Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

Reservation Psychology. A Rebuttal to Faith Spotted Eagle's "Reservation trauma creates rage and oppression" in Indian Country Today.

I find it ironic that Faith Spotted Eagle would preface her experiences of "oppression, conflict, and peacemaking" in her workday world as a consultant outside of the confines of reservation life as though a career in modern America should be a "walk in the park." But to compare troubles faced as an urban entrepreneur in Spokane Washington, or for that matter "Any-city, USA" with the reservation experience reaches beyond comparing dissimilar "apples" to "oranges" and brings the discussion into the realm of the absurd.

The patronizing "psychobabble" Spotted Eagle employs to compartmentalize "Reservation trauma" into a clinical model replete with sub-categorizations of "oppressor" insultingly attempts to put a dominant society label on the culture she claims endearment to. The notion of the traditional Oyate reading such a psychological array of cause and effect behavior while gleaning useful information to help cope with the dualities of living on "occupied" lands within the "land of the free" stretches sensibility to a level beyond belief.

Spotted Eagle's "Guest Commentary" in Indian Country Today mentions nothing of the opinion among many Oyate that she is neither a spokesperson for the traditionals nor a friend of her Nation. At the very least, the "language of anger" she experiences within the Indian community is a direct result of the image she maintains as an self- serving interloper tied to corporate and institutional enterprises within the capitalist system of our occupiers. She has clearly learned the assimilated philosophies of the captor and unashamedly employs "Corporate American" means to fulfill her business and personal objectives. When the Oyate stand against this empirical reality, Faith Spotted Eagle conveniently constructs a clinical pathology that labels the indigenous with "issues" based on a bigoted definition of societal "normalcy." For all of her educational and professional background in the area of psychology, even the simplest person must ask has she looked first at herself?

In this same article through which she distances herself from the Oyate through her condescending manner, she superficially attempts to include herself within the group she has lambasted. Curious, indeed. Her writing is scattered with prepositional "we's," "us's, and "ours." Yet what has Faith Spotted Eagle in common with the Oyate? She returns to the reservation to make money through grants and funded programs. She claims that "we," as Indian people must "reprogram" ourselves from the "oppressive" ways. I apologize; I associate this concept of "reprogramming" too closely to the word "assimilation."

The anger I carry regarding our captors serves a very useful end. It motivates me to preserve and recover our traditional ways that have fallen under the rule of the occupier of our land. To suggest that indigenous people suffer from severe trauma ignores the deep-seated desire to keep our ways alive and teach our future generations. To label the Oyate with psychological "issues" disrespects our elders who have given their lives to preserve our heritage over the past 500 years of occupation.

If we embrace and accept for fact the blanket philosophy Faith Spotted Eagle espoused in her latest guest installment in Indian Country Today, we grow closer to assimilation. We begin to say good- bye to Wounded Knee, the Trail of Tears, and Sand Creek. We give up our legal and contractual right to sovereignty within these United States. I, for one, am not willing to travel this route. And if we, as a distinct, diverse, and brave People, ignore our past and bury our dissatisfaction, we place all of our Nations in grave danger of becoming the "good little natives" our captors desire us to be.

Paul Joseph Monk, Advocate, Dakota/Lakota/Nakota Human Rights Advocacy Coalition Advisor, American Indian Education Center, Cleveland, Ohio