This Year, It's About Saving Lives

by: Aji

Thu Oct 20, 2011 at 13:17:51 PM PDT

This year, I want something more fundamental.

I want you to help me save some lives.

That is no exaggeration.  Every year, we lose a few more people - mostly elders - because they freeze to death.  The last few winters in South Dakota have been lethal, and this year's - perhaps as little as a couple of weeks away now - promises to be no exception.  

Last week, navajo kicked off our now-annual fundraiser to provide propane and heaters for people on South Dakota's Rosebud and Pine Ridge reservations.  I've learned of another heater option that's both safe and less expensive, and is - for the moment - on sale.  Let's take advantage of it.

Tonight! "Hidden America: Children of the Plains," ABC 20/20 Special

by: navajo

Fri Oct 14, 2011 at 14:32:42 PM PDT

       ^{Young Tashina Iron Horse is a competitive pow wow dancer. (credit: Elissa Stohler/ABC News)}

Pine Ridge residents live amid poverty that rivals that of the third world. Forty-seven percent of the Pine Ridge population lives below the federal poverty level, 65 percent to 80 percent of the adults are unemployed, and rampant alcoholism and an obesity epidemic combine with underfunded schools to make it a rough place to grow up. Tashina lives in government housing in Manderson, 30 minutes north of downtown Pine Ridge. She lives with her grandmother, parents, siblings and uncles - sometimes up to 19 people live in the three-bedroom house, which has seen better days.

In the decades following President John F. Kennedy's pledge to fund public housing projects on American Indian reservations, a construction boom began in Pine Ridge. Today, most of these units built in the 1970s and 1980s are in varying degrees of disrepair - a result, critics say, of steep cuts to the Housing and Urban Development budget made by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. Public housing dollars today are largely spent battling black mold in reservation housing rather than constructing new homes.

Amid the despair, there are youth across the reservation - like Tashina - who are breaking through the hopelessness with huge dreams and powerful stories.

Check out a sneak peek - Tashina teaches Diane Sawyer some of her moves - below.

Pine Ridge Poster Project Up & Running [Photo Heavy]

by: navajo

Mon Jul 11, 2011 at 13:34:35 PM PDT

I've collected photos from his Honor the Treaties Facebook Page for you to see the progress. If you have a Facebook account please go there and "like" it.

The installations use the following works of art from Shepard Fairey and his assistant Ernesto Yerena, these screen prints are based on Aaron Huey's photos of Pine Ridge.

LEARN ABOUT THE HISTORY OF BROKEN PROMISES

The photos of the poster installations are below the fold.

Ernesto Yerena's Newest Addition to the Pine Ridge Billboard Project

by: navajo

Sun Apr 10, 2011 at 18:09:15 PM PDT

Below is Ernesto Yerena's latest screenprint made for this project and based on one of Aaron Huey's images from Pine Ridge. Information about Ernesto and his first illustration for this project is featured below the fold.

I'm truly amazed at the magnitude of beauty in this artistic collaboration among Aaron Huey, Shepard Fairey and Ernesto Yerena.  

Art and Activism.

Background on this project below:

Rosebud Rezident Receives a New Propane Heater from Kossack

by: navajo

Mon Mar 14, 2011 at 10:46:23 AM PDT

Lillian Walking Eagle and grand daughter : Lillian's son Cornell said to put the caption "These two old ladies nearly froze."  they have an old faulty ummm lpg space heater? not sure what they're called.  housing is constantly being called by them and housing merely replaces the thermocouple.  i thought i heard liep had funds for furnaces so i told lillian about it.  i told my mom about lillian's situation, and she called the VP willie kindle.  he said he would do something for this gramma.  wks later nothing is done for them.

Kossack kurt, a lurker, my new favorite lurker ordered a heater plus all the necessary accessories and had it shipped to Sherry. Sherry installed it right away.

Here is Lillian with her brand new heater:

Lorikeet, lineatus, RunawayRose and jessica (?) also donated money specifically for heaters. I waited to hear from Sherry to make sure the heaters were safe and the proper accessories were included.  An update on cost, thanks to kurt, is that plus the accessories and shipping the total cost for each heater is $230. I was able to buy 2 more heaters.  Sherry promised to take photos of the new heaters with their new owners.

lpggirl has sent us more photos of our Rosebud rezidents saying THANK YOU to you all for helping them get through another harsh winter in South Dakota.

Below you'll find more THANK YOU photos and details on how you can help. Please share these donation details with family and friends.

Pine Ridge Billboard Project by Aaron Huey

by: navajo

Tue Mar 08, 2011 at 10:38:11 AM PST

I have been documenting the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for the past six years. Recently I have realized how inappropriate it is for this project to end with another book or a gallery show.

More than any project I have done in my career, the ever-evolving Pine Ridge project gives voice to social injustice and a forgotten history. I want my work to empower the Lakota and other tribes who fight for recognition of the past in order to help give them a chance to move forward.

Your involvement will help raise the visibility of these images by taking them straight to the public to the sides of busses, subway tunnels, and billboards. I want people to think about prisoner of war camps in America on their commute to work. I want the message to be so loud that it cannot be ignored.

Action Alert Update- Lakota Elders Organize Takeover of Elderly Meals Center

by: oke

Fri Mar 04, 2011 at 23:23:30 PM PST

After four years of abuses and calls for remedy from the Bureau of Indian
Affairs(BIA) Oglala Tribal Government, Lakota elders with support from
the Strong Heart Warrior Society, United Urban Warrior Society, and
Rapid City AIM- Grassroots have peacefully taken over, and now occupy,
the Elderly Meals Building in the Porcupine Community of Pine Ridge
Reservation.

