January 29

Blog #94 – “Prisoner of war camps” = Indian reservations?

As we study Andrew Jackson’s legacy with regards to the Native Americans, one thing to keep in mind is the long-term legacy that white Americans have to own with regards to Native Americans.  Jackson and Van Buren expelled the Indians, the Five “Civilized Tribes” of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Seminole, Choctaw, and Creek tribes – under the Indian Removal Act.  They were relocated to lands west of the Mississippi River where they would be allowed to roam free, the thinking went.  In the video we saw this week, Andrew Jackson: The Good, Evil, and the Presidency, Natives suffered tremendously.  But that was only one act in this long drama between white Americans (and previously before them, white Europeans) and Native Americans.

The Indian Removal Act was passed by Congress in 1830, in order to remove the five tribes from areas of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.  Historian and noted Jackson scholar Robert Remini said that the Indians were removed from the eastern United States because they presented a direct threat to the country, having been used as sabotuers by foreign invaders in the past three wars that America had fought (French and Indian War, the Revolution, and the War of 1812).  Remini saw this act as improving the homeland security of the nation.  Other historians see the act within the context of the grab for new farm land in the cotton-growing frenzy that gripped the nation – the Indians were moved because the land they lived on was coveted by white farmers so that they could add to the cotton kingdom.  This act was unconstitutional because the Indians were seen as sovereign nations living within the U.S. in Article IV, Section 3, and even the Supreme Court affirmed that the Cherokee couldn’t be moved in Worcester v. Georgia.  Historian H.W. Brands states that President Jackson felt that this removal policy was “humane” and saved the Indians from annihiation from the crushing forces of white encroachment.

From there, however, Manifest Destiny charged ahead, damn the torpedoes, so to speak, and the Indians were in the way again.  Whether it be farm land, gold and silver mines, railroads, or the destruction of the buffalo, Native Americans became an easy target for white Americans moving westward.  The tribes were pushed aside and put onto reservations, or as the speaker in the TED talk below, Aaron Huey, calls them, “prisoner of war camps”.  Some Indians like Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse, just to name a few, fought back and succeeded at slowing down the demographic tide.  A 1911 ad offering "allotted Indian land" for sale

For most American history books, we see that they talk about the Indians almost always when they are being pushed off of their land by Europeans (King Philip’s War, Powhatan War, Seminole War, Indian Removal Act) or when they fight back (Battle of Little Bighorn, Red Cloud’s War) or after being indiscriminately massacred (Sand Creek and Wounded Knee Massacres).  Few cover the decimation of disaeases that faced the Native Americans when the Europeans first arrived.  Even fewer touch on 20th Century issues and laws regarding education, reservation (and sale of Indian land), tribal recognition, citizenship, Termination policy in the 1950s or other Indian policies like the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.  Our textbooks might talk about AIM or the standoff at Wounded Knee in 1973, but just as an inclusion of many minority groups in the chapter on the late 1960s / early 1970s. There might even be something about the seizure of Alcatraz Island by Native Americans. But rarely anything is heard after that.

 

In the following disturbing and moving video, photographer Aaron Huey lists the many things done (in the name of America) to the Lakota Sioux tribe.  He juxtaposes the litany of broken treaties and promises and horrific things with his own photos of the Lakota tribe at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Aaron Huey’s wish is that the American government honor the treaties and give back the Black Hills.  To atone for America’s sins, to use such a phrase, can anything truly be done?  Where, if anywhere, should Americans start to make up for what has been done to the Native Americans?   Is it right that we should speak in such manner as atoning for sins or asking for forgiveness?  Or do you feel that you have nothing to ask forgiveness for since these things had been done before you were born?  What responsibility do we have to Native Americans?

One major thing to consider is that though we may not have been personally responsible for oppressing the Native Americans, we benefit from the results of past policies of our government towards Native Americans (and even from past colonial practices).

Should we replace Columbus Day with Indigineous Peoples’ Day?

Should we push Congress to rescind the Medals of Honor distributed to the 7th Cavalry handed out after the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890?

Should reservations be abolished? Or should those that exist still remain yet receive generous help?

Should the Washington football team, the Cleveland Indians, or Atlanta Braves be forced to take new mascot names?

What can we learn from Canada and the way they have treated and honored their Native Americans?

Should we continue to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline (since President Trump has rescinded President Obama’s cancellation of it)?

Should Native Americans be given back their religious ceremonial artifacts, tens of thousands of which sit in museums, some on display, others locked in vaults? (for an upclose perspective, see the recent PBS film, What Was Ours here).

In finishing up the research for this blog (including reading chapters of the book, “All the Real Indians Died Off”: And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz) I found that Congress passed, as part of an appropriations bill, a resolution called the Native American Apology Resolution in 2009.  Introduced by Republican senator from Kansas, Sam Brownback, he said the reason he did this was “to officially apologize for the past ill-conceived policies by the US Government toward the Native Peoples of this land and re-affirm our commitment toward healing our nation’s wounds and working toward establishing better relationships rooted in reconciliation.”

Furthermore:

The Apology Resolution states that the United States, “apologizes on behalf of the people of the United States to all Native Peoples for the many instances of violence, maltreatment, and neglect inflicted on Native Peoples by citizens of the United States.”

The Apology Resolution also “urges the President to acknowledge the wrongs of the United States against Indian tribes in the history of the United States in order to bring healing to this land.”

The Apology Resolution comes with a disclaimer that nothing in the Resolution authorizes or supports any legal claims against the United States and that the Resolution does not settle any claims against the United States.

The Apology Resolution does not include the lengthy Preamble that was part of S.J Res. 14 introduced earlier this year by Senator Brownback.  The Preamble recites the history of U.S. – tribal relations including the assistance provided to the settlers by Native Americans, the killing of Indian women and children, the Trail of Tears, the Long Walk, the Sand Creek Massacre, and Wounded Knee, the theft of tribal lands and resources, the breaking of treaties, and the removal of Indian children to boarding schools.

  1. Tell us your reactions to the Ted Talk;
  2. Discuss your thoughts / concerns about how to acknowledge the debt America owes Native Americans and why.

400 words minimum for both answers.  Due Wednesday, February 1.  

