Sicangu News

Recently, I witnessed an unhealthy incident which made me think again about how some human beings evolve while others do not. Remember, evolution isn’t just about the physical body; it also includes our emotional, mental and spiritual selves. I believe the evolution of our inner selves is a conscious choice. You either choose to evolve or you don’t.

 

I know a lady who has told me many times about how she is regularly stalked by another woman. Usually the stalker woman is accompanied by one or two other people. This group will follow the lady I know around in public places. Now there is no law against being in a public place. Still, there are times when the stalker woman seems to materialize shortly after the stalked lady does. So, does this mean that someone who works in a certain public place is telephoning/texting the stalker gang to come follow this lady around a specific area?

 

Specifically, the gang of stalkers appears out of nowhere when this lady is at the federal facility known as the Rosebud Hospital. Is there an Indian Health Service policy against stalking? Maybe I should call Dr. Yvette Roubideaux and ask her. And while I am at it, I think I will tell her about what goes on in terms of stalking at the Rosebud Hospital.

 

In any case, according to the Law and Order Code of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, stalking is a crime. So in essence, tribal members, or anyone for that matter, who choose to stalk other people in public or private are criminals. See the following for clarification.

 

“5-6-4 Stalking: Any person willfully, maliciously and repeatedly follows or harasses another person or who makes a credible threat to another person with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear of death or bodily injury is guilty of Stalking. Stalking is a Class A crime. [History: Ordinance 97-03]

 

“5-6-5 Harasses – Defined: For the purposes of this chapter, “harasses” means a knowing and willful pattern of conduct composed of a series of acts over a period of time, however short, evidencing a continuity of purpose, directed at a specific person which seriously alarms, annoys, or harasses the person and which serves no legitimate purpose. [History: Ordinance 97-03]

 

“5-6-6 A Credible Threat – Defined: For the purposes of this chapter “a credible threat” means a threat made with the intent and the apparent ability to carry out the threat. A credible threat need not be expressed verbally. [History: Ordinance 97-03]

 

“5-6-7 Stalking a Child Twelve or Younger: Any person who willfully, maliciously and repeatedly follows or harasses a child, twelve years of age or younger or who makes a credible threat to a child twelve years of age or younger with the intent to place that child in reasonable fear of death or bodily injury or to reasonably fear for the child’s safety is guilty of stalking.

 

“5-6-8 Order of Protection: Upon the filing of a complaint under this chapter, the victim shall immediately be issued an Order for Protection from the actor named in the complaint.”

 

Now, this lady I am referring to is often stalked when she has her children with her. These children are under the age of twelve years and they see these people who follow their mother around. I doubt the stalkers actually stop to take some time to think about what kind of distress they are subjecting these children to.

 

I also doubt that these stalkers realize they are committing a Class A crime because all of their attention is focused on following this woman around. Their personal energy is spent committing the act of criminal stalking. Obviously, they have no time to reflect upon their own unhealthy behavior.

 

People who stalk others are showing their children how to act. Essentially, they are teaching their children that it is okay to follow someone else around with the intent of harassing them. Remember, the RST Law and Order code states: “A credible threat need not be expressed verbally.” Children mimic everything we do. Don’t teach your child how to be a criminal stalker.

 

People could find more meaningful ways to spend their time. Is your whole life focused on someone else’s whereabouts? Do you sit in the privacy of your own home and constantly wonder where the object of your stalking is? Seems like a lot of wasted time and energy, don’t you think?

 

Consequently, the stalking also extends to this gang following the lady around in a vehicle. I don’t believe any evolved humans would behave like this. Stalking is actually the behavior of dangerous psychos. Anyway, I would not be one to waste the gasoline I pay a lot of money for by following another person around in a vehicle. Or maybe they don’t have to pay for the gasoline; perhaps a person with a job is buying the fuel.

 

In any case, personal evolution will not happen when your focus is on what another person is doing. The choice to evolve is a conscious one. Do you choose to think on a higher level or do you choose to focus on someone else’s life? Are your days/nights spent burning whole tanks of gasoline in order to follow someone around?

 

Finally, the Rosebud Hospital has a sign posted near the turn off from BIA 9 which reads “Rosebud Comprehensive Health Care Facility.” The word comprehensive means everything. It means all levels. If our hospital is really a comprehensive health care facility, shouldn’t the employees who work there also emulate comprehensive health? When the employees and administration condone unhealthy, even criminal, behavior – such as stalking – it really doesn’t surprise me that our health conditions are the way they are.

