How the Navajo Nation Works (A Country Within a Country?)

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Writing by Sam Denby
Research by Sam Denby and Tristan Purdy
Editing by Alexander Williard
Animation by Josh Sherrington
Sound by Graham Haerther
Thumbnail by Simon Buckmaster
Select footage courtesy the AP Archive

[@Wendoverproductions]

I just posted a new video on my new channel, Extremities. It's about why and how people live on Kerguelen--one of the world's most remote islands with human settlement. So make sure to go watch that video next here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJjPc56Hl8Srb7M

[@kyester2547]

we’ll watch it

[@squa_81]

:) and it's great. thank you to all the people who make those videos possible :D

[@QuizmasterLaw]

In fact these are countries, really. The international term is "vassal states" which sounds ugly so the U.S. government refers to the nations as "domestic dependant nations". To be "a country" (a State, i.e. a sovereign) under international law you require 1. Definite territory 2. Permanent population 3. Recognition by other states And the various Indian nations do in fact have all that.

[@QuizmasterLaw]

The USA has a tendency to take international law terms, which are often in Latin, and then translate them into an equivalent English term under U.S. domestic law. Non-citizen Indians do not have to pay federal taxes. These days Indians are accorded birth-right federal citizenship, but that wasn't always the case and Indians are not and legally cannot be forced to accept U.S. citizenship. Satrap is another international law term for what in domestic U.S. law is termed "domestic dependant nation". You probably never heard of "satrap" or "vassal state" e.g.

[@michaelpearce8661]

Looks like you don't need a wife to make your meals for you.

[@andrewgarcia1680]

Sam got tired of waiting for CGP Grey so he decided to make this video himself.

[@davidschmidt5507]

I was thinking the exact same thing

[@Marquis-Sade]

@Ibnu Who is Gura?

[@tonydai782]

@@Marquis-Sade Shark Vtuber

[@Marquis-Sade]

@@tonydai782 Ok

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

"No! It's a story for NOW!" - Sam

[@JustaReadingguy]

And even stranger is the Hopi nation INSIDE the Navajo nation.

[@Droidman1231]

Especially when you consider Arizona doesn't have Day Light Savings, but the Navajo Nation does, but the Hopi Nation doesn't, but the part of the Navajo nation inside the Hopi reservation does.

[@wschart]

Lived in Tuba City for three years. Across the road is Moenkopi, a Hopi village, which of course does not do DST. But even weirder is the fact that not all of Tuba observes DST. Many of the businesses geared towards the tourist trade stay on MST in order to stay in sync with the rest of Arizona. So when making appoints, you not only had to set a time, but also state whether that was “Tuba time” or “Flag time” (that’s short for Flagstaff).

[@kralle98]

@@Droidman1231 Yeah we all watched that video

[@JasonC683]

the Hopi and Navajo are both proud and sovereign nations! May their people prosper.

[@jhonbus]

@@kralle98 I didn't watch it. Thanks Droidman1231, I would never have known this handy fact were it not for you.

[@jhunt376]

This is probably a graphic design problem but the ‘hole’ in the middle of the Navajo reservation is actually another reservation, the Hopi reservation, but it isn’t colored like a reservation in the map.

[@dotdotdotdotdotdotdottod]

and thats becaise the hopi nation is the only nation that didnt sighn a us treaty

[@timekeeper2738]

@@dotdotdotdotdotdotdottod i thought the seminoles of florida didnt either?

[@gamer242mooo]

Ah yes our cousins, if you know then you know

[@wizardrex707]

@@terrancenasafotiesr.9601 y’all didn’t engaged war with the us government 🤨the Hopis already lost the war before it even begin?

[@novalone3211]

@@terrancenasafotiesr.9601 Beast

[@fratercontenduntocculta8161]

Have an Army buddy who is from the Navajo Nation, and moved back there after he got out. Got to hear all sorts of cool things about his people and he showed me a picture of the traditional Hogan he lives in. Bless you my Navajo friends!

[@HouseJawn]

The INSANE logistics of the Navajo Nation

[@spicemasterii6775]

Navajo nation's geography problem.

[@cerdon4076]

The INSANE logistics of the Trail of Tears.

[@HouseJawn]

@@cerdon4076 lmao 🤣

[@lorenzoharrison3388]

Same video brought me here

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

Airplanes (except it's actually the Navajo Nation)

[@grahamturner2640]

If this wasn't mentioned in the video, the funniest thing about the Navajo Nation, in my opinion, is that it's the only part of Arizona that recognizes Daylight Savings Time.

[@E4439Qv5]

I... _why tho?_

[@bcubed72]

Farmers don't like DST for some reason. Arizona and (most of) Indiana were the two hold-outs, but I hear IN has caved in.

[@jeffreypierson2064]

@@bcubed72 That isn't it. Arizona is hot during the Summer. Sending workers home an hour earlier would mean increasing air conditioner usage an hour earlier. That means the "Saves power" rationale never made sense.

[@StaciaMeconiates]

@@E4439Qv5 because the Navajo are split between multiple US states. It wouldn't make sense for them to have multiple time zones. Why does Arizona not follow DST? Because it gets super hot here, and is people were leaving work an hour earlier then electric use would spike and put even more pressure on our already stressed grid

[@grahamturner2640]

@@bcubed72 Hawaii also doesn't recognize it, yet I doubt that it's much of a farmer's state. Plus, so many other farming states probably weren't holdouts.

[@mrrpepsi24]

As a truck driver who travels across the Navajo once a week, I am saddened by the poverty I see, if you could see what some of these people call homes and places they live, it would probably bring a tear to your eye.

[@TheCrazyJakeAZ]

Arizona resident here, and it is truly sad to see what the Navajo have to deal with.

[@anthonymartinez8488]

@Wendoverproductions is absolutely right. On the reservation, it’s called government trust land. You can drill a water well, get electric, or start a business. It’s not that we’re poor. It’s the government doesn’t allow it.