Extended quotes come from the blog: https://nativevotewa.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/president-obama-signs-native-american-apology-resolution/

 

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Posted January 29, 2017 by geoffwickersham in category Blogs

68 thoughts on “Blog #94 – “Prisoner of war camps” = Indian reservations?

  1. Zacharie Chentouf

    I agree with many of the things that were said in the Ted Talk. As with the see with the Lakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation part of the larger Sioux tribes, many of the Native Americans are living in terrible conditions, or many are at least in terrible positions that had been there since they were born. I agree that everything we have today in the United States, like the red velvet chairs in the private school where the Ted Talk is being given, have come at a price, which is in this instance, the well-being and preservation of an entire different kind of culture, an entire different kind of people. Since the arrival of the colonists at Jamestown in 1607, we see the Native Americans being oppressed, and pushed off their land, especially as more and more white settlers arrive. In 1824, as seen in the Ted Talk, America set an aggressive, uncompromising, and unwelcoming committee for anything that had to do with the Native Americans, the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Throughout the United States, history, we see Americans being immoral, and making promises and treaties that they would not be able to keep in order to keep getting new land in the present, never wondering what would happen to the people that were given promised land, never wondering what would happen once there was thirst for land once again after all the land that the Indians had been kicked off of was sold. We see this in 1851, where the first Laramie Treaty was formed, creating a sovereign nation for the Lakota with clear borers in the middle of the country. This treaty was, like many others, broken. In 1861, Lincoln signed the Homestead Act allowing French migrants to go through Indian land. This did so at the disregard of the Indians’ opinion on the matter. In 1863, thirty-eight Sioux men were hung for an uprising, and they were leading an uprising because the rights to the land that they had been given just ten years ago were already being violated. This was the largest mass execution in the history of the United States, and Lincoln demanded it and signed its order two days before he signed the Emancipation Proclamation. It is ironic that Lincoln, championing the rights of man, believed that African Americans should have the same freedoms as whites, but then discriminated, at least held with much prejudice, the Native Americans. The treaties become totally obsolete when in 1866, the Transcontinental Railroad begins being built, building tracks and trains throughout the Lakota territory. The Native Americans moved themselves every time Americans asked them too, but Americans continued to violate our treaties with them about them keeping their land because we were thirsty, greedy, and lulled by the riches that could be gained, and benefits that could result from doing this for the American people. The Americans never once stopped to think about the consequences of what they were doing would do to the Indians that kept displacing themselves for the Americans’ expense, and they only thought about the possible benefits to themselves. We see this again today with the Dakota oil pipeline issue today, backed by Trump, but opposed by Obama. At this time in 1866, the Lakota, three tribes in particular, were angry with the Americans’ constant thirst for land, and them never stopping breaking treaties that they made. As a response, they attacked the American army many times under a leader by the name of Redcloud. In 1868, the sovereignty of the Sioux nation, and its ownership of the Black Hills are assured in the second Fort Laramie Treaty. The government promises new hunting rights in states around the Black Hills, and this seemed like a good treaty for the Native Americans. This is the only time that the United States accepted all the enemy’s demands for peace. In 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad was completed, where hunters would take trains and kill many buffalo, removing one of the major sources of food, clothing, and shelter for the Sioux. Not only did Americans take away the Native Americans’ lands, they also took away the few resources they did have. In 1871, the Indian Appropriation Act makes all Indians enemies of the federal government, and western Indians were now also forbidden from leaving reservations. The Native Americans let the Americans onto their land, this land, that they had been living on for millions of years, and Americans just come, and now decided and tell the Indians where they can and cannot go. In 1871, we ended making treaties that we could not keep. In 1874, General George Custer said that he found gold in Lakota territory, especially in the Black Hills, and it is advised that Congress ends the Lakota treaties as soon as possible. Here, we see again the possibility of riches meaning more to Americans than the well being of an entire people. In 1875, the Lakota War begins over the violation of the Fort Laramie Treaty. In 1876, on July 26th, Custer’s Seventh Cavalry was crushed at the Battle of Little Big Horn. In 1877, an important chief and warrior called Crazyhorse surrendered at Fort Robinson. He was killed in custody. In 1877, a campaign known as seller starves began, where Sioux men were presented by a deal: they had to sign away land to get money for their tribe. Only 10% of Sioux adults did, and the Laramie Treaty could only be ignored if more than 75% did, but that was ignored. Here, we again see how immoral Americans were because of the blind of the thirst for land. The Dawes Act split from communal property to separate tribes and Indians holding 160 acres, leading to the loss of a lot of land because the surplus was disposed of. This capitalism destroyed the reservations, but was a nice way to cover that up, as it looked like the Americans had given more liberty to the Native Americans. A lot of the surplus land went to white ranchers. In 1890, on December 9th, the Wounded Knee Massacre occurred. The U.S. troops rounded a Sioux encampment, and shot freely and killed Chief Bigfoot and 300 other men with a new rapid-fire weapon called a Hotchkiss gun, with exploding shells. Twenty Medals of Honor were given for this, more than for any other battle. This was considered the end of the Indian wars. We really hear how hurt and how deeply affected the speaker at the Ted Talk is affected by these atrocities that the Americans did, especially when hearing how he describes the way that a beautiful dream perished that night of the Wounded Knee Massacre. This helps us understand how deeply wrong Americans were through the actions they carried out against Native Americans. After Wounded Knee Massacre, we see the government tired of the Indians’ traditions, ready to use violence. In 1900, the Indian population was at its lowest of less than 250,000, where estimates are at about 8,000,000 in 1492. The longest court case in the United States, Sioux Nation v. United States, was ruled upon the Supreme Court in 1980. It said that when the Sioux resettled, and that 7,000,000 acres of surplus land had been lost, that the terms of the second Laramie Treaty had been violated. It said that the Black Hills had been illegally taken, only awarding $106,000,000 for its loss. The Sioux refused this, saying the Black Hills were not for sale. In 2010, we see that the Native Americans live in extremely bad conditions because of colonization, forced migration, and treaty violations. Unemployment is between 85% and 90%, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, many are homeless, new homes cannot be built because of the lack of money, current homes are ruined, some homes have up to five families, 39% of homes don’t have electricity, at least 60% of the homes have black mold, more than 90% of the population are below the national poverty line, the tuberculosis rate is eight times greater than the national average, the infant mortality rate is the highest on the continent, three times the national average, cervical cancer is five times higher than the national average, the dropout rate is up to 70%, teacher turnover is eight times higher than the average. Many grandparents are raising their grandchildren because of rampant alcoholism, apathy, and domestic violence. 50% of the population over the age of 40 suffers from diabetes. The life expectancy for males is between 46 and 48 years old, almost the same rates as in Somalia and Afghanistan, war torn countries where prisoners of war, even though they have guards, are present. Even though the guards are gone in the reservations, children born here are still prisoners, and it is very hard for them to escape this jail, even though there are no guards, because of the troubling conditions they have as a children.

