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The Sad Condition of the Oklahoma Indian

 “Many of the educated Indians, as well as the ignorant ones, are depressed and downcast.” This is a statement made in the report titled, “Our National Problem – The Sad Condition of the Oklahoma Indian” made in 1912. In this report, Warren K. Moorehead, Member of the Commission on Indian Affairs, goes into great detail on the deplorable conditions that the Oklahoma Indians are living under because of lies, greed, manipulation and murder. Almost 100 years ago, this report gave illustrations of case studies documenting these conditions and made recommendations on how to make life better for the Oklahoma Indians.   But were those recommendations followed and did the report accomplish what it was supposed to do?

 

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, those who identify only as American Indian and Alaska Native constitute 0.9 percent of the United States population, or approximately 2.5 million individuals. The Census Bureau projects modest growth by these communities in the next few decades, topping 5 million individuals by the year 2065 and comprising 1.1 percent of the population. The greatest concentrations of American Indian populations are in the West, Southwest, and Midwest, especially in Alaska, Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.As most know, there are 569 federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native tribes, plus an unknown number of tribes that are not federally recognized. Each tribe has its own culture, beliefs, and practices.  Nowhere is that more noticeable than in Oklahoma. 

 

Oklahoma is home to 37 federally recognized Indian tribes and 2 that have petitioned for recognition. The statement has been made that Oklahoma Indians are different from Indians in other states; however there are some areas where all Indians share commonalities. Such is the case with causes of death: 

 

 

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/omhd/Populations/AIAN/AIAN.htm

 

Domestic violence, substance abuse, physical abuse, and violent acts against our women are also highly common in our communities. We also share in the collective memories of being poor, hungry, tired, discriminated against, targeted, and misunderstood. Last week, Gyasi Ross wrote a wonderful editorial about his mother’s love that made being poor tolerable growing up on the Blackfeet Reservation. It made me smile and reflect on my own memories of growing up in poverty. In my family water gravy and biscuits was a meal. We got one pair of shoes, two tops, two pairs of pants, a package of socks and a package of underwear to last us for the whole school year. When we got holes in our shoes, we just filled them with paper or cardboard. Our source of heat in the winter was a wood stove in the center of the house, where we all congregated to get dressed before school in the morning. There was never breakfast before school, we were lucky to qualify for free milk in the morning and free lunch. Too bad I am lactose intolerant; my stomach never could stand the milk, so more often than not I stayed hungry until lunch. When I was in fourth grade I joined 4-H, one time our assignment was to make an apron for some competition. There was no sewing machine in our household so I had resigned myself to failure. But the day of the competition, I awoke to a bright pink apron sitting on the kitchen table, ready for me to take to school. My mother had taken apart one of her blouses and hand sewn an apron together with a needle and white thread, it must have taken her all night.  The other kids looked and snickered at my little bright pink apron, but I put it in the competition anyway, knowing it wouldn't win.   Those are just a few of the kinds of stories we Indians can share and laugh about now as adults. 

 

In the last couple of years a group of us travelled Oklahoma holding town meetings to gather information from Indians across the state. Something that is widely known but hardly acknowledged is the number of American Indians in our prison systems. It may be racial profiling, but for whatever reason, Indians are stopped and arrested for minor crimes. A tactic used in many of the rural towns is that when there are a number of counts charged against someone, they will plea bargain with the Defendant. Most of the Indians cannot afford decent representation and so will take the plea bargain. Oklahoma is one of the worst for locking people up; our state is well known for having a high prison population, which includes one of the highest rates of women in prisons as well. Our Indian youth are highly affected by this environment, growing up with someone in their family incarcerated is common. It is no surprise that they end up in legal trouble themselves not only because of the racial profiling, but also because of their low income and unable to pay for a lawyer, plus the prevailing “lock ‘em up” attitude in this state. 

 

Another recurring theme that we heard was from concerned parents who gave story after story of their child or children facing discriminatory acts in the public schools. Depending on the area or part of the state it was acts that on their own would not be considered discriminatory, but taken as a whole a pattern emerged. The American Indian is still considered inferior to succeed in the education system in some places. That is what led me to go to an Indian Boarding School for my high school years in the 70’s. However, it was not a choice for many Indians from 1879 to the 1979. During that time thousands of Indian children were forcibly removed from their homes as young as five years old and bused hundreds of miles from their families. Abuse and mistreatment of the children was extremely common at the hands of the administration. The wounds – physical, emotional, physiological, and psychological - inflicted on these children as they were in their formative years has led to what we call intergenerational trauma. It has trickled down from their time to now and will continue to trickle down for generations to come. 

 

 

(Mitch WalkingElk (Cheyenne) carrying the staff at Sequoyah event in Tahlequah, OK)

 

A few weeks ago the Journey for Forgiveness came through Oklahoma and stopped at three of the Indian boarding schools in the state to hold healing ceremonies in attempt to bring about closure to those who attended them. As I sat and listened to elders share their horrific stories of beatings, rape, abuse, mental abuse, physical abuse, and such, it made me so thankful that although my mother was forced to go to boarding school she was not abused to that degree. She had her mouth washed out with soap for speaking Mvskoke and was separated from her family, had to live in a dormitory and was treated as if she were in a military. At the school she attended, it was later revealed that sterilizations of the young women had taken place there without their knowing it until later. Go in for an appendectomy come out without an appendix and they threw in a hysterectomy no questions asked. Again I thank the Creator that she was not one who had that happen, albeit somewhat with a guilty relief. All of us Indians are affected; we are all traumatized collectively by what occurred to our children.   A healing is absolutely necessary, forgiveness, well, that may take some time, it is an admirable goal but for many it is not attainable.   Some may forgive but none of us will ever forget what was done to our people in those “schools”.   There were dozens of such schools in Oklahoma at one time, now there are just a few.

 

One of the greatest things about being an Oklahoma Indian is the diversity in our people yet the proud heritage each of us holds onto in our daily lives. If you travel the state you will find that the Indians in the North East have traditions and culture different from those in the South West part of the state and those on the East are different than those on the West, etc. Each of us has held on to our ceremonies, religion and culture in our own way and continues to practice them regularly. Our communities and nations have been busted down over and over but we have been persistent in building them back up. To this day there are obstacles and odds against our youth.  The statistics prove that yes many of us Oklahoma Indians are in a sad condition, that is a fact, but what the statistics don’t show are those that have not given in to that situation. It is sometimes very depressing to be in those places described above, that is why it is up to all of us to work toward a solution in our lifetime. Nothing will change if we do nothing. 

 

Oklahoma Indians and Indians everywhere, join in that we will not go quietly, we will not give up the fight, we will not forget, we will remember, we will hold our heads high, we will teach our young how to live well; we will be an inspiration of hope to our children, grand children, great grandchildren, and generations to come. Mvto

 

 

Source:

http://www.archive.org/stream/ournationalprob00moorrich#page/34/mode/1up