[@NyanCatHerder]

As someone who's traveled pretty widely within the US, the level of poverty in several regions is just sad. The area I'm from has significant issues and is often seen as unsafe, but the realities that many people (including the Diné) live with is so, so much worse. It's hard to imagine the wealth disparity between the richest and poorest parts of America unless you've seen it personally. I've seen neighborhoods where a relatively "small" home would cost well over $2,000,000, and neighborhoods where people were squatting in the burned out husks of *originally* substandard housing. The US has a lot of problems that it needs to fix, but that should be at the top of the list. It's so obviously not a sustainable situation. That kind of inequality is what completely destroys a country in the long run.

[@reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee]

⁠@@anthonymartinez8488i genuinely wonder if it’s on purpose because if you can’t be self sufficient, you have to rely on someone else. it’s scary and i’m so sorry about this shit yall go though.

[@Schlabbeflicker]

@@reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee No, it's because if the land were freely allowed to be bought and sold, the government and tribe were worried that both "natives wouldn't understand property rights and get taken advantage of" and "impure blood would eventually enter the reservation lands". The whole point was to maintain purity and preserve the tribal entity as the one managing the land, and it has turned out horribly. Most natives are incentivized to stay because they get tons of free services and distributions from the tribe.

[@lunarhighway607]

Small correction: WinStar World Casino is owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation, not the Chippewa Tribe. Love your videos!

[@williamc5370]

Chokma! That bothered me a bit too.

[@akorn9943]

Honestly it’s so frustrating because Wendover is one of the best creators of content like this on the site, and this is honestly one of the best videos on the reservation system on here as a quick teaching tool, but even here we see the plague of folks talking about Native American issues making hilariously silly mistakes that could have been fixed with a one minute google search. As a proud “Cher’ohkee,” it’s certainly a mood.

[@TEXAS-SMITH]

@@williamc5370 Chinchokma. Me also.

[@forumquorum8156]

correct, the chippewa, or ojibwe, own and run the st croix casino.

[@LeahyGroup]

@@akorn9943 agreed! I love Wendover videos, but seems he is getting a bit sloppy in some of his research and not investigating proper pronunciations. This isn’t the only case, but he did do a very good job at telling a mostly accurate story.

[@ethanclupper7034]

I spent an entire summer in the Navajo Nation. It is such an interesting area, the Nation is truly incredible in history. They fought in WW2 as code talkers, they weren't fighting for the government, they were fighting for what was right

[@alexforagen5208]

Navajo people and their amazing culture and history interest all of us Australians; this is even more cooler to think they fought alongside us in helping defeat the Axis powers!

[@multatuli1]

@@alexforagen5208 help your aborigines first 🤣

[@matteodotdpsatgmaildotcom2451]

​@@multatuli1 911, I want to report a murder

[@hellzshotgun]

@@matteodotdpsatgmaildotcom2451 Lots of dead aborigines everywhere

[@dopaminedreams1122]

@@multatuli1 they get more than enough help you ignoramus. Billions spent per year

[@RomainPMusic]

Small correction at 8:15 : the US federal government absolutely taxes on residency in addition to citizenship. Foreigners living in the US, whether they are on immigrant or non-immigrant visa or green cards, are required to pay US federal taxes too.

[@ieuan4real]

I was wondering about this. I was thinking that surely immigrants who are resident would be subject to taxes, otherwise I'm going to try and reside myself in the US. 😂 Thanks for confirming.

[@taoliu3949]

Non-immigrant visas only pay income tax if they spend at least a certain amount of time in the US throughout the year. It depends on their tax residency status.

[@RomainPMusic]

@@taoliu3949 Correct

[@QuizmasterLaw]

What he was trying to get at, and this is One More legal mis-statement in his video (there are several) is that the USA taxes its citizens on their world-wide income, no matter where said citizen resides, nor the source of that income. No other country on earth does this. None. Why? Because we run the world's financial system, that's why. Why? Because we can. You can try to expatriate if you like, but expatriation for tax avoidance of natural-born citizens is generally not permitted, at least for tax purposes. I love it, but i also can understand why others might hate it. I drink their tears. It's all U.S. dollars, their are just some different coloured ration coupons for it.

[@geoffwalters3662]

Unfortunately, the 30 million plus illegals mostly don't pay and leech of our system. Actually quite a few of them do get social security numbers and pay, despite being illegal.

[@avao3573]

0:15 “This map displays the internally recognized borders of the United States,” Alaska: 🥶

[@avao3573]

👁👄💧👁

[@bradley8575]

Hawaiian and Puerto Rico:Hold My Island.

[@Jinxx9081]

As an Alaskan I’m used to it by now, we just chill up in our own place 😂

[@TECC777]

Not true, you can build your house but you got to get something called a homesite lease where you have to apply and pay the tribe to build your house on public land. Not all of us live in NHA housing or Mobile homes most of us live in homes we build ourselves on homesite leased land

[@thp8485]

I guess the point he was making is that the process is more difficult to develop land when banks can't secure loans against the land. We have a similar issue in Aotearoa New Zealand

[@Gooblesnort2]

Like a Hogan

[@djdza1420]

aoo this right here

[@carlpetersen3147]

@@thp8485 sad thing is it isn't that they can't, but that they won't just because there is a bit more Paperwork

[@cificare2184]

Mikal Gene if you build your own house on tribal land, then what happens to it when you die? Will it go to your children?

[@ClemensJason]

I was expecting CGPGrey to do this earlier :(

[@elinewllms]

+

[@DinosaurNightlight]

I think he couldn't do any in-the-field research after the pandemic started. He also got distracted by hexagons and minecraft

[@andrewzheng7062]

ahhhh......... the reservations.....

[@westside4372]

@@elinewllms +×÷=/

[@1989TS..]

CGPGrey is a wanna be brit.

