In Washington State, there are 29 recognized Native American tribes and they are the focus of my personal education as they form the subject of my future allyship and advocacy work. Both allyship and advocacy for Native Americans in the USA requires addressing of traditional injustices, modern day injustices. Modern day injustices include deficiencies in social justice, equity, and equality (Wernick, 2012, P. 324). It is also important to factor in the subject of intersectionality since not all minorities are affected in the same way (Crenshaw, 2016). Other critical areas of self-education include issues such as education, health, and economic issues and how they affect marginalized communities. It is upon having clarity in all these issues that proper advocacy can be undertaken to all relevant stakeholder. The instant research paper uses available research and commentary to develop a personal learning program as well as an advocacy program for Native Americans in the great state of Washington.
The Marginalized Group
The marginalized group on focus in this paper is the Native American tribes and nations currently residing in the state of Washington. There are tens of thousands of Native Americans in Washington many of whom live in reservations that cover millions of acres (Lobo, Talbot, & Carlston, 2016, P. 46). These Indian tribes are organized into 29 tribes each of which has a tribal government that runs internal affairs with a form of limited autonomy. The primary source of income for the governments is income from gaming activities. The marginalization of the Native tribes of Washington begins from a traditional perspective as their ancestors were the unrestricted owners of all the land in the state. However, due to the expansion of US occupation, the tribes were pushed out of their lands and into the reservation. This traditional marginalization also continues to date as the tribes are still, to some extent, relegated to the reservation by prevailing conditions. There is also economic marginalization where issues such as racism and ethnic tensions limit the abilities of Native Indians to get a good education or find proper jobs. Further, healthcare issues are also a form of marginalization as the US healthcare system is based on capitalism. A community that is economically marginalized as Native Indians in America are, also has difficulty accessing healthcare amenities (Lobo, Talbot, & Carlston, 2016, P. 252). A final form of marginalization against native communities in Washington can be referred to as social marginalization based on how the communities are treated socially. Most Americans do not understand Native American culture while others do not even care about it. Cultural ignorance leads to social offences such as Indian cultural symbols being used and abused for commercial or social purposes (Moya-Smith, 2018). Communication between Indians and other Americans is also a problem as people will keep saying the wrong things hence hurting the native residents. Conversely, there is also the issue of intersectionality where some segments of the community suffer more discrimination than others, a good example being women who face discrimination because they are minorities and also because they are women (Crenshaw, 2016).
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Educational Plan
Step One: Literature Review
The subject of native communities in Washington State is so wide and complex that it is not possible to develop all-fresh information about it hence the need to have an understanding of what is known, and by extension what the information gaps are. The first step of my personal education program will, therefore, be literature review. The literature review in this instance takes two major perspectives. The first is general in nature and involves the standard form of information necessary to develop an understanding of any Native American community. The second is specific and relates specifically to the Native American communities situated in Washington. It is to be expected that a lot of information is available hence the instant step entails carefully perusing that information. Information gaps will then be identified for further research.
Step Two: Target Interviews
The second step of the personal learning process is conducting expert and resident interviews with a view to filling the information gaps that have been established during the literature review. Expert interviews are based on the fact that there are several academic, government, and private sector players involved in Native American affairs and they are in a position to provide insight on the issues within the information gaps. These are the individuals I would endeavor to interview. Resident interviews will involve actual members of the native communities including their leaders and other members of the community. I would want to interview a professional and a non-professional man, a professional and a non-professional woman, younger members of the community and a number of students.
Step Three: Ethnography
After carefully studying a combination of the information gathered through literature review and interviews, the next step will be to select a pertinent area with a definitive information gap for further study through ethnography. Among the targeted topics for ethnographic study include intersectionality vagaries facing Native American women entrepreneurs. I would take time to work and hang around a married Native American entrepreneur in the reservation who also happens to be a mother. I would then try to understand the specific issues that affect her yet do not affect another person who is neither a Native American nor a Native American woman in the same position (Crenshaw, 2016).
