Should we give back the land to the Native Americans?

[general_kill]

Or should we give up our claim of moral superiority? When ever I want to pass negative judgments against dictatorships, pirates, or any non-American organization/government, I feel like a complete tool and hypocrite. It's pretty uncomfortable for me to live in a country whose government "stole" the land and committed one of the biggest genocides in history. How do we as American reconcile this? I mean, I can only retreat to ignorance whenever this subject is raised because my rational mind would scream bloody murder.

I mean there are many ways I can use ignorance to hide my true feelings. For example, I can plead that it was our ancestors who committed the wrongs, or that we made this country a super power. But rationally, I would have to put myself in the shoes of the natives. I mean, imagine if China invaded, wipe 99% of us out through disease, war, resource denial, or outright murder. Then they brought in slaves to build a new country. 300 later, when my descendants try to complain, they use the same excuses we use.

I mean let's be real here, are we the bad guy here? I hate people who call America evil, but how do we even justify our existence? If we actually wiped out all the Indians, we can be apologetic and say something like we'd give back the land if they were still around. But as it stands, we are still essentially occupying other people's land. This continues to make us the bad guys.

I'm kind of pissed now, because I feel like anytime I want to criticize a country like Saudi Arabia, I'll feel like a hypocrite. Sure, they are religious nut jobs with poor human rights record, but we are even worse. It would be like Hitler criticizing Pol Pot for genocide. Help me out guys, how do I stop the guilt?

 

[Theige]

Those malnourished, dirty savages are welcome to try and take back their land whenever they feel so inclined.

 

[Godwynn]

Yes, we must return to Europe.

 

[bhsup]

Please change the title of the thread to "aboriginal Americans." I was born here and am as native to this land as anyone else, regardless of how many thousands of years ago their ancestors may have gotten here.

That said, what exactly do you really expect to have happened when a stone age society was brought into contact with an industrialized society? I think it was inevitable that western society supplanted the existing stone age society. How it happened in places is unforgivable, and a stain on our nation, but let's not pretend that there was ever going to be any sort of symbiotic co-existence of the two.

 

[Theige]

Please change the title of the thread to "aboriginal Americans." I was born here and am as native to this land as anyone else, regardless of how many thousands of years ago their ancestors may have gotten here.

I agree 100%.

They don't even want to be called "Native Americans" as they prefer to be called "Indians"

Being the 16th generation to live in North America, I consider myself thoroughly a "Native American"

 

[Miles Teg]

Which ones? I mean, the Sioux and the Iroquois both ousted tribes before them. I doubt the first claimants for most stretches of land even have descendants.

 

[amadeus]

Aye. I was just thinking about how laughable it is when I hear Mexican irredentists (most of them living in the U.S., oddly) when Mexico didn't even control the territory for more than 25 years.

 

[Camikaze]

Giving back all the land is a bit of an overcompensation, punishing the present population for the past's wrongs. However, it might be good for the US to institute some sort of Native Title thing, whereby Aboriginal Americans can claim government land that was traditionally their's, and limited pastoral or unused agricultural land. And then there's the whole more respect, welfare, special programs, etc.

 

[CaptainF]

Please change the title of the thread to "aboriginal Americans." I was born here and am as native to this land as anyone else, regardless of how many thousands of years ago their ancestors may have gotten here.

That said, what exactly do you really expect to have happened when a stone age society was brought into contact with an industrialized society? I think it was inevitable that western society supplanted the existing stone age society. How it happened in places is unforgivable, and a stain on our nation, but let's not pretend that there was ever going to be any sort of symbiotic co-existence of the two.

Then again, there are countries which have done it much better and less violently than we did (i.e. New Zealand).

Wounded Knee and other such atrocities weren't necessary.

 

[Annex]

Giving back all the land is a bit of an overcompensation, punishing the present population for the past's wrongs. However, it might be good for the US to institute some sort of Native Title thing, whereby Aboriginal Americans can claim government land that was traditionally their's, and limited pastoral or unused agricultural land. And then there's the whole more respect, welfare, special programs, etc.

Or just give them more casinos.

 

[Agent327]

Yup, all of it!

 

[Warman17]

Your ancestor's may have committed genocide against the Amerindians, but my ancestors came over from Russian pogroms in the 1910s.

 

[Formaldehyde]

This land is mine. My god gave this land to me.

Besides, they are all stinking rich now from the casinos.

 

[Neverwonagame3]

My ancestors came to Australia (I'm not an American, but as it's a similiar situation I may as well comment) from England and Asia when it was already established, so no hereditary stain (apart from living on "stolen" property) exists.

 

[CCRunner]

I'd like to see them try to give it back

This land is my land
And only my land
I've got a shotgun
And you ain't got none
If you don't get off
I'll blow your he-ad off
This land was meant for only me!

 

[cubsfan6506]

This land is mine. My god gave this land to me.

Besides, they are all stinking rich now from the casinos.

There one of the most impovershed groups in the country.

 

[luiz]

Depends. Will the indians give back the lands they "stole" from other tribes?

I mean, surely the OP does not think that the indians were a bunch of hippies living in peace with mother nature and having group hug sessions. Surely the OP understands that for the indians, just like for virtually every human group in the planet, fighting over land was pretty common. Some days you win, some days you lose.

Personally I don't feel inclined to give anything back. In fact, I don't feel inclined to apologise nor to grant any sort of special priviledges to any "wronged" group of people.

 

[Masada]

Or just give them more casinos.

You should give them access to in no short order: casinos, distilleries, biological agents, educational facilities, language training and bead manufacturing.

The casinos and distilleries can rip apart your social fabric. The biological agents can knock of the majority of your population. The educational facilities they can use to wreck the hopes of your children. The language training could be used to force half understood (preferably completely non-understood) treaties on you in an alien tongue. And the bead manufacturing could be used for "buying" your land.

That's a more comprehensive answer.

My ancestors came to Australia (I'm not an American, but as it's a similiar situation I may as well comment) from England and Asia when it was already established, so no hereditary stain (apart from living on "stolen" property) exists.

The most delicious stuff was still happening in WA in the seventies and more broadly in Australia till the sixties.

Personally I don't feel inclined to give anything back. In fact, I don't feel inclined to apologise nor to grant any sort of special priviledges to any "wronged" group of people.

If I had the power I would, for the delicious irony and lulz moments as groups simultaneously realized (hopefully) the manifest silliness of the world.

EDIT: I would be a fairly malicious kind of god at times.

 

[Kerozine]

Didn't we buy the land? For some beads or whatever.

 

[Leonel]

If one were to give it back, it would only be proper to give it back in the condition it was when first obtaining it.