Dear Editor,

Native Americans are more likely to be kidnapped, experience abuse, develop an addiction, and be murdered than any other race. That should not be a surprise considering that they are more likely than any other race to experience poverty. Some of these trends, created by the US government’s past severe oppression and genocide of the Native Americans, have caused intergenerational traumas.

However, another problem is that Indian Reservations are owned and controlled by the federal government, creating what is known as a trust system. Healthcare, road maintenance, social services, agriculture, and economic growth are heavily regulated.

Since native Americans do not own their land, it is virtually impossible to obtain a mortgage or a loan to start even a small business. This causes many Native Americans to try to scrape by selling small cultural trinkets via Craigslist or to passersby on the road and living in multigenerational boarded-up housing without power or running water.

Indian Reservations do sit on top of numerous coal, uranium, and oil mines. Altogether, those resources are estimated to be worth 1.5 trillion dollars. However, coal mining requires approval from 49 steps of bureaucracy spanning four federal agencies.

All these factors make economic growth virtually impossible, but would ending the trust system further erode Native American culture?

Actually, no. When Native Americans increase their wealth as a population, they can expand their culture by building more museums and private schools that include Native American culture and language in their curriculum.

-Scarlett Saitta

Pickens, SC