Those Bad White People

                In response to the movie that we watched in class, while I agree that it is sad and even upsetting, that there is a large part of our population that is losing their language and culture, I do not believe that it is my problem if the people of these cultures are forsaking them for a more American or White way of living. I know that it is beside the point; however, if the next generation of Native Alaskans lack the passion for their own culture and values, then there is actually nothing that I feel I need to do to help them.  Where their culture is hurting people or affecting an individual’s mind, body, or soul I do believe that intervention needs to take place. I do not agree that an entire culture should be left to live in the wilderness and do as they please in every regard. However, who should decide when a society is destructive? This is a very fine line that no one wants to attempt to define. While it is ok for the citizen to expect too much from their government, problems arise when the government begins to force themselves on the people. In this case, the government intervening with health care and other necessities is acceptable; however, drinking and drug issues continue to flourish. While I think it is great that villages run themselves differently from how our government runs, if a system is not working then I will not fight for its preservation. If no one listens to the elders then their society will continue to degrade. If the elders in these villages won’t take control of their own people then someone else will have to. This is where government or other agencies step in and get labeled as the bad guy for imposing their own rules where others have failed.

                As the pointed out, native children were taken from their homes and put into boarding schools by the awful white missionaries. While this was traumatic for both the villages and the children, the slightly misguided missionaries were not doing this simply because they hated the native people; they actually believed that they were helping a people who needed them. This was just a replica of what had occurred to other Indian tribes across the nation, they looked at how the programs as these worked and just brought them north with them. My own grandmother was among these other Indian children shipped off to a catholic boarding school just because of her heritage. She did not view this as any worse then I viewed being drug to school every year throughout childhood. I believe that as with all schools some were probably worse than others, however, it also depends on how the person themselves looks at the situation. If one decides that something is awful, then they will only have bad memories of the situation, but if one keeps an open mind then they are more likely to be more objective in their evaluation.