Smith




     In 1890, a tribe of Native Americans were camped on the banks of the Wounded Knee Creek. These Native Americans were unarmed and peaceful, until some U.S troops came and charged the camp. The troops slaughtered all of the Native Americans in the tribe. Why would these troops do such a horrible thing to such poor, defenseless people? The answer is because Native Americans have always been looked down upon by Americans. Also, Native Americans have never been treated fairly and still don’t have equal rights today in catogorys such as racist mascots, living on reservations, and getting jobs. So, how can we get these wonderful Native Americans equal rights? This is a difficult question to answer. But, here are a few ideas to solve the problems.
        One of the largest problems is the use of racist characters as mascots in the sports world. Teams such as the Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Chiefs, Atlanta Braves and the Washington Redskins are only a few of the teams that have racist mascots. The Chief Wahoo of the Cleveland Indians tops the list of Native American mascots. “Chief Wahoo” is very disgraceful, shameful, and racist. One way to rid the sports world of these inferior mascots is to get a local sports team to try to make a local sports team change their mascots to non-racist mascot. Also, it is possible to simply cheer against the team with a racist mascot. The NCAA has done a good job of controlling this issue by putting a ban on all Native American mascots that will begin on February 1. These mascots are a very big issue in the current community. Which is why we must stop the racist mascots.
        Another large issue for Native Americans is that they are currently living on reservations that the U.S government owns. Also, these reservations are also used for holding toxic waste. The Native American reservations do not have adequate hospitals, either. A way to assist Native Americans and their struggle with the reservations is to start a petition. Then, a draft of a law could be sent to congress, with the people from the petition to help support it. This law would need to entail that Native Americans at least shouldn’t have to live near toxic waste. The Native Americans in the reservations deserve better than what they are currently receiving.
        Finally, an extremely great conflict that the Native Americans are facing is the inability to get jobs. Many Native Americans don’t have jobs, this is because they have never been exposed to the great technological advancements that we know inside and out. One reason the why the Native Americans don’t know of the many electronic devices that we own is because no one has bothered to go in and teach them. Also, none of the Native American businesses have been recognized globally. An answer to solving this conflict is to introduce a rich person, such as Donald Trump, to a Native American business owner, such as Jeff Doctor. Another way to solve this issue would be to have a Native American politician, such as Jeff Doctor who is running for congress. The Native American job conflict might be very difficult to solve.
        Those are only a few of the trials that Native Americans have had to face. They have had to face thousands of difficult tasks in American and world history, which is why we need to protect these people who taught us how to live off the land. Everyone needs to help Native Americans through their tough struggle. One easy way to protect them is to create an organization that would help Native Americans. Some Native American helps groups have already been created groups like the G.O.O.N Squad (Guardians of the Okaleechee Nation).  Another group is the N.A.B.A (Native American Business Alliance).  These are only a few ways to help Native Americans.