Economy: Most of the income of the Oglala Sioux is derived from their soil and grass. Approximately 200 people work for various branches of the Federal Government and the State. Another 40 people are employed by the tribe, and approximately 250 are employed in industry on the reservation. About 175 Indian families are engaged in ranching; others work at farming and ranching pursuits. Many migrate from the reservation during the summer to find seasonal employment, mostly in farming. Government: The Oglala Sioux Tribe is an unincorporated tribe governed by a council, consisting of 29 members; a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, fifth member, sergeant at arms, and critic. The president, secretary, treasurer, fifth member, and the reservation superintendent form the executive committee that executes tribal business when the council is not in session. A most important branch of the tribal government is the planning commission composed of a director, chairman, and seven members. This commission has the responsibility of long-range planning for the social and economic development of the reservation. Problems: The Oglala Sioux are disadvantaged by reason of their isolation and lack of experience inherent in the reservation system. The older people have consistently resisted any imposition of nonindigenous cultural values. However, cooperative programs and emphasis on education is providing a means whereby the Indian people may acquire sound judgments from which to make free choices of those values in the American society which they feel they wish to adopt. Question. How many schools on the reservation? Answer. There are six consolidated day schools. In addition, there is the Oglala Community School, which is a combination of boarding and day school, consisting of 12 classes through high school. Approximately 450 youngsters are in boarding school. Question. What is the total school enrollment? Answer. In the 1962-63 school year, there was a total of 2,071 children enrolled in the Government-operated schools; 621 enrolled in parochial (Catholic) schools, and approximately 200 enrolled in public schools. Question. What do most of the people do? Answer. Most of the people are engaged in farming and ranching, either as operators of ranches, but mostly as farmworkers. Some work for the Federal Government; some work for the tribal government; some work in commercial establishments; some work in construction trades, but many are unemployed. Question. What is the average income? Answer. A figure of something over $1,500 has been quoted as the average income. This may be misleading because of the relatively large amounts earned by people who own their own ranches and who work for the Federal Government. Consequently, more than half of the heads of families earn less than $900 per year and much of this consists of income from leased lands rented out to non-Indians. Question. Is there much unemployment? Answer. Yes. The lack of economic opportunity on the reservation is revealed by large numbers of unemployed, as much as 800 heads of families being unemployed for much of the year. This is a rate of 40 percent unemployed, as compared to the national average of approximately 5 percent. Question. Is much of the land used by Indians? Answer. Yes-about 52 percent of the rangeland and 5 percent of the farmland is actually used by Indian members. Question. Is there compulsory education? Answer. Yes. The tribe has an ordinance which requires all children to be in school until they reach the age of 18, or have completed at least the eighth grade. WHY THE OGLALA SIOUX NEED THE DOMESTIC PEACE CORPS (By William Whirlwind Horse, president, Oglala Sioux Tribal Council) Although terrible problems still plague the Oglala Sioux, we have made important strides in recent years. In 1935, under the Indian Reorganization Act, the tribe adopted a constitution and bylaws, creating a popularly elected tribal government. Legislative authority is vested in a tribal council of 29 persons. Executive authority rests in an executive committee of five persons, consisting of the Superintendent of the Indian Bureau's Pine Ridge Agency, and the socalled fifth member who votes to break ties, the tribal president, secretary, and treasurer. In 1959, realizing that we faced the most difficult and critical problems in the tribe's history, the tribal council called a mass meeting of the entire tribe to discuss our depressed conditions. By 1960, which we called the Year of the People Thinking, a planning organization program was written and adopted by the full community. The program dealt with our plans for land consolidation and utilization, employment opportunities, housing, tourism, education, and Vocational training. Until I was asked to become the first chairman of the planning commission in 1959, and later elected as president of the tribe, I had been a rancher, inactive in tribal affairs. Like myself, most of the tribal executives have had no previous training or experience in public administration or business management. We attempt to conduct our meetings without any clear knowledge of parliamentary procedure. We operate our own court and police system but our employees lack a knowledge of modern procedures. We have asked the National Service Corps to send us corpsmen skilled in public and business administration-to train our elected and appointed officials for efficient, democratic government. We agree with President Kennedy, who, when our first housing project was dedicated last year, declared "* * * as industry, commerce, and tourist trade develop, poverty and disease can be stamped out and the people of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation can at least enjoy a standard of living comparable to that of the country as a whole." In these self-help efforts, we believe the proposed National Service Corps can play an important part. Neither the Indian Bureau, which has heretofore lacked the funds and personnel to undertake widespread human development programs on Indian reservations, nor the tribe itself can carry out our self-improvement programs without the generous help of skilled, warmhearted Americans of all ages who have indicated a desire to join the projected domestic Peace Corps. A few months ago, 29 American Indian teenagers visited Washington, D.C., including some from the Oglala Sioux. After meeting Peace Corps officials, they were all impressed with the program for helping hungry and destitute people throughout the world, but they