Name of Artifact:
5 Ways the Government Keeps Native Americans In Poverty - Why Are Indians Poor?
https://youtu.be/GCD26PzR6AA
Author/Performer of artifact
: John Stossel Date Artifact created
: September 18, 2016 Thesis (Main Argument) of the artifact:
The federal government is responsible for managing Indian affairs for the benefit of all Indians. But by all accounts, the government has failed to live up to this responsibility. As a result, Native American reservations are among the poorest communities in the United States. All of your assets must be managed by bureaucrats on your behalf. A special bureau is even set up to oversee your affairs. Every important decision you make requires approval, and every approval comes with a mountain of regulations.
Description of the artifact
: Indian lands are owned and managed by the federal government. the relationship between Indians and the government as “resembling that of a ward to his guardian.” With these words, Marshall established the federal trust doctrine, which assigns the government as the trustee of Indian affairs. That trusteeship continues today, but it has not served Indians well. Underlying this doctrine is the notion that tribes are not capable of owning or managing their lands. What sort of statement does your artifact make about freedom and/or other topics of this course?
But because Indians do not generally own their land or homes on reservations, they cannot mortgage their assets for loans like other Americans. This makes it incredibly difficult to start a business in Indian Country. Even tribes with valuable natural resources remain locked in poverty. Their resources amount to “dead capital”—unable to generate growth for tribal communities. How does your artifact connect to a specific text that we have read in this section of the course? This artifact connects with the text about How the West was won by Paula Gunn Allen. [2-5 sentences]
What do you find the artifact adds to our conversation about the concept of freedom? Do you agree or do you think that it is a productive addition?
[3-5 sentences]
