Lootifer wrote: .
The most morally/ethically correct solution, from my point of view, is to work with the Native American culture and treat them as they want to be treated (as according to their culture). Now obviously this is easier said than done as the leaders are not always accurate representatives of either the culture or the wider population so you need to invest a lot of time, money and effort if you want to get a morally superior outcome - naturally this is usually politically untenable, especially compared to the ease of simple forced integration...
I fully agree, but therein lies the crux of just one problem. See, Native Americans are hardly unified on what constitutes the best moves.
Some have endorsed casinos, as an example. In many cases that has wound up a very bitter pill, bringing wealth to a few and making a travesty of any real cultural movements. Many want nothing more than to just "have what everyone else has", but more and more on many reservations see merely "becoming white" as more than just destroying their culture and turning their backs on their elders, but as giving up something extremely valuable that our current society needs. Although only a few truly want to go back and "live like the elders", a good many want to regain at least some of the major values, which are not necessarily at all the same as so-called "western" values.
On the other side, a lot of non Native American people who want to "be Indian" [fill in whatever tribe or just say Native American], falsely ideoloze and romanticize the lifestyle and values. NO culture stays the same, ever.
When you talk about the Native Americans (or natives of other areas, I am sure), you refer to a number of very diverse and not at all compatible ideas, values and beliefs. Many cultures are, of course already just gone.. with no members left, and perhaps not even real archeological evidence.
In other words, the problem is not even just what the political powers that be might want, its also even defining what each tribe, what each section of tribe, might want. And while I am a believer in the idea that all cultures bring some good, I am not sure even that all Native American cultures really should be equally endorsed. Its a complex mix. On the one hand, everyone has the right to their culture, but do we really want and need (just as an example) some of the more antagonistic values perpetuated more? I don't feel fit to judge, think that is something each society must judge. Yet, ignoring that is part of what I mean by folks who romanticize the Native American lifestyles.
And, then we have issues of resource allocation. In many cases, it is less culture and more about resources that cause the conflict.