Native Americans and their Civil Rights free essay sample

While Native Americans lived in different ways, they shared a love for their land. Many Native Americans still speak of the â€Å"mother earth.† Our ancestors were taught to view the land as part of them. For Native Americans the land was not something the people could own, it could not be bought and sold. The cultures of the different tribes respected the land upon which they built their lives. But, who had the rights to the land? History tells us that Native Americans settled on this land many years ago along the Atlantic Ocean. In 1942 strange looking men came upon the island in which the Native Americans called home. We welcomed the men as brothers and shared all that we had to give. The strangers were sailors from Europe. Eventually more Europeans would cross the Atlantic Ocean to settle in the Americas. As the numbers grew there became conflict over who had the right to the North American land. On one hand the Native Americans who did not believe that land, or any other resource should be owned. Instead the Native Americans lived on the land and shared the wealth. But yet the Europeans came to North America in search of land, something to call their own. Today Native Americans fight with the federal government for the right of land, sufficient social, medical and educational services for our tribal members. This tends to be an important issue for us today. In the late 1800s, Native Americans gave most of their land to the federal government in exchange for the promise that they could remain on their reservation land and have their rights upheld. The federal government has not held up their end of the responsibilities to this date. The U.S. government made a legal commitment to the Native Americans when the land was ceded to the United States. This commitment is written in dry ink in treaties, federal law, executive orders, judicial opinions, and international doctrine. The promise in which the U.S. government made to the Native Americans can be divided into three obligations: the protection of Indian lands, the protection of tribal self-governance; and provision of basic social, medical, and educational services for our tribal members. The government has thus far failed to follow through with the promise to uphold these obligations. The U.S. Commission conducted a report on Civil Rights that stated that there was extremely lower funding for critical Indian services, including law enforcement, health care, and education than there is for all other populations of people. Our Native American people are angered that the U.S. government has not been so graciously honest when it comes to something so sacred in their belief system. Many of our tribes are trying to buy back the lands that separate their current reservation sites. The land is important to the many different tribes in the United States and surrounding countries. Chief Weninock stated many decades ago, â€Å"God created the Indian Country, and it was like he spread out a blanket. He put the Indians on it. God created the fish in the river and put deer in the mountains. The creator gave Indians life. As soon as we saw the game and fish we knew they were made for us. For the women, God made roots and berries to gather. The Indians grew and multiplied as a people. When we were created, we were given our land to live on. From that time on this was our right. We had the fish, the game and the berries before the white man came. This was the food on which we lived. We were not brought here from the foreign land. We were put here by the creator.† The Europeans have a different take on the situation though. Europeans thought they had the right to the land. Governor John Winthrop was the leader of the early settlers and he explained, â€Å"The whole earth is the Lord’s garden. He has given it to all his people so that they can increase a nd multiply. The Bible tells us to use the land to support our growing numbers. It tells us to tame the wilderness, to turn empty wasteland into fruitful farmland. The Indians of New England do not plow the land. They do not fence the farm fields. They do not raise cattle or build permanent homes and towns. If we leave the Indians enough land for their needs, we have the right to the rest. There is plenty of land here for both our people to use. With that being said it is the federal government’s duty to uphold their trusts and promises that were made so long ago to our Native people. As American citizens we are not to settle for anything less than what we deserve. It is the combination of rights, responsibilities, and duties that characterizes what it means to be a citizen of a free, democratic society. As a citizen, we are free to exercise our rights. In return we are expected to fulfill certain duties and responsibilities. The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina has in excess of 55, 000 members that reside primarily in Robeson, Hoke, Cumberland, and Scotland counties. The Lumbee Tribe is the largest tribe in North Carolina, the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River and the ninth largest in the nation. The Lumbee take their name from the Lumbee River, which winds its way through Robeson County, and by which many native members fish and hunt to provide for their families. The Lumbee people have been recognized by the state of North Carolina since 1885. In 1956 a bill was passed by the United States Congress which recognized the Lumbee as Indian, but denied the tribe full status as a federally recognized Indian tribe. Federal recognition for the tribe is currently being sought through federal legislation. This Lumbee Federal Recognition, would give back some of the rights that we have been so diligently refused for so many years. The Lumbees have continuously existed in and around Robeson County since the early part of the eighteenth century. Civil rights are the rights of full citizenship and equality under the law. Did the Civil Rights movement create equal opportunity for All Americans? The Civil Rights Act took effect in 1964. The Act protects citizens against the discrimination on the basis of gender, race, color, religion, and national origin. Native Americans are one of many minorities and the movement for American Indian civil rights began almost as soon as Europeans started to arrive in the North America. Native Americans have been denied basic civil rights for many years. Native American Indians did not have a particular period of fighting for their civil rights, measures have been taken to achieve equal rights for American Indians throughout history. Because American Indians are citizens of their own tribal nations and the United States there is a particular tension between rights granted within the tribal sovereignty and their rights as a U.S. citizen. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the U.S. government attempted to control the travel of Native Americans off Indian reservations. Since Native Americans did not obtain U.S. citizenship until 1924, they were considered wards of the state and were denied various basic rights, including the right to travel. The loss of the right to free movement across the country was difficult for Native Americans, especially since many tribes traditionally traveled to hunt, fish, and visit other tribes. The passage of the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924 granted citizenship to all Indians born in America. As a result, American Indians were finally granted free travel in the United States. At the present time, Native Americans who live on reservations are free to travel as they wish. After years of unequal schooling, for reasons from racist schools to insufficiently funded schools, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) was formed to fight for equal education for American Indians in 1969. Another right American Indian Activists strove for was media protection: advocates went all the way to the United Nations to seek laws that protected the rights of Native people to own their own media, and for the prosecution of those who persecuted their journalists. Religious rights were also a major concern for the Native Americans. Until 1935, American Indian people could be fined and sent to prison for practicing their traditional religious beliefs. In more recent times, there has been controversy around the use of American Indian symbols such as for school or team mascots. Concerns are that the use of the symbols distort American Indian history and culture and often stereotype in offensive ways.