What “Change” Would Mean to Me as an American Indian

[Edmond Lonewolf (Uhisati Wahya)]

Back on the subject of President Barack Obama and his campaign slogan, “Hope for Change” – I do believe that he was elected because people in the United States were ripe and ready for change. With the election of the first black American to the highest office in the United States, it is indeed the things that dreams are made of, while the President has said now that he did not fully understand exactly how deeply in trouble this nation is in until he got in office. And yet some of us continue to hope, we hope that he will be able to fulfill his promises to make significant changes in policies and in the nation’s administration. When it comes to American Indians there are several areas where change for the better would be most welcome.



More recognition of sovereignty is one area that many of us speak of when we hope for things to change for American Indians. Sovereignty is defined by the Heritage Dictionary as 1) Supremacy of authority or rule as exercised by a sovereign or sovereign state; 2) Royal rank, authority, or power; 3) Complete independence and self-government and 4) A territory existing as an independent state. Sovereignty also means: the right and power to command, decide, rule, or judge as well as the condition of being politically free. The fact that the Founders of the Constitution made a clause relating to Indian Tribes as a separate faction of people to be dealt with by Congress is how some view the Indians’ right to claim sovereign status. However, the tribal nations did not ever relinquish their right to exist as a separate and independent self governing entity, it was taken away in a variety of ways.



Sovereignty in fact would mean that tribal nations are equal in footing to states if not the United States and other countries around the world. A few years ago the members of the Strongheart Warrior Society travelled to Washington DC and proclaimed their succession from the United States and declared themselves The Republic of Lakotah. On one hand there were many people who admired the chutzpah of the group to make such a bold statement, on the other hand the group did not have the backing of all the Lakotah people to do such a thing on their behalf. Following that declaration, I heard people saying that the Lakota Nations depend on federal aid and grants for much of their sustenance. “What will happen to us if the federal aid is taken away?” they asked, with much wringing off their hands.



One explanation for that reaction is that our Indigenous people have been beaten down so much and have lost so much to the dominant society they cannot even embrace the act of declaring themselves completely independent with the ability to rule themselves without worrying about their future. The United States signed treaties with the Indian Tribes so the change and a step in the right direction for President Obama would be to review those treaties and honor as many of them as he can during his administration. This would of course take a Task Force or Commission to accomplish, but significant reviews could be done in the next three years.



Any steps in correcting the wrongs of the past in regard to sovereignty in this manner might just undo the harmful effects of the court battles lost by Indian Tribes in the last twelve years. Time and again tribal nations’ enterprises are attacked by states and anti sovereignty groups in court. Be it tobacco, casinos, land, water, mining, leases, or any revenue stream that appears to give American Indians an economic base, you can bet that opposition isn’t far behind and more often than not the court system’s rulings have not been in favor of the Indian. These groups and states that attack sovereignty and tribal revenue making erode the tribes financial base by either demanding a portion of the profit or taking the tribe to court. A positive change would be to stop the litigation against tribes allowing them to put funds back into services to the people instead of into the government court system and attorneys' pockets.



Another change that one of us American Indians hopes for is that the Obama Administration will review the compensation given to American Indians for natural resources and rectify some of the gross inaccuracies. Under the Indian Claims Commission Act of 1946 and other statues, tribes had only been able to pursue money damages for land wrongly taken. If a tribal nation had made a claim under that Act they have been barred from pursuing any further court or legal action on the same matter. This policy should be reviewed and exceptions made for those claims that stand out as clearly questionable.



Return the Black Hills to their rightful owner Mr. President, the Lakota. Find a way to pay for the thievery and mismanagement by the BIA and settle the Cobell case. There are intrinsic damages that will take programs and studies to rectify, the violence against women, suicide rates, the unemployment rates, the infant mortality rates and the health disparities in Indian communities to name a few. Perhaps a change will come in the form of embracing diversity and stopping the “English Only” movements across this country. After all two world wars were won because our American Indian people stepped up to use their languages as “Code Talkers” even though forced boarding schools had been instituted to stop the use of the native tongues.



And last, change to us all as we watch the President engage in policy changes regarding Guatanamo Bay and the prisoners there, would be for a review of those persons convicted and sentenced to a life behind bars solely because they were at odds with the United States Government. Those who stood up against injustice and defied British Rule in 1773 to 1783 are hailed as heroes in our history and revolutionaries are noted in history with pride. But there are far too many in this day and age that are locked away for expressing their rights to oppose mistreatment and for focusing attention on a cause or causes.



Such is the case of Leonard Peltier, probably the most famous American Indian political prisoner in the United States. Should President Obama grant executive clemency to Leonard Peltier, it would definitely give us hope for great things to come as American Indians in the immediate future.



The United States has spent billions of dollars destroying the American Indian in the last five hundred years, it is time to invest in protecting our people, our lives, our spirituality, our cultures, our traditions, our youth and our natural resources - now that would be change.

[Bryant Cochran (dikanowadidohi digadili)]

Bravo ! I totally agree with you. I would have more respect for a president that indeed made changes to the thinking and see some actions that show the "american" people that there is great remorse for what was done to our peoples over the centuries. That would indeed be great change.

It would be a miracle however for a nation that has never honored one treaty they made with our nations, to decide that the people should be finally compensated. I do not trust the US government to do anything that isn't in the selfish interest of the white, monied peoples of the US. The black hills were illegally confiscated just because some fortunate soul found some bits of yellow metal that they held dear to their heart and pocket book. While president Obama speaks words that sound like he might make things right, we can not forget that he is not alone in making policy, the congress will fight any try at retribution because they are greedy and don't want to see any of their control of the people (all people not just natives) that they have decieved into giving up the freedoms that warriors fought so well for. This to me says that the US government should not be expected to do anything that would truly be in the best interest of the citizens of the USA, much less the Nations. We should take heed of this history of the congress and begin to vote out anyone that is "incumbent", don't vote for someone who is in office. Remove them and put in someone that is not part of the problem. Only then, when we have a congress full of newcomers, who know they will not be re-elected more than once, will anyone have a chance to get back what has been lost and given away by past votes. The constitution of the United States does not say "professional politican" anywhere in it. This was an idea born from the Civil War so that the southern states could regain power in congress by staying there longer than anyone else, hence the "seniority system" is not upheld by our constitution. Rather it is upheld only by the uninformed vote of the people buying into the retoric of the "Politican".

[Mary( a-tsi-lv su-na-le-i)admin]

woo hoo! you are so right. The nearestreservation to me lost through the state of texas the right to have a casino. WHy is a good question since gambling is allowed in texas. They want their casino back to create a more stable ecomony for their people.I support that. I will be going up there this weekend for a fourth of July celebration.I love you Ed!keep it coming!

[LINDA B-A ( Lady Cherokee Angel]

Edmond........i agree with you totally and the American Indians deserve any and all that they can get from obama and his crew.......linda...........i'm not good with words sometimes but i hope i said how i felt so it makes some sense to you..........thank you......linda

[FUTURE]

Its hard to believe any president would ever fully agree to give back all that is taken, especially obama if he was to do this it would be another kennendy assassination obama might be the president but the rich run the country and if they want it done it will be done. the president is like a mascot for the united states not like other countries who president or leaders run the country here it is the rich very few in numbers but can control the people by money, he who controls the wealth controls the board so to speak. But as native americans we can never give up hope only the great spirit knows what are plans are for the future. I hope I didn't offend anyone.