Independence Day for Native Americans
by Robin Carneen
When the buffalo are not hazed and killed by government agencies;
When rocks are not sold as souvenirs on Alcatraz ;
When Indian names and images are not used as Sports mascots or for commercial selling of products ;
When we can have equal time in our classrooms across the United States to learn and speak our languages so they are not lost forever ;
When we have funding in our schools so our children can learn;
When all tribes can be "recognized" ;
When we can keep our casino monies and take care of our own;
When we all have health care, card carrying or not ;
When we can have statues that also commemorate our own people;
When we can change historical markers to reflect the truth and not glamorize the murders;
When we can see curriculum in our school books and classrooms that are not romanticized or glossed over when it comes to what really happened in and around Indian Country ;
When we don't have to ask permission to hunt and gather for sustenance, ceremony, or for medicinal reasons;
When all Sacred Sites are in place;
When our ancestors remains or artifacts are uncovered, the corporation or construction companies JUST STOP and find a different place to build;
When DJ's of commercial radio stations stop putting Indian people down;
When we can get our Indian Trust $$$ back out of the US Government's hands;
When we can get adequate and efficient housing for all Reservations & rancherias & there is no waiting list ;
When we can get more of a variety of commodity foods and some fresh food...like eggs, milk, etc ;
When we can all have enough land given back to grow our own foods;
When we are reservations and reservations are stopped being used as toxic and nuclear waste dumps;
When the US Government apologizes and is held to answer for the atrocities and genocidal acts it did against countless Native American people ;
When our President makes a visit to each Rez and realizes what he has re-created in Afghanistan, Iraq and countries to come;
When our ceremonies are not sold by those who disrespect the pipe, the sweat lodge, the sundance and the things that help us heal ;
When we can get roads, power, phones, and computers to the Reservations & rancherias that are without these things
When we have a gym, clinic, wellness center, etc on each and every Reservation;
When we have our own radio station on each Rez;
When we have more kids graduate from High school and college;
When we have adults returning back to school and getting their GED;
When we have less or no Indians in Prison and jail or political prisoners like Leonard Peltier;
When we have more rehab, preferably traditional and native way facilities ;
When we have more prevention programs and activities on the Rez's;
When poverty dissipates and children and adults do not have to go hungry;
When women are not referred to by the name "Squaw" and men "Chief" ;
When Winona La Duke sits as President in the White House
© Robin Carneen
Robin wishes to thank all who
helped her with this list.
