I need all your help, if possible!
To all my few friends who actually read my posts. Recently, I have decided to put my time into something that has touched my heart. I have never been apart of charities, or fund-raising groups before, so this is all new to me. The Pine Ridge Reservation for the Lakota Sioux Native American Indians in South Dakota.
Of course, this special relationship has seldom worked out well for the Indians. Over the last 150 years, the government has tried a series of conflicting ways of dealing with the natives of this continent -- making war on them, making treaties with them, breaking treaties with them, sending them to Oklahoma, forcing them onto reservations, forcing them off reservations, permitting them to own land collectively, forcing them to divide the land into individual plots, dispatching their children to boarding schools hundreds of miles from home, closing the boarding schools and sending the children home, outlawing practice of their religions, legalizing practice of those religions, discriminating against them in employment at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, discriminating in favor of them in employment with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, permitting them to run gambling operations under certain circumstances, increasing funding for the BIA and, in fiscal 1996, cutting funding for the BIA by $160 million, or 9 percent.
Now, Native Americans remain at the bottom in almost every measurable economic category. Indians earn only a little more than half as much money as the average American -- less money per capita than whites, blacks, Asian Americans and Hispanics. Nearly a third of Native Americans live in poverty, which is more than twice the rate for Americans in general. And Indians are far more liable to succumb to diseases associated with the poor -- four times as likely to die of alcoholism, three times as likely to die of tuberculosis, nearly twice as likely to die of diabetes.
"It's a national disgrace," says Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who until last month, chaired the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. "Any objective observer would say that our treatment of Native Americans is a national disgrace."
SOURCE: http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/indian.htm
Their water system is outdated and operating at capacity, leaving the tribe no room for economic expansion and preventing its housing authority from building new homes. This allocation would put a long-term solution in place and give the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe an opportunity to prosper. Without water -- the most basic building block of life and society -- the people of the Lakota Sioux Reservation have little hope of impacting their situation in a way where they may prosper and thrive.
And after this winter, their difficult situation has become almost unbearable. In January, an ice storm toppled more than 3,000 power poles, knocking out electricity to 13,000 people, leaving them without power, heat and water. Pipes burst. Water heaters froze to the core and cracked. People burned wood in their homes or drove around in their cars to stay warm. Many are still coping with cleanup and repair with little money or insurance to help them.
SOURCE: http://www.rallycongress.com/shift-the-power-to-the-people/2922/go/
Please offer your support by signing this petition.
Lastly, I am collecting baby formula to send to them. They need so much help right now. There are many infants & toddlers on the Pine Ridge Reservation who are away from their mothers for one reason or another and formula is an expensive commodity both on the reservation *and* off. Also I have just found out the government is trying to take their home away. They will have no where to go.
If you would like to send any, let me know, and I will give you the number to call to have it sent to them. Or, you can get the number yourself from here, either way is great. http://www.facebook.com/ericajean10#!/group.php?gid=114870782886
This group is not affiliated with any church, non-profit or organization, but a group of individuals with a common desire to help our brothers and sisters on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. We help by sending/delivering food and personal items, occasional trips to help with needs on the reservation and working as a networking group to keep in contact with the people themselves and addressing needs as we can. We are not a charity, we are simply friends helping friends, doing what we feel is right in our hearts.
Here are some statistics on the conditions on this reservation (edited 9/14/09):
Demographic Information
* The Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Indian Reservation sits in Bennett, Jackson, and Shannon Counties and is located in the southwest corner of South Dakota, fifty miles east of the Wyoming border.
* The Reservation is divided into eight districts: Eagle Nest, Pass Creek, Wakpamni, LaCreek, Pine Ridge, White Clay, Medicine Root, Porcupine, and Wounded Knee.
* The topography of the Pine Ridge Reservation includes the barren Badlands, rolling grassland hills, dryland prairie, and areas dotted with pine trees.
* The Pine Ridge Reservation is home to approximately 40,000 persons, 35% of which are under the age of 18. The latest Federal Census shows the median age to be 20.6 years. Approximately half the residents of the Reservation are registered tribal members of the Oglala Lakota Sioux Nation.
* According to the most recent Federal Census, 58.7% of the grandparents on the Reservation are responsible for raising their own grandchildren.
