Apologies to Indigenous peoples refer to apologies extended by political leaders or representatives, acting on behalf of a political entity or nation, to acknowledge and express remorse for a mass atrocity that has been committed against Indigenous peoples.
During the era of colonization, European empires colonized territories inhabited by Indigenous peoples and the colonies created new countries that would contain Indigenous peoples within their new political borders. [5] In such processes, there were a series of atrocious crimes against Indigenous populations. Given that the dominant group has held political and economic power, these facts had not been officially investigated and recognized. [9] [10]
During colonialism, many Western officials have expressed concerns, enacted laws to protect Indigenous peoples, and have punished a few colonial agents for some of their colonial atrocities. [11] Widely known examples are the Laws of Burgos and the New Laws in the Spanish Empire, which were poorly implemented. [12] On occasion, some Indigenous government agencies committed atrocities, as is the case of the Indian Protection Service in Brazil as described in the Figueiredo Report, [13] [14] or the Office of Indigenous Affairs in the United States, who acknowledged its systemic shortcomings. [15]
Indigenous groups have publicly requested apologies from a number of states and Christian churches for their historical or contemporary role in atrocities committed against Indigenous peoples. [16] [17] [18] No country has ever voluntarily acknowledged committing genocide. [19]
In 2023 Indigenous leaders from Antigua and Barbuda, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines issued an open letter. The signed letter requests King Charles III to acknowledge at his coronation the "horrific impacts" of colonization. [20] [21] [22]
In recent decades governments have acknowledged past atrocities or apologized for the policies of previous governments. [23] In their apologies, some state officials do not always agree with scholarly characterization of the atrocities. [24] [25]
| From | To | Scope | Year of apology | Reference(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Toba and Moqoit | Napalpí massacre, 1924 | 2022 | [26] |
| Australia | Indigenous peoples | Stolen generations, 1905-1970s | 2008 | [27] [28] [29] [30] |
| Belgium | Belgian Congo | Colonial abuse | 2020 | [31] [32] [33] [34] |
| Canada | Indigenous peoples | Canadian Indian residential school system, 1867-1998 | 2008, 2017 | [35] [36] [37] [38] |
| Canada | Inuit | Forced relocation, mistreatment, dog slayings | 2019, 2024 | [39] [40] [41] |
| California | Indigenous peoples | California genocide, 1846-1873 | 2019 | [42] [43] |
| Catalonia | Indigenous peoples | Colonial abuse in Mexican conquest | 2019 | [44] [45] |
| Chile | Mapuche | Colonial abuse | 2017 | [35] [46] |
| Germany | Tanzania | Colonial killings | 2023 | [47] |
| Germany | Herero and Nama | Herero and Nama genocide, 1904-7 | 2021 | [48] |
| Mexico | Maya peoples | Historical injustice and contemporary discrimination | 2021 | [49] [50] |
| Mexico | Yaqui | Marginalization, injustice and abuse | 2021 | [51] [52] |
| Netherlands | Suriname | Slave trade and atrocities committed against the Indigenous populations | 2023 | [53] [54] |
| Netherlands | Indonesia | Excessive violence, 1945-1949 | 2020 | [55] [56] [57] |
| Netherlands | Indonesia | Rawagede massacre | 2011 | [58] [59] |
| New Zealand | Moriori | Expropriation, slavery, and treaty breaking | 2020 | [35] [60] [61] |
| Norway | Sámi | Norwegianization (forced assimilation) | 1997, 2024 | [62] [63] |
| El Salvador | Indigenous peoples | Oppression and extermination | 2010 | [35] [64] |
| United Kingdom | Tainui | Land appropriation and invasion | 1995 | [65] |
| United Kingdom | Kĩkũyũ | Colonial abuse | 2013 | [66] [67] |
| United States | Guatemala | Role in Guatemalan Civil War in support for military government, 1960–96 | 1999 | [68] |
| United States | Native Hawaiians | Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, 1893 | 1993 | [69] [70] [71] |
| United States | Indigenous peoples | Violence, abuse and negligence | 2000, 2010 | [35] [72] [73] |
| United States | Indigenous peoples | American Indian boarding schools, 1819-1969 | 2024 | [74] |
Pope Francis apologized for the Catholic Church's role in colonization and for "crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America". [75] He has also apologized for the Church's role in the operation of residential schools in Canada, [76] qualifying it as genocide. [77] In 2023, the Vatican rejected the Doctrine of Discovery. [78] [79]
In 2022 Justin Welby, the Primate of the Church of England, apologized to the Indigenous peoples in Canada for the role of the church in the Canadian Indian residential school system, [80] adding to similar apologies by other churches in Canada such as the Anglican Church of Canada. [81] [82]
Scouts Canada has issued an apology for "its role in the eradication of First Nation, Inuit and Métis people for more than a century". [83]
In 2016 the Australian Psychological Society apologized to Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. [84] In 2023, the American Psychological Association issued an offer of apology to First Peoples for more than a century of harmful practices. [85] [86] In 2024, the Canadian Medial Association issued an apology for mistreatment and unethical experimentation. [87]
Professor Alice MacLachlan has criticized the apologies of the Australian and Canadian governments as they have apologized for specific policies, "avoiding the broader question of apologizing for a much longer history of genocidal appropriation and displacement." [88] Francesca Dominello has said official apologies from Canada and Australia have done little to change the status quo for Indigenous peoples. [89]
Indigenous historian Gary Foley has criticized the Australian government's apology for the Stolen Generations, as there is lack of compensation. [90]
The U.S. government officially recognizes 574 Indian tribes in the contiguous 48 states and Alaska.
