Sicangu News

President Barack Obama must soon make a life or death decision. He holds the future of our planet in his hands as he contemplates approving or disapproving the application for a Presidential Permit for TransCanada to build their Keystone tar sands oil pipeline through our treaty lands.

 

Last week over 200 people signed up to speak at the State Department’s hearing held in Grand Island, Nebraska. I listened to members of the Cowboy-Indian-Alliance speak against the construction of TransCanada’s pipeline. At risk is the Ogallala Aquifer. This vast, vital water source serves humans, animals and crops in at least eight states.

 

Over the past three years I have written several pieces on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline and the danger it poses to Earth’s survival. Still, there are mindless politicians on every level of government who could care less about life-threatening oil pipeline ruptures. In fact, all they care about is being re-elected to office. Politicians who accept campaign funds from oil companies sell their souls for free money. Many politicians are akin to lifeless robots. They obviously do not possess the critical thinking skills required to plan for the survival of the coming Seven Generations.

 

There have been countless oil spills on both land and in the waters resulting in irreversible contamination. Many humans, animals, plant and birds have suffered from these man-made disasters. If the current rush to mine all the oil and minerals from the Earth continues, our children will have a very difficult time surviving.

 

The Oglala Lakota Nation and the Black Hills Treaty Council have both gone on record opposing tar sands mining operations in Canada and the building of the proposed Keystone oil pipeline. Both the tribe and treaty council are also in support of the Mother Earth Accord which was adopted by numerous tribes, including the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, and presented to President Barack Obama.

 

Furthermore, most Indian Reservations are lacking in homeland security. How would you react if someone invaded your home and threatened your family? I would not be very kind to anyone who made the personal choice to invade my home. The construction of the Keystone XL pipeline is a homeland security issue affecting all of us. Putting a large pipeline to carry undisclosed dangerous chemicals over our primary water source is probably the most lethal terrorist threat we’ve ever faced.

 

When this pipeline ruptures, as it surely will, where will our water come from? Where will we find water to drink, use in our gardens or give to our pets/livestock if the aquifer we depend is contaminated with tar sands oil?

 

The federal government created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after the 9/11 attacks to make the United States of America a safer place to live. The Homeland Security Act was signed into law on November 25, 2002. The mission of DHS is basically “to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards.” When you browse their webpage you will see several areas DHS focuses on, including counterterrorism, border security, preparedness, response, recovery, immigration and cybersecurity.

 

I have attended many tribal council meetings and the only areas I have ever heard them discuss are preparedness and response. What about counterterrorism, border security, recovery, immigration and cybersecurity? What about the security of our water? Our tribal governments could create our own DHS “to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards.”  

 

When we make a statement opposing tar sands mining and oil pipeline construction it means we do not support anything associated with these operations. I believe our tribal governments need to fast track some laws about overweight vehicles traveling the roads running through our lands. How much revenue could South Dakota tribes take in if there was a weigh station at every reservation entrance point?

 

There are so many trucks on the road now and who knows what they are carrying. The covered loads appear highly suspicious. Look at highway 83 which runs through the Rosebud Rez. Overloaded semi-trucks traveling 70-80 mph are extremely hazardous. They are a threat to our homeland security. Many tribal members have died on highway 83 after crashing with a semi-truck.

 

Our homeland will never be secure as long as these trucks are allowed free passage through our lands. Who will clean up the mess if there is ever a hazard waste spill from a semi-truck next to Sicangu Village or in downtown Mission? How many Lakota children will be affected if this ever happens?

 

If our tribal governments and elected officials are really serious about their written, approved statements against tar sands oil mining and the construction of new oil pipelines, they must be ready to assert their authority as a sovereign nation to back up the grassroots people/organizations and the homelands they represent. Tribal governments can only make their own legislation stronger by giving the state of South Dakota notice that the transport of oil mining or pipeline construction equipment is banned on any roads running through our reservations. Our tribal governments must work “to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards.” It is their job.

 

It is our responsibility to advocate for Mother Earth’s survival and to protect our sacred water for the coming generations. Be one of the million and show your love for your descendants by making a comment against the Keystone XL pipeline by Earth Day which is April 22, 2013.

 

You can enter your remarks here and your comment could read: “Please do not jeopardize our Ogallala Aquifer by building this death project. Our descendants deserve better. You do not have a right to take away their chances for a good life full of uncontaminated drinking water by risking an oil spill or leak from the Keystone pipeline running into the Ogallala Aquifer. Please do not approve the Presidential Permit.”

Do not let your great-great grandchildren die of thirst.

Mitakuye Oyasin.

 

April is Alcohol Awareness Month. April is also Sexual Assault Awareness Month. It is no coincidence that alcohol and sexual assault are being focused on during the same month. Many children are living with these two issues on a daily basis on our Indian Reservations.

There are many people locked away in prisons and jails because of a crime they committed while under the influence of alcohol. A majority of sexual assaults occur because someone drank too much vodka/whiskey/beer/etc. Alcohol is never a legitimate excuse for criminal or inappropriate behavior. After all, the decision to drink alcoholic beverages is a personal choice. No one forces you to ingest gallons of that deadly drink.

Even though I hear lots of clamor about how it’s totally legal to use, alcohol remains an addictive depressant drug. Addicts are constantly looking for ways to be under its influence. Heavy drinkers are committing a slow suicide.

Have you questioned why alcohol is called spirits? I never thought about why booze is called spirits until I stopped drinking. Now I wonder about the hard core alcoholics who die while under the influence of alcohol. Does their spirit carry the drinking addiction into the spirit world? When you die drunk, are you eternally drunk in the spirit world? This is something I have often wondered about.

The nature of addiction is very powerful. You become heavily attached (more like chained) to the substances you are addicted to. If you have not dealt with your addictions in this life, what makes you think they will all just fade away with death? Alcohol has a spirit – that’s why it is called spirits, in my opinion.

Many people give permission to the spirit (perhaps we should call it a demon) of alcohol to possess them on a regular basis. We have all seen the people acting pure stupid or obnoxious or violent while they are drunk. People commit horrendous crimes while they are under the influence of alcohol. I really believe the alcohol takes over your spirit at some point during the time you are overdosing on the drink. Could this be what is called an alcoholic blackout?

When I was overdosing on alcohol on a regular basis I experienced countless blackouts. It was scary to wake up and not remember what I did the night before. I felt bad when my friends would tell me things I did which I could not even recall.

Did the alcohol spirit chase my own spirit out of my body during those times? Maybe, but it was still my own personal choice to drink enough booze to put myself into a stupor where I could not remember what I did. So even if some alcohol spirit/demon came in and took over my body, actions and memory — it was still my choice to summon that entity by drinking all those bottles of liquid drugs; right? I have no excuse. I have no one to blame but myself.

Anyway, this column will most likely touch a few nerves if you are someone who likes to ingest alcohol on a regular basis. I suppose I will again be called names or be accused of being judgmental by those who drink heavily. Still, I have to write about alcohol because it affects nearly everyone living on my Rez.

Alcohol and sexual assault walk side-by-side here on the Rosebud Reservation. How many of our people who are convicted of sex crimes were drunk when they committed a sexual assault? Did a demonic spirit come out of that bottle of vodka to take over the drinker’s body to induce an alcohol blackout where a sexual assault took place?

Even if this is what happens, it is not the demonic spirit who will have to sit in a jail cell to serve time for a sexual assault which the perpetrator has no memory of. It is the human being, man or woman, who will have to live with that crime. It’s best to not even start drinking at all.

What about our Lakota children who are sexually assaulted by adults? Even if the adult is not under the influence of alcohol when they sexually abuse or assault a child, the child’s life is altered forever. It’s much worse when the adult is a person who holds a position of trust within their community.

Last week I visited the South Dakota Public Broadcasting (SDPB) website and read an article written by Charles Michael Ray. The article has links to copies of letters written by Jesuit priests who served St. Francis Mission on the Rosebud Indian Reservation.

The writings are “A set of letters recently filed in a court case against the Catholic Church [which] detail allegations of sexual abuse against Native American children at the Saint Francis Mission on the Rosebud Reservation in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The plaintiffs in the case consider these documents a kind of smoking gun. They say the letters that are written by clergy at the mission prove that church officials knew of continual sexual abuse at the boarding school. The letters also show the alleged abusers were not removed or reported to proper authorities.”

The letters, written by priests many of us trusted, are glaring proof of the sexual abuse suffered by our people. Read them and draw your own conclusions. These graphic letters, outlining alcohol and sexual abuse, are signed by Fathers Jones, Eglsaer, Fagan and Neenan. A 1994 letter signed by the late Father Fagan is a confession of his transgressions regarding alcohol use and sexual activity.

What a bunch of hypocrites! The Lakota people who comprise the Catholic population of the Rosebud Reservation were deceived for decades! St. Francis Mission should offer mental health counselors at no cost for the Lakota people who were sexually abused by the Jesuits/Brothers.