* The population is slowly but steadily rising, despite the severe conditions on the Reservation, as more and more Oglala Lakota return home from far-away cities to live within their societal values, be with their families, and assist with the revitalization of their culture and their Nation.
Employment Information
* Recent reports vary but many point out that the median income on the Pine Ridge Reservation is approximately $2,600 to $3,500 per year.
* The unemployment rate on Pine Ridge is said to be approximately 83-85% and can be higher during the winter months when travel is difficult or often impossible.
* According to 2006 resources, about 97% of the population lives below Federal poverty levels.
* There is little industry, technology, or commercial infrastructure on the Reservation to provide employment.
Life Expectancy and Health Conditions
* Some figures state that the life expectancy on the Reservation is 48 years old for men and 52 for women. Other reports state that the average life expectancy on the Reservation is 45 years old. These statistics are far from the 77.5 years of age life expectancy average found in the United States as a whole. According to current USDA Rural Development documents, the Lakota have the lowest life expectancy of any group in America.
* Teenage suicide rate on the Pine Ridge Reservation is 150% higher than the U.S. national average for this age group.
* The infant mortality rate is the highest on this continent and is about 300% higher than the U.S. national average.
* More than half the Reservation's adults battle addiction and disease. Alcoholism, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and malnutrition are pervasive.
* The rate of diabetes on the Reservation is reported to be 800% higher than the U.S. national average.
* Recent reports indicate that almost 50% of the adults on the Reservation over the age of 40 have diabetes.
* As a result of the high rate of diabetes on the Reservation, diabetic-related blindness, amputations, and kidney failure are common.
* The tuberculosis rate on the Pine Ridge Reservation is approximately 800% higher than the U.S. national average.
* Cervical cancer is 500% higher than the U.S. national average.
* It is reported that at least 60% of the homes on the Pine Ridge Reservation are infested with Black Mold, Stachybotrys. This infestation causes an often-fatal condition with infants, children, elderly, those with damaged immune systems, and those with lung and pulmonary conditions at the highest risk. Exposure to this mold can cause hemorrhaging of the lungs and brain as well as cancer.
* A Federal Commodity Food Program is active but supplies mostly inappropriate foods (high in carbohydrate and/or sugar) for the largely diabetic population of the Reservation.
Health Care
* Many Reservation residents live without health care due to vast travel distances involved in accessing that care. Additional factors include under-funded, under-staffed medical facilities and outdated or non-existent medical equipment.
* Preventive healthcare programs are rare.
* In most of the treaties between the U.S. Government and Indian Nations, the U.S. government agreed to provide adequate medical care for Indians in return for vast quantities of land. The Indian Health Services (IHS) was set up to administer the health care for Indians under these treaties and receives an appropriation each year to fund Indian health care. Unfortunately, the appropriation is very small compared to the need and there is little hope for increased funding from Congress. The IHS is understaffed and ill-equipped and can’t possibly address the needs of Indian communities. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Education Issues
* School drop-out rate is over 70%.
* According to a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) report, the Pine Ridge Reservation schools are in the bottom 10% of school funding by U.S. Department of Education and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
* Teacher turnover is 800% that of the U.S. national average
Housing Conditions and Homelessness
* The small BIA/Tribal Housing Authority homes on the Pine Ridge Reservation are overcrowded and scarce, resulting in many homeless families who often use tents or cars for shelter. Many families live in old cabins or dilapidated mobile homes and trailers.
* According to a 2003 report from South Dakota State University, the majority of the current Tribal Housing Authority homes were built from 1970-1979. The report brings to light that a great percentage of that original construction by the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) was “shoddy and substandard.” The report also states that 26% of the housing units on the Reservation are mobile homes, often purchased or obtained (through donations) as used, low-value units with negative-value equity.
* Even though there is a large homeless population on the Reservation, most families never turn away a relative no matter how distant the blood relation. Consequently, many homes often have large numbers of people living in them.
* There is an estimated average of 17 people living in each family home (a home which may only have two to three rooms). Some larger homes, built for 6 to 8 people, have up to 30 people living in them.
* Over 33% of the Reservation homes lack basic water and sewage systems as well as electricity.
* Many residents must carry (often contaminated) water from the local rivers daily for their personal needs.
* Some Reservation families are forced to sleep on dirt floors.
