Sicilian descendant Espera DeCorti
Posted on 01/18/2006 5:43:33 AM PST by Atlantic Bridge
In the United States a growing number of white people are discovering their Native American roots. Some are doing so for financial gain, but most are just looking for the meaning of life.
A few weeks, Betty Baker was still just a white housewife. But now the woman, with her piercing blue eyes, goes by the name "Little Dove" --and has jettisoned her apron for an elaborate deerskin dress.
"I am an Indian and I've sensed this my whole life," says the 48-year-old Baker, who lives in a wooden house on the edge of the small town of Pinson, Alabama.
Five years ago, after her parents told her that her family probably had some Native American ancestry, she assembled documents and birth certificates and last September was accepted into the Cherokee Tribe of northeast Alabama. The cultural neophyte is now zealously learning the rituals and dances of her newly discovered ancestors.
(Excerpt) Read more at service.spiegel.de ...
Although I have great respect of America I have to say that some (not all!) Americans are really strange people.
A short question: Are casinos only allowed in reservations??! Or is that a matter that is regulated by each state (Las Vegas is -as far as I know- no reservation)?
Your profile is awesome!
Welcome to FR. Learn the picture rule.
That ME is the one that flew out of Klosterwald near Kitzingen, right?!
"I am an Indian and I've sensed this my whole life," says the 48-year-old Baker, who lives in a wooden house on the edge of the small town of Pinson, Alabama.
I.e., "I'm going through my midlife crisis."
Tell your uncle he we would love to meet both of you. You guys sound like interesting people. Welcome and God Bless.
Maybe she's really got Cherokee roots, maybe not. I can't begin to tell you how many white poseurs I've met in my life who claim to be "Cherokee". I once had a Lakota Sioux lady tell me that "all the wannabes claim to be Cherokees, because they let anybody in".
But it seems to be sort of a popular New Age fad, so go figure.
One thing I've noticed - all the real Indians I've ever known all looked like Indians. Not like white people. Not like Ward Churchill, for example.
"I look to the Great Spirit," replied the chief.
"When I see big cloud, I name papoose Big Cloud.
When I see running deer, I name papoose Running Deer.
So, Two Dogs F**king, why do you ask?"
My maternal grandmother was half Native American - some tribe from upstate New York as I recall. I've never had the inclination to research or document it, though.
1) Gambling is regulated by the states. So Nevada and New Jersey allow casino gambling, other states allow parimutuel betting, other states allow slot machines, other states allow no gambling.
2) Indian reservations are considered sovereign territory under administration of the federal government. They are not considered part of the state that surrounds the reservation. The Supremem Court is the only court that can try issues related to Indian affairs, and it has held that gambling is an issue for each reservation to decide.
So, states in which gambling is illegal may have a reservation in them that decides to open a casino. The state government can't stop them from doing so.
Federally recognized Indian nations are permitted under federal statute to set up a casino within federally recognized traditional tribal lands. States are permitted to have some say in this, but cannot block it.
This leads to several serious issues. Approaches to "the Indian problem" over the last 300 years have ranged from open warfare, extermination programs, and - after the last Indian wars - focused upon assimilation. Consequently, many of the reservation programs have attempted to assimilate Indian cultures by making each tribe member an owner of an individual parcel of traditional tribal lands. Of course, most of these new owners immediately sold off their lands to non-indians, resulting in the disappearance or vast shrinkage of many traditional nations.
Where we didn't do assimilation, the federal and state governments just abrogated the Indian treaties pretty much whenever they wanted to and shrunk the reservations. The cherokee (originally from Georgia), for example, supposedly voted to give up their traditional lands in exchange for a block of land out in Oklahoma. Turns out that "election" was rigged and that only a very small percentage of the tribe was permitted to vote. Nonetheless, they are now in Oklahoma.
Now, many Indian nations are attempting to reclaim their original reservations guaranteed under treaties, largely because they can now use those lands for casinos. The SCOTUS has held that in general, even if a tribe buys back land that was originally within its reservation, that land is no longer tribal land and cannot be used for a casino.
So the federal government steps in with a new law a few years back that says that states can enter compacts with their indian nations to open casinos outside of traditional tribal lands. This has made the whole enterprise very fluid.
The casinos on reservations thing came about because the tribes figured out in the past 30 years that they were not subject to the authority of the state governments (which, for the most part have been responsible for making gambling illegal in the US). That is because of the treaties that created the indian reservations--they are strictly federal jurisdiction and have a good deal of self-rule. For political reasons, the feds don't want to get involved in stopping them.
So every indian reservation that is near urban centers (one reservation, eg, extends right into Palm Springs, CA) has become a casino and indian tribes have become one of the largest cash cows for political contributions as they recycle some of their cash to the politicians that let the casinos happen.
The sad thing about this is that, while it brings badly needed money into the reservations, it is like oil money--for the most part it goes to the governing authorities on the reservation and a few very wealthy indians. Most of it never gets into circulation on the reservation to kick-start a local economy. And, it tends to stick the reservation economy in a parasitical mode, subsisting off of money from drunk white guys who gamble instead of a wealth creation mode.
And I can just imagine her family standing behind her, with much eye-rolling and smirking, caused by yet another of mama's silly forays into idiocy and stupidity.
Somebody needs to check this womans hormones or something.
"Supremem Court" should be "Supreme Court".
Plus all those government set asides, minority only scholarship, bonuses for hiring and promotion in civil service jobs - yeah - I'd join up to!
Funny, I am in the exact same position. My maternal grandmother was half Cree. Just found out about that recently.
Sicilian descendant Espera DeCorti
Funny from an American point of view, too.
Most everyone I know knows someone who claims to be part Indian. The Cherokee of yore seem to have been exceedingly attractive to non-Indians in search of intimate companionship. :-)
Most of these new Indians have pale skin, some are even blond, and almost all were considered white before. Others point to high cheek bones, brown eyes and straight, glossy hair in their families as unmistakable signs of Indian ancestry. The self-described 'half bloods' may still live in their old homes, but their free time is now taken up by organizing powwows and walking around in costumes like those straight out of old Western movies.
Yep. We do have our strange quirks. Some more than others.
The Indian identity has attracted some poor Americans for the access to university scholarships or free health insurance that comes with it. Potential income from casinos.
And some of us just want the cash . . . Probably a universal inclination among homo sapiens, though. :-)
wow, you sicilians really get around.
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