Myrtle Strong Enemy

Myrtle Strong Enemy, 101, waits for US Democratic presidential candidate and US Senator Barack Obama, (D-IL), to speak in Crow Agency, Montana May 19, 2008. Strong Enemy is the oldest woman in the Crow Nation. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Image and quote from Daily Kos.

Hope was the theme of Bill Clinton's successful campaign. Hope is the theme of Barack Obama's seemingly successful campaign. Perhaps the above picture best illustrates what this means.

Of all groups that make up "America," few need hope more than Native Americans. I am in the middle of a book called 1491 that discusses what the Americas were like before Columbus and the impact of European colonization. By some estimates 95% of the population of the Americas died in the century after 1492. The complete destruction of morale that even a fraction of that kind death rate entails is still a part of Native American culture from Alaska down to Peru. Through much of the Americas Native Americans are nearly powerless, often exploited, and often hopeless. Which is why movements like the Zapatistas in Mexico and people like Juan Evo Morales Ayma of Bolivia are so important.