AuthorNicholas Buck, SFSU For hundreds of years the United States government has oppressed Native Americans through acts of genocide and underhanded dealing to steal the property of Indians, erode the culture and spirituality of Indians, and to divide them so that they would eventually melt away into the homogeneity of American culture or simply die off. But so many Indians on the reservation reject American culture, and refuse to melt into the pot. For them: "The ties to tribal heritage are too strong, the abuses of the past and present too vivid, and the memory of freedom too lasting for many Indians. A substantial number of reservation Indians see the white man as little more than a passing episode in a tribal history which spans millennia." (Deloria,1974,p.12) In public schools and in the main stream, people tend to conclude that the Indians enjoy a peaceful life on reservations with advantages like casinos to compensate for what has happened to them. It is portrayed that they have everything they could want. Over the years since 1897 when congress passed federal law onto Indians and required Presidential approval for tribal legislation, Indians have struggled against the gradual erosion of control over their land and their governance.
"1972 was the year for the Indian to gain the nation’s spotlight… The government, fearful of the quickened pace of Indian discontent, created its own organization, called the national tribal chairmen’s association...while activists gained national media reputations they watched promise after promise made by the federal government during demonstrations dissipate when their protests had concluded."(Deloria,1974,p.52) |