The problem among Native American reservations is an extreme example of a problem that plagues all ethnic enclaves. Amidst a majority culture and society, self-segregated segments cannot succeed. One Native American blasted national politicians' silence in the wake of the Minnesota shootings. 'From all over the world, we are getting letters of condolence �?but the so-called Great White Father in Washington hasn't said or done a thing,' The Washington Post quoted her as saying. But, according to the Post, the Minnesota tribe rejected federal programs, and one tribal member defiantly stated, "We have just not ever been too crazy about white people coming around the reservation."

It is this kind of marginalizing attitude that discourages reservation residents from participating in the national economy and encourages the rest of the nation to ignore them. Under "tribal sovereignty" self-government agreements, the reservations have no stake in the national political system, and vice versa. On the campaign trail last year, when President Bush was asked about the issue, he rambled, 'Tribal sovereignty means just that; it's sovereign,' before tacitly admitting he didn't have a clue as to what he was talking about.'

Native Americans should not be forced to assimilate, as they were in the late nineteenth century. However, assimilation should also not be the dirty word it has become in our Orwellian, multiculturalist, politically correct society. Rather than continue to imprison individuals in the ethnic enclaves of our de facto apartheid, we should embrace assimilation as the way to shut down the trail of tears for individuals of all physical races."