Sicangu News

March 5, 2019

Vi Waln, Sicangu Scribe

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has no intent to change Title Five of the Law and Order Code exempting possession, transport or ingestion of peyote as a crime for bona fide members of the Native American Church.

Our medicine people fought hard to guarantee our freedom to attend our sacred Native American Church (NAC) ceremonies where peyote is considered a sacrament. There are many Lakota-Dakota-Nakota people, as well as citizens of several other federally recognized tribes, who attend NAC ceremonies where peyote is ingested. Our right to harvest, possess and pray with the sacred medicine known as peyote is protected by tribal, state and federal laws.

Recently, a rumor was started by some unscrupulous individual regarding criminal law surrounding the use of peyote. There are several families on Rosebud who attend NAC ceremony on a regular basis. The gossip prompted a phone call from NAC officials to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s Attorney General’s office.

“I have never supported or suggested that the Rosebud Sioux Tribe make the use of Peyote illegal as it pertains the ceremonies our people practice,” stated Janet Routzen, an attorney employed in the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Court system. “It is true I am working on our criminal code, but I fully support ceremonies and practices that our people use to pray and keep the culture. I do not make decisions about the laws, I am only the coordinator for those who do make those decisions, which is the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council.”

Currently, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s Law and Order Code includes a clearly defined exemption for NAC members who ingest peyote. Title 5, Chapter 28, Section 12 (5-28-12) provides for a peyote exemption for tribal citizens. It reads “PEYOTE EXEMPTION. The provisions of this Act relating to the possession and distribution of peyote shall not apply to the use of peyote by members of the Native American Church in bona fide religious ceremonies of the church.” (page 98)

In addition, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) Amendments of 1994 were established to protect members of federally recognized Indian tribes who attend Native American Church (NAC) ceremonies and ingest peyote. The AIRFA also allows members of federally recognized tribes to obtain permits to buy, possess, and transport peyote for use in bona fide ceremonies.

According to Wikipedia, Section 2 of the Act speaks to the “Traditional Indian Religious Use of the Peyote Sacrament,” and reads in part: (c) For purposes of this section – (1) the term ‘Indian’ means a member of an Indian tribe; (2) the term ‘Indian tribe’ means any tribe, band, nation, pueblo, or other organized group or community of Indians. . .(3) the term ‘Indian religion’ means any religion – (A) which is practiced by Indians, and (B) the origin and interpretation of which is from within a traditional Indian culture or community; and (4) the term ‘State’ means any State of the United States, and any political subdivision thereof.”

The statute expressly and exclusively provides an exemption to federal and state drug laws for members of federally recognized Indian tribes who use peyote in traditional Indian religious practices.

More information on the Peyote Exemption for the Native American Church is posted on the Department of Justice website

In addition, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments of 1994 (PUBLIC LAW 103-344 [H.R. 4230]; October 6, 1994) are available to view online.

South Dakota Codified Law 34-20B-14 (17) provides additional exemption for peyote. “Peyote, except that when used as a sacramental in services of the Native American church in a natural state which is unaltered except for drying or curing and cutting or slicing, it is hereby excepted.”

One must be an enrolled citizen of a federally recognized tribe to either possess peyote or attend NAC services. Concerned NAC members can rest assured that the Rosebud Sioux Tribe has absolutely no intent to change the Law and Order Code eliminating the peyote exemption.

 

 

 

January 21, 2019

Vi Waln

 

 

The strength of Nathan Phillips, an Indigenous elder and veteran, was witnessed by many over the past week. Perhaps the most important teaching to emerge from the Indigenous People’s March last Friday is the world knows we still exist as a spiritual people; singing our prayer songs for all living beings, while advocating to make Mother Earth a peaceful world.

There are many times we as Indigenous people feel invisible. For instance, many people believe we were annihilated by Manifest Destiny. Yet, a crucial issue brought to light from the incident in Washington DC is the way we are treated as “the other” every day of our lives. The world now knows what we often go through every single day. The way we are looked at by white privilege is no longer invisible.

The incident involving students from a Catholic High School at the Indigenous Peoples March showed the online world what our people have suffered since the wasicu arrived. In fact, we suffer from these types of arrogant incidents every day in our homelands. Pitiful are the human beings whom get high on terrorizing Indigenous people.

