Where do we draw the line?

After reading about the articles for today I was moved by my own memories of growing up in Minnesota.  I remember the stereotypes that existed.  We would travel past reservations in the summer on our way to the Canadian border cabin we stayed in.  The reservation living conditions were awful: tar-paper shacks that were so small and flimsy.  I also remember the comments about how the Indians would never amount to much because they were prone to laziness and alcoholism.  Great . . . my family were all racists.  Sad to remember that I grew up at a time when most Indians were not even allowed to vote because there were constant restrictions put on their access.  Sad to remember that separate was inherently unequal in the North as well as the South.  My grandmother would sew First Communion dresses for the Indian girls to wear as part of the Indian children's assimiliation to the Anglo Christian culture.  Wow. . . history matters!
The American Indian Movement, like the Civil Rights Movement has developed over time and with many steps but still, sadly, stereotypes persist.  An article in Monday's LA Times reveals how a man dug up the graves of Native Americans on Catalina Island for years and sold the remains for profit.  He even decorated the inside of his museum with the bones of the Indians: decorated the window and door frames with pieces of the skeletons.  We need to let the repatriation of Native American remains and objects go forward and allow some much needed healing.