A Call to Young Warriors, to all Young People

This came to a ONE Spirit friend today, and since the following permission appears at the end I thought it would be wonderful to share here on the blog. Please respect this permission if you choose to pass the article along to others. Thanks!

This article may be reprinted, reproduced, and/or re-distributed unedited with proper attribution and sourcing for non-profit, educational, news, or archival purposes.

A Call to Young Warriors, to all Young People

Lakota Spiritual Leader and Head Man, David Swallow, Speaks to Lakota Youth

www.silvrdrach.homestead.com/Schwartz_2008_Dec_27.html

by David Swallow,

Lakota Spiritual Leader and a Headman of the Lakota Nation

Edited and Published by Stephanie M. Schwartz,

Member, Native American Journalists Association (NAJA)

© December 27, 2008 Porcupine, South Dakota

Photo by Leslye Abbey © September, 2008 Porcupine, South Dakota

Young American Indians today suffer from many problems of the modern world. Alcohol and drug abuse, early pregnancies, gangs, and psychological disorders are everywhere on the Reservations. However, a lot of the development of these issues can be historically traced back to World War II or shortly before.

The 1924 Indian Citizenship Act created a special kind of dual citizenship which made American Indians into citizens of the United States (for the first time) as well as citizens of their own sovereign nations. Finally, Indians could vote. But also, for the first time, they could be drafted into the military.

The young Lakota Warriors looked at the military as a way to prove themselves as warriors. They believed it was an honorable extension of the traditional warrior ways.

So, young American Indians went off to World War II. After 100 years of forced boarding schools which resulted in generations of young Indians losing their sense of identity, family and traditions, the military became like the family they had never been allowed to have. They were grouped into companies which lived together and fought together and bonded with each other as a unit, as a family.

When the young warriors came home, they often became lost. With their military family no longer existing, gangs began to form to take their place. An example is the Hell’s Angels, the famous motorcycle gang, which was started in the late 1940’s. It is commonly believed to have been founded by ex-members of famous military fighting units of the same name.

Then, in 1953, long after Prohibition had ended, President Eisenhower made it legal to sell alcohol to American Indians for the first time. This changed the lives of all Indian people.

In his grandfathers’ day, the Lakota warrior came from a good family where he had been taught good behavior, good manners, respect for all life and good relationship with all living things. His parents never lied to him and he never lied to anyone. He was reliable and practiced honor and respect with a clean mind.

Even with all those qualities, he still had to qualify to be a member of a warrior society. He had to prove himself. It wasn’t just about fighting. But when he did fight, even then he practiced respect. He never mutilated another warrior.

The young warrior also never stole from his own people. He never beat-up or took advantage of his people. He never practiced sexual assaults on anyone.

The young warrior knew his real purpose was to protect his people and their lives. He knew his purpose was to protect the c’anunpa carriers, the sacred pipe carriers, and the holy men and spiritual leaders. He also listened to and learned from the holy men and spiritual leaders. He not only respected and protected life but he also learned to practice compassion. He acted with honor.

The young warrior knew that if he did all this, life would be beautiful and all would live in harmony.

But with the effects of alcohol, drugs, and the continuing policies of the Federal government towards the Plains Tribes, most of this has become lost and forgotten.

These policies aren’t so different from those practiced against other ethnic groups throughout history. The Irish, the Italians, the Jewish, the Gypsies, and many others all experienced what was called ethnic cleansing. But, for the American Indian, the policies still continue today.

These policies try to force us to live in ghetto housing called Cluster Housing. These policies have taken away our traditional foods that kept us healthy. These policies have created a private state prison system that makes money on incarcerating our young people rather than rehabilitating them. These policies have kept my children, my grandchildren and nephews and nieces, from learning how to survive and live from the land.

These policies and politics have created the “haves” and the “have-nots”, a two-level society of extremes on the reservation favoring corruption and nepotism in BIA and reservation government relationships.

We have no YMCA. Many have no job or any possibility of a job. We have no vocational training centers. We have no residential treatment centers for children and teens as an alternative to jail like they have in the cities.

Hope is hard to find. So belonging to a gang has become the only way for many of our young people to feel good, to feel needed and wanted.

Now, they say the Lakota are “Third World Welfare Recipients.” But worse is the fact that our young people steal from each other. Our people shoot and hurt each other. They practice deceit and abuse our girls. Elders now live in fear. The traditional values of the Lakota warrior no longer exist. They have become lost to alcohol and drugs and gangs.

So today, I am calling on all young Lakota warriors and young Lakota people. We need you to help save the future generations to come. Not me, not Grandpa, I don’t need saving. But your children and your grandchildren do.

Get back into your own traditional spirituality and traditional ways and values. Those hold the answers for you. Those will guide you and help you to know who you are more than any gang ever could. And it will be you who will bring the harmony back to our lives.

It will be you who will bring back hope to our People.

Ho he’cetu yelo. I have spoken these words.

