Matthew F. Hale stated in his Oct. 16 letter that the United States should celebrate its conquest of Native Americans. I would like to discuss the manner in which this conquest was done.

The way that Mr. Hale discusses our history leaves the impression that the United States openly declared war on the Native Americans and then defeated them. This is at best a half truth. A look into history will show that the United States approached Native Americans and asked to sign legally binding treaties with them, stating at one point that all land west of the Mississippi would belong to Indians. We would then break the treaties and take everything we had just said belonged to them. In some instances this was done by episodes of shameful force, such as the Sand Creek and Wounded Knee massacres. Mr. Hale, if you seriously believe that making a legal agreement with someone, followed by breaking it and then murdering the party is a way to defeat someone with superior intelligence and weaponry, and become a a great nation, I advise you to study your ethics.

Regretting a past mistake of a nation does not entail giving away all you own. The United States was found upon the noble and yet obvious principle that all people are created equal. Unfortunately history shows that the U.S. government failed to read the Constitution or ignored it in their treatment of other non-European races. The least we as a nation can do to make up for our past mistakes is not continue the same ones as today. Yet Congress is considering to violate another aspect of the treaties signed with Native Americans, or the funding sent to reservations. We continue to disrespect Native American heritage and religion mocking their sacred religious symbols and ceremonies with sporting team mascots. We need to separate ourselves form our past mistakes as a nation and stop this type of racism. Realizing racism is the first step.

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