The Red Road to Self-Extermination

In the 19th century, in the United States, Tribal nations were rounded up and placed on reservations. There Tribal people were subjected to the forces of assimilation that worked to change Tribal culture and make the people into Americans.  The national policy of this time was to assimilate American Indians into the “melting pot” of the United States.and eliminate the need for reservations. First the Tribes needed to be removed and dispossessed from their land, then the children were removed, and imprisoned in schools to remove their culture. Gradually the tribes changed, survived in many ways, but changed to American culture. This … Continue reading The Red Road to Self-Extermination

Reservations We Choose to Live Inside

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This essay is inspired by the title of the book, “Prisons We Choose to Live Inside” by Doris Lessing, I read some years ago. I have to confess I did not read the whole book, but I did not really have to, the title alone is the inspiration.

Since the beginning of contact, Europeans and later Americans began to move into our lands and sought ways to manage and control the indigenous peoples. This management has taken the form of treaties, removal, and reservations. Tribal peoples learned to live within a number of reservations, many of them imposed upon us and many we have chosen to accept as part of our culture.

Oregon Territory

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