Reznet

A Hollow Apology to Indian People

By Kevin Abourezk

"Good words cannot give me back my children. Good words will not give my people good health and stop them from dying. ... I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises."

— Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce

It's a question likely born of the Civil Rights Movement, when this country finally began to take a hard look at how it treats its people of color.

Should the United States apologize for its mistreatment of Indian people?

A Kansas senator wants his government to again wrestle with that question, proposing that the U.S. Senate issue a formal apology to Native people.

In an amendment attached to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, Sen. Sam Brownback proposes apologizing to Native people.

For the many treaties the government has broken with Indian people.

For its policies of extermination and assimilation of Native people.

For outlawing indigenous religions and forcing tribes out of their traditional homelands.

For the massacre of Native people at places like Sand Creek and Wounded Knee.

For the devastating effect the government's failed policies have had on succeeding generations of Native people.

The Senate could take up consideration of the Indian health bill as soon as Thursday, said Kory Vargas Caro, associate director of the U.S. Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee.

As a co-sponsor of Brownback's amendment, Sen. Byron Dorgan—champion of the Indian health bill—supports the resolution, Caro said.

Consideration of an official apology to this country's Native people yet this week would be timely, considering the Australian parliament's decision Wednesday to issue an apology for policies that degraded its indigenous people.

The apology was directed at thousands of Aborigines forcibly taken from their families by the Australian government in an effort to assimilate them.

It's a story line familiar to Native people in America, who suffered the forced removal of their children to federal boarding schools as the government attempted to kill Indian culture and language at the turn of the last century.

But like aboriginal leaders who questioned what real effect the Australian apology would have on their people, Native Americans must now ask the same question.

It's unfortunate this apology must be attached as an amendment to a bill, rather than stand on its own. Not that it likely would survive the inevitable onslaught from conservatives in Congress and from President Bush, who no doubt would see it as a concession to a conquered people.

In a nod to those conservatives, Brownback's amendment offers the following disclaimer: "Nothing in this section: (1) authorizes or supports any claim against the United States; or (2) serves as a settlement of any claim against the United States."

So what real effect will such a hollow apology have in ending the very real problems—sky-high rates of diabetes, infant mortality, and alcohol and drug abuse—facing Native people today?

Rather, the government should spend its time tackling real issues, like reauthorization of the Indian health care bill, rather than trying to soothe its own conscience.

The U.S. government needs to end its reliance on good words when it comes to dealing with Indian problems and begin taking action.

Kevin Abourezk, Oglala Lakota, is a reporter and editor at the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star. He is a reznet assignment editor and teaches reporting at the Freedom Forum's American Indian Journalism Institute.

To send Kevin Abourezk a message please click here