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Russell Means: Welcome To The Reservation (Original Post) CountAllVotes Oct 2015 OP
You want to talk about racial prejudice zalinda Oct 2015 #1
Tsu-na-li-i (Friend) turbinetree Oct 2015 #4
Wa-do! CountAllVotes Oct 2015 #5
Wa-do turbinetree Oct 2015 #6
I am sorry. Please forgive me. Needs to become our national mantra. Dont call me Shirley Oct 2015 #2
welcome olenaua Oct 2015 #3
Welcome to the Democratic Underground olenaua!! CountAllVotes Oct 2015 #7

zalinda

(5,621 posts)
1. You want to talk about racial prejudice
Fri Oct 2, 2015, 02:36 PM
Oct 2015

Here is a group of people who the US wiped out about 90% of them, in various ways. Not content with killing them personally, they wiped out 90% of their main food source, the bison. The US broke just about every treaty that they were basically made to sign. And, when something of value was discovered on the crappy land that was given to them, they were moved to another location, with even crappier land.

Their children were taken away from them and were forbidden to speak their native tongue. Some just went to 'white man's boarding schools', but others were adopted out to white families. Every element of their heritage was squashed. It is a miracle that some of their heritage is still around and will hopefully be picked up by the younger generation.

Yes, the FA get 'welfare', but there is little else available to them. On the Pine Ridge Reservation, the unemployment rate is 85%. While alcohol is widely available very close to the reservations, grocery stores are not. The white man has made sure that reservations have plenty of liquor stores around for the FA who have a genetic intolerance for alcohol. Add to that the depression and oppression of the FA and you have a recipe for disaster. When the government gives you 'help' because you are poor, they make sure you stay poor.

They live is substandard housing, sometimes having to share electricity through a long extension cord between 2 trailers. In some ways Hoverville never left them. There are no records of how many FA have been killed or incarcerated, it never makes the news. Some how, FA are invisible unless you need to make fun of them or have an enemy in a Western movie. Or, use them in WWII, as a secret weapon, that is kept secret for decades, so there is no acknowledgment of their service.

When they do try to do something to improve their plight, they are shot down by the US government. I guess you only have sovereign lands for certain things, that the US government approves of. In South Dakota the land is so bad that not much will grow there, but hemp will grow and thrive. Alex White Plume has been fighting the US government for 10 years or more to grow hemp to make paper products to sell, to get out of poverty. He is still fighting them. http://www.thecannabist.co/2015/06/26/hemp-farming-alex-white-plume-south-dakota-federal-injunction/36124/

Every one thinks that the FA are getting rich over the casinos, but that money isn't trickling down around the FA community. I have to wonder how much a tribe that 'owns' a casino really sees as far as money in the community. I bet a lot less than imagined.

I get angry when I hear how Blacks and Latinos have it so bad and how they are so important. They have a way to get out of their situation, they can be heard. The FA are for the most part imprisoned, and have been for about 2 centuries. We invaded their land, stole their land, killed them and their food source, took their children and set them on worthless pieces of land. And, while we can say that that happened long ago in the past, the point is that it is still happening, and no one notices. It doesn't make front page news, or hell, not even a mention.

I am amazed that they are still surviving after all that they have endured. And while it is sad when a AA youth is killed by a cop, it is also sad when a FA youth is killed by a cop, the difference is that no one hears about the FA youth. FA live with stereotypes, some violent, some meant to be funny, but insulting and world that they never seem to be a part of. How they have stayed sane and still strive for a better life, is a testament to their heritage.

Z

turbinetree

(24,631 posts)
4. Tsu-na-li-i (Friend)
Fri Oct 2, 2015, 11:32 PM
Oct 2015

Last edited Sat Oct 3, 2015, 12:16 AM - Edit history (1)

I am proud to be of the Eastern band (Tennessee) of the Cherokee Nation, my wonderful mother told me of my wonderful heritage and I try to bring this forward with my family and my friends , and I thank you for this thread, we will not let anyone forget-----------------never-----------there heads should be held in shame.

Most people in this country go up to Mount Rushmore, so what, they should see what the Crazy Horse Mountain Monument represents for a war chief that one battles for his people and there way of life and defeated the U.S. Army

This war chief beat the white man in the hills of Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, because of what they were doing to our brothers and sisters, children, mothers and fathers, bison, antelope, deer, moose, water, mother earth-------------in the name of greed, and they broke there word on every treaty--------everyone of them----------------and they still do it today--------there trust is just like the treaties they made-------------they were nothing but lies-------------they honor no agreements to protect scared land----------none--------they sell sovereign land without talking to the first nations sovereignty, just like days gone past today------it always the same-------we say no---------they say they don't care

<a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g54568-d144991-i128263808-Crazy_Horse_Memorial-Crazy_Horse_South_Dakota.html#128263808"><img alt="" src=""/></a><br/>


I lived in South Dakota for over 10 years and use to go to the reservations with my mother, it is truly indescribable of what this country has and is doing to the First Natives----------this reservation on Pine Ridge shows exactly what this country is doing

wa-do (Thank you)

tsa-la-gi u-tlv-quo-di (Cherokee Proud)

u-gu-gu (Owl) a-tlo-ya-s-di (Crying)

http://www.cherokee.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=j1VmVI1G2Z8%3d&portalid=0

CountAllVotes

(20,854 posts)
5. Wa-do!
Sat Oct 3, 2015, 05:30 AM
Oct 2015

It is beyond reprehensible what has been done to all American Indian people and no restitution in the world would have make up for it -- stripping a people of their identities and using extermination as a government policy on a good many of them only to leave a mere fraction of our ancestors to be found today.

As for that disgusting carving in the Black Hills, a carving of Crazy Horse who had no portrait of him left behind to even know what he looked like is a disgrace. Having been to the Black Hills a number of years ago I know how grotesque it is and no, I just can't wrap my brain around it. I love the way Russell Means dealt with the racism found at that gift shop! ... by taking it over and staying there for one year!

Thanks to those that have posted here and also to those that have watched this video by the late Dr. Russell Means. He was a real fighter for sure and it saddens me that he has passed away -- too soon! May he RIP!!



turbinetree

(24,631 posts)
6. Wa-do
Sat Oct 3, 2015, 06:45 AM
Oct 2015

We will keep our heritage alive-----------------------------and the Trail of Tears, the reservation system is a prime example of what this country is all about, and this system reflects this country in its entirety-----------------they talk the talk but do not walk the walk, or talk the talk------------------it's all hypocrisy


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