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MORTALITY:
* Lakota men have a life expectancy of less than 44 years, one of the lowest of any country in the World
* The Lakota infant mortality rate is 300% more than the U.S. Average.
* One out of every four Lakota children born are fostered or adopted out to non-Indian homes.
* Teenage suicide rate is 150% higher than the U.S national average
DISEASE:
* Cervical cancer is 500% higher than the U.S national average.
* The rate of diabetes is 800% higher than the U.S national average.
* Federal Commodity Food Program provides high sugar, high fat, processed foods that increase our rates of diabetes and heart disease.
POVERTY:
* The median income is approximately $2,600 to $3,500 per year.
* 97% of our Lakota people live below the poverty line.
* Many families cannot afford heating oil, wood or propane and many residents use ovens to heat their homes.
UNEMPLOYMENT:
* Unemployment rates on our reservations are 80% or higher.
* There is very little industry to provide jobs
HOUSING:
* Elderly die each winter from hypothermia (freezing).
* 1/3 of the homes lack basic clean water and sewage while 40% lack electricity.
* 60% of Reservation families have no telephone.
* 60% of housing is infected with potentially fatal black molds.
* There is an estimated average of 17 people living in each family home (may only have two to three rooms). Some homes, built for 6 to 8 people, have up to 30 people living in them.
DRUGS AND ALCOHOL:
* More than half the Reservation’s adults battle addiction and disease.
* Alcoholism affects 9 in 10 families.
THREATENED CULTURE:
* Only 14% of the Lakota population can speak the Lakota language. The language is not being shared inter-generationally. * Today, the average age of a fluent Lakota speaker is 65 years.
* Our Lakota language is an Endangered Language, on the verge of extinction and is not allowed to be taught in the U.S. Government schools.
Please help us make this project a success so we can change these statistics for ourselves, our children and grandchildren.
