Basic HTML Version
-==------------------===----~----=====--=----~intnAh
INDIANCHIEF
PONDERS
WHITEMAN'S
ECOLOGY
by
Roben Ginskey
'
In
ISSS, Chief Sullh of Washíngton
State•s Ouwamish
lndiant
wrote a leucr to
the Pre$ideot of tbe United States, Franklin
Piercc,
in
whic:b he exprts$ed
bis
eoncem
over lbe white man•s coocept of ecology.
RUS$011
Peteooo, Chairman of lhe Council
on Environment.al
Quality,
rec:eolly
read
that letter at lhc Americán Assoc::iation for
the Advaoccment
Of
ScieDCe meeting
lA
NewYorlt
City.
Petenon o*.ved lhat from
our
modero
penpeetive
120
yean later, the
chiers poetic missive would appear
10
l>e an
ínci.síve, íf not disturbing, propbecy. Work·
ing with oothing but intuition and love 10
guide
b.im
in thc intc:rprctacion or bis ran–
dom
data,
Cbief Seallh wrote an eoviron·
mental i.mpact Jlatement whicb embodted
lhe
basic
eeolo¡lcal io.stsJlttbat allthinp
are
onnoocted - whatever l>efalls lhe
eartb
l>e·
falls
manas
well:
A WELFARE CASEWORKER visit• tht
cromp~
two-room (Md two·
7'.1
apattmont of tht typical fathorlo., f8mily on AFOC.
.......
"We toow thal the white man does not
understand ou.r ways. One ponioo of tbe
land
is
the same 10 him as lhe ncxt, for he is
a suanger wbo eomes in lhe night and tllkes
from the land whatevu he needs. The eanb
is
oot his brothe:r. but bis ene.my. aod wben
he has ronquered it. be movcs
on.
He leaves
bis father's graves, and bis childn:n's b•nh·
ri&)lt is for¡ouen. The s o&Jlt of
your
cities
pains tbe eyes of the red man. But perbaps
h
ts
beeause tbe red man is a savage and docs
OUR DEGRADING DOLE
Putting
Down
the
Poor
by
Carole Riner
"What mean ye that
¡e
/>:(a¡ my
people IQ
plec~s,
tmd grlnd
tlt•
fa«s ofthe p()()r? stJftlr
·
theLordGodofhoJtl."
- l..Uolt J:JS
What
is
it like to be
poor? Can
aoybody
brougbt up in the cushy-eomfon of ow af·
ftoent nUddJe clus ever understand wbat it"s
tike 10
be
on thc receivin,g end orthe dole?
1
got
a
good taste or it the otber day.
M
y
friend had l>eeo through sorne bad luclc this
past year. Hcr husband had some mental
hangups he oouJdn't rcsolve. and•.instcad or
seeking treatment. he descreed hcr and thei.r
rwo
kids. Wilh a third c:bild on the way. she
onuldn't immediatcly so to work. Hcr folks
lived
4,000
miles away. Sioee
sbe
eouldn't
wort:
or
.movc:,
wd(are
was her only altema·
tive.
·
Sbe moved into a one·bedroom, insect·
infested dump with chipping paint and
fauhy plumbíng and did hcr grocery shop–
ping
wo~h
food stamps. She ·was "eopiog" -
JU.St kecping be.r nose above. water - wben
one
week
her check was late.
At lhe time,
sbe
wu recuperating from lhe
ftu,
so she ukcd me 10
dri\'C
bcr to lhe
wdfare office to find out what bad gonc
wrong.
Tbis
was m
y
introduction
lo
the de·
humani%ing. degrading wringer local bu·
reaucraey puts poor people through.
lt
was
an unl>elievable hassle.
We signed in wítb
a
syrupy-voi~d
reeep–
tionist
wbo spoke lO us
Hke
wc
wc.re a
coupte.
ofslow kinderpnenen. She told us to Late
a
seat
a..nd
ifwe didn•t bear ou.r namc allcd
in
half an bour to let her koow. So my sick
pregnant fricnd and
1
sat in
a
aowded,
smoke-filled room ror our alloued time. then
wcnt
back
to
be&
ror an audicnce with her
ca.seworkcr.