 

What good is a hospital staffed with unhealthy employees? Perhaps some training on what constitutes criminal stalking and privacy of patients is needed. Our people deserve better. Our women and children shouldn’t be stalked, especially at a health care facility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I send kudos to the Rosebud, Crow Creek and Yankton Sioux Tribes along with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community for recently closing the deal on the purchase of several tracts of land in the Black Hills area known as Pe Sla. There were many of us who were anxious over how this land acquisition was going to happen. This is a sacred site. There were many people concerned about what type of development would take place if this land wound up in the hands of an individual or a corporation who would only think about profit.

 

I also appreciate Chase Iron Eyes and all Last Real Indians activists for their tireless efforts in bringing about global awareness on this issue. Those of us who blog or use Facebook, Twitter and You Tube know these sites are an effective way to bring lightning fast attention to issues we are passionate about. Last Real Indians initially kicked off the fund raising efforts and collected a total of $900,000 to contribute toward the land purchase.

 

A big thank you is sent out to all of you who donated money. Even if you sent one dollar, please know your generosity came at a crucial time. It is not every day that we are provided with an opportunity to secure land in the sacred HeSapa.

 

And I especially want to acknowledge the Kindergarten students from Rosebud who made national headlines with their cash donation which they presented to the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council. Obviously, they were also concerned about the purchase of Pe Sla.

 

I went to a few meetings where the topic of this land purchase was discussed. To be honest, I really didn’t think our tribal leaders would unite long enough to secure the money and put this deal together. I appreciate the determination of the leaders who worked it all out. The Black Hills is an area which is very important to many of us.

 

On the other hand, there were many Lakota people who really didn’t care if the land was purchased at all. I did listen to numerous reasons as to why the tracts should not be bought. $9 million dollars is a lot of money to sacrifice. We are not faced with the best of economic conditions on the Rez. There were many tribal members who believed that this money could be better spent by funding social programs, building houses, paying utilities for elders and low income families, establishing youth programs, etc.

 

I also heard from Lakota naysayers who were against the whole idea. More than one expressed concern about how he or she believed the tribes did not have a concrete plan in place for how the land would be used. Um, excuse me but hasn’t the plan essentially always been to get the Black Hills back for the Lakota people? Anyway, it was quite enough for me that the people who donated and/or raised money were primarily concerned about the purchase of land which contained a site sacred to our people.

 

I cannot stress enough how Pe Sla is a very sacred area. The Black Hills have an essential place in Lakota Star Knowledge. This area is linked to our creation stories and our spirituality. For me, it is crucial to keep the area free of any development. I appreciate that we now have a say in what will happen there. I am sure there are lots of ideas about how to use the land in a way which will guarantee its return to a pristine condition.

 

Many of you believe we should not have to buy what is essentially already ours. There is a mountain of money sitting somewhere collecting interest because our people maintain the Black Hills are not for sale. I agree the land was taken from our people illegally in 1877. Still, I do not see any effort by the federal government to correct the theft of land. In their eyes, the money allocated to the Black Hills docket was the end of it. So in reality, the only way we are going to get any land back is to buy it when we have the opportunity.

 

Arguing over what is the right or wrong way to secure ownership of land in the Black Hills won’t get us anywhere. Holding on to the hope that the federal government will return land to us by refusing the Black Hills settlement money isn’t realistic either. I’m not advocating for an acceptance of the settlement because I realize refusing the money is all about principle, I just don’t believe the federal government will return any stolen land.

 

I have to also say wopila to Leonard and Margaret Reynolds. They willingly took the land off the auction block last summer in order to allow the interested tribes an opportunity to secure enough money to make the purchase. I thank them for their patience as they waited for the day of the sale. I also want to express my appreciation to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe for presenting a satin star quilt to the Reynolds couple on the day the deal was closed.

 

Finally, I have to say wopila to Leksi Leonard Crow Dog and all of the other spiritual people continually offer their prayers for the land. It was very appropriate to have spiritual leaders pray at the same sacred site our ancestors did. I appreciate all of our medicine people.

 

I would love to see the site left undisturbed for a time. It would be great if there was nothing done with the land except to enjoy that we can now have unlimited access to it. Pe Sla is a sacred site and should be treated as such.

 

Our ancestors were the epitome of environmental stewards. Thus, I believe they would view it as disrespectful to graze cattle on a sacred site. They would want many ceremonies to celebrate our reconnection with one of our most important sites in HeSapa.

 

 

As human beings we are all born with the ability to evolve. You might associate evolution only with physical attributes. After all, the discussion surrounding evolution normally involves how animals have physically adapted over the eons. I believe a human being has the inherent ability to also evolve on emotional, mental and spiritual levels.

