Newsletter
June 15, 2009
Hau Mitakuyapi (Hello All My Relatives and Friends) (Lakota)
Welcome to our first edition of SMOKE SIGNALS the official newsletter of Tatanka Hoksila The Buffalo Boy Foundation.
We just want to give a big thanks to all involved in helping to make our dream of a better life for the Indigenous People of this continent come true. Many on our Board of Directors live on reservations and know exactly the trials, tribulations, and hardships many face in their daily lives. For most, every day is a matter of survival. Many Americans do not understand the ‘‘trickle down” effects of true poverty. The Native Americans were stripped of their culture, their language, their spirituality, their very way of life for centuries, and forced to live on useless pieces of land and conform to the European/American way of life. This was not their way. There were over 500 different cultures and tribes on this continent before the Europeans came. Proud, strong, humble, warrior, wandering and hunting societies. There is still evidence today of many advanced architectural and scientific discoveries found and created by many of the Tribal People. So much for ‘‘heathen savages.”
Tatanka Hoksila Foundation is focused on developing and executing better ways for Native Peoples to obtain better health care, education, and preserving their cultural identity. Creating economy is utmost in making the reservations and it’s people more self-sufficient. There are no jobs. Unemployment is higher than anywhere else in this country. See our DONATE page for statistics just on the Pine Ridge Reservation alone. Just today the AP and the Washington Post printed THIS ARTICLE on the Indian Health Services. Also see THIS ARTICLE on poverty in Indian Country. Please take a moment to read them.
All of us who started and maintain TATANKA HOKSILA hope you can give generously to our cause, and we want you to know that every penny is being used to take action on the issues that face all of the Native Americans in the 21st Century. They want and deserve a better life. They want self-sufficiency. Charity and material donations are helpful, useful and needed, but here at TATANKA HOKSILA we feel the band-aids only stop the bleeding, they don’t heal the wound. We want to heal the wound through health, education, cultural preservation, economy and self-sufficiency.
We are a new foundation that relies totally upon you and your generosity. We will be adding to our website frequently news, events, how your money is helping, and all current projects. We will also have photos and videos for your enjoyment and education. Please SUBSCRIBE to be kept udated.
Wicozani wa wocekiya wolakota (Be well and pray for peace) (Lakota)
