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You
are here: The Wounded Knee International Youth Project:
Creating a Sustainable Way of Life for the Next Seven Generations
by Robert White Mountain, Johanna Parry Cougar and Corrina McFarlane
Today, while we are fighting the war on terrorism, drugs, and world hunger in the international arena, that same predicament exists right here at home: millions of Indigenous People have endured over 500 years of such tribulations, and even extinction from the face of the earth. Many of the survivors are now trapped in a downward spiral of learned dependency.
The despair of reservation life hangs over the People like a dark cloud. In Wounded Knee, and other areas of the Great Sioux Nation hereafter called Lakota, there is up to 95% unemployment, 90% homelessness, 80% poverty, rampant drug and alcohol abuse, and pervasive violence. Lakota youth are giving up and committing suicide at a most alarming rate, possibly the highest in the world. Present and future generations are in jeopardy.
Rather than cry about our situation, young men and women of Lakota ancestry have chosen to seek and implement solutions. We are returning to the wisdom of our ancestors, balancing traditional teachings with today's realities. In 1981, we revived the Cante Tinza Hancokan (Midnight Strong Heart) Society, while successfully defending the sacred Black Hills from uranium mining. This elite Society of young people was originally founded in the 1800's by Sitting Bull and other Lakota. Today, our Society offers the youth an alternative living approach to consider; an approach that works to empower youth by instilling a sense of belonging, purpose, and accomplishment. We are dedicated to the protection and preservation of all life, working together with others in restoring the balance and beauty of Grandmother Earth and inhabitants.
Let us put our minds together and see what future we can build for our children.
-- Sitting Bull - Hunkpapa Lakota
In 2000, with teen suicide at epidemic levels and little relief in sight, Midnight Strong Heart Society members embarked on a journey to create a network of support for youth. The Society secured many valuable allies in the East and Mid-West, and traveled to the West Coast. There, members of WomenRise for Global Peace (Santa Cruz, CA) responded to the Youth, rising together in honor of the spiritual mother and child reunion of Love. These resourceful women mobilized a West Coast support team, bringing together sustainable village developers, alternative energy experts, fund-raisers and affiliate groups. Others of goodwill have also stepped forward to work with us.
In order to make the strongest possible impact on youth, the Society decided to bring gathered knowledge and resources where the need is greatest. Within the Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota we find the two poorest counties in the United States, a poignant example of extreme hunger and poverty right in our own back yard. In the middle of this chaos is Wounded Knee, the historical site of the 1890 massacre of women and children.
Lakota Landowner, Gerald Ice of Wounded Knee, shares our same vision to empower youth and has invited the Society to manage a portion of his land for this undertaking. This project is designed to bring international attention to the current dismal situation our youth endure daily and provide an avenue of healing for not only our people but also the world.
The Society now introduces the Wounded Knee International Youth Project, promoting a sustainable way of life for the next Seven Generations. The Project will have four components: an International Indigenous Medicine Wheel of Healing, Mid-Week Unity Gatherings, a Youth Center, and the Lakota Dream.
Wounded Knee International Indigenous Medicine Wheel of Healing
The youth of the society wish to honor the ancestors and see a need for global peace. We introduce the Wounded Knee International Indigenous Medicine Wheel of Healing. This living memorial honors the true heroes of the Global Holocaust; those who lost their lives, those who refused assimilation, those who survived the atrocity and today's youth who live with the after-effects. This monument is molded from all natural materials and shaped in the form of a Medicine Wheel.
Within this sacred hoop will be both a sacred fire and a World Peace Flame surrounded by natural clay benches within a meditative ceremonial setting. People may enter from the four directions. The walls and benches will be engraved with symbols and names, to commemorate the history and beauty of those who perished in the unacknowledged Holocaust. People from around the world are invited to help by respectfully holding the healing Earth in their hands, while invoking prayers for the recovery of all Indigenous cultures and our Sacred Grandmother Earth. Together, we create a tribute to world peace and healing throughout the world.
