Indians, Like All Americans, Pay Taxes
Indians don’t pay taxes. All Indians get a free college education. Indians are cared for from cradle to grave. Right?
Wrong! Absolutely wrong!
How many times have any of us (Indians) in a recognizable position been asked these silly questions? Let me count the times.
Indians pay federal income tax, Social Security tax, retail and wholesale taxes and federal excise taxes. If the land they own happens to be on an Indian reservation and is held in trust, they may not pay property taxes.
Money offered to Indian students for college tuition by the Bureau of Indian Affairs has been cut so badly there are few dollars left in the fund. Some Indian tribes with successful gaming casinos do set aside funds for college scholarships for tribal members. Of the 500 Indian tribes in America, those with successful casinos number less than 5 percent of the total.
As far as being cared for from cradle to grave, don’t make me laugh. The care offered by the federal government is a classic example of social welfare gone awry. This is because what started out as treaty obligations turned into a welfare system that was designed to fail.
When tribes such as the Sioux signed treaties with the United States, treaties such as the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, in exchange for millions upon millions of acres of productive land, land rich in natural resources, they were guaranteed specific rights. These rights included money to educate their children, hospitals to treat their sick, and funds to operate autonomous tribal governments. These were rights guaranteed by treaty. These treaties were documents signed into law by two sovereign nations.
Why the American people think of these treaty rights as forms of social welfare escapes me. When the United States spent millions of dollars lifting Germany and Japan up from the depths of poverty and chaos in the 1940s under the Marshall Plan, was this considered to be welfare? Of course not. America spent millions to help former enemies get back on their feet although these enemies had set out to destroy them.
The Indian people surrendered a continent. They did not surrender without fighting for every inch of ground. But when the struggle could no longer continue, they sat down around open campfires and signed treaties. These were not unconditional surrender treaties as those signed between the Axis powers and America. They were treaties between two sovereigns tired of fighting and killing each other. They were treaties of honor.
If the United States had carried out the intent of the treaties to the letter, the American Indian would not now be the poorest of the poor in this land of plenty.
The American Indian was made a citizen of the United States in 1924, after World War I, although many fought and died for this country in that struggle. The states of Arizona and New Mexico did not ratify the act making Indians citizens until 1946. In the meantime thousands of Indians fought and died for this country in World War II.
Believe it or not, those Indian soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines came home after the wars to become taxpaying citizens. They attended college or finished high school under the G.I. Bill, a right they earned by serving in the United States military.
The 1980 and 1990 census indicated that the single poorest county in America was Shannon County, located at the heart of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Of the 10 poorest counties in America, three of those counties were on Indian reservations in South Dakota. A dubious distinction at best.
Instead of asking if Indians pay taxes, Americans should be asking how many years Indians paid taxes without representation. Didn’t a group of white people pretending to be Indians dump tea into Boston Harbor for the same reason - taxation without representation? Think about it. And didn’t these same white people attempt to cover up their crime by hoping to have it blamed upon the American Indians?
I decided to write this column because I am really getting tired of answering the stupid question about whether we (Indians) pay taxes or whether we get a free college ride. I went to college under the G. I. Bill, and I believe I earned that right. So did many other Indian veterans.
We (Indians) are not cared for from cradle to grave. In fact, with conditions on our reservations equal or worse than those in many Third World countries, many of our children are fortunate to make it past the grave immediately after the cradle.
The answer is: Yes, Indians pay taxes just like the rest of Americans do. Now, if you can figure out a way for us (Indians) NOT to pay taxes, please let us know. We’re on your side when it comes to taxes.
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