shared the views of Lorraine Riggs, a Navajo from Arizona, who said: "But I think we can do more good, instead of joining the Peace Corps, by going back and helping our own people." I look forward to the day when members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe will be able to join the National Service Corps and the Peace Corps-to share with other needy people at home and abroad the progress we aspire to achieve with the help of the National Service Corps-in the years ahead. Considering the short period of time in which the Oglala Sioux created and operated a tribal self-government, credit is due them for the fine job that is being done by them especially in light of the fact that a constitutional form of government was foreign to the Sioux culture prior to the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. However it cannot be said that help, and lots of it, is not needed by them to fully enlighten tribal leaders and the people of the processes of government. Almost none of those who have been in and out of the tribal council over the years have acquired adequate know-how of running a government properly nor have any experience or knowledge of business management. This problem is becoming more and more evident as tribal government and business expands in scope. It has become imperative, if leaders are to be able to cope effectively with today's demands, that adult education is needed in administrative, legislative, and judicial processes of the tribal government as well as in business management. Interpreting and expressing of administrative authority, proper drafting of resolutions, parliamentary procedures, other legislative processes, court procedures, drafting complaints properly and such require a broad program of adult education to broaden the knowledge of tribal leaders. The lack of management know-how is another problem especially in view of expanding tribal operations in reservation development. It is in these areas which corpsmen can work and train tribal leaders and help them help themselves to become better leaders. WILLIAM WHIRLWIND HORSE. EXTRACTS FROM COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION REPORT (By Public Health Service) HOUSING Over half of the homes on the reservation are either one-room frame or log structures. Tents provide temporary living quarters for guests for family attendance at powwows; however, about 1 percent of the families live in tents throughout the year. Nine percent of the homes are presently sod covered. Asphalt-based roofing is fast becoming common as a replacement for sod roofs. Fixtures in a oneroom dwelling typically consist of one door, two small windows, a wood range, a small table, one or two chairs, kitchen cabinet, and a double bed. A heating stove may be used, depending on the space in the room. The average square feet per person is 76.9. This is extremely substandard when compared with "Minimum Standards for Human Habitation." The requirements as set forth in this publication require 150 square feet for the first occupant and 100 square feet for each additional occupant. FUEL Wood is chiefly used for heating and cooking. It is cut and gathered along the banks of creeks, rivers, and in canyons. Householders travel from 1 to 8 miles in horse-drawn wagons or pickup trucks to wood sources. LIGHTING Only 9 percent of the premises have electricity. Kerosene lamps provide light for the majority of the homes. Some homes also use gaslamps. WATER Over 60 percent of the families obtain their water from wells. Because wells in this area are very costly, only a few families have wells on their own premises. The existing wells utilized are located near the general store, church, community hall, or day school. Families living near ponds or streams use the water without disinfection. The so-called springs are barrels with both ends removed and dug into bogs beside a stream. Not one of these springs is a bacteriologically safe source. Not one home surveyed had water under pressure in their home. The old, infirm, or those without any means of transportation pay $1 to $1.50 per 50gallon barrel to have their water hauled from the nearest source. It may be from a creek or a river. The melting of snow or ice, as a source of domestic water, is still a common practice. Many of the private and community wells are in a poor state of repair. 1960: Births: BIRTH AND INFANT DEATH RATES FOR OGLALA SIOUX At hospital: 292 (72 percent). Away: 76 (50 percent at home). Premature: 16 (6 died, 40 percent). Full term: 276 (75 percent of total live births). Live births: 368. Infant deaths: 36 (97.2 per 1,000 live births (Oglala Sioux); 26.4 per 1,000 live births, all races; 1959).1 Stillborns: 9. Total births: 377 (31.4 births per 1,000 population; 24.1 births, all races, 1959).1 1 All-races figures according to 1959 reports. Infant deaths per 1,000 live births, breakdown by age in 1st year of life Infant deaths by cause per 1,000 live births in 1st year of life Death rates for selected diseases of Oglala Sioux per 1,000 population compared with all races rates, 1959 The Welfare Branch of the BIA Pine Ridge Agency, composed of four social workers and two clerks, has the major duties of extending general assistance, child welfare services, and counseling to our Indian people living on the Pine Ridge reservation. Our population is now about 2,500 families comprising nearly 9,000 people living on the reservation. The population is scattered over three large counties-Shannon, Bennett, and Washabaugh and the most distant town on the reservation is 90 miles from the agency. Part of our work includes field trips to all communities and home visits to clients within reservation boundaries. The branch of welfare extends assistance to those ineligible for categorical assistance from State and Federal programs. We work closely with the two State departments of public welfare located at Martin and at Pine Ridge. Since the State of South Dakota and their division of child welfare largely regards the reservation as an "uncovered area," the branch of welfare provides child welfare services. Close work is required with the Oglala Sioux Tribal Court in matters involving children where neglect, desertion, delinquency, etc., are involved and upon receipt of a tribal court order, we make placements for foster home children. At the present time we have 99 children in foster homes; the homes are located both on and off reservation. Welfare caseload and expenditures (June 1962-May 1963) at Pine Ridge |