Another Stereotype of the Month entry:
Another Stereotype of the Month entry:
by Ken Hughes : No More Are Indians The Great White Fathers Children
Posted by Hammer on 2005/4/13 9:26:37
By Ken Hughes
Indians have been dependent on old treaties of the 1800s for to long. Treaties, requiring Indians to honor and Whiteman to ignore. It took [500 years] and a stolen continent with all it held for Indians to grow up and smell the coffee. Finally, Indians are getting a piece of the pie, [Casinos.]
A reader recently asked me what I knew about Indian Casino operations on and off reservations, the answer not much. I do know something about Indian history. I know if the Indian is finally taking some money from the White-eyes, and it's about time. I have friends and family who complain how the Trading Post and Casino on the Fort Hall Reservation [ Bannock, Shoshone Tribe] takes money from the local Whiteman businesses near by.
The Whiteman stole a continent from Indians, now that Indians have found a way to get some of it back their being accused of unfair practices. White men and women enter the Casino intent on coming out big winners. More often than not, all they come out with is a Tee-Shirt saying [I Got Screwed By An Indian.]
An Indian is lucky if they can get a job as a janitor in an Indian Casino. The large gambling Corporations who operate most of the Casinos across the country also operate Indian Casinos in most cases. Very few are Indian operated.
Indian Tribes are paid a royalty by the Casino Operators. White men want to know what Indian are doing with the money they receive. It really none of the Whiteman's business, reservations are autonomous form most state and federal regulations, [It's a treaty thing.]
The treaties of the 1800s gave Indians the right to sit at the railroad station and sell buckskin trinkets to passing tourists. Now the buckskin trinkets are made in China, the trains no longer run and the Indian is expected to continue to sit there waiting for tourists who fly and no longer ride the nonexistent trains. The treaties aren't keeping up with the times.
This is not to say the Whitman's government hasn't made efforts to correct the indignities heaped on Indians. There was the Trail of Tears moving the Cherokee from Georgia to Oklahoma. The massacres at Sand Creek, Pine Ridge, etc. In the 1930s Indian schoolchildren were taken from their homes to be reeducated to make them more like the little white boy and girls. All that accomplished was a lot of pissed-off Indians.
For 500 years, the Whiteman has been trying to make the Redman into a Whiteman. It isn't working. The closest they've come is alcohol, tee-shirts and a few other bad habits. The Native American is at the bottom of the economic ladder. Casinos and Trading Posts, are intended to bring Indians up the ladder one rung at a time. How the Indian uses that money shouldn't be of any concern of the Whiteman. It's their money they stole it fair and square.
For giving up their ranges [lands], Indians were promised cretin rights for as long as the wind blows, the grass grows, etc, etc, etc. Indians had no choice but to sign those treaties of the 1800s. Indians had no say in negotiating those treaties. [Negotiation without representation,] The Indians could have used the ACLU when those treaties, were forced on them.
Many people say Indians prefer to live the way they do, damn right they do. If the Whiteman didn't interfere with their life style. Like the animals Indian couture, follows they're being forced of their range. Whiteman's progress and Indian culture don't mix. You guess who wins.
The Whiteman knows very little about his Red brothers. Few White men can name more than three or four Indian Tribes. They have no idea there are hundreds of recognized Tribes in America. They have no idea each Tribe has at least one treaty that's been violated by the same government who made those promises so long ago.
The next time you lose a dollar at an Indian Casino, consider it your payment for [America Screwing The Indians.]
Rob's reply
This poorly written essay indulges in several stereotypes even as it tries to take a pro-Indian position.
For starters, there are things such as:
In addition, Hughes makes several false or misleading statements:
>> The Whiteman stole a continent from Indians, now that Indians have found a way to get some of it back their being accused of unfair practices. White men and women enter the Casino intent on coming out big winners. More often than not, all they come out with is a Tee-Shirt saying [I Got Screwed By An Indian.] <<
Non-Indians have complained about how casinos affect their communities, but not about how they're run. Since Indian casinos are well-regulated, there are few if any instances of "unfair practices" on the game floor.
>> The large gambling Corporations who operate most of the Casinos across the country also operate Indian Casinos in most cases. Very few are Indian operated. <<
I'd say the reality is just the opposite. Most Indian casinos are Indian-operated. Few are run by large gambling corporations such as Harrah's, Boyd, or Station.
This claim has further implications, which is why I highlighted it. If Indians can't manage their own casinos, they must be ignorant children. If they won't manage their own casinos, they must be greedy opportunists. Neither is the case, in general, although some Indians undoubtedly are ignorant or greedy.
>> Indian Tribes are paid a royalty by the Casino Operators. <<
No, casino operators are paid a fee by Indian tribes. By law this fee is no larger than 30% of revenues. The tribes keep the majority of the income.
>> It really none of the Whiteman's business, reservations are autonomous form most state and federal regulations, [It's a treaty thing. <<
Reservations are "autonomous" from most state regulations but not from most federal regulations.
>> The treaties of the 1800s gave Indians the right to sit at the railroad station and sell buckskin trinkets to passing tourists. <<
That wasn't the primary "right" ratified by treaties, of course.
>> Now the buckskin trinkets are made in China, the trains no longer run and the Indian is expected to continue to sit there waiting for tourists who fly and no longer ride the nonexistent trains. <<
No one expects that except maybe the naysayers who oppose Indian gaming.
>> The treaties aren't keeping up with the times. <<
The treaties aren't the problem. The treaty violations are the problem. If the US government upheld all the treaties it signed, Indians would be sitting pretty.
>> This is not to say the Whitman's government hasn't made efforts to correct the indignities heaped on Indians. <<
Hughes follows this sentence with a litany of indignities, which is an example of his poor writing. If he wanted to talk about the government's efforts to correct the indignities, he would've segued directly into a paragraph on Indian gaming's benefits.
>> It's their money they stole it fair and square. <<
Hughes obviously has a bad opinion of casinos. But since people visit them voluntarily, casinos aren't stealing.
>> Like the animals Indian couture, follows they're being forced of their range. <<
I'm not sure what this garbled sentence means, but comparing Indians to animals is a no-no.
>> They have no idea each Tribe has at least one treaty that's been violated by the same government who made those promises so long ago. <<
Some tribes never signed treaties with the government. Since there are some 400 treaties and some 560 recognized tribes, there can't be one treaty for every tribe.
The government may have broken promises to every tribe, but that's slightly different from breaking a treaty.
>> The next time you lose a dollar at an Indian Casino, consider it your payment for [America Screwing The Indians.] <<
Knowledgeable people do think that. They feel better about losing their money because they know it's going to fund a reservation school or clinic, not an executive's mansion or yacht.
Related links
The facts about Indian gaming
The facts about tribal sovereignty
|
. . . |
|
All material © copyright its original owners, except where noted.
Original text and pictures © copyright 2007 by Robert Schmidt.
Copyrighted material is posted under the Fair Use provision of the Copyright Act,
which allows copying for nonprofit educational uses including criticism and commentary.
Comments sent to the publisher become the property of Blue Corn Comics
and may be used in other postings without permission.