Pine Ridge Mission Trip-- Tuesday, Aug. 17

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

It’s now 7:30 in the morning, and it’s a bit of free time. I’m going to begin writing about last night’s speaker because it was pretty powerful. His name was Will Peters, and he’s a teacher in the High School here as well as the local college. He teaches Lakota studies—art, culture, history and language. (Yesterday as I helped to deliver donated items, we met another Lakota Cultural Advisor whose name was Ed Young Man Afraid of Horses—How would you like THAT name? ) The Lakota culture is of SUCH importance to the youth. It is through the claiming of their culture, understanding their roots, and the wisdom of their culture that young people can be strong and healthy and productive. In the last month there have been 12 suicides among children and teens here on the reservation. That shocked and sobered us all. The devastation of the Lakota people is that they feel so despised by the surrounding society and so hopeless. That translates into SO many problems that are compounded by the poverty and the unemployment. One man I met yesterday had a t-shirt with the slogan (in Lakota—but he translated it for us) “We are the shadow people.” That speaks volumes about how they feel— so despised and isolated from the greater society in which they exist.

Mr. Peters did not talk about the devastation of the poverty or about a poor us mentality. He spoke of the pride the Lakotas can claim in their own history. He spoke with great passion (and some bitterness) about our recognition of Columbus Day as a national holiday. As many historians have brought to light lately, Columbus and his men did such violence to the native peoples they encountered—rape, murder, theft, taking of slaves, even beating people and betting about how long it would take them to die. Peters said, “It teaches us that one can wreak havoc on native people and get one’s own day of celebration and honor. “ To do such damage to native people is seen as the way of the whites in their treatment of Lakotas.

He also spoke of a different understanding of Custer’s encounter with the 7th Calvary. In the Lakota version, the tribes were gathering to powwow in order to pray for wisdom about how to handle the treatment they were receiving from the military. Villages of women and children were being killed while the men were gone. Small hunting bands were being attacked and slaughtered. After 4 days of prayer and fasting a small group of braves went out to hunt to bring back meat to feed the hungry people. While out, they encountered Custer’s forces. Custer thought he had easy pickin’s, but the braves raced back to the largest encampment of the people to date. The Lakotas had no plan of fighting that day, but neither did they plan on being slaughtered. The result was the battle of the little Big Horn and Custer’s utter defeat. But the Lakotas, Mr. Peters said, felt no great pride in such a victory. There were many prayers for the young soldiers who were killed. When some young braves tried to brag and boast, the elders took them aside and sternly told them it was nothing to be proud of.

Mr. Peters talked about two basic needs that were necessary for the people to thrive. The first is for them to take responsibility for their lives, to be good husbands and wives, good fathers and mothers—with everyone helping the children to be strong and healthy. They need to put aside the alcohol and to let go of hatred and anger. They need to live the wisdom and integrity of their own culture. He was very clear that no one could do that for them. They had to do it for themselves.

But the other part of the equation is what they need from the government, from us. They need for the government to keep their promise. In the 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty the US government promised adequate housing, good health care, and education for their children. By ignoring that promise we continue to tell the Red man that he’s not worth the paper we used to write that treaty. According to this gentleman, it’s not that we owe the Lakota people a living for all time. It’s that we owe them the respect and care that will give them the ability to believe in themselves and to begin to make the changes that hope and involvement in our society can bring.

He also talked about the corruption of the Tribal Council. Whenever there is extreme poverty AND a complete power without any checks and balances, there are abuses of that power. Those abuses have created a climate that discourages business coming to the Reservation. It encourages a few people to profit off the difficulties of others. He urged us to lobby our legislators to abolish the Indian Reorganization Act. That would allow a system in which the abuse of power would be discouraged and where the people have a more options for making change.

This speaker was very interesting . He talked about our connection to one another and how we owe it to our children to be the strong, caring presence in their lives. Surprisingly, he strongly advocated for the respect of women. To be partners and helpmates for one another was another of his themes. I very much liked this part of his presentation!!!! Go figure!

I’m going long with this. By now we have worked all day on Tuesday, and we’re waiting for tonight’s speaker. But I want to report a dawning awareness. The passion and energy around the Wounded Knee Massacre is, for the Lakota people, a symbol of their treatment by the white people and the US government. It is their holocaust. To ask them to get over it is like asking the Jews to get over the concentration camps and the ovens. It represents how they see themselves through our eyes and in a very sad way, they have adopted that self understanding. They feel like a hopeless, persecuted, unwanted people who are without the gifts and resources to make a difference in our world. The purpose of Re-Member is to bring the cultures together so that we can stand for a time with our Lakota brothers and sisters to say to them that they have not been relegated to “shadow people.” That their lives matter and that we believe in them. We can’t do it for them, but by understanding them, honoring them, and standing with them, we give them the ability to see themselves differently and it offers hope that is a life force all on its own.

Today we all worked—I in helping to finish a roofing project and putting on some siding, Corrine and Patty in building an Outhouse, Janet helped to put skirting on a mobile home and then returned here early and so did some cleaning. Pat worked with getting some electrical projects completed and putting skirting on a trailer. It was 87 degrees, but the sun was unrelenting. It was hot! Showers felt good, as did dinner tonight.
OK, folks. That’s enough. I think of you often and wish I could bring this experience to each of you. Be well. I will see you soon.