On Reservations

[Storm]

What are your thoughts? Do they serve to preserve or marginalize First Nations cultures?

Are there other issues? I'm aware that many are quite impoverished, why do you think that is?

 

[painted wolf]

What are your thoughts? Do they serve to preserve or marginalize First Nations cultures?

Both or neither, it depends on the people.
Ultimately these places serve to keep native cultures alive and at least provide some buffer for the people to have a bit of breathing room.

Are there other issues? I'm aware that many are quite impoverished, why do you think that is?

Most are thriving... it's a mistake to think that reservations are all places of misery. :tsk:

Now those reservations that need help need it desperately...

But they are having the most trouble with poverty and crime for a wide range of reasons.
For example the Oglala Sioux at Pine Ridge are having severe problems due to two key factors. One, Native American governments are not allowed to punish crimes committed by White people on Reservation lands. Only the Federal Government can deal with crimes done by whites no matter how petty or how serious. Some white men have figured out that they are essentially immune to prosecution and brutal rapes and murders of Native Women go unpunished.

Technically, cases involving a non-Native American perpetrator and Native American victim fall under federal jurisdiction. According to the Department of Justice, 70% or more of violence experienced by Native American women is committed by persons not of the same race. The problem of violence against Native American women is exacerbated by federal apathy in law enforcement and the courts, and minimal funding for shelters, counseling, and education in Native American communities.

Native American Women and Violence

Basically the same problem comes up with drug use and racist violence.... and the Federal Government doesn't care or is "too busy" elsewhere.

They are also facing predatory businesses that set themselves up just across the borders to prey on and feed alcoholism. The Oglala Sioux at Pine Ridge are fighting the town of Whiteclay which exists solely to pump alcohol into the reservation. Alcohol is prohibited on Pine Ridge, yet just 200 feet from the border live 14 people making up the "town" of Whiteclay and they run Whiteclay's four liquor stores... the towns only industry... they sold nearly 5 million cans of beer and will do just about anything to keep the booze flowing across the border.

Oglala Sioux Tribe sues Whiteclay stores, beer makers, distributors
Stand with Pine Ridge Against Genocide in White Clay « Earth First! Newswire

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in Pine Ridge is around 70% and the teen suicide rate is 150% the national average.

The statistics on racist violence against Native Americans is horrifying.

Barbara Perry, a social science professor at the University of Ontario, has traveled the country in recent years to interview nearly 300 American Indians in the first large-scale study of hate crimes in border towns. She estimates that only around 10% of hate crimes against Native Americans are reported to law enforcement authorities, blaming the low reporting rate in large part on "historical and contemporary experience with the police, and the perception they do not take Native American victimization seriously."
Even the FBI's 2005 statistics on hate crimes that were reported to police show that while American Indians and Alaska Natives comprise only 1% of the U.S. population, they represent 2% of victims of racially motivated hate crimes. In 2004, a U.S. Department of Justice 10-year study entitled "American Indians and Crime" found a "disturbing picture of the victimization of American Indians and Alaska Natives."
According to the Department of Justice study, the overall violent crime rate among American Indians and Alaska Natives is 100 per 1,000 persons, meaning one out of 10 American Indians or Native Americans has been a victim of violence. That rate is twice as high as the rate for blacks, two and a half times higher than whites, and four and a half times higher than Asians.
The study also found that "American Indians are more likely than people of other races to experience violence at the hands of someone of a different race," with 70% of reported violent attacks perpetrated by non-Indians.
Even to seasoned crime statisticians, the results were startling. "We now know that American Indians experience a much greater exposure to violence than other race groups," said co-author Lawrence A. Greenfeld. "The common wisdom was that blacks experience the highest exposure to violence."

Violence Against American Indians is a Pervasive Problem | Southern Poverty Law Center

wa:do

 

[Storm]

Thanks, pw. I was totally unaware of that.

 

[Nashitheki]

"What are your thoughts? Do they serve to preserve or marginalize First Nations cultures?"

Both, they keep people together, but in a way that was forced upon them.

Some are still officially labeled as prisoner of war camps.

I've never lived on one, but have visited a good many.

 

[painted wolf]

It's a shame that so many people see reservations as "bad" places.... places where people suffer and are marginalized.

If people bothered to read some Native American news (as opposed to white news about native americans) they would see that these are thriving places of culture and excellence like any other community. Though many do deal with problems of racist violence as well as the issues that any other community deals with.

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/
Reznet News | Reporting from Native America
News

wa:do

 

[painted wolf]

in addition to the above... I think this view feeds into the "noble savage" and "poor indian" stereotypes that people seem to love to cling to.

That somehow American Indians are supposed to be a "dead" people relegated to the past... we used to be a brave noble culture but not anymore... and it's up to good "modern" people to save us from ourselves.

Not that I think that this is what every non-native thinks... but it seems to be a pretty common theme from what I've seen.

wa:do

 

[Nashitheki]

It's a shame that so many people see reservations as "bad" places.... places where people suffer and are marginalized.

