it's 2007.
me, feathers in my hair, feelin proud .
on the bus, this lady asked me if it was OK for me to be off my reservation. did they give me permission to leave.
OR (my personal fav)
"OOOH LOOK MOMMY!! A INDIAN!!"
as if i were a damn zoo exibit
it makes me wonder if white folk don't teach manners anymore, or maybe they only use them infront of other white folks, i dunno.
BUT i don't get mad about it, i've learned to expect it from them.
I'm the odd ball, i purposely call attention to my 'indianess" it creates opportunity to "teach" non Indians. to dispel the myths their ancestors created. There are allot of Asian people here, new arrivals. Most of them think we're all dead, and it shocks them to see people like myself.
In today's america we are living history, a living stain on this countries flag, that ever present reminder of the blood THEY shed to take what was ours. an earlier post mentioned our 'cards' in THIS country it takes a white man to say an indian is an indian. some fool in DC decides what constitutes a 'tribe'
i have a CDIB (if you have to ask, you don't have one)
a california indian roll number
a tribal roll number
and a paper from the BIA that actually uses the term "PEDIGREE" i **** you not.
YES there are tons of us living off rez, the feds consider us 'renegade' look up the term.
I am not a good indian, i do not stay behind the fence. My pride and my spirit has not and will not be broken.
2007-06-20 20:29:39
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answer #1
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answered by Mr.TwoCrows 6
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Although today it is better than in the past, there are still many people who openly discriminate against Native Americans. Many people don't like the fact that we are allowed to build casinos on our land. And they think we are all getting rich off the proceeds of the casinos. Well it ain't happening. The money from casinos in large part replaces money that the "tribes" used to get from the Federal Government. And most "tribes" use the profits to build hospitals, dialisys centers, better housing, etc etc. After all is said and done the individual "tribal" member doesn't see much of that money.
And like it was pointed out alot of us have chosen to live off the reservations, we hold jobs just like anyone else, and pay taxes etc etc.
But the biggest insult to us comes from our own Federal Government, who makes us carry around a card that says we are "indian". No other race/ethnic group in the world has to do that!!!
Now depending on what you term as discrimination there could be a number of other things.
2007-06-20 09:39:13
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answer #2
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answered by Coolrogue 6
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In answer to the post above about no NA month, Native American history month is Thanksgiving where we celebrate the good will of the Native peoples of this land by mocking their traditions and ignoring their plight to this day.
From what I see the majority of the racial discrimination against natives other then based on the wild Indian or a dirty drunk is the US mind set that it happened in the past and their is no need for special treatment now. While some Tribal members make a decent wage from earnings from a tribal casino, the vast majority of NAs live in poverty. Their way of life was taken from them and shattered into little pieces. They didn't even get the right to practice their religion in their own land that was taken and dubbed "free" until the 70s.
The tragedies that were handed to these people have been hell to recover from, while my great grandfather was busy making a name for himself and establishing a good life for himself, his family and their children ensuring good social standing for generations to come, my fiancée’s great grandfather was being hung up on a tree by his intestines because he refused to give up his beliefs. The native children were rounded up into "schools" where they were brainwashed and beaten, forced to give up their way of life, pick a new name like John or Mary and "taught" to be white. Many Native American elders would be more then willing to tell you their stories.
The media does a good job of covering racial issues, Tyra Banks recently did a show about multiple races, but their were no Native Americans, nor where they talked about. The word "forgotten" comes to mind.
If you really are interested in learning more, go to the local VA and look for some elders there. Bring a tobacco bundle (which is a gift of tobacco wrapped in a square cloth and tied off) as a gift for their knowledge.
2007-06-20 10:42:00
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answer #3
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answered by Ken O 4
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I'm part Cherokee and part Creek, also part Roman and Anglo-Saxon, and I have a few things to say about it.
1. Too little is taught about the Indians' civilization that was in existence in North America well before the Europeans came.
2. The Indians have often been portrayed as the bad guy in cowboy movies,and that mentality echoes in subtle ways; for ex., I've even heard relatives say that our angry side or someone's tendency to drink must have come from the Indian side. They learned to say these from whites that were hiding their part-Indian genes.
