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Warren Wilson College recently teamed up with Conscious Alliance to serve the people of the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota Indian Reservation, one of the economically poorest communities in the United States. This was Warren Wilson College’s third trip to Pine Ridge, and hopefully many more will follow.
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is the second largest Native American reservation in the U.S. With a population of 38,000, a median annual income of $3,000.00 and an unemployment rate of nearly 80%, nearly 97% of the reservation lives below the Federal poverty levels. The average life expectancy on the Reservation is 52 years for women and 48 years for men, in part due to inadequate nutrition. While Reservations are part of the United States, they are sovereign nations. As a result, they do not receive adequate federal support and are quite often overlooked and underserved. Despite this, many Lakota there press on through these hardships and keep their beautiful culture alive.
Our goal is to help alleviate hunger and promote a better quality of life on the Reservation while deepening our cross-cultural understanding and developing ties of friendship with the Lakota people. We are working to establish an ongoing relationship with the people of Pine Ridge, who have asked for our assistance with the local food bank and potentially establishing a recycling system. Last time we were there, we performed some form of service every day, whether it was building fences or stocking the food bank. Also, we learned words and conepts in Lakota, to respect elders by offering them food first, to pray, to talk less, and to enter more quietly. We learned that eye contact can distract a person from truly listening, and we were taught history of the Lakota from their perspectives. Floyd Hand and his wife, our hosts, graced us with many stories and offerings. To learn more about the 2008 experience, see Steve Runholt's blog.
Recently...
The 2011 trip was an amazing experience for all involved. Much like the previous trip, we learned many new things and took home with us many valuable memories. This leaves us at an imbalance, though. While we may have helped clean and build part of a new community building and assisted in moving 25,000 pounds of food into a food bank to be delivered to the greater community, we still owe the Lakota a debt. When we left, Floyd's wife Natalie asked us only one thing: Tell everyone you can that we're here and what we're going through. We did not go simply to fix roofs and move food - we went to learn and spread that knowledge wherever we could.
If you would like more information, please talk to a student or contact the professor Kathryn Burleson (828-771-2093). For more information about Warren Wilson College's Service-Learning program, visit their website here.
On behalf of the people we served, thank you for your consideration and support.
-Kathryn, Debra, Chuck, Sofia, Rebecca, Trey, Abi, Rachel, Beth, Kayte, Justin, and Gina.