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well....right now I'd wish to be an american indian to have a house in a reservation and not to have to pay taxes. Isn't that great in this downturn economy ?
really? you wish you lived on the reservation, well i wish you could too, cause you have NO idea what rez life is like, oh yeah the so called free housing, let me tell you reservations are like 3rd world countries, many navajo have no heat in their homes, they have no running water, they do not have enough food. go to your nearest reservation and go look at a house see if you still want to live there.
well....right now I'd wish to be an american indian to have a house in a reservation and not to have to pay taxes. Isn't that great in this downturn economy ?
Ignorant statement.
Are you willing to be among the one in every three women who are raped on reservations? Are you willing to give up all of your rights for corrupt tribal councils and tribal law enforcement (tribal, not BIA)? Do you want to live amid the worst poverty, educational, and medical services in the nation? You would choose to live amid rampant gang violence and meth labs? You want to live were addicted parents outnumber sober ones? Really?
well....right now I'd wish to be an american indian to have a house in a reservation and not to have to pay taxes. Isn't that great in this downturn economy ?
Not every NDN lives on a reservation. Those who do still pay taxes if they work off the reservation.
I work for my tribe and pay both federal and state taxes.
I live in a city, and bought my own house. That means I pay property taxes.
There are some horrid conditions on some reservations, as LifeLongMOgal pointed out. Aaron Huey portrayed the worst of the worst, because there are bright spots, too. Some of the Lakota have taken back the authority of their school systems and have included their language and culture. It has improved students' performance, aptitude and attitude.
There are a lot of erroneous statements on this thread. You want to see what a few NDN's have accomplished?
Desert Rock Energy Project | Navajo Nation (http://www.desertrockenergyproject.com/navajo_nation.htm - broken link)
The biggest point is to accept the past truthfully, and move forward. Don't lie or sugar coat history. It's history.
Speaking only for me, I don't live in the past, but I won't forget what happened, either. The past is a part of my blood, but the future is what I make it to be.
Hate is poisonous and contagious. When one gets angry, check it. Re-balance and move forward.
I didn't deny anything except your notion of what genocide is. Your notion (and the UN's) is so wide as to make almost any war into "genocide". If forcing the Indians of Illinois to move to Kansas and Oklahoma was "genocide" then we need a new word to define what went on at Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
Your saying that what happened to the Indians at our hands is no different than what the Germans did to the Jews is ridiculous. What gives the lie to your statement is that after more than 200 years there are many Indians in The United States, in ony four years the Germans damned near exterminated the Jews in the areas they controlled. "Exterminated" as in killed everyone, root and branch. Not "killed enough to make the rest give up and go back to the reservation", no EXTERMINATED.
Give me an example of any Indian nation that The United States government exterminated or even attempted to exterminate. You can't.
Maybe they can't ... but I can .... the US government distributed blankets to native Americans infected with smallpox ... clearly an act of genocide. The US government paid for each native killed ... the proof? A scalp. Hollywood wants you to believe that scalping was what them dastardly Injuns did ... but they only did that in retaliation for that being done to them ... the white man was paid ... per scalp.
Once again the patriotic American circle tries to paint a pretty picture of what really happened during the European settlement of America. Of course you don't want to consider what happened genocide, because no one wants to think that we, the chosen wise ones, would have ever committed such atrocities. But it happened and no amount of sugar-coating or word play will change that. And so what if the tribes warred amongst each other. White men have done nothing but war with each other in their respective territories since the beginning of recorded history. Does that make it alright for us to have come to this new world and slaughter innocent people in the name of imperial growth and wealth. You just don't want to entertain the thought of your good people committing such an unbelievably inhuman act. And just so everyone can know exactly what "genocide" really means, I have included the definition of genocide according to the UN Convention in Dec. 1948. Stop lying to yourselves about what happened right here in our own country in the not so distant past. You are not responsible for the sins of your forefathers. But it is your responsibility to accept past events and admit they were wrong.
Genocide by provision of the UN Convention, Dec. 1948 is defined as follows: any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. Also includes a list of 5 types of criminal actions.
Killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction in whole or part, imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, forcibly transferring children of the group to another group
Hitler may have been more organized in his efforts to kill the Jews, Gypsies, etc. But what he did is no different than what we did to the Native Americans. We crossed their borders, we gave them our rules to follow, and when they would not obey, we slaughtered them.
what rules were the Jews told to fallow? why most you bring the past,what is it exactly you want your ancestor to do seeing that they are dead already.should we line up a few million Europeans and shoot them. will that satisfied your displeasure with Americans for what they did! this kind of thing has been happening since time began.Now we just have to make sure we stay strong as a nation so that it does not happen to us!!
Not every NDN lives on a reservation. Those who do still pay taxes if they work off the reservation.
I work for my tribe and pay both federal and state taxes.
I live in a city, and bought my own house. That means I pay property taxes.
There are some horrid conditions on some reservations, as LifeLongMOgal pointed out. Aaron Huey portrayed the worst of the worst, because there are bright spots, too. Some of the Lakota have taken back the authority of their school systems and have included their language and culture. It has improved students' performance, aptitude and attitude.
There are a lot of erroneous statements on this thread. You want to see what a few NDN's have accomplished?
Desert Rock Energy Project | Navajo Nation (http://www.desertrockenergyproject.com/navajo_nation.htm - broken link)
The biggest point is to accept the past truthfully, and move forward. Don't lie or sugar coat history. It's history.
Speaking only for me, I don't live in the past, but I won't forget what happened, either. The past is a part of my blood, but the future is what I make it to be.
Hate is poisonous and contagious. When one gets angry, check it. Re-balance and move forward.
That is terrific advice. THE MOST INTELLIGENT and ENLIGHTENED statement I've read on city-data.
Congratulations ... in a sea of ignorance, wisdom overcomes, and compassion conquers.
It was the British who distributed the smallpox blankets during the French and Indian War, there was no US government at that time. That was intentional. It was mostly state or territorial governments that had the scalp bounty.
Again, there were atrocities committed by both sides against the other.
Maybe they can't ... but I can .... the US government distributed blankets to native Americans infected with smallpox ... clearly an act of genocide. The US government paid for each native killed ... the proof? A scalp. Hollywood wants you to believe that scalping was what them dastardly Injuns did ... but they only did that in retaliation for that being done to them ... the white man was paid ... per scalp.
Shall I go on?
If you do go on use facts rather than assertions.
For instance cite when The United States government handed out infected blankets to Indians. (I know who may have and it wasn't The United States but a Swiss mercenary in employ of the Brits during Pontiac's War.)
Cite when The United States government payed for scalps.
Canadian Indians were scalping their enemies when the French first arrived. Not surprising when you consider that many primitive peoples take trophies of dead enemies. For instance the antique Irish took an enemy's entire head not just his scalp.
For instance cite when The United States government handed out infected blankets to Indians. (I know who may have and it wasn't The United States but a Swiss mercenary in employ of the Brits during Pontiac's War.)
Cite when The United States government payed for scalps.
Canadian Indians were scalping their enemies when the French first arrived. Not surprising when you consider that many primitive peoples take trophies of dead enemies. For instance the antique Irish took an enemy's entire head not just his scalp.
Just one source ... but, as is normal, people tend not to research any further than is enough to support their beliefs ... and it is also true that the victors generally write the history books to their favor.
Here's a little start in the education you'll refuse to pursue. How do I know? Because you'd have already educated yourself if you were inclined to.
It's not a secret that the British have been committing genocide around the world for their entire history ... same with Americans, and it's only the Americans themselves that seem virtually clueless about it.
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