How many lives were ruined because of the actions of these men? How many Lakota people died drinking because they were sexually abused as children by perverts serving the Catholic Church?

A preview of what we will suffer if KXL is built

Have you seen the pictures on the internet of the tar sands oil spill in Mayflower, Arkansas? They are absolutely horrific and a preview of what is to come if the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline is built. I found a very interesting story on the Arkansas oil spill. You can read the entire story online at the link included with the following excerpt:

 “Within a week of the ExxonMobil tar sands oil pipeline burst in Mayflower, Arkansas, ExxonMobil was in charge of the clean-up, the U.S. government had established a no-fly zone over the area, some 40 residents were starting their second week of evacuation, ExxonMobil was threatening to arrest reporters trying to cover the spill, and several homeowners had filed a class action lawsuit seeking damages from the world’s second-most-profitable corporation, which had helped keep the pipeline secret from terrorists.”  

The article also read in part: “And it smelled! The smell carried for miles. Up close, prolonged exposure was potentially unhealthy, for lung, brain, peace of mind. Environmental responders monitored the air quality for days, but only some of the clean-up workers wore breathing masks. The pipeline gushed for almost an hour before ExxonMobil had it shut down.”

I am totally against oil development. I am also opposed to any other development which is even remotely connected to oil extraction from Mother Earth. And when the development in question has nothing to do with digging into the ground to tap oil reserves or to place dangerous pipes I still have to oppose it; meaning I won’t even support the building of living quarters to rent to roughneck workers.

It’s all about principle and personal integrity. There are many people who serve only the almighty dollar and so when it comes to the profit margin they may not understand what it means to have principle or personal integrity. They are accustomed to compromising their personal integrity without flinching. Still, once we become complacent about the types of activities happening to support the people who are actually doing the oil development then we might as well be there digging the trench to lay the pipe ourselves.

When their first application for a Presidential Permit to construct KXL was denied, TransCanada Corporation submitted an application for a second permit on May 5, 2012 for a “proposed pipeline that would run from the Canadian border to connect to an existing pipeline in Steele City, Nebraska.”

On March 1, 2013 a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) was released for public comment. The 45 day comment period is nearing completion. Consequently, a Public Meeting will be conducted by the State Department on April 18, 2013 at the Heartland Events Center, 700 East Stolley Park Road in Grand Island, Nebraska to hear comments and views on the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.

This meeting is scheduled to begin at 12pm (noon) and continue through 8pm. Registration begins at 11am. If you want to voice your concern you must show up early and sign up to speak. You can be sure that TransCanada will be bussing in roughnecks by the dozens from all over the country to advocate for the Presidential Permit to be approved!

This is what happened in Pierre, South Dakota when the State Department held a hearing there in 2011. Several charter buses arrived at the Best Western Ramkota chock-full of roughnecks. Many people stood in line to sign up to speak in front of the State Department officials. The grassroots people who traveled to Pierre in September 2011 to speak up for Mother Earth were laughed at by the roughnecks. I witnessed those brash roughnecks eat up the allotted time by advocating for the construction of KXL. Incidents like this might give an impression that the majority of the local people are in favor of the project, even when they are not.  

There are local people banding together to stand up against the construction of KXL. This project is not in our or our children’s best interest. Indians, ranchers and land owners are standing side by side in protest to this potential threat to our sacred areas and our water of life. We stand together as human beings who would rather have clean drinking water for our children more than we want the almighty dollar.

Like many of my Lakota-Dakota-Nakota relatives, I am deeply concerned about the world our grandchildren and unborn descendants will be left with when we are gone. Like the ancestors who have gone before us, many of us pray for the descendants who will soon stand in our place. And at the rate we are pillaging Mother Earth there will be nothing left. How will our great grandchildren feel when they learn they have inherited a dead planet? The inhabitants of North America cannot afford additional oil pipeline construction. Further oil development will surely destroy us.

Also, there are many unmarked graves all over Turtle Island. The bones of our relatives rest everywhere. Some have fossilized into stone. Who has the right to physically disturb ancient graves just so there will be a few more gallons of gas or oil?

As a child of Mother Earth, I am against the proposed KXL crossing our land and water sources. I ask you all to pray for our water of life to remain pure for our descendants. I would also ask that you go and speak out against the approval of a Presidential Permit in regard to the construction of KXL at the hearing next week. 

