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Introduction
It goes without saying that life for the people in USA in the olden days, especially in 20th century, was filled with lot of challenges and obstacles. Some of the prominent challenges in the 20th century were scarcity of resources, high population growth, limitation of land for cultivation and sustenance, linguistic and cultural alienation, and scattered population. All these factors of depravity and scarcity made their life difficult to sustain. Further, be it socio-economic life, educational status, health quotient, or even the political and linguistic status of the people, there was a total absence of peace, equality, justice, and tranquility in every departments of life. So, it highlights a scenario and predicament of life that the very purpose of living of those was defeated due to an absence of just, equitable, peaceful, and ethical existence of human societies. Such an atmosphere of discrimination and alienation of some people were further aggravated by the poor quality and access of healthcare and education infrastructure, and by the prevalence of severe poverty and mushrooming of anti-social elements, drug abuse, and criminal activities. Due to the impact of these factors, the worst affected people were the tribal people who were socially, economically, culturally, geographically, and linguistically alienated from the mainstream of life of the common people. Undoubtedly, it makes good sense to analyze the historical perspectives of the Native American people to understand the nuances of their challenges in life that they encountered, and also find out ways and means for an honorable, respectful, just and quality life. All of us know this that such a rational and pragmatic approach in life builds a launching platform for a healthy, happy, progressive and vibrant society.
Body
As part of the study and analysis, there was an extensive research taken to understand the condition of Native Americans who had no adequate resources to in the beginning of the 20th century to sustain their life and survival. During those days, they had limited resources of land cultivation. This problem was further compounded by their existence of the scattered population, and their language and cultural barriers. Such discrimination alienated them from the mainstream of the rest of the U.S. population. These alienations was not only restricted to the socio-linguistic domains of their life but also to the poor quality and availability of health care, educational opportunities, and lands for agriculture. This kind of pathetic and worrying state of their lives gave room for the increase in crime and drug abuse, and acute poverty. Due to political, social, economic, and academic negligence shown by the government policies and planning toward their amelioration, their plight continued to exist and plague many Native American populations even in this 21st century.
Description
For the purpose of analysis, the chosen tribe is Sitka who lives in the Alaska region of the USA. These tribes were called New Archangel who lives outside the sea. This is located between the Baran of Island and the southern half of Chichagof Island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean. Based on the census report of 2005, it has an estimated population of 8,986 and it is the fourth-largest city of the state.
Historical Background
The historical background of this tribe refers to the Russian heritage and this was founded in 1799 by Alexandr Baranov. He was the governor of Russian America and was sponsored by the Russian-American Company, which was a trading company chartered by Tsar Paul I during the colonial regime. During the olden days in 1802, the foreign warriors annihilated the original establishment which was known as Redoubt Saint Michael. During this course of mass destruction of property, 400 Russian inhabitants were killed and the rest enslaved. During this massacre, those ware lucky who managed to escape. Finally, Baranov was able to establish his supremacy in Sitka in 1804 and became the permanent settler. Finally, Sitka was declared as the capital of Russian America. This region was later purchased by the United States from the Russian colonial rulers in 1867.
As far as the old economy is concerned, gold mining and fish canning was the main source of earning for the people the World War II. The scenario changed after the construction of the naval air base on Japonski Island.
Modern Economy and population
In the modern context, there has been a sudden change in the economic condition of Sikita after the establishment of two employers named the South East Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC), and the Sitka School District. In addition, there are some people who are employed in the seafood industry. Based on the census report in 2010, there are 8,881 residents. Of these, there are about 7,161 people who are above 16 years of age. Further the census report reveals that an estimated 4,692 people, who are above 16, are employed in the field of civilian labor force, 192 in the armed forces and the rest 348 people are still looking for job and they are unemployed. Despite some improvement in their economic condition, the umemployability rate of these people are 6.9 and 7% of the total residents has incomes below the poverty line.
Education
The quality of education level is still sub-standard in this region. As far as secondary and university-level academic institutions are concerned, there are Sitka High School, Pacific High School, Blatchley Middle School, and a Presbyterian-affiliated private college named Sheldon Jackson College. In addition, there is a University of Alaska Southeast-Sitka. The campus of this university is located on the island of Japonski.
