Money For Tribes Has Been Paid In Blood

Danny Medina is columnist for a magazine based in Scottsdale titled Art-Talk.

He is also a man who, when attempting to write a column about Indians, displayed an inordinate sense of ignorance.

Medina praised Ohio Rep. Ralph Regula for introducing a bill to drastically cut funding for the Institute of American Indian Arts at Santa Fe, N.M.

Expressing shock that IAIA is receiving nearly $11 million in federal funding, Medina quipped, “Why the hell should my taxes help the IAIA?

“First of all, the Indians are making more damned money than they know what to do with in their gambling palaces that dot the reservations. I say, let them fund their own damned art schools.”

He proceeded unabashedly:

“There are a lot of people out there who don’t give a povi povi wah - that’s Indian language - about the Indian arts, so why should they fund such stuff?”

Povi povi wah is Indian language? In that case, “what an ignoramus” is European.

Indian language indeed.

Doesn’t Medina know there are more than 400 Indian languages.

Which tribe was he mimicking?

Now we get to the part where his sarcastic wit entered muddy waters:

“Do you realize just how far one million bucks would go to help any school, yet the IAIA gets $11 million? Sacre Bleu! Something is verrrrry wroooooong here. Do we fund Hispanic art schools, Oriental art schools, Irish art schools …”

A little research would help, Medina. Yes, there are art schools for other ethnic minorities receiving federal dollars - your tax dollars. Check with the National Endowment for the Arts and they’ll be happy to give you a list.

But that is still not the point. The point is a piece of paper known as a treaty. When the greedy government and the greedy settlers wanted more rich Indian land, they peeled out these scraps of paper they called treaties. At least they were scraps of paper to the government, but legal documents to the Indian tribes.

In exchange for millions of acres of prime land, timber, water and minerals, the Indian nations asked for small things such as a place to educate their children. I would venture to say that much, much more than $11 million dollars in value has been wrung out of the lands and other resources ceded to the United States by the Indian tribes in exchange for this small pittance.

I don’t believe the Irish-Americans or AsianAmericans ever signed treaties with the United States on a nation-to-nation basis. I also don’t believe the people Medina refers to as “Hispanic” ever signed treaties. The Nation of Mexico did sign treaties in surrendering some of the lands conquered by the Yankees, but these treaties did not include health or education for their citizens.

It never ceases to amaze me that so many people living in the Southwest, surrounded by Indian reservations, have never bothered to research the most simple things about their Indian neighbors.

But for a columnist like Medina to publish his ignorance in a magazine and thereby perpetuate myths, misconceptions and stereotyping is revolting.

Some of this nation’s most gifted artists have attended and graduated from IAIA. Their art graces buildings across America. And whether Medina knows it or not, there are a lot more people out there who do give a “povi povi wah” - that’s Medina language - about Indian art than who do not.

But to compound his ignorance by stating that Indian tribes are making “more damned money than they know what to do with” shows a total lack of understanding.

There are some Indian tribes making buckets of money, but there are many more that are not. Of the 10 poorest counties in America, five are on Indian reservations.

Gambling has been a boon for some tribes, but it certainly has not benefited the majority.

And besides that, I’m getting a little peeved at reading every columnist who finds the time to lambast Indians for trying to better their lives. Where in the hell were all of these critics when Indians were just barely surviving?

Sacre bleu! Something is terribly wrong when the poorest people in America have to defend themselves, their schools, hospitals and culture because some tribes have the good fortune of owning profit-making casinos.

I’ve been there, Medina.

I was born and raised in the poorest county, on the poorest Indian reservation in America, and if my tribe can build a casino that will turn a profit for the benefit of all members, more power to them. They don’t owe you or the rest of America an apology. In fact, I believe just the reverse is true.

I suggest that Medina get off his can, climb in his car and drive out to the Navajo, Hopi, San Carlos, White Mountain Nations and see firsthand that not all tribes are rolling in money.

He should then visit the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe and ask the people working there how much it means to all of the Indians of America to have such a fine institution paid for in blood and land many times over.

Sacre bleu is right!

xxxx