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South Dakota is the
Mississippi of the North
by Luke Warm Water
As an Oglala Lakota born and raised in Rapid City,
South Dakota, I did not realize how bad the racism toward American
Indians was here until I moved away from this area. I understand
it when it has been said, 'South Dakota is the Mississippi of the
north.' However, it is important to note there have been many white
people I have known and continue to meet in this state that have
good hearts, that have supported the issues of equality and betterment
for American Indians.
A year and a half ago I moved back to my hometown
after being away for 7 years, living in various areas of the country:
Washington DC; Oklahoma City; and Portland, Oregon. Although the
relations between American Indians and whites have improved in Rapid
City over the past decades, there is much work to be done. It would
be the easiest thing in the world for me to complain and do nothing.
At times I do still complain over these disparities and treatment
of American Indians in this city and this state; however, since
my return I have decided to do something.
Since returning to my hometown of Rapid City,
I started helping with the ongoing advocacy programs that support
the pursuit of Lakota religious practices by American Indian inmates
in the South Dakota Department of Corrections prison system. I helped
find and gather materials, such as a tarp, willows, traditional
ceremonial tobacco and wood, needed for the building of a sacred
Lakota Inipi (sweat lodge) for the Rapid City Trustee Unit inmates.
The inmates held their first Inipi ceremony this last new year's
weekend. I have conducted classroom discussions and lectures on
poetry, and shared my own writings/performance for American Indian
students in Rapid City and Sioux Falls high schools. Also, I have
been a longtime supporter of the release of American Indian political
prisoner Leonard Peltier who is a citizen of the Anishinabe and
Dakota/Lakota Nations who has been unjustly imprisoned since 1976.
In Oregon I had organized, hosted and performed at fundraisers,
information gatherings and marches on behalf of Leonard. This last
summer I shared my poetry in a spoken word performance with the
6 th Annual Oglala Commemoration Concert on the Pine Ridge Reservation;
this annual event recognizes the actions that took place on June
26, 1975 which led to Leonard's unjust incarceration. During two
featured spoken word performances in California last December I
was able to raise money for the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
(the official agency for Leonard Peltier; please visit their website
http://www.leonardpeltier.org
) and also to help buy new items for the Leonard Peltier Toy &
Clothing drive. The toys and clothes were distributed to children
in need on the Pine Ridge Reservation this past holiday season.
I have also been vocal and critical about the war on Iraq by King
George II and his oil grubbing jesters in the White House (see article/interview
Lakota Poet Thanks France, Germany and Russia for Opposing
Unjust War by Brenda Norrell, following this article or visit
the website http://www.bsnorrell.tripod.com/id30.html
).
All the volunteer work I mentioned in the previous
paragraph was not created by me. It is important to understand that
advocacy groups are usually already in place; it is just a matter
of looking on the internet and making the phone calls to connect
with the already established advocacy groups. You need not be an
artist to be an advocate, however, if you are, it only takes a few
moments during a performance to make mention of an indigenous issue
and disseminate brochures, carry out a letter writing campaign after
the show and/or ask for donations to a particular cause. My personal
belief (and what I have always done) is to give ALL collected donations
to the 'cause.'
As an indigenous person of this hemisphere I truly
believe "we," the descendents of proud indigenous nations,
must not forget those in need. As a so-called 'spoken word poet,'
I not only address American Indian issues in my poems, I also back
it up in my actions. Sometimes I think I should be doing more and
know I am perhaps not a model person to speak or act out on such
issues. However, to borrow from that old adage 'something is always
better than nothing,' I must do what I can. As an indigenous people,
as artists, as activists and advocates, "we" have the
power to change the future to a better place, by our actions today,
to honor our ancestors of the past. The Lakota belief that our existence
is circular (not linear like Christian belief) links us with our
ancestors and our culture on every level. We must defend and preserve
our culture and our people! Keep up the fight, without having to
resort to violence; you still can be an "Army of One."
You can and will make a difference. Hokahey!
Luke Warm Water a/k/a Kurt Schweigman
is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Nation, he is
an activist/advocate, poet and epidemiologist.
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