I thought it was about time I say something here. For those of you not familiar with me, I'm Bob's girlfriend, that's ME letting that nice hen go at the top of the page.

My view on native life (in specific response to IntenseGK here): I think the natives have plenty of opportunities: housing grants, free medical care, reduced/free tuition schooling at all levels, etc. I could probably go on for a while.

The lifestyle for native people will never get better until the "Woe is me" and "It's my right, because I'm a native!" attitudes go away.

Personally, I think the aid programs should cease to exist. The grants should cease to exist. The "special rights" should cease to exist. I think it's a travesty to walk a fine (and seemingly downhill-heading) line in our fisheries management to support "native fishing rights".

Additionally, those natives wanting to maintain "sovereign nation status" can have it. But Natives cannot have it both ways. That means either you're totally self-sufficient, or you’re not. If you choose to be, then you should be expected to have a passport when entering American territory, you can also form your own militia to defend your borders, support your own health care and educational facilities and so on. Or, be an American – Americans come from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds – and live by the same set of rules as the rest of American society. And, by all means maintain your heritage in lots of forms that don’t require “special rights”.

Am I racist??? Well, the dictionary defines a racist as a person believing: "... that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others." The answer then is no. First off, I don't think any race is superior. And, secondly, it doesn't matter if the group of people whose actions / special treatment / rights that I discussed above is white, yellow, red, black, or whatever in skin color, it's the lifestyle and preferential treatment that I don't approve of, plain and simple.

And before any of you reply to this, keep one think in mind: I AM NATIVE AMERICAN. I could take advantage of my heritage and utilize all of the social program hand-outs, but because I don’t believe in special rights and the like, I proudly choose not to.