Yesterday I wrote about Wounded Knee and today I bought Roger L. di Silvestro’s ‘In the Shadow of Wounded Knee’ which I will read properly but share these points from his book.
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is almost the size of Connecticut and is home to 40,000 people whose median annual income is $2,600. There is about 90% unemployment. The teenage suicide rate is 3.5 times the national average, infant mortality is 4 times the national average, cervical cancer is 6 times the national average, tuberculosis and diabetes are both 9 times the national average. Average life expectancy is 45 years. At least 60% of Pine Ridge homes need to be burned to the ground because of infestations of a potentially fatal black mold. More than a third of homes lack basic water and sewage systems and 39% have no electricity. The school drop out rate is 70%.
Now I couldn’t see all that as I drove through, but it doesn’t surprise me based on what I did see.
And what do I, a tourist with a pair of binoculars, know about such complex issues? Obviously, not very much at all.
However, it strikes me that when the USA opened its arms, at Ellis Island, to the poor, the tired, the huddled masses arriving from the East it was turning its back on some of its own, out West. And its back seems still to be turned.
Hi Mark that sounds absolutely awful and seems crazy that USA spending all that money on overseas aid and even more on wars when their own population desperately need help.
One strange thing I noticed from the family I knew really well was that while they would like individuals form the native peoples and coloured population they had strong racial prejudice against them as a race but it may have changed of course as that was the 50s and 60s.However this blog makes me think it may still be there.Surely we should expect what most people would describe as a black president to have started doing something by now or is it that the black population also have prejudice against the native people.I refuse to call him a black or coloured president as he is as much white as black in my book.Think after reading this blog I will thank my lucky stars I live in UK.