[@TriumvirSajaki]

When Wendover talks about reservations more than CPG Grey

[@AxxLAfriku]

GAGAGAGAGAGA!!! I want to cut my toe nails... NEVER! I am the feet KZbinr. Thanks for being a fan, dear ul

[@T0T4LG4MER5]

Whatever happened to that series, did he ever do any more episodes?

[@TriumvirSajaki]

@@T0T4LG4MER5 I think he just did the one "introduction" video

[@TriumvirSajaki]

And a bunch of "talk about it later" statements in other videos

[@elliotzhang2358]

@@TriumvirSajaki but that’s a story for another time

[@alexandertheresurrection2810]

I’ve been to the Navajo Nation on several occasions to attend ceremonies me and my brother were invited to. Wonderful people and community we were with. Got to do a lot of site seeing and hiking. The land I saw was beautiful.

[@Hrafnskald]

Great video. Spent six years on the Navajo Rez, very interesting legal logistics. In Tuba City, due to the presence of Hopi Tribal land, state land, federal, and Navajo land in close proximity, the time zones were insane whenever parts of the country (federal and Navajo) when on Daylight Savings Time and others (state, Hopi) did not. For half the year, we had to know who had land sovereignty to know what time it was :)

[@crazeguy26]

oh man i though of that i bet they did that to mess with us.

[@JamesDecker7]

Time Traveling to Dennys is a gosh darn tradition!

[@krmendozaa]

One of my good friends and old roommates grew up in the Navajo Nation and I’ve had the chance to stay with her family there too. Learning about their history and seeing the conditions myself was so eye opening and sad. Our government (and partially the tribal government) makes it so difficult for them to do anything and everything there.

[@klakkinkittykat]

meow.

[@deeziebaby7241]

I see the first mistake. Relying on government

[@LambentLark]

"Partially tribal government?" When they became a nation, the tribal government took on the responsibility of providing for their nation, including the possiblity of prosperity. I live in Alaska and have seen how tribal governments pick and choose. I don't think they have the well being of their people as their priority. If they did they would be doing a lot more to combat their alcoholism, domestic violence, child abuse, poverty and suicide problems in Alaskan villages. Did you know the suicide rate amongst Alaskan Natives is nearly 4 times that of non natives? I think if they did more for the first 4 problems the 5th would reduce because of it.

[@milascave2]

@@deeziebaby7241 They were self relian until the government forced them into the situation they are in now. THEY ARE STILL MORE SELF RELINT THEN people IN A REMOTE, arid dessert could be expected to be.

[@bluepurplepink]

@@deeziebaby7241 Braindead take

[@schlaackmusic]

Much love and respect to the Navajo People. When I lived in Arizona many of my friends and coworkers were Navajo, and they were all lovely Human beings.

[@klakkinkittykat]

meow.

[@Loyal_Feather]

@@klakkinkittykat meow

[@GusThePrankster]

@@Loyal_Feather meow

[@danieljensen2626]

The emphasis is on the second syllable in Diné, it's dih-NAY, not DEE-nay.

[@olabashanda]

Kinda painful

[@obfidkwm]

Yes someone said it.....the mispronunciation was bothering the me lol

[@capncake8837]

Not Navajo or even Indian, but I kinda assumed that was the case, just because of the accent.

[@Egilhelmson]

Thank God! I thought that it was 2nd syllable, but this guy is pronouncing it the other way. Glad to read that I am right despite only reading the word (in several different spellings).

[@user-nv5sn3tb4e]

isn't it Dih-NEH, not -NAY?

[@nsawatchlistbait289]

"After few years though, the govt realized they had made a mistake" Calling the long walk a mistake is an understatement

[@mboaz4730]

Mistake? What they realized is that Navajo land wasn't land that they could use, so they gave it back. Walking the Enemy around until they drop dead was standard practice by then. And putting in the quantum system so that tribes either in-breed themselves slowly to death or out-breed themselves out of existence. It's still genocide, just really slow. And you realize every young person they lose (the Pine Ridge Sioux) is that much less DNA they have to work with.

[@planescaped]

They realized it was a bit of an oopsie-daisy

[@dominicguye8058]

@@mboaz4730 Yeah this. The government realized it was a mistake because the land was considered useless, not because of any moral concerns

[@56independent42]

I find it appaling that the Nazi death walks from concentration camps after the invasions is considered part of the holocaust genocide, but forcing the "long walk", a similarily horrific act (and in a desert climate, not the temperate European climate) after colonisation and widespread destruction of the natives is called a "mistake". It's genocide, no matter who you destroy.

[@lukesutton4135]

So is calling a death march a "long walk"

[@tubastud06]

How do you say "Jeep Grand Cherokee"? I've never heard someone struggle so much with pronouncing "Cherokee".

[@kathleenh3975]

And Dine is Den-ay..... Bashas' is Bash-uh's....

[@MikeHarris1984]

And Bashas, and a few others I heard too.

[@thawhiteazn]

I could understand someone mispronouncing the name of a relatively obscure or unknown native tribe, but the Cherokee are arguably one of the most well known of all American tribes. They’re right up there with the Navajo.

[@kaseyklynstra2210]

Also, "Chip-EH-wah"? No, "Chip-uh-WAH".

[@DrewDienno]

cherry-oh-kee

[@ke9tv]

Sam, I'd love if you could continue this story into Akwesasne - the reservation that spans an international border.

[@neilgordon3078]

Interesting, also Tohono O'odam

[@rwolfheart6580]

Akwesasne is super interesting! Definitely second this as a topic. It also spans two provinces, Ontario and Quebec, who have very different laws.

[@buddyclem7328]

I'm sure Sam would love to mispronounce the name of their tribe as well.

[@why-xr6lg]

@@neilgordon3078 TON reservation doesn’t span into Mexico. It cuts off at the border. However, the tribes traditional territory does. Our desert relatives can live in Mexico but they are not living on a reservation and they are not enrolled members of the tribe. But they can be member of the tribe, just not federally recognized.

[@jimgreen5788]

@@neilgordon3078 , he'll probably butcher that name: TAH-no OAT-um, which used to be PA-pa-go.

