Amhran nam Bandia: Irish Heritage Rights Survey and Tara UNESCO Nomination

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Irish Heritage Rights Survey and Tara UNESCO Nomination

From TaraWatch:

TaraWatch and Save Newgrange, in conjunction with a University of California, Berkeley, human rights lawyer, Matt Schwoebel, are launching a heritage rights survey online tomorrow.

The launch will coincide with the opening of the 34th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which opens in Brazil today.

The Hill of Tara is being nominated at the UNESCO meeting, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, by Ireland, along with a number of other sites, despite the fact that the M3 motorway has just opened in the middle of the proposed site. Bru na Boinne is under threat from the N2 Slane bypass, which will pass within 500 metres of the existing World Heritage Site, and impact over 44 related sites.

The survey asks Irish people if they believe their heritage is being adequately protected, and if they feel their human rights to heritage are being violated, particularly with regards to the treatment of the Hill of Tara and Bru na Boinne. The results will form part of a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch and Save Newgrange said:

“Many Irish people feel their human rights to heritage and culture are being continuously violated by the Irish Government, and we are offering them a chance to do something about it."

(Read the full press release...)

Take the survey

The survey is for those with Irish heritage, and those interested in preserving sacred sites in Ireland, as well as Irish citizens. The survey also asks participants their thoughts about the spiritual and ceremonial significance of Tara, Newgrange, and other Irish sacred sites.

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Gaelic Polytheism, Cultural Preservation, Indigenous Solidarity

Occasional musings from one of the original troublemakers behind the contemporary Gaelic Polytheist (GP) (Gaelic: Ioma-Dhiadhachd Ghàidhealach; Irish: Ildiachas Gaelach) and Celtic Reconstructionist traditions. Allegedly the person to blame for that unwieldy, awkward, misinterpreted and misrepresented, umbrella tradition name (CR), and most definitely to blame for the Nigheanan nan Cailleach agus Ora nam Bandia branches of the community.

Clann Eóghainn na h-Oitrich, NicAoidh, agus Eóganachta. Tha mi a fuireach ann Wabanahkik. Co-còrdadh: Gä•sweñta’.

While my family culture growing up was predominantly diasporan Gael (Irish/Scottish-American), and my low BQ gives me white skin privilege / passing privilege, I also have Indigenous heritage from both Turtle Island (Yę Iswąre tatene utkéware hęwu) and Sápmi, as well as cherished African-American ancestors who survived the Middle Passage and the Underground Railroad. I am one of the people who has researched Cherokee blood myths to find the hidden truth that so many of us share - Black ancestors who made the excruciating choice to assimilate and pass in order to stay alive after escaping slavery.

As an unenrolled relative, reconnecting with the community we're pretty certain my ancestors are from, I'm a long-term member of several Indigenous-led collectives, active in Indian Country in largely a backup/support role since the 1980s, and in more recent years in interfaith and political work as both a collective member, extended family member, and as a representative of both our GP groups and the descendant crew. I don't presume to steer the canoe, even when I'm another grunt helping paddle one that my cousins, aunties, and adopted siblings have built and are helming. But except for my fellow Gaels and other diverse relatives, I jumped out of the ship over a decade ago. I'd much rather dive deep with the prop-fouling otters, be a shieldmaiden in the metaphorical jet ski clan, and continue my work with the side of the family I live with now, than get back into that rotting colonists' ship... unless it's to sabotage and change the course. Which I've been known to do sometimes.

It's one of multiple ways that my life is lived in liminal zones.

And if it's not abundantly clear, I fully support and unreservedly defend Indigenous Sovereignty: the right of Tribal Nations to determine their citizenship criteria, as well as their right to set the definition of who is and is not Indigenous. Descendants - those of us with documented ancestry but whose ancestors chose to separate from the tribe and live as non-Natives - need to abide by the criteria for Indigeneity set by the Nations we descend from. Even if it's complicated and not what you want to hear. And this applies exponentially if the documentation is iffy. To violate that boundary by trying to claim full Native status - by self-Indigenization - is dishonorable to the ancestors, as well as a violation of hospitality. Real descendants seeking to reconnect need to do so with profound respect, and on the terms set by the living relatives and Elders in that specific culture and community. And if the answer is "No," or "Not that way," to accept that.

I serve on the governing councils of CAORANN and Gaol Naofa; however, all opinions expressed on this blog, and posted elsewhere under my own name on social media, are my own.