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Monteau: Indians distrust the white man's policies
Friday, June 30, 2006

"Dear Assistant Secretary Cason: First of all, let me allay your fears that we all hate ''white men.'' We don't. What we do hate are the policies and restrictions foisted upon us and our homelands by the lawmakers of the prevalent race of human beings in the United States, and that just happens to be people of the Anglo persuasion. Particularly, males of the species.

I won't go over past sins. I will leave that to old AIM activists and our ''thorn in the side'' Indian humorists like Charley Hill, Drew Lachopa and Don Burnt Stick. (P.S. - if you don't know who these guys are - we have a cultural gap issue.)

The pervasiveness of the attitude ''revealed'' in the above-referenced study is based not only on past treatment of Indians in this country, but by the way we are treated right up to today. ''How's that,'' you ask? Well, let me tell you.

The United States passes laws that are supposed to enhance the economic development of Indian tribes and Native Alaskans. A few of us use the laws to create corporations and go out and compete in the marketplace around the world, and someone says, ''What's going on - we can't have these Indians and Natives making millions of dollars from these 'loopholes.' Let's change the law.'' What about the ''loopholes'' for private energy companies that reap ''billions'' in profits? Since when did economic recovery for Indians and Alaska Natives become a ''loophole''? Yet Congress is ready to hold hearings and change the laws, just when we are realizing some success."

Get the Story:
Mystery of why Indians still don't trust 'white men' resolved (Indian Country Today 6/30)