What can I say to the gentleman who wrote the letter about wanting "to pick on North American Indians...(who) are many years away from the world of their ancestors (and)... treaties or not, far removed from generations they came from"? He wants Indian nations to act as "full American citizens," and tosses in the enlightening statement that "before white man, Indians fought Indians."

The main focus of the letter seems to end up being a complaint about water uses.

Shall I tell him about Indian citizens who fought and died in the World Wars for the United States of America? About Indians who created an unbreakable code form their ancient language, a code that changed the course of history? No, that won't help. Surely, he already knows that history.

Would I begin to tell him about the genocide committed upon the Indian Nations of America? No, he would say "that was then, and here is now."

Maybe what's really eating this letter-writer is that in his heart he knows that the Europeans and others have so desecrated, dishonored and messed up the land, the streams and the vast coastal waters too, that he can't handle the guilt and needs to find somebody to blame, or pick on, as he put it (at least he owned up).

If that's it -- that he sees reality, sees the truth, that he's afraid, then there's hope that he'll begin to take responsibility.

Ellen Murphy

Bellingham