- Native Americans have faced oppression and discrimination throughout history and continuing into modern times. They have occupied lands like Mount Rushmore to protest the treatment of their people and broken treaties. - Poverty is a major issue facing many Native American communities today. Their average life expectancy is 20 years less than other Americans, due in part to lack of access to adequate medical care and higher rates of health issues. - Health programs for Native Americans remain underfunded. Many have experienced discrimination at doctors' offices despite having health insurance. Addressing the systemic causes of poverty and improving access to care are needed to achieve greater justice for Native American peoples.

1. Native
Americans
Oppression
John Butler

2. 3 Things I Want you to Take Away From This
Lesson
~Historical Treatment~
~Poverty/Discrimination/Abuse ~
~Medical Care~

3. Historical
Treatment
Throughout
the 20 and
21st Centuries

4. “As long as the grass grows, the water flows,
and the sun shines”
UNA president Lehman Brightman, stated during the occupation of Mount Rushmore in 1970 when he
was asked about how long his people would be occupying the land

5. Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM8WZ0ztMuc (America is Stolen)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOWUDM1GBhk (Reservation optional)

6. Questions...
● What are some prevalent problems on Native American Reservations?
● What is the percentage of the Native American population below 24 years?
● Do you think, given all the information presented in this video, that America is a
stolen country?

7. Timeline
1970-Present
1970- Activists
occupy Mount
Rushmore
1972- Trail of
Broken Treaties
(Satire about Trail of
Tears)
1973- Activists
occupy
wounded knee
1975- Protesters Take
Over of Bonneville
Power Administration
1978- the Longest
Walk Begins
(transcontinental trek for
Native American Justice
1992- The
National
Coalition of
Racism in Sports
and Media
Forms
2004, Coalition
Forms to
“Protect the
Peaks”
In 2011, the
Keystone XL
Pipeline
Protesters Launch
Massive
Campaign
2013, the Havasupai Tribe
Files a Lawsuit to Stop the
Operation of a Uranium
Mine

8. Modern
Treatment
And Issues
Associated
with It

9. Poverty
Poverty is one of the biggest problems
for Native Americans. When we think
about the problems that face them, we
think of drug addiction, alcoholism, and
uneducation, yet we fail to remember
where all of that stems from. Poverty.
As Americans we must also come to
terms that it is the fault of our
ancestors that many Native Americans
live below the poverty line.

10. Volunteers!

11. 20 years
Is how much shorter, on average, a Native American life is than a normal American
life

12. Health Care
Health programs for Native Americans
are chronically underfunded.
A quarter of Native American people
have reported experiencing some type of
discrimination at a Doctor’s Office.

13. "Even when I, as an educated person using the right words, was saying what needed
to happen, [he] didn't want to do anything for us, even though we had a [health
insurance] card."
~Margaret Moss a member of the Hidatsa tribe~

14. Reflections!
In your journals, reflect about…
● Is America a just country?
● What do you think we could change to make it just?
● Do you think the way that we treat Native Americans is
right?