3. Indians didn't have full voting rights until later on in the game, "halfbreeds" were mistreated in restaurants, and most Indians today, don't just "live off the government" like uninformed people say.
4. In school systems, we see a Black History month, a Hispanic Heritage month, Jewish History units, but rarely an Indian history month. I guess our history is too big a shame.
2007-06-20 09:54:27
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answer #4
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answered by topink 6
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Their way of life is punctiliously distinctive from those of alternative peoples. traditionally, the tribe is of the utmost importance and the urge to stay mutually (earlier because of the fact possibilities of survival have been extra advantageous if there have been extra of you mutually) continues to be solid. it particularly is why diverse of them stay on the reservations their ancestors have been initially relegated to a protracted time in the past. it particularly is to no longer say that they do never bypass away the tribe, a lot of them do yet many do no longer appear like stereotypical natives the two so which you will be able to ok have considered a lot of them and not even generic it. element interior the fact that some tribes are no longer doing properly adequate to get off the reservation...alcoholism, obesity, loss of training and unemployment are rampant in some tribes, while different tribes have got here across a thank you to prosper with casinos and different endeavors. (I certainly have relatives who survive a reservation interior the south and have super hobbies in casinos in Biloxi.) it must be that that basement is basically the only obtainable area for the weekly conferences...it must be no reason to be unhappy in any respect. assembly in between the class rooms on the college might require somebody to ought to liberate and re lock a lecture room door whilst they have been achieved and in lots of cases there are open areas in basements that are no longer locked. this could surely be the reason. when you consider which you probably did no longer state the place you're, that is extremely perplexing to even speculate no count number if discrimination is a element or no longer.
2016-10-18 04:13:12
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answer #5
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answered by ? 4
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alot of non native americans are very ignorant, i know first hand i lived in a boarder town off my rez, i also worked at a treatment center that mainly took native amer. at one of our meetings they asked a question what was the first thing you thought of when you seen a native amer, alot of the non natives said a drunk indian, the natives said spiritual and some named chief see the non natives stereo type, they believe we are dirty savages, i have had people ask if we still live in tee pees this is not funny to me, do we have electricity?, also in our local news paper "in the boarder town" someone had the nerve to tell native amer, to quite whinning we get everything free, education, housing, money, clothes, everything, so stop whining , (i still have the article since 1999) this person was very uninformed, we pay for school just like everyone else pell grant, scholarships, i owe the college i went to on the rez $1900 for tution that i have to pay for out of my pocket, we dont get free food, we can apply for food stamps, but you have to do a work program so many hours a month to get them like any where else, we can get commodities, but so can non natives, the housing is old and run down full of mice and coach roaches passed on from generation to generation, my parents were teachers they paid rent, the discrimination goes way back in history, people came from over seas and tried to exterminate us, bringing over disease and alcohol, took our land and placing the ones they couldnt kill on reservations, bury my heart at wounded knee is a very good movie, if you have nt seen it you should. we are not born to discriminate, its taught. i also have tribal ID stating my blood degree, but this is to entitle me to benefit, like health care, which now adays you have to have some sort of insurance anyway so it doesnt matter, unless your far from home and need to go to an ihs, then i guess it help but i haven t found any other use for my tribal id,
2007-06-20 17:06:59
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answer #6
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answered by Valerie T 2
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they say the united state was founded on the freedom of reliogion,the native american spiritual way of life was owtlaw till 1978.native americans were put into boarding school,they cut there hair punish them is they spoke there own langauge.and force to pactice belief that wernt there own
2007-06-20 14:20:53
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answer #7
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answered by dan h 1
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just had to say that some Native Americans do pay taxes don't think that all of them live in reservations either
2007-06-20 09:03:45
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answer #8
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answered by Sabryna 2
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why are you on the LGBT boards? go to the culture ones...
2007-06-20 09:52:55
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answer #9
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answered by Anonymous
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i've been wondering thesame.............maybe its becos they own the land u're livin in, but they say Columbus discovered it.
and i dont think they pay taxes, almost everythin is free for dem...thats y ppl discriminate them i thnk. am not sure!.........
2007-06-20 08:50:33
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answer #10
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answered by Funk-Ski Biznez Man 4
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