answer:I was shocked the first time I was on a western reservation (the Havasupai, I believe, and Navajo). I can’t believe anyone was ever able to survive there. It was like driving on mars, or some post-apocalyptic landscape. It was beautiful in an alien way, but I couldn’t help but conclude that we had shoved them onto some truly shitty land. I’ve read Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee and some other histories of the shameful treatment of the Native Americans, but that was the first time I felt an immediate and present impact. I don’t pretend to understand all of the complexities of modern life for native tribes, but it does seem truly horrendous that there are still so, so many issues. (Don’t even get me started on the overt racism that I saw exhibited every day.)