Mending A Trail Of Broken Tears
In his New York Times article, “Mending a Trail of Broken Tears”, Timothy Egan describes how Native American tribes are using the federal court system to challenge the broken treaties to regain lost land. Over the course of America’s westward expansion the US has made and broke over three hundred treaties with Native American tribes. During that time, Native Americans were not considered civilized, so their land was stolen, but now as they are gaining money and political power different tribes are challenging the historical wrongs. As Timothy Egan put it, “[Native Americans who were] powerless and invisible 50 years ago… [are now] winning back small but significant chunks of land.” The way they are doing this is by going back to the old broken treaties, challenging them in court and sometimes regaining land that was once theirs.
Not all people feel kindly towards these events. Some people say that they are, “victims of greedy property grabs by Indian[s],” and others feel that the natives are, “[on] a land conquest.'' These negative feeling are formed because of people’s fear of letting land go and to have it shift into different hands.
On the contrary something should be done, and the best thing that could be done is a compromise. This would consist of enabling Native Americans to regain an aspect of their culture while respecting property owners’ rights. This will be a difficult goal to accomplish, but it is possible to do. This is the beginning of a change for the good because the United States’ stole, built upon, and destroyed the land, so we should definitely give back to the Native tribes what we can. It is the least we could do and is finally a step in the right direction.
Not all people feel kindly towards these events. Some people say that they are, “victims of greedy property grabs by Indian[s],” and others feel that the natives are, “[on] a land conquest.'' These negative feeling are formed because of people’s fear of letting land go and to have it shift into different hands.
On the contrary something should be done, and the best thing that could be done is a compromise. This would consist of enabling Native Americans to regain an aspect of their culture while respecting property owners’ rights. This will be a difficult goal to accomplish, but it is possible to do. This is the beginning of a change for the good because the United States’ stole, built upon, and destroyed the land, so we should definitely give back to the Native tribes what we can. It is the least we could do and is finally a step in the right direction.