From the inside...by Iceman:-

All of these wonderful native people - particularly the Sioux Nations live in complete and total poverty. Yes, we cherish our heritage, but the past is stone. It's easy to visualize this wonderful wisdom.

But try to visualize someone trying to raise a family on ten dollars a day. Children needlessly dieing from disease.

A life expetancy of less than fifty years. Education only through charity. No heat in the winter and boiling heat in the summer.

The Pine Ridge Reservation is only equaled by Somolia, Nigeria or Serria Leonne. Pine Ridge is a third world country in the middle of the richest nation on Earth and though the USA is the richest nation on this planet it is also the most racially bigoted.

I cherish much of the spiritualism I learned as a youngster. I appreciate most of the same things You and Jackie love.
I live every day with the turning of life and I let it fill me. I am Doaist and engage my world at sunrise every moring with Taiji. I have sent two Lakota children through university to hopefully make some small dent in the needs of our people. In fact, most of my life has been spent trying to undo wrongs even though some of my efforts were not good.

But the Vietnam Monument is stone and I hate it. I think that all of the military graveyards speak to hate and violence and the needless deaths of millions are marked with stone. And there is the Sept 11. monument to needless death and suffering marked in stone. The graves of whites at Little Big Horn are marked in stone yet not a reminder of one of the brave Sioux Shoshone and Crow.

A great marker has been being carved in remembrance of Crazy Horse - who was stabbed in the back for no reason other than racial hate.

Few days pass that some white does not stare at me weirdly for no reason other than I am Lakota. A caucasian is not one of our people, just as I am not a caucasian. I have been reminded of that almost every single day, in one way or another, for seventy four years.



Thus, I am sensitive when people covet our ways but continue to treat us like trash.

I do appreciate your post and find the wisdom of my people relaxing and encouraging. I thank you for your caring and energy to share their words with me. Much of what you posted is new to me.

Again Thank You.

The words of iceman, a Lakota Redman.