Word: tribalized
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...luck. As Reagan came to office, the press was nervous about itself. It had played a major role in bringing down three Presidents in a row-two of them Democrats even if they were Southerners, let it be remembered. Even within the press, some thought (though few violated tribal taboos far enough to say so outright) that there had been excesses. Besides, there is an ultimate control on the press: if its readers do not believe it and do not trust it or if they think it lacks a standard of fair play, they will stop heeding...
...Andrew Jackson the federal government abandoned all pretense of concern for Indian rights. In place of conciliation Jackson and his successors pursued a policy of removal and relocation, forcibly transfering eastern tribes to territories in the west. There followed a dismal procession of measures designed to wipe out tribal sovereignty and assimilate Indians into the white-American mainstream. In mid-century Congress established federal boarding schools for Indian children, where they were forbidden to speak their parents' language on pain of corporal punishment; in 1871 it abolished the practice of making treaties with Indian tribes; and in 1887 it passed...
...time the allotment system was repealed in 1934, tribal land holdings had dropped from 140 million acres to 50 million acres. John Collier, the New Deal Commissioners of Indian Affairs, did more than merely stop the hemorrhaging. Through the Indian Reorganization Act he coaxed from America a commitment "to rehabilitate the Indian's economic life and to give him a chance to develop initiative destroyed by a century of oppression and determinism...
...succeeding generations have blurred Collier's generous vision, we have nevertheless held fast to his dream of tribal integrity. Richard Nixon endorsed it in 1970, and Congress reaffirmed it five years later with passage of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. Even Ronald Reagan has pledged "to encourage and strengthen tribal government" and "to deal with Indian tribes on a government-to-government basis...
...dealing with Indians, however, this Administration remains true to its own peculiar vision of justice. It is using "self-determination" as a euphemism for self-sacrifice, shutting off tribal assistance while lecturing tribes on the virtues of standing tall. Last years Indian assistance funds were cut by more than-one-third, including a 44 percent reduction in job programs. Naturally, unemployment on the reservations jumped from 30 percent to over 50 percent. Reaganomics, it appears, means subsidy for the affluent and self-determination for the poor. We have invented an entirely new breed of fortunate victims: the starving free...