Posted on 10/13/2005 8:08:57 PM PDT by akdonn
I would like to give the Webster dictionary meaning of racism. It states, "A belief that some races are by nature superior to others." Also: "Discrimination based on such belief." In my experience as an Alaska Native born and raised here, the exact opposite of this definition is true. The government has been giving "free" money to the Alaska Natives because they felt they needed to bring the "Native people" up to their standards of the Western culture that was foreign to our ancestors, who lived off the land and built homes from their resources. But is it really free? Our ancestors were forced to give up our lifestyle and language to sign up and wait for handouts.
(Excerpt) Read more at juneauempire.com ...
• Juneau resident Shari Jensen is the past president and CEO of Yak-Tat Kwaan Inc. She is a student at the University of Alaska Southeast.
noble savage bump
Things have changed, Lady. TAKE the money, buy land, and go live in the mud and learn gibberish. It's your life - take charge of it: "do what y'wanna do".
I believe that some races are "superior" to others.
Unfortunately, the "superiority" tends to be of two natures.
1) Extremely small in measureable value
2) Insignificant with regard to general population variations.
In other words, you have to define what "superior" means, and once you come to an agreement on that definition, the variation within any race is substantially larger than the difference between any two races.
Culture on the other hand... there are huge differences in the different cultures with regard to effectiveness, fairness, efficiency, etc.
---Our ancestors were forced to give up our lifestyle and language to sign up and wait for handouts.---
How many walrus hides have you chewed on today?
There can be no natives of newly found locations along the path of nomadic peoples except for those found by confused late-comers; more likely, weaker members left behind during the great periods of migration found fortune on their side long enough to breed offspring too weak themselves to follow the herd but clever enough to eke out a subsistence on the margins until the next wave came along.
We don't have to imagine what happens when non-natives give up their culture. North Africa was part of the Roman Empire. Alexandria had the greatest library of ancient times, and it was there that the 70 rabbis translated the Old Testament into Greek.
When Egypt was conquered by the Romans, soon hieroglyphics became a forgotten art. Then when the Muslims conquered, the Greek and Roman temples which had made the transition to church buildings, were torn down and mosques were built on the ruins. Eventually the library of Alexandria was burned, a colossal act of vandalism committed by Babars, the Mameluke. Christians were raped, blinded, dismembered, castrated, and sometimes all of these, in no particular order.
Now what is she whining about? That the natives are being given money?
"Now what is she whining about? That the natives are being given money?"
I think your points are well-taken until you attack the person who happened to express her opinion. Money is a construct that had no place in the hunter and gather society, but the writer's point is that money was a means for convincing aborginal Americans to exchange something of no value for something of extensive value. She simply turned the telescope around, looked through it the other way, and said: "Now everything looks smaller than you all make it out to be."
I posted this because I thought it an interesting perspective, not to belittle the person who is asking questions. The U.S. Government was required to honor Alaska Native claims under the purchase agreement with Russia, and I think it says alot about how far our nation has come from the old "Trail of Tears" days when we didn't feel it necessary to honor even simple treaties with the indigineous peoples.
"How many walrus hides have you chewed on today?"
Besides being an ignorant statement, what is the point?
Having lived on and around reservations in many parts of the US, I would state with no reservations that the best thing the Federal government could do for the tribes is to shut down the reservations and force integration with the rest of US society, treating them no differently than any other US citizen. The "cultures" they are preserving have only superficial similarity to cultures past, and are in practice typically among the most pathological and diseased societies I've ever encountered in my travels. Extreme left-wing socialism in a teacup.
Native, indigenous, all meaningless derivatives if all life began in one hospitable zone.
I would be hard pressed to declare that I know better what the people who live on reservations should do with their lives than what they are doing...but...that has absolutely nothing to do with what has been happening in Alaska since the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971.
There are a couple of reservations in Alaska, and some who are calling for "sovereignty," from the American government, but overall I think inclusion with money and lands--given to corporate rather than tribal structures--has provided a means for participation of Alaska Natives as Americans. This is different than anywhere else in the country, and as shareholders who receive dividends from their corporations based on how their people and resources are used, it provides an opportunity to participate in a productive economy.
This is nothing like what has happened on the reservations in the Lower 48, Kimosabi.
---"How many walrus hides have you chewed on today?"
Besides being an ignorant statement, what is the point?---
My point is that it's easy to romanticize the past when one is safe and warm at the University. In fact back in the day native women used to chew on the hides of animals to make them soft and pliable enough for use as clothing, and when very hungry folks have been know to boil hides and eat them. "How many walrus hides have you chewed on today?"
"Native, indigenous, all meaningless derivatives if all life began in one hospitable zone."
Ok, now I have to ask: "What are YOU whining about?" (Or is that a mumble, old man...)
Oh, ok...how profound!
I think what he's trying to say is that there seems to be a WHOLE lot of reminiscing about some romanticized past that never existed.
In other words not savages but not noble either...
I am odious and offensive sometimes. :^)
You assume that I have never lived on a reservation in Alaska. In fact, I have. While a few tribes are reasonably well run as such things go, most are deeply corrupt and a case study in social pathology. There are far more examples of shabbily run "Indian Corporations" than good ones.
In my view, it is doing little more than putting a bandaid on a sucking chest wound. The societies are generally diseased and insular, and the best people in most tribes get the hell out as soon as they can and never look back. Reservation towns often make nasty inner city ghettos look good by comparison in many cases. A lot of the problem is that people pretend like these ugly problems do not exist because it is politically incorrect to question the way their affairs are run and most people are not familiar with it in any case.
Shutting down the reservations would be doing everyone a favor.
That makes a lot of sense; I wasn't challenging you, I just said I wouldn't be the one to say so. Obviously you have alot more experience than I do.
Sometimes, to me (and I know that I'm quite ignorant on these matters) that returning or protecting the "Native American" culture to what it was when interrupted by the impact of the "white man" is the objective...and that keeps a whole people two centuries behind the world that surrounds them. What type of environment and lifestyle do you want your children to have? I intend no disrespect. You are the first Native American I've seen post on this subject.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.