[@beverlyharrold718]

March 29th, 2020, we went as we do to Las Vegas to stock our ice cream truck. There was a small group of Navajos buying all of the ice cream they could source. They bought well over 10k in ice cream that day for the reservation. Never let it be said that they did not try to isolate and quarantine. The horrific death toll that devastated the reservation was foreseen by their village elders, they tried to keep to themselves. Our hearts go out to our near neighbors.

[@miguelupload555]

I was in Navajo nation not long ago, 3 weeks maybe. They want you masked up everywhere (which makes sense) and a lot of places are still closed. A random, scruffy dog wandered into the road and my gf wanted to help it so she beckoned it over. A Navajo man (he told us he was) walked over to explain it was his dog and that he was in the Marines in Afghanistan and so was the dog. Explained why the dog looked scruffy. The man showed me his scars on his torso which definitely left an impression on me. Then he asked for a cigarette which I didn't have and then I was on my way.

[@amandalander5450]

Yeah, we get alot of 'out of towners' feeding the stray dogs, dont feed them. Your just contributing to the problem. Also they are covered in fleas and ticks.

[@imaloser0]

Oh, so you got the full experience!! All jokes aside, we have an issue with people doing that. Especially the ones who claim to be a veteran

[@jeremy9750]

The reservation was one of the worst affected by covid because of the lack of resources, let alone transportation. Many families and parts of the place still don't have running water.

[@cactiguide]

I it doesn’t make sense

[@martinmackye9865]

I picked up a dude on the side of the road, in the middle of nowhere in monument valley... He was beat to shit....and just as drunk Girlfriends brothers apparently.... Gave him a ride home.

[@hewhohasnoidentity4377]

I have driven all over the Navajo Nation many times in a semi. Words can't express how bad the situation is. Most of the land is not not useful for anything. There are a bunch of abandoned mines from uranium and other materials. You see scattered shacks or trailers that have actual outhouses behind them. There is no water, electricity or even cell phone service on many areas. Not being able to mortgage property or have personal ownership means they can't upgrade anything and make payments. They just have to do without. Even doing business with people or companies in the US is so risky it is rarely done and even rarer to end well. There is no effective means to enforce contract law. Either side can just decide not to perform as agreed with no consequences. The glass walkway over the Grand Canyon is a recent reminder of the risk. The US provides tribes with very limited support, but it is provided by non tribal members in buildings built by and for the US to remind them of what they don't have. There are many people that somehow have incredible drive to improve the situation though. Many literally hitchhiker 150-200 miles to get to low paying jobs to at least have the dignity of working. Alcoholism is an ongoing crises on there areas along with the domestic violence that alcohol brings. Oh, and many of these familiar have served honorably with the US in every military conflict since the American Revolution. But we put them on some rocky land with the scars from mining and the destruction of testing nuclear weapons. Put of site out of mind. I'm glad Sam did this video. I really wish every American would be forced to actually understand the situation so close to home that is literally worse than third world countries.

[@richforever6231]

Foreal. People think it’s nice out there. Shit is gutter

[@adammaxi]

1:37 "Is almost entirely comprised of the tribes casino" I did not expect that

[@ryansshane]

a lot of tribes have casinos because they can set their own gambling laws and in states with strict gambling laws it can be a huge cash source

[@fohex40]

@@ryansshane and this is why you don't allow them to do that.

[@EvergreenTransit]

blame Washington State's gambling laws

[@charlienevergold3654]

I totally expected that to be honest.

[@hewhohasnoidentity4377]

@@ryansshane the tribes can also purchase land off the reservation in a suitable location for gambling and have the interior department put the land in trust so the tribe can put a casino on it. New Mexico, Arizona and California have many of tribal casinos right off the interstate far from the reservation.

[@AGDinCA]

This was very interesting and enlightening. Thank you for bringing attention to the difficulty the native nations are dealing with.

[@theriolu1693able]

Sometimes it’s hard for me to accept I’m a Navajo. I want to feel good about it but then I realize how flimsy our foundation is. I hate pride and feeling bad for myself but ... they’re my people and I want them to soar. However, there’s just so many variables and problems that make it impossible to see a future here.

[@johnpbulger7893]

Any bad situation can be turned around

[@Clorox.Bleach]

Right dude just gotta keep a head up and keep pushing forward strive for better future for our people

[@johnpbulger7893]

@Rita 25 y.o - check my vidéó more like a autonomous region

[@jlizard8500]

Same as with me. I want to feel proud to be Navajo, but what Ive learned from living on the reservation is how badly my relatives (who are all navajo of course) here have treated me. Now its made me believe that Navajo people are bad, which I should know isnt true.

[@VincentGonzalezVeg]

I've been thinking about food forests, ways to help everyone First I'd need to find someone who's asking for help so I'm not intruding Im a citizen of America, so I might be seen as being rude, I . . . I want to make the familys home better than it ever was Like a giant food forest, educational systems Due to citizenship, I may have different levers I can move the world with, to help

[@Vanalovan]

So finally someone got so impatient with Grey’s reservation project and said “fuck it, I’ll do it myself”

[@Monosekist]

“You WILL copy my homework. And you will like it.” - the US government.

[@NCRonrad]

-Rome too. Mongols... just follow a few steps, but keep everything else (except for women and treasure)

[@oqo3310]

​@@NCRonradok but Rome's homework is dope af

[@NCRonrad]

@@oqo3310 kind of lackluster in a lot of ways. But it’s what the Muslims preserved for the rest of Eurasians to gawk at so I get you

[@DukeofTxtspeak]

@@NCRonrad ...what?

[@NCRonrad]

@@DukeofTxtspeak the Islamic world saved a lot of history the other crazy devotees of the other sects of Abraham were hung ho to destroy

[@chaosXP3RT]

If anyone's curious, Cherokee is pronounced: "Chair-oh-key"

[@wesleybush8646]

Even the singer of the band, Europe, pronounces it correctly.

