(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.
 

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:

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.

Ziebach County, South Dakota: America's Poorest County

by: navajo

Sun Feb 13, 2011 at 14:55:26 PM PST

ZIEBACH COUNTY, S.D. - In the barren grasslands of Ziebach County, there's almost nothing harder to find in winter than a job. This is America's poorest county, where more than 60 percent of people live at or below the poverty line.

At a time when the weak economy is squeezing communities across the nation, recently released census figures show that nowhere are the numbers as bad as here - a county with 2,500 residents, most of them Cheyenne River Sioux Indians living on a reservation.

In the coldest months of the year, when seasonal construction work disappears and the South Dakota prairie freezes, unemployment among the Sioux can hit 90 percent.

More here.

Starving in the Land of Plenty: Hunger in Native America. Feeding America Blogathon

by: Aji

Sun Sep 26, 2010 at 14:06:16 PM PDT

Even before the onset of the Great Depression, his family was intimately familiar with hunger.  Mixed-blood Indians living off the rez, in an area where cowards on horseback stalked the countryside in sheets and white hoods, were not the most "employable."  Gramps traveled miles every day, on foot, looking for work.  Sometimes he'd find something; just as often, he'd come trudging home, late at night, with nothing to show for it but sore feet and an empty stomach.  If he was lucky, someone might hire him for 16 hours of backbreaking labor in exchange for a sack of beans, or a little rice - or on a really good day, a whole chicken (that Grandma had to pluck and dress).  Most often, the beans or rice were served without salt, pepper, butter, or anything else.

To his dying day, my father hated rice.

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:

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.

Suicide State Of Emergency On Pine Ridge Reservation

by: winter rabbit

Mon Mar 01, 2010 at 18:07:15 PM PST

Tribal president declares state of emergency over increase in youth suicide attempts Posted: Wednesday, December 9, 2009

PINE RIDGE -- Oglala Sioux Tribe President Theresa Two Bulls will declare a suicide state of emergency for Pine Ridge Indian Reservation during a news conference at 1 p.m. today.

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.

Native American Suicide

by: AbsurdEyes

Wed Oct 17, 2007 at 23:37:17 PM PDT

A lot of people are aware of the many abject problems Native American's face- rampant poverty, diabetes, environmental degradation to name a few. The current social  problems are not isolated from the past several hundred years of colonalism & imperialism, or the United States Government legacy of broken treaties and exploiting sacred land. One of the dark marks of the spiritual scar on Native America, is suicide amongst Native American youth.