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Reservations as Native American Cages
“How many siblings do I have? Wait, let me count...I have one, two, three, four, five...thirteen siblings!” Patrick, a Native American elementary student, says after a while of counting and repeating names. Patrick isn’t the only Native American child facing family brokenness and lack of care. Trey, a 15-year old, casually admits, “Yeah I used to smoke weeds and drink alcohol but not anymore. I only smoke cigarettes now.” And Trey isn’t the only Cherokee youth arrested multiple times, influenced under his community and living conditions. These Native Americans continue to be subject to poverty and restriction today, due to reservations. It is unjustified for the government to place Native Americans in reservations because they limit their education and carry on a continuous cycle of aimless lifestyles. This can be fixed by government-funded trips that take Native American children on tours that explore brighter lifestyles and living conditions, as well as money grants that allow families to live outside the reservations.
Encouraging Native Americans to live in reservations is unjustified because reservations limit education and perspectives of young Native Americans. According to Janice Kelly and Reid Ginger of National Center for Educational Statistics, only less than 1% of Native Americans earned a degree at 4-year higher education institutions, compared to 63% of Caucasian Americans. This reflection is due to issues inside the reservation, which show that the quality of Native American schools are below average compared to other American schools, as well as low graduation rates. With little provided education to aid them in the future, Native Americans are forced to make livings out of uncomfortable jobs and low income. Limiting education also curbs the perspectives of natives, as lack of education cages them under reservations. Inside the reservation, natives see poverty and brokenness-- this restricts and narrows their view of life. Some children, only seeing poverty, only know poverty, thus exhibiting an unawareness of different, better standards of living. They are blinded from brighter futures, as they are always subject to grow up under a poor educational environment. This can be fixed by the introduction of yearly tours to different areas of the U.S. that display a better learning environment and higher living conditions. Watching others with higher education living comfortable lives, as well as seeing safe, well-built neighborhoods can alter the minds of Native Americans to search outside the reservation for better lives. Especially touring colleges can encourage education and show the children that college is indeed an important factor that can change their lifestyles. An overview of higher-class careers can also open eyes up to the possibilities that the world actually offers, instead of staying restricted to, for example, mowing lawns and cashier jobs.
In addition, it is unjust for the government to settle Native Americans in reservations because this promotes the carrying on of a cycle of harmful, aimless living that has become the tradition of many reservations. The community cycle of living, repeatedly recurring through generations, commonly includes alcohol, drugs, and guns. Because so many people commit to these indulgences, new generations and children view these as an better, alternative way of living. Just as influential is the family cycle of living, which includes violence, divorce, and abuse. Native American children have multiple parents due to multiple divorces, which leads to fragmented and broken families. Family revolves around the idea of home, comfort, and refuge-- Native Americans are stripped of this comfort as multiple half-siblings and step-mothers make home a strange place. The large number of children per family also leads to a lack of care for the children, often making them feel unloved. Arousing more concern is domestic violence and abuse inside the household, including child beatings as well as murder under the influence of alcohol. A solution to these problems lies in funds that the government can provide, granting the money to help families escape the reservation and settle into a safer communities with better jobs. These communities and schools can help teach children about the importance of family, fixing the newer generation for healthier lifestyles.
Although these arguments are true, reservations do pose benefits for natives, in that they are provided with jobs and free services by the government. Cell-phones and different services are funded by the government, and natives are also offered jobs inside the reservation. However, these jobs are often ones unwanted by normal U.S. citizens, and are not high-income jobs that pay sufficient money, leading to poverty. In addition, free services alter the minds of natives to think that the reservation is an acceptable way of life-- the offer of services encourage Native Americans to stay inside the reservation, caging them inside. More beneficial is that by placing Native Americans in reservations, the government encourages them to sustain Native American cultural traditions. Reservations give natives the territory and land for traditional practices, thus exhibiting cultural tolerance. However, many who live in reservations are of mixed races, and do not feel promoted to continue their cultures just by the lending of land.
As proved, placing Native Americans in reservations is wholly unjust, as it leads to limited education and an unbroken cycle of unhealthy lifestyle. Opening the eyes of children to safer communities and better aspects of American life can promote the new generations to seek different lifestyles. The reservations serve to cage Native Americans away from brighter futures, and also serve to restrict their view of the world by only showing them a discouraging and hopeless portion of society. By taking Native American children on trips to other locations, they can be motivated to break free of reservations and set forth to charge on better living conditions. The family funds that help Native Americans escape the reservation help newer generations learn and see more of the world, thus inspiring them to different, unprecedented dreams and helping them choose freer lifestyles.
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I visited Cherokee Nation with my church and the experience revealed so much of Native American life. Many people do not notice what happens in reservations-- I hope people will be opened to the reality that many Native Americans are not offered the proper education and living that many of us assume.