Yet, we still pray and sing for these diseased minds to heal from the influence of their religion, family and teachers. Consequently, individual behavior as adults generally stems from traumatic events suffered at some point in our lives. Some traumatized humans are driven daily by their deep-seated religious teachings of fear, pain, anger and open hate for “the other.” Catholic children like the boy wearing the MAGA hat, smirking in an Indigenous elder’s face, are being traumatized as you read this. These human children desperately need Indigenous ceremonial prayers and songs.

The Catholic Church continues to prove the agenda of their faith. For example, traumatized Indigenous people and sexually abused children, are irreparably scarred. We pray for the day when humanity recognizes the abuse Catholicism has inflicted on society.

 

 

As a Lakota woman living in South Dakota, I recognized the facial expression in the photo of the Catholic boy from Kentucky as he stood in front of Omaha elder Nathan Phillips. The mere look on this kid’s face is what he did wrong. His expression is an unmasked display of his personal attitude toward an Indigenous elder and Vietnam veteran sending love through song. When ignorant people decide to terrorize Indigenous people, they do it by donning the same facial expression displayed by the arrogant Catholic boy. He offended the entire world. Sadly, this behavior is probably justified through teachings of his parents and religion.

I was raised in a Catholic home because my family chose to follow the church several generations ago. My ancestors believed they had no choice but to embrace Catholicism. The government’s attitude toward Indigenous people was either pray and be educated as a Catholic or starve as a hostile savage. That attitude lingers.

I left the Catholic church as a young adult. The confusion between being Catholic and Lakota at the same time wouldn’t allow me to continue praying in a wasicu religion. My spirit didn’t understand guilt, misogyny or threats of eternal damnation. Instead, I went to pray in Inikaga.

My life changed when I embraced the spirituality of my ancestors. However, I’m not writing this to condemn my relatives who still pray in the Catholic church. I realize not all Catholics are horrible people. Many Catholics are very spiritual and I know they are also hurting because of this ignorant display of disrespect.

This ignorant Catholic boy will bear the trauma of having to live with the world-wide social media embarrassment he brought upon himself. Pray for him, his family and all descendants of the failed operation known as Manifest Destiny.

 

 

Vi Waln (Sicangu Lakota) is an award-winning Journalist. She can be reached through email vi@lakotatimes.com

 

December 27, 2018

Vi Waln

It is winter on the Great Plains. This is the time of the year when our ancestors fled after the murder of Sitting Bull. There were sick, elderly, children and women all traveling in the caravan. They headed south towards Pine Ridge, walking as fast as they could. They were intercepted by the Seventh Cavalry near Porcupine Butte and were escorted to Wounded Knee Creek. Despite a white flag of surrender raised by Chief Spotted Elk, many in the group were viciously murdered by soldiers armed with Hotchkiss guns on December 29, 1890.

Soon after the guns went silent, a prairie blizzard covered the killing fields, halting any recovery efforts for three days. After the storm subsided, those who traveled to the massacre site were witness to the frozen bodies of our murdered ancestors. A photographer documented the horror of the Wounded Knee massacre for all of eternity.

Recently, I was asked “what the memory of the massacre Wounded Knee means to the folks on Pine Ridge and beyond; why it is so important for it to be remembered?”

The memory of the Wounded Knee massacre lives in all of the Lakota/Dakota/Nakota people, as well as Indigenous citizens of other nations. There are times when I wonder about the photos. If the photographer hadn’t been there during the recovery of bodies, we would not have seen how the killing fields looked after the blizzard. So, the eternal memory of a mass burial of our murdered ancestors was captured by the photographer.

Another memory ingrained in the minds of the Lakota/Dakota/Nakota people is that our ancestors were killed and then buried without proper ceremony. That is, there was no sacred food sent to the spirit world with Chief Spotted Elk or any other of the relatives murdered.

Our ancestors were starving. They also were living in an era when there was little hope of survival for those whom refused to be contained by the fenced in reservation, which was perceived to be a prisoner of war camp. Our ancestors embraced the Ghost Dance brought by Short Bull, with the blessing of Wovoka.

The Ghost Dance ceremony was initially held by a Paiute prophet named Wodziwob. The Ghost Dance movement, subsequently founded by Wovoka, promised a return to the way of life before the coming of the wasicu. Our people began praying and dancing with faith the ceremony would save them from the wasicu.

