Opinion of Shannon County, South Dakota

[Alcon]

Pathetic victim of Stockholm syndrome.

Yes, the long, sad, and varied history of the Sioux in southern South Dakota can all be wrapped up by a contemptuous quip about how their victimization is really their fault... were they not just so pathetic. 
Somehow I don't doubt you've thought a lot about this subject, but your head is still so far up your @$$ that you've successfully burnt your hair off with stomach acid.

I meant pathetic as in deserving of sympathy, any contempt in that statement was not intentional. I don't believe that they are responsible for their condition, but clearly they support the very policies that lead to their continued impoverishment.

I don't know if you realize how condescendingly this is coming across.  These are extremely poor people with very limited access to political information.  And, seriously, what policies don't lead to continued impoverishment?  The plight of reservations like Pine Ridge is probably among the most complicated political issues in existence...even the "Stockholm Syndrome" part of your post is reductionist and sounds a little mean-spirited.

[Alcon]

The last time a US Government tried active assimilation policies, it led to actual acute starvation conditions at Menominee and Turtle Mountain, two of the three large communities chosen as a pilot project (Klamath was a qualified success, actually, and the numerous tiny communities pressganged into the project were much more assimilated into mainstream America before, and thus suffered far less). And that was in the 1950s. "Stockholm Syndrome" indeed.

I don't think they ought to try active assimilation policies. I believe that the Bureau of Indian Affairs should be scrapped and the tribes left free to govern themselves without the intrusion of the federal government.

Right, which would solve reservation poverty how?  Seriously, you're being a completely stereotypical teenage libertarian right now.