[@Kelly.CATXOK]

As a okie this bothered me

[@milesrout]

That's exactly how he pronounced it though, so why is everyone complaining about it?

[@dejackarse7278]

@@milesrout Ehh, Wendover was pronouncing it more like Churro-Key. Wasnt far off but there was a slight difference

[@Kelly.CATXOK]

@@milesrout it shows poor research. Also there are two automobiles that use the name.

[@user-iu4se2ps7d]

Respect to the Navajo. I own several pieces of Navajo silver turquoise jewelry.

[@carlcarlington7317]

Something I almost always see avoided in these videos (probably because of it's complexity and just generally obscurity) is the existence of the IHS, 'indian' health services. Basically a free health care system run for members of native American tribes both on tribal land and in select locations (I know phoenix AZ has an IHS hospital) my understanding is that ihs is run by tribal governments but mostly funded by the federal government. Insanely interesting stuff.

[@carlpetersen3147]

Would recommend looking up Public law 93-638 Indian Self Determination. Many IHS hospitals are still fully federally operated with Federal Employees, some are operated jointly with the Tribe with a 638 Contract, only a few are fully operated by tribes on Compacts where the feds hand over all the money for operation and let Tribes decide how to spend it. BIE and Tribal Schools have similar operation Schemes. Most Federal programs can be contracted to be run by the Tribe like Roads, EPA, Cultural Preservation, Courts, Police, Game Fish, and Parks, Land Operation (Managing Tribal Land leases) Among other things.

[@gamermapper]

The US should follow their native people and also implement free healthcare everywhere tbh

[@anime-girl9743]

Albuquerque has one two

[@frankychan04]

Educating Ricky

[@MrStaybrown]

IHS isn't free anymore. All members of the sovereign nation are required to have medical insurance, or be billed.

[@Astromancerguy]

Thanks for the shoutout to the Snoqualmie Tribe! FYI, they also own the land around Snoqualmie falls, though it is not part of the reservation.

[@tenzinsmith7991]

The Great Northern hotel?

[@hatpeach1]

Nice job, Wendover Productions! Concise, accurate, and sensitive to important issues.

[@ryanreedgibson]

As a network systems engineer I used to contract with the US Dept of Interior's BIE or Bureau of Indian education. I would design deploy all tele/data systems at all the schools in the nation. I got to know so many great people there which took YEARS for them to get comfortable with me. Most still see us a terrorists and rightly so. I would take home 78,000 a month but worked 80 to 90 hours a week. It was hard to step away due to the people and money but after five years it was too much. I do miss it.

[@briangarrow448]

Respect to my friends in Quinault, Rochester, Neah Bay, and across the Southwest!

[@vladimirputout2461]

@hv a gooday prayers have no remetent

[@Charles-hq7ce]

If you mean rochester, NY then cool, live right near there. the reservations in the area are super chill places

[@swell07_]

an oddly specific list.

[@chancewilson4482]

Much respect, from forks 🤙

[@Mauser1965]

@@Charles-hq7ce He meant the Chehalis. While Neah Bay is a place and the locals there are the Makah.

[@danielferreira4005]

Idea for a video. The logistics of the Tour de France.

[@InspectorGadget923]

Step 1, ban cardboard signs.

[@kiel_3222]

@@InspectorGadget923 yea, that gal is the most hated woman in France since Marie Antoinette

[@josephboen178]

@@kiel_3222 She hated because she liked baguette, no cap

[@engineeredarmy1152]

Step 2 : Ban bicycles

[@synthmark7687]

Step 3: Ban humans

[@skidogleb]

I went to a high school graduation for my friend in Navajo Mountain, Utah. Lots of hope in the room then but the hope was for the next generation to go out and bring back prosperity, or to simply go out and build a better life. Life there is so different than suburban folk in Utah and Arizona could ever imagine. Driving a four wheeler an hour to get to school, or seeing many wild stray dogs roaming. The land is so beautiful though, endless red plateaus going off into the sunset, and some people seemed very happy to live there.

[@lisatsosie149]

Nice! I'm from Navajo Mountain. My family has been living on the Eltsosie ranch or that area since before the Navajo Nation was cut into the Rez & before the United States was the United States.

[@sweetpeabee4983]

This was an interesting watch and I learned a lot. Thank you! 🙂

[@nanowhit]

Great video. It’s a fairly similar system in Canada. Also, my tribe has oral history that remembers the Diné as relatives.

[@crestofhonor2349]

How much area in Canada do they take up? Is it bigger or smaller than the US’s designated areas?

[@ralphvelthuis2359]

@@crestofhonor2349 about 241,700 square miles, representing about 6.3% of the total land mass of Canada over about 3,100 reservations. The largest one, in Alberta, is about 546 square miles.

[@merrymachiavelli2041]

@@crestofhonor2349 First Nations (mainly Inuit) also make up a majority of the population in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Although the total population of the province is only about 35,000 people.

[@Threezi04]

Wow that last bit is actually really cool

[@elcielo8607]

Please tell me more. I am Diné and would very much like to hear this

[@Emeries40]

Chickasaw here! It was awesome to learn about how my nation was the first to open up a DC office. Edit: The Winstar World Casino is owned and operated by the Chickasaw, not the Chippewa. Source: The casino paid for like half of my tuition.

[@hisownfool1]

my oldest friend is a member of the Osage Nation. The nation's investments paid for half of his children's college tuition.

[@justinhaase8825]

As someone who is near the NE OK casino area, I'm sure the casinos are profitable, but honestly, many nations would be much better served by expanding their options of economic development...maybe casinos are the entry method to funding, but so many options exist to diversify their income.

[@Emeries40]

@@justinhaase8825 Chickasaw Nation has already been doing this for 35 years now - they have a diversified ownership portfolio, from a chocolate factory to a military manufacturer.

[@sion8]

@@Emeries40 *+*

[@FairyCRat]

Yeah, the Chippewa live predominantly close to the border with Canada, nowhere near Dallas.

