What Good is an Apology?

Why has the U.S. government failed to offer an apology to Native Americans? Canada and Australia are way ahead-but what good is an apology if actions do not follow?

[@MegaPat1969]

Words mean nothing action is everything

[@Piperjones12]

Words mean everything if they are sincere after the wrong action was done.

[@michellebeckstrom6110]

Exactly

[@wbworkout]

I agree, an apology is just the beginning and it's good but not enough. There must be restoration of Native rights, lands, and restitution. There must be programs which help Native communities recover and restore their cultural identity and spiritual wholeness. This must be done with the assistance of elders and leaders of these communities and with them leading the way. The Europeans colonists and invaders need to be humble and respectful and cognizant of the damage they have done and seek reconciliation with good intention and not to assimilate and reform native communities. I speak as a person of european descent with a knowledge of what has happened since European contact with indigenous communities and nations. Some of these communities are still struggling to reorient to the change that came 100s of years ago now finding themselves in the 21st century and then trying to retain what cultural viability that has survived. For for too many it's too late. In good faith the European descendants must seek to heal and learn from the past and work toward a future that includes all of us and instills respect for all. The Aboriginal Communities and their Knowledge and Wisdom must be cherished as cultural treasures that must not be lost. The US is still dragging it's feet over this issue. There is too much arrogance and misplaced Nationalism that is not self corrective and self reflective. Is essence, if the US in the past committed crimes agains indigenous peoples then those must be addressed. A country is only as great as much as it is able to redress the wrongs of it's past and do what is right and change it's behaviors in the present. This has yet to be fully realized or implemented.

[@wbworkout]

+Cuauhtli Xpo I looked up caxtiltecatl but could not find it, could you enlighten me? Thanks!

[@yellowdart6666]

wow. homegirl coming in at about 11 minutes is spot on. much love to her.

[@melanieortiz712]

An apology is worthless if you keep doing it!

[@ravennelson827]

Words without action is meaningless, it is a starting point , follow through with action on it...Whispering Raven

[@bobbiwolfgang]

Apologies mean very little, but it is a BEGINNING! Much more than the USA has done. How can healing even begin?!?! I am a USA citizen. I AM SO SORRY!

[@melanieortiz712]

@Franny schneider, they did the thing was it was done very quietly in the late 90,s early '00's.

[@texasray5237]

The apology is insincere until just compensation is offered.

[@Piperjones12]

You can never compensate people for this kind of thing. They did it to their own!! British kids were lied to and sent to Australia for slave labor, and told their parents died. Children of any skin color sadly meant nothing back then.

[@Piperjones12]

@Sacred Land Film Project - the USA offers an apology everyday the keep Native Americans financially exempt from participating in US taxes, but still provide them services that the rest of us must pay for. Everyone has a different method to try and right a wrong. Making an amends is the final and most complete stage of a sincere apology.

[@corvus_king3282]

Yet they are still some the poorest places in the U.S. where many suffer from drug and alcohol addiction and generational trauma. I think we haven't done enough.

[@Monty7473]

I would like to take a moment to apologize to the Pontiac-Indians, for my ancestors not stopping their ancestors from performing the horrible practice of ritualistic-cannibalism even sooner than they actually did. It is true they, my European ancestor/settlers, did put an end to the Pontiac’s practice of cannibalism, but there is no excuse for it taking as long as it did. For this I am truly sorry….🙏🏼

[@cynthiataylor2597]

They are not sorry they keep doing it

[@Monty7473]

I would like to take a moment to apologize to the Pontiac-Indians, for my ancestors not stopping their ancestors from performing the horrible practice of ritualistic-cannibalism even sooner than they actually did. It is true they, my European ancestor/settlers, did put an end to the Pontiac’s practice of cannibalism, but there is no excuse for it taking as long as it did. For this I am truly sorry….🙏🏼

[@anitainmo489]

The Indigenous and the Aboriginal people clearly did not need "rescuing." They had a rich culture, several languages, faith, music, dance and art. Why is the "white" culture considered to be the best in the world? There were so many other civilisations all across the world that were far richer. Generational trauma is real and it is time the US apologised to the Native Americans and paid for all the wrong that was done.

[@elainegoad9777]

I' white and I don't think "white" anglo-saxon culture is the best. We can learn a lot from the indigenous cultures of the world.

[@TBoneZone]

I think we can forgive the Settlers, for Thinking a little too Poorly, of the Indians, just as we can forgive the Indians, of Thinking a little too Poorly, of the Settlers. Why? Because that kind of judgment is a very Normal and Natural thing. Right. That is not some aberration. We all do this in every relationship. And the same thing is True about the Immigrants, who may not have a very good opinion, of the Natives, and so they might not be a very good choice, as a worthy addition, to Our Polite Society. Everybody wants to be in good relationship with everyone else. But we don't need to cram more and more People, onto our Highways, who all want to get right, into the Fast Lane, of the Over-Bloated Middle Class, which is already about to Collapse, so they can start acting like they are someone, who they are not, because that is no longer needed. Right. That might even have to be Discontinued. And so we have to Recognize New Leaders. And bring them up in the front of the room, where they belong. No longer just the same old faces. And so these Crime Ridden Neighborhoods might all have to be Restored, to Forests, Wetlands, and Wildlands, in accordance with the New Leadership. No Apologies. We should be trying, to Reduce the Population, Below One Billion, before the whole thing blows up on us. Anything else would be like throwing Gasoline on the Fire. And both the New People and the Immigrants might all have, to be judged accordingly, both as groups, and as individuals, as Good Additions, who can be Trusted. Why? When people are foisted upon us that is like a forced marriage, and that Breaks the Web of Relationships. And we have to return, to Living Within the Balance. And so it is one in and one out. And the Women judge the Men, all the time, in the exact same way. Right. If a Man doesn't have much respect, for a Woman, and does not hold her, in High Regard, and she picks up on that, she is likely to Discontinue the Relationship. And she does not have, to prove any wrong-doing. - T

[@elbertderf803]

dear Project, there is no such thing s "sacred" land..