A Letter from the Executive Director - Blankets & a Bathtub

Last week, we hosted a “Nagi Circle” in which tribal members, and those from communities living off the reservations, gathered at the request of an elder from Pine Ridge to honor and support a brave young Lakota boy.  As violence erupted in his community, this eight-year-old boy had the courage to shepherd the younger children into a bathroom, hide them in a bathtub and cover them with a blanket while chaos swirled all around them.

Guests and participants in the circle last week were invited to support the boy through words of encouragement, prayers and offers of tangible help.  The Tipi Raisers and tribal members who collaborated to support this youngster will remain steadfast in our commitment to standing with him – and with the others to whom we have pledged help. We will do so having learned the following lessons, after well over a decade of working with our partners and friends the Pine Ridge reservation:

1. Commitments made are commitments that must be upheld until the promise has been kept. It is too often easy to be emotionally moved by a story or a promise made in a moment, and then let the promise of that moment fade. For those of you who stood behind the young boy and promised support in whatever way you can; we will help you, however we can, to honor that promise.
2. Communities that suffer from generational trauma, profound poverty, grievous levels of violence and drug use, racial tension, etc. require intensive support, creative and thoughtful remedies, and a commitment to the long game.  Impatience and naïve hope in short term solutions not only lead to frustration, but also sometimes further harm the community, as support is provided, promised, and then suddenly or prematurely withdrawn.
3. The young people must be engaged, but they must also be carefully and conscientiously mentored and guided by elders who have walked the planet longer. There is an unfortunate refrain from some in the older generation that defers an unreasonable amount of responsibility on the younger generation, while intimating that it is now up to the younger generation to solve the legacy of over a century of harm and poor decisions. In some cases, that deferment feels like a reaction to the adults’ own overwhelm.
4. Finally, for those standing in the circle on that beautiful sunny afternoon, as well as those who have volunteered, supported and donated to The Tipi Raisers for years now: There are many powerful and effective ways to help. One person’s help is not necessarily like the other’s.  Some people have financial resources -- and money is needed to care for, transport, house, feed and otherwise take care of the youth we are helping. Some people have time and expertise – that time is needed to smoothly operate so many parts of our program.  Some people have connections to other communities and networks that ultimately are of service to those we help. Some people have wisdom, time to listen, ideas that might help, prayers to lead with, etc.  All those count.  

For the young boy who hid his siblings when violence threatened . . . who then looked around the circle and saw that there were so many with so much respect for what he did; who wondered if they would have had the strength and courage; and who promised to walk with him in support . . . . for that boy, and all the other youth we have promised to walk with, protect and bring resources to – we want them to know we heard them. Saw them and will continue to support them.

- Dave