The Preying Continues!

Dear President Bush,

On the National Day of Prayer you highlighted how our country’s rich history is intertwined with prayer. I wrote you afterwards about our original hosts who prayed to “the Great Spirit”. In my letter I noted the various ways the white man preyed on the people who came before us.

Over a century of shafting takes a long time to investigate and add up. In 1887 Congress made the Interior Department the trustee for 145 million acres of Indian lands. Today only 56 million acres remain in Indian possession as the government gave much of the land to white settlers.

The current dispute is how well the government fulfilled its responsibilities to its customers. Did the Indians pray as their trustees preyed on them? History shows a long sordid pattern of federal incompetence, inattention and avarice.

In 1915, the Joint Commission of Congress on Indian Funds warned of "fraud, corruption and institutional incompetence almost beyond the possibility of comprehension." In 1928, the Interior Department found Indian trust data unreliable and almost useless. Dozens of other scathing reports followed.

For what do the Indians pray for today? Is it the chance to manage their affairs? Or is it for the white man’s government to fulfill its past promises? Might they pray for the white leaders to stop preying on them? Ask them the next time you meet with their leaders. Just be sure not to invite Jack Abramoff!