Long Term Impact
Ever since white settlers invaded native lands to cross the western frontier of the US, native people have had difficulties getting jobs and being welcomed in the American community. This separation has resulted in higher suicide rates, drug abuse, homelessness, PTSD, poverty, loss of tribal religion, and lack of health insurance among native people in the United States. While they are fighting all of these things, suicide is still the second cause of death amongst Native Americans. They are still one and a half times more likely to have mental illness than the general population and they are more than twice as likely to have PTSD, and the list goes on.
Indian Tribespeople at Warm Springs
Photo by © Ted Streshinsky/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
Today the Warm Springs, Wasco, and Paiute Native American Tribes are a good example of tribes living on a reservation in Central Oregon. They are called The Government of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and their mission is to make sure every member has “the opportunity to attain good health, self-sufficiency, pride, and self-esteem”. They do this by protecting the tribe's treaty and legal rights to make a healthy and strong living environment. This is an ongoing mission and I hope they are able to pick up the pieces in the near future.
Is civilization really any better now than before the white man came to North America? Here is a quote from one of the tribe leaders in the Chippewa tribe. "I do not think the measure of a civilization is how tall its buildings of concrete are, but rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and fellow man."
- Sun Bear, Chippewa