This news release best describes the atrocities that have driven the elders to convene this occupation of the Porcupine Elderly Meals Building.

In virtually any other U.S. community, physical abuse of elders, the false arrest and persecution of the elderly by police, the forced evictions of elders in the middle of the winter, and the illegal selling of drugs and alcohol by staff of an elderly meals center would be headline news. But not if the community is the Oglala Pine Ridge Reservation, and the people are the poor and traditional Lakota oyate.

More Thank You Pics from Rosebud Rez from our Propane Donation Drive

by: navajo

Mon Feb 21, 2011 at 09:59:46 AM PST

Below you'll find more THANK YOU photos and details on how you can help. Please share these donation details with family and friends.

More Photos from Rosebud Rez + Propane Drive Update

by: navajo

Mon Jan 31, 2011 at 08:29:56 AM PST

Sherry Cornelius of St. Francis Energy has sent us more photos of our Rosebud rezidents saying

*THANK YOU*

to you all for helping them get through another harsh winter in South Dakota.

One wonderful couple donated $1000 two weeks ago! From my last diary I sent a $700 check collected from our Native American Netroots PayPal link. Many people called St. Francis Energy directly with their credit cards. Sherry said the response has been overwhelming and it appears you are all sharing this outside of Dkos.

Special grand kudos go to Lineatus and her generous Dawn Chorus Birders who raised over $700 for Rosebud. There is currently $1000 in the NAN PayPal account which includes the Dawn Chorus.  I'll be mailing a very large check STAT.

More photos below and details for you to share so your friends and family can donate also.

Many thanks for the notes of encouragement attached with your donations.

Wounded Knee: A Book Review

by: Ojibwa

Mon Aug 09, 2010 at 20:56:58 PM PDT

Heather Cox Richardson's Wounded Knee: Party Politics and the Road to an American Massacre is a book which should be read by all progressives, not because it is about American Indians, or the massacre at Wounded Knee, but because it provides insights into the consequences of partisan politics which are similar to today's events.  

Pine Ridge: American Prisoner of War Camp #334

by: navajo

Tue Jun 01, 2010 at 13:42:48 PM PDT

I want to tell you more about the significance of Pine Ridge reservation.

It is ground zero for American Indian issues. Below is a recent powerful presentation by renowned photographer Aaron Huey. After developing a close relationship with some families on Pine Ridge Mr. Huey obtained some astonishing images and they are featured in the video below. Mr. Huey also gives you an important historical time line of the Lakota and ends with a powerful conclusion.

I'm currently reading for review a new book on Wounded Knee that gives a time line of political events leading up to the massacre at Wounded Knee which is located on Pine Ridge. The time line is lengthy and complicated. Below is a concise time line that will help you easily understand these events.

Video below and transcript with several small photos for those on dial up:

Hope and Opportunity on Pine Ridge Rez

by: navajo

Tue Mar 30, 2010 at 18:31:50 PM PDT

Gary Cunningham, VP and Chief Program Officer of Northwest Area Foundation, responsible for carrying out the foundation's mission to support efforts to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable prosperity in an eight state Northwest region wrote a recent article on promising programs in action  on Pine Ridge rez and adds a good measure of hope to the many somber reports we have read recently.

Please read his entire post and then I'd like to hear your opinion in the comments, especially if you are a resident of Pine Ridge or neighboring reservations. My questions for the rez residents would be:

1- Do you know about these programs in place on Pine Ridge?
2- Have you seen them in action?
3- Are these programs effective for Pine Ridge?

For neighboring and all other rez residents:

1- Do you have similar programs?

I'm going to list the programs that Cunningham writes about so we can easily refer back to them in the future.

Pine Ridge Suicides on NY Times front page? Why Not?

by: Buffalo50

Thu Mar 18, 2010 at 08:15:47 AM PDT

Flooding Begins on Pine Ridge Rez

by: navajo

Fri Mar 12, 2010 at 17:51:22 PM PST

    http://newsroom.redcross.org/

  Disaster Alert: Floods in South Dakota
   March 11, 2010

   Disaster Alert

   South Dakota - Flooding is expected in Pine Ridge (Indian Reservation) and may affect about 500 people in the small town of Calico.

   The Black Hills Area chapter opened a shelter last night, will be delivering supplies today, and do damage assessment.

http://www.facebook.com/home.p...

Doreen Twobulls  just was notified that red cross is evacuating our commnity due to flooding comming down from the hills.i am amongst 10 other families. im freaking out because the water is getting pretty high and i really hate to leave my home with 6 kids plus the lil one year old im caring for. THIS SUCKS AND SCAREY
Yesterday at 12:59pm

MAKE CNN Cover Winter Emergency In Dakotas

by: winter rabbit

Mon Feb 01, 2010 at 17:19:54 PM PST

CNN Censors Emergency in Dakotas ONLINE ACTION FOR PINE RIDGE RESERVATION TODAY FROM AUTUMN TWOBULLS:

I have been told that your area news and the National news will not carry the story for my people unless and until CNN carries it. Each day someone has told me they have gone to CNN on Facebook, their website, or called into report our story, since the 12/20/09 State of Emergency was issued.