Letter to the Editor
By Richard B. Williams (Oglala Lakota)
January 27, 2006

This letter was written in response to John Miller's editorial in the January 27, 2006 Wall Street Journal.

To the Editor:

Unfortunate is the most charitable way I can describe John Miller's editorial "The Projects on the Prairie" (WSJ , Jan. 27, 2006). In his article, Miller asserts that American Indian reservations foster the social and economic ills that plague Indian populations. He believes that choices made within the confines of reservation borders "have beaten down their inhabitants with brute force" by limiting entrepreneurship and private property ownership. He further contends that reservations achieve modern ethnic cleansing by "wall[ing] off" their inhabitants from the opportunities that he believes lay just beyond the boundaries of the rez. And perhaps, most provocatively, Miller laments as "semifictional" tribes' status as self-governing entities within the United States.

His assertions are unfortunate in that they disregard over 200 years of federal law that defines Indian sovereignty and are more than vaguely reminiscent of the terminative sentiment popular a century ago, "Kill the Indian and save the man." Miller seems unaware of the fact that his suggestions were, at one time, actual policy in this country. For example, the late 19th - early 20th Century federal policy he trumpets as conferring private property rights on Indians actually functioned as a massive land-grab, transferring 90 million acres of land from Indian to white hands, often without compensation. When Congress realized that this "allotment" of tribal lands was unjust and caused widespread Indian poverty, it appropriately repudiated the policy in 1934. It is difficult to see how a return to allotment in 2006 would bring about the equality or opportunity in property rights that Miller seeks. The Termination Era of the latter half of the 20 th Century had similarly disastrous consequences for Indian people.

Moreover, Miller fails to appreciate that tribes, like states and the federal government, are legal sovereigns with rights of self-government over their lands and citizens. In 2006, Congress refrains from imposing misguided policies like allotment on tribes, but rather works with them to facilitate various dynamic and positive developments in Indian Country. These are trends that might even please Mr. Miller, were he more familiar with his subject matter.

As the president of the American Indian College Fund, a Denver-based non-profit organization whose mission includes supporting the development of the nation's tribal colleges and universities, the vast majority of which are located on reservations, I have witnessed firsthand how reservations are the epicenter of a cultural, educational and economic renaissance springing forth since the advent of self-determination as the guiding principle of federal Indian policy.

Tribal colleges are often the heart and soul of many of these endeavors. In fact, I would agree with Mr. Miller's contention that the Jack Abramoff scandal should be the least of our worries. Mr. Miller, it is. We are all too familiar with the litany of social ills that you recounted. Tribal colleges are addressing these problems with guidance from tribal leaders and the reservation communities themselves.

Through self-determination, tribal colleges have been empowered to provide educational opportunity to their communities. Degree attainment by American Indians is increasing, thanks in no small part to the tribal college movement. These reservation-based institutions are providing cultural opportunity, not limiting it. Tribal colleges teach tribal languages, house ancient tribal artifacts and archives and welcome elders whose traditional knowledge is as valuable as that in any textbook. And perhaps Mr. Miller might find most encouraging the fact that tribal colleges are providing economic opportunity to Indian people. They provide an educated workforce to better serve local needs, and stimulate dozens of successful microbusinesses.

In fact, the timing of Mr. Miller's piece coincides with the launch of our new public education campaign, whose tagline is, interestingly enough, "If I Stay on the Rez." The campaign is intended not only to showcase the geographic diversity of reservations, but also to highlight the role of tribal colleges in revitalizing reservation communities, reducing drop out rates, increasing the likelihood of finding employment and embracing Indian culture at the heart of it all.

Public education is central to the American Indian College Fund's mission, and as evidenced by Mr. Miller, clearly needed. We welcome the opportunity to share our culture, our histories and our successes and challenges with those willing to learn. In fact, I invite Mr. Miller to participate in one of our annual tribal college tours so that he may meet firsthand those of whom he speaks with such conviction. We would welcome this opportunity.

The fact is that change is happening, and because we are guiding it on our own terms as Indian people and within our right as sovereign nations to do so, it is working.

Perhaps the sands of time are blowing too slowly for Mr. Miller to appreciate these accomplishments. Certainly, there are times when I, too, impatiently wait for the day when the tribal college system will produce untold numbers of doctors, MBAs and Nobel Prize winners, all fluent in their Native languages. But because I embrace the charge of my ancestors to make my decisions based upon their impact on those seven generations to come, I am content knowing that I am one of many working practically toward a better future. This change will come.

Richard B. Williams
Oglala Lakota
Broomfield, Colorado