I don't have to tell you that the things we have done in this nation to indigenous people were unspeakable, barbaric and vile. The horrific history that many are now trying to erase includes the destruction and theft of resources on the part of European settlers which eventually manifested in the Indian Removal Act signed into law by President Andrew Jackson in 1830 (the irony being that he had an adopted Native American son) which forced Natives out of their long held lands into reservations. The forced relocation of around 100,000 natives were sanctioned by military forces and a whopping 15,000 people died as a consequence. In 1862 President Abraham Lincoln ordered the execution of 38 Native Dakota civil rights activists. And after a series of Native uprisings came the Dawes Act of 1887 which divided up the existing Native American reservations and sold the remainder to white settlers which amounted to 2/3 of their land. Then begun efforts to utterly erase Native American culture by forcing children to attend Christian boarding schools one of which had the mantra "Kill the Indian. Save the Man." Native children were forced to cut their hair, wear uniforms, speak only English, and take Anglicized names. Until 1978, Native children could legally be kidnapped from their families by the U.S. government and forced to attend these boarding schools. Also Native religious practices were banned and if they resisted they were met with great violence which we saw in the Battle of Wounded Knee which was the slaughter of hundreds of indigenous people called the Sitting Bull at the hands of the U.S Army. And so much more.
Young man in the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, he is part of the Lakota tribe.
But the real ongoing tragedy is what indigenous people are facing now. My own father visited a Native American reservation in the 90s and was stunned by the poverty and living conditions he said "my God its like Adwa (the small town in northern Ethiopia he grew up in)." Unemployment amongst residents of these reservations is a whopping 28%, those living below the federal poverty line falls between 38-63%. 50% of adults on the reservation are unemployed and of those that are employed many work for below minimum wage. 30% of housing is overcrowded and 50% is not connected to a public sewer and many live without running water, telephones or electricity. As far as health the life expectancy for Natives is 5 years less than the average American and they are 36% of Natives with heart disease will die before age 65 compared to 15% of whites (2001, HHS Office of Minority Health). American Indians are 177% more likely to die from diabetes (2011, Indian Health Disparities), 500% more likely to die from tuberculosis (2011, Indian Health Disparities). They are 82% more likely to die from suicide (2011, Indian Health Disparities). Cancer rates and disparities related to cancer treatment are higher than for other Americans (2005, Native People for Cancer Control). Infant death rates are 60% higher than for whites (2001, HHS Office of Minority Health).
There is also a disturbing trend of Native American women going missing and their disappearances in many cases have been unaccounted for. On reservations indigenous women are 10x more likely to be murdered than the general population. Of 506 murders and disappearances that they were able to document the overwhelming majority never got any media attention. But what has been getting attention is the lack of police action in Montana regarding the frequent murders and disappearances of indigenous women and girls, one of the issues is that law enforcement often are hesitant to investigate reports of native women and girls disappearing in the area, in some cases obvious homicides as suicides, accidents or exposure to quickly close cases. Remarkably sometimes the families of victims have to literally shame police into doing their jobs. And even though around 3/4 of indigenous women live in cities no federal agency has an accurate measure of just how many are missing or murdered. And Canadian authorities are having similar difficulties regarding these crimes against their Native women partly because indigenous women comprise of 4% of the population and make up 25% of murdered females.
Then we have what is understood as environmental racism which people who are concerned with politics, social justice, human rights and environmental issues and how they intersect call a 'new genocide'. Crimes against the environment in indigenous communities is all too common particularly when it comes to the poisoning of air and water supplies on the part of big business which is often sanctioned by municipal, state and federal government. Big businesses often dump toxic wastes on reservations spoiling what limited fresh water is available to inhabitants. And then we have the very high profile battle between the people of Standing Rock and the Dakota Access Pipeline which proponents of it wanted to build a large oil pipeline throughout the indigenous area risking oil spills that could endanger the health and safety of millions of Native people and they fought hard along side many different allies.
But I think one of the biggest crimes is the lack of inclusion of American Indian leaders in these meetings/policy decisions. Which I think is emblematic of the erasure of Native Americans from our broader culture, and part of that may be because many of them have chosen to remain in relatively isolated communities but also because America generally is unable to come to grips with the horrors we inflicted on these people.
Rick Santorum was recently scrutinized for saying, "there isn't much Native American culture in American culture," and as appallingly ignorant as that statement was his critics aren't much better. I mean how many people outraged over that comment or an insensitive sports team name are equally outraged about how people on the reservation are living?
Now I am not Native American in any capacity so many people are wondering why I am so invested in this topic? Like why am I this concerned? And its not just because they are a beautiful people who have endured unthinkable tragedy and cruelty but because their suffering, their story is so much of the time erased and being forgotten. In fact so many people believed that they were all dead. And that is the biggest tragedy of all.
But there is hope the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline garnered an unprecedented amount of support and simultaneously shined the light on the crimes being committed against indigenous people today. The Environmental Protection Agency has an Environmental Justice program designed to not only address environmental harm done to American Indians but is supposed to work directly with representatives from tribes across the country to address the needs of Native populations regarding the environment and public health. And as much as I disagree with the Trump administration they launched a task force pertaining to missing and murdered American Indians. And those are only a few examples of them becoming more and more effectively seen and heard. Additionally, we had Deb Halaad, the first Native American to serve in a presidential cabinet under the Biden administration.
But we can never stop being an ally to them, whether that means fighting environmental injustice however I can, improving housing and other living conditions on the reservations or giving the support people living on tribal lands need to integrate into society, fighting for reparations or against any forms of discrimination.
"Living Conditions." Native American Aid , www.nativepartnership.org/site/PageServer?pagename=naa_livingconditions.
"THE LEGACY OF INJUSTICES AGAINST NATIVE AMERICANS." Network, networkadvocates.org/recommittoracialjustice/legacy/.
Koehler, Sezin. "HOW ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM AFFECTS INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES IN THE USA." Wear Your Voice, 26 Sept. 2017, www.wearyourvoicemag.com/environmental-racism-affects-indigenous-communities-usa/.
"Environmental Justice for Tribes and Indigenous Peoples." EPA, www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-tribes-and-indigenous-peoples.
"Police In Many U.S. Cities Fail To Track Murdered, Missing Indigenous Women." npr, edited by Camila Domonoske, 15 Nov. 2018, https://www.npr.org/2018/11/15/667335392/police-in-many-u-s-cities-fail-to-track-murdered-missing-indigenous-women
"Vice News- Indigenous Women Keep Going Missing in Montana." youtube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib0GDAPeymo.
"Trump Administration Launches Presidential Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives." The United States Department of Justice, 29 Jan. 2020, www.justice.gov/opa/pr/trump-administration-launches-presidential-task-force-missing-and-murdered-american-indians.
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