Buried Discussion Input

Today's discussion was very interesting, so I thought I might give my input on here regarding the questions that were asked, specifically on the "Buried" story. I thought what happened to Indian Burial grounds across the country was very tragic, and I certainly wasn't aware that this occurred. Obviously, the Native American people have been greatly oppressed in the past several hundred years, and I figured that, considering how much has been learned about their culture, we would be past that. I feel as if destroying their scared burial grounds is just as much a slap in the face as the genocide that also occurred. In regards to the question about culture vs. commerce, I truly believe that culture is more important, or at least should be. The way people are brought up, the things they are taught about themselves and their ancestors, and essentially their whole lifestyle should be very important to other people. Native Americans thrive on the idea of their culture. All anyone was thinking about when constructing this mall was how they could maximize their profits, and there was no consideration for how the native people might be affected physically and emotionally. Culture should be more important, but in this day and age, money seems to be everything. I don't see that changing anytime soon. I also don't think there is any way to change behavior like this in the future. The vast majority of people couldn't care less about "Sacred Sites" even if the site has thousands of people buried in it. As long as there is a means to create a mall, or any commercial business for that matter, it will be done, hands down. That is what our society revolves around today. If people could learn to be more compassionate, then maybe it could be stopped, but that is unlikely. Compassion is a diminishing thing in the world today. All in all, I think it is very disappointing that this kind of thing had to happen, but at this point it might not be possible to change it. I fear that Native American culture could be destroyed by big business.