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AUGUST 4, 2000

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development has released a report on recent developments on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

The report, detailing improvements in housing, education, and economic development, comes a little over a year after President Clinton visited the reservation. Clinton's visit was the first by a President to a reservation since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936.

Much like FDR, Clinton had come to tout his own new deal. Focusing on economic development, Clinton launched a new initiative at Pine Ridge to call for investment in Indian Country.

Some of that investment began last year at the Shared Visions Summit. The event brought together tribal leaders, federal officials, and non-profit and private partners in an attempt to improve condition on the reservation.

HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo returned to the reservation on Thursday in order to present an update on the progress which has been made since the summit.

"We still have work to do here in Pine Ridge and throughout Indian Country, but with President Clinton’s leadership and the cooperation of our partners, we have come a long way," Cuomo said. "But today’s report show just how far we have come."

The report cites the completion of 17 mortgage loans, rehabilitation and construction of 290 housing units, improved educational facilities, and corporate commitment to the reservation as some of the improvements made.

The reservation is one of the poorest in the country. Unemployment hovers around 70 percent.

The nearby town of Whiteclay in Nebraska draws attention due to the availability of liquor. Protests at the town last year called for an end to the sale of liquor, as well as an investigation into the deaths of several Lakota men.

South Dakota was also the focus of a US Commission on Civil Rights report on disparities in the justice system. The Commission concluded Indian residents of the state are treated differently than non-Indians.

In today's Omaha World Herald, Harold Salway, the tribe's suspended president, says the report is too positive. He also says internal turmoil must first be resolved before the tribe can have a successful future.

A grass roots movement among tribal members took over the tribal headquarters six months ago in an attempt to free the government of alleged corruption.

Cuomo also spent part of his visit to Pine Ridge dedicating the SuAnne Big Crow Boys and Girls Club Youth Wellness and Opportunity Center. The center is named in honor of SuAnne Big Crow, a Pine Ridge High School basketball star who was killed in car accident eight years ago.

Ian Frazier, in his book On the Rez, spends a considerable portion writing about her and her legacy.

Relevant Links:
Shared Visions: Pine Ridge -- a year later Sharing The Dream - www.hud.gov/pressrel/pineridge/pineridge.html
The Official Homepage of the Grass Roots Oyate - members.tripod.com/GrassRootsOyate

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