Indigenous People in Africa: Contestations, Empowerment and Group Rights

8. The past is never just in the past

149 Indigenous People in Africa: Contestations, Empowerment and Group Rights The past is never just in the past Indigenouspeoplesandaframework forconfrontationandredress Ridwan Laher1 INTRODUCTION In recent decades there has been a steady growth in the number of studies aimed at theorising and analysing the problem of confronting the past. This focus has in large part stemmed from a general consensus that the past, which can be described as an ‘ugly past’ in reference to associated human rights violations and other atrocities, cannot merely be ignored if individuals, societies and nation-states seek redress, reconciliation and progressive change.2 A definitive characteristic of this research and writing is that a robust interdisciplinary literature has emerged to offer significant insights into the purposes and processes of confronting an ugly past. This chapter embraces this spirit and vigour of research by offering a discussion of the need to confront the oppressive conditions that indigenous peoples face in post-colonial Africa.3 What follows is an extension of previous work that focused on theorising a confrontation with the past and the politics of memory and identity.4 This chapter has three overarching purposes. First, the overall focus is on extending the conceptual terrain of confronting the past to indigenous peoples in Africa. The discussion is then moved on to the second objective of considering whether the emphasis of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on truth telling may be an appropriate process for such a confrontation. Finally, the chapter draws together the discussion to evaluate the purpose of the nation-state as a moral community in addressing the place of indigenous peoples in post-colonial Africa. To meet these objectives, the discussion below proposes a theoretical framework that describes the condition of indigenous peoples as collective trauma caused by colonial and postcolonial oppression and neglect. The emphasis on a collective trauma serves two analytical purposes that will be developed below. First, the condition is continuous and intergenerational. Second, a collective trauma is a severe disruption of life conditions, and therefore it cannot simply be ignored or dismissed. Taken together, these two analytical symptoms press the 8 150 Africa Institute for South Africa The past is never just in the past | Ridwan Laher need for further research. A significant purpose of such research would be to assist indigenous leaders, policymakers and their respective governments, civil society and non-governmental organisations towards implementing changes aimed at holistic redress. The discussion part of this chapter, which appears at the very end, offers a contextual commentary on the overall strategy of confronting the past. The contention is that the untenable condition of indigenous peoples across Africa can be significantly addressed by a process of confrontation aimed at democratic nation building. Such a priority would be shaped by developmental policies that do not deride indigenous identities but rather promote and support wide-reaching socio-political and economic pluralisation. To get to this point, however, it is necessary to source the all-important political will of the ruling elite and other major stakeholders in the nation-state to address the problems of indigenous life. In a discussion like this it is almost impossible to avoid delving into aspects of the nature of the African nation-state, particularly its constructed artificiality, so to speak. Questions pertaining to the content, character and priorities of the post-colonial nation-state cannot be avoided when analysts discuss aspects of nation building. In the African context this is no easy task, given that the post-colonial condition is fraught with structural and other socio-political and economic challenges inherited from colonial rule. In too many cases these debilitating conditions have worsened in a competitive global environment where national aspirations are frustrated by scarce development capital. Add to this the further domestic challenges of endemic political instability, weak state and civic institutions, and endemic corruption, and it becomes fairly plain to see why the concerns of indigenous peoples are not prioritised, let alone recognised. The unfortunate reality for indigenous peoples in the post-colonial era is that they find themselves on the margins of nation building and in too many cases they are deemed to be hindrances to national developmental aspirations and policies. There is a tendency among the ruling elite to contest indigenous identities and developmental concerns, specifically as they relate to land tenure and reform, language and cultural rights, citizenship and political representation. The unavoidable outcome is that indigenous peoples endure endemic discrimination that underlines the continuing...