Welcome to the Oglala Lakota Nation. Photo by Lakota Country Times
Fitness Is a Priority
A note from the editor's desk
By Brandon Ecoffey
Lakota Country Times Editor
lakotacountrytimes.com Across the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation thousands of people have become aware of the benefits of living a more healthy and fit lifestyles. Each night in Pine Ridge you can see families walking the track as they take part in a wonderful program developed by the tribe's Diabetes Prevention Project that allows for our community members to earn credits by exercising and then exchange these credits for carnival tickets during this year's Oglala Nation Fair. When I first heard of the program I was simply blown away by the idea of allowing our people to exchange exercise for real life goods and services. Over the last few years there has been a move by many of our people away from drugs and alcohol and towards a life of exercise and health. The only problem was that their were very few reservation organization's and programs who recognized this shift. As a result, many of our people have had to make due with the limited facilities available to them for training. In previous columns I suggested that the Oglala Sioux Tribe find innovative ways to support this movement as it is literally saving our people's lives daily while improving the quality of life for families. For many the notion of using fitness to empower our people to free themselves from the impacts of colonization is absurd. That is of course until you talk to one of the many former addicts who have walked away from addiction and exchanged that way of life for one filled with weightlifting or running. It is further exemplified by the young person who is suffering from depression but find an outlet from that pain by putting in 30 minutes of work in the gym.
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Our council members must realize that a small investment into our community's physical health would have an impact that will reverberate into the next generation and make a lasting impact on the quality of life of the reservation. Each week we hear a debate by lawmakers in Washington talk about the Indian Health Service and we hear our own lawmakers talk about finding ways to fund our current healthcare system, but absent from these talks is any mention of the benefits of preventive healthcare. Families who practice a healthy lifestyle will have a smaller chance of getting diabetes. Kids who are suffering from abuse in their home can escape that life (even if it is for only a few hours) by going to the weight room. It's time for the tribe to recognize this community need and invest heavily into our community's fitness revolution. (Brandon Ecoffey is the editor of LCT and an award winning journalist from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He can be reached at editor@lakotacountrytimes.com) Find the award-winning Lakota Country Times on the Internet, Facebook and Twitter and download the new Lakota Country Times app today.
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