Wounded Knee Mid-Week Unity Gatherings
The Unity Gatherings offer locals and visitors the opportunity to come together and enjoy the true beauty of the Lakota Way of Life. The Gatherings will feature traditional song and dance, Lakota art, guest speakers, workshops and other activities for the whole family. The Tiyospayes (extended families) of the victims of the Wounded Knee Massacre will be given first priority to vending space. The public is invited to these drug and alcohol free, family-oriented events.
International Youth Space
The Youth Center will be designed and built by young people, with guidance from members of the Midnight Strong Heart Society. Youth will also be actively involved in developing the agenda for the facility. The Center will include many unique features: multi -purpose athletic complex, broadcasting and recording studio, international school, museum, trade center, and greenhouse. The building will also serve as a temporary Youth Safe House, while the permanent one is being built. Youth activities will include Lakota Language & Culture classes; War Pony Games and horse care; Traditional Hand Games; Car Club; Lacrosse and other sports; Traditional Arts and Crafts; Ropes course, Skateboard and Dirt Bike Courses, Hunting, Fishing, and Camping. Our focus is to prepare young people to be confident teachers and leaders. This will empower them to take an active role in their own destiny.The Lakota Dream
The Lakota Dream is a gift from the Midnight Strong Heart Society, celebrating the youth of Wounded Knee and the world. This offers an alternative, sustainable living approach for the next Seven Generations. The Society will introduce a new low-cost building method, designed for the harsh climate of the Northern Plains. Each home comes equipped with its own energy, food and economic source. The Lakota Dream is available to youth who choose to be an active member of the Society (or Affiliate,) relearning and practicing traditional teachings and values. In return, the Society offers a sustainable home, a path to economic interdependence, and a safe community in which to raise families.The Project will also help develop low tech greenhouses; fish ponds; an indigenously owned television station for broadcasting local news, events, and urgent messages; a health food store; and energy systems necessary to provide true independence for indigenous people who currently walk up to two miles to convenience stores where chips and junk are their only option for food. Over time this has created a life expectancy of about 45 years, and rampant diabetes and obesity among the Lakota.
In the Lakota nation, at Wounded Knee and on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, as is true with most U.S. reservations, there remains 80% homelessness (in a climate where the temperature can drop to 60° below zero in the winter,) and 95% unemployment. It is believed that our American culture will not fully heal until we as a people openly apologize and address the deep wrongs that have been done to indigenous peoples and nations in the name of "American progress."
This is a long term, self-organizing project dependent on the sustained spirit of hope and accomplishment engendered by a deep desire for social and personal healing. We are inviting people from all over the world to consider taking a "Vacation With A Purpose" while enjoying dances, stories, and song with the Lakota and building, playing, and celebrating life together.
In June, 2004, a campsite and community kitchen was established where the groundwork was laid to focus on teaching a combination method for constructing Straw Bale/Earthen Cob homes (at a cost of under $4,000 per home or building) for every indigenous family that wants to learn and participate in the project. Already, the foundation for the International Indigenous Medicine Wheel of Healing has been laid by youth and elders, Lakota and white, working together. We will conclude this first summer of work on September 21st with an International World Peace Ceremony, when we will be joined by other major peace activists working for a sustainable world.
The Cante Tinza Hancokan (Midnight Strong Heart) Society was originally founded in the 1800's by Sitting Bull and other Lakota Sioux as they fought to maintain their way of life against the United States Government displacement policy. In 1981 the Society was revived while successfully defending the sacred Black Hills from uranium mining.
In 2004, Robert White Mountain, Midnight Strong Heart Society Elder, met the members of WomenRise for Global Peace (Santa Cruz, CA). This group of women, coming together in the spirit of creating deep community conversations which engender healing old wounds so that new realities can emerge, recognized the vision of the Lakota youth and committed to a partnership with them. At present, members have established a Wounded Knee summer encampment in which the initial phase of the work has begun.
For more information, visit : www.timetoshine.org, www.womenrise.org and www.lakotavision.net.
You may contact Barbara Vogl at bdawesvogl@yahoo.com.
©September 2004 New Horizons for Learning
http://www.newhorizons.org
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