A Call For Oneness

Indigenous people have gotten others on their side by calling for collectivism and solidarity over the decades. My understanding of collectivism is the following definition and the indigenous quotes and points that follow reflect that definition. And have lead to me having disagreements with some who more than likely do not have the genetic qualifications imposed by indigenous people to be considered one of them.

"Collectivism

noun

Collectivism is the deal that the fundamental unit of the human species that lives, thinks, acts towards common goals is not the individual but some group. This group is the whole human species, the group acts as a super organism separate from individuals."

Although I am sharing a limited sample size, indigenous people have talked about five key points that lead to this ideology. These points, and a few names who spoke about them, are:

Point 1: Land belongs to humanity, not any individual group or person: Chief Seattle, Chief Joseph, Serena Mills.

Point 2: All people are one people: Chief Joseph, Thomas Banyacya, Black Elk, Rebecca Adamson, Nick Estes, Qorianka Kilcher.

Point 3: Humanity is of one mind, body, and spirit: Black Elk, Rebecca Adamson, Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Thomas Banyacya, Q'orianka Kilcher, Tekahionwrake, Crazy Horse.

Point 4: We have a duty to take care of and protect each other: Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph, Rebecca Adamson, John Fire Lame Deer, Transito Amaguana.

Point 5: Humanity's duty to protect the earth and all life on it: Chief Seattle, Rebecca Adamson, Black Elk, Nick Estes, Qorianka Kilcher, Serena Mills.

Here are their words, people can either support their call for collectivism or reject them for segregational egoism.

"Warriors are not what you think of as warriors. The warrior is not someone who fights, because no one has the right to take another life. The warrior, for us, is one who sacrifices himself for the good of others. His task is to take care of the elderly, the defenseless, those who cannot provide for themselves, and above all, the children, the future of humanity." - Sitting Bull

"The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." - Chief Seattle

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children." - Chief Seattle

"Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now we bring our minds together: as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as people. Now our minds are one." - Haudenosaunee Confederacy

"Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and around beneath me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being. And I saw the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father, and I saw that it was holy." - Black Elk

"Before our white brothers came to civilize us, we had no jails. Therefore we had no criminals. You can't have criminals without a jail. We had no locks or keys, and so we had no thieves. If a man was so poor that he had no horse, tipi, or blanket, someone gave him these things. We were too uncivilized to set much value on personal belongings. We wanted to have things only in order to give them away. We had no money, and therefore a man's worth could not be measured by it. We had no written law, no attorneys or politicians, therefore we couldn't cheat. We really were in a bad way before the white men came, and I don't know how we managed to get along without these basic things which we are told are absolutely necessary to make a civilized society." - John Fire Lame Deer

"Humans merely share the earth. We can only protect the land, not own it." - Chief Seattle

"If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace. There need be no trouble. Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it." - Chief Joseph of Nez Perce

"All red races are born Socialists, and most tribes carry out their communistic ideas to the letter. Amongst the Iroquois, it is considered disgraceful to have food if your neighbor has none. To be a credible member of the nation, you must divide your possessions with your less fortunate fellows. I find it much the same amongst the Coast Indians, though they are less bitter in their hatred of the extremes of wealth and poverty than are the Eastern tribes. Still, the very fact that they have preserved this legend, in which they deem avarice to a slimy sea-serpent, shows the trend of their ideas; shows that an Indian is an Indian, no matter what his tribe; shows that he cannot, or will not, hoard money; shows that his native morals demand that the spirit of greed must be strangled at all cost." - Tekahionwake

"A very great vision is needed, and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky." - Crazy Horse

"The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit. And that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us." - Black Elk

"The universe is circles within circles, and everything is one circle, and all the circles are connected to each other. Each family is a circle, and those family circles connect together and make a community, and the community makes a circle where it lives on the Earth. It (the community) cares for that part (of the Earth) but cares for it as a circle—which is to say in a cooperative and egalitarian way, where everybody is cared for, and everybody is respected. All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One. Peace will come to the hearts of men when they realize their oneness with the Universe. It is everywhere." - Black Elk Oglala Lakota (Sioux)

"We are all indigenous people on this planet, and we have to reorganize to get along." - Rebecca Adamson

"Communism is the Horizon, Queer indigenous Feminism is the Way."

"What the ruling classes call chaos is the inevitable cycle of a world able to survive only on violence against the people of the earth and the earth itself." - Nick Estes, The Red Nation

"As Native Americans, we believe the Rainbow is a sign from the Spirit in all things., It is a sign of the union of all people, like one big family. The unity of all humanity, many tribes and peoples, is essential." - Thomas Banyacya

"The indigenous understanding has its basis of spirituality in a recognition of the interconnectedness and interdependence of all living things, a holistic and balanced view of the world. All things are bound together. All things connect. What happens to the Earth happens to the children of the earth. Humankind has not woven the web of life; we are but one thread. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves." - Rebecca Adamson

"I joined the communist party because of poverty, because of mistreatment, because things had to change... I was a leader, speaking to people, made them see our sorrows. After so much struggle, even made government cry." - Transito Amaguañia

"We can effect real change by pushing ourselves to engage in conversations with each other. That's the goal for all of us as professionals and community members, especially if we are in positions of power to create change and understanding. Because we are all guests on this land—nobody owns it." - Serena Mills

"It's not so much about focusing on the omission of belonging, and all of us having a right to a home, but rather about introducing non-Indigenous people to this land's accurate confederate history and the importance of relationship and despite the dominant worldview of owning the land. All I were asking you to do is to remember, and remember with us." - Serena Mills

"I hope to contribute to a global warming of hearts and a climate change in human consciousness." - Q'orianka Kilcher

"Although wrongs have been done me, I live in hope. I have not got two hearts. Now we are together again to make peace. My shame is as big as the earth, although I will do what my friends advise me to do. I once thought that I was the only man that persevered to be the friend of the white man, but since they have come and cleaned out our lodges, horses, and everything else, it is hard for me to believe white men anymore." - Chief Black Kettle

"Human consciousness determines what we do and how we do it. Consciousness is given order through a belief system. The reality of any belief system is expressed through ideas and values, which give us practical guidance. Ideas work together with values in a consistent, mutually affirming system. Ideas such as love, truth, and justice work according to values of caring, honesty, and fairness. The wise to be wise must also be just. Every society organizes itself politically, socially, and economically according to its values.

For tribal people, who see the world as a whole, the essence of our work is in its entirety. In a society where all are related, simple decisions require the approval of nearly everyone in that society. It is society as a whole, not merely a part of it, that must survive. This is the indigenous understanding. It is the understanding in a global sense. We are all indigenous people on this planet, and we have to reorganize to get along. I am here today because this gathering, the Pioneers, this community of leadership, believes in a sacred vision of humanity, and I was taught, 'a vision is your life.' In this case, it is our survival." - Rebecca Adamson

Collectivism does not call for chauvinistic, segregational, divisive sovereignty. It does not call for one people to have supreme control over others or a region. Neither do the Indigenous, who called for oneness among humanity. They called for humanity to acknowledge and accept that we are all of one voice, one mind, one spirit, and one body. To tell people that collectivism does not call for oneness among humanity but instead promotes divisive and chauvinistic segregation is to turn people away from the Indigenous movement, which goes against the words of Indigenous peoples.