Why, despite still "owning" some of the most valuable land in North America (including most of the uranium reserves, 20% of the oil and natural gas, etc.), do the remaining 2 million Native inhabitants live in conditions of Third World poverty—a life expectancy averaging under 50; 60% unemployment; a per capita income on the Pine Ridge Reservation of $2000 a year? The systematic elimination of the American Indians didn’t end with Columbus, or smallpox-laden blankets, or the scalp bounty. Here, the pre-eminent Native activist/scholar Ward Churchill passionately unveils the 500-year conquest and demonstrates its continuation -today.
Ward Churchill teaches at the University of Colorado/Boulder and is the author of numerous books and spoken-word CDs.