Native People Live On Their Reservation example essay topic

Over the decades, Native American culture has become a bi-cultural society. Native Americans exist as self-governing people, for the fact that their nationhood preceded that of the United States. The United States has acknowledged a special "government-to-government" basis for Native people. The United States set up contractual and statutory responsibilities to protect remaining lands and to promote the health, welfare and education of Native Americans. The Government also holds about 56 million acres in trust for the tribes acknowledged by the federal government. Currently there are 314 federally recognized tribes and groups in the form of reservations and trust lands.

Unfortunately there were many instances when the U.S. government, acting as trustee of the land and resources, subjected Native people to surprising policy switches, often without consent. In 1968, a group of young native men formed a group called the American Indian Movement, also known as AIM. This group protested for Native American rights as they were spelled out in treaties, and went against the government for better protection and treatment. AIM held violent and non-violent rallies, and won a lot of recognition through their bravery and willingness to fight for their rights.

These protests led to such movements as the Indian Self-determination and Education Assistance act, helping native people take control of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Child Welfare act to keep native children with members of their tribe so they could be raised within their traditional culture. Indian culture has held up surprisingly well, even through hardships put on Native people in the past few decades. Many native people have lost a great sense of their Indian heritage, including their language, ceremonies, traditions, etc. because of rules imposed on them by the government. Now it is up to the grandparents to teach the newer generations. Because of the new laws of governing themselves, many native people have gained back much of what they lost, and insist on passing it on for many generations to come. Currently there are 278 reservations, within 35 of the United States.

Many native people live on their reservation, often for their entire lifetime, while some people have chosen to move off the land and into rural communities, often close to the reservation. The vast majority of Native Americans have learned to live with and be involved with white, non-native culture and way of life, but recently it has been very important to continually celebrate their existence as the first people on this land, and resurrect their early ways of life..