OF INDIANS AND COWBOYS; LOSING NATIVITY IN WILD WILD WEST

``Hey look out that Indian there… Columbus was crazy. He found us and called us Indians. But real Indian is standing in the crowd.’’ Choo Kie was the first native Indian I interacted with, was pointing at me. He drove the horse driver carriages at Halaupai resort.

``My name means an idiot or the man who get into trouble often,’’ he laughed. He lived 45 miles away from resort. However, he is proud to work in India nation and be here.

Since I landed in US, I was hearing about native Indians, India reserves or India Nations. In San Francisco, my cousin Prashanth told me about native Indians and India reserves. I knew some part of the history, but could not relate so much to it. Once in US, the issue started becoming more and more clear.

Destruction of Red Indians in America starts from `Gold Rush’ era in 1830’s. Large number of people started coming to West of Mississippi river after huge gold reserves were unearthed in the West. The American Indian (Red Indians) people were massacred and their women were raped. The Indians tried defending with bows and arrows and fell prey to bullets of the invaders. Many tribal groups simply vanished due to onslaught.

In the modern world, the remaining Indians started losing their identity. After a prolonged struggle for self-governance, the government agreed to create India Reserves, a Nation within the Nation. While Canyon is one of the India Nations, there are many smaller India nations all across US. Though US laws applicable to these areas, tribal leader takes a call on local administration. No one can own land in India nation.

It is not that only Indians lived in West coast of US before gold rush era. There lived Cowboys, who moved here way back in 1700s. When we entered Halaupai resort, cowboys, riding on horseback, greeted us. The trademark cap, full arm shirts were no different from what we used to watch in movies. When we entered the resort, it was done up to resemble a Cowboy village, which we saw in movies.

``Well! This is our lifestyle. The dress, the houses here make a lot of sense in this weather. We adopted these over centuries. We have left beef raising and got into tourism business. In some parts, cowboys still live in our traditional way,’’ said Robert Hauck, one of the cowboy in the resort.

The settlers in East Coast wanted to raise beef in the desert, which they thought was useless for occupation. This was beginning of cowboy culture and those who came to raise beef settled here.

``Indians were here and we were also here. Everything was fine for 130 years till the gold rush started. The white men came here and had bad relationship with Indians. They never respected sanctity of the land and did not abide by the rules of land. That ruined everything here,’’ Hauck said. Straight forward, forgetting that even cowboys were whites.

``Basically, they were gold looters and did not understand what was happening here. They just called it Wild Wild West, which was not true,’’ he lamented.

Hauck was honest and admitted that there were outlaws among cowboys also, as shown in some movies. ``Some lazy people did not work. They robbed money from banks, other people and also trains. Those days, no telephone and no communication. You loot in one place and go to another village. No one knows who you are. At the end of it, you would get caught,’’ he said.

Back in my cottage in the resort, they had displayed a brief history of Billy the Kid, who had killed 21 people at the age of 21. A Sherief later gunned him down. A poster in toilet read; ``this place is frequented by pickpockets and loose women’, while other places also had some funny signboards. Hauck confessed that the Cowboy movement was fast dying out.

Formation of India Nations has not helped native Indians to great extent. It reminds of reservation system in India. My cousin Prashanth in San Francisco told me that wealthy businessmen exploited Indians.

``Barring in Los Vegas, only native Indians got license to open casino in US. The wealthy businessmen scout for proper native Indians and get license in their name. The show will be run by the businessmen,’’ he said.

When I visited Smith Sonian’s National Museum of the American Indian History at Washington, I thought this was the only place where native Indians got some justice. The sprawling museum has made all efforts to collect maximum details about different tribes, their lifestyle, traditions, dress and culture of native Indians. A young native Indian girl was explaining their tradition, which dates back to Before Christ era. Entire history of struggle by Indians to determine their future is featured in the Museum.

But, most of the Indians have joined the mainstream and maintaining their cultural identity is becoming increasingly difficult. As one of the statement by Jeela Allurut, a native Indian liberation movement leader read: ``Right now, we have a different lifestyle. We can’t go back to how it was. It is impossible to be like that now. We have to find a way to help our children and ourselves.’’