Ivan F. Star Comes Out. Photo from Native Sun News

‘Anpetu iyohila wasicu ki tehiya unkaupelo’
‘Every day the white man brings us hardship’
By Ivan F. Star Comes Out
www.nsweekly.com

I awoke a bit disappointed on January 1st because this day is supposed to be the beginning of a new year and I wasn’t feeling it. I thought about the now common practice of consuming alcohol in excess just to feel good, even if it is for a couple of hours. I believe we have been oppressed so much and so long that this is the only way natives can feel normal and content.

Sipping my coffee, I thought about the craziness that usually transpires on this particular alcohol immersed holiday. I did not wish to hear of someone freezing to death or of someone flown out to Rapid City hospital because he or she was assaulted during the night. I am fully aware of the indisputable fact unmentionable things happen to children at those so-called “parties.”

I thought about an event on New Year’s Eve, the night of the big party. Two of my grandsons wanted to go to Isna Wica Owayawa (Lone Man School). I asked what was going on there and learned that they were going to an event called a “lock in.” After satisfying my curiosity, I said they could go. They packed their sleeping bags, pillows, and their usual electronic gadgetry.

Read the rest of the story on the all new Native Sun News website: ‘Anpetu iyohila wasicu ki tehiya unkaupelo’

(Ivan F. Star Comes Out, POB 147, Oglala SD 57764, (605) 867-2448, mato_nasula2@outlook.com)

Copyright permission Native Sun News