Advocacy Approaches
Traditional Marginalization
Traditional marginalization has resulted in Native Americans within Washington having to live in reservation although some of them have been able to leave and live in normal settlements (Vickery & Hunter, 2016). Life in even the best reservation does not mirror life in ordinary USA, more so, where laws, rules, and regulations are concerned. The USA has a reputation for the rule of law, social justice, and fundamental rights but this has not been extended to the reservation (Lobo, Talbot, & Carlston, 2016, P. 352). The best solution for these problems is a change of laws at a state and federal level to ensure that natives inside the reservation enjoy the same rights as the rest of the US population. Advocacy would include speaking to legislators and having as many constituents as possible write to them about the issue. Probable barriers would be resistance by tribal government leaders who benefit from lax laws to exert influence over tribal members.
Academic Marginalization
The best solution for many of the problems facing Native Americans as a result of marginalization is providing members of the marginalized communities with a good education. Providing a good education rises above providing schools as it also entails providing a positive environment within the learning institutions (Boutte & Jackson, 2014). Towards this end, advocacy to ensure that teachers get specialized training in dealing with Native American students would be an effective approach. The training would include teachers in schools inside the reservations and also the schools outside the reservation that handle Native American students. Barriers to this approach include the inability to provide viable answers on the issue of cost as such programs would be expensive but can be overcome by seeking for assistance from the private sector, more so wealthy young Americans (Wernick, 2012, P. 324).
Economic Marginalization
Whereas tribal governments may be empowered to make money through the entertainment and gambling industry, the economic benefits may not trickle down to the Native Americans themselves (Lobo, Talbot, & Carlston, 2016, P. 363). There is need to expand opportunities, training, and capital to these groups. Lobbying towards this end can be made to members of the executive branch of government in Washington to use available resources to encourage trade within the communities. Probable barriers to this approach include opposition from tribal leaders who benefit exponentially from the perception that they are solving tribal problems from monies made through gambling.
Healthcare-based and Social Marginalization
The life expectancy of minorities in America and that of whites differ exponentially even when secondary factors such as education and economic wealth are held constant. According to social and racial issues expert David Williams, the vagaries of racial and social discrimination contribute to the health and life expectancy discrepancy (Williams, 2016). It is on this basis that advocacy for social discrimination and healthcare marginalization are combined. It begins with advocacy to ensure that Native Americans on or off reservations are treated with the respect they deserve (Moya-Smith, 2018). America is averse with political correctness but sensitivity regarding the language to use with Native Americans is exponentially low. Advocacy to improve on that is also necessary. Further advocacy at the state and federal level to expand Medicaid to cover all Native Americans who live in reservation would also help improve on their healthcare. The primary barrier in this as with all healthcare expansion programs is the issue of the monumental costs necessary to expand Medicaid.
Most Native Americans in Washington State live the kind of lives that citizens of developing countries live in despite the fact that they live in the most powerful nation on earth which also happens to be dubbed the free world due to adherence to human rights and freedoms. In the Washington state, 29 Native American tribes reside in reservations while some of them also live among the general population. Available research shows that this population face traditional, economic, social, healthcare, and academic marginalization. My efforts to assist in solving these issues would first have to begin with having a clear understanding of what goes on in the lives of these communities. The personal education plan to attain the above includes steps such as literature reviews, conducting interviews, and ethnography. Armed with the information gained through personal education, I would then endeavor into different kinds of advocacy. The totality of the above would then play a role on mitigating the vagaries facing Native Americans in Washington State.
References
Boutte, G. S., & Jackson, T. O. (2014). Advice to white allies: Insights from faculty of color. Race Ethnicity and Education , 17 (5), 623-642
Crenshaw, K. (2016). The urgency of intersectionality. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectionality?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare#t-597844
Lobo, S., Talbot, S., & Carlston, T. M. (2016). Native American voices . New York: Routledge.
Moya-Smith, S. (2018, November 21). 100 ways to support-not appropriate from-native people. Retrieved from https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/pa5a3m/how-to-be-an-ally-to-native-americans-indigenous-people
Vickery, J., & Hunter, L. M. (2016). Native Americans: Where in environmental justice research? Society & Natural Resources , 29 (1), 36-52
Wernick, L. J. (2012). Leveraging privilege: Organizing young people with wealth to support social justice. Social Service Review , 86 (2), 323-345.
Williams, D. R. (2016). Transcript of "How racism makes us sick". Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/david_r_williams_how_racism_makes_us_sick/transcript?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare#t-357436
