To the editor:

In commenting to the letter “Times change” (Public Forum, Feb. 24) there’s much this writer needs to know.

As the mother of two Cheyenne River Sioux children, I’ve witnessed what’s changed in the treatment of native people in the last 25 years. All tribes have had to deal with unreasonable contracts called treaties. Native people have had dual citizenship with both their tribes and the United States. When conducting off-reservation business, native people pay taxes like anyone else. However, the writer of that letter was incorrect in asserting that states provide services to tribal members. Under Article One, Section Eight, Part Three of the U.S. Constitution, both tribes and states are dependent sovereigns relying on the federal government for protection.

Indian lands are non-taxable, under Title 18, Section 1151, parts a, b, c; they’re outside the jurisdiction of states, counties, cities and townships. My children’s ancestors paid for my children’s education and health care, signing treaties that this country hardly ever honored. My children’s tribe doesn’t have a casino, so there goes another fallacy. In closing, Indians are the only ethnic group mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, and it’s good that this country has some conscience. Now, if more people were only educated about Indian law and whose land they live on.

Janice Walters,

Lawrence