* Without basic insulation or central heating in their homes, many residents on the Pine Ridge Reservation use their ovens to heat their homes.
* Many Reservation homes lack adequate insulation. Even more homes lack central heating.
* Periodically, Reservation residents are found dead from hypothermia (freezing).
* It is reported that at least 60% of the homes on the Pine Ridge Reservation need to be burned to the ground and replaced with new housing due to infestation of the potentially-fatal Black Mold, Stachybotrys. There is no insurance or government program to assist families in replacing their homes.
* 39% of the homes on the Pine Ridge Reservation have no electricity.
* The most common form of heating fuel is propane. Wood-burning is the second most common form of heating a home although wood supplies are often expensive or difficult to obtain.
* Many Reservation homes lack basic furniture and appliances such as beds, refrigerators, and stoves.
* 60% of Reservation families have no land-line telephone. The Tribe has recently issued basic cell phones to the residents. However, these cell phones (commonly called commodity phones) do not operate off the Reservation at all and are often inoperable in the rural areas on the Reservation or during storms or wind.
* Federal and tribal heat assistance programs (such as LLEAP) are limited by their funding. In the winter of 2005-2006, the average one-time only payment to a family was said to be approximately $250-$300 to cover the entire winter. For many, that amount did not even fill their propane heating tanks one time.
Life on the Reservation
* Most Reservation families live in rural and often isolated areas.
* There are few improved (paved) roads on the Reservation and most of the rural homes are inaccessible during times of rain or snow.
* Weather is extreme on the Reservation. Severe winds are always a factor. Traditionally, summer temperatures reach well over 110*F and winters bring bitter cold with temperatures that can reach -50*F below zero or worse. Flooding, tornados, or wildfires are always a risk.
* The Pine Ridge Reservation has only one grocery store of any moderate size and it is located in the village of Pine Ridge on the Reservation (note from Kimberli: prices at this store are incredibly inflated, an item costing $1 here can be upwards of $6 there). A motel just opened in 2006 near the Oglala Lakota College at Kyle, South Dakota.
* Several of the banks and lending institutions nearest to the Reservation have been targeted for investigation of fraudulent or predatory lending practices, with the citizens of the Pine Ridge Reservation as their victims.
* There is one radio station on the Pine Ridge Reservation. KILI 90.1FM is located near the town of Porcupine on the Reservation.
Transportation
* There is no public transportation available on the Reservation.
* Only a minority of Reservation residents own an operable automobile.
* Predominant form of travel for all ages on the Reservation is walking or hitchhiking.
* The nearest commercial airport and/or commercial bus line is located in Rapid City, South Dakota (approximately 120 miles away).
Alcoholism
* Alcoholism affects eight out of ten families on the Reservation.
* The death rate from alcohol-related problems on the Reservation is 300% higher than the remaining US population.
* The Oglala Lakota Nation has prohibited the sale and possession of alcohol on the Pine Ridge Reservation since the early 1970's. However, the town of Whiteclay, Nebraska (which sits 400 yards off the Reservation border in a contested "buffer" zone) has approximately 14 residents and four liquor stores which sell over 4.1 million cans of beer each year resulting in a $3million annual trade. Unlike other Nebraska communities, Whiteclay exists only to sell liquor and make money. It has no schools, no churches, no civic organizations, no parks, no benches, no public bathrooms, no fire service and no law enforcement. Tribal officials have repeatedly pleaded with the State of Nebraska to close these liquor stores or enforce the State laws regulating liquor stores but have been consistently refused.
Water and Aquifer Contamination
* Many wells and much of the water and land on the Reservation is contaminated with pesticides and other poisons from farming, mining, open dumps, and commercial and governmental mining operations outside the Reservation. A further source of contamination is buried ordnance and hazardous materials from closed U.S. military bombing ranges on the Reservation.
* Scientific studies show that the High Plains/Oglala Aquifer which begins underneath the Pine Ridge Reservation is predicted to run dry in less than 30 years due to commercial interest use and dryland farming in numerous states south of the Reservation. This critical North American underground water resource is not renewable at anything near the present consumption rate. The recent years of drought have simply accelerated the problem.