    To make up what has been done to the Native Americans, we need to recognize and acknowledge the atrocities that the Americans have committed against an entire civilization, an entire people. We have to give back the Black Hills, and we should also improve the conditions of the reservations so that they are not prisons for children to be born into, or we may need to find a completely different system than to reservations. It is right that we should speak in such a manner as atoning for sins and asking for forgiveness because out ancestors are not here to do that, and we reap the benefits and the consequences of what has been done to these people in our everyday lives, in the success of this nation. To the Native Americans, it is our responsibility to take care of them, honor them, obtain their forgiveness, and to improve their living conditions because it is our fault if they are where they are today. We should replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, as that would commemorate the people that were eradicated to create these countries instead of remembering the one who found them in the first place, which led to their eradication. We should push Congress to rescind the Medals of Honor distributed to the 7th Cavalry handed out after the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 because they are based on immoral reasons, and automatic rifles were used hunters and gatherers that had already been oppressed in unimaginable ways. That is not honorable. Reservations should be abolished if the people living there would be better off without them, but some could still exist, and receive generous help if that worked. A completely new system may need to be created. The Washington football team, the Cleveland Indians, or Atlanta Braves should not be forced to take new mascot names, but they should honor these names in some way, whether that be asking forgiveness from Native Americans before a football game, or honoring them before one. We can learn from Canada and the way they have treated and honored their Native Americans by looking at how they encompassed them in the fur trade, and treated them like equals instead of a minority. They worked with them, and instilled them in the economy. We should continue to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline (since President Trump has rescinded President Obama’s cancellation of it) because it would go straight through the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and may even affect the quality of the drinking water. We have done enough to hurt these people, and this pipeline is not necessary, so we should continue to oppose it. Native Americans should be given back their religious ceremonial artifacts, tens of thousands of which sit in museums, some on display, others locked in vaults because it is theirs to have, just like we have artifacts and things that have been passed down from generation to generation in our families. They should be given back to the Native Americans if they want them.

  2. Grace Jung

    1. The Ted talk was an eye opener to many things that happens inside and the background in which many Indians had to suffer through. The way Huey expressed himself was a bit over dramatic, or maybe he was just sad and emotional, but I still think it was a bit over done. He talked about how hard Indians have it, and I do agree with him on that one. I think because we live in a bubble with our own little lives continuing but not noticing that other peoples are ending. I grew up in Iowa, a state that no one knows that exist and I never seen videos about Indian reservations before my tenth grade English class with Ms. Hubar. The video was different from this Ted talk because it was narrated by kids living on reservations. They’re school was old and muddy, nothing looked clean or livable in, and kids had to live in it. I also agree with him about their (the Indians) lives being taken. You could take this back as far as Christopher Columbus’s arrival. Ever since he “discovered” America, he and his men were finding new ways to get rid of Native Americans and take their land. And even Huey talked about how there were treatys made to give up their land. But have we ever thought why they had to give up their land to the rich white men? I also feel that the pictures did show a sense of how terrible conditions are and how they feel. I don’t think that anyone can say that they were overly depressing because these were probably taken to show their real emotions and how they feel. That’s like saying to man or woman to stop crying when their mother or father had died and saying that they are over reacting. And lastly I do think that we owe the Indians their lives back. We need to supply them with enough money not just what the government gives them. Because if teachers aren’t making enough money, then how much do you think they are giving the Indians? Finally, I think that congress should rescind the medals of honor given to those 20 men. Because them still having these medals means that America was congratulating them for killing innocent lives.

    2. Most native Americans connect their lives to their land and their traditions. And by taking that away we are taking away everything they fought for. So I think that we should make the reservations a better place to live. Give them a higher education and make more jobs inside and outside the reservations where the parents can make money to support their families. And we can help by not going to Haiti but going to Indian reservations and help build new houses for them to live in. Or we could help and support them to integrating into an average American life. Because the main problem that they face is not being able to leave the reservation. But that is one of the things that America could do and can do. We can’t give them back all their land because America has grown and we rely on the land we took from them, so I think the best thing we can do is support and help them live a better life.

  3. Ashley A

    I feel that the Ted Talk on the Native Americans by Aaron Huey was very inspirational and thought provoking. The speech made me realize the fact that nothing is really gained or achieved without the downfall of something else. The rise of America to, what some people would say, the greatest country in the world was not without misfortune. The Natives of a land that was stolen from under their feet without mercy or 2nd thought has been going through endless suffering ever since Columbus set foot in America. I think the treatment of Native American’s in the past years has been very selfish and greedy. I was shocked while Aaron was describing the different events that have happened to the natives. The more surprising thing to me however, is how I’m just learning about this. Not once were any of these, in my opinion, major events in history mentioned in a single school textbook that I’ve crossed paths with in all the 11 years of my schooling. Another paradoxical point that was pointed out Aaron was President Lincoln’s treatment of the Native American’s. Lincoln is painted in a perfect image by schools; a game changing president that ended slavery only to be killed by hateful people. The ted talk sort of changed this view of Lincoln for me. The same president that ended slavery could create something as awful as Pacific Railway Act of 1862 to a people that did nothing wrong. This act led to the significant loss of land, natural resources and lifestyle and culture, for many Native Americans. The Natives have been cooperative-ish in moving wherever the Americans tell them to go and they still get prosecuted. Lastly, Aaron spoke about the later acts of the American people against the Natives. Aaron said that in the later parts of the 20th century we split up Indian land to individual Native Americans causing the loss of millions of acres of land and ending tribal ownership. This extra leftover land of course went to America and is now occupied by white ranchers. I believe that we should be doing a lot more as a country for the natives. Their standards of living and success rates in life in general should be brought up to America’s because everyone is equal and deserves equal treatment. I feel that though a whole statewide section of land won’t be given to them, a lot of their land should be given back, the care of their people should be constantly looked after, and that we as a country should respect any area they label as sacred.

