|
Post by DawnDay on Jan 7, 2009 18:55:12 GMT -5
TIM GIAGO/LAKOTA INDIAN FROM PINE RIDGE, HAS GREAT ARTICLES IN THE HUFFINGTON POST. Native Colleges: America's Best Kept Secret stumble digg reddit del.ico.us news trust mixx.com Home News By Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) © 2008 Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc. December 26, 2008 Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), stumbled across a great disparity while seeking appropriations for the Native American colleges. "It was appropriations time and I was frankly shocked to discover that a federally chartered college like Howard University, a school for African American students, was getting $13,000 per student while the Tribally Controlled Indian Colleges were getting only $1,700 per student. Inouye made it his goal to close that gap. There are 37 Indian colleges scattered across Indian country. Most are located on isolated Indian reservations and for the first time in the history of this country Native Americans have the opportunity to seek higher education degrees on their homelands. I believe that the Indian colleges are one of America's best kept secrets. Thirty-six years ago, Stanley Red Bird, a respected elder from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, made a call to a young man named Lionel Bordeaux who was completing his studies at the University of Minnesota. Red Bird told Bordeaux that he was looking for a young man who knows the Lakota language. He continued, "Your plans have changed. Your name came through in our ceremonies and we want you to come home and head up Sinte Gleska Community College, the new college we are initiating." Sinte Gleska was named after the famous Sicangu leader Spotted Tail. Bordeaux left school to return to Rosebud. At a spiritual ceremony he was handed the Pipe and told that if something was said that he felt he couldn't handle, he was free to put the Pipe down and walk away. He didn't walk away and 36 years later, Sinte Gleska is one of the finest of the Indian colleges. Sinte Gleska is no longer a Community College, but is now a full-fledged University. "We aren't there yet, but the circle is getting smaller and tighter," Bordeaux said at last week at a conference in Rapid City. How important are the Indian colleges to the Oyate (People)? Early in the efforts to get Sinte Gleska off of the ground the new chairman of the tribe fired Red Bird, Bordeaux and most of the staff. Red Bird organized the people and marched on tribal headquarter. As the discussions grew heated a Lakota woman carrying a handicapped child walked to the front of the council. "None of you seated here have had to raise a handicapped child. I have, and the one institution that has helped me was Sinte Gleska College." The council appeared to be embarrassed by her appearance and reinstated all of the people they had fired. Bordeaux believes there are two major things that stand in the way of making the Indian colleges a total success; funding and accreditation. He believes the Indian colleges had to sacrifice much of the traditions and culture of their people in order to qualify for the accreditations that would validate their existence. "We have Lakota elders with a wealth of knowledge, elders that are traditional Lakota speakers, who would be a valuable resource for the colleges, but because of the stringent rules of accreditations, we are hard-pressed to use them because they do not have the degrees or credentials," Bordeaux said. He would like to see all of the colleges push for accreditation based on tribal law, culture and traditions. "We need to use our group and our intellect to handle our own accreditation," he said. He also has high hopes of financial input from the successful Indian casinos. He said the wealthy gaming tribes are an untapped source of revenues for the colleges that could open doors for Indian people everywhere. It has been the dream of Bordeaux and Dr. Jim Wilson, an Oglala Lakota, to build an American Indian University in the heart of the Black Hills. They believe the university would strengthen the Indian colleges rather than weaken them. "All of the Indian colleges would be beneficiaries and contributors to the American Indian University," Sen. Inouye said and as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, he thinks he can find the funds to make it a reality. As the conference was about to close, Marie Randall, a Lakota elder from Wanbli on the Pine Ridge Reservation, stood up to speak. She said, "I am 88 years old and I just earned my degree from Oglala Lakota College so now I can teach my takojas (all young people are spoken of as "grandchildren" by the Lakota). When anyone asks, "How important are the Indian colleges?" just think about Marie Randall. She read an editorial in the Lakota Times about a mural in the South Dakota State Capitol Building depicting white settlers standing on the neck of a prone Indian. She went to Pierre, confronted then Governor Bill Janklow demanding that the mural be torn down or covered, and she managed to do what my editorial could not do; the governor had the mural covered with a curtain. What a teacher Marie Randall has become and what a role model for the Lakota children and it would not have happened without the Indian colleges. (Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, was born, raised and educated on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He was the founder and publisher of Indian Country Today, the Lakota Times, and the Dakota/Lakota Journal. He can be reached at najournalist@msn.com) I have spoken with many African