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particularly those that transport questions of colonization to
the North mericancontinent. !ou see, there is a particular defense
of "ionism that precedes the e#istenceof Israel by hundreds of
years.
$ere is a rough sketch of that defense% llowing a Palestinian
right of return or
redressing the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in &'()-('
is ludicrous. *ook whathappened to the Native mericans. Is the
+nited tates supposed to return the countryto them
Israeli historian enny /orris puts it this way% 01ven the great
merican democracycouldn2t come to be without the forced e#tinction
of Native mericans. 3here are timesthe overall, final good
4ustifies terrible, crueldeeds.5
3his reasoning suggests a finality to the past, an affirmation
of tragedy trapped in theimmutability of linear time. Its logic is
terribly clich6, a peculiar form of common sensealways taken up,
everywhere, by the beneficiaries of colonial power.
3he problems with invoking Native merican genocide to
rationalize Palestiniandispossession are legion. 3he most
noteworthy problem speaks to the unresolveddetritus of merican
history% Natives aren2t ob4ects of the past7 they are
livingcommunities whose numbers are growing.
It2s rarely a good idea to ask rhetorical questions that have
literal answers. !es, the+nited tates absolutely should return
stolen land to the Indians. 3hat2s precisely whatits treaty
obligations require it to do.
8
3he +nited tates is a settler nation, but its history hasn2t
been settled. !et mostpeople invoke Natives as if they lost a
contest that entrapped them in the past 9 andthis only if Natives
are considered at all. s a result, most analyses of both
domesticand foreign policies are inadequate, lacking a necessary
conte#t of continuedcolonization and resistance.
:or Natives, political aspirations aren2t focused on accessing
the mythologies of amulticultural merica, but on the practices of
sovereignty and self-determination,consecrated in treaty agreements
;and, of course, in their actual histories?&,
&>@>
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guaranteed the *akota possession of the lack $ills. 3he merican
government seizedthe lack $ills nine years after signing the
treaty, in &>)), having discovered sizabledeposits of gold
and other precious minerals.
In &'>A, the +.. upreme Bourt ruled that the federal
government had un4ustly
appropriated the lack $ills ;the ruling doesn2t use the word
0stolen,5 but it2s anaccurate descriptor of what occurred'G due to
a coup d26tat led by colonist anford Eole, cousin of HamesEole,
who, not so coincidentally, made a fortune growing produce on the
islands.
President rover Bleveland commissioned an investigation into the
overthrow of the$awaiian monarchy, led by eorgia congressman Hames
$enderson lount. 3helount Jeport condemned the anne#ation of
$awaii. 3he condemnation ultimately didno good. merican businessmen
and politicians saw too much value in the newproperty to constrain
their avarice. 3o this day, the Kanaka /aoli ;Native $awaiians
