Policies regarding Indians have been. Extermination, assimilation, more extermination and now sovereign self government. I can’t for the life of me see how there can be a sovereign nation within another nation ... can’t work. This is against the constitution of the United States, the host nation. It must be the liberal wet-dream of the men in black. Reservations get the majority of their funding from the United States government. What is the solution to appease the Indians?

I was once banished from an Indian reservation for suggesting that the reservation system itself was doing them more harm than good.

I think the solution is to let by gones be by-gones.  The liberal politicians love the current set up because it keeps the Indians trapped on their welfare state reservations, and ensures them 90% of the vote there every election day.  But government dependency isn’t actually helping them.

Ultimately, I think the indians need to integrate.  Preserve their heritage.  Preserve who they are.  But recognize that they are living in a modern world and a modern economy.

They are integrated, at least the ojibwa here are. Red Lake reservation is the largest concentration of “blood” indians in Minnesota. This is because they never “opened” their reservation to non-indian settlement. Anyone born prior to 1962 that had any indian blood is enrolled as an indian. After 1962 a person had to have at least 1/4 degree of indian blood to be enrolled. Enrollment is a process whereby a person is pedigreed and processed for the purpose of identification by the federal government. I look at it much the same way a breeder pedigrees his animals. I am 11/64ths ojibwa and the rest bohemian. Somewhere on a piece of paper I am an indian. Does this sound reasonable to anyone? If people ask me “are you part indian”, I ask them to tell me what they think an indian is. Like every other group of people, indians are all individuals ranging from hard workers to non-workers. Those that have adopted mainstream American values and those that totally reject them.
    After a time of identity concerns I arrived at the place I am today, “I am what I am” and nobody gets to pick and choose what race they want to belong too, except Obama. This attitude has work more or less for the past 30 years. The most egregious thing I endure is, no matter what my accomplishments have been some indians will say it’s because I am the “right” colored indian. Conversely, some non-indians will say it’s because I am part indian that I got a certain job or whatever. I say ... “screw em all”. My litmus test for relating to people is this, if you’re drowning, do you care what color the hand is that reaches out to save you?
    One of my favorite places to have lived was near the Lewis and Clark state park in West Dakota. I worked in the grease orchard so I had money. No body knew what my background was so, I was accepted on by own character and the hunting and trapping was great. I moved back to this often hateful reservation to be near our folks as they age and because it was home. In addition, the oil boom had ended and I didn’t have much choice. I am moderately successful here, my needs are met so, until I retire I’ll stay here. I try to make it a better place, I am involved in the community and I work for the Minnesota department of transportation, yeah I know what a few of you are thinking ... I got the job because I’m part indian. sarc/on