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Listen and learn from the Indian prophets that live among
us |
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Editorial & Advertising Deadline is every Friday Distribution is every Wednesday Vendors & Subscribers call or email Michele: To Advertise call or email Jackie: salesmanager@nsweekly.com Send a letter to the Editor: NEW LOCATION Native Sun News Phone (605) 721-1266 - Fax (605) 721-1387
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There appears to be an aura of discontent not only across
America, but also in nearly all of Indian country. Politicians are bearing
the brunt of the unhappiness because the lives of the common citizens have
been placed in their hands and in so many cases; they have failed to come
through. In Indian country we are seeing far too much corruption in
tribal government and in tribal programs. Many leaders that the people
trusted have been charged with malfeasance or outright theft of tribal funds
and in many cases leaders have not only been charged, but convicted and are
now serving time behind bars. |
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New
this week!! Vol. 2 Iss. 22 |
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We were taught by our elders that greed has never been a
part of our culture and yet it is greed that is leading to the corruption so
prevalent in Indian country. Over the past few years tribal employees at Pine
Ridge have been charged and convicted of theft of tribal funds and just
recently employees of Red Cloud Indian School were charge and convicted of
theft. It has reached the point where the honest leaders do not know who to
trust anymore. It should go without saying that the people on Pine Ridge,
Rosebud, Crow Creek and Standing Rock reservations are among the poorest of
the poor in America and yet the corruption among some of their leaders is
causing them great suffering. It is
very difficult for the poor people of these reservations to live in poverty
while their leaders gain in wealth. It doesn’t have to be this way. In Ivan F. Starr’s column
this week he writes about morality amongst the Lakota. “People clearly
understood Tiospaye laws during traditional times. Moral character and rigid
ethics played a major role in Tiospaye leadership. In contrast modern
leadership roles are unclear, laws are vague and confusing, and a clearly
identifiable dishonesty controls government,” he wrote. Another of the gifted columnists for Native Sun News,
Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, has written about the role colonialism has played in the
lives of the People. She has clearly seen through the eternal smokescreens
thrown up by the federal government in its actions to institute laws that
clearly clash with the traditions of a People and under the guise of
progress, destroy the fabric of a society that once had total and unflinching
control of law over its own People. And she surmises correctly and worse yet, that the Indian
leadership is blinded by the false promises and non-traditional laws that are
bringing once great nations to their knees as they bow to a higher power,
whether it is church or state that is gradually leading them to their own
demise. There is an old saying that goes, “A prophet is a prophet
everywhere except in his (or her) own land. In our midst we have
Lakota/Dakota/Nakota elders that are truly the prophets of our time, people
like Ms. Cook/Lynn and Ivan F. Starr (Star Comes Out) who have lived through
the many changes that have impacted their lives and the lives of their
friends and relatives on the Indian reservations. Lionel Bordeaux, President of the Sinte Gleska University,
is a visionary and prophet who saw the value of an education for his People
and dedicated his life finding a way to provide it. These individuals should
never be taken lightly for the sake of politics. Modern politics as played on
the Indian reservations of America have, for the most part, been built upon
greed and self-aggrandizement. Modern
politicians always place themselves above the People. Starr believes that we may never go back to the old ways
and for good reason. But he still has hope. He wrote, “The key is to find
that god-given morality that our Lakota ancestors once lived by and enjoyed
and give it to our youth. Meanwhile we must survive as best we can under our
current adverse living conditions because that may not improve in our
lifetimes.” Elizabeth Cook-Lynn exposes the federal and state
charlatans that are leading the Indian people like a herd of sheep to their
own destruction. And in expressing her profound opinions, she has earned the
ire of the white media and of the modernist, corrupt politicians. Cook-Lynn
does not expose the individuals, but instead exposes the system of deception
that far too many Indians have accepted as truth. Tim Giago, Editor and Publisher |
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