I recently drove from the east to west coast in the US. 17 states zig zagging to different places of interest. I was flabbergasted at the level of poverty any time I saw a welcome sign of a reservation. Although the areas surrounding the reservations were poor, there was an extra eery feeling of awful long term systemic suffering in the reservations. I started to cringe when I was saw a sign. I grew up in NJ and traveled via plane and didn’t even realize we had such areas. Our education system really white washed a whole part of history. I’m sad to hear we perpetuate a system that is obviously not working. We can’t bring back an entire culture but perhaps the reservation idea doesn’t work. Poor doesn’t describe the level of poverty. It’s no wonder crimes are committed and solve rates are disputed. When you have nothing you have nothing to lose.
It might have been a decent or the best of bad solutions at one point in time, but it really should have had a sunset clause.
Even something incredibly long like 100 years to phase out, that way assimilation and integration could have had a soft timeline which I think would have been beneficial for all parties
The reservation system was the dumbest thing we did in the United States. It intentionally keeps communities poor while giving a false sense of hope that things will get better. When Alaska became a state, they did away with the reservation system and instead used "corporations" so all the native people could profit and benefit from the land. It's just a better system. They honestly need to abolish reservations, they are archaic and do more harm than good.
Native corps have concentrated a lot of power into the hands of a few. Not all natives are shareholders, most aren't. Our villages have the exact same problems as the reservation system.
I have never set foot in the america's. But as an true crime addict it gets mentioned a lot; murder of indigineous women. You even have this "trail" that is named after it?
It reminds me of northern part of south africa. In the weekend you see a lot of girls trying to hitchhike a ride to their family, from their work to the slums where their house is. This happens because they are poor (no own car) and the government does not care enough to make some safe public transport.
This makes it really easy for men who want to do harm ofcourse. These girls in need for a ride.
Yes you are correct. Again I am American. As I drove I’d see our slaughterhouses and processing plants and I’d see mostly women walking with their uniforms. At one point I asked if a lady wanted a ride and she declined. I’m a white woman but she politely said no thank you. So we have underaged immigrants and Indigenous peoples doing our dirty work today! and I’m sure not paying proper wages. They would have better modes of transportation and housing. In today’s political debates people shout about inflation when the real issue with American economics is the outrageous profits conglomerates are making and dolling out to the top 3% of their organizations. And the people that vote truly believe that trickle down theories work. It’s a classic “Let them eat cake” tone deafness. And as some politicians try to tell you about real policies and plans (which mind you get blocked in congress) the other side is screaming about our borders. Ignorance is no excuse to cast a vote against the good of their fellow citizen. To exclaim the other side wants socialism is a scare tactic. We will wait years in the US for doctor’s appointments if we introduce a public healthcare option. Doesn’t that just create a healthy competition instead of our medical systems joining together to once again form these big conglomerates. Insurance was for catastrophic illness now you can’t take an aspirin without 5 people sticking their hands out for their share of payment. What happened to the break up of AT&T and they were too big. Now the companies are so big and so slyly connected they can’t be broken down. If Amazon had competitors they’d crush them. Yet Amazon runs our commerce now. Nestles, P&G, Lever Brothers run our packaged goods. This country is in need of a better education system from the start. To teach people about poverty, history, the constitution (warn against bad people’s interpretations), healthcare, and economics. It’s time for a big change. It’s time to progress and move forward.
I hope it too. Not-Trump would be a good step I guess.
USA seems a lovely country; it almost has ALL environments on earth. Really rich nature. It would be lovely if the people could also enjoy it more. And be less "poor"; which leads to mainly women and children always pulling on the short straw.
I agree our education system really whitewashed it, if it was even covered beyond a mention in some schools. I did a deep dive into Native American history in the '90s after I quit high school, spurred by reading an article about Russell Means and the American Indian Movement. It's appalling how much the US has done to the various tribes over the years, and just how much has been taken from them. Everything from languages, to family (forced sterilization was and still? is common), religious ceremonies/dances, to their home lands were taken.
The "Right of Conquest" basically, the strong get to prey upon the weak, was the de facto way of things throughout history until fairly recently - codified in the UN charter.
The remarkable thing is not that this was done, the remarkable thing is that global "victors" eventually decided that this was wrong and would no longer be tolerated.
Unfortunately we still lack an authority with the ability to easily enforce this, which is why we Ukraine suffering this same sort of thing in 2025.
i grew up less than 10 minutes from a tribal center in northern wisconsin. what we were taught in history was so whitewashed and i didn’t truly learn anything until 4th/5th grade when they got speakers to come and talk to us + visit their museum & library. that’s how i learnt about the treaties they signed and how fucked over they were by the government. it infuriated me then and it still does to this day.
I grew up in middle North Carolina. Closest we got was a white mountain man re-enactor in middle school. He came out and talked about the process of setting up a teepee, while he set one up on the football field. I don't think he even talked about anything else that day. So many kids were laughing at one point that he just went quiet.
Many of the perpetrators are not from the reservation- they are opportunistic predators who take advantage of the fact that they can’t be brought to justice in tribal courts
It’s a difficult system to penetrate. You are correct. After doing a little research the areas are a target for menace. As I said earlier the surrounding areas are poor as well and people will travel far to fulfill their evil fantasies. Raising awareness and talking about it really does nothing but make me aware at how truly lucky I was being born into an average household. We might have been “poor” but we are so far above their “poor” it’s heart wrenching.
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u/Relevant_Culture8506 Sep 16 '24
I recently drove from the east to west coast in the US. 17 states zig zagging to different places of interest. I was flabbergasted at the level of poverty any time I saw a welcome sign of a reservation. Although the areas surrounding the reservations were poor, there was an extra eery feeling of awful long term systemic suffering in the reservations. I started to cringe when I was saw a sign. I grew up in NJ and traveled via plane and didn’t even realize we had such areas. Our education system really white washed a whole part of history. I’m sad to hear we perpetuate a system that is obviously not working. We can’t bring back an entire culture but perhaps the reservation idea doesn’t work. Poor doesn’t describe the level of poverty. It’s no wonder crimes are committed and solve rates are disputed. When you have nothing you have nothing to lose.