A declaration of sovereignty passed by the Catalan parliament on Wednesday has other stateless nations in Europe like Wales watching. With referendums on independence looming in Scotland and Basque Country, indigenous nations in Europe are actively challenging EU member states to abide by the principles of self-determination declared by the UN General Assembly in 2007.
Jay is an associate scholar of the Center for World Indigenous Studies, an author<... read full bio
Don't miss our latest free eBook:
Indigenous Struggles 2012: Dispatches From the Fourth World
"In a media landscape made up of lies, flash, giant blind spots and corporatized sites of distraction, Intercontinental Cry is a trustworthy pathway to the truth where people who are committed to understanding Indigenous realities can gain insight and information to illuminate and activate their struggles."
Taiaiake Alfred
Except where otherwise noted, articles on this website are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Hi Jay, I’m not sure where you get your ideas about ethnic issues in the British Isles from, but I have to tell you that Wales is not that keen to separate from England. They’re doing far too well out of the current arrangements, and the Welsh only barely voted even for a minimally devolved parliament, by a tiny fraction. Scots may or may not go for independence. We’ll see. The joke is that if anything it is English people who want to get away from Wales and Scotland (not to mention Northern Ireland) – but we’re not being offered the choice.
It is, of course, up to each indigenous nation to negotiate how its self-determination is implemented. Autonomy over cultural, educational, taxation and policing matters is one way, full independence another. The important thing is for indigenous peoples to resume self-governance and bring an end to colonial relationships. That seems to be the route the Irish, Scottish and Welsh have, to varying degrees, chosen and expressed through their own governing authorities. There is nothing wrong about remaining an associated nation rather than becoming an independent state, as long as it is by mutual agreement as opposed to unilateral coercion.