Imho, reparations would not be the solution, but even make it worse. The white immigrants and the US government took away the biggest part of the land and restricted the possibilities of the natives. Therefore, they could not continue with their traditional way of living. But they also were not offered a real integration into the invaders’ society. They had to live in certain areas, and they got alimonies (and concessions for casinos etc.) This way of incapacitating and patronizing people destroys their self-esteem and takes away any self-initiative, as what they could do was very limited and predefined by the white supremacist society. The natives did not learn any more how to live from nature, how to hunt, how to produce their garments, but most of them also never learned protestant work ethics and the skills needed for the industrial society, as the white society was racist and not including non whites. To simply give the natives more money is a typically well-meaning, but senseless idea. If one wants to help, one has to first understand the situation and the target group.
Imho, reparations would not be the solution, but even make it worse. The white immigrants and the US government took away the biggest part of the land and restricted the possibilities of the natives. Therefore, they could not continue with their traditional way of living. But they also were not offered a real integration into the invaders’ society. They had to live in certain areas, and they got alimonies (and concessions for casinos etc.) This way of incapacitating and patronizing people destroys their self-esteem and takes away any self-initiative, as what they could do was very limited and predefined by the white supremacist society. The natives did not learn any more how to live from nature, how to hunt, how to produce their garments, but most of them also never learned protestant work ethics and the skills needed for the industrial society, as the white society was racist and not including non whites. To simply give the natives more money is a typically well-meaning, but senseless idea. If one wants to help, one has to first understand the situation and the target group.