Colonialism: Then and Now | The Renewing Indigenous Economies Project

Persistent colonial policies stifle today’s reservation economies. Breaking the bonds of colonialism requires defining tribal jurisdiction, establishing new governance structures built on rule of law and tribal heritage, and securing property rights—both collective and individual—that help tribal members fully participate in and benefit from the modern global economy.

Click below to watch the other videos in this series.

The Hoover Project on Renewing Indigenous Economies conducts research to inform and promote policies that empower Native Americans to regain control over their lives and resources.

Native Americans prospered for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. Today they are America’s poorest minority.

The stark economic disparities that exist between indigenous peoples and the rest of American society stem directly from policies imposed by the federal government, which has denied secure property rights, clearly defined jurisdictions, and effective governance structures. To revive their economies, indigenous peoples are restoring the dynamic customs, culture, and dignity that existed before colonization.

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[alexkosnicki]

Government always needs to be checked!

[Ethan-qjuq]

If anyone thinks that the Native Americans are just making this stuff up, let me tell you the story of the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes. They got the land they had been living in for centuries, a little valley in Utah called Skull Valley, it was practically all desert. They were excellent at surviving in this environment, they would live off the desert plants that they learned to grow, selling them and trading them with others. Then the government started pushing agriculture and farming, something that you can't do in a desert. They were able to raise sheep, though. During World War 2 and the Cold War, the Department of Defense set up Dugway Proving Ground right next to the reservation and started testing different weapons. During one of the tests of a deadly nerve gas, the tank on one of the planes that held the nerve gas started to leak as the plane ascended after deploying said gas. The gas got into some of the rain and poisoned all of the tribe's sheep. the government denied it ever happened. I think they tried to pay the tribe under the table, but I don't know. They had no income because of that, so they built a missile engine testing site, called Tekoi test range, on the reservation and leased it to Hercules inc. During this time, a hazardous material landfill, a nerve gas storage facility, two incinerators for hazardous materials, a magnesium plant that produces chlorine gas, and the intermountain power project (that produces more toxic chemicals) were built adjacent to the reservation. at the end of the Cold War, Hercules was bought by AlliantTech Systems, who pulled out of Tekoi, which was the Skull Valley Goshutes primary source of income. In an attempt to get money flowing again, they tried to convert Tekoi into a nuclear waste storage facility, but there were a ton of protests and the idea was eventually canned. Now, only around 15 people live on the reservation. I left some details out, I would encourage you to read into it by yourselves, but this tragic story is very similar to the stories of tribes and reservations all across the nation. I find the lack of attention to these issues disturbing. I find the exploitation and disregard for these communities disgusting. We took their land, killed their people, and herded them onto small reservations and just forgot about them. The amount of racism that exists towards Native Americans astonishes me. It's a huge problem that we need to solve together, we're all people, shouldn't we all be concerned with wellbeing of our fellow man?

[manuelramirez-qdmz]

If no warriors, you won't be independent. You can ghost dance, sell beads, sing happy songs, but a warrior society is needed. Simple as that.

[lynndiaz]

As far as being a regular American, I have been disgusted with the way tribal Native Americans have always been treated. The government does what it wants to them, but we wish they had been given most of their land back or a part of the country they could thrive in. They deserve to make good lives for themselves. They are part of the American heritage. They are a national treasure.

[Jack_Crow_Fox]

The Dawes Role which was a census on Native Americans also reclassified many Indigenous peoples as Negroes colored and black

[LuzLopez-cikl]

God bless our Native Americans that you are treated with dignity and fairness is my wish and prayer.

[te]

Neat animations, they really help the delivery.

[beckettthirion]

The problem with reservations is that we haven't updated our policies on reservations in a progressive way for a long time, and that we have an economic interest in limiting a reservations economy and resources. If we could solve those we would be in a much better situation.

[insightibanez]

“You’ll never have justice on stolen land...”

[brynnaandersen]

BuT tHe goVerNmEnT iS onLy tRyiNg tO hELp

[omer]

I came here in hopes of finding an interesting video juxtaposing colonization vs contemporary colonization, but I found an important video highlighting an issue that isn’t being discussed enough.

[Hidden_Egg]

Finally, an advertisement that isn’t right wing propaganda! Thank you for the informational video!

[IronDogger]

We need to do something entirely different. This way of life isn’t sustainable. Repeating catastrophic failures and expecting different results without recognizing the insanity of it all cannot be an option. Zeitgeist: Addendum & Moving Forward have detailed answers and solutions to our society we need to consider.

[herself]

it is easy to make comments like the ones on here without having a complete understanding of federal indian policy.

[mr.theoctopus]

Just get out of the reservations. For Pete’s sake have some realistic ambition and grow up and move on. Do now what we should have been allowed to do from the beginning: join the citizenry and survive, keeping your culture personal and private like any other religious minority does. Don’t let baseless pride and impractical principle bind you to something we lost long ago. It’s no longer the government that traps you in it’s domain: it’s useless, stubborn, futile, arrogant belief. Face the facts like the tribes had to in their conflicts even before the Europeans came and move on.

[mikerodriguez]

SAD, what has & is being done to the Native Americans.

[isaacdunn]

And this is why the reservation system sucks. I like this mini video series that you guys put together.

[cakeboss]

I agree with the fact that the government needs to stop meddling in these peoples business but the fact is that you won’t ever be independent from the United States. Do away with the reservations and just give the land to those people who are living there currently, allow them to create city governments and give them representative seats in their State councils, allow them to assimilate into the United States and allow them to keep their culture.

[Nizhoni_pony]

The government doesn't even care about who it affects either because I live and grew up on an indian reservation and we are so isolated that if you don't have a car out here, you're screwed. Either be ready to walk many hours to get some food or even to school or stay home with whatever food you may or may not have.

[yakigesher-zion]

As an indigenous Judean, I send my full support to other indigenous peoples across the world in reclaiming their land like we did.