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Alex Joseph is a Sophomore at Northeastern University. He studies Cell and Molecular Biology while balancing his love of science, Model UN, and biking through the city at night. When he's not there, he lives at home in Marlborough with his parents, little brother, and their parakeets.
The concept of celebrating a thief, tyrant, and looter may seem like an odd concept, and yet it is something that has managed to become distinctly American. Now the average person probably does not see Columbus Day this way, for most of us it simply entails a day off from work and classes or an excuse to take a weekend trip. But for many in this country, it is a somber reminder of the beginning of the end of their culture and their people as they knew it for many centuries before 1492. Granted, at the time, western civilization saw "exploration" as a noble pursuit, and yet hundreds of years later it cannot be denied that it was quite often thinly veiled imperialism. Christopher Columbus conquered lands which he had no legitimate claim to, pillaged them of their riches, and then practically sanctioned an entire continent to sail the Atlantic and then continue his work long after he was gone. Indeed, with Columbus Day now starting to be replaced in favor of a new holiday, Indigenous People’s Day.
It is important to recognize some of the lasting effects that the legacy of American colonialism has had on America’s first peoples. One such tribe, who has had an ongoing battle against the United States government for years, is perhaps a prime example of the squalid conditions faced by Indigenous peoples in today’s America: the Lakota.
It is important to recognize some of the lasting effects that the legacy of American colonialism has had on America’s first peoples. One such tribe, who has had an ongoing battle against the United States government for years, is perhaps a prime example of the squalid conditions faced by Indigenous peoples in today’s America: the Lakota.
I had the privilege of spending half of a semester studying their people in the modern world for my cultural anthropology class, and after spending hours pouring over ethnographies, memoirs, and other stories from their few remaining areas of sovereignty, such as the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, it was hard not to become enraged at the way the people had been treated.
The first thing that most people fail to recognize is that, as with many native groups, the Lakota had a special relationship to the land.
They revered it as sacred, not something that could be given away, and so any treaties that they negotiated with settlers, from Europe and later from America, were founded on the basis that they wanted to hold on to as much of their land as physically possible.
Indian peace commissioners in council with the Northern Cheyenne and Northern Arapaho, Fort Laramie, Wyoming, by Alexander Gardner in 1868
The problem was, most of these came after conflicts between settlers and indigenous peoples, many of which left entire villages massacred and groups of people displaced from their homes. Hence, the natives had very little leverage in any of these negotiations, leading to poor deals and promises of sovereignty that the United States government has repeatedly failed to deliver on. Whether it was repeated promises not to expand into indigenous territory, or to not desecrate their sacred sites (note the Dakota Access Pipeline), the US has been notorious for breaking its promises. Even the agreements that do exist often end up being detrimental in an era of capitalism and free markets.
For instance, on Pine Ridge, because ancestral lands are considered to be listed by name under each individual family on a reservation and are protected under these agreements, it is actually illegal for any family to list these lands as collateral to start a business the way many people across the country do. This is true even if the family does not actively live on the land listed under their name, and they are not even able to sell it to get the money either. Consequently, on the reservation it is practically impossible to start any new commerce other than convenience stores and other kinds of small businesses which are supported, in part by the state.
Even then, it is hard for people to make a living as Lakota culture makes charging people who are related to you for services, which often includes “family friends,” is highly frowned upon. This is a problem because this can be said about most people one would know on a reservation. Additionally, Pine Ridge suffers from a cash-poor economy, wherein the majority of physical dollars spent in the area are spent at stores surrounding, and not on, the reservation in native-owned stores. This means that the majority of the exchange of services and goods on the reservation is actually done in micro-transactions, which prioritize trading goods and favors in exchange for services over money.
While this allows people a way to survive, it also means that financial independence is practically impossible on the reservation. One would have to try and pursue their education and leave (not an easy feat given the abysmal school systems on reservations) and yet this is not something that most are willing to do. As mentioned earlier, the land is sacred to the Lakota. For them, leaving is about the worst possible option. This is why most people who are born poor on the reservation die poor on the same land they were raised.
What does this economic squalor mean for the people of the Lakota? By and large, it means being stuck in a never ending cycle of poverty, crime, and suffering.
What does this economic squalor mean for the people of the Lakota? By and large, it means being stuck in a never ending cycle of poverty, crime, and suffering.
The lack of a formal economy on reservations often makes even obtaining suitable housing impossible for its residents, and they are forced to live in glorified shacks that were constructed by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in partnership with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). As any criminologist will tell you, packed living spaces combined with a poor economy is a recipe for crime. Apart from instances of theft and murder, reservations can be notoriously dangerous places for women, who are assaulted on their premises 2.5 times more than anywhere else in the country. Along with these abhorrent conditions, reservations also often suffer from instances of alcoholism and other forms of substance abuse. And yet, the average outsider does not understand this.
A Typical HUD Housing Unit on Pine Ridge
Source: https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2015/12/20/oglala-sioux-seek-solutions-chronic-housing-shortage/77668294/To many in the surrounding areas of places like Pine Ridge, the perception of Native Americans is that they are lazy, perpetually drunk, and criminals. How ironic then that most people do not understand that it is in fact the colonial exploits of the United States, often continued in the spirit of individuals like Christopher Columbus, that are the cause of these conditions which Indigenous peoples endure to this day.
It is important to take a deeper look at these issues before making a judgment or before writing off the concerns of those affected as something to not be taken seriously. While we may not see it in our own lives, these issues are real for America’s first people.
It is important to take a deeper look at these issues before making a judgment or before writing off the concerns of those affected as something to not be taken seriously. While we may not see it in our own lives, these issues are real for America’s first people.
The land which we live on today has always belonged to them, and if the least we can do is to not celebrate the man who took that away from them, and instead spend a day listening to what they have to say, we have an obligation to do so. Because I know that, as long as I am alive, whenever I think of Columbus Day, I’ll remember an interview with a native woman who was asked to say the first word that came to mind at the mention of Columbus’ name. “Evil,” she said, “pure evil.”
References:Glover, Vic. Keeping Heart on Pine Ridge: Family Ties, Warrior Culture, Commodity Foods, Rez Dogs, and the Sacred. Native Voices Books, 2010.“Sexual Assault: A Horrifying Reality for Native American Girls.” Native Hope, Native Hope, blog.nativehope.org/sexual-assault-a-horrifying-reality-for-native-american-girls.
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