invisible

Racism and cultural genocide have had a huge impact on the Native American culture for generations. These issues date back to 1492 when Christopher Columbus first denied the humanity of the native people as justification for the actions of the white men and continued in 1755 when Spencer Phipps delared war against all Native Americans and placed a bounty on their heads. The cultural genocide continued with the forced assimilation of Native Americans into white culture and the removal of Native American children from their parents. These children were sent to schools hundreds of miles from their families and were abused and taught the English language. Racism toward Native Americans continues today though in ways that are much more subtle. The Native American population is excluded from politics because they are considered a separate entity and therefore have no vote in the legislature even though many of the issues may have a direct impact on them. DHHS still tends to react differently to concerns in Native American families and is much more likely to terminate the rights of the parents. We now have several programs geared toward improving the quality of life for Native Americans, but they rely on a few token individuals to obtain funding and actually impact the lives of very few.