Migration 4

Where today are the Pequot? Where are the Narragansett, the Mohican, the Pocanet, and other powerful tribes of our people? They have vanished before the avarice and oppression of the white man, as snow before the summer sun… Will we let ourselves be destroyed in our turn, without making an effort worthy of our race? Shall we without a struggle, give up our homes, our lands, bequeathed to us by the Great Spirit? The graves of our dead and everything that is dear and sacred to us? I know you will say with me, Never! Never!

Quoted in Alex Alvarez (2016): Native Americans and the Question of Genocide. Lanham: Rowman; Littlefield, p. 9. The quote could be also from 1813.

Tecumseh Shawnee (1768-1813) was a fighter and leader of the Shawnee in what is today’s Ohio in the USA. He was known as a powerful speaker, and for his ability to bring together diverse groups.

After the American War of Independence at the end of the 18th century, a new immigration policy was rolled out. This liberally oriented migration regime wanted to allow migration from Europe. This contrasted with the enslavement of people from Africa, and the expulsions, genocides and expropriations against Native Americans. Through numerous armed conflicts, Native Americans defended themselves against European settler colonisation and its land expropriation and genocidal policies. The victorious settlers created reservations for indigenous peoples. During the 18th century, Tecumseh persevered in his attempt to form a broad alliance against the white settlers. In this quote, in which he mourns his contemporaries, the traumatic brutality of the genocide of the Native Americans is clear.

*Vine Deloria (1969): Custer Died for your Sins. An Indian Manifesto. New York: Macmillan.

1811