  4. Hank Peters-Wood

    The issue of our relationship with the Native Americans is very controversial and is fiercely debated. One side believes that we stole what was theirs and treated them in an awful way, and now we owe the Native Americans and that we need to give back and give assistance to them. The other side believes that we conquered them completely fairly, and we more owe them nothing at all. Personally, after doing my reading and watching the TED talk, I believe that we are helping the Natives in the wrong way, and that we most offer more. The United States does offer reservations, but these reservations have very little to offer. They are placed in undesirable areas and do not have exemplary health care, education, plus there is not enough steady work to go around. One of the key issues that plagues many reservations is alcoholism. A high percentage of natives who live on reservations struggle with alcoholism and we do not offer the help that these people need. The Native Americans have been stripped of not only their homelands, but also much of their culture, religion, and traditions. As a nation, we hoard their artifacts in museums and we develop their land everyday. I believe that there are many resolutions to these issues. First, I believe we should expand reservations and create new ones in more desirable areas, which could help create more work. I also think we should tremendously improve healthcare and education within reservations, as well as offering rehabilitation centers. These people deserve just as much of an opportunity to succeed in life, and we need to support them in as many ways as possible. Instead of bringing in outside white people who want to “Kill the Native”, we should give Natives opportunity to learn how to fulfill jobs as doctors, teachers, etc. Finally, most importantly, we should exponentially increase our funding to reservations and tribes and give back their rich traditions and many of their stolen artifacts. Our land was theirs first and it is truly not fair for us to take everything from them, they are proud people and deserve just as much as we do. Some may say that we “conquered” this land fair and square, but there is nothing fair about the genocide and abuse of a massive civilization. We owe these people more than most can comprehend, and I believe that the first step is to treat them as equals and offer them The opportunities they need to live happy, successful lives.

  5. Ny'dea Terrell

    1.)Aaron Huey clearly reinforced what has been stated and proven in many books, documentaries, and pictures. Its augments that white Americans made decisions irrationally based on greed and self-interest. The detrimental decisions have left a culture as a whole devastated, causing them to have to rebuild constantly over the last 2,000 years. The land was ripped apart by Americans taking as, Huey stated ‘the best of the meat’ leaving the ruins for Native Americans to live off of. The Ted talk video proved my belief that someone that is self involved will only open an eye to someone when they have something they want. Americans found it okay to come back to Native American land time and time again, for harassment of their citizens as long as vandalizing their community. It troubles my mind as to figure out why people have no moral code for death. Specifically referencing the genocide the 7th Calvary committed, especially against young children who are not able to defend themselves against grown men and their riffles. I find the 7th Cavalry to be cowards to attack a culture that is grasping for their traditions. Unnerving to invade the space they settled after being uprooted at least 3 times within a thousand years. Also highlighting the fact that they not only exposed the Native Americans only land for benefits of natural resources, but most importantly noted that they Killed innocent civilians in their own community. However, from my perspective I do believe that what made cemented my opinion, was the Americans audacity to take pictures of “joy” over the bodies of their fallen enemies. All in all the Ted Talk video illuminated many key points and events that should no longer be brushed under the mat.

    2.) I do think they should replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s day. Columbus did nothing but claim credit for land that was already settled upon. Also to mention that he brought over diseases, killing many of the Native Americans. Columbus tarnished Native Americans names by calling them barbaric and stealing many of their resources. Native Americans only wanted to live in peace, but instead were the victims of obscene human beings. I would judge the Native Americans spirit as uplifting to know that no matter how badly they were treated by Columbus and his country, that they never concede to their abusers level. In that view I most definitely agree that they in all rights and aspects deserve to be acknowledged nationally and internationally for their dignity dispatched within the last 2,000 years.

    I do not think the Native Americans should have their reservations abolished, because that is all America has left them with. Americans pushed them southeast to the northwest, giving less them to have each time. America has neglected to help people who have lost all, but their culture. I believe that not enough is being done now to help them. American politics have no problem coming to take something, specifically referencing the Dakota Pipeline, but has a phobia of giving just as much as they take. I believe the saying “you must give what you take” must be considered in great depths by the government.

  6. Celia Crompton

    1. The TED talk is spoken by an outsider being sympathetic, because I feel like the organizers thought that this approach is more relatable to the audience this TED talk is trying to reach. The purpose of the talk is to inform people watching about the hardships and atrocities that native communities have to and have had to face in the past and draw sympathy from viewers. It definitely worked on me, as I am a more than emotional person when it comes to things I deem as social injustices. But as I read through some other blog posts, I realize that this approach is not always successful with people that don’t appreciate cries for help and sympathy. The morally despicable acts thrust upon the natives since Columbus arrived in 1492 have always disgusted me, but as I watched this TED talk I find myself questioning how much throwing blame around can help? Yes, you can make the descendants of oppressors feel bad, but for as many that feel bad for you and want to help, many others will hate the fact that you blame them since they technically haven’t done anything to harm the community of Native Americans. I believe there are more effective ways of marketing the need for help on poorly funded reservations overrun by alcoholism and abject poverty. For example, we read an anecdotal comic book in English this year called The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. This firsthand experience of a child growing up on a poor reservation changed my view on the struggles conceived in reservations more than this (whiny-seeming) TED talk ever could. This book we read involved no real blame being thrown around, but was a window into the life of these Native Americans that I otherwise would not have experienced. The TED talk tried to achieve that with the slide show and teary stories, but it felt more like a guilt trip than anything else. Analogously, it feels like hearing about the Holocaust from a non-jew. It’s just not as convincing as hearing about the lives of those who really were there and have been surrounded by their situation for much longer. I know what they were trying to do using a white person, but personally I felt like they did not achieve the sympathy they wanted.
    2. The so-called debt the United States owes Native Americans is not really a debt at all (in my opinion) but rather a case of poorly funded social programs. If more money were funneled into paying for the health care and other welfare-esque programs that reservations maintain, they might be able to get out of the loop of poverty that so many families suffer from, or at least have more livable conditions. This is not a debt because it is not the fault of the people who now exist, but rather a responsibility to help those in needs. It might be a while before social programs become the focus in the senate again, but until then we can remain educated about the problems this ethnic group faces and stand with them as they ask for help. I also believe the pipeline IS an abomination, but considering the fact that it will provide thousands of jobs for these Native Americans, it might not be such a bad opportunity. However, holidays like Columbus Day should definitely be replaced to reflect how our values have changed, and therefore why there it’s not the fault of people that were born after the majority of these atrocities occurred.

