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There's a big, harmful stereotype surrounding Native Americans living on reservations, and it's that there are more than a few of them who are enjoying, fat, tax-free checks cut from their big casinos that are out of the government's grasp. And it's simply one that is not true.
It's a perception that isn't rooted in reality, according to Twitter user @lilnativeboy, Allen, who shared some bleak photos that put the reality of reservation life on blast for the world to see.
It's not pretty.
Thread of what it was like to grow up on the Navajo Reservation here in New Mexico
In his series of tweets, he highlights the problems people face on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico. It's hard to believe that there are entire communities of people living in an industrialized nation who are exposed to the conditions he lists. As Allen explains it, there are homes without electricity, running water, or even addresses which makes navigating or receiving any deliveries difficult, to say the least.
Since we had no water we had to haul it twice a week and drive two hours to fill up our water barrels pic.twitter.com/lX3wZfbijC
The remoteness of the reservations meant that daily dangers that have been mitigated or can be dealt with swiftly in modern societies pose much greater threats.
If you were being attacked or ur house was on fire or you got bit by a snake ect there is no such thing as 911 on the rez
His tweets sparked a larger conversation about the grim situations many Native American families suffer right here in the USA. Even having access to decent food is a struggle.
This is truth. I have worked at 2 of the hospitals. Grocery stores have very little fresh food but people charged "junk food" tax. https://t.co/V8tb9MI8zB
