Reservations = Death Camps

'Indians were supposed to move onto reservations and die. We were supposed to disappear. But somehow or another, Indians have forgotten that reservations were meant to be death camps (p. 216-217).'

This quote was definitely an eye opener. Partially because i had never thought of the concept of death camps other then the ones used against Jewish people; partially because even after numerous years of history classes, this notion of 'death reservations' had never even been visited by my teachers. After my initial reaction, I did some brushing up on U.S. history that involved the relocation of Native Americans. Then it became clear to me that Jr. has it dead on when he describes the place he lives as an intended graveyard for all American Indians. The fact is, the reason that he lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation because his ancestors refused to let their culture die out.