A UN human official is urging the U.S. to turn over control of lands considered to be sacred to Native Americans, including the site of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

I urge him to STFU and GTFO.

This whole situation is disheartening.

What is the right thing to do in this situation?

Well, I'm sure the Republican Party is going to handle this well.

Rescind sovereign nation status. Then the Indians would be just plain American citizens and they'd own as much of Mt. Rushmore as any of us

/problem solved

As a descendant of Celts I demand the French surrender Brittany and Normandy to me and my family.

We paid a cool $26 for that land.

Smallpox blankets for everyone.

However, in the time period that this was purported to have happened, germ theory and any idea of contagion was unknown to science to say nothing of commoners.

We gave the land to the UN. I don't even have to look up the history of Mt. Rushmore to know it was taken from the Native Americans by either deception or force.

cman: This whole situation is disheartening.

What is the right thing to do in this situation?

well...we could stop screwing over the native american indian tribes.

Yeah, that's pretty much how it went down. And no, Mount Rushmore will not be given back to the Sioux.

Next case.

Weaver95: cman: This whole situation is disheartening.

What is the right thing to do in this situation?

well...we could stop screwing over the native american indian tribes.

Should the sins of the father be placed upon the son?

I know, its not so simple. There is just no way for anyone to win this.

GAT_00: We gave the land to the UN. I don't even have to look up the history of Mt. Rushmore to know it was taken from the Native Americans by either deception or force.

The British bought the land the UN in New York is built on, it only became American after the Revolution. The British got it from the Dutch in return for Suriname. The Dutch got it by giving a chest of beads to the Lenape... And the Lenape may have sold Manhattan when it was in fact Canarsee territory. Land snatching has a long history in the US.

cman: Weaver95: cman: This whole situation is disheartening.

What is the right thing to do in this situation?

well...we could stop screwing over the native american indian tribes.

Should the sins of the father be placed upon the son?

I know, its not so simple. There is just no way for anyone to win this.

no, we're still screwing the indians out of money we owe 'em. the BIA is an incredibly corrupt organization that STILL can't account for a couple/few billion dollars that should have gone to the tribal councils. we really need to stop screwing over the native tribes. the way we've pissed all over 'em is a continuing disgrace.

How about we give the Native Americans Arizona?
You know, for the lulz.

smells_ like_meat

We didn't know the mechanism, but we knew the correlation. Smallpox blankets were certainly possible for 18th-century people to use as a weapon, although it's not proven that Lord Jeffrey Amherst ever did it, and even if he did, no one else did and he was a Brit, not a settler, anyway. :P

Pfft. Like the gub'mint will give that up. I seen a documentary on teevee what said they found the lost city of gold under Mount Rushmore...

MaudlinMutantMollusk: Rescind sovereign nation status. Then the Indians would be just plain American citizens and they'd own as much of Mt. Rushmore as any of us

/problem solved

Brilliant! Wait...Does that mean I lose my Indian casino? Screw that!

They should endeavor to persevere.

cman:
Should the sins of the father be placed upon the son?

Maybe you can opt to have the property of the fathers AND their sins, or stand alone on all counts? Everyone always says 'Why should I make reparations for my forebears acts' without for one second questioning your rights to your forebears money, reputation, property etc.

Who the fark cares who owns the land on paper? I find it highly unlikely that the local tribe will do anything to Mount freaking Rushmore. Indians like tourist cash as much as anyone.

makes a good case for genocide, don't ya think. then this problem and others like it wouldn't exist.

/maybe custer wasn't a loon

Also, one guy trying to get a non-binding resolution through = the entire UN declaring the US must give up Rushmore.

Bad subby, and bad Mail.

I thought we determined a long time ago that "separate, but equal" was a really dumb idea in regards to pretty much everything. It is an especially dumb idea where the idea of natives and separate nations is concerned. Either they are Americans are they aren't. If they aren't then they shouldn't get the benefits of being Americans. If they are Americans, they need to and, arguably, should leave their drug & alcohol infested reservations and villages to give their children an actual chance at life. Of course it's easier to sit around blaming someone's great grandfather than it is to work to make a future for your race.

Cue the "We're about to give our sovereignty to the commies in the U.N.!" crazies...

Of course, they're professional crazies:

Hell, they can have all of North and South Dakota. Does anyone even live there?

LordJiro: Who the fark cares who owns the land on paper? I find it highly unlikely that the local tribe will do anything to Mount freaking Rushmore. Indians like tourist cash as much as anyone.

three words: "Mount Rushmore Casino"

In reality the "Americans" have violated every single treaty with the native people. Our goal has been to destroy and marginalize every part of their being.

They deserve Mt. Rushmore, and a whole lot more. If we had a fair legal system that actually obeyed laws and treaty's we've entered into we would have to give a whole lot of the USA back to its rightful owners.

JRoo: How about we give the Native Americans Arizona?
You know, for the lulz.

There already have a fair amount of Arizona land.

Paris1127: Land snatching has a long history in the US.

Ya... I'm thinking no.

Growing up around the Navajos you come to realize that many tribes consider every farking thing they see "sacred". Well, too bad. Nobody cares.

