Basic Call To Consciousness

This book is a compelling critique of Western culture and an eloquent text on the rights of Indigenous nations. New contributions by John Mohawk, Chief Oren Lyons, and Jose Barreiro provide an added depth and continuity to the original edition.

Basic Call covers the 1977 conference on "Discrimination Against the Indigenous Populations of the Americas" hosted by the Non-Governmental Organizations of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Documented here are three position papers that were delivered at the UN by representatives of the Haudenosaunee, or Six Nation Iroquois. These papers were the first authentic analysis of the modern world ever committed to writing by an official body of Native people. They called for fundamental changes in the policies of developed nations and an end to the destruction of the natural world.

In this new edition John Mohawk introduces the events that transpired prior to the trip to the UN. Chief Oren Lyons gives an overview on the struggle for self-determination before and since the Geneva meetings. An afterword by Jose Barreiro looks to a new era of possibility for Native nations.

The issues addressed in Basic Call to Consciousness are as relevant today as when first written. This book speaks for the basic rights of humankind and all our relations.