Why America should be ashamed - The American Indian reservations disaster situation

The Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull - one of the greatest men to have ever lived

This quote is as relevant now as ever, we need to come together with the Indian peoples and take this advice for all of our futures

You are here

Have you heard of Pine Ridge? Standing Rock, maybe as that has been in the news recently and is nearby to the Ridge Reservation.

So what tribe is at this location? The Lakota, part of the Sioux nation.

What do you know about them? Anything? Ashamed?

This is the problem with most Americans, they have a view of the Red Man as someone on the back of a horse, shooting arrows off and issuing war cries on the hoof.

Maybe in Hollywood movies and if that is your understanding, you would do well to dig into the culture of the Red Man and to learn about their culture and heritage.

It seems General Ignorance is alive and well long after General Custer died.

When you know more, you will then come to appreciate a people you share your country with and also how important they are historically and to our future.

The Pine Ridge Reservation where Lakota people reside

This is Pine Ridge and if you are an American, you should be ashamed that this situation is going on in your country.

You may believe that Indian peoples have Casinos and other wealth, well that may be true for some, but many reservations are not so fortunate or have the wealth or life expectancy that those outside them have..

Pine Ridge has a low life expectancy  of around 53 years of age and levels of wealth are extremely low. The people are resilient and trying to survive. They need help. Ours.

Many Lakota people at Pine Ridge have to live like this,
in winter the cold can be minus 20c

Some parts of the reservation look much like the disaster areas you see in foreign countries, in these situations international aid is thrown at the problem by the bucket load. Yet Pine Ridge is but one area that needs help and now.

This may look idyllic from the air, but the reality on the ground is different

Change needs to happen at Pine Ridge. It needs to change a number of situations that impact on the lives and the futures of the Lakota people. Their future must be safeguarded.

I have been helping with free business development and economic advice, to generate wealth and to build some jobs with some of the Lakota people, but in line with the Lakota people's beliefs in safeguarding resources and only taking what you need.

The Oceti Wakan project groundwork

offering of tobacco and prayers

The Oceti Wakan project is a project which has a number of aims, to build the community, to ensure that the knowledge and culture of the Lakota Heritage is not lost and to provide assistance and guidance for the young.

The Ceremonial House floorplan

There is a plan to build a Ceremonial House centre that will allow events to take place under cover. Oceti Wakan means 'Sacred fireplace' in the Lakota language.

Peter V Catches the Medicine man, the last surviving member of the original founders responsible for the Oceti Wakan project

Peter V Catches has been instrumental in the Oceti Wakan project and he comes from a heritage of medicine men. He can trace his line directly back to the famous Indian known as Crazy Horse.

The plan is to build a wellness centre where the spiritual needs and future generations of the Lakota people can enjoy their cultural identity. Here are the Wellness Centre's aims -

• We have an elder who would love to start a drum group to teach our young boys the sacred songs of our people.
• We have elder women who want to use a quilting circle to mentor young Lakota girls.
• We have a program that we can set up right away call telehealth/telepsychiatry services if we had a place for counseling our young people.
• We want to have ongoing parenting classes.
• The tribe wants us to start up our prevention classes again for prevention of alcohol and drug abuse for youth.
• We have a need a place for support groups for grieving, addiction, and co-dependency.
• We will be setting up some of our ‘Lakota Language Learning Stations’ for those who want to work to learn the Lakota language.
• We will have a home for a lending library of books that we have been collecting for the young people to learn about themselves and the wisdom of the ages. (There is no public library in Pine Ridge.)

There is a website where you can learn from this project and to donate it is at:-

http://ocetiwakan.org/

I have donated to this cause in the last year and at Christmas 2016 and in 2017.

The Ceremonial costume of the Lakota people must be perpetuated and not lost

The White Buffalo - the most important symbol of the Lakota nation

from the legend of the 'White Buffalo Calf woman.'

'Tatanka Oyate' means 'Buffalo People' in Lakota language

So we go back to our beginnings of this post and ask what you know about the American Indians?

If I asked you if you would like to live in a world with no taxes, no greed, no crime, no prisons, no consumerism, where the young and old were all part of a community and cared for, where all were included?

You'd probably say that was some unattainable utopia. You would be wrong.

In fact, if you lived in America in 1500, as a Lakota, that would be normal.

The White Buffalo calf woman is said to have materialised from the Buffalo into the form of a woman who instructed the Lakota people.

As with many tribes, the Lakota people have contact with what they call 'Star People.' Theirs originate from the Pleiades, the constellation of Taurus the Bull, so perhaps no coincidence that the Buffalo should be such an important symbol on this planet for them.

As an aside, the Hopi refer to the extra terrestrials they called 'Ant Friends' that helped them many generations ago as 'Anu nnaki' -  when you consider that the Hopi have many words that are very similar to the Sumerian language from what is now Iraq, this must be more than mere coincidence. 

If you check out their wisdom and knowledge of the tribes, then you will understand just how incredible these people are.

This Eagle landed at Standing Rock recently at the situation

At the recent Standing Rock situation, an Eagle landed near some of the tribal people and stayed for an hour, this Eagle allowed the people there to touch it. This is more than just nature, an Eagle would never allow this normally, this is an example of a people who have not lost their connection to nature and their spirituality. This was beyond nature.

America has an opportunity to now do something about this situation the tribes endure. This situation must change. We are running out of time and planet, we need to reel back from the consumerism that we 'enjoy' or are slaves to.

Standing Rock, one lady with a feather faces 'militarised' Law enforcement

People like the Lakota cannot be allowed to fade out from our collective memory or history, we must help them to attain their rightful status and them have the recognition they deserve.

America has some collective guilt about slavery, yet I do not see the same sort of recognition for the treatment of the Indian Tribes and their peoples.

You would have thought that a 'black' President might have done more in his two terms for the tribal peoples? His reign is about over, it is a shame that we have not seen the great steps that should have been taken.

So, it is up to us ordinary people to come together and help the tribal peoples and shame the government into action.