June 07, 2007

Salvation Army doesn't recognize tribes

Salvation Army:  Tribal IDs are less valid than drivers' licenses

3 comments:

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
This is outrageous, and now writerfella has had his long-standing good opinion of the salvation Army changed forever! Native tribal IDs are Certified Degree of Indian Blood cards and are based on Federal authority, not tribal authority, much the same as Native auto license tags are also under Federal authority. In fact, Native CDIBs are prototypes for the soon-to-arrive National Federal Identification cards that every American will have to acquire under Homeland Security and the Patriot Act. As always, anything that gets visited on the American public that restricts Constitutional rights was practised on Native Americans first.
writerfella now is cancelling his annual bank draft donation to the Salvation Army that has been in place and operation since 1960. Early that year, while writerfella attended Bacone College in Muskogee, OK, tornadoes devastated Holdenville and young men from the college were taken in the middle of the night to that city to watch for fires and help look for survivors. At dawn, when the situation was well in hand by city authorities, the Bacone young men finally had nothing to do but to wait for their bus back to Muskogee. A Red Cross food service van pulled up and we all crushed forward into lines because you could smell that coffee! Once the doors were raised and the coffee and doughnuts and sandwiches placed in view, the next things we saw were the rather lengthy price lists. Being awakened in the middle of the night and transported 70 miles, who had time or presence of mind to bring much money at all? The lines mostly broke up but then along came a van marked Salvation Army. We hung back and watched as the same coffee and pastries and sandwiches were set out. It is terifying to be young and helpless and to know that it also is not your fault. But then someone asked, "How much?" And the salvation Army ladies said cheerily, "No charge. It's free!" You never saw so many hungry and tired college guys trying to be civil and keep from fighting and barely succeeding.
But no longer! And the same thing goes for the Salvation Navy...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

Did you read the original articles? The Salvation Army quickly backtracked when confronted with its discriminatory policy. It now accepts tribal IDs.

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
Too late. Once writerfella makes up his mind, it's a done deal. Natives take such things at their word and if that word is violated, it's over...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'