A lot of the Indians did integrate. Most, I would say. A lot of people, all over America, are descended from Indians who left the reservation, and integrated into the main stream culture.
One of my favorite authors is Louise Erdrich, who writes about the Turtle Mountain (North Dakota) Chippewa, to which I am related. She's a lot closer to them, my family severed relations circa WWI, because my great grandfather didn't want anybody to know that his wife was Indian, so they moved away and passed for white. Erdrich has a lot of interesting things to say about the lives of the people who stayed.
It's not a rich place, even for whites, but there is a lot of prejudice against Indians there, and all over the West. Hard to make a living.
But the kid who committed these murders, he's not so different than a lot of other kids who did the same thing, from California to Alabama. A loner, brighter than average, not very physically attractive, unusual interests, picked on, rejected, and full of anger. It's the same story anywhere, he just happens to be Chippewa. |
