Once Were Warriors

*pic of Warrior and Horse by Marty Cuny, Oglala Lakota

We was all sitting around being artsy and crafty last night. My boyfriend....his friend, and me. My boyfriend and I are working on these quill/bead combo bracelets and his friend was like "Man, you are so lucky you have a woman like her. You guys just laugh, you have the same sense of humor, and you both love art."

He just smiled and said I know.

Which made me smile.

Then they started talking about how winter was coming up, and how nobody was going to buy anything anymore and how they needed jobs.

They talked of a new high school addition that the school is groundbreaking for next Monday. They talked of how they were told they could go see the contractor after the 15th of next month to see about getting a job.

Then they talked of how it was too hard to get a job, because tribal politics here rules everything. They talked of how it is to have kids to feed, bills to pay and every month was a struggle here. I know this. even though I have a job, I still barely pay bills. everyone that read me before knows I had it hard. I struggled to pay for internet, sometimes even logging on from the library. I talked of the struggles I had with welfare. I wasn't using the system, just surviving.



It got me thinking of our reservation.

So many people want to come here and "feel" our culture. I see them coming in everyday. Buy our arts and crafts and experience our spirituality. They are in awe of how long and tight we have held onto what is ours. They want to sit beside this pride we have still to this day even amongst the alcohol and poverty and other stats. People want to know the Lakota Sioux.

And all we are doing is surviving.