Americans about this. Many of them believe that Native Americans receive a free education and they don't. In the state of California University system African Americans receive more educational benefits than Native Americans,Hispanics and Asians combined. But most African Americans are told different by their leaders. When I showed them the proof, they became upset with local politiicans for lying to them. We're just as worthy and deserving as others. The government must invest now. Politicians must stop the practice of deceit on both sides Native American as well. Reply Is the aim of these colleges to pass on cultural information, traditions, and languages? Is it to give Native Americans a foothold in the existing economic system? Is it both? Something else? To be clear, I applaud any of those aims, and believe that at any level, schools for the peoples decimated and displaced in the formation of our country deserve AT LEAST as much money as schools for anyone else, if not more. I'm simply curious. The desire for accreditation seems to suggest that one of the goals is giving members of their tribes some of the tools necessary to operate in the global capitalist economy. At the same time, the push for accreditation "based on tribal law, culture and traditions," suggests that might not be the case, as those sources of authority, although they are important and powerful, are not generally viewed as major players on the global economic stage. Dating American Indians Meet Native Americans Online Today. True.com®- Meet The Right One Now www.True.com Popular Stories on HuffPost Children Left Behind: The Dark Legacy of Indian Mission Boarding Schools by Tim Giago Notes From Indian Country Volume 1 by Tim Giago Contact Us Copyright © 2009 HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffPost's QuickRead... EmailIMthis entry Your Name: *
|
|
|
Post by DawnDay on Jan 7, 2009 19:08:37 GMT -5
ANOTHER GREAT ARTICLE OF TIM GIAGO, GOD BLESS HIM FOR BRINGING THE PLIGHT OF OUR PEOPLE TO THE ATTENTION OF THE REST OF THE WORLD BY HIS WORDS. .DAWNDAY December a Sad Month for the Lakota stumble digg reddit del.ico.us news trust mixx.com Read More: Wounded Knee, Home News Share Print Comments By Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) © 2008 Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc. December 20, 2008 The month of December means different things to many people. To those that have lost a loved one, the festive days of December can be a time of sorrow. To the Lakota, it is a month of sad memories. My very best friend Ron Holt, Nez Perce, is suffering through the Christmas holidays because for the first time in more than 30 years, he will not have his lovely wife Muriel at his side to share the happiness. Merriam passed away in the early fall and her passing has left a terrible tear in Ron's heart. He is struggling to recover and to move on with his life. The month of December was a time of terror for the Lakota People in the year 1890. First of all, the great Lakota leader, Tatanka Iyotanka (Sitting Bull) was killed, assassinated some would say, on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. At daybreak on December 15, 1890, 43 Indian police officers, led by Bull Head, surrounded the Sitting Bull's cabin with the intention of placing him under arrest. When Sitting Bull emerged from his cabin he was surprised to see many Ghost Dancers watching and waiting. Catch The Bear attempted to stop the police from taking Sitting Bull. He fired a rifle shot that wounded Bull Head. In the same instant Red Tomahawk fired his rifle. The bullet struck Sitting Bull in the head killing him instantly. (The Genius of Sitting Bull by Emmett C. Murphy) Many Lakota believe that it was the white man's fear of the Ghost Dance that eventually led to the death of Sitting Bull. The Ghost Dance was a sacred dance that was brought to the Sioux by the Paiute Medicine Man Wovoka. The dancers believed that by participating in the dance they would become untouchable by enemy bullets and that all of buffalo and their ancestors would return to this earth and the land would become free of the white man. Indian Agent James McLaughlin despised Sitting Bull because of the fame he enjoyed amongst his fellow Lakota. When the Ghost Dance began to sweep the reservation Sitting Bull did not condemn it, and although he never joined in the dance himself, he allowed it to take place on his land. This inaction by Sitting Bull allowed McLaughlin to find the perfect reason to arrest him for breaking the law. And so the death of Sitting Bull would lead to the tragedy of Wounded Knee. A poem in the great historical book "Voices of Wounded Knee," by William S. E. Coleman, goes: Old Sitting Bull has gone away, Beyond the world of care, To join the Ghost Dance warriors, In the Badlands over there. Down on the Cheyenne River Agency Chief Sitanka (Big Foot) became aware of the fear sweeping through his land. With nearly 300 of his followers he embarked on a journey to the Pine Ridge Reservation where he and his people would seek refuge with the Lakota Chief Red Cloud. In the meantime some of the local newspapers were enraged over what they considered to be the sensationalism style of reporting by some of the reporters stationed on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The Chadron (NE) Democrat accused two reporters, Will Cressey of the Omaha Bee, and William Fitch Kelley, of the Lincoln State Journal of generating heated excitement where there was none. "The Indian excitement is accounting for one thing at least; that of having produced a crop of fine, large sensational