  7. Danielle Lutz

    1. After watching the Ted Talk, I was moved and surprised by many of the facts presented to me. Aaron Huey provided the audience with a timeline of many specific times that Americans have attacked and acted cruelly towards the Native Americans. There were many horrible things we had been doing to the Indians since the 1800’s. Pushing them off land that belonged to them, harmed many Indians, and forced them on to reservations where they struggle to eat meals and keep a roof over their heads. In English class, we read a novel called “The absolutely true diary of a part time Indian” where it documented the lives of a boy and his family living on an Indian reservation. A lot of the information I learned from this book correlated with the information offered to me by Huey. Today many Indians on reservations are effected by poverty, racism, and alcoholism. One thing that blew my mind when watching the Ted Talk was that Abraham Lincoln abused the Native Americans. This shocked me because he’s known as a man who supports equality and put an end to slavery in the United States during his time as president. Watching the video inspired me to want to help those suffering on reservations.

    2. I believe the reservations are not benefitting anyone in modern America. In these times, it is more important to feed your family and teach your children good morals rather than keep your traditions alive. The Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs puts millions of Indians into reservations that end up struggling to survive and spend generations in poverty. If Native Americans could adjust to today’s way of life and join society, it would be an advantage to everyone. I agree with Aaron Huey that there is no simple way to pay back the debt we owe to the American Indians. The lives they are living on the reservations are the same type of lives that people trying to escape from their home countries and come to America are living. Instead of giving the Native American’s money that will only be effective over a short period, we could promote businesses and create jobs in the reservations so that they Indians can make money and create a stable community. By doing this we take responsibility for our past actions and the way we have treated the Native Americans since the 1800’s. Lending a helping hand to Native Americans also helps the entire country because they are on American soil and businesses will help them adapt to modern life in our country.

  8. Stav D

    Watching the TED talk by Mr. Huey, I was shocked by some of the fact that he mentioned. Although it is no surprise to many of us that Americans have always treated Native Americans poorly, I was surprised by some things. Some of the pictures and statistics that he shared were unbearably disgusting to think we did this to a group of people who were only protecting their land. Another thing that shocked me was to hear that Lincoln himself, who I had thought of to be peaceful with different people and races, was actually one of the men who ordered the killing of Native Americans. I thought his idea of comparing the reservations to war camps was, although a bit of a stretch, insightful. Although they are free to leave and they’re not in an actual war camp, it’s important to remember that it’s extremely hard for them to leave. I recently read a novel titled: The absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie that showed the life of a teenage boy growing up in a reservation. It’s extremely difficult to move out of the reservation because these people are discriminated against and it’s hard to get jobs and go to non- reservation schooling. For that reason, I think that his analogy of a war camp is not too far off the mark.
    We have a tremendous debt that we need to pay to the Native Americans. I think we need to keep the reservations, increase their sizes, and set aside a much larger amount of money for them. Conditions in reservations are horrible, with poor standards of living, alcoholism, and just overall not enough land. I know it’s ambitious to say we need to give them more land, but it’s the morally correct thing to do if we want to pay our debt to them. Also, we need to take away the Medal of Honor title that the men who massacred the Native Americans received. This is no act that the United States should be proud of or honor by any means. We need to set aside millions of more dollars for Native Americans so that we can help support them and provide them with things such as health care and housing and employment. These Native American reservations are unbearably underfunded and this is the least we could do to help repay for all the hardships we have imposed on them throughout history.

  9. Brooklyn Scott

    I believe the TED talk was very informative and talked about many important things many people didn’t know before. For example, I didn’t even know that treaties like Fort Laramie treaty even existed. I believe the use of the pictures helped get the message across more effectively. The speaker used ethos with the pictures and allowed you to actually see what the Native Americans are experiencing right now. I believe that everyone in America should watch this TED talk because I believe that Native Americans are the forgotten people of our country. People know what happened with Columbus and the Native Americans but people don’t know what is happening in the present day. The statistics for modern day Native Americans are some of the highest in the world and in the country. For example, the Lakotah have the highest infant mortality rate while we are one of the most advanced countries in medicine. I we don’t talk about the Native Americans is because we as a society like to try and forget our wrong doings that we inhabit on other people. We also tend to dismiss small societies or cultures. People tend to believe that if they ignore something that the problem goes away. But that is incorrect because ignoring something just makes the problem worse. For example, recently people didn’t start thinking about Native Americans until people began protesting the Dakota Pipeline. I believe calling the reservation prison camps is justified because even if the Natives wanted to leave their reservation, they wouldn’t be able to. To the Native Americans their land is all they have left of their and they barely have any of their land left. Also the system is rigged against them. There are no jobs on the reservations because a) there is no one to pay them and b) no large companies want to have their property in one of the poorest places in America. Since many Natives don’t have enough money to provide for their families they become upset, angry and even depressed which leads to alcohol. Some reservations don’t sell alcohol for that exact reasons, but towns next door to the reservations sell cans of alcohol with 8.2%. That is way beyond for the average can and that should be illegal. Many Native Americans want to improve their lives and live the American dream. Except, for almost all Native Americans the American Dream was taken from them as soon as Columbus stepped foot on the New World. We should definitely change Columbus Day to Indigenous People Day because Columbus killed billions of Native Americans and gave them a name that wasn’t correct. When he sailed upon the new world him and his crew infected many tribes with brand new disease their bodies couldn’t fight off. Also he labeled them as “Indians” because he thought he sailed upon India. Also Christopher Columbus was not an Englishmen but was Italian. So why should we celebrate a man who killed billions of people, who is not English, and “discovered” America. Instead, we should celebrate the people who survived the horrific genocide.

    I believe we owe the Native Americans so much more than we can give them. We as Americans have ignored the Native Americans for far too long. We have ignored our treaties with them, we have slaughtered them and have rigged the system against them. People like to believe that we shouldn’t have to pay for or feel sorry for the Native Americans because it’s not our fault. We should feel sorry because we have the duty as the next generation to make sure that we fix what our founders did and make sure that it doesn’t happen again. As black female who has Native American roots and barely knows them because my predecessors wanted me to live a life where I had all the opportunities I can because they never had any.

