Post by Okwes on Dec 9, 2005 8:38:05 GMT -5
Posted on Wed, Nov. 30, 2005
Invisible Indians
By David House
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Out of sight, out of mind.
Such is the conclusion about Native Americans that's likely in this part of the country as the Star-Telegram draws the curtain on our 2005 observance of American Indian Heritage Month.
That's just about it for Indian news, which usually floats in obscurity even though there's abundant justification at the national level for at least the scrutiny of watchdog coverage -- one of the greatest resources that an American minority can depend upon to expose abuses at the hands of the powers that be.
For instance, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, part of the Interior Department, should be a natural attraction for watchdogs. The BIA works with a budget of more than $2 billion to (as it says) "fulfill its trust responsibilities and promote self-determination on behalf of tribal governments, American Indians and Alaska Natives."
And as the BIA notes, "In the last two centuries, the Congress has passed more Federal laws affecting Indians than any other group of people in the United States. The Snyder Act, the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, the Indian Reorganization Act are just a few of the laws that have defined the Federal authority and obligation to provide various programs and services to Indian Country."
Another draw should be the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, headed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. The committee deals with any number of issues involving subjects ranging from payment authorizations to environment-related controversies involving tribal land.
If those two pieces of the Indian-related federal universe aren't enough to help lift Indian news out of obscurity - at least beyond the gaming and mascot issues that are on today's radar -- there's always the more traditional wells that the media go to: present-day expressions of old Indian wisdom, knowledge, creativity and culture.
Of course, we're following developments in the scandal in which lobbyist Jack Abramoff is accused by former client Indian nations of bilking them out of millions of dollars while representing their gaming interests. Abramoff associate Michael Scanlon has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate bribery and mail fraud laws.
Meanwhile, after today, local Indian coverage probably will revert to stereotype-driven attention and perhaps other stories or a column here and there -- if and when there's an event or issue that's deemed of interest to the general public.
Otherwise, there seems to be no compelling reason to devote more frequent attention to Indian affairs. Key to that view is the conventional thinking that there just aren't enough "Indians" locally, or in the United States, to merit much attention.
One glance at a Census 2000 brief finds that of 281.4 million people in the United States, only 4.1 million claimed either American Indian or Alaska Native as their race, and that total included 1.6 million people who claimed mixed-blood status.
A Census Bureau update last year found 1.5 million residents in Tarrant County, 6,201 of whom claimed single-race status as Native Americans. (Mixed-blood figures weren't available at the state level.)
With no huge reservation nearby, such as the mighty 14-county Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, and absent any major pocketbook issue or other outrage to ignite interest in Indian affairs, the mainstream media's mind is occupied with other matters.
For instance, when the Washington-based National Congress of American Indians met Oct. 30-Nov. 4 in Tulsa for its 62nd annual gathering, plenty of high-profile tribal and federal newsmakers attended to talk about urgent topics ranging from education and health needs to environmental problems, the methamphetamine scourge and tribal sovereignty issues.
The meeting paid attention to a great concern in Indian Country regarding violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women, which, according to NCAI, occurs at twice the rate for all women in America.
Around 3,000 attendees from across the country attended the national gathering of NCAI, which was founded in 1944 and represents 250 of the 562 federally recognized American Indian nations. Alaska Native villages also are represented.
This was a major meeting of the descendants of those who survived not only the 19th-century holocaust but also the indignities through the 20th century and into the 21st century. There in Tulsa were the descendants of the aboriginals of this land, whose lives and homes stood in the way of progress and were nearly eradicated with callous disregard by government, militias, racism and greed.
The NCAI meeting was just north of us -- nearly as close to Fort Worth as that font of news, Houston.
The Associated Press covered the event, but not a word made it into the Star-Telegram. That wouldn't have been the case had editors known or felt that there was enough local interest to justify coverage.
Perhaps the editors were right. To our knowledge, no one protested the lack of coverage, any more than they've protested Fort Worth's lack of public recognition of American Indians.
