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> Years ago, I heard a Native American, I forget who, say that he wasn't mad > at the whites because they stole the land fair and square, and thats just > the way it was. As much as we might want to look back in horror at how > the current owners came in possession of Winona or Mankota or Saint Paul, > the fact is that history is a long and ongoing tale of people trying to > take advantage of other people. St. Paul may have been "stolen fair and square", but the Black Hills were stolen in such a scurrilously illegal manner as to prompt our own Supreme Court to render its decision in favor of the Sioux Nation in the most unflattering terms. [Black Hills, White Justice - Lazarus, Edward; 1991] Whether or not to burden your own psyche with personal guilt is an individual choice, but I don't think declaring ourselves the beneficiaries of a general amnesty that abnegates the rule of law of the culture we ourselves established is an effective way of dealing with it. Our attempts to moralize with other countries over the treatment of native populations falls flatter on the global stage while we harbor our own internal violations of such a flagrant nature. I'll celebrate the birth of my nation along with the rest of my countrymen, but I don't find it necessary to censor or whitewash historical truth in order to do it. Have a happy and peaceful Fourth of July, - Guy Western the West Side _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