  10. Kyle Alkatib

    1) After watching this Ted Talk by Mr. Huey, I was shocked by the things that he said. I’ve always thought that we have had some battles with the Indians and just took their land but I did not know that we did all this stuff to them. As I was watching I couldn’t believe the pictures I was seeing. I kept thinking us Americans did that to them. I have recently read a book in Mrs. Kay’s class last tri called “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian” and that was the first thing I thought of when I watched this video. Because of this book, I learned how hard it is to be an Indian living on a reservation. People outside of the reservation do not accept the Indians and it is very hard for them to live. One thing from the Ted video that I couldn’t believe was that Abraham Lincoln abused and kicked Indians of their land. I would never think that he would do that because he was such a great man that supported equality and wanted to end slavery in the United States. This Ted video really showed me how hard it is to be an Indian living on reservations in the United States and how many horrible things we have done to them.

    2) I agree with Mr. Huey that this the things we have done are terrible but I do not think that we should pay them back for anything. We can’t change anything that we did in the past. It is over and done. The Indians have their own land, they can do whatever they want. They are in America. We aren’t forcing them to just sit there and do nothing. They can go get jobs, go get food from the market and whatever else they want to do. These Indians make it seem like they are not able to succeed in life and make money when they really can if they want to. I don’t think that the Washington football team, the Cleveland Indians, or Atlanta Braves should be forced to take new mascot names because no one is offended by it and I don’t know why they would be. If anything, these tribes should be happy that these teams are being named after them. I do not think that we should oppose the Dakota pipeline because Trump is doing this to make our country stronger and richer. If building the pipeline will make America better than it’s fine.

  11. CHRISTIAN RAVELA

    1.) After watching the TED talk, various tings Huey said we’re very told emotionally. At least twice you can notice that Huey is tearing up, while telling the audience the facts he apparently learned from the Lakota Tribe during his stay with them. During his talk, powerful stills Huey captured himself are displayed from behind center stage and are displayed on the video. After watching the video, I believe it was very informative and it talked about several topic most people didn’t even know about. There were some things I didn’t even know about, for example, the Sioux Nation v. United States court case, or the Fort Laramie Treaty, and the Wounded Knee Massacre. The video left me thinking, again, about a very frequent question(s) some Americans might ask themselves about our country, Why does our country seem to always worry about the problem outside our borders when there are bigger problems inside our borders? Why are there innocent indigenous people suffering under the American poverty line? They are only where they are now because of us and that why does it seem like nobody is doing anything? There are now so many more things I know now with this country and its issues with the Indigenous peoples living in the reservations sanctioned by our Country. While our political leaders are pushing for a wall that will do nothing but raise our dept, divide our country more than unite it, they could be using that money to help find ways to support the people we left suffering. With all that attention and money, we could re-direct the focus to help the various Indigenous tribes we left hurt and suffering, to help transform the state they are in now, into a much better one. From issues like unemployment on the reservation at Pine Ridge at 90 percent, housing infrastructure falling apart, 40 percent of homes disconnected from the electrical grid, a High School drop out rate at 70 percent, to leaving grand parents raising their grandchildren because their grandchildren’s parents are unable to care for them because of domestic violence and alcoholism, and many more issues. Lastly, I think the Natives deserve better, they deserve to have a chance, not just a low cost chance, but a chance, a real solid chance almost all kids get on the land they cared for for thousands of years, which we are now only destroying.

    2.)The video was most upsetting when Huey talked about all of the Americans UN-forgivable acts towards the Natives, just because they were in the way. It isn’t fair, what we did was wrong and we need to do something. It should start from our political leaders really focusing on the issue with the Native Tribes and apologizing for all of our faults and taking responsibility for literally leaving them in the dark. We have ignored the suffering of the Native Americans for far too long. America has gone through many generations of people who have left the Natives in the dark. Now, I believe that my generation has actually started putting the spotlight on them. By standing with them at Standing Rock, and protesting against President Trump’s executive order to over ride former President Obama’s decision on cancelling the Dakota Access pipeline and starting it again. I believe my generation can actually take a big step into helping the Natives. It just needs more attention.

  12. Donavin Stoops

    1. I was never fully aware about how many times we lied to the Native Americans until I watched the Ted Talk. Our ancestors, the same ones who fought for their rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Those three unalienable rights that our founders, our heros, claimed every man had were snatched from the Native Americans and were thrown out the window. Like Huey spoke about in the Ted Talk, we treated them as prisoners of war, for a war they never wanted to fight. We took away their land, gave them a small fraction of what was once theirs, then did it again, again and again. The Ted Talk made me remember a thing my eighth grade U.S. history teacher once said: the Native American genocide was one of the least spoken about, but yet the largest genocide in history. Estimates range from 2.1 million to 17 million living in North America before Columbus arrived, and at the end of the 19th century, about 250,000 Natives were still living. We learn about lots of very sad and terrible thing humans have done to other humans, but we don’t often speak about how much Natives Americans died because of what we have done to them, we speak even less about how we cared for them after the massacres. The Native Americans are the forgotten people of today’s life, and years ago they weren’t treated good in any way. Then, we took their land, items, and lives, and now, we let them rot on a government placed death camp filled with disease, decease, and a live that was predetermined by the U.S. Government to be a failure. A camp filled with inadequate education, so much worse than schools in the Detroit district, the schools won’t get them far with the little education provided to them. A place with very little jobs to pay bills and to cover the cost of basic needs like foods and clothing, while here in places like Birmingham, we throw away clothes we don’t need anymore, we take for granted the food we are served, and dread attending the schools we are so lucky to be going to. Like Huey said, we took the good meat, their land in which great cities were built for us only, and left them the scraps, the reservations – a piece of land that sits in the shadows of what was theirs.

