Why Did We Let This Happen?

It was the third time I had some memory of this song but rather than being heard, the title wasmentionedin a discussion our teacher, who obviously favored the band, was using as an example of the American person with or without direct ancestry to euroasian/caucasian murderers, feeling 'guilty' of what had happened to the Native American, specifically the Cherokee.

It seems while we were studying the plight of Native Americans, us students craved some sort of visual, well at least a scenario of how in todays culture, we descendants somehow feel responsible, feel guilty for what our forefathers got away with back then. Someone asked a question about modifying the way an Indian co-exists with their surroundings offering a way to appease the compromisation of being thrown in a reservation.Our teacher answered with tears in her eyes that modifying someones beliefs was not the way to organize worldly peaceful co-existence.

She had the vivid recollections of hearing her grandparents discuss their plight as Jews and listened eclectically, from childhood to now,a myriad of different performers. She was hip and gifted in schooling a better way. Our teacher mentioned that Hollywood made the separation of cultures worse by glorifying cowboys and ridiculing Indians in movies and on television. The Native Americans were mostly referred to as 'savages', although it was the Euroasians that destroyed their spirit, mind and eventually body.

However, the music industry was less tolerant of separatism because musicians work on improving harmony so the music industry was hailed righteous. My fellow 10th grade students seemed more interested in learning when our teachers included experiences of their own to help embellish on past historical failures and successes of the American people. I learned more that year about what my direct ancestors had been capable of and I vowed to never be part of those things happening again. I veered away from separatism and concentrated on the 'collective'.

It was a consciousness delievered from several others thinking and being on 'that higher plane', that all-encompassing plane that holds no prejudice nor no separatism--we are all one. I knew of the song and really enjoyed the beat until it was made mention in my classroom and I realized the lyrics were screaming with pain and torment. It showed me that my ancestors directly related to running Native Americans off their land, or not, my race was full of horrible people.

Cherokees, or any other tribe for that matter, do not deserve to be thrown on a reservation, they should be right along our side dealing with the baloney (I know how to spell bologna, I saw the Oscar Meyers commercial too but the other spelling works here) that is saved from being on a reservation. Inside you don't have decent running water, healthy food, proper healthcare, less than adequate schooling, little recognition of tribal ritual and little room to advance--but in the reservation you are isolated from other humankind.

Why? Why did we let this happen, I ask you ? A Native American should not be spared taxes, a chance to economically or educationally advance themselves, a job leading to a career so they too can fear not having any social security in forty years, but they don't. They cannot face what we do because they are not permitted. Heck maybe that is not so bad but if reservation living were truly that miserable maybe more and more Native Americans would infiltrate society and find a way to be both American and Indian and proud of both, instead of cowering on the res !