Cante Tenza Okolakiciye also known as the Strong Heart Warrior Society of the Lakota Nation is an ancient Lakota warrior society as well as a broad-based civil rights movement that works to protect, enforce and restore treaty rights, civil rights, and sovereignty of Native people and their communities across Turtle Island.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
The Lakota Elders Of Porcupine S.D. & The Strong Heart Society Again Ask For Your Help!
The picture above is of The Elder's Center in Porcupine SD,On the Pine Ridge Reservation.This building has been condemned multiple times.
The Elders are asking that the Oglala Sioux Tribe use some of the millions of dollars given to them thru HUD to honor their request for a new building and to follow the instructions of the Regional Housing Authority that last condemned it and stated it needed torn down and a new one built during the Elders Occupation of the Center in 2011.
The building has multiple health hazards that just remodeling will not fix.They include asbestos, lead paint, electrical issues and black mold.
Please support the traditional Lakota Elders in Porcupine by contacting Paul Iron Cloud at 1- 605-867-5161
Demand the OST build the Porcupine Elders a New Elder's Center that is Safe & Healthy for them! Do Not Remodel one that has been condemned at least four times already!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Uncle Duane has called me and told me his daughter Joanne
Marie Martin was injured at School and has been taken to the
hospital, he did not have any real details other than she was
in surgery,but he had scraped up enough Gas money to get to
the Hospital he thinks.
If you can help him Call Cante Tenza @
Free & Independent Lakota Nation
Free & Independent Lakota Nation
Box 512, Hill City, South Dakota 57747
1-605-517-1547
Friday, April 6, 2012
Lakota Elders Share Their Daily Lives
After a long conversation with several of the Traditional Elders from The Porcupine District of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota this evening, I am still heartbroken and shocked that the Traditional Lakota Ways can have become so lost in these modern days.
As my Elders again share with me their daily struggles, and tell me of the violence they face,often from those who are supposed to be protecting them.It is a confusing situation for those of us raised to respect our Elders
Some of the most recent examples can be reviewed here :http://cantetenza.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/march-31-2012-update/
While the Elders were bringing me up to date on their lives,details almost beyond belief were spoken of in a matter of fact way. These Elderly People were reconciled to this as normal living on a daily basis.
Unci (Grandmother) Cecilia Martin who is 92 years old talks about the abuse of the elderly there. She says the CAP Office does not help them. She says that monies that come in, do not go to the Elders and for their care, but goes to the Tribal Council,their families & friends, while the Elders go with-out basic care, like electric service, propane in the winters. Maintenance on homes and roads leading to their homes just does not happen.
She said that she was born & raised in the Porcupine District and lived her life there, but now she feels like she is in a concentration camp , or a slave to those who control the funding of the tribe.
That the food sent from the Elders Meals Program when they get it is not enough to sustain them. One of the women who works there is reputed to have TB and now they are afraid to eat it, since most of them are scared of infection and know that IHS does not really meet their needs when they get sick. Those who have Medicare go to the Gordon Clinic but that often takes money they do not have so they use traditional ways and other-wise go with-out.
She shared with me, that being in a wheelchair, she is paying people $10 to $15 to carry off her trash when she could afford it. Tribe charges $50 to put a trash can in front of their homes and pick up their garbage. This is part of the frustration of those who own their homes and have no way to maintain them.as age and health make doing so an impossibility.
Enoch Brings Plenty speaks again about the need for a new Elders Center and of the Elders wanting one close to the Post Office. He is worried since instead of the one hundred thousand dollars that was supposed granted to build a new one the Council is discussing raising funds to rebuild the old one that has now been condemned at least four times. He shares with me about how Elders can’t get approved for Homes through the Tribal Housing Authority unless they have a guaranteed income of $12,000, for many $4000 a year is a good year. Then for those who do “Qualify” the homes are not maintained even though they pay monthly rent.
His wife speaks of being mistreated because she is Lakota but not originally from Pine Ridge. She has been married to her husband who is from Pine Ridge for over 40 years and is still denied needed services. Her brother is in the hospital in Rapid City and she had no way or help to reach his side before his surgery today.
All want to see a audit done of the Grants, Federal Funding and other incomes that have been received by the Tribe for Elder Care.
All also agree that a investigation by someone that can force the needed changes is overdue, The Tribal & State Governments continue to make promises they do not keep and the hope that the Federal Government will apply anything other than the system of genocide employed since its inception is rapidly disappearing for these Elders.
They pray daily that something changes, not just for them but for all the Traditional People just trying to survive while keeping their culture and way of life alive.
x
Monday, March 19, 2012
The Elders Speak
Lakota Traditional Elders met today in the Porcupine District to discuss the on-going issues with the OST Tribal Governments failure to address and meet the needs of the District's Elderly .
During the meeting the Elders ask one of my relatives to call me and have me call where they were meeting so that I might hear their words and share them with the world.They spoke in the Traditional way of the Lakota, each taking a turn at speaking.Hearing their words, their daily struggles to just survive was heart wrenching and would make any with a soul angry.
It was humbling to hear the words of Unci (Grandmother) Ester Whiteface who was born on Feb 11th 1922 and speaks about the small amount of food provided through the Elder Meals Program,of the failure to get any real help, adequate medical care,transportation and heating help or any of the basic needs.That she and many of the Elders have less than $400 a month to pay rent & utilities with,buy food, get to & pay for medical appointments etc.
Her daughter Lorraine who is 77 years old, spoke about being assaulted,hit and kicked by younger women last week when she went to where the Trucks were dropping supplies, as the younger women tried to take the small box the truck driver had given her away from her. She spoke about how she felt bad hitting them back as holding anger and acting in anger was not the Lakota way, but she could not help it. That she is poor and they needed those supplies.She Spoke of needing transportation at times and when the Tribe would help with money it was $15 to $20 and once a Elder had received it were ineligible for help again for six months.
