NEWS: America: Raping Indians For Over 300 Years and Counting

Thank you for that. The thought of a state trooper taking a rape report over the phone made me sick to my stomach.

from your last post i thought you were focusing on the fact that it was an American event, in the way early settlers raped the natives and had thus created the American tradition of raping natives.

as opposed to it being a human violating another human...

nevermind i guess... tired.

All the more reason to continue my plans to move out of the states and into the UK.

Well, as long as we're going to talk in reductive abstract generalizations that have no bearing on the situation being discussed, I'll just say that Neitzsche and Freud would have us believe that it is the opposite--that throughout human history, it's the weak who have kept down the strong. (Through religion and guilt and arbitrary laws.)

That said, I don't think violence and domination are necessarily the be all end all of "human nature." I think cooperation and interdependence has played a larger role in our survival and evolution than competition. I wish state and federal authorities would cooperate with reservation law enforcement.

To men like that, the Goddess will only be called bitch and whore, and the Earth becomes even more angry at these goblin-men. The people who have chosen the tribal life, no matter what there race, are pissed.

Enough said.

first off, this is one of the most infuriating threads around.

second, roethke is smart. like really, really smart.

and finally, cockzombie, i hate to say it, but a lot of your comments have come off blatantly racist. you at one point suggested they 'stop waiting around to get raped and get a job', and that the criminals involved in raping these women 'might have been invited to their (the victims) homes', and that 'many of these women are prostitutes'. these are all paraphrased, because i am way too angry, lazy, and tired to go quote them all.

and stating your husband is mexican is the quintessential 'i have (insert ethno/socio/economic sub group here) as a friend, i'm totally not racist!' comment. i'm sorry, it is.

the problem with your entire argument is that it is not based on factual, reliable, wide spread evidence. it is based on your anecdotal and subjective experiences, which are all colored by your race, your upbringing, your sex, and your religion. these experiences and how you decided to internalize them do not, in any way, shape, or form, constitute a valid and applicable picture of how all native american/american indian tribes and reservations work.

seriously. start doing some real research. go to your library, read a newspaper, something.

and ps, you are so not a local, you don't get to use that term.

Yes, I am a Roethke admirer and dare I say...

um yeah.

+eleventy bazillion.

Um. I think the police should make a habit out of catching violent offenders, no matter what land the crime takes place on or the race of the perpitrator or victim is. Work together if you have to.

Protect and serve, right? Isn't that supposed to be the whole point?

Sorry if this is a bit seperate to the topic - but I was just wondering why Native Americans got the name 'Indians', as they have nothing to do with Asia. At least, they haven't for the past 12,000 years. What gives?

Columbus got confused.

Ah I just wikipedia'd it and apparently he thought America was the Southeast Asian Indies. The days before satellite navigation were dark indeed.

Although, maybe he just decided to get silly and drank too much Pimms and then forgot where he was.

meter maids arent police

See here for how "Native Americans" came to be called "Indians."

This is shocking!! Rape should not go unprosecuted because of red tape. If someone commits a crime on Indian land then it shouldn't matter whether the perpetrator is an American Indian, a non-Indian American, a tourist from overseas or a f**king martian, the American Indian police should be able to apprehend them and to press charges.

Wow, this whole thread has been so infuriating and heartening at the same time. Coming from a part of South Dakota that was sandwiched between two reservations, and being a teacher (and the daughter of two teachers) it's really sick to see the sort of attitudes towards American Indians that have been thrown around here. I would suggest reading "A Framework for Poverty." It's a required read for all the teachers in my old district. I will find more info..

My humble opinion- it's impossible for an Indian individual to get (and take) all the opportunities that I've had in my life... simply because of my color and my family. I'm no smarter than all the rez kids, that's for damn sure. Generational poverty is rampant... and it's RIGHT THERE. When I coached, I couldn't leave the pool until all the kids were picked up and there were many kids that EVERY DAY, their parents would be hours late. It's so sad. Something has got to change.

The sad thing is that I don't know how to fix it. I don't know what we can do. I feel like it's been fucked up so badly.... But I think that change has to come from the youth, right? You've got to empower young people to get out of the cycle. How can that be done? Good f'n people (like teachers) to show them that they can make their families proud without disrespecting their heritage!!!

Boy, I know that has nothing to do with anything and that it's a bit of a rant. Sorry.

(really... hahaha... I sound really passionate and... crazy.... sorry again!! )

Also, everyone I've met likes to be called "Indian." That's the SoDak perspective.