Glacier Reporter Letter to the Editor by Robert C. Juneau

To the Editor: 
In a book called Without Conscience by Robert D. Hare, PhD Socialization is defined as,"Learning to behave according to the rules and regulations of society, called socialization, is a complex process. On a practical level it teaches children" how things are done." In the process, socialization- through parenting, schooling, social experiences, religious training, and so forth-helps to create a system of beliefs, attitudes, and personal standards that determine how we interact with the world around us. Socialization also contributes to the fromation of what most people call their conscience, the pesky inner voice that helps us to resist temptation and to feel guilty when we dont. Together, this inner voice and the internalized norms and rules of society act as an "inner policeman," regulating our behavior even in the absence of the many external controls, such as laws, our perceptions of what others expect of us, and real-life policemen. It's no overstatement to say that our internal controls make society work. Our collective amazement and fascination with the psychopath's utter disregard for rules suggests, by comparison, the power our "inner policemen" actually have over us. (75)" In our History as Blackfeet people we have adopted people with no Native American ancestry such as Bob Scriver, George Bird Grinnel, President Ronald Reagan, James Willard Schultz. Our tribe adopted people from other tribes without any thought as to how much Blackfeet blood they had. I believe our tribe should embrace and enroll the Blackfeet Descendant/Land Heirs by signing the BEAR Petition and allowing the issue to come to a vote. I also believe our Blackfeet Forefathers and Mothers believed the same thing and I offer this statement by Chief White Calf from the Minutes of the Negotiations of the 1895 Blackfeet Treaty as the proof. "These words that I have spoken are not my words only, but are the words of all that are here. They think as I do. Our mixed bloods are a part of ourselves. We have the same blood in our veins. The Great Spirit had divided the people up. You whites came across the great water; we always lived here; this is our land. I desire that the mixed bloods should be provided for, for they are a part of this people. We have a great many cattle and some horses, so we want to retain the grazing land for them to feed upon. That is the reason I am speaking to you. I am speaking for my people. I know it is the sentiment of them all that we deep the grazing lands. They have taken up locations all over the reservation. All the different tribes of Indians were of the same blood. The only difference was that they did not speak the same language. I told our Indians to come to this part. This is our land. There are many children now, going to school. There are miny mixed bloods in the room; there are many that have come here since the last treaty; there is no end to civilizing our children now. They are all going to school and receiving an education, and will not have a stop to it. Our little children are the ones that will get the benefit from these lands.