mongers and liars of the first water," the Chadron Democrat reported. Major General Nelson A. Miles believed that despite the transgressions of the press, the situation was stabilizing. Perhaps it was stabilizing amongst the Indians, but apparently not amongst the soldiers from Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer's old outfit, the Seventh Cavalry. General Miles would later write, "The art of war among the white people is called strategy or tactics; when it is practiced by the Indians it is called treachery." Many Lakota believe that the spirit of Custer was present at Wounded Knee on the morning of December 29, 1890. When the smoke cleared on that bitter cold morning nearly 300 Lakota men, women and children lay dead on the frozen ground. Afterwards one battle hardened soldier said to the New York World, "There is the strongest kind of prejudice among the officer and men on the frontier stations against the Indians. Like General Sheridan, they believed 'the only good Indian is a dead Indian.' As compared with the white man, his life is worth almost nothing; and it is not regarded as a crime to shoot a poor red devil for a trifling offense." As we move into the joyful days of December, the memories of many Lakota will turn to the tragic events of December 1890. They will recall with sadness those horrible days that shaped and nearly destroyed a people. (Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, was born, raised and educated on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He was the founder and first president of the Native American Journalists Association and the founder and publisher of Indian Country Today, the Lakota Times, and the Dakota/Lakota Journal. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard in the Class of 1991. He can be reached at najournalist@msn.com 12/21/2008 - + Akacia See Profile I'm a Fan of Akacia I'm a fan of this user permalink Sadly, the suicide rate among Native Americans is higher than other populations. It hit me when our group would visit the reservation offices that they had at least a handful of these books on their shelves. It struck me that they had an interest in saving as many native people as they could, or that they had issues that ran deeper than the happy go-lucky public would notice at first glance. Copyright © 2009 HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
|
|
|
Post by sunshine on Jan 7, 2009 21:45:43 GMT -5
Sorry to butt in on this thread, but speaking of colleges, I need to share with you that there is a college in MORRIS MINNESOTA that will allow all Native people a 4 year college education FREE OF CHARGE!
This school was originally a Native boarding school When the University of MInnesota purchased it, it was sold with the understanding that if any Native person wanted an education, the tuition was to be given free of charge. Pell grants will pay for any room and board charges, so one could theoreticly go for four years and come out debt free! PRAISE GOD! Sunshine
|
|
|
Post by DawnDay on Jan 7, 2009 22:37:17 GMT -5
Sorry to butt in on this thread, but speaking of colleges, I need to share with you that there is a college in MORRIS MINNESOTA that will allow all Native people a 4 year college education FREE OF CHARGE! This school was originally a Native boarding school When the University of MInnesota purchased it, it was sold with the understanding that if any Native person wanted an education, the tuition was to be given free of charge. Pell grants will pay for any room and board charges, so one could theoreticly go for four years and come out debt free! PRAISE GOD! THANK YOU SUNSHINE FOR YOUR ADDED INFORMATION, THAT IS UNBELIEVABLE. I WISH MY SON AND DAUGHTER WOULD HAVE HAD THAT OPPORTUNITY. THEY HAD TO DO IT THE HARD WAY, FR Sunshine THANK YOU SUNSHINE FOR YOUR ADDED INFORMATION, THAT IS UNBELIEVABLE. I WISH MY SON AND DAUGHTER WOULD HAVE HAD THAT OPPORTUNITY. THEY HAD TO DO IT THE HARD WAY, FROM THE BOTTOM. WITH ON THE JOB EXPERIENCE, AS THEIR RESUME'. IT DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK, SOME COMPANIES DEMAND SOME KIND OF A DEGREE. I MYSELF AM OVER ONE HALF LAKOTA MY FATHER WAS 7/8TH AND MY MOTHER 1/4 REGISTERED. BUT THERE WAS NO HELP FOR THEM, OFF THE RESERVATION INDIANS, CAN'T GET ANY HELP EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE ENROLLED. I WAS TOLD THE ONLY MONEY AVAILABLE AT THAT TIME WAS FOR ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE. I AM VERY PROUD OF MY DAUGHTER AND SON, FOR MAKING SOMETHING OF THEIR LIVES, INSPITE OF NOT HAVING A DEGREE AT THE END OF THEIR NAMES. THEY HAD TO TRY HARDER AND PROVE THEMSELVES MORE. MAYBE THAT WAS WHY THEY HAVE SUCCEEDED. THEY HAD NO CHOICE, AND THEY DID IT. THANK YOU LORD. DAWNDAY
|
|
|
Post by DawnDay on Jan 9, 2009 3:44:43 GMT -5
AMERICAN INDIAN NEWSPAPERS STARTED AND RUN BY AMERICAN INDIAN WOMEN
Tim Giago|
Three Courageous Native Women Newspaper Publishers Posted December 5, 2007 | 10:36 AM (EST)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read More: Elizabeth Gray, Fake Medicine, Government And Native Americans, Indian Journalism, Lakota Times, Native American Journalists, Native American Journalists Association, Native American Newspapers, Native American Times, Native Americans, Oglala Lakota Nation, Oneida Nation, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Teton Times, Breaking Media News
The Lakota Times was the only independently owned Indian weekly newspaper in America in 1981. Now there are several. Ironically, the three most read, most influential of these independent newspapers are owned and published by Indian women.