[@jokerfacebitch]

I just moved to the Southwest and this helped me get a better handle on how this is structured. Thanks!

[@thp8485]

Thanks for the informative video, and thanks to the comments for helping with the pronunciation 🙌🏽

[@nathanhaney91]

Cherokee: “Chair-oh-key” NOT “churro-key” lol

[@freealter]

Yeah I thought that was a given? Even “Chair-uh-key” is more common

[@ecdudis9557]

Also BOS-keh Redondo not Bosk Redondo

[@geoffwalters3662]

I do like Churros however. In Panama, they sell them with caramel in the middle and it's addictive as crack.

[@johnmackshighlights8103]

Let's go Cherokees!! Won term at Kanakuk

[@sion8]

Well that's what you get for not having a phonemic script.🤷‍♂️

[@flybobbie1449]

By accident on way back from Flagstaff to Vegas we stopped off at some town and went into only bar in town. It was a Indian bar. Felt out of place, but when they discovered we were English they warmed and started chatting. They looked a sorry lot. All beer belled getting drunk. They said people call them Navajo, but were Hupa or sounded like Hupili. He said they were treated lowest of the low, even below the black man. They seemed very bitter. Land of the free...they laughed. Reminded me of Australian aboringines.

[@JamesDecker7]

Havasupai. Yeah, that tribe gets messed over a lot because of their location in/next to Grand Canyon

[@dltguitar6532]

its funny an English guy commenting on how the Us treats non-whites with Britains track record lol

[@LoveStallion]

This video creepily read my mind. Exactly two days ago I was pondering and researching the governing relationships between Navajo Nation, the feds, and the states.

[@JamesDecker7]

Did you find out about the Benet Freeze….🤦‍♂️

[@jpurser55]

shout out from the Port Gamble S'klallam Reservation. been studying tribal history for almost 10 years now, glad to see this video on KZbin

[@zackkelley2940]

semi-autonomous vassal state, seems pretty straight forward to me.

[@chaosXP3RT]

Then what are states and territories?

[@zackkelley2940]

@@chaosXP3RT same thing... but they don't get to pretend they're sovereign^^

[@gamermapper]

Like Hong-Kong

[@johnpbulger7893]

Without the random bombings

[@gamermapper]

@@zackkelley2940 why do states get representation in the Congress but indigenous nations don't? Would love to hear the lovers of electoral college now change the position once it'll become indigenous led! Why aren't they at least shown on maps, when de facto they're not a part of the state and more autonomous than the state?

[@LvnTheDrm23]

Fantastic video, I’m a Rosebud Oglala Sioux from South Dakota (PineRidge Indian Reservation) and it’s unbelievable the decades of “red tape” Natives have to go through to approve anything. Which is probably why (and other reasons) my Rez is poorest in the nation. Can’t believe how badly we Natives have continued to be treated. It’s sad 😪💘

[@danfoster8219]

Yes.

[@pinchevulpes]

Doesn’t help that you’re crazy horses band. That historical victory at little big horn never sat well with the anglos

[@forumquorum8156]

last i checked, no one is being forced to say at a reservation, they can join the real world and work their tail off like the rest of us have to do.

[@pinchevulpes]

@@forumquorum8156 Braindead comment

[@cheiiblas]

​@@forumquorum8156 statics shows a majority of natives live off reservation and just because they leave the rez doesn't mean there aren't options to improve the rez so worry about the western world while we Navajos have to balance 2 world perspectives

[@zuglymonster]

i have not really understood how they work and I have always wanted to. Thank you!

[@silverstar8868]

Perfect timing for the algorithm to recommend this. I was just reading about the Navajo Nation.

[@_thomas1031]

As someone with Navajo ancestry, I couldn't of clicked faster! Thank you for covering this subject🙌🙌🙌

[@gamermapper]

as someone who likes different cultures in the world, including Native Americans where it's hard to find interesting and easy to understand videos, saaaaaame giiiiirl!

[@kylesty6728]

This was very well done, thank you

[@TheGreatBunghole16]

I visited Kayenta and Monument Valley just over a week ago. 4 corners was closed, but we went freely between sites on the nation. beautiful place, and culture! I will visit again.

[@markquintonii]

As a member of the Cherokee tribe, i have never heard anyone in my life struggle this hard with the proper pronunciation

[@jelof21]

so weird watching this, as a Filipino who lived in Window Rock for 2/3 years

[@dotdotdotdotdotdotdottod]

i mean filipinos and navajo look similer so ¯\(ツ)/¯

[@mike5racin635]

Hey u watch F1?

[@stephenharwood381]

This video brought up an interesting linguistic difference between the US and the rest of the world. Generally, being an independent UN-recognised 'country' is referred to outside the US as being a 'state'. This is legally clearer and less ambiguous than 'country' - which could apply for example to Scotland and Wales, which are not independent states. The problem in the US is I guess that people will hear 'state' and think of something like California or Colorado, which are a dependent part of the United States (which is a UN-recognised state).

[@trezenx]

Now that's a cool sponsor! I use a similar service and I love them.

[@aakopa]

Here in Finland plenty of homes are built on public lands, the process requires there to be strong well defined lease agreement on the land with buyout clauses etc, but it is possible to make such an arrangement work.

[@gillianvonrunte4747]

There's no leasehold / freehold distinction in the US which might help matters.

[@keepitsimpleman]

The map of Reservations at the beginning should've included the Reservations of the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma. Since the McGirt v. Oklahoma decision last summer, those boundaries are rather significant when talking about Indian Country. Prior to that, the only Reservation that existed in Oklahoma is the Osage Reservation, and that is for purposes of mineral rights in Osage County.

[@NWAokie]

It was a little irritating that he couldn't pronounce Cherokee...

[@da3musceteers]

Nothing is ever enough for you people is it?