If people bothered to read some Native American news (as opposed to white news about native americans) they would see that these are thriving places of culture and excellence like any other community. Though many do deal with problems of racist violence as well as the issues that any other community deals with.

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/
Reznet News | Reporting from Native America
News

wa:do

I agree, reservations keep people together and preserves culture. Many have left to pursue the American dream.

I think it's cool you've visited Indian Reservations,

but like the safe, well kept, green zone-like tourist spots that the cruise ships dock at in the West Indies, the Indian gift shops, tour routes and pow wow grounds do not show how life really is on some reservations. I'm sure many of them enjoy living without running water or electricity. Just like the ancestors eh ? I've a good friend who grew up on a Lakota reservation. It's not so bad where my people come from.

 

[Nashitheki]

Pine Ridge

[youtube]TH-Z0l24h88[/youtube]
Images of Pine Ridge Reservation - YouTube

 

[painted wolf]

I agree, reservations keep people together and preserves culture. Many have left to pursue the American dream.

I think it's cool you've visited Indian Reservations,

but like the safe, well kept, green zone-like tourist spots that the cruise ships dock at in the West Indies, the Indian gift shops, tour routes and pow wow grounds do not show how life really is on some reservations. I'm sure many of them enjoy living without running water or electricity. Just like the ancestors eh ? I've a good friend who grew up on a Lakota reservation. It's not so bad where my people come from.

Like I said... not all rez's are without running water or electricity and many of them are communities like any other.

Like I also said, the conditions on Pine Ridge and in some other areas are deplorable and we need to do more to help. But it's a complex problem that won't be solved by simple well wishes or platitudes... or anger.

If the tribal government of Pine Ridge actually had the power to enforce laws without having to beg the Feds to do it... I think things would improve faster.
If they didn't have to deal with monsters in Whiteclay, things wouldn't have gotten as bad as they are.

Pine Ridge is the textbook example of how badly we can neglect the truly needy in our midst. We need to change that and focus on helping them find real solutions to the problems they face.

wa:do

 

[Nashitheki]

Of course some reservations everyone does not get to share in the bounty

[youtube]CCbeq9UIxq0[/youtube]
Sorrow and Poverty in the Cherokee Nation - YouTube

 

[painted wolf]

the same can be said for New York City...

Appalachia in general is a very impoverished area no matter what race you belong to. That doesn't mean we should get rid of Appalachia, it means we should be doing more to help them develop a stable and prosperous economy.

And by and large Nations are doing just that... no place is perfect, but they are improving and undergoing cultural and economic renewals.

Investing In Indian Country - Northwest Area Foundation
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwo...rt-peck-a-special-day-200-years-in-the-making
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwo...ma-native-american-youth-language-fair-111706
Men don heels for abuse awareness - North Kitsap Herald

wa:do

 

[Nashitheki]

If you were referring to the video, I believe it was about the Oklahoma Cherokee.

You seem to know a lot about reservations. Do you have close relations on the recognized Cherokee North Carolina or Oklahoma reservations ?

 

[painted wolf]

wa:do

 

[Nashitheki]

wa:do

Guess I'll have to take this as an answer. Thanks.

 

[painted wolf]

If you were referring to the video, I believe it was about the Oklahoma Cherokee.

You seem to know a lot about reservations. Do you have close relations on the recognized Cherokee North Carolina or Oklahoma reservations ?

I won't say I know a lot... but I've gotten to hear from a diversity of people who have grown up on or worked with the people there.

I have heard stories that break my heart and stories that give me hope. Sometimes they are the same stories.

I don't have any close family, but I have had dear friends who grew up on the North Carolina reservation. I've know a few people who grew up on thePenobscot and Passamaquoddy reservation in Maine, the Nipmuc reservation as well as people from various reservations in New York and Canada.

I try to keep up with news from various nations, both the good and the bad and I try to help in what small ways I can for now... until I can do more.

wa:do

 

[painted wolf]

I just wanted to add, that I know that this is a very sensitive issue for all of us. It's good to talk about it, even when we disagree.

I think this quote pretty well sums up my feelings.

"Poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it is man-made and can be removed by the actions of human beings." - Nelson Mandela

wa:do

 

[Broken Smoke]

If you were referring to the video, I believe it was about the Oklahoma Cherokee.

You seem to know a lot about reservations. Do you have close relations on the recognized Cherokee North Carolina or Oklahoma reservations ?

New Hampshire Indian Tribes and Languages:flirt:

 

[painted wolf]

New Hampshire Indian Tribes and Languages:flirt:

thankfully New Hampshire is part of a larger region and like I said, there are lots of reservations within a days journey of me and I've talked with several people from them.
The New Hampshire Abenaki (along with their families and friends in Vermont) are still working toward recognition by the Federal Government.
The same with the Penobscot.
I've done some work to support the New Hampshire Inter-tribal Council and it's efforts.

wa:do

 

[Broken Smoke]

tribalrecognition.cherokee.org > Home

 

[Broken Smoke]

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