On Tue, 1 Apr 2008 08:39:08 -0500, "Mark K. Bilbo" <gmail@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
>On Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:16:38 -0700 in
>vaq4v3pievhent68i8pfv6h24m38p1pfim@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
John Schilling
><schillin@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>>> Hey, I just found out that I'm 1/16 Native American on my bio dad's
>>>> side.
>>>> George's first comment was "Can you get a check from the government?"
>>>> D'oh! :)
>>>Why do people think there are "checks from the government"?
>>>Reservations are among the most impoverished places on the planet, not
>>>just the US but EARTH, yet people think there are "checks". Where the
>>>hell does that idea come from?
>> Probably from all the checks the government actually does send out to
>> Indians, in some cases for no other reason than that they are members
of
>> a particular Indian tribe. For example, if there are grazing, timber,
>> or mineral leases on tribal land, those are generally administered by
>> the Federal Government, and each member of the tribe gets a monthly
>> check from the Department of the Interior for his or her share of the
>> revenues.
>After theft expenses of course.
And various other sorts of expenses, too. A check for a reduced sum of
money, is still a check.
>> If it baffles you that A: some Indians recieve government checks and B:
>> some Indian reservations are impoverished, you might want to ponder the
>> actual meaning of "some", and the difference between "check" and "check
>> for enough money to lift someone out of poverty forever no matter
what".
>No, it's the quite common misconception that "Indian" equals "check".
>That simply is not true.
The question was, re s newly-identified Indian, "can you get a check from
the government". Not, "where's your check...?", not, "how big is your
check...?, nor "when do you get your check...?". The question was almost
certainly made in jest, but taking it at face value the conception is
clearly that some but not all Indians get checks from the government.
And that *is* true.
>Further, the tribes that have trusts are not getting a check "from the
>government" per se. It's a trust administered by the BIA.
A check from a government agency administering a trust, is still a check
from the government.
>> And if you think that any Indian reservation is really among the most
>> impoverished places on EARTH, I'm guessing you really haven't spent
much
>> time outside the US.
>Well, maybe it's just the shock of seeing third world conditions smack in
>the middle of the world's richest nation. But I did say "among", not
>"the".
The poorest Indian reservation in the United States would appear to be
the Crow Creek Reservation, in South Dakota. The roughly contiguous
Buffalo County, SD, records a per capita income of roughly $5200/yr.
According to the United Nations, none of the worlds 49 "Least Developed
Countries" has a per-capita income of more than $900/yr. Per the CIA,
using PPP-adjusted GDP figures, 92 of the world's 194 nations are more
impoverished than the poorest American Indian reservation. World Bank
figures would put that at 118 out of 184.
So apparently "among the most impoverished" now means "sort of in the
middle". Or, possibly, some observers are so shocked by the poverty as
to become incapable of basic arithmetic.
>Then again, I could say the reverse. I find it exceedingly rare to
>encounter a non-Indian USer who actually knows anything about
>reservations other than urban legend crap like "checks" they pass around
>amongst themselves.
If the only thing one knows is "urban legend crap" that happens to be
actually true, one is doing better than some people I could name.
--
*John Schilling * "Anything worth doing, *
*Member:AIAA,NRA,ACLU,SAS,LP * is worth doing for money" *
*Chief Scientist & General Partner * -13th Rule of Acquisition *
*White Elephant Research, LLC * "There is no substitute *
*schillin@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
* for success" *
*661-718-0955 or 661-275-6795 * -58th Rule of Acquisition *
|
