IRA based governance hides a dark truth
The whole idea was to strip tribes of their sovereign identityBy James Giago Davies
Native Sun News Today Editor
nativesunnews.today Let’s go back to the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934. Dark, disturbing truths can hide within the seemingly beneficial intent of such an act. The IRA was made possible by a Congressional act from a decade prior, the Indian Citizenship Act (ICA). The tribes did not understand at the time that these acts were the foundations of de facto stripping of their sovereign status, as an independent nation, and especially in legal wrangling against the federal government. In order to vote Indians had to be made citizens. While there were certainly disadvantages to not being citizens, with 20/20 hindsight we can see that this is a foundational step necessary in eliminating sovereign identity. Who, that Indian guy? Heck, he’s just another American like me.
Read the rest of the story on the Native Sun News Today website: IRA based governance hides a dark truth James Giago Davies is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota tribe. He can be reached at skindiesel@msn.com Copyright permission Native Sun News Today
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