A few facts I have learned recently….
(1) The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was created as a part of the War Department…the War Department. Therefore, it is not much of a stretch to think that it must have been created to be aggressive and to suppress the Native Americans.
(2) The Pine Ridge Reservation is was (is still?) classified as a POW Camp. After all, the Native Americans are governed by the BIA, a War Department branch.
(3) After the formation of the reservations, the Native Americans had to ask permission to leave the reservation. They needed a “pass”. While they do not need a pass today, they might as well still have it imposed. The abject poverty of the area traps the Lakota on the reservation. It is over 100 miles to Rapid City, SD. Over 60 miles to a town in Nebraska, the location of the closest Wal-Mart.
(4) Not only is it poor, but the cost of food and items needed to live are through the roof. My reference food, a small container of Gerber’s Beef Baby Food is about 99 cents in Westminster, MD. On the reservation it is $1.33. The median income for a family is $4200/year.
A painting from a buffalo robe