UN I V E R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S A N
Thursday, April 20,1995
7A
Native-American issues addressed
Speaker discusses the problems with burial rights and education
By Eduardo A. Molina Kansan staff writer
As a democratic society, the United States promotes justice and equality, but such values haven't had an equal impact for Native Americans, said James Riding, assistant professor at the School of Justice Studies at Arizona State University, in a lecture yesterday in the Kansas Union.
"We are fighting for our rights," Riding told an audience of about 30. "The purpose of the government policies in the past was to destroy our culture and our way of life. It caused a lot of despair, but part of the healing process is to address these issues."
Riding, who has Pawnee heritage, has been involved with repatriation, which involves reburying the bodies of Native Americans that were taken for studies or displayed in museums.
"Non-Indians in this room don't have to worry about someone digging your great-grandmother's grave to study her," he said. "But this is what happens to Indians. We were denied our burial rights. We are trying to educate Americans that we deserve equal burial rights."
Another challenge for Native Americans is to get back the sovereignty they had in the past, Riding said.
"Before the arriving of the Europeans to this land, we had sovereignty," he said. "Sovereignty is more than equal rights. It is the power to make laws and to conduct our own ceremonies."
Riding also addressed the problem of education for Native Americans.
"We have to regain the control of our children's education and our schools with our own values and traditions," he said.
Nathan Tohtsoni, Phoenix junior, agreed with Riding's ideas on getting equal rights.
Tohtsoni, who has a Navajo heritage. "Nothing he said surprised me because I have experienced the same kind of problems. Sometimes, the law is not fair for us."
"Non-Indians don't have to worry about someone digging up your great-grandmother to study her."
"Most minority groups lack equal rights," said
James Riding assistant professor at the School of Justice Studies at Arizona State
Michael Yellow Bird, assistant professor of social welfare, said that it was important to address Native-American issues.
"Some universities have taken the position of sensitizing people about Indian issues," he said. "There is a need for mandatory education about First Nations People issues."
Yellow Bird said that an international perspective was needed to address the problems of native people in other countries.
"Since we are moving to globalization, we need to develop an international forum at the University," he said. "We
need to set a network to hear and address those common problems that some other countries face, not only Americans."
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