Indigenous Peoples Day - A Reality Check

News Peg

Every October 12th, Americans celebrate Columbus Day,  honoring the discovery of the United States by the popular explorer of the 15th Century, Christopher Columbus.

But more recently, communities have been protesting against the commemoration of the explorer’s destruction of Native American communities and the general genocide committed by European explorers and imperialistic venturers settling in the Americas.

This protesting has led to an alternative name for the holiday that states like Illinois have officially embraced as the new name to October 12 - “Indigenous Peoples Day.”

Currently, 14 states and more than 130 cities have officially changed the holiday’s name to Indigenous Peoples Day.

This shift in perspective surely represents a substantial level of introspection amongst Americans to recognize the dark history of the nation’s past, but more can be done - especially when we look into the present struggles of the indigenous community in America.

Native Struggles

The facts tell us that Native Americans (American Indians and Alaska Natives) face some of the deepest struggles at all levels within the country.

According to the Current Population Survey in 2019, the unemployment rate for the country was 3.9%. But the unemployment rate of Native Americans was 6.6% - substantially more than the average.

At an education level, 54% of Americans within the age range of 16-24 are enrolled in school. But the Native American population within that age range only has 42% enrolled in schools.

As concerning, at a more intrinsic level, is the mental health and suicide rates of the native communities.

While U.S. suicide rate is up 33% from what it was 30 years ago, American Indians and Alaskan Indians saw even a greater increase  - 139% and 71% respectively. 

Native communities experience the highest rate of suicides compared to any other demographics in the nation. 

84% of Native American women have experienced violence in their lifetimes, a number higher than any other group of U.S. women.

Suicide is also the second leading cause of death amongst Native Americans within the ages of 10-24, 2.5 times higher than the general population. 

Native communities also experience PTSD twice as many times as any other community in the country.

20% of the American Indian population have had a form of mental illness in the last year. 14% of Native Americans report frequent episodes of distress or depression, compared to the 7% amongst the general American population.

Only 20% of Native Americans have access to healthcare.

What This All Means

These numbers tell us a story not merely of the last decade, but of the hundreds of years American Indians and Native Alaskans have had to suffer.

In order to understand the present, it would be wrong for individuals to not look at the past. Even at an individual level, as much as we would like to move on from our pasts, we cannot learn from past mistakes and understand what brought to the successes or failures of our present unless we look back at our past experiences.

Similarly, in order for us to understand the terrible struggles of natives today, the brutal and violent past must be recognized.

Researchers believe that the consistent lack of attention from the American government, historical disenfranchisement and genocide, institutional racism, cultural and locational disconnection, and alienation have led to a domino effect of the mental and socioeconomic repercussions the native communities face today.

How can the Trail of Tears, the forced and bloody relocation of nearly 40,000 Native Americans, nearly 200 years ago, still impact the tribes today?

When the tribes and communities continue to be sidelined and pushed away from their homes and institutionally ignored from their government, and past mistakes from Americans are not fully rectified with true compassion and empathy, then yes - the trail of tears continues to haunt the country and its original dwellers.

Just like we must introspect in the present to right the wrongs of our past in order to live a brighter future, at an even more macro, a community or nation must do the same.

Otherwise, we are ungrateful, selfish individuals feeding off of the tyranny of our ancestors. 

It’s important for us to recognize and honor our roots at both spiritual and societal levels. And if that means truly caring and loving our Native American brothers and sisters - then yes, we must do more than commit a single day to honor them.