Elizabeth Gray started the Oklahoma Indian Times in 1995. Several years later, as the paper expanded beyond Oklahoma, she changed its name to Native American Times. She said, "I started the newspaper in a storage facility in Afton, Oklahoma. Next door to our office was a fish bait room and the smell of fish filled our little office."
Email Print Buzz up!on Yahoo!
Why did she start the newspaper? "It all starts with vision. What goal or mark you focus on is how you will create the path to accomplishment. If it is handed to you then it is someone else's creation. It has to start with you. In this business you have to be hardheaded and not listen to the visions of failures of others. Indian tribes need newspapers so they can have a balance in their governmental structure," Liz said.
"I believe it is my job while on this earth to be a vessel of truth while supporting the community of people through my newspaper as a communication source. It really isn't my newspaper; it is the people's because without truth, we have nothing," she said.
Native American Times can be found online at nativetimes.com. The online edition compliments the hardcopy newspaper that is published weekly.
Amanda Takes War Bonnet, an Oglala Lakota, had a comfortable job as Communications Coordinator at Little Wound School in Kyle on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Prior to that she had worked for me at the Lakota Times and at Indian Country Today. She started as a part-time janitor while attending Oglala Lakota College. She eventually worked in every department within the newspaper. Her insight, knowledge of the Lakota culture, and her ambition soon landed her the job of managing editor. She was with me for 14 years.
She gave up that "comfy" job in 2004 and started a weekly newspaper she named after the original Lakota Times. Not long after the paper started she got a threatening letter from the lawyers of the Oneida Nation in New York State, a tribe that had purchased Indian Country Today in 1998. The letter advised her that if she did not change the name of her newspaper they would sue her. It seems the Oneida believed they had prior rights to the name Lakota Times by virtue of the purchase agreement.
She felt she could win the case if she pursued it, but with little money to fight it, she went ahead and changed the name of the newspaper to Lakota Country Times. The Oneida haven't challenged that name as yet.
Amanda believes in maintaining the ties to her culture and traditions while still reporting the news that is important to the Lakota people. "Our communities are hurting from alcoholism, a lack of spirituality and a very poor economy and so many other social ills and so giving the people things to read that will help in their lives is very important," Takes War Bonnet said.
Her website is lakotacountrytimes.com and it also compliments her hardcopy, weekly newspaper.
Avis Little Eagle is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. She came to work for me at the Lakota Times fresh out of college in 1990. She started out as a news reporter and eventually became my managing editor. One day I assigned her the task of doing a series on fake medicine men and women. She took the story to heart and spent many nights and weekends working on what turned out to be a ten-part series.
During the run of the series Avis and the newspaper itself received threats of hell and damnation, death threats and threats of evil spells from some of the fake medicine men and women the series exposed. Little Eagle sat down one Wednesday to write the final part of the series. She worked on it all morning and then took a lunch break. While she was out of the office her computer suddenly started on fire. We immediately put out the fire, salvaged her work, and transferred it to an identical computer never telling her about this disaster. She completed the series and it became one of the major accomplishments in Indian journalism.
Little Eagle started the Teton Times in McLaughlin, SD in 2002. Avis was one of the fiercest defenders of freedom of the press and she was determined to see that the people of the Standing Rock Reservation have a newspaper that would bring them sources of knowledge that would give them the variety of opinions needed to make sound political decisions.
