An Indigenous Observation

by Barbara Huntley-Smith

It is said that inspiration springs from something that has been read, an action observed or an unexplained vision. This editorial thesis was born after reading an article in the Los Angeles Times, Titled: “A Quiet Creek in South Dakota Becomes River of Death.” The story concerns the mysterious deaths of Native Americans living in Rapid City, South Dakota. The mystery that conceived this thesis was not so much the deaths, but the manner in which the F.B.I. and the South Dakota Police Force seemed to be totally mystified, or at a loss securing evidence to bring about an indictment of the person or persons involved.

The juices of inspiration began to flow as the word “indigenous” began to take hold of my senses. Webster Collegiate defines Indigenous as: occurring naturally, Intrinsic, innate and synonymous with native. However it was one component of the word that brought about my inspiration, that word was “Indigent.” Defined as: lacking the means of subsistence, impoverish, needy, poor and destitute. Observing the connection, I began to envision the plight of the Indigenous peoples that once occupied the small Island in the Caribbean were I was born.

Jamaica, an Island in the Caribbean was once populated by an Indigenous people known as the Arawaks. In grade school my mental images of the Arawaks were limited to the fact that they wore loin-cloth, fat pot-bellied men lying comfortably under trees. I was taught that they were lazy and did not like to work, so they lived in caves, ate cassava until they all died. These images I am alluding to were written, but were those images true? The origins of the Arawaks can be traced to the Casimirian people whose culture dates back to the 4000 B.C. These people were Indigenous to Central America and Belize. They later migrated north using the Yucatin Channel and the Cuban counter-current to reach the Islands of the Greater Antilles, of which Jamaica is one of that group of Islands. These Indigenous peoples were the natives who greeted Christopher Columbus during the years of his first voyage from 1492-1497.

During my junior and senior years in school, study of world history from the British point of view has always left me with the question of why there is no existing Arawaks culture in Jamaica. Reading this story of the deaths of the Native Americans of South Dakota, caused me to revisit this question.

There are three Observations I have made. First, the Annihilation of Indigenous peoples on the Island of Jamaica and the United States does have some similarities, and one specific difference. In Jamaica the Indigenous Arawaks were completely annihilated without a trace; whereas in the United States the annihilation have been continuous for two hundred years.

It was reported that Native Americans, a total of eight, were drowned in a creek under a bridge, after drinking themselves into a stupor; Or they got drunk and walked to the creek, fell asleep in their drunken haze and were drowned as the tide rose. It was reported that one of these fatalities was found in a seated position. What mystified me is, trained qualified law enforcement officials are taking second-hand guesses from sources that would not be recognized as credible in the court of law. Consequently all those deaths are still unsolved. Could it be, I thought, this lack of sufficient evidence be due to the fact that six of the eight drowned were “Indigenous?” It must also be noted that all these men were homeless.

My Second Observation concerns the word “Indigent.” These South Dakota indigenous people, specifically those who were mysteriously drowned, manifested all the attributes of indigent. They were poor, needy, lacking the means of substance, and the final manifestation of these people were their “Homelessness.”

Could it be that their status classification is the reason why their deaths were classified a such a mystery? It is written in the Constitution of the United States that men are created equal, and have been endued by their Creator with individual inalienable rights. While working on this observation, I encountered a very interesting not in the Collier’s Encyclopedia page - 251, titled: Rights of Individual: Here is that excerpt.

Our Constitution is Color-blind, and neither knows or tolerates classes among citizen. In respect of Civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law.....it is therefore, to be regretted that the high Tribunal has reached the conclusion that a state to regulate the enjoyment of citizens of their civil rights solely upon the basis of Race.

Observing what followed those three words “it is therefore,” has that phrase now become the standard investigative procedure for the “Indigenous indigents?

Lastly, it is also written that upholders of the law are servants and will ultimately be accountable. The poor and homeless are at the highest zenith of their potential to receive. Is it not time that they become recipients of their inalienable rights? Those who are elected as the governing body of nations, states, cities and counties may have lost sight, or have never really comprehended the real purpose of their position. Well this is a gentle reminder: Defend the poor and fatherless, do justice to the afflicted and needy; Deliver the poor and needy and free them from the hand of those who will oppress them. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required. And to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask more. I believe it is about time that the Rapid City Police department and the F.B.I begin to question their own purpose for doing the work they do. A keynote from the original report was a statement made by the Police Captain in reference to the mystery of the deaths, He commented that these deaths goes beyond the appearance of mere coincidence. Many Native Americans concurred, but are not at all mystified.