Day 49 Prairie
Wind to Pine Ridge
The Prairie Wind Casino is located within
the Pine Ridge Reservation by 30 miles to the town of Pine Ridge. The reservation itself is the size of state
of Connecticut with a population of 50,000.
The town itself contains around 4,000 people and is the only town of any
size within the reservation boundaries.
It also has the distinction of being the poorest town in country,
I stayed as a guest of Center for
Reconciliation which has been located in town for many years and has earned the
respect and support of both the tribal authorities and of state agencies. I am grateful to Pastor Dan Johnson who
serves as their director who welcomed me and has been very generous with his
time.
When I arrived, he drove me around the
town to show me how the community has evolved.
There is a tribal hospital and some lovely houses surrounding it. These houses stand in marked contrast to the
majority of dwellings one sees scattered around the town center. There are houses which are boarded up because
the crystal meth once produced in them has seeped into the walls rendering the
place uninhabitable. There are three bedrooms,
one bathroom houses housing an extended family of 20. Many of the homes lack heating and plumbing.
In my conversation with Dan and some of
the staff at the center, I have discovered that the violence, cynicism, greed, racism
and cruelty which have shaped this reservation have been integrated into the
culture which now resides here. It is
understandable that the Lakota people should be suspicious and hostile to the
white government which has created the state of affairs. What is not so obvious is that this cynicism
and greed has become a defining quality of the tribal government as well. There is much graft and misdirection of
funding evident in the running of this town.
One can see how obstructionist tactics in the pursuit of power demonstrated
in our federal government can be seen scaled down and operative in this much
smaller government.
The center where I am staying serves as a
shelter for the large homeless population here.
The city has recently closed the municipal shelter over arguments about
funding. The churches have picked up the
slack and have been insuring that this vulnerable segment of the population
does not die of exposure. When I arrived
here last night I discovered twelve homeless persons and seven dogs hanging
around the entrance to the center. They
were all amused by me, my bike, and my trailer entering their turf.
The center for reconciliation (see link
below) does not encourage work trips from outside groups. They are not interested in having outside
persons waltzing in and fixing something.
They are interested in having interested person come to hear the stories
of those who lives have been shaped by our history and this place. There many examples of both cruelty and
courage to be found in this place. You
can find people who have been a source of hope and resilience at a time when
this is a scarce commodity.
There has recently been an institute of
higher education established on the reservation. Those who leave Pine Ridge to study elsewhere
in the region discover a racist and hostile environment. Scholars from neighboring Universities come
and teach in town which enables folks to earn a college degree in a familiar
environment.
https://www.pineridgereconciliationcenter.org/
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