Shortly after the Wounded Knee massacre, rituals and ceremony brought to the Lakota by Pte San Win (White Buffalo Calf Woman), were outlawed by the federal government. During this time, our people conducted ceremony in secret. Our spiritual ways were never lost, as many of our ancestors risked being imprisoned to keep the Lakota ceremonies alive and far away from the scrutiny of the wasicu police.

After the ceremonies were declared against the law, the wasicu attempted to replace our spiritual way of life with Christianity, which was another form of trauma that many of us still suffer from today. Yet, Christian prayer will not stop the ceremonial renaissance we see today. The attempts to colonize our people away from the Cannunpa have failed.

So, when I am asked “what the memory of the massacre Wounded Knee means to the folks on Pine Ridge and beyond; why it is so important for it to be remembered?” I have to say our memories are important as they have resulted in many Lakota people leading our children back to ceremony.

The knowledge of what the wasicu is capable of, specifically the murder of innocent Lakota/Dakota/Nakota and the attempt to strip the Oyate of our spirituality, is why it is so important to remember Wounded Knee.

December 9, 2018

Vi Waln

The Lakota Nation Invitational (LNI) will once again host large groups of student athletes and scholars as they compete in a full program of high school activities. The forty second annual Lakota Nation Invitational will celebrate the athletic talents, academic skills and cultural knowledge of our Indigenous youth.

What began as a small All-Indian Boys Basketball Tourney on the Pine Ridge Reservation has evolved into an action-packed program of athletic events which include the showcasing of talent in in basketball, cheerleading, cross-country, golf, volleyball, wrestling and archery. LNI also has academic competitions and cultural activities for students. These include the Art Show, Lakota Language Bowl, Business Plan Writing, Poetry Slam, Hand Game Tournament and the Knowledge/Quiz Bowl. Friday’s Grand Entry of Lakota veterans, wacipi dancers, athletes, officials and participants of all LNI activities is always a high-energy event to attend.

Lakota children are the crown jewel of our Oyate. It’s an awesome way to end the year by supporting the talent of our young people as they participate in sports, cultural and academic events. The youth whom participate are often the current role models for countless grade school students who are now dreaming of showcasing their sport, academic and cultural skills at a future LNI event.

Many of our families travel to watch the fast-paced basketball action played on several courts throughout the four-day tourney. Some of the best high school basketball games in the region are played during the LNI Tourney. The basketball tourney is certainly on par with any state basketball championship tourney and often attracts national attention.

It takes a lot of hard work and requires year-round planning by the Board of Directors to organize a successful LNI. Participating schools send staff members as volunteers to work at the events throughout the weekend. These school employees devote their free time by working long hours to help the event run smoothly. We appreciate their sacrifice as unofficial ambassadors of this winter holiday classic.

Sadly, most of our people and students attending the 2018 Lakota Nation Invitational are in mourning. In fact, this year’s LNI excitement is dampened by the untimely death of Tonya Whirlwind Soldier, a Sicangu Lakota woman who lost her battle with cancer yesterday.

Tonya was a long-time cross-country coach from Todd County High School. She was one of the organizers of LNI and worked tirelessly every year to help host a memorable event for student participants. Her death on December 8 left a great void in the lives of her children, grandchildren, parents, siblings, extended family, friends, co-workers and the students whose lives she touched.

Tonya was loved by everyone she encountered. It didn’t matter what was happening in her life, she always had a smile, a happy-to-see-you greeting, along with a bear hug for her cherished family and friends. Even after she became seriously ill, it didn’t stop her from treating everyone she knew with kindness and love.

Tonya was a lifetime athlete. Many of us will remember her as she ran her daily miles on local reservation roadways, waving at us when we honked our car horn at her as we passed. As sick as she was, Tonya didn’t let her illness overcome her as she remained as active as her ailing body would allow.

Tonya’s sons and grandchildren were the joy of her life. She cherished them and was proud of their accomplishments. She held her parents, Homer and Rosalie Whirlwind Soldier, in high regard. She set an example for all of us in the way she treated her Tiwahe. We offer our prayers for Tonya’s Tiospaye.

