War Crimes Against Native Americans Essay

“Native Americans have faced centuries of atrocities to their people, their land, and their culture - all under various presidents who took an oath of office to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States” (Markwayne Mullin). Native Americans have been living a hard life ever since Columbus arrived in North America but, we need to change that. Native American have been living here before any of us, and we’re just living in their land. Native Americans have struggled since white people first arrived in North America. Some contemporary issues Native Americans face are their ability to prosecute crimes such as rapes against their community, as well as land rights, and the ability to be recognized by the government. It is important that we, as a country, address these issues.

Native American poverty is a social problem in the United States. For historic, political, sociocultural, and economic reasons, this issue affects not only those impoverished but American society as a whole. The most impoverished Native American communities are frequently within the boundaries of reservations. The rates of unemployment, low wages, and infant mortality are among the highest in the country on several reservations. Disease, mental illness, alcoholism, and fetal alcohol syndrome are also prevalent within the Native American population. To improve these conditions, strategies should be put into place to build stable economies in the otherwise isolated reservations.

The Removal Act of 1830, that forced the Cherokee Indians from their homelands with just the clothes on their backs have created tragic effects which have continued to be passed down from generation to generation, causing a near loss of the Cherokee culture. In 1838, the United States Military utilizing surprise attacks, snatched Cherokee families from their homes, work, and play at bayonet point to face a journey of over a thousand treacherous miles known as the “Trail of Tears” to unprepared land. The Cherokee faced great personal loss that caused a lasting impact on their lives as they were forced to live on new Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma (Wallace 1993). As a result of the brutal forced removal of the Cherokee Indians they now face tragic psychological and emotional problems. Cherokee families today face self-destructive behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse, physical and sexual abuse, and the inability to express feelings and maintain healthy relationships due to the unresolved anger they have towards the loss of their land and culture (Wallace 1993).The Cherokee people fought against the Army of the United States and lost, but their loss is now our collective loss as the numbers of Cherokee people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are rising throughout the Cherokee culture.

In the wake of a gruesome history of displacement and mutilation of sacred customs and beliefs, native adolescents struggle with cultural and internal identity crises. When European nations discovered an already inhabited territory, capturing, raping, and murdering tribal members, the peace and tranquility of native tribes were dismantled and smothered in colonialism destruction. Native Americans enabled and guided the settlers to thrive, explore, and prosper on the flourishing land, while they were gifted in return forced relocation, stripped of their long indigenous hair, plagued with disease, and required to learn and practice European customs.

People often go through life without knowing what it’s like to be in another person’s shoes. Many outsiders view the United States today, as an undemanding country- with its citizens being able to have jobs and money whenever they need it and living life to it’s fullest. This is the commonly depicted idea of America, though this is not the lifestyle for many living here. Specifically, the Native American community has it the hardest currently. Native Americans have been consistently struggling with life since the Removal Act of 1830- causing mass groups of Natives to be forced onto reservation, ‘till the modern world of today- the 21 century. In the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, articles “Why Are Indian Reservations So Poor? A Look At The Bottom 1%” by John Koppisch,“The Absence of Native American Power” and “Drinking Behavior and Sources of Alcohol: Differences Between Native American and White Youths” they explain what the average Native American has to go through. Today, being Native American means to constantly struggle with poverty, alcoholism and loss of to try and get by in life.

Native Americans have a staggering forty percent rate from suicidal incidents in the ages fifteen through twenty-four. For young adults, it occurs between eighteen and twenty-four. Surprisingly, Native Americans have the highest rate of suicide than the general population, ethnicities, and races. In the year 2014, a report found that suicide happened to be the second leading cause of death, other than unintentional injuries. It is believed that in many occasions, Native Americans do not like to speak about suicide. In the case it was brought up, they will eventually kill themselves. They Native American culture struggles to receive mental-health funding to save anyone they can. Health issues like Diabetes and depression are very common.

Chief Bromden, who prefers to go by “Chief”, arrived for intake at the Oregon Bridge Center Day Treatment facility after being discharged from a state psychiatric hospital, at which he was a patient for the past 15 years. Chief reported that the day treatment was a condition of his discharge from the hospital. Chief is a 37 year old Native American male. During the intake he provided short, but direct answers to all questions.

