The Barometer Online

Issue date: 5/9/07 Section: Forum

George Santayana said, "Those who do not learn from the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them."

Eric Wilson's column on May 7, aside from lacking any understanding of what I write about as a columnist for this publication, shows his lack of knowledge of the genuine history of this continent, which began thousands of years before his "150 years" proclaimed. History did not begin with the landing of the European on our shores. Unfortunately, his writing is also indicative of the attitudes of too many Americans who would prefer to forget about the mistakes of the past rather than learn from them.

Is it entitlement to expect the federal government to honor the treaties we were forced to sign, many times under threat of death? I'm entitled to the truth and to the respect that I accord everyone around me, including those who are ignorant of the historical and continued mistreatment of Native Americans and arrogant in their responsibility to their fellow Americans of all categories.

When the federal government declared that several Tribes were no longer "federally recognized" (in a policy called termination), they STOLE the land that belonged to those Tribes! Once those Tribes finally regained their federal recognition status, do you think that land was returned to its rightful owners? Just ask the Klamath of Oregon! Look it up - don't take my word for it! Good grief, do you think I could possibly make up all this horrible stuff?

Who can honestly deny a link between the Vagina Monologues, wherein there is a specific monologue based upon interviews with women from the Pine Ridge Reservation? Native American women are 3.5 times more likely to be raped than any other group of women in the United States. The men who rape us, statistically, are White or Black males. The man who tried to rape me when I was in elementary school was a White male. Violence against women - there's your link between the VMs and Native women. It doesn't get any more obvious than that.

The following comments are from other students who read Wilson's column:

"Unless we face the iniquities of the past, we cannot build an equitable future. I got treated like crap even at Foxtails and El Sol when I took my mother there on Sunday for Mom's Weekend! It's all about money; it's all about f-----g money!" - Jeanna Ramos, Mexican American.

"Renee, your columns are not for dividing. They are for bringing these things to their attention, because either they don't know, or they have brushed it under the rug," - Christina Package, Caucasian American.

"He needs to open his eyes; we are still getting treated badly today. Does he know any Natives at all? What is he basing his assumptions on?" - Christy Brady, Eastern Band Cherokee.

"This is a pluralistic society, and we shouldn't need a national language. We all profit from the bounty of this country, so we aren't 'innocent.' We are all profiting from the past mistakes. These aren't mistakes; these are crimes. Stealing land, killing innocent people, taking away their children - I mean, really! If a society is measured by the way it takes care of its weakest members, then we are really falling short. There are compensations already: OSU just voted to give honorary degrees to those Japanese Americans who were locked in internment camps and unable to continue their educations here at our university." - Adele Kubein, Arab American.

"It's not about equality; it's about equity. It's being different without being persecuted and being treated badly because you are different or being forced to be like someone else, as in assimilation. I want to be my own individual self and to be respected as that." - Clarissa Bertha, African, Scottish, Native American.

"[Wilson] said himself that he is a White male, so exactly how does he know how Natives are treated today if he has no experience being a Native person? He is wrong by saying 'the shameful treatment of Native Americans in our past is in no way indicative of their current treatment.' All Native Americans today are greatly impacted by what has and is still occurring to them. To tell us that we should just forget what has happened in the past because it is 'history' is extremely offensive. I have experienced plenty of racism today as a Native person, and I believe that I am more qualified to speak about how Natives are treated today than a White male is. Don't tell us that we need to forget what we went through and are still going through in order for you feel better about it." - January Bourassa, Potawatomi.

"More research is needed on his part. The last part of his article was weak and pointing fingers, like, 'You need to show me respect because I'm White.' He doesn't know any Native Americans. It's kind of sad that we have someone like that writing for the newspaper. It's sad because he's not looking at both sides. He's not bringing up examples based on any information he knows about Native Americans, and his arguments are very shallow and not strong enough to counter any issue. Another interesting thing he mentioned was that change is hard to do; it's not his generation's problem - but it is a problem. It's like he's doing a cop-out, I don't think he really understands the issues. Maybe he should take an anthropology class or a Native American class. Maybe he should get involved with the Native American Longhouse, come to Native events on campus and not be closed-minded," - Melody Crosby, Diné.

Mr. Wilson, I welcome, as always, the opportunity to share my world view as it may differ from the mainstream and will happily accept the challenge that you issued in your column of a public debate. We could all learn from each other's perspectives; that's the point of each of my columns. Please let me know when the debate will take place and where, and I'll be there with bells on.

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Renee Roman Nose is a graduate student in applied anthropology. The opinions expressed in her columns, which appear every Wednesday, do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Barometer staff. Roman Nose can be reached at forum@dailybarometer.com.

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