Indian Affairs are not "Special Interests"

Posted at 2:58 pm on Wednesday, October 22, 2003, in Uncategorized.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign, and many other campaigns across this country, focuses on tackling special interests. This is a great idea. We need to eliminate the corruption of government and the special interests are the corruptors of our government on every level. But Arnold and other conservatives are definitely wrong in one certain case.

The Native and Indegenous People of this land are not “special interests.” We have to be clear on this. By way of treaty, they can not be taxed. By way of treaty, they are a sovereign people. Arnold’s crusade against the “Indian Casino special interest lobby” is a disgrace and a travesty of American justice.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is hidden within the Department of the Interior. This needs to be changed. Short of the creation of a destinct cabinet-level department itself, say the Department of Indian Affairs (much like the Department of Veteran Affairs), the BIA should be relocated to the State Department. The Native Peoples are sovereign, and should be respected as such. I would certainly consider a name change, considering that Columbus was incorrect in his thought that he had landed in India, but that is too up to the Native and Indegenous Peoples.

The issue is not taxes; the issue is placed squarely upon the fundamentals of society. A thousand years ago, the Native Peoples looked out at the great sea and thought, “Look at all that water, there must be something out there.” The Europeans looked out at that same great sea and said, “Whatever is out there – it’s mine.”

(I will add that I am a proud pure descendant of Eastern Europe.)

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