(We help)

by: betsyny

Fri Nov 25, 2011 at 08:45:32 AM PST

Then one day I came up with something that made them quit. I held out my plate full of leftovers and said,

"well, here, send it to them."

That shut them both up.  Never again did I hear that stupid expression.

And that brings up Thanksgiving.

Many of us have a lot of leftovers in the fridge. We should be thankful for that.  But  like my parents, you can't really send your extra food to hungry people.

But you can take out your credit card or checkbook and donate to a food pantry on the Cheyenne River Reservation, where, like on many Indian reservations, hunger is rampant during the winter.
 

Cold, Hungry and Sick: Winter in Indian Country

by: betsyny

Sun Oct 30, 2011 at 17:04:57 PM PDT

But I'm only SAD....add unemployment, terrible housing, hunger pangs and a chronic health condition or two to this cold and darkness, and you have winter misery on many an Indian Reservation in this the richest country in the world.

On the reservations in the Great Plains and many other places in this country, the unemployment rate hits 80 or 90 percent in the winter.  Saying that the housing is God awful is an understatement; homes leak like a sieve and the only thing people have only to try to keep out the cold are sheets of plastic. The unemployed and the elderly in particular don't have enough money to heat their homes in the winter. That's why navajo began the propane drive last year.

So, people are freezing cold in the winter, but they're also hungry, and tend to have  health problems that aren't helped any by the hunger and cold.

More below the orange squiggle...and action you can take if this travesty infuriates you as much as it does me.  At the end of the day, this is an action diary.

While I was writing this I started to think about the Occupy Wall Street movement, and whether it's really aware of the plight of the people at the bottom 1% of the 99%. So then a post came through on my Facebook friend's page written by Deborah White Plume about this very issue. She's giving permission to use it, and someone is promising to read it the Occupy Cincinatti General Assembly meeting.

We have a long way to go to reclaim justice for everyone in this country:

I will believe the occupiers everywhere in their statements that they want their American Constitution upheld when they begin to speak the message that their Constitution, Article 6, includes Treaties are the Supreme Law and start to press their American Government and American People to honor the Ft Laramie Treaty with our Lakota Nation, Cheyenne Nation and other Nations that signed it.

The occupiers everywhere when they start to do this, then they are walking their talk. Until then, it is empty words as far as I am concerned and by their silence on this situation they are participating in the oppression of our people and their silence contributes to the genocide of my nation.

We are the poorest of the poor, our death rate is the highest, our suicide rate is the highest, our unemployment has been at 85% for the past five decades, we die young from curable illnesses, our water is contaminated, and American people send their $$ to other countries.

We are the Third World right here in the USA, created by the American Government and the continued Silence of the American People. We do not want your old used clothes. We want your ACTIVE, LOUD support for the enforcement of our Ft Laramie Treaty. -Debra White Plume

Revealing Pine Ridge Rez Demographic Information

by: navajo

Wed Mar 03, 2010 at 11:17:54 AM PST

Permission granted to post the following in its entirety:

The Arrogance of Ignorance:
Hidden Away, Out of Sight and Out of Mind

Regarding life, conditions, and hope on the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Reservation of South Dakota
This is an article of facts about the lives of modern-day American Indians, a topic most mainstream American news organizations will not discuss. It is not a plea for charity.  It is not a promotion for non-profit organizations. It is not aimed for pity.  It is not even an effort to detail cause and effect.  It is, however, an effort to dispel ignorance.... a massive, pervasive, societal ignorance filled with illusions and caricatures which, ultimately, serve only to corrupt the intelligence and decent intent of the average mainstream citizen. Only through knowledge and understanding can solutions be found.  But facts must be known first.  Then, it is the reader's choice what to do with those facts.

Criticizing Indian Affairs: SD Winter Storms

by: winter rabbit

Thu Feb 11, 2010 at 14:23:32 PM PST

"If anybody wants to go further, the chairman of the tribe tells us the consciousness of politicians is as important as donations right now.