Hey - if you're here looking for new stuff, you're likely going to be disappointed. Check here instead.
Dear friends,
A lot has happened in our lives since we last wrote! We've started our
language classes, attended several community meetings (some of them 5 or 6
hours long), met lots of people, been oriented to the OLN unit
administrative work, and more.
In early February, we hosted the previous program coordinators and their two
young daughters for a ten day whirlwind orientation. They helped us find
our way around the office, introduced us to many of MCC's local partners,
and generally provided a priceless amount of wisdom for living here in
Lakota country. It felt really positive to have their family here, learn
from their experience, and connect more with the unit's past. They also
helped us prepare the budget and program plans for this year. It was good
information, but a lot to take in at once, and by the end of the week we had
a bit of information overload. After they left I (Karissa) found in our
scrap paper box something our fax machine had kindly printed for us. It
read: "Power Failure Report. The electricity failed. The following data
was lost..." It felt descriptive of the state of my brain at the time.
The Saturday before their visit we attended a meeting of Defenders of the
Black Hills in Lower Brule reservation (3 hours away, on the Missouri River,
just north of I-90). Defenders is a volunteer coalition including both
Native activists and other environmentalists committed to protecting Lakota
treaty lands. In their first year of existence they stopped the
construction of a sport shooting range near Bear Butte, which is a sacred
site for several first nations including the Lakota -- imagine trying to
pray to the sound of gunshots. Victories like this aren't easy to come by!
We're looking forward to working more with Defenders because it's the type
of work that feels most appropriate for us as white people to be supporting
-- where Lakota people are struggling to have their rights respected by our
own (U.S.) society and government. They are a group with a clear vision,
and if you're looking for a place to donate, they're very transparent and
responsible with their money. If you have a moment, please check out their
website: http://www.defendblackhills.org.
In other local news, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council voted 10-2 on Tuesday
against calling a referendum on the possible legalization and sale of
alcohol on Pine Ridge Reservation. This also constitutes a victory for many
of the grassroots organizers we know. Several hundred legalization
opponents showed up at the Council meeting, and a number of elders spoke
eloquently about the destruction alcohol has brought on their families and
communities. Advocates of legalization ask why the millions spent on
alcohol by tribal members each year should all go to off-reservation stores
instead of funding alcoholism treatment centers on the res. Most of our
contacts are passionate that the tribe shouldn't touch alcohol money with a
ten-foot pole, and that there are more sustainable ways to bring in needed
funds.
Our day-to-day work consists of paperwork and finances, visiting with those
who drop by, responding to requests for emergency assistance, studying
Lakota, and attending whatever meetings or community events we are invited
to. A lot of our energy is taken up in listening and observing carefully,
offering MCC's support where appropriate and trying to learn as much as we
can about culturally appropriate ways of interacting and working. We still
make regular trips to the Porcupine post office in search of your letters,
and we attend our Lakota class for several hours Monday night. Most
mornings we read aloud from _All Saints_, a gift from Faith Mennonite
(thanks, Faith!) which has daily reflections on the lives of "saints,
prophets, and witnesses for our time." We've been attending sometimes
several community meetings a week, and we've also started visiting around to
various local churches on Sundays. Now that we've gotten a lot of our
initial errands done and we have less business that needs to happen in
Rapid, we've been trying to do most of our shopping a little closer to home,
mostly in Pine Ridge at the Sioux Nation Shopping Center.
In the meantime, we are doing our best to take care of ourselves physically,
emotionally and spiritually. One challenge has been finding ways to take
breaks from the work here. The previous program coordinators strongly
advocated getting off the reservation from time to time, which we will try
to do, but we also know that we both relax best by having quiet time at
home. That's hard to do when anyone could stop by at any time of day. We
really miss having good friends and family close by, but we knew that was
part of the package when we signed up (we're closer for visits than most MCC
workers!) and we still have two purring kittens to give us love when we're
in need. Thanks to all of you for your prayers, letters, phone calls, and
emails - they really do sustain us, especially during this time when our
local connections are still few and tenuous.
Toksha, ("later")
Carl & Karissa
P.S. Clarification on our address: #2 Jacob's Drive is only to be used if
you are sending something via UPS or FedEx or whoever, because they don't
deliver to PO Boxes. For anything traveling US mail, just use PO Box 120.
In either case it's Porcupine, SD 57772. Hope this helps those of you who
were confused.
P.P.S. A special prize for those of you who read to the end - we have a few
pictures from here up on the web at http://www.goshen.edu/~carljm. They're
not organized very sensibly, because I (Carl) just put them up quickly using
Goshen College's basic blogging system. One of these days I'll get around
to organizing them. Anyway - enjoy!
