Compassion letter

May 24,2015

President Barak Obama

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington DC 20500

Dear President Obama,

My name is Isabelle DeSmet and I am a student at Scituate High school  in Scituate Massachusetts. I am writing this letter on behalf of the injustice Native Americans have received  in the reservations provided by the United States. In class, my classmates and I watched a video  by TED Talk called  America's Native prisoners of war. In the video it discussed what life is like on the reservations today. Many people on the reservation are homeless or have houses shared with multiple families. 90,000 People on the reservation are homeless while 30% of the housing is overcrowded The conditions of the houses are horrible  as they are infected with black mold and in most cases without electricity. Less than 50% of the houses are connected to a public sewer.These living conditions alone should be a problem that the country should work to fix. Imagine having to grow up in a house such as this and calling it home. People deserve to have a place to live that is safe without worrying about getting sick from the cold or the mold in the walls and floors. However this is not the only problem present in the reservations as there is a high  percentage of Native Americans who are suffering from poverty. "The overall percentage of American Indians living below the federal poverty line is 28.2%." In addition to the poverty many suffer from alcohol and drug abuse. With adults becoming addicted to drugs  the adults who are parents are unfit or unable to take care of their children, leaving the grand parents taking care of the kids. With a generation of children being raised by grandparents,negative consequences come out of this as the kids who grow up use their parents as role models and are most likely to not accept the responsibility of raising a child since their parents did the same to them. The cycle will continue and  will be the same as before maybe even worse. One image in the video that stood out was of a man who tattoo the saying "dreams die" on his arm. From this one can see that the people in the reservations have gained a sense a hopelessness and don't see the situation improving for them. As a leader of our state and country I hope that you   see the poor living conditions in the Native American reservation as an issue that should be addressed  and fixed. This is not an issue that can be ignored and is a problem the Native American shouldn't have to face one since they too are part of this country. I appreciate the time you have taken and am grateful for your consideration in making changes to improve the state of living in the Native American reservations.  

Sincerely,

Isabelle DeSmet