Shc
couldn'l
be
found, so we
were g.iven a substitutc. 1'11 call him Mr.
"'Washington," a courteous but harried black
gentleman.
He fouod that my friend's old c:aseworkcr
lt2d
been
lermintted 1wo molillu
atO· tnd
her file was buned on thc caseworker's dtilc
with a staclc of 200 othen. Due to a budget
slaslt. the depanment personncl had been
decimated. but nobody could
be
rehircd co
takc their place.
6
Mr.
~Wasl¡ingtoq ~~plaii\~~~JJ¡a¡,
if
.JliY,.
rriCnd's cbtck bad becn tos1 in the mail. she
would bavc to drive into
U>s
Angeles (sbe
didn't own a
ear),
be fingerprinted and
SÍf>
an aftidavit swc&nOJ shc
hadn~t
received
•t.
a.nd tben sbe could
ha
ve
her n.a:me fed
an\0
the eomputer to bave anolher
checlc
malled
to bcr. But
in
tbe meantime, nothing could
be
done. Tbere was.o't any provisioo to lo3n
her money temporarily to buy food stamps
or pay rcnt.
Mr. Washington
also
let
us
koow that my
friend's ronner cucworker had buUied her
out oft.he
S
lO per montb prcgnaney l>enefiu
she
was
enútled
10.
She bad told my friend
that sbe sbouldn't
1111
out lhe nec:essuy
fonns
beeause
it wu
~lOO
mueh work." and
the caseworker jusc•didn't havc: tbe time lo
fool wilh proees.sing
h.
In order
10
hove these l>elatcd pregnaney
t>eoe61> restored. he told my friend she'd
have
10
go into
town
and
appear bcrore
a
rcvicw board - and even lhen shc coukto't
&"
tbe elgbt months of retroactivo l>eoefil>
beeause sbc bodn't brou&Jlt in tbe nec:essuy
proofofpregnaocy from her Medical Oroup
(sbe
was
eight months along - aoy olher
diagnosis wouJd have been ridkulous).
Wben
1
asked him íf this son of thing
went o'n very oOen. he told me a long. ssd
story. His bands were tíed by labyrinthine
local regulations and paperwork.
Even if be wanted
10
buclt
the
system and
hclp
us.
be eouldn't beeause be'd get himself
ín trouble and probably lose
bis
job.
He
also
rnentioned anothcr case be'd been
involved witb. TWo ehUdren wbose parenu
had been killed in an auto acciden1 wcre
Uving with their grandparents. Tbe Jcids werc
eligjble for food $lamps to help supplemcnt
the grandparenu' Social Seeurity benenu.
But thcir
parenu
had set asidc a
uust
f\and in
the
bank
for their education. wbich eouldn't
l>e tooched legally unul lhcy werc age
18
Neveriheless.lheir eueworker
aod
lus
supe–
rior refused to allow tbem to buy tbe stamps
unlil thcy bad exhausted the entire trust
f'und! He said cases like this arcn•t unoom·
mon - caseworkers many tjmes don•• makc
much more moncy than the people they
, IC[)'~.
and
j~~loYlY..tO.ms;lim~-
-Do.Lunderstand.-
---
"'·"-""'ti.~'
way they treat théir clienu..
'"There
is
no
quiet
place
in
the wbile
1
fouod out later that tbere bad l>een sev-
man's
cilios.
No place
10
hear the Jeaves of
eral inciden!$ of fMtrated clients assaulting
sprin&
ex
tbe
N5lle
of
inscct's
win~
8ul
pet·
their c:aseworken.
1
can sympalhiu: -
1
felt
haps beeause
1
am
a
savage aod
do
DO(
un·
lite doíng some assaultingmysdf.
dmtand,
tbe-
onJy
seems
10
insult tbe
aus.
