The Tragedy of Pine Ridge Reservation

I'd never heard of Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, the most impoverished area of the United States, until I got a text from my son Phil.  Phil was on the Pine Ridge Reservation for a project with Conscious Alliance, a non profit from Boulder, with a mission of eradicating hunger in the U.S.  As you can imagine, Phil said it was a very intense experience.  Since I knew nothing about this area or the Native Americans that live there, I did a little research.

The Lakota Sioux Tribe lives in South Dakota, right near the border of Nebraska.  There are about 19,000 people living on the reservation.  In White Clay, Nebraska, a town of 14 people just a few miles from the reservation , there are 4 liquor stores.  These liquor stores sell over 4 million cans of beer to the 19,000 tribe members that live just a few miles away.  At the moment there is a Supreme Court decision waiting to be made that will close White Clay and the 4 liquor stores forever.  Opponents of this happening say that having the liquor stores there is just free enterprise.  That argument can be had some other time.  Alcoholism is one of the major problems in Pine Ridge.  Additionally, youth suicide is four times the national average.  Trump has cut Native American programs nationwide, and the situation will only get worse.  Most families live on about $5,000 per year, in addition to hand outs from the federal government, in the form of food, housing and health care.

Because of the closure of the liquor stores in White Clay, bootleg liquor is now produced by the Native Americans, so closing the liquor stores has done nothing to reduce alcoholism.  Drinking gets these impoverished people away from reality.  Most Pine Ridge residents are living on government handouts.  Commodity products that are given to the locals include mostly carbohydrates, like flour and rice.  Fruits and veggies are scarce, so when a Subway finally opened on the reservation, locals were thrilled to be able to get vegetables in their Subway sandwich.  Some had not eaten a cucumber or pepper in months because the high cost of these items in local supermarkets.  Because of poor nutrition, one half of all members of the Lakota Sioux Tribe in South Dakota are diabetic.

Conscious Alliances's efforts to improve life for the Pine Ridge people through their service project/holiday food drive/giveaway is a good beginning, but there is so much that needs to be done to turn life around for these people.  No one should go hungry in America.  Hopefully other non profits will follow the lead of Conscious Alliance and try to improve the health and nutrition of all Americans.