We're still killing Native Americans

[Magoonski]

Okay so maybe not exactly but indirectly we are allowing the demise of Native Americans by essentially forcing them to be in a rock and a hard place.
Most reservations for the tribes are put in places with little economic value so most are unemployed. Second, the federal government is supposed to provide health care for the tribes but spends more money on a prisoners' medical care than the Natives (http://www.seattlepi.com/local/403196_tribes12.html). Third, some states such as Maine have laws that will not allow the tribes to build casinos which they need not out of greed but desperation, "The average life expectancy on the Passamaquoddy reservations is 48, or one-third lower than the national American average, according to the tribal government." (http://news.mainetoday.com/indepth/gambling/020505casino.shtml). My parents are going to be moving to Eastport, ME it sickens me that their neighbors the Passamaquoddy are dying so young. It's not just in Maine but all over the country tribes are suffering.

This Thanksgiving remember that without the help of the tribes the pilgrims never would have survived isn't it time we return the favor?

To help...get educated about the needs of your local tribes. Learn about the laws at the federal and state level concerning their treatment. Once you're aware of the problems write to your congress and if you're a Mainer like me for the love of all that is Holy vote in favor of the casino (I signed a petition yesterday for one in Oxford county)!

[sabelmouse]

i would if i could but i am not a us citizen. i have been aware of this all my life. how can you not? i am amazed that it is still going on.

[Magoonski]

Simple, they don't teach us this stuff in school. Every U.S. history class I've ever taken never talks about the treatment of Native Americans after WWII.

[Bryan Rosander, FL]

If the Native American's can build casinos, then everyone else should too. I doubt casinos will help them that much though.

Do they have options for leaving the reservation, if they want to live longer?
Why does the government have to provide health care for them?

[Eric Martin Gorse]

As for the casinos here is what wikipedia says about that...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservation
In 1979, the Seminole tribe in Florida opened a high-stakes bingo operation on its reservation in Florida. The state attempted to close the operation down but was stopped in the courts. In the 1980s, the case of California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians established the right of reservations to operate other forms of gambling operations. In 1988, Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act which recognized the right of Native American tribes to establish gambling and gaming facilities on their reservations as long as the states in which they are located have some form of legalized gambling. Today, many Native American casinos are used as tourist attractions to draw visitors and revenue to reservations.

[charles baker]

I agree with you but it should be noted that those that live on the reservations get tax deductions and free housing or at least that's how it works in Canada I think.

Also in Canada everyone gets free health care so you guys should just do that and then there's one less problem.

[Eric Martin Gorse]

The reason we provide health care for them is because of treaties and such...
http://www.ihs.gov/PublicInfo/PublicAffairs/Welcome_Info/IHSintro.asp
The Indian Health Service (IHS), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, is responsible for providing federal health services to American Indians and Alaska Natives. The provision of health services to members of federally-recognized tribes grew out of the special government-to-government relationship between the federal government and Indian tribes. This relationship, established in 1787, is based on Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, and has been given form and substance by numerous treaties, laws, Supreme Court decisions, and Executive Orders. The IHS is the principal federal health care provider and health advocate for Indian people, and its goal is to raise their health status to the highest possible level. The IHS provides a comprehensive health service delivery system for approximately 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who belong to 562 federally recognized tribes in 35 states

[Bryan Rosander, FL]

I don't like this situation either way. Maine should comply with the federal law, but these rulings seem awfully intrusive into Maine's statehood.

I don't think the government should be providing health services to anybody. I don't think that they are very good at it. That we signed a treaty (is this part of a treaty?) seems very irresponsible.

[Magoonski]

Thank you for clarifying!

[Magoonski]

I'm not entirely sure but I think it has to do with the treaties that were signed between the Natives and the Federal government. Each state treats their native tribes differently. I went to a panel where some of the representatives of the tribes in Maine spoke about about some of the politics. In Maine they said that it wasn't until the 1980's (or 1990's, I forgot which) that the representatives of the tribes to the Maine state congress were even allowed to vote or speak during the congressional session. Also, to an extent the tribes (in Maine) are treated as a separate entity (except concerning the land "given" to them) and can have arrangements with other countries including buying oil.

As far as the casinos are concerned many states have laws against gambling. Maine has a law against the building of casinos but in a totally unfair twist, Hollywood Slots opened in Bangor, ME which is not owned by any of the tribes in the state (to my knowledge) but is allowed because technically a slot machine is considered a vending machine.

[KT]

You should not delve into things you know nothing about... and then to post links to some of the biggest Liberal news sources in the world!!

[Magoonski]

Each state is different, what started this whole thing was that I went to a panel hosted at the university concerning the Maine tribes and issues of sovereignty. I may not know everything there is to know about this topic but the facts that I have stated were heard FIRST at this panel by members of the tribes themselves, I posted the links so that I could note a source.

Liberal or Conservative doesn't matter, facts are facts.

[Gene Rock]

no your way of thinking is backward. they chose to live there and they chose to be unemployed. why should we help people out of a hole they dug.

in the past we have wronged natives in many ways. what we need to do now is to treat them like every other group of people in america. all people are equal so all people should get the same laws brought down on them.