I have been meaning to write this for almost 3 weeks. I have been too angry to write this for almost 3 weeks.
If you missed the 20/20 episode entitled "Children of the Plains" I would advise taking 40 minutes out of your life and watching it before reading the rest of this. You can see it here: Children of the Plains
I am angry because the graphic reality of hopelessness is shown so clearly... but the HOPE for the future is completely ignored.
Did you know there is a college on Pine Ridge? 14 campuses provide college educations to 900 full time students and 500 part time students... at a cost of $13,000 a year for full time students. The same financial aid you can find at any other college in the country is available at Oglala Lakota College. Oglala Lakota College (OLC) offers everything from foundational classes to help underprepared students to degrees in Wildlife Management, Agriculture, Solar Energy, Nursing, K-12 Education, Social Work, Math and Science, Information Technology, Business and even Lakota Culture. This is no "slouch" college... you will find a world class college education "on the Res." But you wouldn't know that from watching Children of the Plains.
There are drug and alcohol prevention and treatment programs. Programs which combine Lakota Culture with treatment for alcoholism. She could show you the obligatory "drunk indians" laying in the streets of the town, White Clay, Nebraska, which is OFF the reservation... but couldn't show you what is being done ON the reservation to treat and prevent alcoholism.
Diane stressed the Red Cloud School... and the fact it is a private school which many children on Pine Ridge want to attend. She is correct, they do. It makes a very nice change from the days when it was Holy Rosary Indian Mission School and a place of nightmares for the children who were forced to attend. She would have done better to talk about Shannon County School District at Wolf Creek or the brand new school at Batesland... but she didn't.
Perhaps Ms. Sawyer could have updated her information on the Commodities program... and an Oglala Lakota man named Joe Blue Horse Jr. who took on the US Department of Agriculture to reduce the amount of starches and be allowed to include fresh fruits and vegetables in the commodities given to Native Americans.
There is a suicide prevention program... and yet even KNOWING one of the children she was interviewing had attempted suicide... it was never mentioned.
Paul Iron Cloud from the Housing Authority would have been able to detail what the Housing Authority is doing to combat the worst of the conditions you saw but his input was not sought.
There are doctors and nurses at the assorted new and improved medical facilities on Pine Ridge who would have been thrilled to show Diane and the crew around the facilities... but they too were ignored.
Are there problems? You bet your sweet bippi there are problems... but for every problem there is someone working to solve it. The problems on Pine Ridge will not be solved overnight any more than the problems in Washington D.C. will be solved overnight... Yes, there are many things wrong on Pine Ridge... but for every wrong there is something being done right... and so long as all you ever see is the wrong you will never know the courageous and loving people who are busting their asses to make it right for the children of the future.
Maybe some day there will be a news reporter who is willing to show both sides. Maybe. Someday. I'm not going to hold my breath waiting though.
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daisyjane
STATHI STATHI
I Wooden Dodat
mistylee<3
Seer
Salon.com
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(hint hint ;).
Otherwise..
My heart breaks for Diane, who once upon a time could be counted on for telling all sides of a story.. but especially the good and the hope.
And soars for the Native American spirit ever burning.
Rated for toss stoic, try determined - or unbowed, even better.
Seer... I don't get EPs. Heck I am pretty sure the editors don't read what I write. I will be honest though... the woman who said businesses on Pine Ridge (what few there are) are more regulated than Nuclear Power Plants was telling the truth. There are BLM regulations, DOI regulations, BIA regulations... and those are in addition to the normal business regulations which apply to all businesses. That the regulations from the various departments are contradictory makes for even more red tape... and while there are many ideas the reality is there is also a belief it's just not "worth it" to apply for variances from one federal agency so that one can comply with regulations from another.
It's never stopped has it? The separatist, divisionary and oppressive foot on the neck.
Is it fear do you think? Of reprisal for past actions?
Or shame.. for continuing past actions into the present?
Forget thinking of extraordinary help, of monetary reparations for past thefts and broken promises.. just a simple level playing field would be nice. :(
Fear of reprisal is but one of many reasons for the boot to the throat...
The Lakota (really all of the tribes collectively referred to as "the Sioux") were the last to "give up" and be herded, like sheep, into the reservation system. Even then, we continued to fight, as the second Wounded Knee "incident" demonstrates.
We have pushed hard for UNDRIP (The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People) and the reality is part of the reason we have pushed so hard for it SCARES the Feds. It scares them because IF the US signs UNDRIP (and the US is ALONE in refusing to sign UNDRIP) "set asides" will be a thing of the past and there will be compensation for all of the land stolen following the Fort Laramie Treaty required. We are talking...the US government being required under International Law to PAY for most of THREE states (including several National Parks)... at current prices. It's the reason there is a move in Congress to get a Constitutional Amendment passed which says we can't take a lawsuit to an International Court OR cite International Law when filing suits against the government. Frankly, I do not believe the United States will EVER sign UNDRIP... because to do so will require trillions in compensation be paid... and changes to the law which will remove reservation lands from United States Government control completely... according to many that CANNOT be allowed to happen.
"sigh"..
Actually international courts and laws is *exactly* where this *should* be tried. The U.S. is far from the only country that has short-shrifted their Native populations.
Imagine the precedent such a thing would establish? I would imagine the U.S. government isn't the only one running scared about the possibilities presented by such an action..
The US objects most vociferously to Article 8, Article 11, Article 12, Article 18, Article 19, Article 21, Article 26, Article 27, Article 28, Article 29, Article 36, Article 37 and, Article 40. It's easier to give you the link to UNDRIP than it is to detail why all of those articles are things which the US objects to... which could take several days of posts. http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf
The Lakota lost the Paha Sapa (Black Hills) specifically because there was gold in them thar hills... it appears to not matter that those "hills" are as sacred to US as Jerusalem is to Judaism, Christianity and Islam... all that matters is there's GOLD there and greed rules.
Hi Thoth... long time no see. I'll keep talking... whether or not people are listening is a whole different issue.
Wouldn't surprise me :(.