"With false promises of land and wealth, aggressive use of military and civil power, and by setting tribes against one another, federal and state policies became a troika of lies, intimidation and divide-and-conquer. George Custer and the Seventh Cavalry implemented these policies energetically, killing 100 Cheyenne, mostly women and children, at Washita in 1868, until blundering into encirclement eight years later at the Little Big Horn.

Not much has changed. In his efforts to make up for fiscal bungling, Gov. Tim Pawlenty has gone after the tribes' money. The strategy has the same meanness: false promises of wealth (including a role as drug warehouses), intimidation through the statutory powers of the state, and attempts to divide tribal groups. House Speaker Steve Swiggum even complained that the tribes have hired lobbyists, which he called without historic irony 'unfair.'"

Get the Story:
C. Ford Runge: A new campaign against Indians (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 3/10)
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