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The Invention of the “Indian”
One of the first acts of the European colonization of the Americas was an act of naming or, more accurately, misnaming.
L'invention de l'« Indien »
L'un des premiers gestes de la colonisation européenne des Amériques n'a pas été de voler les terres autochtones, mais bien l'attribution d'un nom et plus exactement l'attribution erronée d'un nom.
Colonization
When the European powers set their sights on North America, some three hundred years after the so-called discovery of the continent (which for them was the “New World”), it became a location for French and British settlements.
Colonisation
Lorsque les puissances européennes se sont tournées vers l'Amérique du Nord, environ 300 ans après la supposée découverte du continent (qui, pour eux, était le « Nouveau Monde »), cette région est devenue un lieu de colonisation pour les Français et les Britanniques.
Colonial Power Struggle
War and political changes also contributed to the destruction of indigenous ways, livelihoods, and physical existence.
Les luttes de pouvoir coloniales
La guerre et les changements politiques ont également contribué à la destruction du mode de vie, des moyens de subsistance et de l'existence physique des Autochtones.
United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Crime of Genocide
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, or the Genocide Convention, is an international treaty that criminalizes genocide and obligates state parties to pursue the enforcement of its prohibition.
Negotiating the Convention on the Punishment and Prevention of the Crime of Genocide
Lemkin proved himself a relentless activist. He worked tirelessly as a lobbyist, a strategist, and an agitator, in order to establish the Genocide Convention with the help of the United Nations on December 9, 1948.
International Law in the Age of Genocide
While Lemkin was able to convince diplomats at the United Nations to pass the Genocide Convention, his work was not complete upon his death. The job of lobbying governments across the world to ratify the convention was left to ordinary people.
France, Great Britain, and Russia Joint Declaration, 1915
In 1915, France, Great Britain, and Russia, issued a declaration condemning the ongoing Armenian genocide carried out in the Ottoman Empire and threatening to hold the perpetrators accountable.
Excerpt from Axis Rule in Occupied Europe by Raphael Lemkin
This reading contains an excerpt from Axis Rule in Occupied Europe by Raphael Lemkin, where he coins the term genocide.
“Sovereignty cannot be conceived as the right to kill millions”
Raphael Lemkin was outraged when he heard that the mass murder of the Armenians went unpunished. He was haunted by the case of Soghomon Tehlirian—an Armenian survivor of the genocide who killed Mehmed Talaat, minister of the interior of the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey).