like assaults, especially child abuse, and rape.
nobody likes to talk about that, but rape, in particular, has been cited as a horrendous problem on reservations.

it makes me very happy to see that some tribes are going back to growing their native foods. growing food heals a lot of wounds.

such a sad situation. we should really give them back their full autonomy, including the billions that blm has skimmed from land deals and leases.

1972 and this article could have been dated back then. And I agree that poverty is the issue. This is one of the isolated reservations and that makes their situation worse because even the idea of something like a casino (that have helped other reservations) is a no go because they are too far from larger communities to have enough customers.

What is needed is for someone to start a factory that can provide jobs in their area. And I do not see the corporations willing to do that. Especially when they can send their factories to some country that pays a few cents a day for labor.

I am sorry to hear this news. I met wonderful people when I was there.

A factory is a good idea and should be owned by the tribe itself, sort of a worker's cooperative with the same tax breaks afforded church business. Having the means to be independent is very important for the human spirit.

Complete with solar & wind power so it can be anywhere without needing to be hooked up to the grid. The community helps to build the home and you own it outright at no cost. But as you said, working to support the family is very important. A factory plus a training program could be a first start.

I would be very interested in that project. Over here in MN some of the tribal office buildings are built that way but we have not applied the knowledge to housing yet.

But Brad Pitt's foundation does something similar

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/gallery/photo/brad-pitt-fort-peck-5-designs-sustainable-houses-155456

Great stuff.

To say it was depressing is an understatement. In the winter, it's even worse.

Just a few months ago, and every so often when there's a lull in the news, the latest shiny object was the outrage over the name of a football team.

Like it was the worst thing that could befall a Nation of people.

None of the statistics you just listed mattered to people. In fact, many of them seemed to go out of their way to ignore all of it just so they could call other people "racists" for not giving a shit what a football team wanted to call itself.


It's beyond outrageous and disgusting and very sad when people choose to waste their time on things that can't possibly matter more than the loss of hope and life for people who are suffering in hell.

by the name of that team. I is not a compliment. It is part of the whole attitude all too many people have regarding them.

have a problem with it, so I guess it's in the eye (or ear) of the beholder.

And nobody was calling Native Americans "redskins". It's the name of the team. Uncomplimentary in the past, but in the larger scheme of things...compared to the horrors of what's happening on the rez in SD, it's a pisshole in a snowbank.

Do people really think that changing the name of the Washington Redskins is going to wipe out racism, hatred, poverty, suicide, drug use and alcoholism?


I'm truly happy that so many people have the luxury and good fortune to care about something that, in the larger scheme of things, is not all that earth-shattering, namely what to call a football team.

Ask the residents of Pine Ridge reservation if they give a shit what a football team calls itself.

foster a good self-concept and as such it only adds to the problems that the people on the rez face. As to wiping out racism - nothing is going to do that - haters will be haters. But one step at a time is a good policy. I worked on that rez - if I had used that name in any context I would have been asked to leave.

There is a "game" where passes out indians are out on railroad tracks and get run over by passing trains, according to a ND Lakotah friend, has happened several times in recent years in city. Go to the city, get drunk, lose legs (at minimum). Bigotry? Becoming aware is the beginning of the possibility for change. Finding a way to have employment and housing while still retaining Community is the next step, along with not only education but something to look forward to.

I'm from Montana and over fifty percent of the prison inmates in Montana are in prison on meth related charges. It's just an incredibly devastating drug epidemic. I never thought anything could be worse than the alcoholism problem, but I think the meth problem is even more destructive.