Beyond Borders

Written by: Timothy B. Watt    The Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana are a proud and resilient people. They have been dealing with the vagaries of the Eurocentric and American chauvinistic attitudes of the powers that have held sway over their traditional cultural properties ever since the “First European contact with Miami in Wisconsin” [1] in 1654.    Article 3 of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 as passed by the Confederation Congress of the United States states, “Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and, in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity, shall f

Written by: Gurpartap Singh  “Ute Indian Camp, Garden of the Gods, Shan Kive, 1913,” 1913. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. Whether it be by the United States government or big-name companies trying to expand their resource outreach or industries, the taking and misuse of Native American land has been a big issue for many centuries now. In this short look into a contemporary Native American issue, we will draw our attention to the Ute tribe and the taking of their natural resources by the United States government, specifically of the Uncompahgre land located in current-day Colorado and Utah, and the government's failure to compensate to the Ute tribe and hold up their end of the agreement. The Ute Native Americans are a very diverse group of people with a very rich history. According to the official website of the Southern Ute Indian tribe, the Ute people had a special relationship with nature and are seen as the “...oldest residents of Color

Written by: Jacy Welling © Rafael Bernal/The Hill    https://thehill.com/latino/484853-native-american-leader-denounces-destruction-of-sacred-sites-for-border-wall The Tohono O’odham is an Indigenous tribe that have land in Arizona and Northern Mexico. They are a federally recognized tribe that were split in half in these two areas because of the Gadsden Purchase in 1853. Of course, this treaty promised all land rights to the native tribe and of course this promise was broken. Because of this tribe being split by the Mexico and US border, there have been issues surrounding the crossing of the border by this tribe. Many people of the Tohono O’odham tribe have traveled into Mexico and vice versa in order to visit sacred lands and family (History & Culture). The issue that is and has been occurring is the prevention of the O’odham people being allowed to visit their sacred lands because the border will not let them through. They have been detained, deported, and ha

Written by: Ava Springstun             Imagine that you live in the most beautiful place on earth. Nature at it’s finest surrounds you for miles upon miles. Everything you could ever want or need is provided to you by the lands you call home. Now imagine that you meet a stranger traveling across your lands. You offer them their guest rights, food, shelter, water, and the kindness from your heart. You share with them the splendor of your home, leaving only the most private of places secret from them. This stranger grows to love your home as their own and before you know what’s happened, they’ve stolen it from you and marked it as off bounds for everyone not willing to pay for a day pass.             While this could fit the criteria of almost every Native American tribe known to the US, this example is intended to represent the very National Parks we brag of. These incredible lands of unending beauty were once protected and cared for by the tribes that lived here long before

Written by: Michael Solazzo             Tribal nations throughout the United States are going through a rough time if not more then the average United States citizen or local cities. For centuries these cultures have been ransacked from the inside out, it is as if every century brings in newer issues to the table. Some of the lengthier battles are the issues of land appropriation and recognition of people. The United States Census is the largest data collection effort that is done to insure that people in the United States are given representation and services brought to them by the constitution. As you read forward, you will see the issues at hand and what is being done to address some of the bigger issues.  In the United States, there is a census that happens every ten years and has been the number one way of counting the population since 1790.  (Gupta) The census is a data gathering mission that collects not only population counts but gathers information pertaining to

Written by: Nora Smith https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-general/vandalism-ancient-sites-really-cares-anyway-009749            Looting and vandalism takes place at archaeological sites around the world and has been a consistent problem even before the field of archaeology existed. People often have looted throughout history in order to find valuable materials and items to be sold off to make a profit. In the modern era, by looting graves or historical and archaeological sites, people are usually trying to find antiquities to sell at auctions for museums and collectors or within the black market (khanacademy.org). Vandalism can take place in many different forms, such as the destruction or removal of sacred or archaeological items and defacement of sites with archaeological or cultural significance. This has been a problem for many years, but still recently there have been a multitude of issues regarding looting and vandalism at Native American Indian archaeological

Written by: Benjamin Schuller https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43500314            Climate change: often described as the defining struggle of our generation, yet often is described as “controversial”. I’m not here to argue today about conspiracy theories about if climate change is real, however, since the general consensus of the scientific community is that climate change is about as real as the shoes on your feet (1). Instead, I’d like to talk about the people who are already suffering due to the effects of climate change, and who will likely suffer the brunt of its effects.             Climate change has been shown to be caused by CO2 and methane gas emissions, largely created by our western standard of living. Prosperity has shown to be the most important factor for the increased production of these greenhouse gasses, and it should be noteworthy that most governments have encouraged this damage, in the name of increased profit margins. These emissions are

Written by: Olivia Oser Pine Ridge Healthcare Facility in South Dakota www.ihs.gov/greatplains/healthcarefacilities/pineridge/ . Historically, Native Americans have struggled with health issues due to a lack of concern from the government. They were given empty promises of health care for years and all they got was intergenerational trauma instead (Wienski). They face a plethora of health issues that range from diabetes and obesity to alcoholism and suicide. The Oglala Lakota Sioux Indians of South Dakota are still struggling with the basic right to health care. They have one of the highest death rates in the United states with “premature mortality” as the reason for this (Wienski). There are many factors that contribute to this health crisis as well as many negative impacts to the culture. Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is one of the largest in the state and yet is one of the poorest communities as well. The reservation sits on around 2.8 million acres of land, wit