Zachary Davidson, staff writer

Floyd Hands, one of the leaders and celebrated elders of the Lakota/Sioux community on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, visited Warren Wilson College over the course of four days this past week. After speaking Saturday, April 5 at the international student dinner and during the worship service on April 6 at Warren Wilson Presbyterian Church, Floyd spoke in Canon Lounge Tuesday April 8 about many important subjects including family, ancestry, reverence for the earth, humanity's role as stewards, Lakota history, generational respect, and relationships.

It is important to remember that, prior to Floyd’s visit,  members of the Warren Wilson community formed an intimate relationship with the Pine Ridge community this past fall on a break trip led by Service Learning Director Janet Jones, PEAL Supervisor Gary Lilley and Senior Justin Levy.  The trip was sponsored and affiliated with the Conscious Alliance Youth Against Hunger Project.  The group of 10 had a successful trip, and their experiences have sparked interest in organizing more trips to Pine Ridge in the future.

Another important event worth noting in relation to Floyd's visit is the Lakota's declaration of Sovereignty from the United States Government.  On Dec. 20, 2007, representatives of the Lakota nation arrived in Washington and unilaterally withdrew from all compacts, agreements, and contracts with the U.S. Government.  These leaders included Russell Means, Women of All Red Nations (WARN) founder Phyllis Young, Oglala Lakota Strong Heart Society leader Duane Martin Sr., and Garry Rowland, Leader of Chief Big Foot Riders. Means, Rowland, Martin Sr. were all members of the 1973 Wounded Knee takeover.

Property ownership in the five state area of Lakota has become the primary focus as a result of this withdrawal.  Parts of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana have been illegally homesteaded for years despite knowledge of Lakota as predecessor sovereign [historic owner]. Lakota representatives say if the United States does not enter into immediate diplomatic negotiations, liens will be filed on real estate transactions in the five state region, clouding title over literally thousands of square miles of land and property.  Those liens are in the process of being filed.

Floyd Hands is very much connected to the leaders of this reclamation of Lakota independence. In his speeches at Wilson, Floyd talked about the abject poverty and the dire state of affairs in the Lakota nation that have resulted from oppressive U.S. apartheid policies. The severity of these conditions cannot be under emphasized.

The Republic of Lakota website lists these painful realities which they have to confront now that they are a sovereign nation.

"Lakota has the highest death rate in the United States, and Lakota men have the lowest life expectancy of any nation on earth, excluding AIDS, at approximately 44 years. Lakota infant mortality rate is five times the United States average and teen suicide rates 150% more than national average. Ninety-seven percent of Lakota people live below the poverty line and unemployment hovers near 85%," the website reports.

Support for Lakota is a moral imperative, especially by the  citizens of the colonizing nation.  Floyd insisted in his talks that, in order to truly reclaim our living relationship with the earth, we must break down the barriers of hate between each other by refusing to live a lifestyle based on the deeply entrenched acceptance of hate for each other.  Part of this hate has to do with the role that assumptions and generalizations play in our day to day thoughts and actions regarding our fellow human beings.  Floyd's words of wisdom were extraordinarily refreshing.  Amidst all of the recycled multiculturalist platitudes that frequent 'progressive' conversations in protected academic contexts, an environment of respect, attentiveness and genuine learning was created that Tuesday night in Canon Lounge.

Any students interested in seeing Floyd return to the college or interested in organizing another service trip should contact the Service Learning Office and the Conscious Alliance Project.