Pine Ridge Reservation Kids

posted by Patty James @ 6:30pm, Tuesday 29 June 2010.

This is the road to the Youth Center where I met Rose Fraser who connected me to her cousin Yvette Hernandez, who helped set up kids interviews on the Pine River Reservation in Kyle, South Dakota. They are Sioux. First of all a little lesson....

"What is the difference between the Lakota and Dakota Sioux? What do these words mean?
There is no real difference. "Lakota" and "Dakota" are different pronunciations of the same tribal name, which means "the allies." One Sioux dialect has the letter "L" in it, and the other dialect does not. This is only a pronunciation difference, not a political one. Of the 13 Sioux political subdivisions, seven pronounce the word "Lakota," four pronounce it "Dakota," one pronounces it "Nakota," and one is split between pronouncing it "Dakota" and "Nakota." But they all consider themselves part of the same overall culture."

The road to the Center.

They have 4 very old computers and a big screen TV that was recently damaged. They also accept donations at the center from Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation   www.friendsofpineridgereservation.org  When I was there they were sorting out clothes and shoes and getting ready for folks to come in and take what they need. Rose Fraser was warm and helpful and very busy. She had 3 other women working as well. The TV was damaged in a break-in and Rose has made the decision to find somewhere else to keep all the donated goods as she felt the break-in was because of the items inside. 'Who would do this?" she kept saying. Desperate people I suppose.

Years ago I taught at a Reservation in California and had to a sign a privacy contract before I did. I understand that privacy is important to Native American's, but it's more than that. There is a man I know, Phillip Meshekey, http://en-pi.facebook.com/phillip.meshekey  who my oldest daughter Olivia, was/is friends with from childhood and he now lives and is very involved with the Pine Ridge Reservation. Here is that shrinking 6 degrees again. Anyway....Phil told me that they were very private and asked a lot of questions of me, mainly, if I was involved with the government or any corporation and who was paying for my journey. None, none and me - still he had a hard time connecting me. I found out about Rose after contacting the Friends of Pine Ridge and after she met me and knew I could be trusted, she and Yvette let me speak with their community's children. Thank you so much. Can you blame them for being wary? I certainly can't.



This is 14 year old Roshaun, who towered over me. He was all smiles until I took his photo.



Meltina is 13 years old.



Georgian is 14 years old-tall and confidant.


D.J was the quietest of all.



I started to write more about each child, but just erased it all. If they didn't tell me when the camera was on, they don't want everyone to know. I can tell you this; they want to be doctors and lawyers and NFL football players -with a back-up plan. They are healthy as are their families or so they say when the camera is on. When it's off, their Mom or Dad has diabetes, they are worried they might get it as well and so much more. They shared with me, but won't with you...it's a trust issue. Again, who can blame them?

This is Yvette, their teacher. I owe her so much for helping me. One of the questions I ask the kids is, "Does the earth's health have anything to do with your personal health?" I have said I have no preconceived notions about answers, but I admit, in front of Native American's I had a major preconceived notion. All 4 kids said there was no connection... (pregnant pause to let this settle in...) I asked Yvette about this and she told me that these kids' grandparents were sent to 'boarding school' to learn to be white and the chain was broken. She said this just that simply. I told her that yesterday I thought I saw hopelessness in their eyes and she feels that the kids at her school feel hope. I agree now. What I saw in kid's eyes yesterday was mistrust. Who is this white woman? Granted she said that many kids do fall into the hopeless category, but not as many as I thought and it's all because of caring people like Yvette. We chatted for a full 20 minutes, and I will write more soon when I'm not so emotionally drained. I am thankful that for whatever reason I was allowed in-perhaps because most of the time that Yvette was telling me everything I was crying like a baby-not sure. Just one more thing....when she takes some of the kids to a local (well Rapid City) big box store, they are followed around the store. The receipts of the white people in front and in back of them are not checked, but theirs are always checked. How do you think this makes them feel? If you're reading this, I know you understand how.

Yvette, my new hero.



I can't seem to stop crying....I need to get back to anger, but as you all know I don't go to anger easily, but recognize I get more done when I do. Anger does have a purpose. For now, I need to have another good cry...