If you cannot attend the public meeting in Grand Island, Nebraska on April 18, you can still submit a written opinion regarding KXL or the SEIS. Written comments are being accepted through April 22, 2013, which happens to be the nationally celebrated Earth Day. Comments can be emailed to keystonecomments@state.gov Written comments can also be mailed to: U.S. Department of State, Attn: Genevieve Walker, NEPA Coordinator, 2201 C Street NW, Room 2726, Washington, D.C. 20520.

 

 

It is really hard for our children to stay in school. The intensity of issues they deal with can be overwhelming. When I was in school I didn’t questioned why I had to be there. Most of the time school was fun for me. I enjoyed learning. Of course, every student has their difficult days and I remember those days very well. I also remember the good days which were fun. Times are different now for our children.

 

I recall the time in the middle school as being the most difficult. It hasn’t really changed much as I believe our middle school students are the ones who have the hardest time with peer pressure, bullying and the other students they call their haters. And when I look at the family of the student who is mean or a bully, I can see why the student turned out the way they did. When adult bullies have children, they usually raise those children to be just as mean as they are. Parents are the first teachers so it makes sense that if you are mean you are likely to have cruel children.

 

I also remember the principals, teachers and coaches in my elementary, middle and high schools. While in elementary school I recall my teachers/coaches and principals being adults with high expectations, they wanted us to succeed so they made us work hard. We were encouraged to be high achievers.

 

I had an elementary teacher who pushed me hard to become a good reader. I believe it was her efforts which helped me develop my reading skills. I remember the speed reading exercises she would put me through. It was a challenge but it didn’t seem like it back then because I loved to read!

 

When I got to high school, the social issues I faced were more of a challenge. Still, they were not as difficult as they are for our students today. There were bullies to deal with but I think I only saw one fist fight while I was in high school. Today you can watch fights on YouTube featuring our local high school girls.

 

I had two excellent teachers in high school who were determined to teach me Algebra. I also had two amazing teachers who pushed us to learn all we could about science. Still another teacher influenced me to perfect my typing skills. These outstanding teachers helped me develop my academic skills so I could be the person I am today.

 

Today I hear a lot of negative things about the mission schools and how they abused our people. I know many of my classmates had issues with our teachers. Still, I have to say that the best teachers I had were some of the priests, brothers and sisters of St. Francis Mission. Even though I realize that many of my peers would disagree with me, I have to say that my experience with them was good. For the most part, the ones I encountered were ethical people with integrity who had our best interests at heart.

 

Furthermore, I had mature coaches in school. Sometimes they would get emotional but I never did hear them cuss us out. They never called us derogatory names either. They possessed an admirable amount of self-control. Their behavior was always appropriate.

 

Nowadays we have all kinds. There are teachers, coaches, administrators and even school board members who do not have the level of integrity which the people who held these positions had when I attended school. In my opinion, it is dangerous to have unscrupulous people in the same schools as our children.

 

A teaching certificate does not guarantee ethics or integrity or appropriate behavior. School boards should be looking more closely at the character of the teachers they hire, right? But sometimes we elect people to school boards who do not act in the best interest of our children. They often act in the best interest of the adults.

 

On January 30, 2013, a teacher who is employed with the Todd County School District was publicly reprimanded by the South Dakota Professional Teachers Practices and Standards Commission. Last week, someone provided me with the document and asked me how they could get it published in a local newspaper. For those of you who have not seen the document signed by Chairman Aaron Weaver, the contents of the Public Reprimand issued against a local teacher are provided here:

 

“A hearing was held before the South Dakota Professional Teachers Practices and Standards Commission regarding allegations that Robert D. Boyd Jr., a teacher, violated the South Dakota Code of Professional Ethics for Teachers. The Commission has determined that Robert D. Boyd Jr. violated the following provisions of the South Dakota Code of Professional Ethics for Teachers: ARSD 24:08:03:01. Obligations to students. In fulfilling their obligations to the students, educators shall act as follows: (5) Conduct professional business in such a way that they do not expose the students to unnecessary intimidation, embarrassment, or disparagement; (7) Maintain professional relationships with students without exploitation of a student for personal gain or advantage; As a result of these violations of the Code of Professional Ethics for Teachers, the Commission hereby issues this PUBLIC REPRIMAND against Robert D. Boyd Jr.”

 

I’m not sure about you but I am now extremely apprehensive about Robert D. Boyd Jr. being anywhere near my Takoja when they enter the grade levels where he teaches or coaches. There must have been enough evidence to warrant a Public Reprimand to be issued by a State Commission. So why didn’t the local school board reprimand, sanction, fine or even terminated Boyd? Isn’t it the job of the adults to look after the best interest of the students?