Dear U.N.:

I'm Bohemian. My country was stolen from my relatives during WWI. I want it back.

Either that, or a really big check.

Sincerely,

Baz the Spaz
Disgruntled Bohemian American

In that case, I demand the English and their descendants get the fark out of Ireland. Those 'snakes' that Padraig vanquished from Eire were my damn druid ancestors.

Are we supposed to restore Mt. Rushmore to its original state before turning it over? How do you de-sculpt a mountainside?

of course, if the israelis do it, they're a bunch of genocidal nazis, but suggest even for a moment that the americans stop stealing native land and it's completely out of the question.

If they want Mt Rushmore back, they should Sioux.

I have no idea, but...

smells_like_meat: Smallpox blankets for everyone.

However, in the time period that this was purported to have happened, germ theory and any idea of contagion was unknown to science to say nothing of commoners.

That last is of course BS. They didn't lob diseased corpses with catapults just for the aroma therapy, or drop bodies into wells to get them out of sight. How disease was transmitted was unknown but that it could be transmitted was known along with practical ways to make it happen.

JRoo: How about we give the Native Americans Arizona?
You know, for the lulz.

The Lulz would just build a casino and probably sell tax-free gas and cigarettes. I say good for them. The Lulz have not had enough opportunities lately.

Two_Noodles: The Lulz would just build a casino and probably sell tax-free gas and cigarettes. I say good for them. The Lulz have not had enough opportunities lately.

That's probably why there are 22 casinos in Arizona.....

asscorethethird: In reality the "Americans" have violated every single treaty with the native people. Our goal has been to destroy and marginalize every part of their being.

They deserve Mt. Rushmore, and a whole lot more. If we had a fair legal system that actually obeyed laws and treaty's we've entered into we would have to give a whole lot of the USA back to its rightful owners.

You have already acknowledged a willingness to ignore rights of ownership. For what reason should your assessment now be considered reasonable?

HotWingAgenda: How do you de-sculpt a mountainside?

Easy - call in the Taliban:

Weaver95: cman: This whole situation is disheartening.

What is the right thing to do in this situation?

well...we could stop screwing over the native american indian tribes.

You first. Give them back the stolen land that you occupy.

What exactly is a "human official"?

teto85: As a descendant of Celts I demand the French surrender Brittany and Normandy to me and my family.

Hey, chuckles; I totally called ireland; we have issues to settle with briton.

/ erin go bragh

give all land ever conquered by warfare back to whoever got their ass kicked it's only fair

iheartscotch: teto85: As a descendant of Celts I demand the French surrender Brittany and Normandy to me and my family.

Hey, chuckles; I totally called ireland; we have issues to settle with briton.

/ erin go bragh

I call the highlands of Scotland. "Clearances" my ass.

Add a Native American face up there.

I'd put another chip on the pile of reasons we should leave the UN behind completely but I'm just too tired to climb that mountain right now.

Screw you and the horse you rode in on, Geronimo. It's sacred to us nowtoo.

wademh: smells_like_meat: Smallpox blankets for everyone.

However, in the time period that this was purported to have happened, germ theory and any idea of contagion was unknown to science to say nothing of commoners.

That last is of course BS. They didn't lob diseased corpses with catapults just for the aroma therapy, or drop bodies into wells to get them out of sight. How disease was transmitted was unknown but that it could be transmitted was known along with practical ways to make it happen.

I never got this argument and I've seen some pretty smart people. Yeast was unknown until the 1800's and yet beer and bread somehow got made in the years prior. People even knew to use a starter - something in the bread dough/foamy part of the last batch of beer made the next batch happen quicker and with higher quality. Humanity actually managed to do many clever things, for good and evil, before the scientific method figured out the precise method by which it happened.

Heck, I've even heard some people manipulate matter despite the Higgs bosun remaining undiscovered. And some people profitably use gravity without the matter (hah!) of the graviton being settled. Go figure. They must be wizards.

But that's our base!

Honestly, though, it's a really weird project. It was almost entirely sculptor Gutzon Borglum's project, independent of government efforts. He was actually raising money for the project as well as doing the sculpting (well, with a crew). And the project died with him. It was SUPPOSED to be their entire bodies, to the waist, the entire mountain. There was also supposed to be this big, legendary hall of records inside that would outlive the apocalypse, which never got built. After his death, his son spent awhile finishing the features already started, but did not otherwise continue the work.

It was weird, I mean it's partly because it'd be difficult to continue another sculptor's work, but on the whole nobody wanted to. The project "got lucky" in getting greenlit and getting funding some 14+ years prior, but even then it wasn't because of popular support but patronage by a few high-ups in the govt who signed off on it, but who had themselves retired by the time Borglum died.

Kinda crazy. This sculpture isn't just huge, it's made of the natural geography. The only thing I can liken it to is the Bamiyan Buddhas (before the Taliban asshats blew 'em up) and Al Khazneh at Petra in Jordan (showed up in the first Indiana Jones movie). I suppose you could liken it to the Nazca lines but those are 2-dimensional and merely on TOP of the geography.