deal from the government; therefore, he deserves
what he can get from the government. Also, others say he is a drunkard who will never amount to anything. So, therefore the government should terminate him. Let him make his own way in the white man's society.
Myself, I don't see an Indian in the same light as any
of these people. I see the Indian as a group of
people, all different in their ways, but held together
by a common bond called "Culture". I see the Indian as a group who fought courageously against overwhelming odds and after giving in and signing peace treaties, lived to see each peace treaty
broken, one by one.
I see the Indian as an individual, who when their country was in danger, went to the front line
voluntarily and gave their last full measure of
devotion, not only in the Civil War, but World War I, World War II, Korean Conflict, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and Afghanistan. I see the Indian as a group of
people who are proud and rightfully so, because they possess the secrets of life that the white man has
never discovered.
I see the Indian as a group of people, because even in their broken English, they will tell you how important it is to gain an education in this modern world. I
see the Indian people when they crossed a cultural
barrier into the dominant society, to become the best in their chosen profession, whether it be law, medicine, politics, trader, athlete or fighting for
freedom. When I think fo the Indian in this light, I think of the question, "What is an Indian?"
My chest suddenly expands and I think:
I AM INDIAN...
