...the United States government used the treaty as an ultimate weapon to destroy the tribal political insititutions... Used to dealing with kings, queens, and royalty, the early white men insisted on meeting the supreme polical head of each tribe. When they found none, they created one and called the man they had chosen the CHIEF. ... The most pliable man who could be easily bribed was named chief and the treaty was signed. Most trbies had never defined POWER in authritairan terms. A man consistently successful at war or hunting was likely to attract a following in direct proportion to his continuing success... Anyone was free to follow or not, depending on his own best judgement. In an absolutely democratic social structure like the Indian tribe, formal legal negotiations and contractural arrangments were nearly out of the question. Once a mans word was given it bound him because of his integrity, not because of what he had written on a sheet of paper. --Vine Deloria Jr.[former executive director of the National Congress of American Indians]-- 1969
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 02:08:03 +0000
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