Author (Azania Rising)

Globally and throughout history, a shared narrative has been employed to justify settler colonialism: the assertion that Indigenous peoples are not the original peoples of their homelands. This narrative, frequently devoid of verifiable facts, has been employed to delegitimize Indigenous sovereignty and impede progress towards justice and reparations.Aotearoa (New Zealand): Dispelling the Pre-Māori MythSome settler discourses in Aotearoa say that Māori did not come first, but were preceded by an assumed pre-Māori group of people. Scholars have properly debunked such a theory. There is archeological as well as historical proof that it was the first set of inhabitants to reach the islands from Polynesia and they were known to arrive some time in around 1300 CE (Britannica). Such a fantasy about a pre-Māori population does not hold water as per academic records (Wikipedia).South Africa: Distorting Bantu HistoriesThe same tactics are used in South Africa to dispute the Indigenous status of Bantu-speaking individuals. Bantu migrations displaced earlier inhabitants and thereby forfeited their rights to the territory, some accounts say. Archaeological records, however, indicate that Bantu-speaking individuals have occupied southern Africa for over a thousand years, farming and building advanced societies (Wikipedia). While there were contact and interaction with other groups, the description of Bantu expansion as settler colonialism of the same sort as European colonization is unfounded and a mischaracterization (Panafrican Review).North America: The Doctrine of Discovery and the “Vanishing Indian” MythIn North America, colonizers perpetuated the myth that Native peoples were a “vanishing race,” destined to disappear before European civilization. This account was used to justify the taking of Indigenous territory and the encroachment of settler land. The forced relocation of thousands of Native Americans by the U.S. government resulted from the Indian Removal Act of 1830, most famously the Trail of Tears of the Cherokee Nation, where about 4,000 people died as a result of exposure, disease, and hunger (Wikipedia).Furthermore, the legal principle known as the “Doctrine of Discovery” was created by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1823 in the Johnson v. McIntosh case. According to the doctrine, European countries gained sovereignty over Native lands through “discovery,” erasing Native land rights and legitimizing colonial expansion (Wikipedia).South Africa: The “Empty Land” Myth and the Marginalization of the KhoisanIn South Africa, European settlers employed the “Empty Land” myth to justify colonizing the region. The myth stated that the land was empty prior to European arrival, even though Indigenous communities such as the Khoisan and Bantu-speaking communities inhabited it. Historians and archaeological findings prove the facts that these communities had established societies and cultures long before the colonization by Europeans (SAHistory).The Khoisan, one of the earliest populations to inhabit southern Africa, have suffered centuries of dispossession and marginalization. Even though they have a rich history of being in the country, they have been left out of land restitution programs in post-apartheid South Africa. They have been left out due to the fact that in the past, the Khoisan were grouped under the “coloured” category in apartheid times, and this has had a lingering effect on their recognition and rights in the modern period (Foreign Policy).The Settler HypocrisyThis reasoning is not only historically misleading but also hypocritical. The same arguments are consistently rejected when reversed by settler societies. For instance, in post-apartheid South Africa, demands that settlers return land because they are not Indigenous are consistently countered. This inconsistency highlights the self-interested nature of the settler narrative, which seeks to maintain privilege rather than do justice to Indigenous peoples.Challenging the Narrative and Solidarity for JusticeIt is necessary to challenge these narratives in totality. It is an essential step toward reconciliation and justice to honor and acknowledge Indigenous peoples’ rights and histories. Also, the historically dispossessed need to unite in solidarity to challenge and destroy these unfair myths. United by their advocacy of the truth and for one another, the dispossessed can strive for a more equitable future.Overall, the universal defence of the settler is a false, misrepresenting, and illogical explanation which must be met with challenge and dismantling. On the basis of collective understanding of historical fact and Indigenous/historically dispossessed peoples’ solidarity, true progress can only be achieved in reconciliation and justice.