Avis could have been speaking for Liz and Amanda when she said," The mainstream media does not understand our culture and traditions and can never report adequately the things that we can better report about our own condition and beliefs." Little Eagle ran for public office and in 2005 she became the first woman ever elected to serve as vice president or as it is now known, vice chairwoman, of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
These three strong Indian women have made a difference in Indian country. Their newspapers, unlike newspapers owned by the tribal governments, have an open-mindedness that allows dissenters to publish letters and articles critical of tribal government and even letters critical of their own newspapers and of themselves and whether they like you or don't or whether they agree with your opinions or not, they never deny you the right to express yourselves on the pages of their newspapers. This you will never find in newspapers owned by the tribal governments or in many cases, in the mainstream media.
Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, was born, raised and educated on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard in the Class of 1991 and founder of The Lakota Times and Indian Country Today newspapers. He founded and was the first president of the Native American Journalists Association. He became the first Native American ever inducted into the South Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame on November 10, 2007. He can be reached at najournalist@msn.
copyright 2009 huffington post.com,inc.
|
|
|
Post by Spirit of the Owl Woman on Jan 9, 2009 22:59:43 GMT -5
I don't know how many will be interested but since the topic was education and funding, I thought I might spread the word about this online program at UCLA, which is not cheap but native americans get 25% off. And, if you have the time and inclination you can apply for pell grants, FASAS or ask your tribal council what funding they might have in return for tribal community service. And, if you are on a fixed income like I am, please don't feel insulted because I am posting this. I am taking the winter quarter off in order to find funding because I can't take classes this quarter but I am hoping by spring. G-d willing.
Anyway, no matter where you are in this here country you can take these courses at UCLA because they are all online. Here is the certificate program:
We offer several courses which specifically focus on Tribal Legal Systems. Presented in cooperation with Project Peacemaker, this developing series summarizes legal issues in the areas of federal, state, and tribal laws that affect American Indian and Alaska Native populations. We are in the process of developing additional courses to include different subject areas.
Starred courses are now available for enrollment. Use the grid displayed at the right to check for typical availability. Course Number Now Available Title Units SU FA WI SP Required LAW X 490 Introduction to Tribal Legal Studies 4.50 * * * * LAW X 490.02 Federal Indian Law and Policy 4.50 * * * * AM IND X 492.03 Economic Development and Nation Building in Native America 4.00 * * * * Electives (1 course from the following list) LAW X 490.03 Violence against Native Women 4.50 * * * * AM IND X 495 Protecting Cultural Property in the Biotech Age 4.50 * * * * AM IND X 493 Preservation of Tribal Cultural Material 4.50 * * * * LAW XL 178 Indigenous Cultural Resource Protection in California: Theory and Practice 4.00 * * * * LAW X 490.01 Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing in a Tribal Context 4.50 * * * * Estimated Cost Candidacy Fee:$25.00 Estimated Program Tuition:$2,000.00 Estimated Total Cost:$2,025.00 Contact: Seydy Ortiz, (310) 206-6671 or seydyo@unex.ucla.edu
Students successfully completing this program receive a testimonial certifying their completion. "Successful completion" is defined as earning the grade of C or higher in all credit bearing courses of the curriculum, as well as successful participation in any experimental non-credit courses, unless more rigorous requirements are stated above. The repeat of courses is permitted. To enroll in this program, click here.
Open Enrollment or Apply for Admission?: Open VA Approved?: No Extension Grant Availability: Yes Internships Available: No All courses available online: Yes Program ID: TT309
Please note: counseling and application fees, if any, are not refundable, and may be renewable if completion is not attained by the estimated normal progress as determined by your advisor. Students may be subject to retroactive assessment of counseling fees if course work is already underway. All programs at UCLA Extension require professional-level English language proficiency in listening and note-taking, reading comprehension and vocabulary, written expression, and oral presentation. If you would like to refine your English language proficiency prior to beginning one of our programs, we offer English as a Second Language programs and an array of classes in Communication and Learning Skills. UCLA Extension reserves the right to amend its training curricula by providing course substitutions that in the opinion of our staff are of equal or enhanced educational value. Within the temporal limits covered by counseling fees, students are entitled to complete programs with the curriculum substantively fixed as of the date they enroll.
