In class today, we watched 100 Years and it was heartbreaking. The US Government doesn’t treat Native Americans with respect to this day. But, it was inspiring to learn about a hero like Eloise Cobell who is not usually acknowledged. If I wasn’t in this class, I probably would have never heard of her but the impact that she had on the government was huge. The strength that she had to fight for the rights of her people is moving. She sued the US Government because Indian beneficiary checks were not being distributed throughout certain communities. The elders of these communities were dying at an alarming rate due to the fact that they were not receiving their trust money. She eventually won the case after 14 years of fighting but, Eloise unfortunately passed away before the checks from her bill were allocated.
It is so frustrating that although the Navajo reservation is along one of the biggest oil pipelines in the world, they remain one of the poorest group of people. Also, I learned that for every $1 that a non-native makes, an Indian makes 5 cents. This is awful. The oil is essentially stolen from their homeland and they get no compensation.