Dear President,

Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ankti Fox. I will be straightforward and say that this letter is to request an apology and reparations for the consequences of Manifest Destiny. The government you now serve massacred many of my people. You took away our land and stuck us with the unfertile desolate “property”. It was like replacing someone’s eggs and bacon with cream of wheat. We used to fight with purpose and reason against our brothers. Now we are divided and share only a common resentment against America and your Great Nation. If the Native Americans had a Manifest Destiny of their own would it have been understood and respected by your people? Just as you asked us to understand?

1838-1839 our Cherokee brothers walked the “Trail of Tears” and over 4,000 died due to ill treatment, disease, and neglect, which caused many to catch pneumonia. In 1846 300 Cheyenne died to your Colorado militia. Also in 1864, you walked many, many Navajos 800 miles to Fort Sumner and many of them perished. During 1890 200 Sioux were murdered in North Dakota. These were lives that breathed air into their lungs just as you do now reading this. The men had wives they held and children they rolled around on the floor with. These people taught each other and had beliefs just as you do. What are these lives worth to you? What is your own life worth? After thinking about that, not as a threat but a perspective, I ask that you try your hardest and come up with some answer as to what you feel our people are owed.

Mr. President, our land was stolen and destroyed. This country created friction between many a Native American. You placed us all into the barren lands such as Oklahoma. How were we to hunt or build on plains?? In the War of 1812, you had tribes chose sides against each other. You may see it as they chose sides for or against America, but in making us chose you pinned brother against brother. When the war ended, your supporters watched the accused be severely punished. To answer my earlier question, no. You would not have understood. Your government does not communicate, nor does it have others’ best interests at heart. You will fail and continue to destroy things in your path of continued, “Manifest Destiny”. God does not ever call for heartless mistreatment. If you wish to make this right, I simply request an apology and reparations in return for the mistreatment and lives lost.

Sincerely from the heart of the Indian,

Ankti Fox