The Sand Creek Massacre

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  • Help Haiti-Help Pine Ridge Indian Reservation!!!

    Subject: State of Emergency – Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

    A State of Emergency has been declared on the Pine Ridge Lakota “Sioux”
    Indian Reservation. People have died. Many more people are at risk of
    freezing to death. Another cold front is coming in, yet where is the
    national media coverage?

    Does the ‘Lacreek Electric Company’ – a non-Indian utility often thought
    to be prejudice, care that people are suffering, since they are pulling
    meters every day? (which is illegal throughout the rest of the u.s.
    during the winter months).

    What will Obama and the federal government do about this? While they dig
    out Haitians, indigenous people right here may freeze to death. What are we going to do about it?

    Help put this message out for help. The children and families of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation need our help now. It is urgent that all 40,000 residents of the Oglala Nation have electricity and propane.

    Call LaCreek toll free at 800-655-9324 or (605)685-6581 to see how you can
    help pay into a customer’s account, example $5 into ten customers would
    require a $50 donation by you. Tell LaCreek to make sure tanks are full
    for ALL area residents between the months of November to March – and to
    collect any delinquent payments between April and October.

    Also, check out this non-profit to see if it is appropriate for you:
    Arlene Catches The Enemy 605-867-5771 Ext 13.
    Tax Deductable, Non-Profit (501-c-3). She can take credit cards over the
    phone: Pine Ridge Emergency Fund, C/O Economic Development Administration
    PO Box 669, Pine Ridge, SD 57770-0669

    And call Lakota Plains Propane at 605-867-5199 and find out what homes have elderly or children and if they need money put down on their account to be
    able to have a warm home tonight.

    ******************

    List to assist Elders at Pine RidgeShare

    Below are several Elders in the Kyle Community of Pine Ridge that are in immediate need of assistance. The contact information has been confirmed and permission has been granted to share their information with you.

    There are several ways I will mention where assistance is needed and I’ll share here before I begin the information for where you can assist in paying for Propane for those who need it or to contact a local grocery store to pay for food for families who need this. Other ways of assisting the individual families will be listed with their contact information below.

    To pay for propane for any individuals listed below use the information here and be sure to make your payment to the account of the individual(s) you choose to help. The propane company requires a minimum order of $120 of fuel before they will make a delivery to the individual. You can also pay for a persons propane and they will credit the individuals account so that when they do run out of any fuel they may have at the moment they can simply call and the company will deliver more.

    Lakota Plains Propane (will take credit card)
    Highway 407
    Pine Ridge, SD 57770
    605-867-5199
    Be sure to request a receipt and use the contact for the person you are helping to call and followup to be certain they received the help you paid for.

    Kyle Grocery (will take credit card)
    Owner: Liz May
    605-455-2824
    Again be sure to follow up with the person you make a donation for to be sure they received the appropriate credit for purchasing food.

    Elders in need are as follows:

    Adolph Bull Bear
    605-454-2190
    He remains in need of continued assistance for propane, his son who is disabled lives with him and he is in need of food assistance which you can contact Kyle grocery (above) to make a donation for food. He will also need help with his electric bill.

    Arlene Talks (age 72)
    605-407-8243
    She has a daughter and a granddaughter (age 7) who lives with her and is in need of propane and food assistance and you can contact the propane and grocery above to assist. You could also contact her for mailing address to send items for her granddaughter such as clothes, etc.

    Janice One Feather (age 61)
    605-455-2889
    Mailing Address: P.O. Box 44, Kyle SD 57752
    For Propane Delivery give House # 307
    She has two grandsons living with her. Asa Steele age 7 and Dillon Westover age 9. You can mail donations for the two boys to the mailing address above for her and if you mail by fedex, UPS, etc use the house #307 Kyle SD 57752. She is in desperate need of food assistance and propane and you can use the info for propane and grocery companies above to pay for those items.

    Donna Garnette
    605-455-2527
    605-441-7541
    She has two grandchildren (Boy and girl), you can contact her for an address to offer assistance in clothes, etc for the children. She is in need of Propane and food assistance and you can use the info above for both companies to assist them with that.

    Lilly Mae Red Eagle (age 88)
    605-455-2612
    Mailing address: P.O. Box 2, Kyle SD 57752
    For propane delivery give House #HC2
    She is in need of Propane and food assistance. You can use the info above for both companies to assist them with that. For deliveries by fedex, ups, etc use the house #HC2 Kyle SD 57752

    Perlene Yellow Wolf (age 65 approx)
    605-455-1458
    She is in need of propane and food assistance. She lives with her daughter Crystal and three children. You can use the info above for both companies to assist them with that. They have a lot of problems with pipes freezing so if anyone in the immediate area could help with this that would be greatly appreciated.

    May you be richly blessed for sharing your blessings with these elders and ensuring some relief to their suffering. Please help now as the need is immediate but please remember to help again in the future if you are able to as their needs are continual. Thank you in advance for sharing your love and helping these elders.

    Raven Skye WinterHawk

  • Haiti and Poverty-Stricken America

    The tragedy in Haiti is unparalleled. The call for help
    from around the world is needed, to say the least.

    The question:

    What does it take to get an equal call to citizens of the
    United States to help out American citizens who
    have, are and will be experiencing metaphorical
    earthquakes of their own?