These statistics concerning the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Reservation were compiled from recent Political, Educational, Government, Non-Profit, and Tribal Publications. An earlier version was published by the same author in 2002 entitled, “Hidden Away, in the Land of Plenty.”
Thank you for any and all help.
Of course, this special relationship has seldom worked out well for the Indians. Over the last 150 years, the government has tried a series of conflicting ways of dealing with the natives of this continent -- making war on them, making treaties with them, breaking treaties with them, sending them to Oklahoma, forcing them onto reservations, forcing them off reservations, permitting them to own land collectively, forcing them to divide the land into individual plots, dispatching their children to boarding schools hundreds of miles from home, closing the boarding schools and sending the children home, outlawing practice of their religions, legalizing practice of those religions, discriminating against them in employment at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, discriminating in favor of them in employment with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, permitting them to run gambling operations under certain circumstances, increasing funding for the BIA and, in fiscal 1996, cutting funding for the BIA by $160 million, or 9 percent.
Now, Native Americans remain at the bottom in almost every measurable economic category. Indians earn only a little more than half as much money as the average American -- less money per capita than whites, blacks, Asian Americans and Hispanics. Nearly a third of Native Americans live in poverty, which is more than twice the rate for Americans in general. And Indians are far more liable to succumb to diseases associated with the poor -- four times as likely to die of alcoholism, three times as likely to die of tuberculosis, nearly twice as likely to die of diabetes.
"It's a national disgrace," says Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who until last month, chaired the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. "Any objective observer would say that our treatment of Native Americans is a national disgrace."
SOURCE: http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/indian.htm
Their water system is outdated and operating at capacity, leaving the tribe no room for economic expansion and preventing its housing authority from building new homes. This allocation would put a long-term solution in place and give the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe an opportunity to prosper. Without water -- the most basic building block of life and society -- the people of the Lakota Sioux Reservation have little hope of impacting their situation in a way where they may prosper and thrive.
And after this winter, their difficult situation has become almost unbearable. In January, an ice storm toppled more than 3,000 power poles, knocking out electricity to 13,000 people, leaving them without power, heat and water. Pipes burst. Water heaters froze to the core and cracked. People burned wood in their homes or drove around in their cars to stay warm. Many are still coping with cleanup and repair with little money or insurance to help them.
SOURCE: http://www.rallycongress.com/shift-the-power-to-the-people/2922/go/
Please offer your support by signing this petition.
Lastly, I am collecting baby formula to send to them. They need so much help right now. There are many infants & toddlers on the Pine Ridge Reservation who are away from their mothers for one reason or another and formula is an expensive commodity both on the reservation *and* off. Also I have just found out the government is trying to take their home away. They will have no where to go.
If you would like to send any, let me know, and I will give you the number to call to have it sent to them. Or, you can get the number yourself from here, either way is great. http://www.facebook.com/ericajean10#!/group.php?gid=114870782886
This group is not affiliated with any church, non-profit or organization, but a group of individuals with a common desire to help our brothers and sisters on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. We help by sending/delivering food and personal items, occasional trips to help with needs on the reservation and working as a networking group to keep in contact with the people themselves and addressing needs as we can. We are not a charity, we are simply friends helping friends, doing what we feel is right in our hearts.
Here are some statistics on the conditions on this reservation (edited 9/14/09):
Demographic Information
* The Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Indian Reservation sits in Bennett, Jackson, and Shannon Counties and is located in the southwest corner of South Dakota, fifty miles east of the Wyoming border.
* The Reservation is divided into eight districts: Eagle Nest, Pass Creek, Wakpamni, LaCreek, Pine Ridge, White Clay, Medicine Root, Porcupine, and Wounded Knee.
* The topography of the Pine Ridge Reservation includes the barren Badlands, rolling grassland hills, dryland prairie, and areas dotted with pine trees.
* The Pine Ridge Reservation is home to approximately 40,000 persons, 35% of which are under the age of 18. The latest Federal Census shows the median age to be 20.6 years. Approximately half the residents of the Reservation are registered tribal members of the Oglala Lakota Sioux Nation.
* According to the most recent Federal Census, 58.7% of the grandparents on the Reservation are responsible for raising their own grandchildren.
* The population is slowly but steadily rising, despite the severe conditions on the Reservation, as more and more Oglala Lakota return home from far-away cities to live within their societal values, be with their families, and assist with the revitalization of their culture and their Nation.
