Durham Jimmie Bob Durham (July 10, 1940 – November 17, 2021) was an American sculptor, essayist and poet. He was active in the United States in the civil rights movements of African Americans and Native Americans in the 1960s and 1970s, serving on the ...

. The preface is by

Winona LaDuke Winona LaDuke (born August 18, 1959) is an American economist, environmentalist, writer and industrial hemp grower, known for her work on tribal land claims and preservation, as well as sustainable development. In 1996 and 2000, she ran for Vice ...

and poems from John Trudell's '' Living in Reality'' appear as preludes to each section.

Russell Means Russell Charles Means (November 10, 1939 – October 22, 2012) was an Oglala Lakota activist for the rights of Native Americans, libertarian political activist, actor, musician, and writer. He became a prominent member of the American Ind ...

' 1982 platform for president of the

Oglala The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota, make up the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority of the Oglala live o ...

people is included as an appendix. Maps of Indian land claims/treaty areas are included. The book is dedicated "for my mother." The collected essays, mostly previously published, provide a history of Native American struggle for decolonization provided through the examples of the

Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

, the Lakotas on the northern Plains, the

Lubicon Cree The Muskotew Sakahikan Enowuk or Lubicon Lake Nation ( cr, ᒪᐢᑯᑏᐤ ᓵᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ) is a Cree First Nation in northern Alberta, Canada. They are commonly referred to as the Lubicon Lake Nation, Lubicon Cree, or the Lubicon Lake Cr ...

in northern

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, and the

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

and Newe ( Western Shoshone) in the upper Sonoran. The case is made that

uranium mining Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. Over 50 thousand tons of uranium were produced in 2019. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia were the top three uranium producers, respectively, and together account f ...

, coal stripping,

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...

generation, and water diversion are ecocidal as well as

genocidal Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

, and that the ecological damage poses a threat to all North Americans. Churchill also discusses the Native North American diaspora caused by their displacement. : "Not only the people of the land are being destroyed, but, more and more, the land itself. The nature of native resistance to the continued onslaught of the invading industrial culture is shaped accordingly. It is a resistance forged in the crucible of a struggle for survival." —from the introduction

Awards

The book won the

Gustavus Myers Award Gustavus may refer to: *Gustavus, Alaska, a small community located on the edge of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve *Gustavus Adolphus College, a private liberal arts college in southern Minnesota *Gustavus (name), a given name **Gustavus, the ...

for Literature on

Human Rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

Contents (to the revised edition)

Foreword ''by

'' * Buying Time Preface ''by

'' * Succeeding into Native North America :A Secessionist View Introduction ''by Ward Churchill'' *The Indigenous Peoples of North America :A Struggle Against Internal Colonialism ::Part I: The Law *The Tragedy and the Travesty :The Subversion of Indigenous Sovereignty in North America ::Part II: The Land *Struggle to Regain a Stolen Homeland :

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

Land Rights in

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

*The

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...

Are Not For Sale :The Lakota Struggle for the 1868 Treaty Territory *

Genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

:The "

Hopi The Hopi are a Native American ethnic group who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, there are 19,338 Hopi in the country. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation within the Unite ...

Land Dispute" in Perspective *The Struggle for Newe Segobia :The Western

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ) are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho * Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah * Goshute: western Utah, easter ...

Battle for Their Homeland *Last Stand at Lubicon Lake :Genocide and Ecocide in the Canadian North ::Part III: Other Fronts *Geographies of Sacrifice :The

Radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consid ...

Colonization of Native North America *The Water Plot :Hydrological Rape in Northern Canada *Like Sand in the Wind :The Making of an American Indian

Diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

in the United States ::Part IV: An Alternative *I Am Indigenist :Notes on the Ideology of the Fourth World *Appendix ''by

and Ward Churchill'' *TREATY :The Platform of Russell Means' Campaign for President of the

People, 1982 *Index

External links

''Struggle for the Land''
at the publisher's site. 1993 non-fiction books 1993 in the environment 1999 in the environment 2002 in the environment Books by Ward Churchill Books about indigenous rights

Publishing information

Synopsis

Awards

Contents (to the revised edition)

See also

External links