When Englishmen settled in America, indigenous natives referred to as Indian's, already ruled the land. Slowly but surely, we gained control of their land. We tell our children stories such as The Great Thanksgiving and although we may completely alter the truth of the story, they have become important to the story of our country.
As soon as we gained control over the natives, our ancestors grouped these people into special places of land known as reservations. The United States government has granted each of the reservations the right to have a government of their own choice. Many of the governments are run similarly to the 3-group system (Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branch) that the United States have. Others, may run it completely differently by having committees for control, or even the tribal government that most television shows would portray an traditional Indian tribe to have.
In America, we hold stigmas against our native people when we may not even know the real story behind this culture. Many people believe that they have extremely low high school completion rates, high unemployment rates, and high poverty rates. Although Native Americans may follow a more traditional way of life, we look down upon them in our current society because they follow different systems than the way that we live.
In a TED Talk done by a woman with Native American heritage, they discussed the different problems that are holding Indians back from becoming an accepted part of our society.
The lady then further explained how native Americans truly live and who they are. To be completely honest, nearly all of the history teachers that I have had portrayed any Indian tribe similar to the way the video described how a citizen without the whole Indian understanding, would describe an Indian.
Whether you live on an Indian reservation or 1,000 miles away from one, it is important to know what truly happens in their lines. Based upon the information I have come across in class and other peoples responses on the importance of our natives, I have come to realize how little our society knows about Indian Reservations. I believe that in order for us to resolve current stereotypes, we need to further educate American citizens.
