“We have poverty and therefore a lot of alcohol consumption,” says John Yellow Bird Steele, president of the Oglala Sioux tribe.
John, you need to look a bit deeper. Get your tribe to look in the mirror. When I lived in Pine Ridge about 40 some years ago and went to high school at Oglala Community High School it was as sad then as it is today. Then, about 90% of new-borns were born to parents who were married. Today, that number on the reservation is far less than half that. Kids galore and no family structure in sight. Where are the warriors who want to man up and take responsibility for their own DNA? Where are the dads to teach these children to fish, to hunt, to ride, to rope, to dance, to work, to play football and basketball to be the future great Thorpes?
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