Native Americans and Historical Guilt
Many of you have already seen this video, as I use it frequently to
illustrate the concept of historical guilt. However, I think it is a
great jumping off place for a discussion.
Watch the above documentary, and answer the following questions.
1. Where is the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Located?
2. What are conditions on the Reservation like? Provide some examples.
3. What are the causes of the problems on the reservation?
4.
What should be done? What, if any, responsibility to we as modern
Americans bear, for the situation on Pine Ridge, and other Reservations
like them. Explain
1) The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is located in southwest South Dakota, in the outside of the Black Hills region, near (including) Wounded Knee.
ReplyDelete2) Through the slideshow of pictures he showed as he spoke, you can clearly see that conditions on the Reservation are very similar to those in the "bad" parts of town. Poverty is rampant, houses are in terrible condition, everything's a mess-- yet this seems worse, because they're on a Native American reservation without the promise of restoration or gentrification by a city.
3) Being moved into this sort of reservation, or as the TED speaker calls them, POW Camps (and I would even say ghettos), really will have an effect on the people living within. Being confined to an area with a depressed local economy with affect everyone, and it makes matters worse that as a reservation they are technically apart from the rest of the state. Although, they wouldn't necessarily be in this position had the previous agreements to Lakota sovereignty been upheld.
4) Honestly, I think it would come down to allowing the Lakota people the ability to own these lands as individuals or as tribes-- based on some research, it seems like the best thing to do would be to essentially eliminate the need for reservations by giving ownership of that land to the people there, as opposed to "where the federal government holds title to the land in trust on behalf of the tribe." (Bureau of Indian Affairs) Privatization seems to be key in making sure these areas will be able to prosper, because at the moment, they lack property-rights, which translates to a lack in prosperity. Of course, to transfer ownership of the land directly to the Lakota people would mean getting rid of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but if that's what it comes down to, I don't think we should hesitate in doing so. The most important thing to consider, however, would be what the people on these reservations really feel would be best for their situation. As we saw in the videos, I think the main thing they want is their land, and I think we would bear the responsibility of pushing for legislation that allows them to retain that land as private property with property rights, along with government subsidies to get those economy juices going.
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ReplyDelete2. Because the Indians weren’t insured to be taken care of, they didn’t have very much, the poverty levels are high & they were provided with anything.
3.they aren’t given the same opportunities as a white man, & they’re being forced to live in an environment that has been swept out from under their feet on SO many occasions.
4. I honestly think they should be given the land they were promised a LONG time ago. It should not be taken from them again and they deserve to have their own land and practice their own culture just like americans do. the way it was handled in the past, leaves us to mend this mess our ancestors have made.
I'm going to Homework Pass the blog.
ReplyDelete