A different boat
I had to write a response to Hone Harawira's letter to Obama (Northland Age, August 4.)
I am Native American, from the Rosebud Sioux tribe in South Dakota, Sicangu Lakota Oyate (the Burnt Thigh Nation). The reservation I am from borders the poorest reservation in the US, the Pine Ridge Reservation.
I have lived here in New Zealand for a few years now, and one of the things I really like here is that Maori have a say in everything. There is a Maori Party, the language is spoken and taught in the public school system throughout the country, and health care is subsidised for everybody. There seems to be an organisation for Maori that will help with just about anything. We love what you have here.
Back home, the only place we are relevant is on our reservation. Our history and language aren't taught anywhere in the US except for our reservation. In order to receive free healthcare we have to reside on the reservation, and there are few doctors that come to stay, and many that come and go, so the wait is really long.
If you want to access private health care off the reservation you have to have medical insurance or a lot of places won't even see you, and let me tell you, medical insurance is not cheap!
I used to dread one of the kids getting sick because it meant a long day at the hospital waiting to see a doctor, and a lot of people wouldn't bother because the wait can be so long.
I especially love the doctors that assumed I had a drinking problem just because of my nationality.
There is no subsidy for leaky homes, and alcoholism, poverty, drug abuse, sexual abuse, child abuse etc is rampant. Racism is still a huge problem. Our reservation is bordered by predominantly white towns and there is very little love for us there, but they are always happy to take our money.
My grandmother and her sibling were taken away from their family and forced into a mission school where they were not allowed to speak their language or to even go back home. One sister disappeared from the school, to never be seen again.
My grandmother was also refused a social security number (IRD number). She was never acknowledged as a US citizen.
Yes, we do have our own tribal courts, but we can only try our own people. Non-natives come on to the reservation and commit crimes but we can't do anything to them. My mother works for Tribal Courts and she is exhausted from the caseload of our own people.
The reservation is not a happy place, although there are members of our tribe that do their best to change things. I love where I come from and my family that is still there, but I would not raise my children there.
Pride in culture is important. You should be very proud of your culture and do the best you can to help your people, but please, do not lump us all in the same boat. Stick with what you know, because you really don't know jack about us.
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Awanui