Employment Information
* Recent reports vary but many point out that the median income on the Pine Ridge Reservation is approximately $2,600 to $3,500 per year.
* The unemployment rate on Pine Ridge is said to be approximately 83-85% and can be higher during the winter months when travel is difficult or often impossible.
* According to 2006 resources, about 97% of the population lives below Federal poverty levels.
* There is little industry, technology, or commercial infrastructure on the Reservation to provide employment.
Life Expectancy and Health Conditions
* Some figures state that the life expectancy on the Reservation is 48 years old for men and 52 for women. Other reports state that the average life expectancy on the Reservation is 45 years old. These statistics are far from the 77.5 years of age life expectancy average found in the United States as a whole. According to current USDA Rural Development documents, the Lakota have the lowest life expectancy of any group in America.
* Teenage suicide rate on the Pine Ridge Reservation is 150% higher than the U.S. national average for this age group.
* The infant mortality rate is the highest on this continent and is about 300% higher than the U.S. national average.
* More than half the Reservation's adults battle addiction and disease. Alcoholism, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and malnutrition are pervasive.
* The rate of diabetes on the Reservation is reported to be 800% higher than the U.S. national average.
* Recent reports indicate that almost 50% of the adults on the Reservation over the age of 40 have diabetes.
* As a result of the high rate of diabetes on the Reservation, diabetic-related blindness, amputations, and kidney failure are common.
* The tuberculosis rate on the Pine Ridge Reservation is approximately 800% higher than the U.S. national average.
* Cervical cancer is 500% higher than the U.S. national average.
* It is reported that at least 60% of the homes on the Pine Ridge Reservation are infested with Black Mold, Stachybotrys. This infestation causes an often-fatal condition with infants, children, elderly, those with damaged immune systems, and those with lung and pulmonary conditions at the highest risk. Exposure to this mold can cause hemorrhaging of the lungs and brain as well as cancer.
* A Federal Commodity Food Program is active but supplies mostly inappropriate foods (high in carbohydrate and/or sugar) for the largely diabetic population of the Reservation.
Health Care
* Many Reservation residents live without health care due to vast travel distances involved in accessing that care. Additional factors include under-funded, under-staffed medical facilities and outdated or non-existent medical equipment.
* Preventive healthcare programs are rare.
* In most of the treaties between the U.S. Government and Indian Nations, the U.S. government agreed to provide adequate medical care for Indians in return for vast quantities of land. The Indian Health Services (IHS) was set up to administer the health care for Indians under these treaties and receives an appropriation each year to fund Indian health care. Unfortunately, the appropriation is very small compared to the need and there is little hope for increased funding from Congress. The IHS is understaffed and ill-equipped and can’t possibly address the needs of Indian communities. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Education Issues
* School drop-out rate is over 70%.
* According to a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) report, the Pine Ridge Reservation schools are in the bottom 10% of school funding by U.S. Department of Education and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
* Teacher turnover is 800% that of the U.S. national average
Housing Conditions and Homelessness
* The small BIA/Tribal Housing Authority homes on the Pine Ridge Reservation are overcrowded and scarce, resulting in many homeless families who often use tents or cars for shelter. Many families live in old cabins or dilapidated mobile homes and trailers.
* According to a 2003 report from South Dakota State University, the majority of the current Tribal Housing Authority homes were built from 1970-1979. The report brings to light that a great percentage of that original construction by the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) was “shoddy and substandard.” The report also states that 26% of the housing units on the Reservation are mobile homes, often purchased or obtained (through donations) as used, low-value units with negative-value equity.
* Even though there is a large homeless population on the Reservation, most families never turn away a relative no matter how distant the blood relation. Consequently, many homes often have large numbers of people living in them.
* There is an estimated average of 17 people living in each family home (a home which may only have two to three rooms). Some larger homes, built for 6 to 8 people, have up to 30 people living in them.
* Over 33% of the Reservation homes lack basic water and sewage systems as well as electricity.
* Many residents must carry (often contaminated) water from the local rivers daily for their personal needs.
* Some Reservation families are forced to sleep on dirt floors.
* Without basic insulation or central heating in their homes, many residents on the Pine Ridge Reservation use their ovens to heat their homes.
