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Changing
Winds Literacy Project
For the Indian Reservations in South Dakota
WHY
SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT POVERTY IN SOUTH DAKOTA?
SUICIDE
is the LEADING cause of death among the youth, and on some reservations,
there is a suicide almost every two weeks and more.
On
the Pine Ridge reservation, in 2006, close to 1,000 children were
removed from their homes and families, their culture and people.
Many were removed solely due to poverty.
75%
Drop Out of High School due to inability to get to school, lack
of inspiration in their daily life, inability to conceive of a
better life, parental hopelessness that breeds hopelessness in
the children
Poverty
causes astronomical health problems including depression, alcoholism
and diabetes, highest infant mortality rates in the country, lowest
ages of adult mortality: 50 years old for men, 60 for women.
Unemployment
is 70-85% on most of the reservations we serve * The nearest city
offering employment is often 100-200 miles away * Most homes were
built in the 1970s and have had no repair since.* Mobile homes
are patched with cardboard and car parts* In South Dakota 80%
of American Indian children live in extreme poverty. * Some people
live in trucking containers and cars * The temperatures are extreme
both in the summer and winter * Many people heat their homes with
their ovens * Children come to school with their pants held up
by ropes and their shoes held together with tape. * Many homes
on Pine Ridge, Crow Creek, Cheyenne River do not have heat throughout
the winter. Some people sleep on floors * nearest city offering
employment is often 100-200 miles away * Most homes were built
in the 1970s and have had no repair since.* Mobile homes are patched
with cardboard and car parts* In South Dakota 80% of American
Indian children live in extreme poverty. * Some people live in
trucking containers and cars * The temperatures are extreme both
in the summer and winter * Many people heat their homes with their
ovens * Children come to school with their pants held up by ropes
and their shoes held together with tape. * Many homes on Pine
Ridge, Crow Creek, Cheyenne River do not have heat throughout
the winter. Some people sleep on floors *
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