Bücher von Roberta Carol Harvey

In the past, American Indian War Societies possessed the highest moral obligation and duty for the continued survival of Indian peoples and their strong and vibrant future; given our current state of war; they need to be revived.

Wars Indians fought to counter the theft of Indian copper and lead in the Great Lakes region and gold and silver in the Pacific Northwest, the Black Hills, the Great Plains and the Southwest by the invasive flood of white settlers.

In 1998, Colorado state lawmakers mandated that American Indian history and culture be included in the curriculum of high schools in Colorado, based on the persistent efforts of Comanche State Senator Suzanne Williams. In 2003, they broadened the law mandating that in order to graduate students must satisfactorily complete a civil government course which includes the history, culture and social contributions of Indians and other groups. Yet tens of thousands of students graduate each year in the state without learning any of the information that is mandated in that single state graduation requirement. The U.S. Civil Rights Commission noted in 2018 that the "lack of appropriate cultural awareness in school curriculum focusing on Native American history or culture" can (1) be harmful to American Indian students; (2) contribute to a negative learning environment; (3) be isolating and limiting; (4) trigger bullying; and (5) result in negative stereotypes across the board. In Colorado, 81% of American Indian students don't meet state math benchmarks, 85% don't meet state science benchmarks, and 70% don't meet state English language benchmarks. Colorado's continuing neglect of Indian students by excluding anything Indian from their education is harmful. The state is denying Indian students' rights to see themselves in their education, which is necessary to ensure their academic success. The arguments made in this book are rooted in a sacred commitment to protect Indian children.

In 1823, United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, based on his analysis of custom, not precedential law, proclaimed the "e;Doctrine of Discovery"e; as the supreme law of the land in the case, Johnson v. M'Intosh. This "e;doctrine"e; held that whichever European nation first "e;discovered"e; land, then not ruled by a Christian prince or people, could claim ownership. From President Washington on it was a foregone conclusion that America's legacy was a continental empire. Indigenous people in this New World, as it was called, were a mere obstacle to be eliminated or moved out of the way of colonial settlers in their westward expansion from coast to coast. The Johnson case followed Chief Justice Marshall's earlier opinion in 1810 that states owned all of the land within their boundaries, regardless of whether it was inhabited by indigenous peoples. It led the southern states to sell indigenous land, pass legislation incorporating it into their counties and abrogate indigenous national sovereignty. The federal government faced the real threat of these southern states seceding from the union if their land-grabbing was thwarted. Transforming indigenous peoples to tenants on their land made it easier to breach solemn treaties the government had entered into with sovereign polities. It made it possible to acquire millions and millions of acres of land. What followed was the loss of indigenous lives, land, game and valuable natural resources, along with the federal government imposing brutal economic sanctions and destructive assimilation policies. Thus, the United States acquired an empire at fire sale, rock-bottom prices, or without compensation at all, facilitated by Chief Justice Marshall's decisions in two heinous, feigned cases.