 

The system failed in this instance. This concerns our children. Our students deserve the best, do they not? If Boyd acted unethically or unprofessionally with students before, how do I know that he will not do something inappropriate

Bootleggers on the Rez have got to be the lowest of the low. I hardly ever hear of bootleggers getting busted anymore. I read about drug dealers going to jail but I don’t remember any bootleggers getting arrested.

 

Oh wait. Maybe they aren’t being arrested because alcohol is a legal drug. Never mind our cemeteries are full of young Lakota people who took their lives while under the influence of alcohol or that there are many other Lakota people buried in those same cemeteries because they drank themselves to death. Even though alcohol is the most devastating drug the Lakota people have become addicted to, it is still legal.

 

In my opinion, most businesses which have a liquor license also have the blood of my people on their hands. The bootleggers also have blood on their hands. You might counter my statement with the argument that drinking is a personal choice but someone has to sell the booze. Obtaining a liquor license or bootlegging vodka is also a personal choice. I don’t have any blood on my hands because I am not a drug dealer of alcohol. I do not own a bar or an off-sale liquor/beer establishment nor am I a bootlegger. When you sell alcohol your hands carry the blood of the people who die from drinking.

 

When I post a status on Facebook about how bad the drinking is on my Rez I draw a slew of mixed reactions. The sober people who watch every single day what booze is doing to our people usually agree with me. The people who still actively drink the drug are the ones who call me names or label me as judgmental.  

 

There are bootleggers in nearly every community on my Rez. As a child I had a parent who bootlegged to people. I didn’t like it. I remember there was always someone knocking at the door. I knew where the tin cup full of quarters was kept; it was there to give change because the green bottled pints sold for $1.50 back then.

 

Nowadays there are many people living on fixed incomes and since our lives are now nearly dominated by technology there are ATM cards which people are issued in order to receive their monthly cash (TANF, SSI, etc.) or food benefits (SNAP). I learned that the bootleggers take these cards too. Some of our people can easily drink up all their money and/or benefits. They don’t buy food. They don’t pay their bills. They just drink.

 

Thus, the children of alcohol overdosers (who are not already in the custody of the South Dakota Department of Social Services or are not already placed in a non-Indian foster home) are stuck in the drinker’s home and often live with no power, no heat and no food. Many children do not even have adequate clothing for the winter months. 

 

Many of the gift cards issued a few months back by my tribe for the purpose of buying coats or boots for school children were traded to the bootlegger so he/she could buy more cheap booze to sell for ridiculously marked up prices to the drinkers in the community. Or the gift cards were sold for cash at half of their value so the drinking parent could go sit in the bar. Did you buy one of those $150 cards for $75? If so, you helped deprive a child of some much needed clothing or shoes.

 

The children of active alcoholics rarely have any sober role models in the home. I grew up watching many family members and community people drink. It was all around me. There was absolutely no escape. Today I wonder if I would have succumbed to the many years I devoted to alcohol overdosing if I had grown up around sober people. After all, the people whom I watched overdose on alcohol when I was a child were the ones who showed me how to drink. When most of the family boozes, it must be okay for you to drink alcohol as an adult, right?

 

Still, I cannot blame any one person for the many years I was an active drinker. It was my choice to do all of that but it might have been different if alcohol was not so readily available to me. In any case, I am fortunate to have summoned the strength and the courage to put the booze away. Many of the people I drank heavily with are still at it.

 

This column was sparked through a message sent to me by a young person who wanted advice on how to stop the bootlegging in their community. In my opinion, the only way people can quash the bootleggers is to take back their community. It has to be a grass roots effort and I would hope that local law enforcement could assist with such a movement.

 

Look at what happened at White Clay, NE over the weekend. The Oglala have had enough of those liquor establishments selling the poison to their people so they marched on them for several days in a row. The Oglala Lakota successfully shut the stores down from doing any more business on those days! Not even the Nebraska police could stop the Oglala. The people were led by their Tribal President Bryan Brewer. The Oglala Lakota are showing the world they are serious about stopping the sale of alcohol on their border. They are taking back their own community.

 

I encourage the people on the Rosebud Rez to take back our community. One way to draw attention to the problem is to organize a walk with stops at the houses where the known bootleggers live. It was pointed out to me that even our school children know where these houses are. When a walk is scheduled please contact me. I will bring my camera to photograph the bootlegger’s houses. I will post the pictures on my Facebook and WordPress pages.