I am so glad you asked this question! I have been waiting to answer this all my life. ;-)
If I were Prime Minister or President of my region,
First, I would figure out how much land we robbed and stole from the indigenous people, and estimate how many indigenous people we killed and hurt.
Second, I would come out with a fair price for the lands and their casualties, then add interest to get a total amount.
Third, I would budget to pay them back in installments if I can't pay it all at the same time.
Finally, I would let indigenous people have their own autonomous government. They decide what they want to do with the debt we pay them back. They have my full support and protection. No questions asked. Period.
I agree in theory that would be right to the indigenous. I was thinking it through and decided that no one alive today that has not committed the atrocities should be made by force to pay for them. I don't think I have the wisdom to solve this problem. I guess if I were president I would have to immediately resign as a matter of principle.
And then what about people decended from colonists who through no fault of their own have also been subjected to the perpetual genocide of the state?
I guess before leaving office I would have to abolish and perma-ban banks at least.
Haha ... That's why I am neither a Prime Minister nor a President. The majority of voters wouldn't want to elect me.
But seriously, the price I paid for my land would have been higher if it were not robbed from the indigenous people in the first place.
What if land is actually not owned? You are still basing your choices on a colonial principle that land is a commodity to be bought or sold. Indigenous peoples view the land as something to be shared by all and that they are a part of the land. Nobody owns it. As a result, land ownership results in slavery as we are the land! So how would you reconcile that within your government since your power and authority is based on land ownership and occupation?
I don't think I can reconcile it today within the current government, which is base on a colonial principle. What I can do is to reconcile with the indigenous people as an individual. Treat them as equal, respect their culture, and be a good friend.
My approach as well! Bravo!
So, are you saying then, that you are able to put a price tag on the harm and that money would heal and remedy the relationship? I'm curious as to how you will convince or persuade your population to let go of their bias and discrimination against them as well as dealing with the fear they feel about the accumulation of wealth often held in land that may have been acquired as a result of genocide and theft. How would you reconcile those issues within your government?
You are right. Life loss and the harm done are priceless even though the government and the insurance company can put a price tag on it. I can never convince my people to let go of their lands they consider to be privately owned properties. If the indigenous people were to receive government lands, they could share among their own people and those who share the same belief.
The real reconciliation is at the individual level. It only happens when each of us can treat them as equal, respect their culture, and make real friends with them.