Not only did Nizkor tell Jim that he was off-topic, so did a mailing-list titled sovernet-l which is dedicated to indigenous land claims. Although I think sovernet-l is much more useful and has much more integrity than the problematic nizkor list, there is still a problem with fragmentation that I attempted to address in this post to the list. It was prompted by the moderator sending Jim a gentle reminder that the list was for discussing land claims and sovereignty issues, not nazi war criminals. ---- Sent to sovernet-l: I think part of the problem is that sovernet-l has filled a void. I understand that native-l used to be a mailing-list devoted to indigenous issues in general but fell apart or was destroyed. In any case, it seems that there is a burning need for the underlying political questions surrounding sovereignty claims. I am working on a paper now dealing with how the whiskey trade, cattle-ranching, military repression and residential schools were all used to weaken the Blackfoot and make the reservation possible. I suppose this does not fit into the framework defined by Ernie. Maybe somebody should start a new mailing-list somewhere. Right now I am on something called H-Native which is used by academics to tell other academics about conferences and journals on the American Indian. There is zero discussion of political issues. The other thing to keep in mind is that there is a terrible tendency to fragmentize in this society, where there is a real need to see connections, especially when it comes to the American Indian and genocide. It reminds me of the problems that both Jim and I had on the Nizkor mailing list, which is set up to complement their website on the Judeocide. They told me I was "out of order" by arguing that Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people weaken the moral stance of those who would fight the holocaust deniers. In point of fact, the neo-Nazi Ernst Zundel who is the main leader of this movement has a quote from Israel Shahak on his home page. Shahak was interned in Belzen and is a strong anti-Zionist. When Jim got on the list, they told him he was "out of order" for speaking about the genocide of the American Indian. I am not arguing that sovernet-l should transform itself into something else, because there is a tremendous need for the kind of information that appears here on a daily basis. What I am suggesting is that there is a need for a more general issues list and am open to suggestions. >On 2 Sep 98 at 22:08, ernie yacub wrote: > >> James, sovernet-l is a distribution list for indigenous sovereignty issues. >> Please consider this when posting to the list. Many subscribers have >> limited email privileges. >> >> thanks >> ernie yacub >> keeper of the list > Louis Proyect (http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)