David Swallow, Wowitan Yuha Mani

Porcupine, South Dakota - The Pine Ridge Reservation

This article may be reprinted, reproduced, and/or re-distributed unedited with proper attribution and sourcing for non-profit, educational, news, or archival purposes.

Stephanie M. Schwartz may be reached at SilvrDrach@Gmail.com

View other publications of Stephanie M. Schwartz at

Freelance Writer and Editor www.SilvrDrach.homestead.com

Member, Native American Journalists Association (NAJA)

President, Link Center Foundation www.linkcenterfoundation.org

Radio Interview Saturday 11/29/08 at 1:00 EST

NAMAPAHH - First Peoples Radio is hosting an interview today with Jeri Baker (ONE Spirit director), Catherine DuClos (Vice President of PREZ) and Percy White Plume (Pine Ridge resident).


To listen to the interview please join us at Radio Interview


NAMAPAHH: Native American Multi-media, Activism, Performance/Poetry; Art; Health/Humor/History

A Message from Rosalie

Ehani Was'te (good day) from the Lakota Nation, South Dakota, I send a strong heart felt hand shake to all of you.

Yes, we worked hard here on our lands, especially the workers and their families and myself to get alternate heat (wood, gas heaters, etc), pampers, food, etc. out to the families that are still without heat and cannot get out of their homes. But, you all must know that this would not have been possible without your help. The trucks we used to haul wood are gas guzzlers.

My brother and his wife along with another worker and her daughters & son-in-law definately would not have been able to deliver without your support for gas and of course the cost of the supplies that needed to get to the families in need.

My brother told me that when he and his wife went to this Grandma's house they were so grateful for the pick up load of wood that it gave them this feeling of overwhelming gratitude to be able to help. He went on to tell me that the Grandma said that she had no more propane and the wood she had was gone. They unloaded and left the Unc'i's (grandma) home with such thankfulness that they were able to be a part of the giving we at One Spirit did. They went on to tell us that the next day they were going to get another load of wood when this elderly man was walking on the highway. They picked him up and took him to the store to get some food supplies and took him home. When they got to his little one room cabin he asked my brother if he would help him start his wood stove. He went inside and said his house was a little on the chilly side and the Grandpa said he was trying to save on his wood. My brother helped him get his stove going and visited him for awhile then told him that he would bring him wood and check on him. The Grandpa was very happy about this.

This morning I took my three grandchildren and prayed with them for all the families in Wanblee and Kyle that are still struggling with having no heat, electricity and some with little or no food. We also prayed for all those that had to leave their homes and are staying at the shelters. We gave thanks for all that we have the water we drink, the air we breathe, the four legged, the winged and the snow that we have. We gave thanks for the warmth and the food we have and we gave thanks for Tunkashila sending the children to us to care for. We prayed for all those that were struggling with alcoholism and drugs as it is a sickness and to have pity for them. We prayed and gave thanks for our children and elders.

And, now I send to you all prayers and thanks from my heart and hope that the great blanket of snow wrap around you and protect you and it does with me and my family.

Wopila (thank you)
Rosalie Janis,
One SpiritLakota Nation - Pine Ridge Lakota Reservation
Manderson, South Dakota

ONE Spirit Medallion

Thanks, Ed, for the picture and info on the medallion that was made for you. How beautiful!! It's as it should be that they cost, because the work that must go into these beauties.... unimaginable for someone like me.

Jeri sent me this picture of one that was done for One Spirit. The "Together We Can" is what stood out to me. Because, together we can. It's true.

Hi Everyone,

We all know by now that PRR was blasted with a horrific blizzard over the past two days. This is a up date from a friend of mine, and the Francine Janis Family at PRR.

Hi Ed -

I just got home from my gig this morning and called Francine to see how they are weathering this storm. Their street doesn't have power back yet, but nearby ones do and Francine said that Tiffany heard on the radio that they might have it back by noon today.

They ran out of wood last night, so she broke up an old dresser and they burned that! She said the drifts were so high Chester couldn't make it out to get more wood. It's mostly stopped snowing, but still windy, and the wind made all the drifts icy, so it's a nightmare to get around at all.

I had been worried that the kids maybe got stranded on the bus home from school when the storm hit, but she said they made it back ok that day and the electricity didn't go out until about 6pm.

Do you know how Willene Kills Enemy's family is doing? I've got them all in my prayers - it sure feels weird to be sitting in my nice warm house typing on my computer knowing how cold everyone out there is . . .

