A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust and Denial in the Americas 1492 to the Present

Front Cover
City Lights Books, 1997 - History - 531 pages

Ward Churchill has achieved an unparalleled reputation as a scholar-activist and analyst of indigenous issues in North America. Here, he explores the history of holocaust and denial in this hemisphere, beginning with the arrival of Columbus and continuing on into the present.

He frames the matter by examining both "revisionist" denial of the nazi-perpatrated Holocaust and the opposing claim of its exclusive "uniqueness," using the full scope of what happened in Europe as a backdrop against which to demonstrate that genocide is precisely what has been-and still is-carried out against the American Indians.

Churchill lays bare the means by which many of these realities have remained hidden, how public understanding of this most monstrous of crimes has been subverted not only by its perpetrators and their beneficiaries but by the institutions and individuals who perceive advantages in the confusion. In particular, he outlines the reasons underlying the United States's 40-year refusal to ratify the Genocide Convention, as well as the implications of the attempt to exempt itself from compliance when it finally offered its "endorsement."

In conclusion, Churchill proposes a more adequate and coherent definition of the crime as a basis for identifying, punishing, and preventing genocidal practices, wherever and whenever they occur.

Ward Churchill (enrolled Keetoowah Cherokee) is Professor of American Indian Studies with the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado-Boulder. A member of the American Indian Movement since 1972, he has been a leader of the Colorado chapter for the past fifteen years. Among his previous books have been Fantasies of a Master Race, Struggle for the Land, Since Predator Came, and From a Native Son.

From inside the book

Contents

Introduction by Ward Churchill
1
Assaults on Truth and Memory
19
Lie for Lie
63
Deconstructing the Columbus Myth
81
Genocide in the Americas
97
Nits Make Lice
129
Cold War Impacts on Native North America
289
The United States and the Genocide Convention
363
Defining the Unthinkable
399
Bibliography
445
Index
507
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (1997)

Ward Churchill has achieved an unparalleled reputation as a scholar-activist and analyst of indigenous issues. He is a Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, a leading member of AIM, and the author of numerous books, including A Little Matter of Genocide, Struggle for the Land, and Fantasies of the Master Race.