Lakota Country Times and the LNI Board of Directors offers our condolences to all who loved Tonya Whirlwind Soldier.

Vi Waln is Sicangu Lakota and has been a journalist since 2001. She can be reached through email editor@lakotacountrytimes.com.

 

 

November 22, 2018

Vi Waln

Native American Heritage Month is designed by Presidential Proclamation in November. Native American Heritage Day is observed on the day after Thanksgiving. Yet, this month is really no different for the Native American people living on Turtle Island as many in Indian Country actively embrace their tribal heritage every day.

As winter approaches, it’s also the time of year when our historical or intergenerational trauma is triggered. We will remember many traumatic events over the coming weeks.

Many of our ancestors died violent deaths at the hands of the US military forces. So even with Native American Heritage Day being observed this week, it’s the time of year many will remember the bloodiest anniversaries in our history.

Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer attacked Chief Black Kettle’s band of Cheyenne near the Washita River in Oklahoma on November 27, 1868. Black Kettle had been promised safety by the nearby Commander of Fort Cobb. The massacre resulted in the death of the Chief and 103 of his people, many of which were women and children.

Another event is the November 29, 1864 massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho people at Sand Creek in Colorado. Most of the people killed were women and children. Soldiers also mutilated many bodies and paraded through nearby towns displaying the bloody genitals of women.

Back then, mutilated body parts were called redskins, since they were freshly stained with the victims’ blood. There were flyers promising cash payments to people who turned in fresh redskins. Today, the world knows redskins as a football team’s mascot. Many don’t comprehend why we are offended.

December is a traumatic month for the Lakota/ Dakota/Nakota people. Chief Sitting Bull was murdered on December 15, 1890 on the present-day Standing Rock reservation by Lakota police officers. In addition, President Lincoln gave the order that resulted in the mass execution of 38 Dakota men in Mankato, Minnesota on December 26, 1862.

And the most infamous massacre was at Wounded Knee on December 29, 1890, when the 7th Cavalry murdered Chief Big Foot’s band and left their bodies to freeze after a blizzard hit the area. The murdered Lakota were buried in a mass grave that is now visited by hundreds of tourists every summer.

Even though the government recognizes modern-day tribes by designating November as Native American Heritage Month, that honor means nothing to many of our own who experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in our genes. Consequently, there is an upswing of substance abuse during the last 2 months of the year. Many of us believe that increased drinking and drugging is due to the PTSD carried in our collective memory.

We can overcome the effects of historical or intergenerational trauma. It takes an effort by the individual to recognize trauma and begin the hard work to release it. Letting go of trauma isn’t easy and it can be very painful. Still, it’s the only way we will heal.

Our ceremonies continue to help in the healing process we face. However, there are some in denial about the effect historical or intergenerational trauma has on our family. If you look at today’s society, there are young people and children suffering horribly on our reservations. The majority of this suffering is likely caused by the trauma we carry in our collective memory.

We all have the strength to overcome the obstacles in front of us to begin walking the path to healing. Lakota prayer and ceremony have healed many of us. When you make a conscious effort to work on healing the historical trauma you carry, it will have a positive effect on your children and grandchildren. We can all pray for healing for our people in our daily prayer.

 

 

August 16, 2018

Vi Waln

In 2018, some of the most damaging attacks are coming from government officials. Criticizing the news media — for underplaying or overplaying stories, for getting something wrong — is entirely right. News reporters and editors are human, and make mistakes. Correcting them is core to our job. But insisting that truths you don’t like are “fake news” is dangerous to the lifeblood of democracy. And calling journalists the “enemy of the people” is dangerous, period. ~Editorial Board of The New York Times, August 15, 2018.

 

Journalists are some of the most despised people on Earth. If you’ve kept up with world news, you know that many journalists are murdered while on assignment in other countries. Still, professional journalists continue to risk their very lives in order to bring news reports to the world.

Freedom of speech is guaranteed to citizens under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Specifically, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

In addition, Article X, Section 1 of Constitution of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe outlines the Bill of Rights for Rosebud tribal citizens: The government of the Tribe including the community shall not … (b). Abridge the freedom of speech, press, expression, conscience, association, or the right of the people to peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government. 

Journalists writing for both American and Tribal news outlets are guaranteed freedom of speech and expression. Yet, politicians at all levels of government would rather not answer questions asked by reporters.

