The happenings on the Rez J term

Let me start with the easy stuff. Tuesday we have a few hours to go to the house that several of us have been working on. It is not enough time to finish but we will make another dent and a big one I hope. I understand we will get another day as well. We went today to do more work but it is still not done.

So, on to the hard stuff…….

Tuesday we visited several locations throughout the Rez. Prior to leaving, our guide who is full blood Lakota, gave us some factual information about happenings on the Rez. One of the things mentioned was about a recent settled lawsuit that was done on behalf of all the North American Indians. The U.S. government was sued for the mismanagement of Indian funds over decades of management. The lawsuits showed that billion dollars were wasted. The amount was settled for was significantly less than the amount believed to have been stolen and mismanaged by the U.S. government. See this link, Elouise Cobell.

Next we went to visit the the local BIA Superintendent . He allowed us to come into his office and we had a friendly exchange of information. He was very friendly and answered at least in part, every question. He says that only $250,000 is used for administration expenses of the Pine Ridge Reservation under the BIA. Looking at the building and the number of employees I saw, I find this very difficult to swallow. I am not sure why this small number was given but he seemed to believe it.

From the BIA we went to the Tribal office. The President was unavailable due to his recovery from an auto accident. We had an appointment with the Vice President, who is cousin to the BIA Superintendent. Upon arriving and signing in, I was asking about Tribal elections with the guide’s other side “wife”. She explained that there is always a low turnout and no early or proxy voting. I got the idea that there is a belief that no matter who is elected, the results will still be the same. The BIA Superintendent had said that there are provisions for the Tribal government to manage all the funds but they have chosen not to because of an attitude of holding the U.S. government responsible. This was confirmed by the Tribal Vice President’s representative that we met with.

We then to a good distribution facility. This is not unlike many food pantries, where there is expired food, very little meat and fresh vegetables. There was a lot of starch and high sodium products. However this is in general we are told, what most people want, since this is the only type of food that was offered to the Lakota in the ’70s and before. There is some healthier choices but it will take time until these are more in demand. The Indians have a choice of food from here or having EBT but not both.

The next trip was to Wounded Knee. I will say this…..this is the site of a horrific event that the government has still failed to take responsibility for the mass slaughter of the Indians. They were not even treated as animals, let alone human beings. Bodies were dismembered and buried in a mass grave. See this link for some horrific info. Wounded Knee our guide told us the story from his grandfather. You could feel the hurt, the anger and sadness. I felt this cut to my bones. We offered up prayer for those killed and the people who have had to live on afterwards. The Lakota were used as an example to all Indians….stay on the reservation, do not act up or you will be killed. This attitude has been forced upon them. Even though this is not the policy now, it is difficult to remove what has been put into the DNA of the Indians.

In the evening there was some drumming, dream catcher making and some dancing done. The entire time, I kept thinking about what was said at Wounded Knee.

I invite you all to visit the Rez and see this all for yourself.