Ah a nice start.
though i think that Indian disputes is a strange topic for a nagual forum. what the hell, though.
Your question is circumstantial. I cannot speak for other tribes, but my family, nor do i accept this money. You have to understand, that we are people just like you, and dont make decisions in unison all the time. there are good and bad people in all the colors. so im not speaking for any Indians, i will share with you an article that got very popular in my hometown, and quite heated, because someone like you asked the exact same thing. this is a good one, too , because there is debate over a treaty.
""
I am Western Shoshone and the
letter you wrote has no respect:
1. We are not a conquered people, we
are alive and living, and we are not going away.
2. Yes, our Chiefs
signed the Ruby Valley Treaty of 1863, what you don’t know is how the
Treaty was signed. It was told by the U.S government to the Shoshone
people not to bring weapons because this Treaty was of “Peace and
Friendship,” when our ancestors arrived they seen the soldiers’ guns
stacked up, the Shoshone people were told to sit down, plates with meat
was placed in front of them all (men, women and children), one person
tasted the meat and told the rest of the people not to eat it because it
was bad meat. The meat? It was an Indian man that was killed early in
the week; he was placed in a large caldron and cooked. The soldiers
picked up and pointed their guns at the Shoshone people and was told to
eat the meat, they did, they had no choice. Then the Treaty of “Peace
and Friendship” was signed. Really peace and friendship? I know this
because my Great, Great, Great Grandfather (To-Nag) signed that Treaty,
it has been told from generation to generation. (I have a letter that
you should read, telling of this horrible crime).
3. All our land was
taken and the U.S. government made the reservations, and for
compensation to the tune of hundreds of millions. Ha — if we had these
hundreds of millions that you speak of, we would all be living in
mansions and driving Rolls Royce cars. Some Shoshones did receive
$22,012 and a little bit more is supposed to be here in June, and you
think that adds up to hundreds of millions, get your facts straight.
4.
We do not live in free housing, we all make house payments and in about
30 years we will own our homes, so our houses are not free and our homes
are not above standards, and the upkeep of our houses are not free, we
have to pay just like your people.
5. Our people are not supplied with
thousands and thousands of dollars of free food. If you are talking
about the commodity food that some get from the U.S. government, your
people are entitled to this too. Do you really think that if the Western
Shoshone received thousands and thousands of dollars of free food that
we would even step into a grocery store?
6. We do not receive free
medical care. Yes, we do have the Indian Health Services clinic, but
it’s just for general care. If we need a specialist we have to go
downtown or out of state, and sometimes we have to pay for the doctor
bills ourselves. Just like your people.
7. I would like to know what “other” benefits we
receive that your people do not receive. And as far as the promises in
the treaty — none of the promises were kept. (Maybe you should read the
treaty again).
8. And our standard of living has not improved, our
health has gotten worse than what it was 150 years ago. My people have
diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancer and alcoholism,
and where do you think we got that from — your people.
9. Is just plain
wrong on your part —check the statistics. And who are you to tell us to
“Accept that.” Accept what? Accept the genocide against the Western
Shoshone people, the beating and raping of our Shoshone women and
children by the soldiers who took our people and put them barricades at
Fort Ruby and Fort Halleck, the taking of the our ancestors when they
were small children and thrown into the boarding schools, their hair cut
and told not to speak their language and if they spoke their language
they would get beat. Do you know what happened in those boarding schools
—the same thing the soldiers did to the women and children, yes, that’s
right raping, beating and killing. And you expect us to just “ACCEPT
THAT.” ——————— Marla Stanton of Wells is a Western Shoshone descendant
of a signer of the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley.
"""
i do no think you are well educated on Indian affairs, and may be stereotyping them.
Of course, this is just my local issue.
my opinion, again, i was raised that it is not good to accept the money. you have what you have.
about the land.
can you blame them for fighting for it, to keep the factories and mines and drills off of it??? here in the last decade 3 species have gone extinct because of mines on Shoshone land. It is never on the news, what they do to the Earth here. This is HARDLY the horror, on a nationwide scale.
on this subject, i would recommended watching this film:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462340/plotsummary
it is very good.
it may provide some insight on why Natives want some of "their" land back.
So how do you feel about people of all Nations accepting hand-outs? Does it justify for charging for the invisible? Again it comes down to the individual, and what they understand. The worlds we are talking about both have two very different methods of work.
It is sad to me you cant see a difference.
i see the conversation ending like the last one.
id the Toltecs charge their children... Actually I'm pretty sure the Toltecs ate their children. Not sure how they are relevant to this discussion, though.
ongbird wrote: