Is This True Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Is The Poorest Place In America? (Aberdeen: 2009, apartment complex)

[mike_mich]

Hello,

I saw the story on Pine Ridge. I understand the lifestyle on the reservation having spent part of my childhood on a reservation. I checked into S Dakota for wind turbines, and the entire reservation is excellent in potential output. The government also provides small business loans for starting your own wind farm. You should check the USDA, Dept Of Energy, Dept of Interior, as there are also loans and grants specifically targeting Native American businesses. It's not a fix all, but could be a good source of revenue for public projects (jobs).

http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/tribale...ultstmarie.pdf

[Jammie]

Thanks for the info, but you're late. They already have wind turbines on some of the reservations. The tribe does not need to take out a loan. The turbines are provided by the company and the tribe gets a very nice yearly fee for each turbine.

Right now there is another wind farm in progress for the Cheyenne River tribe. It comes at a cost of 400 million dollars. There are companies doing some pretty good investing on the reservations already and they deserve recognition for that.

[samine123]

Polycarp needs to come live in this area, within 60 miles of the reservation. Then he would see where everything he says is wrong. Most of the people, native like myself and whites, can see that the government needs to butt out, the reservation system is ridiculous, and my people need to quit blaming white America for everything. By the way, many people do make good livings ranching on the reservation. Unfortunately, most are drunk 24/7 and the TRIBE officials like them this way as they are easier to control and take advantage of. Polycarp, before you start talking about "a way of life" come walk in our shoes.

[Sweetlady71]

Originally Posted by mica/lakotalibra

Cry around about the rez in south dakota. i got the heck outta there as soon as i was able. which is really hard to do. i can't understand how the people ther can just "tolerate" what they put up with, no employment, and lack of transportation to get there. people doing the same thing everyday. NOTHING. in such a desolate place. oh well i'm far away now, and i plan to stay there. i never want to go back. my dad and mom are both gone, so i have no need to nor want to ever even visit that stinkin poor rez........ever again!!! good luck to those who can handle it. i can only say i am lucky to get out of there. nothing worth stayin for, or going back to. lessons, hard lessons was all i got.mainly from family, wjo in the end wasn't really family to begin or end with. thank God for having my own 4 boys. they are all i need.

I want to say congrats on getten out and maken a better life for yourself!!
you are proof it can be done if one wants to better themselves verses sitten in a pile of selfpity.
ive been to the rez many times, and am also part indian, and have many friends from all tribes in the US, and there are some that work hard and take pride in their heritage, and there are others who just sit around hoping people will fall for their crying and take care of all their needs verses doing for themselves.

I may get alot of flack for this, oh well, aint first time ive ticked off someone, but ive got indian friends from the pine ridge, and they agree, people there need to be the ones who make the differance, we cant do it for them. no matter where you live, and there is alot of "projects" in america, if you want out and a better life, you have to work hard and it will happen.

no one is stuck where they are, they are there cuz they have no gumption.
many of my indian friends agree with me on this, they see it to, to many people on the rez down there come into rapid for instance, stop at the gas station and use food stamps to buy pop and junk food, and then whine half way thru the month "we have no food!!" then some sympathy group who doesnt see what goes on daily, cries "lets feed the poor people on the rez"
people on the rez take their gov checks and come into town and buy up pricy stuff, wear sport logo clothes, some costing alot and SOOO not needed if your truly POOR!!!!
anyone recall the base giving them houses only to see on the news how one tore down the bathroom wall of his FREE house so his horse could drink out of the bathtub?????
and lets not forget...if your so poor...how do you afford booze??? this is everywhere...not just a rez, people claiiming there so poor, yet canafford their booze, heck, down here in TN, i see "poor" all the time, yet their porches are filled with bags of empty beer cans, dogs runnen all over the place, yet their kids go hungry???? makes no sense to me.

ok ok....before someone jumps me sayen "the gov took our land and stuck us on the rez".....well that was over a hundred years ago, who is maken you stay now???? the same gov gives you money, you get free medical and collage to pay back for the wrong, yet you still cant get out????
if there is no jobs....move 30 miles to rapid and find one, if you insist that you cant leave the rez and love it so much...then stop cryen in your oatmeal and gripe at your elders to let jobs in...my gosh, the rez gets to keep ALL its tax revenue, so there you go, let jobs come in and you win/profit. gripe at your elders who wont allow the jobs in, not the rest of the world.
if they wont allow it, fire them...be a community and replace them with someone who will get the jobs down there, show the world that you wont be beat down, that you can make it, maybe then peoples impression of you will improve and the fighting will stop.
you got wind....harness it....you got grass land...farm it...you got towns, clean them up and draw in companies...do like ANY other town in america and compete to win industry contracts...there is alot of industry/companies out there that build in smaller communities, away from bigger cities...car plants, etc....point is....YOU got to go after them, sell them on your area...and work and earn it....duh

so next time you use your check to buy a pair of $100 Nike's....use it instead to move somewhere else or chip in to clean up your towns and advertise to companies to build there so you have jobs. crying doesnt pay the bills or put food on the table...and times are hard for everyone now, we cant keep taking care of you when we all have our own familes to feed, charity has its limits to.

[Sweetlady71]

Originally Posted by samine123

Polycarp needs to come live in this area, within 60 miles of the reservation. Then he would see where everything he says is wrong. Most of the people, native like myself and whites, can see that the government needs to butt out, the reservation system is ridiculous, and my people need to quit blaming white America for everything. By the way, many people do make good livings ranching on the reservation. Unfortunately, most are drunk 24/7 and the TRIBE officials like them this way as they are easier to control and take advantage of. Polycarp, before you start talking about "a way of life" come walk in our shoes.

im glad to meet someone else who agrees that things need to change down there. as i just posted....fire the elders who dont want change and progress and elect someone who will let jobs come in...if everyone down there would take a stand and insist that things improve and do something to make it happen,..it will. ive never understood why the tribe officials are being allowed to keep everyone chained down so to speak.

[GentleRain]

Originally Posted by gdude

Backpacks for Pine Ridge is working to provide backpacks and school supplies to America's poorest children on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is one of the most beautiful places in America. It is also one of the poorest places in America. The median income on the reservation is just $3,500 a year. The unemployment rate is a shocking 85%. Sadly, it is the children and teenagers who are the most vulnerable victims of such poverty. Among schools on the Pine Ridge Reservation, the drop-out rate is 70%.
Since 2004 we have been going to the Pine Ridge Reservation and delivering new backpacks filled with school supplies to the children in one village on the Reservation. In 2007 we began to expand our efforts and in the summer of 2008 will be delivering backpacks and school supplies to three villages. We have a goal of being able to expand the backpack project and to be able to provide a backpack filled with school supplies to as many children on the reservation as possible. Ultimately, we would like to be able to provide a new backpack and school supplies to every child on the Reservation.
On August 16, 2008 we will be hosting Rezonate '08, a day long music event at the Voice of America Park in West Chester, OH.
Admission: $5 carload
Bring your own chair and join us for a day of fun. All proceeds go to purchase backpacks and school supplies for the Lakota Sioux children on Pine Ridge Reservation.



This information i found on a MYSPACE page so if this claim is not true i apologize to anyone who might be offended.
but could anyone verify the claim is this really true?
if it is it is worse than Buffalo County which is/was the poorest place in america.

You questioned whether Pine Ridge was the poorest in America. It is.

[bethechange12]

Originally Posted by cheryl rose

Hi

Industrial hemp was mentioned as a crop.

How about lavender? I think that may be a crop that can grow in sandy soil, lots of sun. Don't know about the water requirements. Perhaps they could have lavendar farms and sell both online and maybe a supplier to bath shops, whatever.

I am thinking about in the future relocating to South Dakota. I am interested in volunteering on the reservation. Anyone know what type of volunteering opportunities are there?

Cheryl, if you want a great place to volunteer, you should contact Re-Member. They are an outreach program that operates solely in Pine Ridge. As much as the different Christian organizations have done to help, they have also done harm; the lakota are more accepting of non-denominational help. The people who work at Re-Member are simply they most wonderful people I have ever met. They have an amazing program that will change you forever. It was the best decision I ever made to go there!!
www.re-member.org
-Kim Fabian

[Polycarp of John]

There are two things Pine Ridge has a large amount of -- wind that blows across the prairies almost constantly, and, since it has no appreciable water, sunshine nearly all day every day all year around.

Maybe the profits from the casino on the reservation or some govt grant program could supply all the homes on the reservation with solar energy panels. Solar panels can provide both electricity and hot water. (A large percentage of homes on the reservation have neither electricity nor hot water.) Since solar panels aren't as heavy as the huge wind machines that produce electricity, there might be a way to deliver them in spite of the narrow, rutted, dirt roads on the reservation.

If some organization or sensible govt agency were to string an electricty hook up to the local power station, the people of Pine Ridge could sell their excess power back to the power company and get a little income.

Some inventor on tv was testing a small wind powered strip generator on the front porch of some homes. I don't think it was more than a couple of feet long and a few inches wide. It was producing enough electricity to power the home. Since those devices are not heavy, they could get electricity to Pine Ridge without needing to widen and pave the roads first. If there were a line back to the power plant, the residents could sell their excess energy and have more income with this method, too.

Some of the local adults or students attending the community college would need to get trained to repair solar and wind devices and develop a stockpile of parts. Nobody from a large company is going to make regular visits to remote areas like Pine Ridge to repair one home electricity-generating device. There's no hardware store in Pine Ridge. When things break, the people have to let them go.

Pine Ridge's wind makes it an ideal place for some wind farms, but the gigantic trucks, needed to deliver even one of the wind mills, break their axels if they drive on soft narrow rutted dirt roads that provide access to most of the homes on that large reservation. There would have to be a good hiway built into the wind farm area, and that's expensive.

Does the Army have portable roads? They have portable airstrips and CASH (like MASH -- portable prefabbed battlefield hospital and surgery) units.

[rjl78]

Wind power? A novel idea, however the infrastructure is not in place. Its far more than roads. No electric infrastructure, except for local distribution systems. The amount of cost even with subsidy, compared to income, it is would hardly be feasible. It would not create jobs.

I am not totally on board with such technologies and alternative forms of energy. If its corn based ethanol, wind, or solar. Cost versus output or revenue does not make it sustainable or a prudent business decision.

[Polycarp of John]

The reason I liked the solar panels or the newly invented small front porch wind generator is that the person owns his own electricity generator. At Pine Ridge, due to more than 70% unemployment, people are always running out of money to pay their electricity bills and getting shut off, so that the usual sources of electricity don't do very much good to individuals. Maybe solar panels or small front porch wind generators could be purchased through the Tribe and get a quantity discount. Maybe the local repair persons could work for an organization that charged very modest repair charges, so the people could afford them.

Corn and soy beans won't grow in Pine Ridge's poor soil and lack of water, so ethanol probably wouldn't work there.

If our nation building skills in Pine Ridge are any example, God help Afghanistan!