Page 17 - GIC Manifesto.m

Our ancestors forged economic and diplomatic relations with tribal nations on international
trade routes, which is a blueprint GIC will strive to revitalize. To create, infuse, and sustain
tribal economies, GIC seeks to redefine our perceptions of the US-Canada and US-Mexico
borders, as well as borders internationally that have and continue to inflict familial, cultural and
economic harms upon tribal people. Chairman Edward Manuel of the Tohono O’odham
Nation has called the US-Mexico border “an artificial barrier to the freedom of the Tohono
O’odham,” a description that can be applied to multiple tribal nations confronted by similar
circumstances across the globe.

If we continue to recognize borders as major obstacles, trade relationships between our nations
will not flourish, and, on this continent, our ability to secure any participation in wider North
American trade agreements will be non-existent. Our economic stability cannot wait. We require
no mandate other than to follow our ancestors’ philosophy within the geopolitical sphere that
existed for generations before the borders.

GIC will support tribal nations that straddle both sides of the southern border that have been,
from time immemorial, one nation, but through colonial imposition, have been divided.
The enduring hardships from imposed severance and separation will be exacerbated by the
threatened construction of the Trump Administration’s “wall” which GIC will actively oppose.
GIC will be steadfast in insisting that Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) is adhered to in all
instances, including all and any attempts by the Trump Administration to construct the “wall”
on tribal lands. FPIC must be honored to establish initial grassroots participation in the process,
continuing through to the governmental level, with all traditional and elected administrative
strata engaged to fulfill consultation protocols with indigenous populations prior to the onset
of a project on ancestral, sacred, and treaty lands, or the exploitation of resources within a
tribal nation’s territory.
Even without the “wall,” members of the Tohono O’odham Nation are routinely detained by
the U.S. Border Patrol and, on occasion, deported. The tribe states that many of those,
“were simply traveling through their own traditional lands, practicing migratory traditions
essential to their religion, economy and culture. Border officials are also reported to confiscate
cultural and religious items, such as feathers of common birds, pine leaves or sweet grass.”
B O R D E R S