Factoid of the week…
Canada’s prime minister on Wednesday officially apologized to natives for more than a century of abuses…”
While it is long overdue, it did make me curious about something. When were Native people in Canada recognized as citizens? How about the U.S.? How about Mexico?
Here’s the answer:
1960 Registered Indians are granted the right to vote in federal elections. Prior to 1960, First Nations people were required to give up their Indian status to be considered Canadian citizens under the law.
Eighty years ago, with the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, Native Americans were first granted U.S. citizenship and the corollary right to vote-54 years after African-American men were formally enfranchised with the 15th Amendment (1920).
However, voting procedures are delegated to the states, and well past 1924 some states misused this power to continue to deny Native Americans the right to vote. For example, as late as 1962, New Mexico still overtly prohibited Native Americans from voting.
he Mexican Republic’s 1824 constitution declared Indians to be citizens with rights to both vote and hold public office.
mexfiles.net 
This would have worked out better for the country to consider them as citizens rather than foriegn nations. As I understand it, Mexico had completed its manifest destiny of going from sea to shining sea before it incorporated. Too many racists were terrified of interbreading (even though a lot of them did it with their slaves). Had Amerindian tribes been forcefully assimilated rather than being left alone to wallow in poverty and state welfare (reperations and reservations), I think that it would be safe to say that there would have been a lot more American Mestizos than there are now. It is also possible that Americans could have gone on to look like the Pardo people of Brazil (White, Amerindian, and Black mix). Who knows. One thing is for sure, we wouldn’t be chearing a black candidate because he is black and not because we agree with his or her ideas.