How do Americans feel about the way Native Americans were treated?

How do Imigrant Americans feel about the way the Native Americans have been treated over the years?

I guess by immigrant you mean anyone who is not Native American? Let's clarify America as North/Central/South America, since those are concepts that did not exist before the arrival of the Europeans.

I think things are a lot better for them now than they used to be. Some are making a ton of dough from the casinos and contraband cigarettes. They obtained some great land settlement deals in Canada, especially in BC. In general I think they are a lot better off these days, It would have been nice if we'd figured out a little earlier how best to treat them though.

The last half of the 19th century was a sorry spectacle. It all happened so fast. :(

There is arguably no greater shame in the entire history of my country. Conditions are still terrible for the descendants of the survivors. The reserves here are basically little patches of the third world; poverty for the vast majority of First Nations people is a fact of life. All of the social problems that they are suffering from right now (alcoholism/drug addiction, high incidents of child neglect/abuse) can be traced back to the residential school system in which the Canadian government forcibly took children from their homes and confined them in religious schools in an attempt to "assimilate" them. It's a national disgrace.

Maybe Im wrong but I think they get special treatment but now its about how they treat themselves.

Not to diminish the way they were treated, and yes there is a ways to go yet, but a little research on recent land claim settlements in Canada will show that many are doing rather well. And the fact is that a lot of the reservations, at least along the border, are quite wealthy due to casinos, and the way the smuggling and contraband cigarette trade is carried out with umpunity. So it ain't all bad.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CFH

There is arguably no greater shame in the entire history of my country. Conditions are still terrible for the descendants of the survivors. The reserves here are basically little patches of the third world; poverty for the vast majority of First Nations people is a fact of life. All of the social problems that they are suffering from right now (alcoholism/drug addiction, high incidents of child neglect/abuse) can be traced back to the residential school system in which the Canadian government forcibly took children from their homes and confined them in religious schools in an attempt to "assimilate" them. It's a national disgrace.

---

A lot of similarities with the Aborigines in Australia.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by porkypara

How do Imigrant Americans feel about the way the Native Americans have been treated over the years?

---

About the same at the British feel about taking the resources and wealth of the colonies. Very little.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CFH

There is arguably no greater shame in the entire history of my country. Conditions are still terrible for the descendants of the survivors. The reserves here are basically little patches of the third world; poverty for the vast majority of First Nations people is a fact of life. All of the social problems that they are suffering from right now (alcoholism/drug addiction, high incidents of child neglect/abuse) can be traced back to the residential school system in which the Canadian government forcibly took children from their homes and confined them in religious schools in an attempt to "assimilate" them. It's a national disgrace.

---

I was to write something but when I've read your message, I thought that I didn't have anything else to add. It is a disgrace, a huge problem and a catastrophic on every levels possible. Their situation is now a hot potato that every government is trying to avoid to deal with due to the complexity of the case.
Today we sure can question how they act and how they are, but we should never lose from sight that we are the ones responsible for what they did become today.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Master

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CFH

There is arguably no greater shame in the entire history of my country. Conditions are still terrible for the descendants of the survivors. The reserves here are basically little patches of the third world; poverty for the vast majority of First Nations people is a fact of life. All of the social problems that they are suffering from right now (alcoholism/drug addiction, high incidents of child neglect/abuse) can be traced back to the residential school system in which the Canadian government forcibly took children from their homes and confined them in religious schools in an attempt to "assimilate" them. It's a national disgrace.

---

A lot of similarities with the Aborigines in Australia.

---

So true, except we did a (False) but legal cull cause because the English couldnt bargain with them over land, they re classified the Aboriginals as fauna and flora (non Human) then culled them off.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by porkypara

How do Imigrant Americans feel about the way the Native Americans have been treated over the years?

---

.....I think they got it a lot better than what the Spanish gave the Native Mexicans.....why the fuck does America always get the finger pointed at us?!?!?! How are the Aborigines treated by the Aussies now to this day??? And on another note how did you Brits treat the Irish???

Sure the Indians got a raw deal, most native peoples did...doesn't make it right, but that is what happened in those times all around the world, doesn't make it better, but that was the norm of the day

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lyle

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by porkypara

How do Imigrant Americans feel about the way the Native Americans have been treated over the years?

---

.....I think they got it a lot better than what the Spanish gave the Native Mexicans.....why the fuck does America always get the finger pointed at us?!?!?! How are the Aborigines treated by the Aussies now to this day??? And on another note how did you Brits treat the Irish???

Sure the Indians got a raw deal, most native peoples did...doesn't make it right, but that is what happened in those times all around the world, doesn't make it better, but that was the norm of the day

---

Don't think about America = USA. It's all of us. North/Central/South. You know, Things Like Canada and US of A are creations of the Europeans colonizers. I imagine you talk to any native indian, who is serious about heritage, and there's a good chance they don't give a rats ass. "Canada is not our Country, we are the Mohawks of North America!" I will always remember one First Nations leader say. :cool:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CGM

Not to diminish the way they were treated, and yes there is a ways to go yet, but a little research on recent land claim settlements in Canada will show that many are doing rather well. And the fact is that a lot of the reservations, at least along the border, are quite wealthy due to casinos, and the way the smuggling and contraband cigarette trade is carried out with umpunity. So it ain't all bad.

---

I would disagree strongly with that. I've studied a fair bit of First Nations-related things in school over the years and the vast majority of indigenous Canadians live at an economic level that is far below that of other Canadians. Some Casino's end up infusing money into a band, but quite often most of the incoming wealth goes to a few rather than to many. As for land claims, a few positive, limited settlements do not eradicate the all the outstanding issues. I can't speak with any personal experience regarding Ontario groups, but the ones around here a suffering quite badly. Around here, and everywhere else I have been in Canada, racism is rampant. It's almost matter of fact that Natives are looked down upon and sneered at because of the present-day effects of the European policies of assimilation and eradication. This country should be utterly ashamed of itself that with the massive wealth it produces (often from resources culled from traditional Native lands supposedly protected by long-standing treaties which were broken at will) it allows a segment of our population to suffer in the way it does and to live in 3rd World conditions, exposed to deadly diseases and social traumas that would not be allowed to exist elsewhere.

Indigenous people deserve self-government and they deserve land rights.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lyle

And on another note how did you Brits treat the Irish???

---

Slightly different story there... struggling to see the relevance to this topic (or the harsh criticism you're reacting to for that matter)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AdamGB

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lyle

And on another note how did you Brits treat the Irish???

---

Slightly different story there... struggling to see the relevance to this topic (or the harsh criticism you're reacting to for that matter)

---

To be fair, some connections (particularly in early American history) can be drawn between the two people and the way in which the British viewed them (I've heard credible arguments that assert the Irish were worse of than the Natives during the 16th/17th century), but by and the situations are pretty dissimilar.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CFH

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AdamGB

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lyle

And on another note how did you Brits treat the Irish???

---

Slightly different story there... struggling to see the relevance to this topic (or the harsh criticism you're reacting to for that matter)

---

To be fair, some connections (particularly in early American history) can be drawn between the two people and the way in which the British viewed them (I've heard credible arguments that assert the Irish were worse of than the Natives during the 16th/17th century), but by and the situations are pretty dissimilar.

---

Indeed we a had something of a war but I don't recall it being policy to infect them with smallpox. Hitler would have been proud. And yes I do believe it a genocide.