JODI RAVE / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, September 23, 2007 7:00 pm
Originally published July 7, 1999
PINE RIDGE, S.D. — Nellie Two Bulls clearly remembers Robert Kennedy’s visit to the Pine Ridge Reservation more than 30 years ago.
On that day in the 1960s, Kennedy intensely watched an elderly woman make bread in a makeshift oven set outside the ramshackle van she called home.
“I still remember his words,” the 73-year-old Two Bulls recalled Tuesday “He said, “It makes me sad to see how your people live. You were the first people on this continent. But mark my word — in years to come there will be brand-new houses here and a new school.’
“Today there are new houses and schools,” said Two Bulls, a lifelong resident of the reservation’s Man Afraid of His Horse community. Faith, poverty and oppression are not lost on the Lakota woman whose grandparents — Jack Black Hair and Catherine Annie Back — survived the Wounded Knee Massacre of Dec. 29, 1890.
Today, Two Bulls will be among an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 Oglala Lakota gathered to listen to another politician extol promises of assistance and investment when President Clinton delivers a speech at Pine Ridge High School. When Clinton’s helicopter touches down shortly after 9 a.m., he will become the first president to set foot on the sprawling reservation since Calvin Coolidge visited in 1927.
Clinton’s visit is part of a six-state, four-day tour that began Monday in the rural Kentucky highlands. He and an entourage of corporate leaders and government officials are scheduled to spend about three hours on the reservation before ending the cross-country tour Thursday in Los Angeles.
Along the way, the group will peer into some of the nation’s most impoverished areas as part of a “New Markets Initiative” plan to boost economic activities in rural and inner-city areas, now touted as a potential $80 billion market by the administration.
“This New Markets Initiative can really be a powerful thing,” said Oglala Sioux Tribal President Harold Salway. “This could be one of the most historical turnarounds in the federal trust relationship with America and Indian country.“
That Pine Ridge — the nation’s second-largest reservation and home to the descendants of Crazy Horse, Red Cloud and Black Elk — qualifies as one of America’s poor-est communities, there is little argu-ment. In fact, a glut of telltale statistics gleaned from federal re-cords impart a Third World view. Among them:
Sixty-six percent of Pine Ridge residents live below the federal pov-erty level — more than four times the national average.
Annual per capita income on the reservation is $3,121, compared with the national average of $14,420.
Unemployment is 74 percent.
Alcohol-related deaths are nine times the national average.
Pine Ridge babies are 20 times more likely to be born with fetal al-cohol syndrome, and the infant mor-tality rate is six times the national average.
Pine Ridge teen-agers kill themselves three times more often than other American teens and, more than a century after Wounded Knee, an Oglala man is expected to live no more than 46 years.
Less than 1 percent of the male population has a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 23 percent of U.S. males.
Substandard housing is six times higher than the national aver-age.
“We have problems with drugs, alcohol, health, joblessness,” said Milo Yellow Hair, the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s land director and former vice president. “It’s crisis after cri-sis after crisis.” These problems make it hard “to lift up your head and see a road down the future.“
Yet despite the grim numbers, many Oglala firmly believe statis-tics are but one measure of a com-munity’s overall health and welfare. That beneath the obvious surface poverty, there’s also a cultural rich-ness that often escapes federal bean counters. There are, for example, a wealth of traditional songs, prayers, dance and language providing the tribe’s cultural glue and daily suste-nance for generations.
“We have a rich and vibrant cul-ture here,” summed up Cecilia Fire Thunder, who attended a Sun Dance this past weekend near the commu-nity of Porcupine.
“Poverty is hard to define,” al-lowed Sterling Hollow Horn, assist-ant to the tribe’s president. “To me, it’s going into a store and watching mothers with limited income and seeing their child want something they can’t have.“
Meanwhile, Oglala tribal mem-bers talk about the past and the fu-ture.
Clinton’s visit during the sixth month in the term of Tribal Presi-dent Salway. Since taking office in December he has dealt with torna-does, alcohol-related homicides, vio-lent marches on the nearby border town of Whiteclay, Neb., and a flurry of new programs designed to strike at poverty.
These programs include a Shared Visions housing blitz, a federal em-powerment-zone designation and now Clinton’s New Markets Initia-tive.
Many Oglala remain optimistic about the tribe’s designation as a federal empowerment zone because the USDA award was based on grass-roots input. Pine Ridge’s Bu-reau of Indian Affairs Superinten-dent Robert Ecoffey was among four tribal members who helped gather community input for the ap-plication.
Grant organizers held 30 meet-ings within six months to ask tribal members what they thought were their biggest needs. The five priori-ties that emerged were: housing, jobs, family, education and basic needs, such as transportation.
“This is the first opportunity for grass-roots people to be involved with their destiny,” said Ecoffey. “They will drive the plan for devel-opment in what they want for their local community.“
Of 168 rural-based applications, the Oglala were one of five selected to receive $20 million during the next 10 years for community devel-opment. The first $2 million grant is expected to be distributed in Octo-ber.
“We need to work hard on lever-aging our money,” said Ecoffey. “Two million is not a lot of money when you look at the problems our nation faces. We have 1,000 people on a housing list and the need for 4,000 homes. Seventy-five million is needed for roads.“
Mel Lone Hill, a community-rela-tions representative for the Oglala Sioux Tribe, hopes his Wakpamni District — one of nine reservation districts — will work together with other districts to spur business de-velopment.
He’s been dreaming of building a hotel because none exists on the 7,000-square-mile reservation, home to about 38,000 tribal residents. He blames tribal politics, short council terms and leaders without a long-term vision for the reservation’s lack of business development.
Meanwhile, Sandy Two Lance is one of seven people assigned to work on an empowerment zone task force for her district. She believes economic development on the reser-vation lies in putting power and money into the hands of the commu-nity.
“My dad has always said if we want something, we have to go after it. Don’t wait for it to come.“
CLINTON’S VISIT
President Clinton’s scheduled itinerary during his Wednesday visit to the Pine Ridge Reservation:
9:10 a.m.: Clinton’s helicopter arrives on the reservation.
9:30-10 a.m.: Oglala Sioux Tribal officials greet president, then lead him and a South Dakota congressional delegation on a tour of the reservation’s Igloo Housing neighborhood and a visit with resident Geraldine Blue Bird.
10 a.m.: Delegation leaves by car to tour a new housing complex on the reservation.
10:15-10:40 a.m.: Tribal officials accompany Clinton and Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo into one of the new homes for a discussion. The group then leaves by motorcade to Pine Ridge High School.
11 a.m.: The president, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, tribal president Harold Salway and Empowerment Zone board members conduct a signing ceremony.
11:15 a.m.: Official program begins on a stage set up at Pine Ridge High School. Arvol Looking Horse, keeper of the Lakota’s Sacred Calf pipe, opens the welcoming ceremony with a prayer. Secretary Cuomo speaks, then introduces President Clinton. Clinton addresses the gathering. Afterward, the president and tribal officials exchange gifts. Lakota musicians then perform an honoring song for the president, who is scheduled to shake hands and greet Pine Ridge residents.
Noon: The president bids farewell and his motorcade then leaves for the helicopter landing zone to depart from Pine Ridge.