When Europeans came to the Americas, they immediately had to engage in foreign policy with the Natives who inhabited this land. For the first few centuries, the white man was a scourge upon native populations and considered them as sub-human. Now, many Native Americans and Hawaiians live in squalor and the US government does very little to support these early inhabitants of "our country."
What do you think of the way Native Americans were and are treated by the US government? If you are interested, watch this program about the Navajo Reservation: http://www.hulu.com/watch/26682/30-days-life-on-an-indian-reservation
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Coming from a town that was near a reservation i kind of see a little behind the scenes action. The reservation that was near the town of vernal was pretty trashy and a lot of the people that lived there were also pretty trashy, not all but a good majority. The government gives money every month to native americans, bonuses throughout the year, and i think they recently stopped but they also got 18 money which is a large chunk of money when they turn 18. Now im not saying it is all their fault but most of them blow the money they get on crap and a lot dont have jobs because the cost of living on the res is so cheap that the money they get every month covers it. Also a lot of them are way over weight, lazy, and rude. I think they are this way because we did kind of screw them over and they are holding a grudge against the "white guys" as it is said on the res but it is damn near time to get over it. Ive heard there are a few tribes that do very well for themselves and are very independent and clean but this is not one of them. Almost all of their land is covered in natural gas and oil fields which you can probably imagine they are raking in a lot of money from that but still it hasnt changed their way of living. I think it is wrong how we treated them in the beginning and it kind of blew up in our face. However, i dont think that it is an excuse to live like a lot of them live especially with the benefits that they get.
Matt everything that you have said in this blog is full of inaccuracies and is completely offending. I am part of the Navajo Nation and for you to say that “Also a lot of them are way over weight, lazy, and rude” disgusts me. Every race has a group of individuals like this and for you to generalize that the majority of Navajos are like this is racist and intolerant.
My great-grandmother lived in the center of the Navajo Nation and was a sheep herder until her body could no longer allow her to do so. When she was a young girl she taken to an Assimilation Camp, where she was forced not to speak her native language and they cut off all of her hair. Not EVER in my life did I ever hear her say or hold a grudge against the “white guys”.
My Grandparents still live where my great grandmother herded sheep. They still have to haul their own water and pay for natural gas to be brought out to their house. The road that leads to their home isn’t even paved. When it snows or rains, and they need to leave their home they risk getting stuck in the red clay mudd, and are forced to dig themselves out.
Yeah so your right Matt, the majority of them are “lazy, trashy, way over weight, and rude”. And all of them hold a grudge against the “white guys”. Thank you for opening my eyes with all of your wonderful facts.
What can the government do now? We came in and took over their land. From what I understand, we forced them to either move to a piece of land designated for them or to live by our laws and to conform to our way of life. What was done to the Native Americans is inexcusable. It is sad and frustrating, but what can we do now? Sure, the government can give them money, but does that help them now? I think that welfare programs generally keep people down. Welfare programs shouldn’t be a way of life, and if what Matt said was true, then it sounds like the Government was helping out, but that shouldn’t go on forever.
The Native Americans were given a raw deal, but from what both Matt & Priscilla said, it sounds like they are self-sustained and living the way they want to live (given the circumstances). In the past, the government has tried educational programs, but that is simply still pushing our ways on them. The problem is that what’s done is done and we can't go back and fix it. If only we could have lived harmoniously with them and not tried to destroy everything that they were, then they would be a happier people. As it is now, I don't know if there is a solution except to live harmoniously with them and support their businesses and way of life.
Please let me know if I am way off base, because this subject really interests me.
I think it is very unfortunate at how the pioneers of America treated the Indian nations! I love the Indian people! I greatly admire a book that gives us insight of where they came from, and who their ancestors are. I love how many of the tribes looked at spirituality. They were very connected to the spirit of the Earth, and living things. I think our culture has a lot to learn from Ancient to modern Indian tribes.
Priscilla, Matt was only explaining what he saw with his own eyes, not the whole of Indian tribes. What he saw could be true, why do you take such offense at something that might be true in that reservation? He is not saying that all reservations are like that.
Okay sorry for offending you priscilla. However i dont think that i ever once stated that it was the navajo nation i was talking about and yeah i know every race has a group like this but it is almost the entire tribe where i lived was like this and i didnt say that the majority of all native americans were lazy, trashy, way over weight, and rude. I was talking about the majority of one single tribe and yes this is how they live my best friend who still lives there is from this reservation and thinks the same way i do the minority exception to what i said thinks the same thing. So im sorry if i wasnt clear on what i was trying to say but this is how this one particular tribe lives and this is my opinion on them. Im glad your great grandmother doesnt hold a grudge i probably would but where i came from what i explained is exactly how they are. So again sorry for the offending you it wasnt intentional and next time although we are running out of time on the blogspot i will be more clear on what i am trying to say. Thanks ZZ for helping me out im not on here to try and piss people off. I didnt read yours until i was done writing mine.
I was actually talking about this issue with a friend of mine the other day, so this is a very timely post. My friend said (and I would love to hear from Priscilla or others who can vouch for how true this is- I'll admit, I'm fairly uneducated on the subject) that the US Government pays members of reservations both a stipend, and living expenses, including homes. This encourages people who stay on the reservation to essentially stay stuck because they don't have any other reason to leave.
I watched the 30 Days special Matt linked to and that certainly didn't seem like the case at all to me. I nearly cried when I watched the old Grandmother talk about how she can't even communicate with her grandchildren anymore because they don't learn her language and she was just so touched when Morgan could cobble together a small sentence for her. Many of the people he interviewed talked about how they didn't want to leave their heritage behind and move but felt like they had to because there were no jobs to be found on the reservation, but contrary to what my friend said they all seemed like they really WANTED to work- not that they wanted to work because they couldn't buy booze with the money the government gave them, but because they actually wanted to be productive members of society.
So which image is true? Probably a bit of column a and a bit of column b, just like every other social group. I'm not sure what the answer is to fix it, though. I don't think we can ever make up for what we did to the Native American people, but if we continue to pay them like this it does almost feel like a means to continue keeping them under control, which also isn't right.
Er, my last sentence means to say that if we continue to pay them (if that's true)...
curse not being able to edit comments on the blog!
Matt I’m sorry that I took such offense to what you said but this is a topic that really hits close to home, especially because I see how my relatives live on the reservation. I don’t see them as people who are reaping in benefits from the government at all. Most of the barley get by on the little money that they do have. I don’t see ANY of them blowing their money on crap.
I also don’t feel that the cost of living is any lower than here. My grandparents have to drive over an hour to Gallup, New Mexico, where the nearest grocery stores are located. When we go down there and visit we spend a lot more on groceries, gas or anything else than we would up here in SLC.
I don’t know what tribe you are talking about, but I still do take do take offense that you base all your views of this tribe on a specific demographic of individuals in the area of you home town.
Priscilla,
I think this might actually be the first subject I agree with you on. My Grandmother is 1/2 Navajo so that makes me 1/8 correct? Well I think what us Americans did to the Native Americans is completely ridiculous if we could go back I'd wish for us to change what we did.. Matt Stratton I understand what you were saying and I understand that maybe that tribe was that way, but my grandma used to tell me stories of her mother living on the reservations and they were pretty much the same as what Priscilla has said. Poor conditions and such. I dont know the Navajo culture as well as I would like to, my grandma lived in Oregon and I only heard stories when I was younger. My grandmother died when I was 15 and I didn't get to learn all about the culture so in end thanks for your input Priscilla.
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