Members and friends of the want Denver-area students to know more about the tribe than its battle against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Tribe representatives, who came to Denver as part of an effort by , a non–profit group that works to raise awareness about the crippling poverty at the tribe’s home on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. They also wanted the students to learn about the Lakota Sioux’s proud heritage and willingness to challenge authority.
Recently, that pride and determination has been on display during protests of the which is slated to run from the Bakken oil fields in western North Dakota under parts of Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.
Several American Indian tribes converged on that area late last year to protest the pipeline, saying it would threaten the region’s clean water and ancient burial grounds. As many as 10,000 joined the protest, including Rueben Fast Horse, a teacher who was part of a group of Oglala Lakota Sioux who visited several local schools last week.
Fast Horse said Standing Rock showed that a common threat could unite the tribes into a potent force.
“It began as a small protest that manifested into a huge, population of people who came together for a single purpose,” said Fast Horse.
Several Sioux tribes have passed resolutions in support of Standing Rock protests including the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Cheyenne River Sioux, Crow Creek Tribe and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.
Protesters, at the urging of tribal leaders, have either gone home or retreated to other areas near Standing Rock, mostly due to the harsh winter weather, said Fast Horse.
Still, the fight against the pipeline will continue vowed Fast Horse, who cajoled a U.S. History class at Cherry Creek High School Friday to think about life at where many of the Oglala Lakota Sioux live. Pine Ridge, he noted, is only about six hours away from Denver.
It’s also considered one of the poorest areas of the United States, where the average life span of a man on the 30,000-member reservation is only 48 years. Many of the homes there do not have running water.
“Step outside of yourself, step out of your box and think about these things,” Fast Horse said.
Dave Ventimiglia, executive director of The Tipi Raisers, told the students about the brutal history between the tribe and the U.S. government, including the Dec. 29, 1890, massacre at at Pine Ridge.Many historians say the U.S. Army opened fire on a mostly defenseless encampment of Lakota, killing at least 150 men, women and children. Many of the dead were later piled into a mass grave, where a Catholic church was later built.
“I’m an Italian and a Catholic so I’m not here to bash Catholics, but this is history, this is what happened,” Ventimiglia said.
“What the Lakota Sioux didn’t do, was let their culture and music die out.”
Tribal members sang, danced and told the students their lives revolved around honoring nature and their ancestors.
Toumi Annoh, a 16-year-old junior, said he appreciated hearing the tribe’s perspective.
“I enjoyed it. It was very touching. I’m glad we were able to experience it.”
