3/20 The trip has ended, but things carry on

It is quite bittersweet to be home after such an amazing and meaningful week. Reading through these blog posts only give you a glimpse at what we have experienced and what we have learned. It's difficult to return to the life of a college student after spending a week not thinking about our academic responsibilities and instead thinking about a larger social issue. I will never forget what I have learned about the true history of the Lakota people, their rich culture, and the state of their community now. There are so many things that can be done to help the people in Pine Ridge who are suffering due to a history of oppression and brutality. The first and very important step is to educate yourself on what has happened and what is happening now. The next steps are up to you...spread what you know, write your Congressmen, collect donations, work with groups like Re-Member, etc. Do what you can.

There is one "Wisdom of the Elders" that Ted shared this week has stuck with me:

"If you have come to help me, you can go home. but if you see my struggle as part of your own survival, then perhaps we can work together."

My only hope is that I, along with my trip members, never forget what we have learned and never stop working towards a change for the better, because what affects other people ultimately affects us as well.

Mitakuye Oyasin: We are all related.

--Angela

3/19 Madeleine's Blog

Our time at Re-Member has come to an end after a challenging, yet insightful and exciting week. We packed up this morning and made a visit to the site of the Wounded Knee massacre. We all agreed that it was a more valuable trip having made it at the end of our week on the Rez. The bitter cold and winds brought to life the pain and despair of the location. It felt like the mutilated, frozen bodies in the photographs at the Red Cloud Indian School and the Oglala Lakota College could have been right in front of us. As we left the reservation, we were once again reminded of the solemn history that never ceases to haunt the beautiful, resilient Oglala Lakotas.

From Wounded Knee we headed down 20 West and trekked from South Dakota through Nebraska back to Wyoming. We stopped in Douglas for another taste of local society. We have spent the evening in Casper waiting for our flight home tomorrow morning.

As we conclude this week, we are ready to face the difficult reality of learning how to incorporate our new understandings and confusions into our ever-changing conceptual and practical frameworks. My charge to our group is that we will take time to challenge our inclinations to play the role of the “rescuers” through service opportunities. I hope that we will all find ways to deconstruct the notions of “helperism” that too often consume the liberal Western thinker. For it is not until we have come to terms with our own inherent, subconscious biases and agendas that we may begin to effectively reach toward others. It is then that we will be ready to surrender our privilege and move forth with our efforts as we walk hand in hand with those bound by oppression.

3/18 Rachel's Blog

Today was the last full day in Pine Ridge. We were split into two groups again today (the same groups as yesterday). My group went back to the work site, and the other group went on a tour of the Reservation. We got a lot of work done, and I am really proud of what we have accomplished. However, the most powerful part of the day, and perhaps the most moving part of the entire trip, was our reflection tonight on our experiences for the week. This trip has really changed my life. I have always loved doing community service, but none of my experiences have had such a significant impact on my life. I have learned so much about the Lakota people on this trip. They have a rich, beautiful culture that we have put down and ignored for far too long. I learned the power of really taking a step back and listening to others here. Before this trip, I claimed that I knew what listening was, but the truth is, we do not know what listening really entails in our culture. Listening does not mean paying attention to the parts of what someone says that will help your own argument. It means really considering—and respecting—what someone else has to say. It is so engrained in our culture to speak up—the loudest people seem to always have and “advantage” in “conversation.” But how can you really have a conversation with someone without listening whole-heartedly to what they have to say? Listening is wisdom, something American society tend to throw on the back burner behind the competition for self-interest.

This problem in American society worries me deeply. This experience was so meaningful to me, but I fear that people might only listen to the words “South Dakota” and then tune out the rest of what I have to say. This trip has been amazing—the people I met, the friends I made, the things I have learned, and the lives I have helped to change. I encourage anyone who can go to Pine Ridge Reservation to go, to learn, and to listen. It will really change your life.

3/18 Julia's Blog

Thursday morning the volunteers awoke again to the tunes from the Native American CD Dream Catcher. I find the music to be very soothing and relaxing, others might disagree. Today I was apart of the tour group that visited the reservation’s college, a private catholic school, the Singing Horse trading post, and the delicious Bette’s Kitchen. Before our departure we had been warned to prepare ourselves for the chilly weather. Luckily, the weather was relatively nice and became a little windy towards the end.

The highlight of my day was eating the Buffalo Burger at Bette’s Kitchen. I am known to be a picky eater. Therefore, when Ted, the Re-Member director broadcasted the menu, I was rather worried if I would eat at all. However, Joanna nicely suggested to try the buffalo burger and declared that I would love it and wouldn’t even notice the difference. Fortunately, Joanna was entirely correct. I loved it! It was very tasty and to top it all off, Bette’s chocolate cake was to die for; this coming from someone with a huge sweet tooth and takes her chocolate seriously.

The tour was not a disappointment either. It was extremely informational. The Oglala Lakota College tour was very enlightening and the photographs of Wounded Knee seemed to provide tangible evidence of history. To add, the staff members like Ted, Joe, Mike, and Brian made the workdays and tour fun and interesting. The overall trip was a great experience.

THE PICTURES ABOVE ARE THE BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES OF THE DECK A GROUP BUILT. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!

