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Indians may get apology
Senate-backed resolution admits to massacres, mistreatment
by Faith Bremner
Argus Leader - 7 March 2008
Indians may get apology | argusleader.com | Argus Leader

WASHINGTON, D.C. - More than 100 years after the 7th Cavalry killed 300 Lakota men, women and children at Wounded Knee Creek, Congress is considering legislation officially apologizing for it and other mistreatment the U.S. government carried out against Native Americans over the years.

South Dakota's congressional delegation supports the Resolution of Apology to Native Peoples of the United States, which the Senate unanimously agreed to add to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, which is now pending in the House.

Congress has apologized for mistreating other minority groups. In 1993, it apologized to Native Hawaiians for helping overthrow the Hawaiian kingdom in the late 1800s. In 1988, Congress apologized to Japanese Americans for forcibly removing them to internment camps during World War II.

"It's important for those that feel that they and their family members in the past have been treated unfairly, for the federal government to formally recognize the injustices that have been committed," Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., said Thursday.

An apology for historical wrongs is a necessary step in the healing process, said Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

"However, an apology alone won't improve Indian health care, secure educational opportunities for the future of Indian children or bring economic development to Indian Country," Johnson said.

"The best way for the United States to apologize to Indian Country is to live up to the treaty and trust responsibilities," he said.

The apology resolution, which was introduced by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., recounts how native people helped early European settlers and explorers survive their harsh, unfamiliar surroundings and how relations between the groups descended into armed conflicts, in which many innocent lives were lost.

It also highlights some of the well-known government actions that caused many Native Americans to suffer and die, including the policy of forcibly removing tribes from their homelands onto reservations, the Sand Creek and Wounded Knee massacres and the forcible removal of native children from their families to send them to boarding schools.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., sponsored similar apology legislation in 2005. That measure passed the Indian Affairs Committee but was never taken up by the full Senate.

"While it is important to acknowledge and learn from the mistakes of the past, Senator Thune is also focused on building strong relationships and together finding solutions for the future," Thune's spokesman, Kyle Downey, said.

The apology is a good first step, said Patrice Kunesh, director of the Institute of American Indian Studies at the University of South Dakota.

The government's misdeeds continue today in the form of discrimination against Native American voters, Kunesh said. The federal government has failed to enforce laws that require local governments to draw voting district boundaries in a way that's fair to Indian people, she said.

"Each state has had its own sad, sordid history," said Kunesh, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. "Certainly South Dakota is still struggling with that history."

Lakota activist Russell Means said the apology would reinforce his efforts to get the World Court to charge the U.S. with genocide of its native people. Means said he has been talking with foreign officials, whom he declined to name, to sponsor a lawsuit before the World Court on behalf of his group, Lakota Freedom Delegation.

The apology resolution carries a disclaimer that denies authority or support for any claim against the U.S.

"It's helpful because (the genocide) is fact now, in terms of the government admitting it," Means said. "It's a great thing."

The bill has been referred to three House committees, but no hearings have been scheduled yet.

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S.1200
Indian Health Care Improvement Act Amendments of 2008 (Referred to House Committee after being Received from Senate)

SEC. 301. RESOLUTION OF APOLOGY TO NATIVE PEOPLES OF UNITED STATES.

