After the United States won its independence, it was decided that the United States would recognize the sovereignty of Indian tribes, and all interaction between the two sides would be done by federally ratified treaties. By the 1820s Supreme Court rulings recognized Indian tribes as dependent nations with the United States responsible for their health and welfare. The courts also gave the United States’ government ultimate authority over policy with Indian Tribes, but trusted they will do so in a beneficial way towards Native Americans.
Despite having judicial backing, Native Americans suffered massive loss of life and land throughout the 1800s as white settlers moved west. By the 1850s most Eastern Native Americans were forced to resettle west of the Mississippi. By the 1870s the United States changed its policy towards Native Americans from recognizing them as sovereign nations to one where they must assimilate to European culture. The Bureau of Indian Affairs tried to educate and force Native Americans into becoming farmers. The plan failed miserably and by the 1930s the federal government changed its policy towards Native Americans back to recognizing tribal sovereignty. This was short lived because by the 1950s the federal government moved back towards what was called a termination policy. Termination policy once again attempted to get Native Americans to assimilate to the American lifestyle while diminishing the value tribal sovereignty. By 1970 the policy once again shifted back to the present day policy of recognizing tribal governance. Thus, the American policy towards Native Americans was at best confusing and contradictory shifting between self-reliance to forced assimilation. I have no problem with the government forcing immigrants to assimilate since it is their choice to come here. However, the government forcing people to assimilate that have lived here before European settlers arrived is a very debatable subject.
So what have Native Americans gotten from our federal governments convoluted policies towards them? There are approximately 2.5 million Native Americans living in the United States. Approximately half live on or near reservations. Today, the federal government recognizes over 550 tribes varying in size from a few dozen to thousands of members. Over a third of all Native Americans live in poverty. They have an accident mortality rate that is 3 times higher than the U.S. population. Many of these deaths are because of alcohol abuse. They also have a diabetes rate that is also 3 times higher than the national average. Their life expectancy is much lower than the national average and part of that can be attributed to a very high infant mortality rate.
Even though the United States government recognizes Indian tribes as their own entity, they still feel they must intervene and provide social policies to undo their injustices. To correct the above problems with Native Americans, the government offers them the same social programs such as welfare, Medicaid, and housing as those offered to poverty stricken Americans. Native American Tribes already govern their reservations; we may as well let them take care of themselves without federal government interference. They would be better off because they could do a better job.
The American government is following the same destructive path when dealing with African-Americans. Many African-Americans also live in bounded communities in our decaying inner cities and they too suffer from massive poverty, addictions, and health issues. Worse yet, African-Americans do not have the right to govern themselves as Indian tribes do (unless inept mayors and city council members count). Hence, they must rely on mandatory failing social policies from the federal government that are making matter worse because they do not create jobs and improve living conditions, they only make citizens more dependent on the government.
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