Due to various socio-cultural factors that impede First Nations/Native Americans’ usage of mental health programs and services, their particular needs and characteristics will influence the way assessments, goal setting, and interventions will be utilized when working with a First Nations client. For example, Grayshield, et al., (2015), discuss the historical trauma that Native Americans/First Nations populations have experienced here in the United States. This includes prohibiting Native Americans/First Nation individuals from speaking their language and practicing their spiritual and cultural traditions. Historical trauma also includes the impact of Native Americans/First Nations children being sent to boarding schools and away from their families and cultural traditions. By forcing Native Americans/First Nations communities to assimilate, this caused trauma their mental health and that can also be seen in present time.

Native Americans have felt distress from societal and governmental interactions for hundreds of years. American Indian protests against these pressures date back to the colonial period. Broken treaties, removal policies, acculturation, and assimilation have scarred the indigenous societies of the United States. These policies and the continued oppression of the native communities produced an atmosphere of heightened tension. Governmental pressure for assimilation and their apparent aim to destroy cultures, communities, and identities through policies gave the native people a reason to fight. The unanticipated consequence was the subsequent creation of a pan-American Indian identity

Healthcare is an ever changing entity with an ever changing population of clients. In current day 2016, the United Sates has become a melting pot of many different cultural backgrounds, which has led to changes within the system to accommodate the patient base. Unfortunately, not all changes have been able to effectively reach any and all persons from every background. We still see language and cultural barriers that have direct correlation to the inability to seek healthcare and or the ability to change cultural perspectives to ensure healthy lifestyles. Within this paper, the health of American Indian and Alaskan Native populations will be discussed along with the barriers to care and the

The effect was immediate and long lasting. They were essentially forced to drop their past way of life and adopt an entirely alien culture that the tribal community often viewed as distasteful. This acculturation caused long term psychological impact on the families and children that were affected. The children were put through a type of ‘culture machine’ that they entered as Natives and left as revamped Anglo citizens. This assimilation often destroyed the child’s sense of belonging in either an Anglo or Native setting because they were raised in both and had mixed feelings about where they belonged.

The societal factors that may have contributed to the health of Native Americans today are the discrimination, isolation, and poor quality of life that they experienced not only in the past but still experience today. Although we might not hear about the discrimination or poor living conditions Native Americans experience in the news, it doesn't mean that it doesn’t exist. Native Americans experience discrimination everyday where even something as simple as getting or maintaining a job can be difficult. Employers seem to only want to hire White/Caucasian applicants and only hire Native Americans when they're the only option. In today’s poor economy where it’s hard in general to get a job, it seems Native Americans have one more thing stacked

American Indian children face a number of significant challenges. Like many other oppressed populations, many are born into communities that experience widespread of poverty, substance abuse, domestic violence and chronic health problems at much higher rates than non-Native communities. Historically, US government policies have tried for years sought to destroy some characteristic of the American Indian culture, dominion, and way of life contributed greatly to these tragic circumstances.

They have had their land stolen from them. They have been victimized again and again by colonists. Today, they face deep systemic racism. Native Americans face unprecedented amounts of adversity that is resulting in a suicide epidemic. In this review, I present solid information on the reasons that a suicide epidemic is affecting the Native American community. Suicide and mental health are not often subjects that make headlines. However, Native Americans have been facing a silent mental health crisis for decades. The rate of suicide in Native American communities is disturbingly high compared to other races. Stigma, abuse, mental illness, and a lack of federal assistance are all factors that contribute to the alarming statistics. I will be looking at the various reasons for why the suicide rates are so high in these groups and what can be or has been done to combat this problem.

A wave of “humanitarian paternalism” (King, 2014, p. 102), often valued and enacted by religious whites, sought to care for, civilize, and instill religion in Native Americans by isolating Indigenous individuals and children from their communities so as to make way for god--it only worked to further endanger Native Americans in the context of whites, and perpetuated subhuman regard of Indigenous people by ignoring basic human needs (especially of children in boarding schools) and committing serious offenses of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Colonial governments justified neglect of the importance of community and family to human development in the case of Native Americans through the narrow characterization of Natives as soulless savages, whose communities perpetuated immorality and prevented Indians from being civilized, productive, moral, White citizens. This narrative was constructed in ignorance of Indigenous history on the land, vast, complex knowledge systems, and massively diverse and successful cultural, social, and governmental systems. The colonial governments of En masse, all tactics applied by the U.S. and Canadian governments destroyed Indigenous homes, cultures, languages, families, resources and lives; countless Native Americans died, but the governments could not truly kill their