Elected officials are put in office by the voting public. The public looks to journalists to be informed, not only about the political world, but about the myriad of other issues which concern us. Tax payers deserve to know how their dollars are being allocated by the politicians controlling the purse strings. Journalists are more than happy to publish information about how your tax dollars are spent.

Today, President Donald Trump’s credibility is basically nonexistent because of his ongoing, unfounded accusations against the newspapers and television networks who work hard to keep us informed of his every move. Journalists are doing their job in keeping the general public informed. After all, we all have a right to know what is happening with our government.

 

Still, it’s been quite obvious that the POTUS doesn’t want anyone to know what is going on in his administration. He has consistently accused journalists of being enemies of the people. He accuses many outlets of publishing fake news. He tweets daily posts on his personal Twitter account to distract us from his haphazard attempt to run this country.

 

 

Journalists are a tough bunch. We understand that being accused of writing fake news comes with the profession. There is no better way to cast doubt on what is published by news outlets than to accuse them of writing something that isn’t true.

Perhaps POTUS believes that publicly accusing news outlets of publishing fake news, it would somehow get reporters to stop asking questions or stop writing news articles. But the President’s accusations encourage journalists to scrutinize his actions even more. Unfounded accusations results in reporters making even more effort to check all the facts before articles are published.

You know the story or editorial hits a nerve when you hear POTUS condemning the press on almost a daily basis. The goal of journalism is to report on issues that someone doesn’t want other people to know about. It’s a dirty tactic to accuse news outlets in this country of publishing untruths.

As long as our Constitutional laws guarantee our freedom of speech, journalists will continue to write the stories that someone doesn’t want you to read.

 

 

 

Vi Waln

July 22, 2018

July 26 is the date set for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s Primary Election. Voters will narrow down the list of candidates in preparation for the August 23 Primary Election. If you are registered to vote with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, I encourage you to go to the polls to vote for the candidate of your choice.

There are many people who will tell you that you have a responsibility to vote in all elections. I am a voter whom visits the polls in all elections. It doesn’t matter if they are tribal, state or federal elections as I vote in all of them. Call me colonized or assimilated or whatever, I just want to be a part of who gets to be in control of our government or schools or community.

Several of my people asked me to run for office but I declined. I remember talking to a friend some time ago and I asked him why he didn’t run for tribal council. He told me he couldn’t take care of all the people and so he didn’t believe he should run for office because someone would inevitably get left out. I never forgot his words.

Today, people elected to office are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. This is inevitably due to the fact that we live in one of the top poorest counties in America. Unemployed people need financial help.

One former tribal council member told me how she bought give away items for a memorial a family was sponsoring. We all know we have a whole year to get ready for a memorial; yet poverty is a huge factor as it takes a lot of money to get ready for the remembrance ceremony.

Also, people regularly engage in lateral violence here on the reservation. When you turn down a potential voter who asks for financial help, there’s always the risk of that voter badmouthing you to everyone they encounter.

This also happens when a governing body votes on something which affects the entire tribe. Someone will always have a negative word to shout out about you. Politicians can’t win no matter what they do.

People who are elected to tribal council are badmouthed by many people of all ages. This is because we elect them for three years and we expect them to solve all the Tribe’s problems. There is no way to solve issues in such a short time. Still, it’s all their fault when things do or don’t happen. It’s not fair to badmouth the elected officials or program directors when a request is turned down. Changing anything generally takes several years; tribal council representatives only get three years.

Yet, there are many issues we see that can be changed. For example, tribal council members tend to bully one another. They also bully tribal employees and people in general. There’s no honor in being a loud mouth bully.

There’s also a lot of micromanaging happening within our tribal government. Tribal council members also believe they’re more entitled to services our programs offer. There’s a ton of unfairness happening in our tribal programs.

Travel is another issue we’ve heard a lot about. Some tribal council members travel extensively. Travel takes a lot of money. But, for the amount of travel money the tribe has paid to elected officials, tribal citizens haven’t seen much meaningful change come from it. Many people on the Rosebud would like to see how their money is spent; a detailed travel report printed online, or in a newspaper, would definitely have us questioning if all those trips were for the benefit of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.

Please elect new officials on July 26.