In Asia, for example, only one country, the Philippines, has officially adopted the term "Indigenous peoples," and established a law specifically to protect Indigenous peoples' rights. Only two countries in Africa, Burundi and Cameroon, have statements about the rights of Indigenous peoples in their constitutions.
Indigenous populations are communities that live within, or are attached to, geographically distinct traditional habitats or ancestral territories, and who identify themselves as being part of a distinct cultural group, descended from groups present in the area before modern states were created and current borders defined. They generally maintain cultural and social identities, and social, economic, cultural and political institutions, separate from the mainstream or dominant society or culture.
"From Lemarchand's volume, it is clear that what is remembered and what is not remembered is a political choice, producing a dominant narrative that reflects the victor's version of history while silencing dissenting voices. Building on a critical genocide studies approach, this volume seeks to contribute to this conversation by critically examining cases of genocide that have been "hidden" politically, socially, culturally, or historically in accordance with broader systems of political and social power". (p2) ...the U.S. government, for most of its existence, stated openly and frequently that its policy was to destroy Native American ways of life through forced integration, forced removal, and death. An 1881 report of the U.S. commissioner of Indian Affairs on the "Indian question" is indicative of the decades- long policy: "There is no one who has been a close observer of Indian history and the effect of contact of Indians with civilization who is not well satisfied that one of two things must eventually take place, to wit, either civilization or extermination of the Indian. Savage and civilized life cannot live and prosper on the same ground. One of the two must die." (p3) "As such it is important for the peoples of the United States and Canada to recognize their shared legacies of genocide, which have too often been hidden, ignored, forgotten, or outright denied." (p3) "After all, much of North America was swindled from Indigenous peoples through the mythical but still powerful Doctrine of Discovery, the perceived right of conquest, and deceitful treaties. Restitution for colonial genocide would thus entail returning stolen territories". (p9) "Thankfully a new generation of genocide scholarship is moving beyond these timeworn and irreconcilable divisions." (p11)"Variations of the Modoc ordeal occurred elsewhere during the conquest and colonization of Africa, Asia, Australia, and North and South America. Indigenous civilizations repeatedly resisted invaders seeking to physically annihilate them in whole or in part. Many of these catastrophes are known as wars. Yet by carefully examining the intentions and actions of colonizers and their advocates it is possible to reinterpret some of these cataclysms as both genocides and wars of resistance. The Modoc case is one of them" (p120). "Memory, remembering, forgetting, and denial are inseparable and critical junctures in the study and examination of genocide. Absence or suppression of memories is not merely a lack of acknowledgment of individual or collective experiences but can also be considered denial of a genocidal crime (p150). Erasure of historical memory and modification of historical narrative influence the perception of genocide. If it is possible to avoid conceptually blocking colonial genocides for a moment, we can consider denial in a colonial context. Perpetrators initiate and perpetuate denial" (p160).
Imposition of a new religion, uprooting from their lands and loss of ownership thereof, restriction of freedom of movement, acculturation... The 'Burgos Laws': a complete fallacy of human rights...
In 1993, Congress issued an apology to the people of Hawaii for the U.S. government's role in the overthrow and acknowledged that 'the native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty'.
It's true, I didn't use the word because it didn't come to my mind, but I described the genocide and asked for forgiveness, pardon for this activity that is genocidal. For example, I condemned this too: taking away children, changing culture, changing mentality, changing traditions, changing a race, let's put it that way, an entire culture. Yes, genocide is a technical word. I didn't use it because it didn't come to my mind, but I described it... It's true, yes, yes, it's genocide. You can all stay calm about this. You can report that I said that it was genocide.
[Rudd] could have been a lot more honest and taken the opportunity to make it an apology to all Aboriginal people of Australia accompanied by some offer of reconciliation – a meaningful offer in terms of reparation and compensation...