There's a memorial in the Stockyards that honors the last Quahadi Comanche chief, Quanah Parker, who became probably the wealthiest American Indian in this country via ranching and various enterprises. Otherwise, the American Indian is virtually and sadly a forgotten entity in the city's roster of public memorials and public art.
My hunch is that's just an unfortunate product of no Indian awareness. I suspect, too, that we're wrong in assuming that there's little interest in Indian news.
Readers generally are concerned about underdogs' struggles with government. Analysis of Internet use regarding tribal Web sites and the many other Indian-related sites also could put that assumption in some interesting perspective.
And maybe many people just don't realize that they are interested in Indian news. Some of the best news comes from coverage that helps readers discover an interest in little-known or unknown matters.
Such news can be fascinating simply because it's compelling. Sometimes there's a personal connection that sparks interest. That's what makes the above assumption doubly questionable.
There's probably much more latent reader interest in Indian affairs than is imagined because of personal connection. Indian blood flows in varying degrees in the veins of many Americans -- far more than any census can find because a surprising number of people, I'd bet, either hide or disregard their heritage but harbor curiosity about it.
Not by a long shot do all Indians live on a reservation or hold official tribal affiliation, even though they could.
What if all those descendants suddenly cared about their heritage and contemporary Indian issues? Their interest would stoke coverage, and the outlook for justice and respect for American Indians would brighten considerably.
First, however, there would need to be coverage, and it would need to leave those people thinking about the situation, which isn't likely to happen if there's faint coverage. That changes briefly during American Indian Heritage Month. For a little while, the news media do not routinely ignore Indians.
We walk in beauty, as the old saying goes. For a little while, we care.
IN THE KNOW
Indian news sites
Indian Country Today: www.indiancountry.com
Indianz: www.indianz.com
Government sites
National Congress of American Indians: www.ncai.org
Bureau of Indian Affairs: www.doi.gov/bureau-indian-affairs
National Park Service: www.cr.nps.gov/nr/feature/indian/
Invisible Indians
By David House
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Out of sight, out of mind.
Such is the conclusion about Native Americans that's likely in this part of the country as the Star-Telegram draws the curtain on our 2005 observance of American Indian Heritage Month.
That's just about it for Indian news, which usually floats in obscurity even though there's abundant justification at the national level for at least the scrutiny of watchdog coverage -- one of the greatest resources that an American minority can depend upon to expose abuses at the hands of the powers that be.
For instance, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, part of the Interior Department, should be a natural attraction for watchdogs. The BIA works with a budget of more than $2 billion to (as it says) "fulfill its trust responsibilities and promote self-determination on behalf of tribal governments, American Indians and Alaska Natives."
And as the BIA notes, "In the last two centuries, the Congress has passed more Federal laws affecting Indians than any other group of people in the United States. The Snyder Act, the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, the Indian Reorganization Act are just a few of the laws that have defined the Federal authority and obligation to provide various programs and services to Indian Country."
Another draw should be the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, headed by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. The committee deals with any number of issues involving subjects ranging from payment authorizations to environment-related controversies involving tribal land.
If those two pieces of the Indian-related federal universe aren't enough to help lift Indian news out of obscurity - at least beyond the gaming and mascot issues that are on today's radar -- there's always the more traditional wells that the media go to: present-day expressions of old Indian wisdom, knowledge, creativity and culture.
Of course, we're following developments in the scandal in which lobbyist Jack Abramoff is accused by former client Indian nations of bilking them out of millions of dollars while representing their gaming interests. Abramoff associate Michael Scanlon has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate bribery and mail fraud laws.
Meanwhile, after today, local Indian coverage probably will revert to stereotype-driven attention and perhaps other stories or a column here and there -- if and when there's an event or issue that's deemed of interest to the general public.
Otherwise, there seems to be no compelling reason to devote more frequent attention to Indian affairs. Key to that view is the conventional thinking that there just aren't enough "Indians" locally, or in the United States, to merit much attention.