3/18 Anisha's Blog

After two days of great mid-sixty weather, we got shafted with freezing cold weather, wind, and a winter alert advisory. Unlike in Maryland where a winter advisory could mean an inch of snow, here, we were looking backward to 6”-12” with the ability to screw our travel plans. We woke up normally and left for the worksite at Gene’s with a whole bunch of new wood to finish the porch with and get a whole bunch of the roof done. We immediately started “screwing” away (by the way, a construction site is by far the best for “that’s what she said” jokes) and Angela, Jane (from TowsonU), and I finished up the porch together. Despite all the hardship she has been through, Gene just has a spirit around her. A spirit of hope, I suppose. She says she can’t sleep at night and wakes up early just because she is so excited about her house being built. It feels great to be a part of her happiness. She was able to drill a couple of screws into her porch and was able to understand Angela and my new found love for power tools. I can’t believe our workdays have ended and that we are already ready to leave. The more you look around, the more you see how much help this place needs. It’s a weird feeling. The people here don’t come across as desperate and have so much hope and so much connection to this land. A girl asked Gene why she doesn’t want to leave and she said that she thought about it but she doesn’t want to because she has her children and her husband buried in the backyard. Yes, the fact itself was sad and it struck me hard. But more importantly, it was a testament and a perfect demonstration of the groundedness of the native people—of their reverence for land. For Westerners, land doesn’t mean much at all. We strike the ground with no sense of us hurting our Mother. It is amazing that she is giving up the opportunity for a better life elsewhere simply, or not so simply, because of her children and husband. I love that. The more history that I learn, the more I despise what has been done to these people and their rich culture. Out of all of this though, the thing I think I learned the most is that I cannot live my life without powertools. I will end with a that’s what she said:

“I need a 66 inch piece of this!”

“Oh yeah, how ‘bout I give you a 66 inch piece of THIS (insert gutter motion here)”

Classic.

3/17 Touring Pine Ridge part 2

As Sara said, we toured the reservation today. It was great to see all the sites and sounds of the rez, and everything we saw was a great new experience. As we were driving from stop to stop, I especially liked just staring out of the window and looking at the landscape. While the scenery was incredible, the devastating conditions of the houses and communities within the rez made me very reflective of what we spent the day doing.

While each stop included a history lesson, especially at the college, I felt as if we should have been helping someone instead of going to the radio station and “trading post”, which was a glorified gift shop. I am extremely satisfied and taken back by the amount of history I was taught, I felt too much like a tourist and not enough like a volunteer. I wish there was a way we could have been taught the history without spending the day in gift shops and on the bus. I feel that the education we learned while here is the most long lasting reward. But I came here to build, assist, and help the Lakotas who live in extreme poverty. We only have four workdays, and I cannot say that I wanted to spend one of those “work” days buying souvenirs. Am I happy I was able to buy my family authentic Lakota art while stimulating the Lakota ecomony? Of course. But my intentions when I signed up for the ASB trip were to build and help those who are less fortunate than me. To provide shelter for a family who otherwise has nowhere to go is an amazing feeling. Better than buying a gift, touring a radio station, or even eating chocolate cake (which was really good). The feeling of giving another person the basic human necessity of shelter is one that cannot be duplicated. When (not if) I come back, I look forward to working harder and hopefully changing a few more lives for the better.

--Eric

3/17 Touring Pine Ridge

Today our group went on a tour to various places in Pine Ridge. In the morning we ventured to Red Cloud Indian School and Heritage Center where we learned about the tribe’s history, the history of the chapel and the education at the school. We walked around the museum at the school, which was extremely interesting. After the museum we got a chance to shop in the gift shop. I was really excited about this part because I purchased some items to take home and share with my family so that I could show them what a beautiful culture this is and share the stories I’ve learned. We then left the school and made our way to Kili Radio Station, a station completely run by volunteers. The location was incredibly beautiful. It sits on the side of a hill and looking out you can see the rolling hills below and the mountains way off in the distance. Inside we learned that Kili means awesome or great. We also learned about the history of the station, the struggles they’ve had and their future plans for the station. We got to make a shout out, which we decided to make to the wonderful cook, Wanbli, here at Re-member. The next stop of the tour took us to Bette’s Kitchen for lunch. This included another incredibly gorgeous landscape from the top of a hill and a delicious lunch outside on a beautiful day. After finishing our lunches and delicious chocolate cake we headed to the Singing Horse Trading Post for more shopping. Next it was on to the Oglala Lakota College. We went into the Historical Center to hear more about the history of the tribe, this time with photos and paintings to illustrate. Over the past few days we heard a lot about the tribe’s history, but I think the photos and paintings helped a lot in illustrating the extent of the damage. For example, there was a sort of diagram to show the changes in the boundaries of the land allotted to the Indians, which really showed how much land was taken from them and how little land was left for them. We also got to see the location of their graduation pow-wows, which is outside in a wooden, circular structure behind the Oglala War Veterans Memorial. Then we headed back to Re-member for dinner and craft night. Several artists brought their work to show and sell.

Although I enjoyed seeing more of Pine Ridge and getting a chance to buy some things to bring home with me, I was kind of bummed that we didn’t go to the worksite to help out and see more progress on the house. As we drive around the reservation its nice to take in the scenery, but I feel like its kind of overshadowed by the living conditions that we see everywhere. It helps a little to know that we might be improving the living conditions for one family by finishing the house, but again this is overshadowed by the fact that there are so many more that need the same improvements but we can’t help them. I’m happy to be going back to the house to work tomorrow, but at the same time sad that the week is almost over and our time here is almost through.

--Sara