The Bureau of Indian Affairs
Even though Native Americans belong to a federally recognized tribe, which are sovereign nations, they are still U.S. citizens. When a crime is committed in America the citizens expect for victims to get justice. Native tribes have a different judicial system than the U.S.. Many Native Americans don’t know what justice is, they only know injustice. Louise Erdrich author of the best selling book “The Round House” demonstrates this in her most prominent theme justice vs. injustice. Whether it be for Native people or others justice will always need to be around for a somewhat peaceful world in which to live in.
Women have a bigger chance of being rape victims than men. A researcher of Native American rape victims, Julian Brave NoiseCat, has found proof that women of other ethnicities have a high risk of being raped, but not as much as
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Native women. “Native women are 3.5 times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted in their life than women of other races.” - NoiseCat. Before the year 2015 Native tribes were only allowed to prosecute members of a tribe. Native women who are rape victims would not report the crime because they knew that the case would not be solved or put anyone behind bars if their rapist is a non-native. This happened because tribes didn’t have jurisdiction on non tribal members and would rely on state or federal government to prosecute those who committed a crime on tribal land. Now tribes, with the help of The Bureau of Indian Affairs, will prosecute non-Native members. Which will result in more justice for the Native women as well as other Natives who are victims of crimes. Since most of the crimes are committed by non tribe members this will mean in a decline in the crimes on tribal land and justice for more people. Now people can celebrate that they will get more justice. Joe from “The Round House” was trying to get revenge on Linden Lark for raping his mother. “I knew, down to the core of me, that he had seen Mayla Wolfskin. He had seen her dead body. If we hadn’t killed Lark, he’d have gone to jail for life anyway.” (310). In Joe's eyes he thought killing Lark was justice but he wasn’t even close. He could have solved Mayla’s murder and brought down Lark in a court if he formally accused him. This would have given Mayla’s family and his justice for all the horrible actions Lark did. Cappy his friend ended up killing Lark because Joe after shooting him two times got cold feet and couldn’t finish what he started. What Joe thought was justice was injustice. Even Joe who wanted to kill Lark had doubts if it was right to commit murder. “Listen, Cappy, I said, hoarse, nearly whispering. I’m going to call this like it is. Murder, for justice maybe.” (279 - 280). That's why Joe got cold feet when he was about to pull the trigger on Lark. Joe attempted murder while Cappy took ‘justice’ in his hands and put the deadly bullet into Lark. Joe can’t live with himself knowing that he was responsible for taking another person's life, even if it was for the right reasons. Joe is the type of person who wants justice not revenge. He would have gotten justice if he turned in Lark and have him charged with Mayla’s murder and his mother Geraldine’s rape and attempted murder. Joe knew that if the case went to a judge Lark would have been in prison for the rest of his life. With Joe experiencing some remorse for the ‘justice’ he committed it may be possible that he may have developed PTSD.
“American-Indian and Alaskan Native children experience PTSD at the same rate at veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to a new report from a Department of Justice advisory committee, 22 percent of American-Indian and Alaskan Native juveniles have PTSD—three times higher than the national rate.” - Murphy. PTSD is a mental health condition that is triggered by a terrifying event, either experiencing it or witnessing it. Later on in life Joe became an alcoholic, had he turn Lark into the authorities he wouldn’t have to drown his sorrows in the alcohol in order blur Larks murder. As well as Cappy his best friend's death in which he couldn’t do anything to save him. These two events are significant enough that anyone experiencing this would develop PTSD. If he would have given justice to Mayla and stopped Cappy from driving he wouldn’t have to deal with any PTSD. He would be happy that he gave Lark to the police and that he gave his own mother as well as Mayla’s family
justice. Justice could help bring peace to many families. Whether it be for Native people or others justice will always need to be around for a somewhat peaceful world to live in. Justice is a must in any society. Without it there would world where injustice and inequality rule everyone, everywhere. Louise Erdrich wants people to recognize the injustice Native americans face throughout their life. Justice is the only thing tribal leaders want for non-Native crime offenders, now they have the ability and power to do so.
There is much literature about African American and Hispanic offenders and the punishment of males in the criminal justice system; however, there is not much literature on either Native Americans or women offenders in the criminal justice system. Luana Ross attempts to break this trend with her research in Inventing the Savage: The Social Construct of Native American Criminality. In her book, Ross first gives a comprehensive history and perspective on the perception of Native Americans by what she describes as “Euro-Americans.” In the second part of her book, Ross gives us a glimpse on the conditions and treatment of women prisoners (particularly Native American women) in a Montana women’s correctional facility (labeled the WCC by the author).
Lives for Native Americans on reservations have never quite been easy. There are many struggles that most outsiders are completely oblivious about. In her book The Roundhouse, Louise Erdrich brings those problems to light. She gives her readers a feel of what it is like to be Native American by illustrating the struggles through the life of Joe, a 13-year-old Native American boy living on a North Dakota reservation. This book explores an avenue of advocacy against social injustices. The most observable plight Joe suffers is figuring out how to deal with the injustice acted against his mother, which has caused strife within his entire family and within himself.
Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition, similar to an anxiety disorder, that is triggered by trauma and other extremely stressful circumstances. Throughout the book, Junger talks about PTSD in a wide range:from PTSD rates in natural disaster victims to PTSD rates in veterans. The latter is explained on a deeper perspective. While Junger gave many examples of why PTSD rates in America were so high, the most captivating was:
Throughout history the attacks on Native American sovereignty proved to be too much and eventually tribes had to submit. The problems Native American tribes faced when fighting for and dealing with sovereignty in the 18th century are identical to the problems they are facing today. These
While the restorative justice movement has risen in recent years, the idea of circle sentencing, or peacemaking circles has been practiced in indigenous cultures for quite some time. As we look at implementing traditional indigenous culture practices as alternative dispute resolutions, we need to realize the effectiveness and also whether we are ready to use them. The Yukon and other communities reintroduced circles in 1991 as a practice of the restorative justice movement (Bazemore, 1997, p.27). Around that same time, Minnesota made the breakthrough in borrowing the practices with each band of Native Americans having their own political communications. Because Minnesota has seven Anishinaabe tribes and four Dakota communities, it has been one of the first states to lead the way for this new program. A circle sentencing program has also been implemented in North Minneapolis for African-American juvenile problems (Ulrich, 1999, p. 425).
Most all ethnicities and cultures have been prosecuted at one time or another from an oppressing source. In the case of the Native Americans, it was the English coming in and taking their land right from underneath them. As the new colonies of the cohesive United States of America expanded, they ran into the territories of the then referred to Indians. These people were settled down south on the east coast, for example Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and the Carolinas. America obtained this land through the Louisiana Purchase, where they bought it from France. The Native Americans were already there before anyone, yet the big power countries bargained with their land. The Native Americans did not live the way the American democracy did, and they
It is the belief of first nations that the healing process and renewal of relationships are the essential ingredients for the building of healthy First Nations communities. First nations realize that the current justice process does not address the real issues at hand nor does it fit into their traditional forms of achieving justice. In fact, the current justice process systematically removes the offenders from their people and communities effectively severing all ties and ...
Erdrich’s intent of this novel, The Round House is to reveal the lack of justice for Native Americans even on their own tribal land. She does this by using the example of a thinly-veiled fictional reservation in North Dakota, representing the real Ojibwe reservation. The legal theme and its impacts on the lives of the men and women trapped within a Kafka-esque legal system results in a young boy acting as a vigilante to enact a tragic form of justice. Conflicts of jurisdiction and sovereignty have long made it difficult to prosecute non-Native men for the rape of Native American women. The novel operates as a mythic vessel for the beliefs and actions of a Native American, Ojibwe ethical system nearly stamped out of existence.
The Native Americans who occupied America before any white settlers ever reached the shores “covered the land as the waves of a wind-ruffled sea cover its shell paved floor” (1). These Native people were one with nature and the Great Spirit was all around them. They were accustom to their way of life and lived peacefully. All they wish was to live on their land and continue the traditions of their people. When the white settler came upon their land the values of the Native people were challenged, for the white settlers had nothing in common and believe that it was their duty to assimilate the Native Americans to the white way of life.
With such tarnished views of the justice system and those who work for it, policing alongside a Native American tribe can face additional problems and challenges. How Native American’s and Americans communicate
Today, Native American women continue to be victimized and remain vulnerable targets within, their communities, reservations, tribal law enforcement agencies, and federal law enforcement agencies. In order to restore peace and justice for Native women we first need to have critical and substantive discussion regarding all aspects of sexual assault on r...
Native-Americans make up one of the smallest portions of our population, but are still victims of mass incarceration and police brutality Many Native-American reservations have high unemployment rates. Poverty in these areas is also common. Reserved, sacred land for Native-Americans is also disappearing as more and more land is being taken away by United States government. The government also disobeys treaty rights by exploiting their land for natural resources to gain profit. Low graduation rates are common in Native school districts. Suicide is much more prevalent among Native-American youth when compared to the rest of the nation. They also generally receive poor healthcare. Violence and abuse of children and women is more common in Native-American communities as well.
The United States Department of Justice reports that women are more likely to be victims of nonfatal intimate partner violence. (Catalano, 2006) It is estimated that two million women a year are victims of physical abuse each year, and that number does not include any other form of intimate partner violence. (Connelly, et al. 2006) Intimate partner violence results in fatalities in thirty percent of all female homicides. (Catalano, 2006) For males, the percentage goes down to five percent. Men and woman ages twenty to thirty-four are at the highest risk for intimate partner violence. Again, both men and women who are married but separated are at higher risk for intimate partner violence. Black and white females are more likely to be victims of nonfatal intimate partner violence. However, white females are more likely to be victims of fatal intimate partner violence. Individuals with a lower income and socioeconomic status are at a greater risk, but females are at a greater risk regardless of income.
Rape can happen to anyone. Women from different cultures, races, ages, and economic level are all vulnerable. It does not matter who you are or where you live, although women of lowest status are most vulnerable to rape, and so are Hispanic and African American women. (An...
Women are more likely to be victims of rape or sexual violence than men. Seventy-eight percent of victims of women and twenty-two percent are men. Women who are raped before the age of eighteen are twice as likely to be raped again as adults. Victims are at greater risk of rape or sexual assault while intoxicated. ("Sexual Violence: Fact Sh...