Background Information

In 1838 and 1839 Andrew Jackson moved thousands of Native Americans to what is now present day Oklahoma.The Cherokee nation was forced to give up its land east of the Mississippi river.

How should we pay the Native Americans back?

“I see... soldiers here on its banks...cut down my timber; kill my buffalo… my heart feels like bursting.” -Santana,Chief of the Kiowas,in 1867. 

  The federal government should pay the Native Americans back for the injustices inflicted on them with land. The federal government made a western expansion which crushed the lives of the Native Americans.The federal government took away their family, their land was like family to them.

Money Can Buy Anything

“The belief that money can buy anything is absurd and disgusting. Money cannot buy or return dignity and                self-respect.” -Tammy Tillotson 

  Tammy Tillotson said this in an article named,Reparations for Native Americans.Some people say that if the Native Americans have money,they’ll be happy. To the Native Americans,their land is land that we have stolen. Land that we ran them off of and took as our own. Their land is seen as their family and they want their family back.

Paying In the Form of Money

“When, in fact, there is no possible way to ever repay Native Americans for what was taken from them.”-Tammy Tillotson

If Americans give them reparations in the form of money, others may assume that the United States’ historical debt has been paid off. Take this into consideration, how do you feel when a loved one passes away?That is how the Natives felt when Andrew Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act and moved them out west. The Sioux specifically are now living in reservations in South Dakota. In these areas, they have nothing...They are blocked away from everyone else. They have a high teen suicide rates and big drug and alcohol problems because of where they are.

The Reservation Life

"You can see that the Sioux are in a hopeless situation, because of the location of their reservation. It’s out in the middle of nowhere South Dakota. There is no way for people to make a living there.” -Chris McGreal in Washington

   These people are living on reservations and they’re living in poverty. Where are they supposed to go? Their location is awful and their suppression to the rest of society and the way they have been looked down upon affects them. Like I said,there is so much drug and alcohol abuse,there’s suicide.

Give Them Back Their Land

The Native Americans are living on reservations that they have been locked away on since the Trail of Tears in 1838. Now,the Native Americans are in hopeless situations with do much drug and alcohol abuse. Their land was like family and the Americans ripped that away from them. So,it’s time to get their family back!