Indigenous People Sociology

In the Americas, the indigenous populations are facing oppressions in every aspect of
their lives and with no political voice. The mainstream view is that the indigenous people are in poverty because of their shortcomings. However, there are very few publications focused exclusively on the challenges that the indigenous people are facing. There are barely any found in the academic journals reviewed. They nearly ignored the existence of indigenous people and failed to deal with the issues they are facing in the society (Archambault, 2003: 17). Over time, they are being stereotyped as incompetents who are abusing our welfare system. Poverty and suffering are not the result of individuals, but rather the result of structural, social issues that

contribute to the poverty, such as structural violence, cultural imperialism, environmental racism, and marginalization.
Structural violence refers to the political repression that results from institutions of power. The society segregates the poor from the mainstream culture, so that poverty does not interfere those with power (Farmer, 1996: 48­50). The inadequate access to medical care, the hunger, and numerous deaths of the indigenous people are all consequences of structural violence. It could be prevented if the wealthy class resolve the social inequalities rather than emphasizing the “cultural differences” (Farmer, 1996: 48). We can see an example of structural violence in the case of Guatemala. The main targets of violence were the indigenous population.
Zhang 1
The conflict was perpetrated by the governors, leaders, and army soldiers.

The Guatemalan state has used the “extrajudicial” violence to maintain political control over the civilians (Ball, 1999: 3). In fact, the level of state terror was the worst in 1982, when the Guatemalan army killed tens of thousands of civilians and destroyed hundreds of Indian communities. More time 34,363 killings and disappearances in Guatemala resulted from the extrajudicial killing (Ball, 1999: 11). Some of the tactics used were beheaded, burned alive, raped, smashed babies against the rock, and kidnapped (Ball, 1999: 41). Groups were formed by indigenous people and Ladino peasants, who together make up the poor to fight against the government of Guatemala. They wanted to eliminate the political repression and reclaim their lands. The government along with the private corporations attempted to take over their lands, but the indigenous people were trying to use the court to defend the unfairness, but to no avail (Ball, 1999: 91). One of the causes of the Civil War was the greed of the private corporations. They controlled a massive of the Guatemalan economy and nearly most of the land. They refused to redistribute the unused land to the poor people. The United States used its power to support the privatization held by the wealthy class. Another cause was the racism that the indigenous received. The indigenous people were enslaved by the wealthy Ladinos. There were treated with inequality and received poor treatment, and they were forced to give up their own land. This case study tells us that the ones with most power are getting most of the privilege. Whites have absolutely more rights than people of color. This also emphasizes ‘no power no say’ under the structural

violence.
Cultural imperialism is the practice of imposing of one dominant culture and language over perceived inferior culture. One of the examples of cultural imperialism was the extinction of the American Indians culture and new language imposed by the “European” settlers. The white
Zhang 2
European settlers attempted to eliminate all non­English languages within the Indian tribes. American Indians were driven out of their homeland and the White Americans took the advantage of their natural resources. Little kids were forced to leave their parents and attended Indian Boarding Schools. Its purposes were to destroy the Indian language and culture, to train Indians to serve and live under White World, but at the same time they are keeping Indians separate from Whites (Archambault, 2003: 7). Indian men were faced with another form of servitude which is the military draft. Indian men were expected to fight for the United States even though they were not citizens of the United States until 1924 (Archambault, 2003: 8). Racial discrimination is a major cause of victimization among American Indians. Began with the Spanish and Columbus’s voyage to the Americas, Native Americans were enslaved by the Whites and were forced to forgo their culture and traditions. Under the oppression, their reservations were no longer survivable for them because the private corporations came and polluted their homeland. Later they moved into urban life; however, Indian people who had grown up on reservations were not prepared for city life (Archambault, 2003: 10). Their existence was a threat to the Whites because they think they are incompetent and discriminates against their culture.
Environmental racism is when introducing the hazardous materials, such as toxic waste, pollution and urban decay into the poor or minority communities. It is a form of institutionalized discrimination which is an action executed by members of dominant groups that have negative impacts on impoverished group. Native Americans face a number of environmental hazards and health issues that have been imposed upon Native lands from the outside of their neighborhoods. Native Americans are exposed to toxic chemicals caused by the large corporations and
Zhang 3
government. Many Native American reservations are located near the hazardous materials caused from closed U.S. military bombing scopes on the reservation. Historically, Native Americans were granted land rights through treaties. Over time it was discovered that the lands given to Native American contained important minerals, thus the conflicts took place and the private corporations attempt to access to those lands. Numerous wells and land on the reservation are contaminated with poisons from mining, dumps, and commercial and governmental mining operations (Homeland documentary). It became impossible for the Native Americans live a healthy environment. Mostly of the reservations are forgotten by the mainstream culture of the dominant U.S. society, the average United States resident knows so little about these people other than what stereotyped versions they see in the medias.
According to Iris Young, marginalization refers to the exclusion of individuals from participation in social services and labor markets (Young: 53). People have a lack of access to the mainstream services and infrastructure. The marginalized people are most likely live geographically secluded, inaccessible to healthcare, and with low education level. The Native Americans have certainly become the most marginalized as apparent by their seclusion (Young 53­54). For instance, in the Pine Ridge Reservation, the U.S. was originally agree to the sovereignty of the Lakota nation. However, the U.S. broke the treaties and was to abandon the U.S. settlers out of the Lakota territories. The U.S. took the land resources after they discovered the gold in that area, establishing railroads through their homeland. In the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, due to the intrusion of the Whites, the Lakota people are suffering even worse. About 97% of the population live below federal poverty levels, the unemployment rate is about 85%­90%, 39% of the homes have no electricity, the tuberculosis rate is 8 times higher than US
Zhang 4
national average, infant mortality is three times higher than the US national rate, school dropout rate is up to 70%, teacher turnover is 8% higher than the US national average. Grandparents are raising their grandchildren, because parents have died from the effect of alcoholism, domestic violence, etc., the life expectancy for men is about 46 and 48 years old, roughly the same as Afghanistan, 50% of the population over the age of 40 suffer from diabetes (America's Native Prisoners of War, Ted Talk). Many reservation residents live without health care due to long travel distances to approach to that care and insufficiency of funding for Indian health care. In the treaties between the U.S. Government and Indian Nations, the U.S. government agreed to provide sufficient medical care for Indians in return for a large quantity of land. Unfortunately, the medical care provided by U.S. cannot possibly meet the needs of Indian communities.
White supremacy is the belief that people with whiter skin are superior in this nation, which has the effect of disdaining other races/ethnics. The mainstream ideology is that Native Americans were incompetent, and it is the White people’s responsibility to take over their resources for a better outcome; however, it makes these facts invisible. All the media seems to focus on the negative aspect of indigenous people and disregard the external factors contributing to these issues such as the structural violence, cultural imperialism, environmental racism, and marginalization. The affluent classes are attempting to keep indigenous people locked into an impoverished political and economic position.