One of the prime backers of land bill was a Republican Congressman, a Paul Gosar. And when he was challenged by an Apache on this bill, he said, well, you know, Indians are wards of the federal government. This happened… — Robert A. Williams, Jr Copy Share Image
Very much like African-Americans, the history of America is taking away resources, whether it's labor or whether it's land from one racial group to… — Robert A. Williams, Jr Copy Share Image
Savagery was a word that Westerners used to, again, to consciously differentiate them from non-Westerners, to assert that superiority, that cultural superiority. It goes back to the British Empire, and again, you know, what was the purpose of the British Empire? To bring civilization to the savage no matter where they were, whether it was India or Asia or Australia… — Robert A. Williams, Jr Copy Share
US law and international human rights law have radically diverged in the past years in terms of the recognition of indigenous people's rights. International… — Robert A. Williams, Jr Copy Share Image
In fact, George Washington had been an Indian fighter since the French and Indian War. And a lot of folks, particularly in the red states, the Southern states that had suffered a number of Indian depredations wanted to remove all the Indians to Canada. Let them go with the English. And Washington said, well, you can try , but better,… — Robert A. Williams, Jr Copy Share
What this ideology, what this myth about savagery did was really excuse America for the disappearance of the Indian. It wasn't our fault. They were just an inferior race. And so John Marshall adopts that. And the tragedy and the present-day circumstances of that decision are that those racial attitudes are so deeply embedded in these foundational principles of American… — Robert A. Williams, Jr Copy Share
Today what we see is tribes moving into the 21st century and facing real 21st century problems of globalization, of multi-national, national resource development,… — Robert A. Williams, Jr Copy Share Image
What John Marshall says is that right of occupancy can be taken away by purchase, conquest or any other means. So the reason that… — Robert A. Williams, Jr Copy Share Image
Until we start attacking the root of the historical problems of discrimination against Indians, and those Indians begin in these stereotypes, that Indians are… — Robert A. Williams, Jr Copy Share Image
The Navajo, for example, regard their traditional lands as within the four sacred peaks. One of those sacred peaks is the San Francisco Peaks… — Robert A. Williams, Jr Copy Share Image
When Europeans came to the New World the first thing they said is, well, Indians don't appreciate property. They're savage. They're backwards. They're uncivilized.… — Robert A. Williams, Jr Copy Share Image
That Indians are lawless people, I would change that because it's probably the most harmful stereotype. — Robert A. Williams, Jr Copy Share Image
The case of Johnson v. M'Intosh is exactly why Congress can pass legislation as it did with the Rio Tinto land mine deal because… — Robert A. Williams, Jr Copy Share Image
