Cobell vs. Salazar - Custer's Last Stand by Rhyana Fisher
Prelude
Fallout
Apollo 100 was a favorite of Dad's,
back in the day we'd play the LP fairly often.
I was listening to their rendition of Gerry Owen
(real track name Custer's Last Stand)
long before I knew what buffalo were
or who that idiot Custer was for that matter.
Even I know not to underestimate someone
you've backed against a wall and left no where else to turn.
His easy assumption it would be a cakewalk
just because it usually was remains irksome.
It's a little amusing to consider the possibilities -
I could've had relatives on both sides.
Irish immigrant influence was how Gerry Owen became the 7th's theme.
But nobody has traced grandma's side of the fam,
assuming it's even possible now.
Only god knows where her relatives came from or went.
It's possible, albeit unlikely.
Trace anybody far enough back,
you'll eventually hit common ancestors.
Which is what makes the whole blood quantum
tribal division all the harder for me to understand.
Not so much why it exists (thank you federal gov),
but why tribal elders bought into it.
Well, no, scratch that -
statistically, abused children have a 50/50 chance of learning better,
that probably has tribe wide implications
when every member is descended from several generations who've been victimized.
Thus while half the tribe is busy minding their own business,
having learned the only person you have any control over is yourself,
the other is trying to tit for tat screw the rest over
in a futile attempt to control the uncontrollable.
It's just another power trip with money the beating stick.
Why is it the wrong lessons are usually the ones picked up fastest?
My mother didn't need Indian blood
to learn those kind of games all too well
and I'm sick of playing.
Money's given too much credit,
the winners believe it entitles them
to have their whims catered to
in the mistaken belief they own the rest of the population.
I was too stiff to bow gracefully then,
growing older hasn't improved my flexibility.
The irony of being named in Cobell vs. Salazar
still makes me twitch, given my admittedly rotten attitude
about money - namely not giving a damn even when I really ought to.
But poverty isn't that bad when you don't have kids to watch starve.
It definitely encourages creativity when you can't just buy an easy fix.
The greedy attitudes fostered when certain people get a little ahead
then assume everyone else is out to take it away
embedded a marrow deep loathing of the dollar I've never shaken.
That's usually not true in the smaller scheme of things,
only the gov has power enough to do real damage.
Everything else is just a drunkards' brawl over pocket change.
'We stole everything you would've/could've/should've been
but we'll give you $1k in return for mishandling the tiny fraction
of nothing we decided to finally give back'...
how the hell does that work?
People think it's about restitution.
Yeah, right.
I know how abusers think.
'I'll buy you a pretty white dress*
instead of properly apologizing
and changing my entitled mindset
so it doesn't happen again
and you'll take it even tho you hate white
because if you call me out on the b.s.
and don't act grateful
I'll just hit you some more.'
There's reason the gov settled out of court.
There's reason that settlement was accepted.
It wasn't because it was restitution enough,
but throw a few scraps to starving dogs
and the scramble keeps them busy long enough
to pull out the shotgun.
They look good to outsiders, they feel "generous",
their reputation for being "fair" gets a face lift,
they think they've "done" something about the problem
and nobody stops to look at the chaos their "restitution" actually causes
in a people already divided and conquered,
with artificially inseminated chasms splitting through the family unit
all the way up to the top tiers of their society.
It's Custer's Last Stand all over again in microcosm,
one small triumph in the face
of ongoing loss of genetic diversity and culture.
Another couple generations
and the tribes will all but not exist.
Cobell vs Salazar is a memorable victory to celebrate
but it makes no difference to the war.
The internally enforced blood quantum restrictions
already struck the killing blow, the body just hasn't stopped twitching yet.
Random, irrational, arbitrary rules governing settlements
just further undermine family units.
I had six sibs, only two of us made it into the first settlement,
the others weren't born "soon enough".
Sorry, but real restitution shouldn't have a time limit.
Still not even sure why the two of us made it,
at 1/16ths, we aren't eligible for any other tribal benefits.
Last I heard, you have to be 1/4,
god forbid any of your Indian ancestors weren't from that specific tribe,
no matter if they were members of an allied neighbor.
But intelligent forethought shouldn't be expected when inbred stupid
is actively encouraged just to keep gambling money flowing.
The squabbling and bickering over Cobell vs. Salazar has already started.
Dad thinks his sister was hiding information intentionally,
exacerbating the already bad blood between them
thanks to their parents playing favorites.
Never mind her two sons were named
in the "Help Us Locate" section same as me,
(and nobody could figure out
why my brother's check showed up at my parents' to start with
while they didn't have my pertinent data).
Ma doesn't trust anyone anyway, she just fans his flames.
They make my head hurt.
Nobody knows why Dad doesn't have an IIM#,
evidently I and my brother do
and he should've been part of the same settlement,
as should his sibs.
Incorrectly filed paperwork is the official answer
but how did my parents get part of the first settlement
to begin with if that's the case?
He's digging but it's making me twitchy as well.
Given the disenrollment witch hunt our tribal elders are currently engaged in,
it wouldn't surprise me if they tried to deny our claim to it
or "lost" certain records as has happened in the past.
They shouldn't be able to,
but there's bad blood between the band we're related through
and the main body in power.
Many records we did have were lost in the house fire
that took our family limb's ceremonial head dress with it.
I've never met that great aunt, but rumor has it she still feels awful.
It'd be nice to hug her and tell her it's okay,
but even if I knew her, she knows exactly how much it's not.
I wish grandpa were still alive so I could ask him.
Wonder how much prejudice and discrimination he faced
from his own people for not being a full blood.
He never talked about it,
but he left for a reason. Or many.
He probably had even more cause to be sick of the petty bickering.
Even my twitchiness twitches,
just listening to the stories that filter through
raises my blood pressure.
I don't know that I want to know that side of the fam
if it's just going to be even more people cutting each other down.
Who wants to be part of a group that just wants to get rid of you
because of choices you had no part in making?
Grandpa probably had the right idea.
But even knowing better,
part of me tries for optimism.
It can't be that bad, right?
They're family.
And then I look at Ma's family.
Yep, I do know better.
Family is exactly the reason tribes don't work.
It's fine for a few small groups but once it gets crowded
people start looking to their own immediate family's interests
at the expense of everyone else's.
We all know power corrupts
but everybody thinks they can be the exception.
If I can't deal with the family I do have,
why the hell am I looking for more trouble?
All the while Custer's Last Stand
plays on repeat in the back of my mind,
theme song to my ongoing dilemma.
Get involved? stay away...
Update: Fourth in series
10/03/2014 Author's Note: *True story. The additional irony of the topic meshing so well with the dress color has not been lost on me.
Posted on 10/03/2014 Copyright © 2024 Rhyana Fisher
Member Comments on this Poem |
Posted by A. Paige White on 10/03/14 at 01:41 PM My pick for POTD. Wow. I love it as is. If you do modify I hope you keep the original too. I have some Cherokee heritage myself. No idea what percentage but enough that I do indeed have to do spiritual warfare (once I had determined what in fact I do believe) and my "ancestors" do visit me. Life is strange indeed! |
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