The politician·promulgated myth that
The lodian prefers the son sound of lhe wind
there
are
thousaods of cheaters out there
daníngoverthefaeeofthepood.andthesmell
driving "welfare Cadillacs" just plaio im't
ofthewinditselfeleansedbyamid-<layrainor
so. Surveys have actually found . very few
scented witb a pinon pine. The a iris preclous
cheaters.
to the red-.man. For all things share
che
same
Actually, a far greater pereentage
are
eli·
breath - the
beasl.!.
the treos, tbe man. The
gible for welfa.re than ever a<1ually apply,
wbite mao does oot sec:m to notiee the a ir he
but the stigma of l>eing "on the do
le,"
lhe
brealhes. Like aman dyiog for many days. be
refu.sal on tedmicalitie:s: of many wbo so
ls
ou:mb
to
tbe stench.
seek
assistan<:<,
and the widespread igno-
"Wbat
is
man wtthout the beast.s1lfall the
ranee among the poor of welfare regW.uons
beast.s were &<>n<, meo would die from great
keeps the rolls down, and teeps tbose al·
loneliness of
spiri~
for wbatever bappens to
ready on welfare from findi.ng out about
the beasl>
also
happens to man. All thonga
programs and l>eneflu due them.
are eonneeted. Whatever l>efalls lhe eanh
Wben 1 visjted lhc welrare office wilb m
y
befall$ thc
$00$
or the earth.
frieod,
1
asked if l eould see
a
eopy of the
"lt
mallen litUe where we pass tbe rest of
welfare regulation.s. They we.re kept upstain
our
days~
tbey
are not ma.ny. A
rc:w
more
in a separa
le
room and you needed sig.ned
hours.. a rew more winters. a.od oone
or
the
permission to look
at
them. onc
book
at
a
children of the great tribes tbat onee lived on
ume. But
lirst
you bad to
1cnow
tbe name of this
earth.
or
tbat roamed
m small
bands
in
a
specilic book to request - aod nobody wu
t.he
woods,
wiU
be leO to mourn
tite
graves
obout to volunteer lhat informatioo.
of a people ooee u poweñul and bopeful u
Wbat can l>e done about all Ibis? Various
yours.
welfare reform plans have
bcen
suggcsted.
' 'The wlútes. too, shall pass - perhapo
including a negativc inoome
ta.x
and WPA·
sooner than othcr tribes. Continue to con-
type crcation of more jobs by the g,ovem·
tam.inate your bed. and you will one nj¡bt
ment. But with economic: rec:cssíoo at the
suft"oc:atc:
in
your
own waste. When the bW·
door, even
a
new Adminisuation would be
falo
are
a11
slaugbtcred, tbe wild hones all
unlikcly to ebaogclhe sutos
quo
very
mucb.
tamed, lhe seeret comen of the forcst
beavy
Any refonns, however. are only s10pgap
witb lhe soent ofmany men. and t.he view of
measures tbat fail to resolve tbc
real
prob·
the ripe
bilis
bloued by ullcing wires. where
lcm- why penple are poor in tbe fint place.
is lhe thiclcet? Oone. Wbere
is
tbe eagle1
And
that
problem
wjlJ
l>e with
US
until
SO·
Oone. And wbat
is
it
lo soy goodbye lo the
cicty is oomJ)Ic:tcJy overhauled.
swif\ and the hu•tt. the end of living and
So
wba.c can
'lfC:
do in the mean time? The
beginning ofsurvival? We mig.bt undentand
only factor ove.r wbich
we.
bave any control
ir
we
knew
whal h was tbat the white man
seems to l>e ow individual and eollcetivc
dreams, wbat
hopes
he describes to
bis
chil·
auitudes 1oward the less fonuoale. llope·
dren ob
lbe
loo& wancer ni&hts, what VJ.$10ns
l'ulty
w~t
can wori:
lO
edueate ounc:lvcs
OUI
he bums in10 thcir
m1nds.
so
lhey
will 'Nllh
-of
our negativc superiorhy aod punilivc
pa·
ror tOmorrow. But we are savagcs. The white
temalism. A cbange in our oollectjve
attltudt
man's d.rcams are h1dden from us...
toward the poor may translate itsclf into
Today. we might well ponder Cbief
some rea1 action in the direct.ion ofkind and
Sealth's question. "What are the white man•s
dignified treatment ofthepoor.
o
dreams?" O
WEEK ENDINO APRIL
S. 1915