Historical place
There is the Sitka Historical Museum which is engaged in ensuring the all-round development of the local residents with the help of the Foraker Group and the Rasmuson Foundation. This has established the Sitka Historical Society in Sitka in order to bring about these changes. As far as the Sitka Historical Museum is concerned, it has exhibits, photographs, artifacts, and archives that dates back to the history and age of Tlingit, Russian, and American history.
Heath
There are no quality healthcare management systems in this area. Though there are some small dispensaries and hospitals, they have poor quality of infrastructure, medicine, doctors and support staffs. These people mainly cure and heal themselves through dietary control and local medicines. There are still some peole in this tribe who use teas brewed from the devil's club, Hudson bay tea leaves, roots, leaves, and flowers of various plants. These are used to purify the body, enhance the immune system, and heal the sickness and injury. There are some people who use the modern medical treatment provided by the existing health-care systems.
Analysis
Keeping the magnitude of poor quality of heath, education, economy, and unemployment into account, it makes good sense to believe that it is really a cause of concern. The fruit of success and development has not still reached to the huts of these people. There is sharp economic growth among the general American population, but such a growth is is of no use to these people. The poor management and monitoring of the economic ameliorative measures and corruption are the main reasons for their pathetic condition of life. Even there is a plan and policy at the national and regional levels but the fruits of their planning do not reach to this downtrodden and poor lot due to poor implementation of policies. They are the neglected and ignored lot of the modern American communities. And, this trend had been there in the past and it still continues to exist. Whatever the development is going on, the pace and intensity of the development is very slow and tardy. There is an institution named the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), which was founded in 1944, with a view to improve their state of backwardness and bring them into the mainstream of the general American people. The national-level policy initiative has been taken but there is a lot to be done. What has already been done for these people is not good enough. There is a need to overhaul the entire system of upgrading their condition and look at these problems from different perspectives. These perspectives can be social, economic, political, psychological, health, and educational. All these sectors need to build an infrastructure. For this, government should earmark a separate fund for exclusively improving their plaguing conditions. It is better to create a separate department to plan, manage, implement, and monitor the policy of infrastructure building in a cohesive manner. Though the United States government has responded to this issue by bringing about legislation and giving financial support, the pace of development is a worrying factor. If it is required to be made effective and efficient, it should monitored by an independent agency. In addition, a definite timeline of planning and action should be made for the implementation of the program and policies. And, these should be monitored monthly, quarterly, and annually.
Conclusion
Based on the aforesaid facts and analysis, I believe that what happened in the past is no more an issue of the present time. Now, it is a matter of great success and happiness that the country could overcome all these troubles and poverty of the Sikta tribes. And, I am confident that corrective initiatives at the national and the regional levels will help us accomplish our missions of bringing smiles on the lips of these peoples and make these people feel proud of being the part of the USA. This will certainly help them become happy, healthy, educated and prosperous in life.
References
Thompson Daniel, Grover Allyn Margan, Petruzelli Renee, L. Dilliplane Timothy (Ty), W. Strunk Michael, March 2002. Archaeological Data Recovery at Baranof Castle State Historic Site, Sitka, Alaska: Final Report of Investigations. Retrieved from
http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=archaeological%20data%20recovery%20at%20baranof%20castle%20state%20historic%20site%2C%20sitka%2C%20alaska%3A%20final%20report%20of%20investigations&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDwQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdnr.alaska.gov%2Fparks%2Foha%2Fcastlehill%2Fpdfdocuments%2Fchapter0.pdf&ei=ATkDT5meKYqnrAe4kZX6Dw&usg=AFQjCNGEstYGWLtY0sFewsBFqEu6OoEaHA&cad=rja
Sitka Legislative Information Office Legislative Affairs Agency, Sitka, Alaska, October 2007. Community Resource Guide. Retrieved from http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=community%20resource%20guide%20sitka%2C%20alaska&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fw3.legis.state.ak.us%2Flaa%2Flio%2Fsitka%2FSitka_Community_Resource_Guide.pdf&ei=8jkDT8vtH8fMrQe6l-0F&usg=AFQjCNFk4WEQ3ATj9-wRq8z6NI3dtNTc2A&cad=rja
Indian Country Today Media Network, 2011. Native & American Indian News, Articles, Culture, Events and More. Retrieved from http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/
All Indian Casinos. Sitka Tribe of Alaska. Retrieved from http://www.allindiancasinos.com/indian-tribes/alaska/186/sitka-tribe-alaska.html
http://www.ncai.org/
