Cheyenne Sioux Face Disaster in South Dakota

The outpouring of help to the people of Haiti restored one's faith in humanity. Seeing the pictures, who could not want to help? The pictures the country isn't seeing are from the Cheyenne River Reservation located in the State of South Dakota, homeland of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Never a tourist mecca or economic dynamo, it is not one of America's richer environs. Almost two weeks ago, the reservation was hit by an ice storm that knocked out power and water, and it has yet to be restored. Temperatures are well below zero. Some 50,000 Lakota Sioux need help. Will the rest of America step up?

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann provided a special comment Wednesday night on his program "Countdown." He reported that a college basketball doubleheader is scheduled for next week, and the organizers are requesting that fans "Share Their Soles." That's right. Bring shoes for American citizens who need them. Thanks to Mr. Olbermann, and the generosity of his viewers (who have also funded free health care at traveling clinics), over $180,000 has been raised. The goal was $35,000 by the end of the month. That means propane tanks can be filled, and maybe someone will not freeze to death.

The US media has done a shameful job in reporting on this. Mr. Olbermann's report came 10 days after the storm hit. Where was the New York Times? Where was CNN, or Fox, or MSNBC before then? Why, when 50,000 people are in dire need just 450 miles from the Twin Cities in Minnesota, was there nothing reported?

The treatment of the First Americans is not a happy story, but the names are known to everyone: Crazy Horse, Black Elk, and Sitting Bull. Frankly, the current situation of the Lakota Sioux and others is a difficult one at best -- benign neglect seems the best description. This journal doesn't pretend to know enough about it to have any concrete solutions to the long-term problems on the reservations. What is clear is that they have immediate needs.

© Copyright 2010 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.

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