 

Our ancestors were highly evolved spiritual beings. I would even venture to say our Lakota ancestors were at an important pinnacle of their spiritual existence when that lost Italian washed ashore. Sadly, we have been on a gradual descent from that spiritual pinnacle ever since. Each generation seems to depend on the one behind it to save us all.

 

Even so, we still have our way of life. Lakota still go to ceremonies which are conducted to ensure the renewal of seasons so our children can continue living on our Earth Mother. But even though we still have all of this, there was much which was lost or forgotten under the wasicu influence. My late Grandmother used to stay that the ceremonies we see today are merely a shadow of what our ancestors once had in terms of spirituality. I believed her.

 

Still, sometimes when we are in prayer or in ceremony we are offered a glimpse of what our spirituality was like before the coming of the wasicu. I have learned those spiritually revealing moments are offered to the human beings who have learned how to become open to their own personal evolution. Some Lakota people have special abilities which are intensified when we are in ceremony. Individual clairvoyance, clairaudience, premonitions and other supernatural or psychic gifts are often magnified when we participate in a powerful ceremony.

 

When you have done the work to process the negative things which keep you stuck, you have a much better chance of opening your inner self to the many dimensions of human evolution. Those things which can hold you back are dark emotions, judgment, prejudices and the like.

 

Personal flashes of evolution are amazing. Have you ever had moments when an extremely profound thought suddenly comes into your mind? Sometimes, I would wonder why I never saw clearly some basic truths of life sooner. Now I realize that I could not have attained the ability of entertaining higher level thoughts unless I had undergone some processing out of certain things which no longer served me. Anger, hate, bitterness, resentment, victimhood, drug addiction, alcohol overdosing and similar behaviors, will only work to further imprison the mind, emotions and spirit. Thus, you will continue to functioning at a very low level of spiritual awareness. When I clung to my own inner darkness, I made a conscious choice to remain locked out of my own evolution. Does that make sense?

 

Our ancestors were very strong on all levels. They were physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually prepared for most anything. They were not prepared, however, for the level of destruction brought by the wasicu. The wasicu taught us how to engage in many negative things. The wasicu influence has been effective in shutting down many of our Lakota people to their own innate ability to evolve as spiritual beings. We are locked out of our own individual power and even though we have the key we do not know how to use it to unlock our own spiritual gifts.

 

Still, it will do absolutely no good to our descendants if we continue to blame all of our problems on the wasicu. The wasicu also brought many things which improved our lives. But, the negative things which they pushed upon our ancestors hundreds of years ago are regrettably the same issues which many of our people choose to carry on in their lives today. As an individual human being, you will never evolve if you continue to engage in the substances, emotions and behaviors which keep the key just out of your reach.

 

I know of many instances where my own people overdose on alcohol and then when their inhibitions are all washed away in the drink, they will attack members of their own family. Human beings who cannot find their way past a bottle of booze will probably not find their way to their own innate keys to evolve as a spiritual being.

 

It’s pretty sad when you have Lakota grandmothers who are my age or older regularly overdosing on alcohol any chance they get. I know of one woman on the Rosebud Rez who is a little bit older than me who recently began receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI). She received a decent check from SSI which was probably a retroactive payment.

 

And not too long ago, this grandma showed up at her community center highly intoxicated. She proceeded to harass the people who were working there over items which were being distributed to all the members of the community. Law enforcement officials were called but they failed to respond in a timely manner so the workers at the community center finally had to shut the place down because she refused to leave. Sadly, Unci made a public spectacle of herself through her indulgence in alcohol.

 

When people drink enough alcohol, they become very belligerent. Booze enables them to summon enough false courage which they will use to attack innocent members of their community. Sometimes, these vicious attacks are not done face-to-face. Some people who overdose on alcohol will drunkenly babble malicious rumors about others. They will also engage in cyber bullying. They will even invent horrible gossip stories about their own family members or in-laws.

 

This is not the life our highly evolved, spiritual ancestors envisioned. This is one example of how alcohol has robbed many of us of our ability to evolve as spiritual beings. When the Takoja see their Unci having a rough life affected by her own alcohol overdosing, it’s a dismal picture.

 

I always pray for the Takoja to evolve into highly spiritual humans just like our ancestors were.

http://www.lastrealindians.com/axCommentDetails.php?postId=2134

The Fight Inside.

I saw an advertisement on Facebook over the weekend promoting McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon in Washington, DC. The image had pilgrim and Indian caricatures at the top. Slogans underneath the pictures read “Party like a pilgrim” and “Drink like an Indian.”