[@MrJoki56]

Your video is one of many that should be made about the history that’s not talked at all about in our history classes. A genocide of indigenous people that occurred over centuries as a result of european colonization. It’s important to talk about this, because hiding traumatic events and allowing time to pass will never erase the wounds. Only educating people in the present about the past can cause people to reflect and do better

[@Almighty_YeeDuck]

Please respect what we have, our tribe, language, culture, everything that is a part of us. It's who we are as people. Yes, our lives are hard but that's what makes us strong Diné

[@moundhirmoundhirs6123]

Okey bradley

[@Drakedagoatnocap]

Ok Bradley

[@mathyeuxsommet3119]

NO,you will eat the burgers and have democracy.

[@prateeksharma6706]

We won ! Why should we provide u with land u people should leave United States at once 😤💪🏼🇺🇸🖕🏼

[@prateeksharma6706]

We won ! Why should we provide u with land u people should leave United States at once 😤💪🏼🇺🇸🖕🏼

[@mattoftexas]

This video is deep. Amazed by the quality of your productions and the variety. Hope you don't mind me sharing this video with my Humanities professor on campus as this is a great explanation of tribal lands.

[@alyoshamikhaylov7651]

" So... yes. the Indians in these parts got sold a very raw deal. This is the Heartlands we're going to, good farming and grazing country, they lost it all. Stolen clean away from them it was, every blade of grass. Killed or herded up to the reservations in the middle of nowhere. "

[@manuelsilva3365]

RIP Hosea

[@nakanik8375]

RIP indigenuous people

[@CalvinsWorldNews]

Except the Indians would never have developed in the quasi-industrial way that modern agriculture exists today. I've never quite gotten whether they want to live as they did traditionally, or be a modern society. If they want to never modernise then $8,000 per year, electricity and occasional running water is a wild step up.If they do want to be modern then embrace all that America and capitalism has to offer. Countries like Estonia in the 90s are a good example of how a country can rapidly modernise from rural backwater to proper western country.

[@konglight4070]

@@CalvinsWorldNews If they wanted to live like they have been for several thousands of years, how is being a second class citizen a "wild step up"?

[@CalvinsWorldNews]

@@konglight4070 My point is that they have two options: 1) Embrace the modern American lifestyle. They don't like it. 2) Live off the land, living in huts. Nobody does this though I totally understand long standing historical grievances (I'm from Scotland) but at a certain point you need to define who you are and what you want. If they want thousands of square miles of land returned, they cannot also expect that it comes with highways and electricity and Wallmart included as standard. My experience is that they don't want an agrarian society or undeveloped land, they just want free money. There's a strong argument to be made that they are entitled to shares in western businesses but it screams of hypocrisy, given how strongly they've fought against those business' existence

[@crinkly.love-stick]

I like the scientific use of the stick at 3:55. Much technical

[@SamOGr]

Wendover/ Extremities/ HAI are the best channels on KZbin, all offer a different product but are all fantastic, just wanted to say to you Sam and all the staff, keep up the fantastic work, really excited for every new video

[@slashingdawn4140]

Damn at 14:16 its straight up is showing the yard I grew up in. Damn I guess I really did live in poverty. Well glad I have come a long ways from it, glad to be out of Tuba though.

[@johnchedsey1306]

I ran a cross country race in high school that was hosted at Tuba City. It was November, cold and windy. Let's just say that was the fastest 5k I ever ran because I just wanted back in the warm van.

[@AstoriaGaming]

Nice, interesting and entretaining. Great as always!

[@torrawel]

Finally a video like this. Great work! 2 comments though. There are a lot of countries with similar "domestic dependent nations", like all other countries on the American continent, Australia, New Zealand, etc. The exact situation differs from country to country (some have reservations like Brasil, Colombia and Australia, some made Treaties similar to the US, like Canada and New Zealand), but in general, they are very much comparable. Also, the status of these nations is less "unknown" than presented here. Both the US, as well as the Inter American Organization, as wel as the United Nations have clearly defined the rights of Indigenous Peoples. That's why, for example, the US Supreme Court decided in favor of the Creek (Muskogee) Nation in the recent McGirt case.

[@arturorsg1]

Thanks Sam for making the video that CGP Grey has been teasing for years! IMO this is the best comprehensive video on the topic of Indian Reservatios to date

[@errorali39]

I would truly love to see a video like this about Canadian reserves as well, and I would share it with my friends for sure !!

[@danielwalker26]

Our local casino started out as a bingo hall. Now they have a huge hotel and casino with 13 resturants.

[@capnatcha]

a fantastic video from one of my favorite channels...though I can't say I've ever heard some of those words/names pronounced that way...

[@jackwiegmann]

FINALLY SOMEONE MAKES A VIDEO EXPLAINING THIS

[@niagaradrones]

One of my favorite spots to visit is a Six Nations reserve in Ontario.

[@RaoVenu]

The statistics at 14:12 are quite tragic 🥲 Last year I wanted to visit the Big 5 and drive through the Navajo Nation from CA. I was really keen on visiting Monument Valley. Unfortunately the Navajo nation had closed their roads and hence I scraped my plans. Good for them to prioritize their needs. Cheers

[@AliceObscura]

90 minutes from Dallas, but also located in Tulsa (a city of 400,000 with a metro of 900,00) where I live and about an hour from Oklahoma City, another major city.

[@paulmorales1607]

I just LOVE how the comments reflect the intersection of Wendover and CGP Grey viewers

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

We just watch Wendover while we're waiting for the next CGP Grey video.

[@Labyrinth6000]

I pretty sure CGPGrey stopped because he’s entered too much controversial water and made some people mad because of the Part 0 American Indian Naming video and political correctness. Instead he decided to cover stupid hexagons and shark art instead.

[@paulmorales1607]

@@Labyrinth6000hahahahahaha

[@speckles3012]

The pronunciation of Cherokee is (Chair-uh-key) by the way

[@Shack-lion]

As a Navajo, I liked this vid. Short but I formative. And yeah it’s complex here but it’s home.