(a) Findings- Congress finds that--

(1) the ancestors of today's Native Peoples inhabited the land of the present-day United States since time immemorial and for thousands of years before the arrival of people of European descent;
(2) for millennia, Native Peoples have honored, protected, and stewarded this land we cherish;
(3) Native Peoples are spiritual people with a deep and abiding belief in the Creator, and for millennia Native Peoples have maintained a powerful spiritual connection to this land, as evidenced by their customs and legends;
(4) the arrival of Europeans in North America opened a new chapter in the history of Native Peoples;
(5) while establishment of permanent European settlements in North America did stir conflict with nearby Indian tribes, peaceful and mutually beneficial interactions also took place;
(6) the foundational English settlements in Jamestown, Virginia, and Plymouth, Massachusetts, owed their survival in large measure to the compassion and aid of Native Peoples in the vicinities of the settlements;
(7) in the infancy of the United States, the founders of the Republic expressed their desire for a just relationship with the Indian tribes, as evidenced by the Northwest Ordinance enacted by Congress in 1787, which begins with the phrase, `The utmost good faith shall always be observed toward the Indians';
(8) Indian tribes provided great assistance to the fledgling Republic as it strengthened and grew, including invaluable help to Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their epic journey from St. Louis, Missouri, to the Pacific Coast;
(9) Native Peoples and non-Native settlers engaged in numerous armed conflicts in which unfortunately, both took innocent lives, including those of women and children;
(10) the Federal Government violated many of the treaties ratified by Congress and other diplomatic agreements with Indian tribes;
(11) the United States forced Indian tribes and their citizens to move away from their traditional homelands and onto federally established and controlled reservations, in accordance with such Acts as the Act of May 28, 1830 (4 Stat. 411, chapter 148) (commonly known as the `Indian Removal Act');
(12) many Native Peoples suffered and perished--
(A) during the execution of the official Federal Government policy of forced removal, including the infamous Trail of Tears and Long Walk;
(B) during bloody armed confrontations and massacres, such as the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864 and the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890; and
(C) on numerous Indian reservations;
(13) the Federal Government condemned the traditions, beliefs, and customs of Native Peoples and endeavored to assimilate them by such policies as the redistribution of land under the Act of February 8, 1887 (25 U.S.C. 331; 24 Stat. 388, chapter 119) (commonly known as the `General Allotment Act'), and the forcible removal of Native children from their families to faraway boarding schools where their Native practices and languages were degraded and forbidden;
(14) officials of the Federal Government and private United States citizens harmed Native Peoples by the unlawful acquisition of recognized tribal land and the theft of tribal resources and assets from recognized tribal land;
(15) the policies of the Federal Government toward Indian tribes and the breaking of covenants with Indian tribes have contributed to the severe social ills and economic troubles in many Native communities today;
(16) despite the wrongs committed against Native Peoples by the United States, Native Peoples have remained committed to the protection of this great land, as evidenced by the fact that, on a per capita basis, more Native Peoples have served in the United States Armed Forces and placed themselves in harm's way in defense of the United States in every major military conflict than any other ethnic group;
(17) Indian tribes have actively influenced the public life of the United States by continued cooperation with Congress and the Department of the Interior, through the involvement of Native individuals in official Federal Government positions, and by leadership of their own sovereign Indian tribes;
(18) Indian tribes are resilient and determined to preserve, develop, and transmit to future generations their unique cultural identities;
(19) the National Museum of the American Indian was established within the Smithsonian Institution as a living memorial to Native Peoples and their traditions; and
(20) Native Peoples are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and among those are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

(b) Acknowledgment and Apology- The United States, acting through Congress--

(1) recognizes the special legal and political relationship Indian tribes have with the United States and the solemn covenant with the land we share;
(2) commends and honors Native Peoples for the thousands of years that they have stewarded and protected this land;
(3) recognizes that there have been years of official depredations, ill-conceived policies, and the breaking of covenants by the Federal Government regarding Indian tribes;
(4) apologizes on behalf of the people of the United States to all Native Peoples for the many instances of violence, maltreatment, and neglect inflicted on Native Peoples by citizens of the United States;
(5) expresses its regret for the ramifications of former wrongs and its commitment to build on the positive relationships of the past and present to move toward a brighter future where all the people of this land live reconciled as brothers and sisters, and harmoniously steward and protect this land together;
(6) urges the President to acknowledge the wrongs of the United States against Indian tribes in the history of the United States in order to bring healing to this land; and
(7) commends the State governments that have begun reconciliation efforts with recognized Indian tribes located in their boundaries and encourages all State governments similarly to work toward reconciling relationships with Indian tribes within their boundaries.

(c) 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.

Passed the Senate 26 February 2008.

__________________

"Be good, be kind, help each other."
"Respect the ground, respect the drum, respect each other."
--Abe Conklin, Ponca/Osage (1926-1995)

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