One glance at a Census 2000 brief finds that of 281.4 million people in the United States, only 4.1 million claimed either American Indian or Alaska Native as their race, and that total included 1.6 million people who claimed mixed-blood status.
A Census Bureau update last year found 1.5 million residents in Tarrant County, 6,201 of whom claimed single-race status as Native Americans. (Mixed-blood figures weren't available at the state level.)
With no huge reservation nearby, such as the mighty 14-county Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, and absent any major pocketbook issue or other outrage to ignite interest in Indian affairs, the mainstream media's mind is occupied with other matters.
For instance, when the Washington-based National Congress of American Indians met Oct. 30-Nov. 4 in Tulsa for its 62nd annual gathering, plenty of high-profile tribal and federal newsmakers attended to talk about urgent topics ranging from education and health needs to environmental problems, the methamphetamine scourge and tribal sovereignty issues.
The meeting paid attention to a great concern in Indian Country regarding violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women, which, according to NCAI, occurs at twice the rate for all women in America.
Around 3,000 attendees from across the country attended the national gathering of NCAI, which was founded in 1944 and represents 250 of the 562 federally recognized American Indian nations. Alaska Native villages also are represented.
This was a major meeting of the descendants of those who survived not only the 19th-century holocaust but also the indignities through the 20th century and into the 21st century. There in Tulsa were the descendants of the aboriginals of this land, whose lives and homes stood in the way of progress and were nearly eradicated with callous disregard by government, militias, racism and greed.
The NCAI meeting was just north of us -- nearly as close to Fort Worth as that font of news, Houston.
The Associated Press covered the event, but not a word made it into the Star-Telegram. That wouldn't have been the case had editors known or felt that there was enough local interest to justify coverage.
Perhaps the editors were right. To our knowledge, no one protested the lack of coverage, any more than they've protested Fort Worth's lack of public recognition of American Indians.
There's a memorial in the Stockyards that honors the last Quahadi Comanche chief, Quanah Parker, who became probably the wealthiest American Indian in this country via ranching and various enterprises. Otherwise, the American Indian is virtually and sadly a forgotten entity in the city's roster of public memorials and public art.
My hunch is that's just an unfortunate product of no Indian awareness. I suspect, too, that we're wrong in assuming that there's little interest in Indian news.
Readers generally are concerned about underdogs' struggles with government. Analysis of Internet use regarding tribal Web sites and the many other Indian-related sites also could put that assumption in some interesting perspective.
And maybe many people just don't realize that they are interested in Indian news. Some of the best news comes from coverage that helps readers discover an interest in little-known or unknown matters.
Such news can be fascinating simply because it's compelling. Sometimes there's a personal connection that sparks interest. That's what makes the above assumption doubly questionable.
There's probably much more latent reader interest in Indian affairs than is imagined because of personal connection. Indian blood flows in varying degrees in the veins of many Americans -- far more than any census can find because a surprising number of people, I'd bet, either hide or disregard their heritage but harbor curiosity about it.
Not by a long shot do all Indians live on a reservation or hold official tribal affiliation, even though they could.
What if all those descendants suddenly cared about their heritage and contemporary Indian issues? Their interest would stoke coverage, and the outlook for justice and respect for American Indians would brighten considerably.
First, however, there would need to be coverage, and it would need to leave those people thinking about the situation, which isn't likely to happen if there's faint coverage. That changes briefly during American Indian Heritage Month. For a little while, the news media do not routinely ignore Indians.
We walk in beauty, as the old saying goes. For a little while, we care.
IN THE KNOW
Indian news sites
Indian Country Today: www.indiancountry.com
Indianz: www.indianz.com
Government sites
National Congress of American Indians: www.ncai.org
Bureau of Indian Affairs: www.doi.gov/bureau-indian-affairs
National Park Service: www.cr.nps.gov/nr/feature/indian/