Gangs are the latest threat to Indian country

Gangs are the latest threat to Indian country

MCT FORUM

By Mark Anthony Rolo

(MCT)

Indian Country is under a new threat: this time from gangs.

While American Indian communities struggle to undo decades of devastating oppression, a surge of gang activity among their youth is posing a grave challenge.

In recent years, urban gang recruiters have established a firm presence on Indian reservations. Vandalism, violence and shootings are sweeping across the tribal map at an alarming rate. A new Indian generation is rejecting traditional tribal values and turning to a culture of drugs and disrespect.

Despite efforts to break inter-generational cycles of dire dysfunction, too many Indian teens are growing up on reservation communities where poverty, alcoholism and domestic abuse remain rampant. The tradeoff may be prison or death, but for this generation of Indian youth, gangs offer support, loyalty and a strong sense of belonging.

The U.S. Department of Justice reports that the crime rate on tribal reservations is two to three times that of the national average. Much of that crime is directly related to gang activity. Throughout Indian Country, law enforcement officials are forced to admit they are engaged in a losing battle simply because tribes cannot afford to hire enough cops.

Last week, the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee listened to testimony on the growing movement of Indian gangs. At the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota tribal authorities report there are at least 39 organized gangs.

Members of the committee talked about increasing federal funding for tribal law enforcement. And while Congress should appropriate more funds to help fill the gap, the need for developing workable strategies to counter the lure of gang culture must be addressed.

Getting Indian youth connected to tribal culture, ceremonies and traditions is often cited as the best solution to fending off gang involvement. But for an Indian teen living in a crumbling community the Indian way of life does not have much pull. The support system of the traditional community (strong parental involvement, elder mentoring and adult role-modeling) was nearly wiped out by colonization.

The failure to find a place is why many Indian teens are drawn to gangs in the first place. That makes it all the more critical to find creative ways to reconnect them with tribal communities.

American Indians have survived forced removal from their lands, relocation from the reservation to the city and boarding schools intended to assimilate Indian children into white culture.

But gangs might be the biggest threat to that survival. Today’s generation of Indian youth will become the face of Indian Country. How tragic it would be if tomorrow’s tribal leaders should also be gang bangers.

X Mark Anthony Rolo, an enrolled member of the Bad River Band of Ojibwe, is making a film on gangs in Indian Country. He wrote this for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues; it is affiliated with The Progressive magazine. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.