[@kristianprice9250]

I use to live in the Navajo Reservation, took left side of NM called upper fruitland. Talk about no running water or electricity. But hey close to some towns and wasn't that bad of a living. I live in Phx now and it is so much different from my life before. Good ways and bad

[@PakaBubi]

Love when you say: “Therefore…(pause)”

[@egonmilanowski]

The Navajo Nation does have at least one casino called Twin Arrows. It is about 2.5 hours north of Phoenix.

[@ohjahohfrick9837]

They have some in New Mexico as well.

[@barrypark1881]

You mean 15 mins from flagstaff

[@egonmilanowski]

@@barrypark1881 No, I meant 1 hour from Sedona, 35 minutes from Winslow, and 1.5 hours to Snowflake. Never heard of Flagstaff. I think you meant Falstaff, the Shakespeare character.

[@barrypark1881]

Did I say flagstaff I meant 5 minutes from Winona xD

[@irockhard9963]

3 casinos in NM, Hogback, Fruitland, and Churchrock, and and 1 in AZ.

[@jp15isme]

16:31 Did you ever do a correction on the term “pre proportioned “ 😂 those are my fav videos at the end of the year. Love your content hommie 🤙🤙

[@deydreks]

Could you imagine hello fresh on the Navajo nation? Great informative video.

[@maricon_carne]

Ive been to navajo nation several times, mostly on my way to monument valley. Its beautiful and worth travelling to but definitely could use regular government funding and representation in federal government

[@JamesDecker7]

Look up the Benet Freeze. The NN could use just not getting messed over first of all…

[@dauvone.5772]

I appreciate doing a video on my people, although you were mispronouncing the term dine, I do appreciate you using the proper term instead of Navajo.

[@livewellwitheds6885]

can you explain the difference? genuinely curious

[@NCRonrad]

@@livewellwitheds6885 Navajo, Apache are Spanish terms for Diné people. Also neighboring tribes may have named us Navajo

[@nahuelma97]

What does Diné mean in their/your language? I mean, Uruguay, for example, my country's name, means "river of the tinted birds" in Guaraní, I think, which is the language spoken around here when the Spanish showed up. Does Diné have any meaning like that?

[@NCRonrad]

@@nahuelma97 Diné- the people

[@38llee]

Dude don't try to church it up, we're Indians. I'm a navajo Indian and you're a navajo Indian.

[@jjma796]

I think that there are actually quite a few similarities in relations between USA and indigenous nations as there are between The UK and it’s overseas territories and the Channel Islands (the historical background obviously being very different)

[@JB-tm3pn]

The „however“ counter went through the roof in this one 😄

[@derekg1033]

I sure do like when Sam mentions the UP. In fact, it might be fun to do some content on States that attempted to become the 51st state, like the UP when they tried to become Superior.

[@frigginjerk]

As someone from New York, but in a part of the state that's just about as far away as you can get from that city with the same name, I feel a certain kinship with the Yoopers.

[@georgekoribanic2524]

I can't believe there's people that haven't heard how to pronounce Cherokee

[@snoqualmiepatkanim]

Snoqualmie was right! (That’s my pic) Dinè was wrong. (Reverse emphasis)

[@livinglitchfield6917]

Simple, live outside the US. I hadn't heard of the people till this video

[@yousandro1999]

@@livinglitchfield6917 same, im also not north-american so i didnt know any of those names too

[@HamburgerHelperDeath]

Jeep Cherokee

[@rambi1072]

@@livinglitchfield6917 Really? I've definitely heard of the Cherokee loads of times and I don't even live in North America

[@jacobahtone220]

I am a full blood and my family owns our original allotments of 160 acres in Oklahoma. We have houses built on it that we own. Oklahoma has been recognized by the supreme court of never breaking up the reservations. So Oklahoma adds over 19 million acres of reservation land to the total. Also it is the Chickasaws who own the largest casino 90 miles from Dallas on Interstate-35, but the Choctaws have a very large casino 90 miles north of Dallas on Highway 75 as well.

[@icezebra]

14:24 that's Cherokee, NC. A nice reserve up in the mountains

[@nailersrule]

I've been there thrice. One of my favorite places. The Hopi nation too.

[@gamermapper]

Are those nations culturally different from the rest of the US? Is the cultural diversity amongst native nations greater than between just US states and is it at the same level as different European countries ?

[@nailersrule]

@@gamermapper I would say it's more like the Sami people or the Roma. The native people are very diverse here though. Some tribes have distinct cultures and have retained their language. Some tribes are pretty much assimilated with just a cultural legacy left. Some tribes are in between.

[@FasFas160]

Instantly clicked on the notification. I only just realised this isn't a GCP grey video

[@E1craZ4life]

I’m not subscribed to CGPGrey, so I wouldn’t know how this could be confused with one of his videos.

[@Sompursone]

@@E1craZ4life He’s been teasing a reservations video/video series for years now.

[@rhondaserges5136]

The very first Tribal owned Casino was King's Club in the Bay Mills Indian Community, an Ojibwe Reservation. We also fought for and obtain Great Lakes fishing Rights for the Tribes of Michigan. Bay Mills Indian Community can be found just west of Brimley, MI in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula.

[@brydonwood6000]

Canadian native here and this video was very informative I've been wondering how the cousins across the border are doing

[@AFAndersen]

Wait... your ad pitch is "when I was done working, I was too tired to make food.. so I ordered out! But now everything is sorted out because Hello Fresh sends you ingrediences." Don't you still have to make the food? And isn't that what you were too tired to do? So it's no help at all, it's just same status quo

[@jamesjjames]

Pay restaurant prices but still do all the labor yourself.

[@Kuryux]

I liked the idea, but unfortunately they don't cover my area

[@fohex40]

Sponsor block bro, it auto skips these garbage shilling in video ads.

[@fohex40]

@@Kuryux It's garbage people that were sponsored by them got tired of overpaying for ingredients and having to make mediocre food.

[@Seff2]

@@fohex40 yeah, without adblock and sponsor block I would not even bother to open KZbin anymore.