Tok 'sa kola
Jean

My Trip To Martin, SD

Hello Everyone. I thought I'd share my story about my family's trip to the reservation:
On Labor Day weekend my husband, our 2 children and I went to Martin to visit the family we sponsor. They have a daughter the same age as ours. We live in the Northeast corner of Colorado, so it was only a 4 hour car trip. Not bad. On the way there we drove through beautiful sand hills, rolling prairie hills with desert like plants, sage growing EVERYWHERE and all the little creatures to go with it. Hawks are everywhere also. It's so cool to look up in the sky and see this magnificent bird almost like he's looking over you. Looking out over the landscape, I could almost imagine what it was like before the roads and power lines and automobiles. We arrived in Martin and checked into our hotel room.
The next morning, I called the family to find out when we could go meet them. We got it set up and again, loaded my family into the car and off we went.
When we arrived at their house, the welcome we received was unimaginable. The mom (for the sake of anonymity, we're going to call her "Ina") came out as we were getting out of the car and hugged me while she introduced herself. Her daughter and my daughter were instant friends and her little boy hid. We went in and sat down and just started talking. Talking about the weather and our drive up there. About our kids and we laughed as my 1 year old waddled all over her floor. We then made plans to take the kids somewhere for lunch and ended up at the bowling alley.
As the kids played video games, Ina asked me if I wanted to go to a powwow. Since I'd never been lucky enough to go to a powwow before I said, "YES!". My daughter was just as excited. We headed toward Porcupine.
On the way there, Ina told me we were going through Wounded Knee and did we want to stop and visit the Memorial. Of course we did. We arrived at the memorial and started walking around. It was surreal. To think that this amazing tragedy had happened right on the land that I was standing on was hard to absorb. She started telling me about the stories she had heard growing up about the Wounded Knee Massacre, stories that had come down through her family's generations. Her family, the descendants of those this happened to.
After we left the memorial, we stopped at the KILI radio station, but it wasn't opened. BUMMER!
Then we headed on to Porcupine for the powwow. There was such a feeling of community. The dancers were beautiful! That is all I can say because words don't do it justice. The traditional dancers were what I enjoyed watching the most. With these dances being handed down through the generations and still practiced today is what impressed me the most. We got to see the men and the elders do their traditional dances. What a beautiful culture! My daughter liked the Fancy Dancers. The drumming and singing were unlike anything else. I wanted to stay all day and night. But, it was time to go.
We drove back to her house, the kids stayed outside until dark playing and Ina showed me her bead work. We talked about that and our kids for a long time. I finally couldn't keep my eyes open anymore and my daughter was starting to get cranky. So, we said our goodbyes, looking forward to the next time we could visit and we left.
I had the most blessed day! I was filled with a feeling of joy and sadness that we had to leave. Ina and her children are the most genuine people I've been lucky enough to spend time with in a long time.

Happy Heater Delivery People

This is a story that came from the reservation last week:

Saturday while we were doing the food delivery, some heaters were brought to me. My brother, who has a huge long box truck, came and helped me deliver heaters around the Manderson area and loaded the rest and took them out to my place.
On Sunday, I met my brother and his wife and we loaded the rest of the heaters and left at 9:00 am to deliver them. We went from Manderson to Sharps and gassed up. From there we delivered three heaters around the Sharps area.
After Sharps we left for Red Shirt. We delivered there and moved onto Oglala, Mission Flats, Pine Ridge and most of Wounded Knee.
We completed Red Shirt, Oglala and Pine Ridge. We have about 4 more to deliver in Wounded Knee and 3 in Manderson. We still have all of Porcupine with the exception of the ones we did at Sharps. One of the ladies called me from Sharps and said her heater was cracked. I told her I would come and take it and give her a different one. We are going to finish the delivery this afternoon.
We hit the road at 9:oo am yesterday and I got home about 8:30 pm. It was a very long, cold and very windy day, but we felt so good when we took the heaters to some of the homes. They had blankets hanging to keep one room warm (living room) and everyone was sleeping in that one room because they had no propane. The ones that did have propane said, "Good. Now we can save what little propane we have.". It just melted my heart to know that the heaters we delivered came at a time that was very much needed.
We traveled in a complete circle, about 142 miles. My brother and sister in law are very fun to travel with and they sure worked hard. I gave them a heater and some food that was extra from SHARE for helping us.
This afternoon should be a shorter delivery day as we just need to go to Porcupine and Wounded Knee and we will have accomplished our mission of heaters, Yoooo!

Computers on the Rez

Hello Everyone!

These are 2 pictures of 2 beautiful little girls (as you can see). A computer was donated to their family just recently. Their mom reads and writes very little, but is using the computer to increase her skills. Their father uses it to advertise his beadwork on eBay. He has beautiful medallions posted there. The girls use it to do their homework. As we all know, this is a wonderful asset for this family to have with the way technology is going. Just wanted to share. Hope all has a wonderful day!

Welcome to the One Spirit Blog!

We are so excited to launch the One Spirit blog!  

We hope that this blog will allow you to connect with us on a more regular basis.  We will be bringing you a regular schedule of updates about the charity, goings on at the reservation, and ways that you can help.  Check back frequently for updates, or better yet, subscribe to our feed through RSS (see our side bar for the orange RSS link).    

Love and Peace

Jeri Baker

Director