Spring Break Series: The Issues

Last October, I was trying to decide what I wanted to do with my spring break. I knew I didn't want to just go home and sit around, but I couldn't think of what else to do with one week of my time. I knew I wanted to go somewhere and do something new that I had never done before.

Which was when my roommate told me about Alternative Spartan (Spring) Breaks at my school. 

Basically, ASB is a student organization that sends out groups of 12 people to different locations all around the US (and some to other countries) to perform acts of service for causes in need. I applied and was accepted to the trip to South Dakota to work on the issue of Indigenous Rights. 

Now when I first heard about it, I wasn't completely sure what this issue was. But after speaking to many elders and leaders at the reservation, and learning from my fellow breakers, I have a pretty good idea of what the issue is. It is just what it says it is: rights for indigenous peoples, pertaining to North Americans on my trip specifically. 

My group was sent to work on the Rosebud Reservation with the Lakota tribe. I wanted to share a bit of what I had experienced on tyhe trip, and then I realized I cannot express everything in one blog post. So I'm going to split it up into a few posts, each with a different topic relating to the trip. For this post, I would like to talk about the issue, and about awareness. 

Each person I talked to on the reservation had a different story: about overcoming alcoholism at the age of 43, having 2 babies at the age of 17 and having to drop out of high school when you are 6 credits away from graduating, having your only son pass away from suffocation on a living room rug...all of these, amongst others were ones I heard from the mouths of people I met on the reservation.  

Everyone had a story to tell, and these combined stories made me realize what a big issue indigenous rights is. 90% of the people on the reservation I went to suffer from alcoholism, and 65% are addicted to drugs. The reason for these problems (amongst others) partially comes from the deplorable conditions these people have to suffer through every day. Poverty is obvious on the reservation, as well as ill health. Most people cannot afford to buy fruits and vegetables, which are some of the most expensive things in the local grocery stores. A lot of people don't have jobs. The schools the children attend are not preparing the kids for further education. To top it all off, the government is planning on cutting back the budget for this reservation and others like it even further. 

But poverty is not the only reason for the struggles of these and other Native peoples. There is also a deep, burning sadness that resonates from long ago. From the loss of their land. From the banishment of their culture. Natives were not legally allowed to practice their religions until 1978; only 35 years ago. And it was banned in the late 1800's. Imagine the damage that over a century of not being allowed to practice your culture can provoke. Languages were lost. Ceremonies were forgotten. The only reason that any part of the culture at all survived was because of the perseverance that a select group of individuals showed by performing underground ceremonies and secretly keeping the culture alive. Talking to the people of the tribe showed me how sad it is, that their way of life is dwindling. In another 2 generations, there may not even be any more Native speakers...

However, amongst the tragedy of these lost peoples, their are glimmers of hope. I have seen the faith and the strength that shines in the eyes of the people every day. There is no reason that this loss of tradition cannot be regained, no reason that the poverty cannot be diminished and that these people cannot accomplish a better life. There is no reason that young people and young Natives canot take an interest in the culture and bother to become active with their past. One of the best ways that I can help with the restoration effort is merely through knowing that these things do exits, and that they are a problem. 

Many people choose to ignore the issues. I am choosing to spread the knowledge to address them. And a lot of people will read this and not care, or think it is interesting but forget about it in a week. I'm not asking you to get up and go to a reservation and start building houses. I am merely asking you to remember. Be aware. Know that the issue is there, and it is important. Know that you can help, and if you get the chance, please do. Know that you aren't the only person on this planet who has problems. 

There is so much else about the trip that I want to talk about: the sites, the friends I made, the dog we picked up, the Batmobile and it's slow but sure destruction...but I will save these for another time. Anyways, thanks for reading, and thanks for remembering. 

Until next time!