 

Isn’t that stereotypical? You would think that the people who live in the nation’s capital would be more educated about something like this. But no, we see some of the most ignorant things about tribal people coming out of urban areas nowadays. I am tired of explaining why I am offended by images like this. Should I just give up and keep quiet? Maybe I should just join the other tribal people who aren’t offended by things which demean our people.

 

What really irks me is how some people think perhaps they should be living up to things like this. Our children are so susceptible; what if one sees this image and believes that because they are Indian they are supposed to drink? What does “Drink like an Indian” mean anyway?

 

We never know what goes through the minds of non-Indians when they come up with crap like this. Do the people who see this image assume that Indians are all heavy drinkers or light drinkers or social drinkers? Can someone please clarify for me exactly what “Drink like an Indian” means? Which Indian are they talking about? I am sure if you ask different Indians what the slogan means you will get a variety of answers.

 

Now it’s a hard fact that there are scores of Indian people, living in both the cities and on the Rez, who regularly drink unbelievable amounts of alcohol in a single night. There are also common instances of alcohol overdosing done over an entire weekend. Sometimes the drinking continues non-stop for several days. Which one of these scenarios is meant by the phrase “Drink like an Indian?”

 

Still, we also have tribal members who do not drink at all. Some have never, ever tasted alcohol their whole entire life. Others will drink a glass of wine or a beer once or twice a year. So, was the ad referring to the Indians who rarely or never drink alcohol at all?

 

I would like answers to my questions about what is meant when slogans promoting bars and alcohol make reference to tribal people. I don’t know what experience the person who made up the slogan had with Indian people to begin with and I will probably never know. After all, who knows what was going through the mind of the person who designed the ad in the first place. Maybe the person who made up this slogan doesn’t even know exactly what they meant by it either. Sometimes ignorance will often cause people to say or write things which don’t even make sense.

 

Thursday is designated as Thanksgiving, a national holiday in the United States. As most of us already know, Thanksgiving would not be observed if it were not for the tribal people of this continent. It was the tribes of the east coast who motivated the pilgrims to give thanks because without them, the newcomers would have surely starved.

 

Last month the country celebrated Columbus. He was the Italian whose boat mistakenly washed up on the shore of what he assumed was India. He is the one who began the rush which changed our way of life forever.

 

Sometimes I like to imagine what would have happened if his ship had instead sunk deep into the sea before he made it ashore. Would the insidious, albeit legal, devastating drug we know as alcohol have been introduced into tribal societies if we had never been “discovered?” If Columbus had indeed perished at sea we may not have been “discovered” for a very long time, if at all. There would be no Manifest Destiny.

 

Personally, I believe it would be great to live a life where my fellow tribal members and I are not stereotyped based upon the irresponsible behavior of a few who seem hopelessly addicted to that awful liquid drug. But the reality is when our fellow tribal members make the personal choice to overdose on alcohol they are setting the stereotypical standard by which the rest of us are judged.

 

I believe it would be awesome if we could shift the stereotypical standard associated with Indians to one where we are looked upon as a sober people. How do we reach the point where sobriety is our stereotype? It would be great to be stereotyped for something positive for a change. There would be no offensive ads depicting Indians overdosing on alcohol.

 

Today, I still have very high hopes for our young people to break these stereotypical images which much of mainstream America associates with Indian people. We have young people now taking steps to change these images. They are living drug-free lives. They attend school every day and study hard so they can become educated.

 

In closing, this week I am grateful for all of our young people. I have to acknowledge and send kudos to all of our young people who attended and participated in the 5^th Annual Tusweca Tiospaye Lakota-Dakota-Nakota Language Summit held in Rapid City, SD last week. Tusweca Tiospaye unites the Oceti Sakowin every year with this summit for the purpose of revitalizing the Lakota-Dakota-Nakota language.

 

Many of our young people have a burning desire to become fluent Lakota speakers. They work hard every day of their lives to do just that. They have often voiced their desire to see a younger generation of fluent Lakota speakers. Many of them also work with their younger siblings to help them become Lakota speakers and would appreciate any help a fluent speaker can offer.

 

These are the Takoja who are entrusted with carrying on our Lakota way of life. I would love to see the day we when we are stereotyped for having an entire generation who speak fluent Lakota.

The Lakota have many, many ancestors who were Akicita. They are the primary reason why our sons and daughters still feel the pull to join the military. The warrior spirit is in our DNA. While the country is remembering our veterans this week, I know that many Lakota people remember our veterans and active duty soldiers every single day in their prayers.