 

 

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July 8, 2018

Vi Waln

 

While officials in Thailand have brought together emergency personnel from all over the world to conduct a delicate rescue operation to save a dozen teenagers trapped underground, the United States continues to detain children of Indigenous people in cages. America is an expert when it comes to inflicting trauma on entire generations.

There are many Indigenous people who identify with children being forcibly taken from their homes or parents. For instance, Lakota people have been experiencing the removal of their children by state and federal agencies for decades. Our ancestors experienced the forced removal of their children to the government boarding school system. Thus, many of us can empathize with the parents who enter the United States only to have their children pulled from their arms and placed in recently established American concentration camps.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, concentration camps are defined as an “internment center for political prisoners and members of national or minority groups who are confined for reasons of state security, exploitation, or punishment, usually by executive decree or military order. Persons are placed in such camps often on the basis of identification with a particular ethnic or political group rather than as individuals and without benefit either of indictment or fair trial. Concentration camps are to be distinguished from prisons interning persons lawfully convicted of civil crimes and from prisoner-of-war camps in which captured military personnel are held under the laws of war. They are also to be distinguished from refugee camps or detention and relocation centers for the temporary accommodation of large numbers of displaced persons.”

Unfortunately, the world is witnessing another wave of human rights violations being committed by the American president and his staff. For example, there are many online news reports detailing the bureaucratic obstacles which must be overcome in order to return hundreds of small children safely to their parents. One report I read told about how uncomfortable an Arizona Judge was when a one-year old baby, accompanied by a court-appointed attorney, made their first appearance in his courtroom.

ThinkProgress.org reported on July 6, 2018 that “During a conference call with reporters and U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw on Friday afternoon, government officials acknowledged that as many as 20 percent of the youngest children ripped from their parents on Donald Trump’s orders won’t be reunified with their families any time soon.”

The children in America’s concentration camps have been traumatized beyond our comprehension. Their trauma will eventually become historical. Their descendants will suffer devasting effects from this experience. Their historical trauma will likely mirror what other Indigenous people suffer. They will be told to just get over it. Healing will take many generations.

We must realize the people whom are fleeing situations in Mexico or Central America are going through the exact experience our ancestors did. Many of the people seeking to cross the border are Indigenous people. They also likely identify with a nation of people who’ve always lived in a specific area.

We must remember that Turtle Island is one land base, running from Alaska clear down to the Panama Canal. The Indigenous people of Turtle Island have lived here since time immemorial. Before the encroachment we traveled all of Turtle Island, trading with other Indigenous nations in many areas

There are countless Lakota and other Indigenous peoples now praying in summer ceremonies. Generations of strong prayers are allowing several tribes to reinter on their homelands the remains of Indigenous children long buried in a Carlisle cemetery. We have to continue making ceremony and strong prayers for all the children of the world to be reunited with their families. The cycle of trauma we’ve all become accustomed to has to stop with us.

 

 

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06-15-2018

Vi Waln

As Lakota people, we’ve always shown reverence to our elders. Any person who is older than you are is considered your elder. Lakota people at least 55 years old are likely tribal citizens carrying an abundance of our ancestral cultural knowledge. The majority of fluent Lakota speakers are people in this age bracket.

It’s an election year again on the Rosebud. We are already seeing signs posted across the reservation advertising candidate’s names. Many of our candidates for public office campaign on improving conditions for the youth and elders. Yet, there are still young Lakota people taking their own lives. Lakota elders are still suffering in deplorable conditions. No one cares.

 

 

Today, we have parents and grandparents sacrificing a great deal to raise their families. Working a full-time job on the reservation is a huge sacrifice, as a majority of our employed people spend 40 hours a week or more at a thankless job. They sacrifice to work at their full-time jobs to financially support their families. There’s also many employed Lakota people financially supporting more than one household. For example, they could be paying the electricity bill for unemployed relatives who can’t find jobs.

Consequently, there are adults who’ve never developed a work ethic. These are our people whom would rather scheme their way through life. They are the ones standing in line at various programs demanding a hand out. The lack of a strong work ethic goes back to generations of public assistance. Depending on public assistance to pay our way through life is showing our children that it’s acceptable to have tribal/state/federal programs subsidize rent, electricity, food, clothing or other necessities.

