Introduction
Native American contemporary concerns related to land use, agriculture, and food security. Native Americans are an ethnic minority who, even in the twenty-first century, face numerous challenges that pose great difficulties in their daily lives. This essay will argue that the US government is covertly oppressing Native Americans and will discuss the issues America needs to help Native Americans with, including protecting their land rights, access to food and water, and food security.
Covert Oppression of Native Americans by the US Government
A legal issue with land rights is the first indication that the US authority is oppressing Native Americans. The Native American peoples have always had limited access to the land and, as a result, to their traditional modes of life, which include harvesting and fishing. Unfortunately, the lack of recognition and protection of these rights has led to significant land-use problems, which create future global food security problems for Native Americans.
The most significant problem facing Native Americans today is the issue of land grabbing without their consent (Fish, 2020). In many areas of the country, residents of American Indian reservations are still unable to access or compensate for their land. This lack of access to land is compounded by the fact that some United States governments are attempting to patent Native American areas and impose provincial taxes on them.
The problem of land grabbing without consent is particularly problematic for Native Americans, as it strips them of their ability to engage in the traditional practices of agriculture, hunting, and fishing. The agricultural culture of these peoples is directly impacted by land concerns, which restrict them from hunting, fishing, and frequently even farming. Many Native American villages are given infertile parcels of land where it is impossible to cultivate plants and, consequently, difficult to hunt (Findling et al., 2019).
Plunging to this issue, one can also see the unintended consequences of a lack of adequate land for Native Americans, namely the destruction of Native Americans’ traditional way of life and traditions (Fish, 2020). The culture of these peoples developed over many centuries, but it began to fade due to the crumpled and closed space in which Native American settlements became immersed. When all of these factors are considered together, the result is a cultural and economic crisis in which Native Americans have found themselves solely as a result of the actions of the US government.
Critical Issues Needing Address: Land Rights, Food Security, and Access to Water
Native American communities are confronted with challenges related to pollution and climate change, which have adverse impacts on the natural resources that form an indispensable part of their cultural heritage. Furthermore, the effects of climate change, such as alterations in weather patterns and temperatures, can significantly diminish the productivity of crops and other food sources, leading to food insecurity for these communities. Such problems made it difficult for them to obtain food and resulted in the loss of their right to land use (Feldpausch-Parker et al., 2022).
Finally, Native Americans face the challenges of invasion. The indifference of the US government means that many local Indian communities are unable to solve the problems that arise from the invasion of non-national land users. This situation could lead to further food insecurity and a violation of Native Americans’ rights to their land.
Modern Native American concerns are also a factor in food security. Native Americans continue to face inequalities in access to food and nutrition. This issue applies to local products produced in Indian territory and other parts of the country. The main reason why food insecurity is regarded as a pressing threat to Native American communities is their deteriorating health. Native Americans find it difficult to obtain and grow healthy food, for the most part, vegetables, which directly impacts their diet and, thus, their health.
Persistent disparities in access to food and nutrition continue to perpetuate poverty and limited availability of nutritious food within some Native American communities. To address this, more needs to be done to improve Native Americans’ access to food. We must begin by increasing access to food in impoverished areas and creating programs that provide cheap or free access to food (Findling et al., 2019).
There is also a need to provide various support programs for Native Americans to help them gain access to food and quality of life. Food security is one of the most critical and complex challenges facing Native Americans (Fish, 2020). Addressing this problem will require more significant efforts by the state and other organizations to provide safe and quality food to Native Americans. Establishing food security for Native American communities is essential to mitigate other issues these communities encounter.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is essential to have policies in place that uphold Native Americans’ rights and promote their farming techniques and food security in order to effectively solve these issues. It was, therefore, necessary to ensure the rights of Native Americans to land and food and to create an environment where they could flourish. Sustained efforts are necessary to guarantee the recognition and safeguarding of Native American rights and interests in the long run. Only then will Native Americans be able to obtain the necessary food security and access to the resources they need.
References
Feldpausch-Parker, A. M., Endres, D., Peterson, T. R., & Gomez, S. L. (2022). Routledge Handbook of Energy Democracy. Routledge.
Fish, J. (2020). Systems of cultural representation: An examination of Native American identity and cultural representations through digital stories (Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota).
Findling, M. G., Casey, L. S., Fryberg, S. A., Hafner, S., Blendon, R. J., Benson, J. M., Sayde, J. M., & Miller, C. (2019). Discrimination in the United States: Experiences of Native Americans. Health Services Research, 54(S2), 1431–1441. Web.