XXXXX AMERICAN INDIAN RIGHTS XXXXX

The federal government has spent billions trying to "help" the first Americans, yet they still live in terrible poverty. Tribes must submit long-term economic plans to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. (The Soviet Union was known for their five year economic plans that always failed miserably.) They are not free to do anything without government permission. American Indians have the lowest life expectancy of any ethnic group in the United States. Tribes have shown success when the government leaves them alone.

The Libertarian Party's National Platform from 2000 states the following:
The rights of American Indians have been usurped over the years. We support the following remedies: (1) individuals should be free to select their own citizenship and tribes should be free to select the level of autonomy the tribe wishes, (2) Indians should have their property rights restored, including rights of easement, access, hunting, and fishing, (3) the Bureau of Indian Affairs should be abolished leaving tribal members to determine their own system of governance, and (4) negotiations should be undertaken to resolve all outstanding differences between the tribes and the government.

American Indian Movement leader Russell Means is a member of the Libertarian Party. He sought the party's nomination for president in 1988 but lost to Congressman Ron Paul. Some people now are talking about him giving it another shot in 2004.

Let me be a free man,
free to travel, free to stop,
free to work, free to trade where I choose,
free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers,
free to talk, think and act for myself --and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty.

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce.