The PlowBoy Interview Rolling Thunder

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

On the other hand, though, many white people today want to befriend and understand native Americans and even learn from us . . . and we're glad to see that. But the governmentthrough those BIA puppet tribal councils I mentioned—is still going in the opposite direction. Even today, it continues the cheating, the illegal seizure of Indian lands, and the taking away of our civil rights.

PLOWBOY: Do you feel that there's some hope for a reconciliation between white people and traditional Indians? I'm thinking specifically of the ancient Hopi prophecy which says that the sons and daughters of the original oppressors of native Americans will one day begin to take an interest in native culture . . . and from that first receptive generation will come true non-Indian friends. Hasn't this begun to take place in recent years?

ROLLING THUNDER: Well, before we go into that question, I'd like to clear up one common misconception . . . that the Indians blame all their suffering on white people. Long before Europeans ever appeared on this continent, you see, we were told by our wise men not to accept the newcomers' ways. However, a lot of native Americans did adopt the lifestyles of the "invaders" . . . and that's why we're being punished today. It's been mighty rough for our people, but we don't blame the whites for everything that's happened. We certainly can't exonerate white people for all the things they've done to us, but we won't be able to improve the situation until a lot of our people get rid of the hate they have in their hearts. We've got to realize that such an attitude doesn't solve anything . . . and that we must trust in the Great Spirit to deal with our enemies for us.

Indian wise men tell us that it's up to the good white people to correct what the bad ones are—and have been—doing. You see, we look upon the situation as not an Indian problem, but as the white people's problem. There are things that are being done by your government that we feel most citizens don't even know about. It will be up to your people to find out what's going on . . . and then do what they must do, in their own way.

What is needed now is for the U.S. government to make some restitution for the wrongs and the crimes that have been committed, for the 390 treaties that have been broken. There's got to be some way to force it to admit to those broken promises . . . and make it either live up to its part of the original treaties, or negotiate new agreements. We've tried to do that . . . in letters, in protests of treaty violations, and in court cases across the country. The only real solution—I think—is honesty . . . for the government to be honest with the Indians and begin to observe the treaties as originally agreed upon, since those documents are still valid. I think that we might be able to reach such a goal with the help of this new generation of young men and women who care about the lot of the native Americans. I really hope that we can bring together our two peoples . . . and that's our goal here at Meta Tantay, where an almost equal mixture of Indians and non-Indians are living together. The name of our desert camp, by the way, means "to go in peace", and that's what we're trying to do.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print