Indian Abuse Coming Home to Roost
I am not a believer in reparations. History has done badly by any number of individuals and groups and when the blood is all mopped up and the bodies buried, life marches on.
But not keeping our word in treaties with other nations is another matter and this country of ours has an almost inexplicable record of neglect and abuse of Indian treaties. Whatever deal we could make with these ‘savages,’ we made in the course of achieving the short-term goal at hand with no regard for our end of the bargain. When it didn’t suit us we simply moved on and walked away. More commonly, we required the Indians to pick up their lifetime belongings and hit the road. Our history is chock-full of land abuse as well, in a constancy of moving tribes to the most worthless land, then finding something valuable under it, over it or near it and displacing them once again.
Interestingly, Senator John McCain now sits as chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee. McCain is an ardent protector of rights and Ariz…