The World Would Be Better if We Lived like the Indigenous People of America

The Indigenous People of America are not alone in their struggles- I believe that America has tormented multiple groups with their existence and growth of their nation. With power, it seems that others must suffer and blood must be shed.

No nation can come to power or be called a first world country without bloodshed or the blatant disregard for human life. There always seems to be a group that is power hungry and does not care how they or what they must do to obtain their idea of power. Do they not understand that power does not bring happiness?

I wish that the leaders of our nation were treated in the same fashion that shamen were expected to have. In the Lakota Sundance Ritual, the community makes a unison effort to hold the man who wants to become a Shaman accountable based on his intentions. If they believe the man is in the process for the wrong reasons and has a purpose other than trying to benefit the whole community with his gifts and talents, then they could punish him for not living up to his duties. The punishment could even go as far as death.

This just goes to show how much the community values members being sincere about their job. They want genuine people who will take the role seriously and care for the community in the way they were meant to. If our nations’ leaders held their roles with this idea in their minds, maybe our community would be a better place and we would not have had to have protests for the black lives matter movement. Maybe we would not have needed the movement at all. But how will our community get there?

The whole Lakota Sundance ritual showed what the community as a whole values- respect, bravery, and obedience. What does our community value if so many black lives are so easily taken away without justice in our law system? I do not understand. America says that it is the land of the free- the land of the free for who? It all seems like propaganda to me.

I do not understand why Americans can get so upset when there are riots and property is destroyed when our nation is literally built off of destroying the land and communities of the Indigenous and African communities. Why could Americans not be more upset about human lives? Why do we get more upset about property when lives should be more valuable as when they are lost, they are gone forever?

Time and time again it feels that people must die for anything to get started in our community. Anger and an upset crowd is the only way to solve anything in America. With the black lives matter movement and the Native Americans still being tormented and abused by our government, I can not find anything great about America. Our whole nation upsets me. Our history and our present upsets me. Everything about America seems to revolve around the rich and the top 1% and I am sick of it. I honestly do not know how our nation can fix anything and repay the minorities of our nations, the ancestors of the people America was built off of. How can we do what is right by the black people of America?

It was less than a century ago that we still had slavery and segregation in our country. It seems as if whenever there is progress, we take 5 steps back. I do not know how to feel or how to help others that are abused by our systems of government and by capitalism itself. It feels hopeless, but I do know that when we gather in anger and distress in numbers and physically go out and show our feelings through protests and unrest- only then does the top 1% listen. Only then is it possible to have some form of change in our nation. I just wish that the change did not cost a life. But how could it not? America was built off of the deaths of slaves and the Native Americans, many immigrants that were exploited, and it still is to this day built off of the backs of workers who are under appreciated.

Sometimes I wonder if it is possible to live in peace and to get along with everyone without putting other groups down with oppression and jails. Is it possible for a society to not have a jail? The Native Americans had rituals that would bond their community together in a way where often everyone felt appreciated for their partake in the ritual. Is it possible for America to rebuild and change our value system to match the commutative nature of Native Americans? Is it possible for all various cultures to truly live in peace with each other?

I have never seen an example of where people from various cultures could get along easily and sometimes I wish we could just have a peak at what that idea would look like. How do we get people to care about problems that they are not personally a part of? How do we get the top 1% to care about issues with the black community, ICES, and other minority groups of America? If their money is not being affected, it seems as if they will never want or desire a change within our community. This is why I believe that the burning of infrastructures was necessary. It was necessary to catch the attention of the top 1% because it directly affects their assets.

It's disgusting how we can only get people to care for a concept we made ourselves-money. Why is money always seeming to be the root of all our world problems? It amazes me how much value our society has over money and how much we let the idea and concept that humans created control our lives. Was it ever possible for the world to not have money? To have a functioning society without money? These are the feelings and questions that are invoked in me when I see an image of the black lives matter movement.