Letters for July 11, 2023

Navajo water rights are human rights

In the case of Arizona v. Navajo Nation, the Supreme Court again affirmed America’s abysmal history of false promises, illegal actions and bad faith to Indigenous peoples, and perpetuated the American Nightmare among people of color. Rather than honoring our nation’s legal obligations, articulated in the treaties it wrote and forced the native nations to sign, the court chose to perpetuate its history of discrimination against disadvantaged people of color in order to protect more influential interests.

It could be argued that the U.S. government’s history of persecution of Indigenous peoples exceeds even the worst of its unspeakable crimes against Black people. Just as with our nation’s refusal to own up to the continuing shame of entrenched racism, especially against Black people, we continue to be pathologically averse to admitting our accountability for our history of broken treaties, forced displacement of entire tribes, intentional massacre of communities (including noncombatant members such as children, women and aged), and the campaign of cultural obliteration by the kidnapping and brainwashing of Indigenous children – essentially, our nation’s campaign of genocide against Indigenous peoples and the continued ruination of their resources.

We can’t undo the past, but we can help the present and the future, by supporting candidates who demonstrate that this country can admit its failings and never stop trying to do the right thing, one that keeps its promises and attempts to apply all laws equitably for all people rather than favoring the few; in other words, the one our Founders dreamed we could be.

Steve Blewett

Spokane

Catalyst for change

On June 30, there was a presentation in Spokane recommending the formation of the Spokane Regional Authority for Homelessness, Housing, Health and Safety. My wife heard about the presentation from a friend who attended, along with approximately 350 members of our community. Frustrated with the seemingly long months of conversations and debates regarding this specific topic, I was sure it was just a new façade to collect more dollars to feed the endless maze of independent ideas. Noting that I might be quick to jump to conclusions, I had to redeem myself by visiting their website beginning first with the executive summary and then ended up reading every document listed. Wow! At last a master plan to address several of our community issues that garner a great deal of frustration. Imagine a single entity, merging all our local communities, monies and staff resources together to address the current blight on our community. Imagine, too, a single entity working within our legal system and using those resources to assist in addressing drug addiction and mental illness.

I would highly encourage those who are frustrated with our current direction in dealing with the homeless issue in Spokane to visit the helloforgood.org website and read through the documents. What you’ll find, as bold as it may be, is a document that asks all of our political entities to come together as one to address our current issues with a single voice. Who knows, it could be the catalyst for change.

Michael Pearson

Spokane