Boozhoo niji,
I know this one is gonna start some fires, so be it. This have been bugging me for a couple of months and now I am bringing it out into the open for everyone to attack, flame, ridicule and possibly even get banned over.
I was at work a couple of days ago, on break and was talking to this guy. He was asking me why I decided to move from Florida to Minnesota and endure this crappy snowy weather when I could have all the sunshine I wanted. I said its not about weather, its about my culture. So we got off and started talking about culture, spirituality, language and finally, reservations. You know how in those conversations one thing leads to another right? Now I kinda respected this guy, he respected my need for being spiritual and getting close to my people. But then he one off's me with, "I think they should do away with the reservations. They started off as a holding pen at first, to convert the people to the new ways, but now they have, and the reservations have served their purpose." That was in a nutshell by the way. I wanted to save you all from his boring speech. Now I really, really wanted to enlighten him on the importance of "self determination" and "culture genocide", but all I got out was, "Well, to start off with, the reservations serve now as a gathering place, where we can still do our pow wows, dance, have sweat lodges, and live without prejudice."
He replied with, "Well that is what civic organizations and churches are for. I am just sick and tired of some native being able to come into town and do something, and then run back to the safety of the rez where the cops cannot touch him." I really wanted to continue the conversation with him, but his radio went off and he had to leave. Big fat sigh.
You know, when I moved up here I was prepared to meet with extreme prejudice. In fact, I really haven't seen a lot of it. Things are pretty quiet around here, and I live in the town that is closest to the south border of White Earth. But I do hear a lot of remarks like those. I know another guy that lives on the rez, has lived there his entire life, and he is white. He thinks it should go one of two ways. Either get rid of the reservations altogether, or close them up. The government comes in and buys out all of the land that white people own on the rez, and gives it back to the tribe, and then closes the borders. He says that if we want to be treated like a soveriegn nation, then thats exactly the way it should be. Cut off all funding and force the inhabitants to work and live on their own land. We would have to get passports to leave and green cards to live "off rez". My response to that was simple. We are already citizens of the United States. What are they gonna do? Uncitizenize us?
So after all of these remarks and everything, I had some time to think on it. Its easy when you are snow bound with no place to go. Are the reservations really important to us? Would we survive as a people if we did not have them? Would the traditions and language survive without them? Suppose for a moment that the government said, "OK, enough is enough, this is the United States and nowhere in the name does it say tribe or reservation. You guys are on your own." What would we do? What if the opposite were true, where they close the borders and actually make us independent nations with no outside funding? Could we survive on just the acerage provided? Would we be able to open trade negotiations with other countries? What exactly is the federal government's responsibility to us? Are they supposed to be like our parents for the rest of eternity?
I feel that we, as a people, would survive no matter what. I honestly believe that. We have endured much through thousands of years, and there are thousands yet to come. I know that many of the larger nations have the strength to negotiate with other countries and perhaps eventually enter the global economy. But I do not think that there are enough people to back up what our leaders are saying. Such is the fault of democracy. We vote in a leader and only the majority follows, not everyone. And in those ways sometimes a lot of talk is done, but a lot does not get done.
Now I leave it to everyone else to mull over. So what would you say or how would you react to a remark like that. I have to bite my tongue a lot because I have to keep my job. Now if I didn't have that job, I would probably speak my mind.
The reservations must stay, the federal government does owe us from now until eternity. We should be the only people allowed to own land on our reservations.
Derek
I know this one is gonna start some fires, so be it. This have been bugging me for a couple of months and now I am bringing it out into the open for everyone to attack, flame, ridicule and possibly even get banned over.
I was at work a couple of days ago, on break and was talking to this guy. He was asking me why I decided to move from Florida to Minnesota and endure this crappy snowy weather when I could have all the sunshine I wanted. I said its not about weather, its about my culture. So we got off and started talking about culture, spirituality, language and finally, reservations. You know how in those conversations one thing leads to another right? Now I kinda respected this guy, he respected my need for being spiritual and getting close to my people. But then he one off's me with, "I think they should do away with the reservations. They started off as a holding pen at first, to convert the people to the new ways, but now they have, and the reservations have served their purpose." That was in a nutshell by the way. I wanted to save you all from his boring speech. Now I really, really wanted to enlighten him on the importance of "self determination" and "culture genocide", but all I got out was, "Well, to start off with, the reservations serve now as a gathering place, where we can still do our pow wows, dance, have sweat lodges, and live without prejudice."
He replied with, "Well that is what civic organizations and churches are for. I am just sick and tired of some native being able to come into town and do something, and then run back to the safety of the rez where the cops cannot touch him." I really wanted to continue the conversation with him, but his radio went off and he had to leave. Big fat sigh.
You know, when I moved up here I was prepared to meet with extreme prejudice. In fact, I really haven't seen a lot of it. Things are pretty quiet around here, and I live in the town that is closest to the south border of White Earth. But I do hear a lot of remarks like those. I know another guy that lives on the rez, has lived there his entire life, and he is white. He thinks it should go one of two ways. Either get rid of the reservations altogether, or close them up. The government comes in and buys out all of the land that white people own on the rez, and gives it back to the tribe, and then closes the borders. He says that if we want to be treated like a soveriegn nation, then thats exactly the way it should be. Cut off all funding and force the inhabitants to work and live on their own land. We would have to get passports to leave and green cards to live "off rez". My response to that was simple. We are already citizens of the United States. What are they gonna do? Uncitizenize us?
So after all of these remarks and everything, I had some time to think on it. Its easy when you are snow bound with no place to go. Are the reservations really important to us? Would we survive as a people if we did not have them? Would the traditions and language survive without them? Suppose for a moment that the government said, "OK, enough is enough, this is the United States and nowhere in the name does it say tribe or reservation. You guys are on your own." What would we do? What if the opposite were true, where they close the borders and actually make us independent nations with no outside funding? Could we survive on just the acerage provided? Would we be able to open trade negotiations with other countries? What exactly is the federal government's responsibility to us? Are they supposed to be like our parents for the rest of eternity?
I feel that we, as a people, would survive no matter what. I honestly believe that. We have endured much through thousands of years, and there are thousands yet to come. I know that many of the larger nations have the strength to negotiate with other countries and perhaps eventually enter the global economy. But I do not think that there are enough people to back up what our leaders are saying. Such is the fault of democracy. We vote in a leader and only the majority follows, not everyone. And in those ways sometimes a lot of talk is done, but a lot does not get done.
Now I leave it to everyone else to mull over. So what would you say or how would you react to a remark like that. I have to bite my tongue a lot because I have to keep my job. Now if I didn't have that job, I would probably speak my mind.
The reservations must stay, the federal government does owe us from now until eternity. We should be the only people allowed to own land on our reservations.
Derek
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