ICT - Opinion - Letters

Do more about domestic violence

Just about all victims of domestic violence struggle to find emergency and other services and supports, and that tends to be particularly difficult when the perpetrator is – or is connected to – a powerful leader. We need a serious investigation into the assault allegedly committed by New York State Governor Paterson’s top aide, David Johnson, and how Gov. Paterson may have intervened.

Cobell just tip of iceberg

Ten million acres of Indian allotments were stolen nationwide by the BIA land frauds. The Cobell case accounted for dollars missing from tribal and Individual Indian Money accounts, but it did not consider Indian allotments, oil wells and other Indian resources stolen prior to filing tribal and IIM claims. The IIM claim is extremely limited in its scope investigating BIA misconduct because it did not consider the pre-1966 Indian Money Damage claims or the loss of Indian title to speculators or loss of tribal sovereignty to states.

Health reform is suicide prevention

No one can say for sure what is stealing the spirits of our youth. I don’t think at any other point in the history of indigenous people did we see so many attempts and completions of youth taking their own lives. What is it about today’s world that makes many blind to hope? Native Americans have been through some crap and yet it has never affected us as tragically as it does now.

Don’t shoot the messenger

We live in a nation that has a black president. His election was made possible due to a large number of white voters who chose to vote for him. In fact, without the white vote, Obama could not have been elected. This should have put to rest the constant cries of racism in America. But it hasn’t. If we disagree with our president we are immediately labeled racist.

Corporations are not tribes

It is my understanding that corporations are legal fiction with no brains or morals. Tribes are families. Corporations have to put money above all else. Sometimes that just equals greed.

Ask Elouise – March 1, 2010

This is the third letter in a series of open letters I’m sending to Indian country to answer questions that you have asked me about settlement of the Cobell class action lawsuit. Prior Ask Elouise letters can be found on the settlement Web site.

Health care lies

‘The real parallel’

This is in response to Eliot Kalman’s letter, “Remember who the real victims are,” Feb. 12 [Vol. 29, No. 37].

Claims are pure chutzpah

A letter “Remember who the real victims are,” from Eliot Kalman published Feb.12 [Vol. 29, No. 37] stated that “The Jews, who only wanted to live in peace with their neighbors, rightly defended themselves. Indians, who tried to live in peace with the two-faced invaders they were faced with, rightly defended themselves. Let’s remember who the actual victims are: American Indians, European Jews, and the poor Gaza Palestinians who would live in peace with their Israeli neighbors if not for Hamas, the religiously motivated thugs who run Gaza.” I found these verbal acrobatics not only factually wrong but rather offensive.

On coins and Cobell

That new coin is a rip off of Native people. The one side is a Native lady, Sacagawea, who was a guide for Lewis and Clark. It’s a coin that was a government failure; nobody carries coins in their pockets anymore.