Native genocide really did happen!

The picture above is of a pile of buffalo skulls which were almost wiped out in the 20th century. The numbers went from 100 million to less than several hundred by 1900. For the plains Tribes the buffalo were not only our sustenance but also the foundation of our spiritual life. Of course Tribal people suffered a similar fate as it is estimated that at the time Columbus arrived there were about 10 million Native Americans in the United States and by 1900 we were down to less than 100,000. The oppression of our people resulted in our people being devastated by epidemics, Indian wars, poverty and a host of other social problems that we still deal with today.

In the 20th century we started to see some improvements which started with the Indian Reorganization Act. Not everyone agrees with this assessment but it did stop some of the worst practices of the government and gave Tribes some control over their own affairs. The Indian Lands commission in 1948 allowed Tribes to gain compensation for some of the lands that were taken away through violations of the Treaties they signed. In the 1970's a flurry of federal laws were passed which provided protection and more resources in the areas of self governance, education, health, child welfare and our spiritual way of life.

One of the reasons I am writing this article is that President Biden became the first president to acknowledge the genocide by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenians in 1913 which is in Turkey. Over 1.5 million Armenians were wiped out not unlike what happened to our people. The United States has been slow to recognize this atrocity and there are some who feel this was because if we did then the United States would have to recognize the genocide that was committed by our government against Native Americans. The Australian government has acknowledged the oppression they committed against Aborigines and the Canadian government has also done the same with regard to First Nations people. It is time for the United States to make a formal apology to our people and to honor all the treaties that have been violated time and time again. The pain of one is the pain of all, and the honor of one is the honor of all!

Mitakuye Oyasin - All My Relations