Plains Indian 4 State Trip 2016: Pine Ridge Reservation

Pine Ridge Reservation, one of 9 Sioux reservations in South Dakota, is and has been the poster child for Indian poverty, dysfunction and the failure of the reservation system for many years. While there is good reason for this narrative, there is also another story to be told. We learned this on our recent trip there as our host took us on an all day tour of the Rez, or at least parts of it (it is larger in size than Delaware & Rhode Island combined, but mostly arid prairie and only 30,000 or so residents). Here, as on other reservations in recent years, positive change is happening, though we don't always hear about it.

There is a huge need for positive change. Visiting one of the local cemeteries we saw stark evidence of this: the average life span of those interred there was very limited, not surprising for a reservation which has the lowest life expectancy anywhere in the western hemisphere apart from Haiti (48 for men; 52 for women). The reasons for this are perhaps obvious: over half of all families here live below the federal poverty level; unemployment exceeds 70%; astronomical rates of diabetes (half the population over 40), tuberculosis (8x national rate) and cervical cancer (5x national rate); high rates of alcoholism and fetal alcohol syndrome & its effects (1 in 4 infants); a high school graduation rate that is 45% or less; high teen and adult suicide rates.

But here is the “rest of the news,” that we saw and/or learned about. There is a nascent local credit union (still no checking though) and an active community development financial institution (banks refuse to establish branches on the reservation, which as mentioned above is as large as Rhode Island and Delaware combined).

The K-12 education infrastructure is very impressive and performance is improving. Oglala Lakota College has 1,500 enrolled students and has a wonderful decentralized structure, including 11 college centers to serve all segments of the Rez as well as neighboring areas where tribal members also live. Attached to it are also over 20 campus-based head start centers. The Pine Ridge Girls’ School, the 1^st of its kind on an Indian reservation, seeks to connect all subjects to Lakota language and culture while preparing the girls for college. We saw many very decent looking small houses and trailers (though overcrowding is an issue as families double or triple up). The local government also has an active housing program. The cultural and spiritual life of the people has been invigorated with many powwows occurring locally (school or clan based), sun dances and an attempt to emphasize in the schools the use and learning of Lakota language. An assisted living/nursing home complex has just been built. Much health care is free (Indian Health Service) and the 45d-bed hospital looked impressive and modern (with 2 regional clinics in other parts of the rez). There has been a growth in locally owned businesses including one grocery store we visited, a film institute and training center, and a beautiful Chamber of Commerce building.

The positives we saw need to be celebrated. But in the end the people on the reservation are struggling mightily against enormous odds, including a dysfunctional system of land ownership/tenure, a sometimes frustrating and resistant bureaucracy, centuries of racial exclusion and cultural genocide, an economic stranglehold by forces like the banks, and ultimately without the federal resources needed to make a significant dent in the problems.