# How is genocide defined, with an emphasis on cultural genocide?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-genocide-defined-with-an-emphasis-on-cultural-genocide/944198>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [June 13, 2021, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-genocide-defined-with-an-emphasis-on-cultural-genocide/944198 "2021-06-13T23:23:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 152

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**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-genocide-defined-with-an-emphasis-on-cultural-genocide/944198/152 "2021-06-17T20:33:59Z")

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How are people kept “penned up” in the reservations? You do realize we don’t lock the gates to them? We don’t circle them with fences. I’d certainly agree there’s high poverty rates on reservations, and poverty is a shackle for mobility in any number of ways.

> [@DeadTreasSecretaries](#):
>
> The coronavirus has been very illuminating about what Native American tribes in the US have to deal with, how shitty things are in reservations and how little larger American society cares or is affected unfortunately (and I’m definitely included in that criticism of larger American society).
> 
> Also as bad as it is to just passively allow them to languish, it’s the reality is worse in that America ignores the reservations up until we realize that we can make a quick buck by yet again violating their sovereignty or rights.

Poverty and a number of other services has always been wretched on the reservations, but I’m not sure what policies people have in mind to easily fix it. There’s at least some overlaps between the issues facing reservations and certain deeply impoverished minority-majority urban neighborhoods, and I think “we”, being the collective West across a number of countries have tried out a lot of different schemes. Is there anything to actually be done for it? My inclination is usually “more money” is a decent baseline.

Going back to the “penned” comment above, is one solution to provide funding (through individual grants) to native families that want to relocate off-reservation? There’s probably a non-zero number that are stuck there out of generational poverty that would likely do better living almost anywhere else.

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