    2. We should honor and repay the Native people in many ways. First, we need to find a way to re-establish the treaties made in the late 1800’s. After WW2, the of Jewish people mostly moved to Israel, and now many years after decades of fighting between the US and the Natives, we should give them back the black hills and the rest of their rightful Lakota nation. We should not celebrate the start of a mass genocide of the Natives, Columbus day, rather we should honors the people who showed us how to survive in this land when we first arrived in boats. If we cannot restore the Lakota nation, which most likely will not happen seeing how congress interacts with each other, then we should at least give the reservations a lot of care. By this I mean restoring their homes, a better school system, and basic necessities for every person of Native American descent. In addition, we should give them back all their stolen artifacts that we lock in museums and safes. Usually museums are supposed to showcase art and historic items of people who are no long living. However the Natives are still living and we should not hoard the items that are rightfully theirs.

  13. Davit Tran

    In my opinion, I thought the video was very raw and eye opening. Aaron Huey goes through the history between Americans and Natives and list all the oppression that Indians faced due to American existence. I believe this video is very necessary because many Americans today live in a very privileged society where they do not have the slightest idea of how it came to be. When people think about the discovery of the Great America, they think about Christopher Columbus sailing the seas and finding America. But in reality, Christopher never found America because the Native Indians already occupied the land. This video shows and informs Americans about the oppression that the Native Indians had to face for the creation of our great America today. Americans from the start of our discovery have been taking things from the Natives. From the land that they had, to the lives they lived. For example, in class, we learn about manifest destiny. How Americans settled and migrated into the ‘new’ lands of the west. But like the discovery of America, the Indians had already occupied the west. Americans came, saw, and conquered with little in mind for the rights and lives of the Indians. With all the wrong doings Americans have done to the Native Indians, I do no believe that these reservations that Indians live on today are a very good trade. Equating Indian Reservations to Prisoner of War Camps in my opinion is accurate in some ways. People say Indians have the right to leave whenever they want, and yes that is true. But the reality of an Indian leaving his or her reservation and being able to live in today’s world is very unlikely. Like the video says, Indians are either homeless or living in homes that are barely up to human standards. I believe this video shows the truths of what being a Native American living in America is, barely up to Haman standards.
    From the beginning of American settlement up until today, Americans have done a lot of wrong doings towards the Indians. To repay them, would basically mean giving them back all of the American land. But that is very improbable. I believe to repay them; we have to start out with their living conditions. The reservations that the Natives live on today are very depressing. I think America should start by funding the Natives to rebuild their land. American businesses should also start building on the reservations. Businesses would improve the moral and give jobs to the Indians.

  14. A-A-ron Stottlemyer

    I believe that Aaron Huey is correct in the sense that the Americans have in fact treated the Native Indians with little respect, and a lot of what we did was uncalled for. However, I also believe that many of his claims are blown drastically out of proportion. First of all, even when the Indians were forced into reservations, their treatment in the reservations is in no way comparable to a Prisoner of War Camp. One main difference is that Indians have the right to leave and enter whenever they want, and simply refuse to leave. POW’s, on the other hand, are usually heavily guarded by armed forces, and shot if they try to escape. I also believe that the relation to third world countries Huey puts forth is easily admissible, the low life expectancy of the Indians is mostly set by their own doing; the reservations are given government funding, which they spend on alcohol and cheap fast food. This has made around 60-80% of adult Indians (which varies per reservation) obese, and addicted to alcohol. The horrible education is due to the fact that many Indians are high school dropouts; this is due to either drug addictions, or teen pregnancies. So, although the living conditions share some aspects, the causation for said comparisons are completely opposite. I also believe that America doesn’t have much to learn from Canada and their treatment of Indians. What is done is done, and Americans today can’t be held accountable for the past treatment of Indians. I assume that many people wish to recognize Canada’s treatment of the Indians, and how they accepted/embraced their culture. First of all, that was mainly because the settlers of Canada were focused on expanding the French trading empire, and the Indians didn’t provide any reason for a forceful removal. However, if the French were actually aiming at conquering/expanding their colonies, their relations would have gone a lot differently. Another thing that I’d like to mention is the fact that, although the US outnumbers them, there are over 100 Indian reservations in Canada that hold at least 500 Indians.
    While I agree that Americans did commit atrocities against the Native Americans, I disagree with the notion that we as a people owe the Indians much, if anything at all. My main reason behind that view is held with two reasons: 1, as previously stated, the Indians are free to leave the reservations as they please; they have enough government funding to move to a small urban town, get (at least) a minimum wage job (which will provide them a lot more money than what they’re getting currently), and in today’s society, where the acceptance of minorities is highly valued, many employers would be more likely to grant working positions for Indians; most likely not high paying positions, but it is definitely enough. Hell, there is literally nothing stopping the Sioux Indians from moving into the Black Hills. One thing that Huey fails to recognize is the fact that the US Supreme Court actually sided with the Sioux’; in 1980, the Supreme Court set aside $102 million in compensation for the wrongful acquisition of Black Hills. Today, while still in effect, the compensation has risen to around $1.1 billion! However, the Sioux refuse to accept, claiming that the money doesn’t represent anything, and all that they care for is the land itself. Thus, I feel as if it should be apparent that many Indians have full control over their options in life. One final point I’d like to make is based on the Indians belief that most of what we ‘owe’ them is due to our treatment of them, including putting them in what Huey calls Prisoner of War Camps. However, in the historical aspect of things, if English Conquistadors and British Settlers hadn’t pushed their way into North America, the alternate option would have been the Aztecs; the 2nd largest Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican tribe in the Americas, and they were expanding north from the Mexico region. If the Spaniards hadn’t pushed them back with their superior technology, the Aztecs would have spread throughout North America, and put the Indians in actual POW camps (Aztecs would commonly sacrifice their prisoners by ripping out their beating hearts and drinking the blood, all whilst the sacrifice watched in horror). If this were the case, things would have gone a lot differently.

    Over all, I believe that we have given the Indians plenty of opportunity over the past century. The Obama Administration even funded the Indians over 1 billion dollars collectively, and the Indians still remain in poverty, yet somehow with the highest obesity percentage in America. Today, US citizens don’t owe the Natives anything, and at the very least, they should be grateful that the Aztecs didn’t get to them first.

  15. Hassan Dabliz

    I didn’t learn anything new when it came to the way Americans have treated the Native Americans in the past, but what I did learn about were examples of how they were treated, like the treaties that were broken and the mass execution that took place, or the giving the most medals for any battle ever to soldiers for killing innocent Native Americans. But most of what I got out of it was visual images and statistics about how they are living today, with their health and wealth being among the lowest on the continent, as well as their education. The problems that these people suffer from, like alcoholism and diabetes are all reasons for their short life spans. Overall it’s disgusting to see that here in America a country that prides themselves in freedom for all and being able to succeed here, or at least be able to live a better life than people in third-world countries.

