One of the paradoxes of living in a free country like the US is the freedoms afforded to citizens is for some, not for all. How can this be? People off the Reservation take for granted the freedoms like owning property, justice in the courtroom, land rights, rights to clean water, and etc.
The people on the Reservation deserve to have back the responsibility of living their own lives with less interference from the federal government.
Like with parenting, it’s a balance. Too much freedom and the child will find trouble, too little freedom and they’ll feel imprisoned.
It’s not a simple problem, nor is the solution easy, convenient, or rapid.
Beliefs and prejudices are difficult to change. Sadly often times it takes hundreds of years for actual change to materialize. Native Americans living on Reservations are subject to the surrender of freedoms and rights that are unheard of off the Reservation.
We see this in other groups of minorities historically including African Americans, women, etc. but never to this extent. Native American’s had their children taken away and forced to attend boarding schools, authors have likened the ordeal to a prisoner of war experience.
Nobody can doubt for a minute the incredible increase in technology, computers, and quality of life changes but it doesn’t translate for Native Americans. They continue to lag behind any demographic in our country.
There is no time to wait. The poverty, infant mortality, life span, lack of education, crime, substance and alcohol abuse, violence, and rape are all symptoms of a much larger problem.
Native Americans have less freedom than any other US citizen. Think about that for a moment.
Most people think there are no Native Americans left today, they simply died out or were assimilated into mainstream society.
Now, more than any time in history, their voices need to be heard and more freedoms granted to them on par with the rest of US citizens.
Together, we can make this happen in our lifetime.
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