Being Native American Living in the United States of America

It took me a while to finally write about the indigenous people still living today in the U.S. Because I do know that they have gone through a lot since Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World. And it appears that those wounds of the past still hurt. And those were about 500 years ago.

Now discrimination against these natives still exist and has been heaped on them for generations.

Here is a photo of a bar in Montana taken in 1941.

The sign on the wall says  "POSITIVELY NO BEER SOLD TO INDIANS". All other non-whites have endured similar discriminatory attitudes but it was worse for them because it was being done to them on their own land (for they were there first).
Photo Credit: Marion Post Wolcott, Wikimedia Commons

Anyway if you look at Native Americans of today, they look like Asians (particularly Northeast Asians). Today, it is still generally accepted that Native Americans came from that part of the world some 12,000 years ago. The earliest Europeans to reach America were Vikings but that was only about 1,000 years ago (yes it wasn't Columbus).

But then again Northeast Asians have also been discriminated against in the U.S.A. (like what else is new?).

The U.S. government has for generations apologized and made amends to the Native Americans and they have been awarded certain rights that were and are only applicable to them.

That is not to say that these are enough, but that is at least something.

Also we wouldn't know if the current conditions of the natives of today are enough amends but at some point we have to stop making amends for the people of today could only do so much, especially because conditions today have improved and hopefully continue to improve for these natives.

Many other people all over the planet have been subjugated and treated badly by other people in their own land and as I've said that really is a shame and almost unforgivable. But then again, until when can we not forgive? Forget we shouldn't, but forgive and to move on, we should.

Yanomami Woman & Child, Brazil 1997
Cmacauley, Wikimedia Commons

There could be many "what ifs" and "what could have beens", but what has happened, have happened, for better or for worse, and that we wouldn't know.

Like who would still want to live like the indigenous (native) people of say the Amazon basin today?

One thing I do wish for them is for the non-natives to stop acting foolishly as in sporting indian tomahawk haircuts, wearing native head dresses, loin clothes or Pocahontas' clothes or wearing face paint and feathers and worse posting their ridiculous photos online.

And maybe to stop calling the natives or even using the term Redskins.