    Native Americans. Homeless war veterans. The
    homeless. Poverty-stricken people in the United States.
    Those who have lost their jobs and homes and had
    and are having their lives ruined because
    of ignorant, fear-filled human beings like George Bush
    and Richard Cheney, who plunged the United States
    of America into a meaningless war that caused the
    murders of thousands of Americans, Iraquis, and
    others, and in turn, created the economic turmoil
    that has placed the United States on the brink of
    financial disaster. These two individuals live in
    warm, safe, secure homes, and are revered in some
    circles, as wonderful men. With what legacy will history
    books credit them? Because America honors those who
    serve in public office, for some strange reason, more
    than any other American, they will prevail with
    their new libraries, etc.

    Who is going to create a text message number for
    people to call in to donate money to help out those
    Americans who were figuratively destroyed in the
    past by greed and self-interest like these two men?
    Who? And when?

    The United States has always been helpful to
    people in other countries. It has helped make
    America, in many people’s eyes, the great
    country that it is. It is almost cliche. What
    about Americans who need help? Think
    about it. Where is the outpouring to
    help Americans in need, like what is
    going on in Haiti now? Where is it,
    folks? And that is not to slight Haitians
    one bit. The horror they are
    experiencing is unimaginable. We
    must help them out. I’m simply
    saying that we have Americans
    in America who are experiencing
    the same kind of horror.

    Food. Shelter. Clothing. Possibly a bit of
    recreation. Where has it gone for thousands
    of Americans who have been, are, and will
    be devastated by this metaphorical earthquake
    that plagues Americans as a people?

    It is time for the United States of America to
    put forth the same effort it does to help out
    Americans like Haitians are being helped now.

    It is time, or, the infrastructure of America will
    continue to decay, and die.

    It is time.

    And for those of you, after reading this, who will want to compare me to Rush Limbaugh’s bellowing about American citizens’ income tax money that goes to Haiti, forget it. Rush Limbaugh is a squeaky
    conservative. Oiling his hinges would only be a beginning to turning
    around his idiocy. For me, my hinges are oiled. I am tired of those who try to make a show by giving others money, when many Americans in their backyards are struggling to stay alive.

    We have always given as Americans. So much so,
    we are blinded to the fact that there are thousands
    of Americans who need the same kind of help
    Haitians are struggling to receive. If you want to
    argue this point, before you do, I encourage you
    to visit some Native American reservations in
    the United States. Visit them. Roll in the dirt,
    feel their earth. Go to the Conoco convenience
    stop in Lame Deer, Montana. Stand in line
    with what you want to purchase. Observe
    those standing in line with you. Who are
    they? They are Native Americans who live
    on a poverty-stricken reservation where
    drug and alcohol abuse stalks each Native
    American who lives there, like actually,
    forced to live there, because their ancestors
    were shot and killed when they resisted
    attempts at curtailing their rights to
    follow the buffalo and to live free.

    Go there, my friends, before you flap
    your tongue about me, and my
    pontificating. Sit and ponder there.
    Then, tell me that America’s
    indigineous people in addition to
    those Americans who live in
    cardboard boxes under bridges
    do not need the kinds of help some Haitians
    are presently receiving.

    Tell me. Tell me. Churches who
    spend all of their might on helping
    people in other countries who are
    experiencing plight, poverty, hunger,
    disease, AIDS, and a host of other
    horrifying things that most Americans
    do not. Why is it that there are
    Americans in America who live
    in “Third World” countries, or as
    some idiots say, “developing nations”,
    which is hilarious to me, here in
    America? Check out Pine Ridge,
    folks, before you attack me for my
    presence of mind here.

    Check out parts of Los Angeles,
    New York City, Chicago, Denver,
    etc. Everywhere, and anywhere you
    go in the United States, you simply
    need to open your eyes, and you will
    see human devastation.

    So, close your mind. Kick me in the ass
    for this article. Say that I am an idiot.
    It doesn’t matter. My plea is simply to
    open your minds and eyes to the
    devastation in America as you have
    opened your minds and eyes to
    Haitians. Americans need your
    help as well. They also need your
    hearts and your love. Who is the
    first one to raise their hand and
    pledge, as you are pledging to
    Haiti, to exude the same passion
    for America’s people who are
    less fortunate than you? Who?

  • Letter to President Obama

    Dear President Obama,

    Your work regarding diversity in the United States,
    as well as globally, is well-recognized. Now, it is
    time to address America’s native people by doing
    what you can do to get Congress to legislate a
    bill to require American native studies on all
    school curriculums. This way, America’s
    infrastructure will take on strength by providing
    a vehicle for all Americans to learn about
    Native Americans.

    We’ve gassed up the Prius here in Colorado.
    We’ve made a couple of short films about
    the Sand Creek Massacre, which gives viewers
    an in-depth view about how this tragedy effects
    America’s indigenous people today, 145 years
    after the massacre. It continues to effect their
    abilities to live productive lives in America.
    Poverty, disease, drug and alcohol abuse,
    etc., prey on America’s native people.

    Ignorance caused the Sand Creek Massacre.
    Racial prejudice permeates America of its
    native people. This can be changed. But,
    we need your help. Put us together with
    Congress so that we can get a bill passed
    that will require American Native studies
    on all school curriculums. When this is
    achieved, it is then, and only then that
    the ignorance will begin to fade away in
    young minds, and be replaced with an
    awareness of America’s indigenous people
    that does not now exist.

    Please contact me with your interest.

    Thank you for your consideration.

    Best Regards,

    Donald L. Vasicek
    OLYMPUS FILMS+, LLC
    The Zen of Writing/Filmmaking/Consulting
    http://www.donvasicek.com
    dvasicek@earthlink.net
    303-903-2103

    “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”
    – Mahatma Gandhi