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Pine Ridge Airport, Pine Ridge SD USA
Last updated 4:52 am

Greetings, sisters and brothers: I’m writing this letter from Plymouth, Mass., on what most of us call Thanksgiving Day.

Many Native Americans, however, call it the National Day of Mourning. Indians don’t have a whole lot to be thankful for, especially the Lakota Sioux of Wanblee, South Dakota, the poorest town in America. 75 of its 107 households live below the poverty level. Diabetes and other life threatening diseases are rampant, but there’s no money for medical bills. Families get through the bitter wanietu (winter) by huddling together underneath their blankets inside bare bones government shacks. Alcoholism—the white man’s gift to the Indians— is devastating the town’s young adults, who make up 56% of the population.

President Obama's advisory council released a report assessing preparations for 2009-H1N1 Influenza A. While the precise impact of the resurgence of H1N1 infection is impossible to predict, it indicated that Native American groups are considered high risk and have elevated risks of severe outcomes. Federal health officials recently announced $350 million in national grants to fight H1N1, but that money is going to states and hospitals, not to the federally recognized tribes, a policy that could make reservation communities increasingly vulnerable to epidemics. Many residents live without health care due to vast travel distances involved in accessing that care. Under-funded, under-staffed medical facilities and outdated or non-existent medical equipment on the Reservation make medical care difficult to obtain even in normal conditions.

In light of the H1N1 influenza, the Crazy Horse Elementary School is in need of donations of Kleenex, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes. If you'd like to help out, please check out our wish list at Amazon.com. All you have to do is access the Lakota Kidz Wish List, place a tax deductible order & these items will be shipped directly to the elementary school.

Help us make the holidays a little brighter for the children of Wanblee. Sixty-three percent of the kids in Wanblee live below the poverty level and as such, many of them have never received a new coat or a holiday gift for that matter. Our Adopt A Child program allows you to make a difference in a child's life during the holiday season, via a tax-deductible gift donation.

The brand new Lakota Kidz Rhode Island Chapter held its first educational fundraiser on Saturday, May 31, at the historic Little Compton, RI, Community Center.

The first Lakota Kidz Trading Post exceeded our expectations, despite torrential rains.

"Our goal was to get some hands-on experience in organizing non profit events," said newly installed Chapter Co-chair Mika Mason Martin, 26. "We would have been happy breaking even."