Native American Abuse
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Posted by Tyson Yunkaporta Jun 5, 2006 |
Personal correspondence, Nanette Croce.
"I read the one about child rape. In the US we don't get much international news that doesn't pertain to us directly, but our local Public Radio station broadcasts the BBC newshour each morning and I happened to hear that story. There are major similarities in the way the press here covers Indigenous issues--taking facts out of context and then juxtaposing them to change the meaning and sensationalize.
Stories like this particularly anger me, though. Despite the obvious misuse of the photo, they don't bother to go into the history, which, I imagine may be much like Native Americans. There are high rates of spousal and child abuse among Native Americans. (These statistics are published in the Native American as well as the mainstream press, so I imagine they are correct). What is not mentioned in the mainstream press is that these crimes were almost non-existent and never tolerated in pre-colonized Indigenous nations, while among Europeans of the time they were quite prevalent and rarely prosecuted. Women and children of white settlers were seen as chattel, while among Indigenous these two were highly respected. Not only did American Indians not abuse their children, they could never understand the stern manner in which white people treated their own children.
My rant could go on, but I'm preaching to the choir."
Read the articles she is referring to -