It only took 500 hundred years to make it to middle class!
There is a new middle-class rising in Rapid City
By Native Sun News Editorial Board There is something happening in Rapid City that is unusual and for the most part unnoticed. Very quietly Rapid City is sprouting a Native American middle class. If you drive past Lakota Homes and visit the housing that has sprung up about 5 miles north of the city you will see a community of nice, middle class homes and you might be surprised to find out that many of these homes are owned by Native Americans. The same can be said for homes throughout the city. As the educational level of Indians goes up they are finding jobs in an around this city that one could never have imagined 20 years ago. There are Indians working at newspapers, and as bus drivers, mechanics, carpenters, bank tellers, educators, college professors, program directors, in the field of medicine, as counselors for drug and alcohol programs and in hospitals like the Sioux San and Rapid City Regional Hospital. It should be noted that the Sioux San alone has an annual payroll and local purchases for goods and services of around $20 million. This includes medical services from Rapid City Regional Hospital. There are also several Indian business owners making their marks in and around the city. These self-employed American Indians and the hundreds now working in job positions throughout the city are now looking to the future for themselves and their children by purchasing homes, automobiles and even boats. This is a new phenomenon for this city. For too many years banks were reluctant to extend home mortgage loans to Native Americans. But all of that started to change when the income levels of the Indian people started to rise. Now banks like US Bank have opened up to working closely with Native Americans by extending them home mortgage loans and even start-up loans for those seeking to open their own businesses. Even the city government began to open its doors to employing more Native Americans and even reaching out to increase the number of its police officers. Many Rapid City Native Americans were extremely happy to see the city begin printing portions of its City Council minutes in this newspaper. Elizabeth Cook-Lynn said, “For the first time many of us felt that we were actually a part of this city instead of the outsiders we came to believe we were.” When you finish reading this editorial please read the column by Editor Ernestine Chasing Hawk and her explanation of how this might change because of the recent mayoral election. Native Sun News will continue to work with City Hall and with the law enforcement offices of the City and of Pennington County because we believe that the “right to know” is still strongly appropriate for the Native American citizens of Rapid City. We are a part of this city. We live here, we vote and we send our children to the public schools and we have every right to be included in the city happenings. (The Editorial Board can be reached at editor@nsweekly.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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