Garfield Steele: Oglala Sioux Tribe must protect our children

Where do we as an Oglala Nation take our stand to protect the welfare of our children? We begin by coming into compliance with current federal mandates by publishing the names of those tribal members on our website who have committed atrocious crimes against our children. We begin by making it our own sacred cause to defend our future generations against the sexual predators that roam our communities no matter who they are related to or who they are politically in the community or what they write in the newspapers. It shouldn’t take an act of congress for we, as a sovereign nation, to do what’s in the best interest of our children.

It is fundamentally wrong on every level to give power and protection to those who have committed the most heinous crimes against our children behind closed doors. We are better than that, our heritage is greater than that and we as a nation must take action on every level to address this issue. Dis-enrollment and banishing child predators are just a couple solutions but coming into compliance with federal law is where we must begin.

There is no one person more corrupt in our society than an individual who attacks our native children and any council representative who defends such an individual should also be held politically accountable.