Letters to the Editor
jsquared
Published Letters: 26 Editor's Choice: 3
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I take offense...
[Read the article: Europe's cartoon jihad]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The Bible says that you shouldn't depict Jesus lip syncing disco songs while strutting down Hollywood Blvd. wearing only a loin cloth.
We must find the infidels who would depict our holy god in such a way and wage war against them!
http://www.devilducky.com/media/40716/
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Excellent insight into the complexities of sovereignty
[Read the article: Jim Crow and the Indians]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks, I've really enjoyed Salon's articles on Indian country lately. I thought Saunt's examination of the role of the plenary powers of Congress versus the growth of a people's moral backbone was very nicely done.
That said, I'd like to see more articles addressing Native issues regarding land and identity that are still being fought. The elders at Big Mountain on the Navajo Nation in Arizona are still hanging on after more than 35 years. When will we hear their story? Yes, I know that casino-rich tribes are utilizing their powers in terrible ways, but the majority of Native people in this land still face the same problems as before. Focusing on the very few rich Indians as straw men to knock down does little to alleviate the great suffering of most American Indians. Indian reservations still possess the poorest counties in the United States, the highest suicide rates in the United States, the highest mortality rates, the highest drop out rates--I could go on and on. By every measure our people have paid the greatest price to make way for this world power called America. When will this be examined?
Some balance would be nice that's all.
Jacqueline Keeler, writer
member of the Navajo tribe and Yankton Sioux
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Supreme Court Rulings Determine Blood Quantum Rule
[Read the article: Jim Crow and the Indians]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Another point, I just remembered from my American Indian Federal Law class I took all those years ago, is that the Supreme Court back in the early 1820's ruled in a case, I believe called Cornsilk v Georgia that the Cherokee Tribe did not have the right to "naturalize" members as would be the norm for most nations in the world. The tribe was doing this at the time. It was the U.S. Supreme Court that instituted the blood quantum rule for membership, not the Indian people. For most tribes, membership was based on both blood and social relations and both were given equal weight.
Perhaps, someone else could provide a more complete analysis of the court case and its correct name, but it certainly reflects the U.S. government's policy of restricting membership with the hope of seeing diminishing numbers of Indians.
Indian people had a different view. My grandfather explained to me that marrying out of my tribe would not weaken it, but make it stronger by, as he said, "it would be expanding the hoop." As a child, my parents had to choose which tribe I would belong to the Navajo or Sioux, since Federal Law prohibits membership in both. Today, my husband is of a different tribe than either of my parents, so we once again must make a choice. In reality, we maintain contact with all three reservations, but on paper my children and I are simply Navajo. Also, even if an individual is a "full-blood" (I put this in quotations, because I find the whole concept of race an artifact of a less enlightened age) if they do not meet the requirements for membership for any tribal group they are descended from they are not Federally recognized as being Indian. This was reaffirmed in a Supreme Court case in the 1970's.
Anyway, this is not to excuse slavery or the continued racism expressed by members of certain tribes. I know that Oklahoma is a very Republican and conservative place. And this includes the local Indian communities. I mean, isn't Oral Roberts an Oklahoma Indian (I don't know which tribe)? He was declared "Indian of the Year" in 1963! When my dad (a Yankton Sioux) landed in Tulsa in 1997, the pilot told everyone to set their watches back 20 years. And my dad noticed when he worked there as an engineer that the sexism in the workplace was very much like what he remembered back in the 1960's when he first started his career.
On the other hand, my mother's tribe, the Navajo Nation has honored a young African-Navajo woman as Miss Navajo Nation. She was chosen because her speech in Navajo was by far the most eloquent and she best exemplified the Navajo concept of beauty. She had it hard growing up on the rez, but our people our learning. We are learning to appreciate all of our relatives.
Jacqueline Keeler
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Arghghgh Major Failure of the Media rant
[Read the article: When facts fail]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"had we predicted it before the war, would have been a horrible outcome -- an outcome that, had we known, no one would have supported the war in the first place -- this horrible outcome has become the baseline that we take for granted."
I find it really disingenuous for anyone in the news media to make such a statement. Everybody knew the war was going to be bad. Everyone knew there were no weapons of mass destruction. Anybody with half a brain or even a dull imagination knew the Bush Admin was untrustworthy and dishonest.
When the push came to shove, however, and there was the run up to this stupid war, even liberal NPR was fawning over Bush and the WMD claims and still are. They still sound so cowardly, they still quote the President as if his word stands for anything.
If they had any brains or any balls at this stage, they would be openly mocking the President and anyone who supported his policies during prime time television. They would be investigating all the claims of election fraud in 2004, they would be asking questions nightly about Rove-gate, about the secret Cheney Energy Talks etc. They would be demanding answers.
Arhghghggh!