* Many Reservation homes lack adequate insulation. Even more homes lack central heating.
* Periodically, Reservation residents are found dead from hypothermia (freezing).
* It is reported that at least 60% of the homes on the Pine Ridge Reservation need to be burned to the ground and replaced with new housing due to infestation of the potentially-fatal Black Mold, Stachybotrys. There is no insurance or government program to assist families in replacing their homes.
* 39% of the homes on the Pine Ridge Reservation have no electricity.
* The most common form of heating fuel is propane. Wood-burning is the second most common form of heating a home although wood supplies are often expensive or difficult to obtain.
* Many Reservation homes lack basic furniture and appliances such as beds, refrigerators, and stoves.
* 60% of Reservation families have no land-line telephone. The Tribe has recently issued basic cell phones to the residents. However, these cell phones (commonly called commodity phones) do not operate off the Reservation at all and are often inoperable in the rural areas on the Reservation or during storms or wind.
* Federal and tribal heat assistance programs (such as LLEAP) are limited by their funding. In the winter of 2005-2006, the average one-time only payment to a family was said to be approximately $250-$300 to cover the entire winter. For many, that amount did not even fill their propane heating tanks one time.
Life on the Reservation
* Most Reservation families live in rural and often isolated areas.
* There are few improved (paved) roads on the Reservation and most of the rural homes are inaccessible during times of rain or snow.
* Weather is extreme on the Reservation. Severe winds are always a factor. Traditionally, summer temperatures reach well over 110*F and winters bring bitter cold with temperatures that can reach -50*F below zero or worse. Flooding, tornados, or wildfires are always a risk.
* The Pine Ridge Reservation has only one grocery store of any moderate size and it is located in the village of Pine Ridge on the Reservation (note from Kimberli: prices at this store are incredibly inflated, an item costing $1 here can be upwards of $6 there). A motel just opened in 2006 near the Oglala Lakota College at Kyle, South Dakota.
* Several of the banks and lending institutions nearest to the Reservation have been targeted for investigation of fraudulent or predatory lending practices, with the citizens of the Pine Ridge Reservation as their victims.
* There is one radio station on the Pine Ridge Reservation. KILI 90.1FM is located near the town of Porcupine on the Reservation.
Transportation
* There is no public transportation available on the Reservation.
* Only a minority of Reservation residents own an operable automobile.
* Predominant form of travel for all ages on the Reservation is walking or hitchhiking.
* The nearest commercial airport and/or commercial bus line is located in Rapid City, South Dakota (approximately 120 miles away).
Alcoholism
* Alcoholism affects eight out of ten families on the Reservation.
* The death rate from alcohol-related problems on the Reservation is 300% higher than the remaining US population.
* The Oglala Lakota Nation has prohibited the sale and possession of alcohol on the Pine Ridge Reservation since the early 1970's. However, the town of Whiteclay, Nebraska (which sits 400 yards off the Reservation border in a contested "buffer" zone) has approximately 14 residents and four liquor stores which sell over 4.1 million cans of beer each year resulting in a $3million annual trade. Unlike other Nebraska communities, Whiteclay exists only to sell liquor and make money. It has no schools, no churches, no civic organizations, no parks, no benches, no public bathrooms, no fire service and no law enforcement. Tribal officials have repeatedly pleaded with the State of Nebraska to close these liquor stores or enforce the State laws regulating liquor stores but have been consistently refused.
Water and Aquifer Contamination
* Many wells and much of the water and land on the Reservation is contaminated with pesticides and other poisons from farming, mining, open dumps, and commercial and governmental mining operations outside the Reservation. A further source of contamination is buried ordnance and hazardous materials from closed U.S. military bombing ranges on the Reservation.
* Scientific studies show that the High Plains/Oglala Aquifer which begins underneath the Pine Ridge Reservation is predicted to run dry in less than 30 years due to commercial interest use and dryland farming in numerous states south of the Reservation. This critical North American underground water resource is not renewable at anything near the present consumption rate. The recent years of drought have simply accelerated the problem.
These statistics concerning the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Reservation were compiled from recent Political, Educational, Government, Non-Profit, and Tribal Publications. An earlier version was published by the same author in 2002 entitled, “Hidden Away, in the Land of Plenty.”
Thank you for any and all help.