tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8825511530912388870.post242846571358896952..comments2023-12-05T23:27:05.687-05:00Comments on Wirelesshogan: Reflections from the Hogan: A Native response to Mitt Romney's promise to "never apologize for the United States of America"Mark Charleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04210437745178979457noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8825511530912388870.post-70415520995079508232012-12-24T03:45:48.824-05:002012-12-24T03:45:48.824-05:00Have you ever seen the wonderful living conditions...Have you ever seen the wonderful living conditions we provide to Indian reservations? Have you ever seen the way we steal the water from the Navajo Nation so american citizens can water have green grass lawns in the desert? You need to grow up and read a little, maybe go visit some real families on a reservation and see what hardships we are still forcing upon them. Free healthcare doesn't provide jobs, feed families, or provide shelter. Too many Natives have to move off the reservation and either break their family apart or take the family and lose their culture to survive. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04517826132873873432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8825511530912388870.post-7781440452912731312012-12-19T19:15:40.376-05:002012-12-19T19:15:40.376-05:00Todays American's have done nothing but help t...Todays American's have done nothing but help today's Indian people. I pay taxes that provide FREE healthcare to Indians, a thing that I<br />cannot partake because my skin is white.<br />Every race can look back in their past and find they were wronged by another race.<br />Its time to look forward.<br />So--grow up! Look ahead.<br />Dragging this out only raises bad feelings.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8825511530912388870.post-14797006789245083542012-12-19T15:34:50.479-05:002012-12-19T15:34:50.479-05:00The sense of entitlement which seems to pervade th...The sense of entitlement which seems to pervade this culture, and the aggressive means by which it is pursued and 'defended' / rationalized after the fact, is particularly hard to justify. And it is exacerbated when the 'business' model of existence - all things can be quantified in money and our leaders are presumed to act as CEOs of some large corporation. <br /><br />It is shameful to learn of the apology - long since due the native American - is hidden in such a way as you discovered and point out.<br /><br />Thank you for your efforts to make this public and for your thoughts on it's many inequities. It is my hope that we will outgrow this behavior, but then try to drive anywhere today at the legal speed limit. Legality, the lowest common denominator of behavior deemed acceptable to the society, in this country is considered a sign of aspiration. Higher standards of morality or ethics are all secondary apparently to whether an act is 'legal' or not.<br /><br />It is difficult to watch over time and I am, again, grateful for your careful observations and efforts.<br />May the country listen to your considered words.<br /><br /><br />MarkGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8825511530912388870.post-24095784128641261262012-12-19T13:35:16.457-05:002012-12-19T13:35:16.457-05:00There are no words, actions, or emotions that coul...There are no words, actions, or emotions that could ever express the complete horrors that has been done to the Indian people. Let alone all the rest we have worked so hard on destroying around the world. My 7 year old who is now in first grade came to me last year asking about parts of our history she was just learning about in school. I had to try to explain to a child who only saw a person as a person about slavery. 6 years old. Talk about an over whelming feeling of shame. To teach your daughter america was built on the complete destruction of people. And the worst part was that was not the end of our shame she would learn about in the coming years. I will never forget that look on her face. Breaks my heart that we still, after so many generations, have people in power that are more for the almighty dollar then doing right by the people. Lisaknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8825511530912388870.post-65386681590993862852012-12-19T10:48:13.555-05:002012-12-19T10:48:13.555-05:00It saddens me to learn what my government and othe...It saddens me to learn what my government and other groups did to your people. You have my apology.Ben Whitenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8825511530912388870.post-37861029476532085852012-12-12T23:04:29.048-05:002012-12-12T23:04:29.048-05:00Having the US Government's apology is one face...Having the US Government's apology is one facet of an apology. An apology if made honestly from the heart will entail these three things: acknowledges the mistake; will or offer to make reprimand(s) for the mistake; and, how it will not happen again in the future. This three-step process is how I teach my children to apologize. However, I am more interested in the Protestant and Catholic churches apologizing formally to the Natives of all Americas. An apology from these churches would lay the foundation for reconciliation with the Natives; wherein, it mends the spirit, which I believe is the most important part of the three states: physical, mental and spiritual (Hozho'). The government apology is the physical, the church apology is the spiritual and the two combined w/a successful reprimand and acknowledgment of our sovereignty and the right to be included and decide on the affairs of this country is the mental. If this happend, this would be a way to reconciliation. T M Garcianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8825511530912388870.post-29308750433064933952012-01-08T16:44:21.766-05:002012-01-08T16:44:21.766-05:00By the way, are you ever in Kansas? I'm in Top...By the way, are you ever in Kansas? I'm in Topeka these days, if you're ever out this way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8825511530912388870.post-71403770952749784242012-01-08T16:41:43.573-05:002012-01-08T16:41:43.573-05:00Mark - I read your post with great interest, and I...Mark - I read your post with great interest, and I think you are correct that it is arrogant and narrow for any statesman to claim that he need never apologize for his country. That said, I would quibble on a couple of points. First, I think Romney's words were a response to a current president who seems to think that groveling before foreign heads of state for "crimes" of America will somehow lead to greater peace and reconciliation in the world. But I think the evidence on the ground does not always bear this out, and sometimes offering apologies emboldens foreign nations bent on killing people. One has to understand the context in which one is speaking. Secondly, these political apologies are often rather obsequious, that is, they are for many "crimes" that have not been committed, and they attempt to pump others up by flattering them with historical inaccuracies. I take Obama's "apology" to Muslims to be in this vein, and I don't think it will serve the cause of relationship building well. Finally, I think your analogies of marriage and running a business are not quite apt. I will have to apologize many times to my wife because I will commit many new and fresh sins against her. If the U.S. commits ongoing crimes against Native American populations (a definitely likelihood), then the proper stance is repentance and change, not ongoing apologies. But when it comes to what the U.S. did to the Native Americans back in the 17th-20th centuries, how many times must a president apologize? Those crimes have been committed, and I dare say, apologized for (apparently Obama has apologized for them). I don't continue to repeatedly apologize to my wife for sins I committed against her last year. I don't see how it would be different for our president, current or future. So I see the value in apologizing, but I see greater value in repentance and in turning from sins that are currently being committed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8825511530912388870.post-68143151329703118142011-12-22T16:41:19.462-05:002011-12-22T16:41:19.462-05:00As a Canadian I applauded my government for its ap...As a Canadian I applauded my government for its apology to the First Nations for the abuses they put them through. I also agree with your article and hope you get to live to see the reconciliation you look for.Tom Bomhofnoreply@blogger.com