Aaron Huey: America’s Native Prisoners of War

Wasichu was the name that the Lakota Indians on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota gave Aaron Huey when he went to visit.  the name Wasichu is a word that means non-indian or the one who takes the best meat.  He relates the name that the Indians have given him to social justice.  He says it is unjust that the native people of the land that is the United States have become prisoners in a place that was originally theirs.  The government has almost completely stripped them of their rights.  During the 1800s, America’s greatest victories during wars was the defeat of the native people.  Huey says this is a social injustice due to the fact that most of what we knew back then came from the Indians.  The early American civilizations would not have survived without the knowledge they obtained from the Indians, however the Indians are treated as if they were a nuisance.
In 2010, 75-95% of the Lakota Indian population were living below the poverty line.  The infant mortality rate in the Lakota population is higher than the US National average.  There is a 70% dropout rate among students attending school.  The life expectancy of a Lakota male is only 46-48 years.  These statistics are all pulled back to the topic of social injustice.  If they were here before any settlers, why are they prisoners of war?  Why do they not receive funding for schools? Why is their health care poor?  They did not choose to live on a reservation.  They were TOLD to live on a reservation.  Those who are born on the rez. are born into poverty and would have a very hard time venturing off the rez. into American society, so they just stay where they are.  It is not fair that these people have to live in such a dirty, poor, and illness infested area.  It is not a life that anyone  desires, however it was forced upon them by the government.  Why is the US so proud of their victories in the 1800s when they wouldn’t have been possible without the people they were in combat with?
I agree that the way the Lakota, or any other Indians on a reservation, have to live.  The lifestyle was forced upon them, even though I’m sure they dream of more.