"Third World" or "Developing World"
Tom (the Executive Director) brought up an interesting point during the orientation for the group here this week as they were introduced to Re-Member on Saturday afternoon.
Many, including Tom, describe the poverty on Pine Ridge as being that of "third world" levels.
Tom noted that earlier in the season, he was challenged in this definition, with the suggestion that the term "developing nation" is now used as a more descriptive term for locales that experience poverty today.
The reality is, Pine Ridge is not a developing nation.
Earlier this year, I visited Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. As I experienced Honduras, it is easy to see how one would deem the poverty I saw there to be that of a developing nation. In Tegucigalpa, the capital city, streets are lined with chain restaurants, factories, growing neighborhoods -- as well as run down businesses, abandoned homes and slums.
Outside the capital, as one moves further into the rural countryside and the mountains, development becomes less apparent, and the grips of poverty become more apparent.
Here in Pine Ridge, although there are bright spots where a few businesspeople and individuals are making progress and can demonstrate their successes, the vast majority of residents on this sprawling reservation are caught in the grips of some of the most desperate circumstances you will find anywhere in the world. All of this, in the middle of America.
I expected that on this return trip, I may not see the desperation I had seen on my last visit here, in late February of 2008. At that time, in the grips of a long and hard winter, many residents of Pine Ridge were literally freezing to death, as budgets to buy propane became depleted.
If anything, from what I have seen and heard so far, things are as bad, if not worse.
Crafting is a mainstay of rez residents, as many rightly attempt to supplement their income by selling crafts to tourists and volunteers who come to Pine Ridge to observe, or to make a difference in the conditions here.
Pine Ridge is in the midst of a crafting war, brought on, in large part, by the increasing desperation of residents who are depending on their sales to get by.
At Wounded Knee, across the road from the mass grave and cemetary is a small collection of craft stands, strategically positioned to benefit from those who come from around the world to stop at the historic spot.
Within the past week, conditions have deteriorated so quickly that the safety of the site is in question. Vandalism, and petty crimes of intimidation are being carried out by crafters against other crafters.
A sure sign of how desperate things truly are.
Many, including Tom, describe the poverty on Pine Ridge as being that of "third world" levels.
Tom noted that earlier in the season, he was challenged in this definition, with the suggestion that the term "developing nation" is now used as a more descriptive term for locales that experience poverty today.
The reality is, Pine Ridge is not a developing nation.
Earlier this year, I visited Honduras, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. As I experienced Honduras, it is easy to see how one would deem the poverty I saw there to be that of a developing nation. In Tegucigalpa, the capital city, streets are lined with chain restaurants, factories, growing neighborhoods -- as well as run down businesses, abandoned homes and slums.
Outside the capital, as one moves further into the rural countryside and the mountains, development becomes less apparent, and the grips of poverty become more apparent.
Here in Pine Ridge, although there are bright spots where a few businesspeople and individuals are making progress and can demonstrate their successes, the vast majority of residents on this sprawling reservation are caught in the grips of some of the most desperate circumstances you will find anywhere in the world. All of this, in the middle of America.
I expected that on this return trip, I may not see the desperation I had seen on my last visit here, in late February of 2008. At that time, in the grips of a long and hard winter, many residents of Pine Ridge were literally freezing to death, as budgets to buy propane became depleted.
If anything, from what I have seen and heard so far, things are as bad, if not worse.
Crafting is a mainstay of rez residents, as many rightly attempt to supplement their income by selling crafts to tourists and volunteers who come to Pine Ridge to observe, or to make a difference in the conditions here.
Pine Ridge is in the midst of a crafting war, brought on, in large part, by the increasing desperation of residents who are depending on their sales to get by.
At Wounded Knee, across the road from the mass grave and cemetary is a small collection of craft stands, strategically positioned to benefit from those who come from around the world to stop at the historic spot.
Within the past week, conditions have deteriorated so quickly that the safety of the site is in question. Vandalism, and petty crimes of intimidation are being carried out by crafters against other crafters.
A sure sign of how desperate things truly are.
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