Enoch Brings Plenty spoke of how the Elders had asked that he be put in charge of the Elder Meals Program,How after the Occupation of The Elders Center by the Elders.The same relative of a Council Member that had been in charge before the Occupation had been hired back and was again in charge.How once again the Elders that were getting any food from the program were not getting enough. He spoke about how in spite of a $100K allotment for a New Center & The Elder Program in the District, That The OST Council are again talking about renovating the current building.A building that has now been condemned 4 times by different State & Federal Agencies.He spoke of the in-ability for many of them to get housing, so they lived in old mobile homes,often with holes in the roofs, cracked & broken windows and general disrepair and no help with maintenance.
He spoke of them no longer even knowing where to turn for help and that they just kept hanging on, struggling to survive and praying that some-one, some-how would make a difference and change things for the Elders there.
Unci Cecelia Martin spoke of being in a wheel chair, having to pay the Tribal Housing Authority rent, but that she had a hole in her living room floor that they would not repair.
She told of how there is a $3.750 allotment every 90 days for the Elder Programs in the District as well, and how to date there has never been a clear accounting of where those funds are going really made.
She shared about being with-out food, how often all the Elders deal with that. Of stopped up sewers and no one fixing them and not having money to hire and pay some-one to do so.That her grandson and a few others try to help her and the other Elders but it is difficult to address all the needs when they too have limited incomes.
A 22 year old Warrior named Leo, Who stayed with the Elders through out the entire Occupation of The Elder Center shared his thoughts and feelings about the experience, and how his heart had been touched by the strength and courage of these Elders.He stressed how important it is that the World understand what is truly happening on Pine Ridge to the Elders, of the abuse they are being subjected to by their own BIA Tribal Government.
After hearing my Elders speak going between Lakota and English, Leo's words indeed need to be a reminder to the Lakota Oyate." Our elders built today for us yesterday, as Lakota People we need to recognize that and show respect and honor and help them"
During the meeting the Elders ask one of my relatives to call me and have me call where they were meeting so that I might hear their words and share them with the world.They spoke in the Traditional way of the Lakota, each taking a turn at speaking.Hearing their words, their daily struggles to just survive was heart wrenching and would make any with a soul angry.
It was humbling to hear the words of Unci (Grandmother) Ester Whiteface who was born on Feb 11th 1922 and speaks about the small amount of food provided through the Elder Meals Program,of the failure to get any real help, adequate medical care,transportation and heating help or any of the basic needs.That she and many of the Elders have less than $400 a month to pay rent & utilities with,buy food, get to & pay for medical appointments etc.
Her daughter Lorraine who is 77 years old, spoke about being assaulted,hit and kicked by younger women last week when she went to where the Trucks were dropping supplies, as the younger women tried to take the small box the truck driver had given her away from her. She spoke about how she felt bad hitting them back as holding anger and acting in anger was not the Lakota way, but she could not help it. That she is poor and they needed those supplies.She Spoke of needing transportation at times and when the Tribe would help with money it was $15 to $20 and once a Elder had received it were ineligible for help again for six months.
Enoch Brings Plenty spoke of how the Elders had asked that he be put in charge of the Elder Meals Program,How after the Occupation of The Elders Center by the Elders.The same relative of a Council Member that had been in charge before the Occupation had been hired back and was again in charge.How once again the Elders that were getting any food from the program were not getting enough. He spoke about how in spite of a $100K allotment for a New Center & The Elder Program in the District, That The OST Council are again talking about renovating the current building.A building that has now been condemned 4 times by different State & Federal Agencies.He spoke of the in-ability for many of them to get housing, so they lived in old mobile homes,often with holes in the roofs, cracked & broken windows and general disrepair and no help with maintenance.
He spoke of them no longer even knowing where to turn for help and that they just kept hanging on, struggling to survive and praying that some-one, some-how would make a difference and change things for the Elders there.
Unci Cecelia Martin spoke of being in a wheel chair, having to pay the Tribal Housing Authority rent, but that she had a hole in her living room floor that they would not repair.
She told of how there is a $3.750 allotment every 90 days for the Elder Programs in the District as well, and how to date there has never been a clear accounting of where those funds are going really made.
She shared about being with-out food, how often all the Elders deal with that. Of stopped up sewers and no one fixing them and not having money to hire and pay some-one to do so.That her grandson and a few others try to help her and the other Elders but it is difficult to address all the needs when they too have limited incomes.
A 22 year old Warrior named Leo, Who stayed with the Elders through out the entire Occupation of The Elder Center shared his thoughts and feelings about the experience, and how his heart had been touched by the strength and courage of these Elders.He stressed how important it is that the World understand what is truly happening on Pine Ridge to the Elders, of the abuse they are being subjected to by their own BIA Tribal Government.
After hearing my Elders speak going between Lakota and English, Leo's words indeed need to be a reminder to the Lakota Oyate." Our elders built today for us yesterday, as Lakota People we need to recognize that and show respect and honor and help them"
Call To Action
Cante Tenza Call To Action!
Cante Tenza is calling on All People of Conscious across the globe to contact the OST and let them know the eyes of the world are on them!That it is Not acceptable for the Bootleggers and criminals who are killing the Lakota Nation to be given a free pass while those who stand for the Law and the Good Of The People are beaten,jailed & charged with crimes they did not commit!
Call RayAnn Red Owl
at the OST Courthouse!
1-605-867-5151
Tell Her to drop all Charges against Louis Janis!
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