Do Indian Reservations Equal Apartheid?
By William J. Lawrence Editor s note: Bill Lawrence is publisher of Native American Press / Ojibwe News and a member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa. The following editorial appeared in the June 6, 2003 issue of the Ojibwe News. You can contact and subscribe to this weekly newspaper by going to the links section on the PERM web site at www.perm.org. Or you can go directly to the Ojibwe News web site at www.press-on.net. Tribal governments are quick to blame the problem on racism. While that may be Recently Minnesota s DNR Commissioner Gene Merriam set off a firestorm of protests from tribal governments when he stated that any system of apartheid based on race is inherently misdirected. Tribal governments accused Merriam of comparing the legal exercise of treaty rights with one of history s most brutal and racist systems of government, and called for his resignation. The Governor and the Commissioner quickly issued apologies. But this shouldn t be the end of the story. Commissioner Mer
