Poverty preserves Indian cultures?

Monteau:  Stay afloat or sink togetherA Cree elder told me, “It is our poverty that preserves our culture.” Although what I and a lot of Americans are experiencing right now is not “poverty,” the experience certainly helps us understand what he was saying. Without the distractions of material things and excess material comforts, it does not take long to fall back into a simpler, more spiritual way of life. The complications of maintaining a materialistic lifestyle can distract us from the things in life that really count, mainly our families, our Indian people and our Indian ways. It is easy to forget where you came from and to forget that most of your people are still there when you are flying high and living large.

Indians weathered the Great Depression because it was business as usual on the reservations. My dad remembered it as a time when it was tough getting a job but because most families on the reservation already lived simply, the ability to put food on the table remained fairly constant.Comment:  If this is true, the corollary is that Indian gaming must be destroying Indian cultures. The reality is more complex than that. True, the sudden influx of wealth may be harming some Native traditions and values. But it's also giving tribes the resources to preserve those traditions and values.

For more on the subject, see Should Indians Cling to Reservations?