My mother was born is Swiftown Mississippi, but was not a US citizen because her father was Choctaw. For some, these "bad things" are not so distant in the past.
This is something that did not happen in the US, partly because our aboriginal population was lower, and partly because the British were never interested in converting the Indians, teaching them European ways...
You might want to read up on the Five Civilized Tribes before the trail of tears. They were not called civilized for nothing.
True. We visited the Cherokee reservation and museum in N. Carolina (not all Cherokees were deported, some managed to remain). The history is fascinating, and tragic. This was a great injustice.
I don't think this is "wallowing in it," this is proper recognition of a great people who have been loyal Americans for a long time, despite what was done to them.
My point was that the Spanish were much more respectful of native cultures than the British. All the Spanish wanted to do was convert them, trade with them, and marry them.