I live in Northern Arizona and work on the Native American Reservations of Hopi and Navajo Nation. I’ve also worked with the Pima and Maricopa Indians in Gila River, AZ. My response to your proposal may sound harsh, but hear me out. Most of the people I have had the pleasure of treating (I’m in medicine) are alcoholics even though the entire Reservations are dry. Some people don’t have running water but they have access to wells. Northern AZ is almost all like this - it’s all rock and digging wells is nearly impossible and if you do get a well, it’s extremely expensive. Almost all houses are provided electricity through solar or electrical lines.
In many of the communities I’ve worked in, there is a requirement that a certain percentage of people working for each company must be Native. The unfortunate thing is that many of the Natives applying for a certain position are not educated or trained in the position, but they are hired just to satisfy the requirement. If they are qualified, they’ll get 30% additional points on an exam in order to be more competitive against other applicants.
They are also given money every single month. A lot of it actually and it depends on how much they get based on which tribe they belong to. Some people get $1800/month, others get more. And the payment is from the US federal government.
If babies are given a SSN at birth, they get federal funding - the same $$$ listed above. So many young girls will get pregnant just to increase their monthly income. This is guaranteed payment to them - as long as they’re registered in the tribe. When they have all this money given to them, they don’t have to work. This is socialism at its finest and to be honest, its devastating to witness first hand.
Some of the kindest, most generous people I know are Native Americans, but so are some of the ugliest and most hateful. They’ve been taught to hate Americans for stealing their land and performing medical experiments on them, so they have a right to feel that way. But not all of us are people who cause harm to others - but we still have to watch our backs. I drive 4 hours one way to work on the Reservation and I won’t drive there at night. I also respect the land so I don’t hike the beautiful, empty, places - because I am not allowed to do so.
My personal thoughts are that giving money to the Natives is definitely the furthest thing from what they need. They actually just need to be left alone and to be recognized as the sovereign nations that they are. America needs to form the boundaries as they do between Mexico and Canada and allow the Native People to run their own nations, not hand them more money.
ButterflyBumblebee has made some really great points in their posts here. I hope my insight isn’t taken offense but it’s the truth of what I witness every day. One of my best friends is Navajo and she teaches me things about the land that I never knew. She also teaches me about using the juniper berries and ash from their needles to make corn mush. They farm using little to no water - it’s called dry farming - which is fascinating! They also trade silver and copper for gems found in the earth to make beautiful jewelry. There is so much we can learn from the Natives -
