Every February, the tribal groups lobby on Capitol Hill for a piece of the funding pie.
“If you’re a tribe with no economic growth and looking for funds, the pot in Washington gets smaller,” said Wright. “We know it and live with it.”
The panelists also spent time addressing the disappearance of Native languages. They said more American Indian children are choosing to speak English to avoid racism, which is slowly eroding proficiency in their own traditional languages. Efforts are now underway to preserve the languages.
During the panel, Neptune also noted the similarities between Black and American Indian men. Tribes are built on matriarchal lines where the women are the major wage earners. Neptune says she believes that Native men were originally hunters and leaders, but a lot of their identity was stripped when they came into contact with Europeans. When reservations were be cordoned off and the only contact with the outside world came through government agents, men lost their primary role.
“A lot of people don’t feel empowered,” added Commander. “We have a bad schooling system and the richer Natives, unfortunately, may not always give back.”
Sharon Miller, the public relations director of the Alabama Coushatta Tribe of Texas, ended on an emotional note: “When you speak of diversity and talk of Asians, Hispanics and others, we would also like to be included. We are human beings, too and are proud and would like to be included.”
— By Shilpa Banerji
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