 

I remember going to a ceremony and the medicine man named every Lakota veteran who walked in the spirit world. He also remembered deceased veterans from many other tribes, each one by name, in the ceremony. The ceremonial roll call he offered reminded me that only spiritual power could give him the ability to remember that many names. I could feel the presence of those warrior spirits in the fire, it was awesome.

 

He also remembered the ancient Akicita. He spoke the names of Tasunke Witko and Iyotanka Tatanka, along with many others, in his eulogy for our veterans. If not for these first warriors, the Lakota would surely not be here today. We would have long been melted into the proverbial pot.

 

Our ancestors were the first warriors. The old school black and white pictures we see nowadays depict many of them proudly wearing their sacred eagle feather headdresses. Those headdresses were worn for a reason. Each eagle feather was bestowed upon our combat warriors mainly because of a brave deed done in battle.

 

The Akicita and Itancan who are immortalized in those old pictures wearing the sacred eagle feather headdress, some which trailed down to the ground, were our fiercest defenders. The put their lives on the line by standing in the front when the attacks were launched upon our villages; they earned those Wiyaka with their unwavering protection of the lives of elders, women and children.

 

When I see a black and white picture of a Lakota man wearing an eagle feather headdress which reaches clear to the ground, I know he was a brave man who feared nothing. He feared nothing. The headdress tells me that. The eagle feathers were not just passed around for show, they were earned. Oftentimes they were given after much blood, sweat and tears were shed.

 

The eagle feather headdress is sacred. If you are Lakota or a member of any other Indian tribe then you already know this. Elders continue to remind us about how the sacred eagle feather headdress is an extremely important symbol to our warrior societies. The headdress represents an Akicita and perhaps an Itancan.

 

Many of us are taught that not everyone can wear the eagle feather. It is disrespectful to create those imitation headdresses from artificial feathers, in my opinion. I also believe it is disrespectful to both the sacred eagle and our ancestors for just anyone to wear a headdress, even when it is fashioned from artificial feathers.

 

Consequently, Halloween is a trying time. It is the time of year when people dress up in imitation of something else. I say it is a trying time because there are Halloween costumes which depict American Indian people. There are the Indian princess, Indian warrior and Indian chief costumes being sold online and in Halloween stores. By the way, do any of you know where did the Indian princess concept originated from? When someone says they are descended from an Indian princess, I always have to resist the urge to ask who the Indian king was.

 

In addition, I try not to get caught up in the sports mascot issue where our people are depicted as caricatures of some team pet, such as, Indians, Redskins, Fighting Sioux, etc. I just think to myself how absolutely ridiculous they look with their imitation war paint, feathers and plastic tomahawks. It would be bliss to be so utterly ignorant!

 

I also try not to take offense when I see wasicu women dressed up in the same type of imitation garb, complete with the fake feather headdress. Do they realize how ludicrous they actually appear? Apparently they do not. Again, ignorance is bliss for some people.

 

Victoria’s Secret recently ran a video where a wasicu woman, dressed only in underwear, donned the fake feather headdress and turquoise jewelry to stroll down the runway. I didn’t like it, not at all. There was no honoring my Akicita in the image I saw. There was no honoring our brave ancestors who fought and died for our people, our land and the right to wear the sacred eagle feather headdress.

 

Our ancestors fought and defeated the United States Army on the Little Big Horn Battlefield. We are the only people to have captured the enemy flag, which was left lying on the ground after Custer and his troop were annihilated. We still have this flag! Our Lakota Akicita are known throughout the world for their courage. Our people still sing songs honoring the victory of 1876.

 

Our warriors are the only people on this planet who have earned the right to wear the sacred eagle feather headdress. It is a symbol of everything we as Lakota people still stand for. So yes, I take offense when I see some wasicu woman wearing only underwear and a fake feather headdress. There is no honoring my ancestors with stunts like this.

 

But again, ignorance is bliss for some wasicu. In their arrogance they maintain they honor the Lakota and other tribal people when they don those silly costumes. Their ignorance allows them to remain blind to how ridiculous they really look when they try to imitate the way our people dress. Sometimes we grow weary of this endless fight to educate them on how we feel and choose to remain silent as some wasicu have no ears to hear.

 

This week we acknowledge our Lakota Akicita with pride for their courage, bravery and sacrifice. Our brave warrior soldiers are the reason we have the sacred eagle feather headdress, don’t let the wasicu fool you with imitations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good morning – this is proof that some of our own Lakota people have learned how to act in the same way as the fat takers. Great job Dana!

~Vi Waln

 

Turtle Sticking Her Neck Out.

Welcome to Mean NDN Women..