Of course, we do have a lot of families living in poverty. Yet, there are also unfilled jobs advertised on the Tribe’s website. TECRO is another program where people can apply to work, especially with all the construction projects happening now. Still, it’s a hard fact that many Lakota people cannot pass a drug or background screen.

Some adults won’t qualify for employment due to their drug use. Reservations also have a high drop-out rate. We hear many excuses as to why people can’t complete school. High school diplomas are required for many jobs. With Sinte Gleska University offering GED and college classes, daily roundtrip rides to attend college and student meals, there’s no excuse to work on becoming an employable tribal citizen.

Unfortunately, there are elders living on small amounts of income also supporting adult children and grandchildren. Some of those elders were evicted from their homes last year due to the drug use of adult family members living in the house. Other elders are abused for the fixed income they receive every month. A lot of our older men and women are intimidated by their adult children into handing over their meager resources. The money is then wasted on buying alcoholic drinks, meth, prescription pills or gambled away.

There are also Lakota grandparents raising small children. It’s heartbreaking to see the many Lakota babies who’ve been abandoned by their parents. We all know of grandmas or grandpas whom are financially responsible for grandchildren or even great-grandchildren. When these small children reach their teenage years, many of them put undue stress on our old folks.

Our elders deserve to enjoy their remaining years. Of course, many of them could outright refuse to support their small grandchildren, but it’s also the Lakota way to make sure your family has enough to live. I cringe to think about how our society will be when my grandchildren are the Unci and Lala.

June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. We must do more to support our Lakota Elders on the Rosebud Reservation.

 

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May 9, 2018

Vi Waln

Lots of small Lakota children are being traumatized as you read this. Parents, guardians, grandparents or other caregivers are inflicting trauma on our children every minute of every day. Trauma isn’t just physical abuse. Mental, emotional and spiritual trauma is also child abuse.

There are lots of small children acting out the effects of trauma. For example, there are many children on our reservations that learn how to be a bully in their homes. People responsible for the care of children may often believe they only have to feed, clothe and provide shelter for the small children in their care. They haven’t a clue about how their personal behavior is traumatizing the children in their home.

For instance, there are a lot of Lakota people right now whom are heavily addicted to using large amounts of drugs or alcohol. Substance abuse regularly happens in front of the children in the home. There are also many children who witness extreme levels of violence in their homes. Yelling, physical assaults and adult dysfunction are just a handful of behaviors our children and teens are exposed to every single day. Consequently, these are behaviors which inflict trauma on our youth.

People who have to regularly cuss are also inflicting trauma. There are articles out there right now that encourage the use of cuss words by adults. When people cuss all the time or are unable to carry on a normal conversation without interjecting the F word between every other spoken word, it creates negativity in the home.

Also, when every other word out of your mouth is f***, you can be certain the children and teens in your care will follow the example you’re setting. This is very obvious in the number of small children who call adults “bitch” or other disrespectful names. It’s not funny when I hear a 4-year-old child say f*** you to an adult.

Right this very minute, there are small children home alone. They were not sent to school today. Many don’t have clean clothes. Others don’t have any food in the house because the SNAP card was sold for drugs or alcohol. These are traumatized children who will grow into adults and likely suffer a myriad of issues in their lives.

The trauma children suffer stays with them. It isn’t forgotten when they reach adulthood. They will likely inflict the same kind of trauma on their own children, perpetuating the vicious cycle we all witness on a regular basis. Our children deserve a healthy childhood in a home with caring, sober adults. Our children deserve to eat a good meal, have clean clothes to wear, as well as look forward to a safe home after school and on weekends. Parents are obligated to help their children grow into healthy adults.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) “are stressful or traumatic events, including abuse and neglect. They may also include household dysfunction such as witnessing domestic violence or growing up with family members who have substance use disorders. ACEs are strongly related to the development and prevalence of a wide range of health problems throughout a person’s lifespan, including those associated with substance misuse.

ACEs include, but are not limited to: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, intimate partner violence, mother treated violently, substance misuse within household, household mental illness, parental separation or divorce and an incarcerated household member.”

May 10 is National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day. We often claim our children are sacred but most of us don’t walk the talk. It’s up to you to raise healthy children. Do your part to break the vicious cycle.

 

 

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