Native Americans sue U.S. over solar power plant in desert

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Rathji

It is no more racist that auditing that should be going on, whenever public money is spent.

Should have used green I guess.

[Coys1882]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

I've heard it from native people not on TV and not tripping balls. But thanks

This conversation got me thinking so I fired up youtube and watched the Peyote scene form Young Guns. How ironic, given current events, is it that the only member of the gang not to use the drug was Charlie Sheen's character. haha.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by theonlywhiteout

This post is equal parts horse manure and intellectual dishonesty. Someones needs to post the final scene from bill Madison for me while I'm at woek

Thanks for that. If you take issue with something I say, don't resort to hoping someone posts a YouTube video questioning my intelligence.


You can take your smug sense of superiority and shove it up your ass.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

To be fair your post did seem like a whole swackload of hippy babble that doesn't make any sense to the vast majority of people who view time for what it is worth not whatever the hell you think they think that time transpires.

Edit: Residential schools were horrible, there is no doubt about that and they shouldn't be forgotten or ignored, but horrible things have happened to every culture at every point in time. My Scottish ancestors were sold into slavery after the Battle of Colloden - you name the people and you can find an injustice which has been perpetuated against them. It doesn't mean it is right, but one of the greatest qualities of humans is our ability to carry on. There are issues that need to be addressed within Canadian society as a whole and I know that I don't have all of the answers, but what I do know is that there needs to be a greater emphasis placed on aboriginal pride and education. The education is crap, their homelife is filled with alcohol and drugs, and there is an enormous gang presence on reserves...and we are surprised that people don't have the ability to cope with modern society. Throwing money at the problem won't fix it, everyone becoming compassionate and understanding might be a step in the right direction.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

To be fair your post did seem like a whole swackload of hippy babble that doesn't make any sense to the vast majority of people who view time for what it is worth not whatever the hell you think they think that time transpires.

I am the farthest thing from a hippy that exists. Trust me. However people can go on living in a world where they assume everyone subscribes to the modernist view of society marching towards this liberal democratic utopia. God forbid we pressure other ways of thinking.

[justafan]

Originally Posted by theonlywhiteout

The suffering of my grandmother at the hands of Nazis and my grandfathers torture he endured from the soviets are none of your business, no offense. All you need to know is thy were both brave hard working Ppl who adjusted to western life and culture.

I feel for your grandparents and I know you are proud they adjusted to "western life" and hopefully prospered. I assume you are implying (indirectly) that my father did not adjust as well, as when he married my mom, he told her his dad was "korean" as he thought, in the 1950's, that would be more acceptable than being an 'indian'. My dad was raised on a reserve in Sask. with an English mother. He has alzheimers now, so sometimes we can get stories out of him, but he did stay pretty quiet most of his life. He was ashamed, and I teach my children that there are problems....lots. But. Be proud.

[theonlywhiteout]

Originally Posted by justafan

I feel for your grandparents and I know you are proud they adjusted to "western life" and hopefully prospered. I assume you are implying (indirectly) that my father did not adjust as well, as when he married my mom, he told her his dad was "korean" as he thought, in the 1950's, that would be more acceptable than being an 'indian'. My dad was raised on a reserve in Sask. with an English mother. He has alzheimers now, so sometimes we can get stories out of him, but he did stay pretty quiet most of his life. He was ashamed, and I teach my children that there are problems....lots. But. Be proud.

I was implying nothing. What I was saying is that having a difficult past and obstacles to overcome are a test of ones charecter.

[justafan]

Originally Posted by theonlywhiteout

I was implying nothing. What I was saying is that having a difficult past and obstacles to overcome are a test of ones charecter.

I understand what you are saying and did not mean to insult you. I agree to some extent, but obviously I think that character is one thing, but there are alot of other influences that can affect you and the ones you love. I mean it when I said that I admire your grandparents and their struggles.

This thread has many generalizations about our first nation peoples. I can only, like many of you, relate to my experiences. I have ancestry that is Jewish, Scottish and English. I love the fact we are a nation of many backgrounds and try very hard to not assume anything about any peoples.

[FlamesFanInOilCountry]

I was a little leery about posting in this threat, but I found that I couldn't help myself. First off, I find it quite sad that a new story about current litigation turns into a prejudice spew fest and dick measuring match.

If we're going to discuss "all the problems surround aboriginal-canadians and the rest of canada" in contemporary times we need to consider a few things:

-First thing. They are aboriginal-canadians not just aboriginals. I'm sure justafan doesn't consider himself jewish, he would be a Jewish-Canadian (just using this as an example).
-This isn't just a matter of the government throwing money at the problem and blindly hoping for a solution, or a matter of aboriginals sitting on reserves smoking a pipe and counting their hundred dollar bills and laughing at the expense of the general public. I'm sure you'll laugh at this, but this is basically what alot of people are generalizing/insuating is happening. Neither side is happy with contemporary times.
-The Aboriginal-Canadians that qualify for financial support (because not all do) that receive it do because their bands entered into treaties with the Federal government, and these treaties still last today. The government used these treaties to develop the "Reserve System," which put Aboriginal reserves where the government wanted them NOT where Aboriginal-Canadians would be best suited. The system ignored natural resources, suitable farming land, access to transportation routes such as railway and water. So alot of Aboriginal bands don't have the same access to industry and entrepeneurship that the rest of the Canadian population do. They stay on reserves because it's more comfortable than rolling the dice and going into a society that some may not know or completely understand.
-Aboriginal bands rely on government money in order to sustain their public services, and have been known to mis-manage it, so INAC acts as a watch dog group which creates a vicious cycle of resentment. Aboriginal-Canadians want a certain level of governmental autonmy in order to develop their own economic and political systems, but this cannot be defined consitutionally or through our present model of federalism. So they resent being perceived as "a little child" always being told what do with their money and how to spend it, and the government would love to oblige, because telling a group of people what to do just furthers the resentment...but the problem needs to be solved consitutionally... Good luck with that hahahah.
-I haven't even started on residential schools, cultural norms or racism... Maybe we'll stay away from that for now.
-What's my point? My point is that our system doesn't work so rather than sitting here and throwing garbage at each other.... Try to educate yourself on the issues rather than repeating the repetitive gossip and then make an informed issue on either doing something about it or shutting the hell up.

IMHO, it works both ways. The government has accepted that they instituted the segregation system (following the steps of big brother USA) which has resulted in other issues such as residential schools. However, some Aboriginal-Canadians need to step up to the plate and stop living through excuses and think about what they can do to make a difference and break the cycle, which can start by simply attending post secondary education. The government needs to stop apologizing and start actually listening to Aboriginal-Canadians on a viable long term governmental solution, and Aboriginal-Canadians need to stop rehashing the past, and start contributing at the grass roots level to the betterment of their people.
-If you want some things to wikipedia: Residential Schools, 1969 White Paper (Trudeau), 1982 Constitution Act, Elijah Harper, Nisga'a Land Agreements... Also check out present Aboriginal business ventures such as Peace Hills Credit (Bank).

And yes, I agree whole heartedly with Yeah_Baby's statement.

That is all.