    I believe that America as a country and every individual living on American soil owes a debt to the Native Americans because we took what was theirs, and now they are struggling and most of us don’t even know about it. There are many ways that we can start to repay them for all that we have taken or done to them, and it starts with the government. The government needs to expand their territory and give them back the black hills. The government also needs to invest money for schools, infrastructure like roads, houses or apartment complexes, and needs to do whatever they can to move businesses into those reservations to create jobs for these people. The people can give back too in many mays weather it is with their money or their time. If they are a doctor they can offer their skills to help with the kids and elderly as well as the other people because what I learned in the ted talk almost everyone is sick or in bad health. Social workers can offer their time with kids and their families because they suffer from alcoholism, these people can help the kids who deal with abusive parents or they can counsel the alcoholics. Teachers or anyone really can tutor anyone from kids to adults because many don’t even have a high school education. With tutoring many of these people may be able to have the chance to succeed and be able to make it out and enjoy life with their families, and be a part of society.

  16. Markus Butkovich

    It is obvious that Native Americans in today’s society are facing harsh problems. And that is just an understatement. They are in massive poverty, and face problems where they cannot get out of it. Some issues besides poverty consist of alcoholism. It is a very, very tragic problem that needs to be solved. But all of these problems are because of there tragic past. There were millions of Native Americans before any one came to America, and there are only hundreds of thousands of them now. The TED episode talks about this, going through the timeline of the Lakota Sioux tribe. The TED episode was incredibly sad and emotional, but it told the truths of what reservations actually look like. But not just people in the Lakota Sioux tribe live like this. Even though the man talking focused only on one tribe of many, there are also other people that live like this. It is a problem that is not talked about and acknowledged enough, but the TED episode did a good job of explaining. It was good that they went thought the timeline for awareness, but the man explaining did not do a very good job. He seem like he has been to the Lakota Sioux tribe reservation, but did not experience what they actually have to go through on a daily bases. He also only took pictures and visited, met people and bonded but didn’t live through their life struggles like poverty and alcoholism. But there is also a debt that needs to be paid for. The reason Native Americans across the U.S. are in such poverty is because of what happened to them over the course of time ever since people first came to America. Now that this problem is being talked about publicly, people can try to find solutions. Over the course of time, the situation had been pushed aside. People have treated them with terrible disrespect and violence, driving them out of their homes. Now is the chance to repay them with letting them keep their land, without and restrictions on how they want to live on their land. We should also support funds and projects that they want and need, including school and education systems. There should also not be any land restrictions, and if they don’t want to bothered, they shouldn’t, including the Lakota Sioux tribe with there land. They need to be paid back, and now is the time to do it, especially with the pipe line.

  17. Joshua Salter

    In the Ted Talk, Aaron Huey talks about the Native Americans tribes, a particular tribe he talks about is the Lakota tribe from South Dakota. Aaron Huey when he talks about the Lakota tribe he talks about them in chronological order, in like a timeline. During this timeline he describes, as time goes on times get worst and worst for this tribe, America starts to make treaties to push them out and kind of ruin their lives. So as time goes on, the times get worst and worst for this tribe. Surprising information that I heard from this video was that the Lakota army beat the American army somewhere around the year of 1866. But, after this little stretch of years, times continually got worst, it was kind of like snowball effect for them, one thing would happen, and then the next thing would, and it kind of added up to be one big snowball. Also towards the end of the Ted Talk, Aaron Huey reads off a bunch of facts about Native American Tribes. Most of them were negative facts, such as about 70% of Native Americans today now drop out of school or kids on the reservation are raised by their grandparents. It seems like these Native Americans and especially the Lakota tribe had rough times after the 1850s, America disrespected this tribe and the Native Americans of their land and rights.
    The Americans, after what they did to the Native Americans and the Lakota tribe should give them some land back where they used to live in areas such as the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Also, if we give them land back, most likely the land will be in bad conditions, so we should also probably renovate, and possible start a charity to fund the renovations, this would probably make a dent in what the Americans have done to these Native American Tribes. Even if we don’t give them land back or renovate, America should do something to help these struggling tribes out, and these tribes are struggling, so whatever it is whether it’s making a holiday to recognize these tribes or its giving them land back, it doesn’t matter what it is but America should do something to repay these Native Americans for what they have done to them since the 1850s.

  18. Gus Koza

    Based on watching the TED talk describing the many hardships the Indians had to go through during history I believe that the last thing we should do is remove reservations. The reservations have been widdled away by greedy farmers hoping to create a ranch throughout the years cause the reservations to shrink drastically. To decrease the size of the reservations now would just seem as a slap in the face to the Indians as the have had mostly everything taken away. I do believe that the reservations should give more finical help as the drop out rate for school is at 70%, this causes many Indians a difficult time in being successful in life. Giving more financial aid will definitely help lower the drop out rate. Another issue in the reservations in the parents becoming alcoholics later in life. This causes many of the developing children to not have a solid home foundation. The government should step in and help prevent this from happening in this next generation before it is too late. The last problem found in the TED talk was the sanitary issues they have causing many deadly diseases throughout the reservation. This can be easily prevented if the government stepped and cleaned their water ways along with the donation of soap.

    I think the names of the sports teams reflects a inappropriate name such as the “Redskins” and will eventually be changed by itself. But as for the “Cleveland Indians” I don’t see as much of an issue since it isn’t a slanderous name compared to many others. I don’t think that the Cleveland’s mascot is inappropriate for them to change the whole team name and logo at least anytime soon but as for the Redskins I think that should be changed sooner rather than later.
    As for the Dakota pipeline I disagree that Trump should continue to show support to the creation to such a major pipeline going through what little the Indians have at the reservations. This can be seen as even more invasive than ever before causing a huge protest that we have already been seeing across the nation.

    I think we should replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day first off since Columbus day is somewhat irrelevant in a sense that he was one man out of many sent on this journey to the new world as well as Columbus wasn’t known for treating the Indians very great either. The Peoples Day would be less controversial in my eyes and I think would be more beneficial for acknowledging different events in our country’s history.

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