Post by Okwes on Feb 28, 2007 16:06:21 GMT -5
South Dakota Indians shocked at others' insensitivity
www.theolympian.com/109/story/57525.html
<http://www.theolympian.com/109/story/57525.html>
You can take the entire population of South Dakota and put it into
Albuquerque and just about break even. In fact, South Dakota's
population might come up a little short.
<http://oas.theolympian.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.theolympian.c\
om/Opinion/South_Dakota_Indians_shocked_at_others__insensitivity.html/85\
0576761/Box1/Olympian/Alpine_300_0701/Alpine300x250.gif/6332623036393239\
3435393237316230> While most of the rural counties in this state
continue to lose population, the counties located on the nine Indian
reservations in the state continue to grow. The new jobs provided by the
advent of Indian casinos are bringing the Indian people home, although
on most of the reservations, unemployment still hovers around 50
percent. When Tim Johnson, D-S.D., ran for re-election against John
Thune in 2002, the growing political acumen on the Indian reservations
came sharply into play. As the vote tallies came to a conclusion and
with only one major precinct still not reporting, Thune led Johnson by
about 3,000 votes, and there are those who say that the champagne
bottles were about to be pulled from the ice buckets. The lonely yet
populous precinct yet to report was on the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation. The hearts of John Thune's supporters sank as the count
came in and the Lakota voters overwhelmingly got behind Johnson and he
squeaked out a 574-vote lead that held. Of course Thune made a strong
comeback when he narrowly defeated Sen. Tom Daschle in the 2004
campaign. The Republican political machine proved to be so effective
that even the Indian vote couldn't pull it out for Daschle. Although he
has spent 10 years in the U.S. Senate, Tim Johnson was the quiet man
that was hardly noticed on a national level. He did his job efficiently
and without fanfare. He made it a point to seek out the Indian
leadership in his home state and discuss the issues important to them.
There is not one senator in Washington, D.C., that has more knowledge
about Indian affairs than Tim Johnson. That is why it came as a
frightening shock to nearly every Indian in the state when Johnson fell
ill with bleeding in his brain recently. At the Lakota Nation
Invitational Basketball Tournament, a 30-year-old annual event that
brings nearly 10,000 Indians to Rapid City each December, the
conversations of the people centered on the condition of Johnson. While
the people of South Dakota worried about Johnson's recovery and for the
welfare of his wife, Barbara, and their children, the talking heads of
the national media speculated about how the balance in the Senate would
shake out in the event of Johnson's death or incapacitation. "They are
like a bunch of vultures," said one elderly Lakota man. I must say that
I was appalled when I heard that a reporter from back east had called
the office of the Republican governor of South Dakota, Mike Rounds, and
said, "I understand you have already picked a Republican to replace
Senator Johnson, and I was won dering who it is?" South Dakotans might
be considered out of touch or even a little backward, but at least we
try to refrain from such acts of rudeness and inconsideration of people
during their times of grief and concern. We are a small state where 10
percent to 12 percent of the total population is American Indian, but in
times of tragedy and sorrow, we all come together as one. Let me just
add that today all of our hopes and prayers, whether in Lakota or
English, are for the quick and safe recovery of Tim Johnson, a man who
never needed or wanted to be in the spotlight. Tim Giago, an Oglala
Lakota, is the founder and first president of the Native American
Journalists Association. He can be reached at
najournalists@rushmore.com.
www.theolympian.com/109/story/57525.html
<http://www.theolympian.com/109/story/57525.html>
You can take the entire population of South Dakota and put it into
Albuquerque and just about break even. In fact, South Dakota's
population might come up a little short.
<http://oas.theolympian.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.theolympian.c\
om/Opinion/South_Dakota_Indians_shocked_at_others__insensitivity.html/85\
0576761/Box1/Olympian/Alpine_300_0701/Alpine300x250.gif/6332623036393239\
3435393237316230> While most of the rural counties in this state
continue to lose population, the counties located on the nine Indian
reservations in the state continue to grow. The new jobs provided by the
advent of Indian casinos are bringing the Indian people home, although
on most of the reservations, unemployment still hovers around 50
percent. When Tim Johnson, D-S.D., ran for re-election against John
Thune in 2002, the growing political acumen on the Indian reservations
came sharply into play. As the vote tallies came to a conclusion and
with only one major precinct still not reporting, Thune led Johnson by
about 3,000 votes, and there are those who say that the champagne
bottles were about to be pulled from the ice buckets. The lonely yet
populous precinct yet to report was on the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation. The hearts of John Thune's supporters sank as the count
came in and the Lakota voters overwhelmingly got behind Johnson and he
squeaked out a 574-vote lead that held. Of course Thune made a strong
comeback when he narrowly defeated Sen. Tom Daschle in the 2004
campaign. The Republican political machine proved to be so effective
that even the Indian vote couldn't pull it out for Daschle. Although he
has spent 10 years in the U.S. Senate, Tim Johnson was the quiet man
that was hardly noticed on a national level. He did his job efficiently
and without fanfare. He made it a point to seek out the Indian
leadership in his home state and discuss the issues important to them.
There is not one senator in Washington, D.C., that has more knowledge
about Indian affairs than Tim Johnson. That is why it came as a
frightening shock to nearly every Indian in the state when Johnson fell
ill with bleeding in his brain recently. At the Lakota Nation
Invitational Basketball Tournament, a 30-year-old annual event that
brings nearly 10,000 Indians to Rapid City each December, the
conversations of the people centered on the condition of Johnson. While
the people of South Dakota worried about Johnson's recovery and for the
welfare of his wife, Barbara, and their children, the talking heads of
the national media speculated about how the balance in the Senate would
shake out in the event of Johnson's death or incapacitation. "They are
like a bunch of vultures," said one elderly Lakota man. I must say that
I was appalled when I heard that a reporter from back east had called
the office of the Republican governor of South Dakota, Mike Rounds, and
said, "I understand you have already picked a Republican to replace
Senator Johnson, and I was won dering who it is?" South Dakotans might
be considered out of touch or even a little backward, but at least we
try to refrain from such acts of rudeness and inconsideration of people
during their times of grief and concern. We are a small state where 10
percent to 12 percent of the total population is American Indian, but in
times of tragedy and sorrow, we all come together as one. Let me just
add that today all of our hopes and prayers, whether in Lakota or
English, are for the quick and safe recovery of Tim Johnson, a man who
never needed or wanted to be in the spotlight. Tim Giago, an Oglala
Lakota, is the founder and first president of the Native American
Journalists Association. He can be reached at
najournalists@rushmore.com.