UCLA is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). The courses within this program have been developed and are administered in accordance with regulations of the Academic Senate of the University of California.
|
|
|
Post by DawnDay on Jan 14, 2009 20:05:29 GMT -5
LOOKS LIKE TIM GIAGO IS BRINGING MORE INTEREST IN THE HEALTH CARE FOR INDIAN COUNTRY. DAWNDAY
Home News Commentary Tim Giago: Indian Country looks to Tom Daschle for help Sunday, January 11, 2009
Tim Giago: Indian Country looks to Tom Daschle for help Written by Tim Giago
Former South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle will soon be seated as the head of the Health and Human Services. As a man who grew up in South Dakota and served as its Representative and Senator for many years, he, probably above all others, is highly qualified to know and understand the health problems prevalent amongst the Native people of his state.
Within the HHS is the Indian Health Service, an agency that serves the needs of the 1.8 million members of the 560 federally recognized tribes. The Indian Health Service has 15,102 employees and in 2008 operated under a budget of $4.3 billion. I.H.S. oversees 46 hospitals, 324 health centers, 309 health stations, and 34 urban Indian health programs.
Established in 1921 within the U. S. Department of the Interior, the Indian Health Service was transferred to HHS in 1955.
Now all of the above statistics makes the Indian Health Service sound pretty impressive and for lack of a better term, it is doing pretty well under difficult circumstances. And yet the average age of Native Americans is 25 percent less than that of the white population. The twin epidemic of diabetes and infant mortality is much, much higher than that of the average American.
Several months ago I wrote about several Lakota babies that died at birth and every week since then there has been a Lakota baby listed in the daily obituaries of local newspapers. The listings are no longer just a surprise, but instead are shocking. Why are so many Indian babies stillborn or why do so many die shortly after they are born? With all of its employees and facilities why can’t the Indian Health Service determine the cause of this epidemic?
There is another dreadful illness on the Indian reservations of America that is just as shocking and apparently unsolvable. The rate of adult onset diabetes is decimating the Indian people. Nearly every month I lose a friend or a relative to this disease. So far I have lost two sisters and many cousins.
One of the most prominent families on the Pine Ridge Reservation is the Red Cloud family. They are the descendants of the famous Oglala Lakota leader, Chief Red Cloud. He authorized the purchase of the land upon which the Holy Rosary Indian Mission was built. As a student there many years ago I vividly recall his name on the façade of the gray, concrete building. Red Cloud Hall was the place that housed our classrooms, a gymnasium and our dormitories.
The Red Cloud family has been involved in the politics of the Oglala Lakota for more than 150 years. The Chief is buried in what has become known as “The Old Mission Cemetery” overlooking Red Cloud School.
There is no such thing as royalty amongst the Lakota people, but if there were, it would rest upon the shoulders of the Red Cloud’s. Oliver Red Cloud, the great grandson of Chief Red Cloud now sits in a wheel chair having had one leg amputated because of diabetes. He has lost his son Verdell (two weeks ago) and his daughter Nancy, to diabetes. His son Lyman, a man that was always so active in the politics of the reservation, is now in a wheel chair in a rest home in Rapid City. Both of his legs have been amputated because of diabetes.
Oglala Lakota attorney Mario Gonzalez, a descendant of the respected Quiver family of the Eagle Nest District of Pine Ridge, lost his mother, Geneva Eloise Wilcox Gonzales to diabetes. Gonzalez said he was just shattered at losing his mother and so many friends and relatives to diabetes. He said, “When Nancy Red Cloud was put on the dialysis machine I knew it would just be a matter of time for her because I have seen so many Lakota end up on that machine.”
On the lands of the Gila River Reservation in Arizona it has been reported that nearly 50 percent of the population has been decimated by diabetes. Several studies have been ongoing there to determine the causes and to seek solutions. Gila River was the home of that famous United States Marine, Ira Hayes, and the Pima Indian that helped to raise the flag at Iwo Jima.
Tom Daschle has been a friend of mine for more than 30 years. I wrote him to congratulate him on his appointment to head the HHS. He knows the problems of infant mortality and of the diabetes epidemic in Indian country better than anyone ever appointed to head that agency. He also knows that cancer can be added to the list of diseases that are now destroying so many Indian families. He also knows that the people of Indian country are counting on him.
Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, was born, raised and educated on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He was the founder and publisher of Indian Country Today, the Lakota Times mXcomment 1.0.7 © 2007-2009 - visualclinic.fr License Creative Commons - Some rights reserved Copyright © 2008
|
|