Indigenous Voices for Israel

"I was worried about the pro-Palestinian voices among Maoris. I was concerned about the way the Indigenous voice was being aligned. A lot of it was based on a false narrative."

"They [Jews] have more than a three-and-a-half thousand year connection with the land. Their ancestors have lived there since time immemorial."

"Dispossession, disenfranchisement, discrimination; all these things that also the Jewish people have suffered from [as have the Maoris in New Zealand]. We see it and recognize it. And they had the same Indigenous longing for their land as we have for our land."

"We're living in a time when antisemitism is reaching horrendous levels. We wanted to have an embassy for all Indigenous people. We tend to be minorities in our lands, so it's important to join our forces together globally to stand with Israel."

"It was amazing to be there [in Toronto for the March for Israel]. We held our banners and stood with the Jewish community. They had tears in their eyes, thanking us."

Dr. Sheree Trotter, co-director, Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem (IEJ)

Members of Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem at Toronto's Walk with Israel march. Photo by Sheree Trotter

At Sunday's March for Israel in Toronto, organizers and tens of thousands of Jews were delighted to have the welcome company of Canadian Iranians and Christian groups among them, marching in solidarity with their neighbours against the rising swell of antisemitism in Canada and elsewhere around the world. There was another very special group supporting Israel and Jews, a group that had come from abroad and that invited others from Canada to attend the rally. 

 

Indigenous supporters whose enthusiasm for recognizing Israel as indigenous to their ancestral land came out, some from halfway around the world, others from within Canada itself.

A global group of First Nations people belonging to Indigenous Coalition for Israel, were there marching alongside an estimated 50,000 others in solidarity against antisemitism in any and all its pernicious forms, lending empathy and support to beleaguered Jews. Among them was Dr. Sheree Trotter, co-director of Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem, a Maori and historian with a doctorate from the University of Auckland who co-founded the Indigenous Coalition for Israel in 2021.

 

Dr. Trotter rejects the prevalent erroneous belief of Jews as a colonial, occupying force in Israel. She and others with like opinions view Jewish Israelis as authentic people of Indigenous heritage, seeing a great similarity between the way New Zealand's Maoris, or various First Nations in Canada, the United States and elsewhere in the world have Indigenous recognition. Dr. Trotter cites distinguishing similarities between Jewish culture and that of Maori heritage.

 

The struggle to maintain Indigenous spoken languages has its counterpart in the resurrection of Hebrew, once used only as a distinguishing language for sacred Hebraic texts, now alive and well and the lingua franca of the State of Israel. "It's miraculous the way they've resurrected their language so it's the everyday language of Israel today", she marvelled. The creation of Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem is new, having opened its doors in February, in Israel.

 

Sheree Trotter (left) greets Grand Chief Lynda Prince at an event this month in Seattle. Photo by Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem

Grand Chief Lynda Prince, chief of the Ulkatcho First Nation in British Columbia is the North American envoy of the newly-installed IEJ; Grand Chief Lynda Prince travelled from Canada to the Israeli Knesset to propose an Indigenous embassy twenty-five years ago. Maori leader Monte Ohia in the 1990s led the World Christian Indigenous Peoples movement, giving his backing to the inclusion of Jews as Indigenous Peoples. "We are extremely elated that the IEJ has become reality, and thank the Maori who assisted to push it through to fruition", stated Grand Chief Prince. 

Dr. Trotter spoke of the exhilaration of the experience, being involved in Sunday's Walk with Israel Toronto march. The Jewish community, she said, fully understood how the story of a Maori from Auckland would find much in common with a Jew in Toronto, or in Israel. "When we tell our story, they totally get it."

Sheree Trotter at the opening of Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem at the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem on Feb. 1. Photo by Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem

"There is no universally recognized definition of Indigeneity. However, a number of criteria ... are generally accepted: self-identification, historical continuity with pre-colonial and/or pre-settler societies: strong links to territories and surrounding natural resources; distinct social, economic, or political systems; distinct language, culture and beliefs; form non-dominant groups of society; resolve to maintain and reproduce their ancestral environments and systems as distinct communities."

"It is not difficult to see that the Jewish people fulfill the requirements for Indigeneity."

Dr. Sheree Trotter: A Light for Indigenous Nations