October 11, 2011
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Must see TV!!!!
Meet the dreamers and survivors of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation this Friday at 10 p.m. ET on a 20/20 special titled “Hidden America: Children of the Plains”.
Here is a synopsis for part of the show:
Reservation Child’s Wish: Fresh Water, Bubble Gum and a Backpack
By ELISSA STOHLER
When ABC News first met little Tashina Iron Horse, she was 5 years old, a chatty and vivacious kindergartener. Now she’s 6, in the first grade, and she tells us she wants Justin Bieber to be her boyfriend. If she could, she’d ask President Obama for “Fresh water…and bubble gum…and a backpack.” She wants to grow up to be a police officer, a career choice inspired by her mother Bobbie, who works long hours as a security guard.
Tashina lives on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where most of the 30,000 to 40,000 residents identify as Oglala Lakota Sioux and boast of a rich cultural history and deep-seeded spirituality. Located in the southwest corner of South Dakota, Pine Ridge is one of the 565 federally recognized Indian Nations in the United States. It is also one of the poorest.
Young Tashina Iron Horse is a competitive pow wow dancer. (credit: Elissa Stohler/ABC News)
Pine Ridge residents live amid poverty that rivals that of the third world. Forty-seven percent of the Pine Ridge population lives below the federal poverty level, 65 percent to 80 percent of the adults are unemployed, and rampant alcoholism and an obesity epidemic combine with underfunded schools to make it a rough place to grow up. Tashina lives in government housing in Manderson, 30 minutes north of downtown Pine Ridge. She lives with her grandmother, parents, siblings and uncles – sometimes up to 19 people live in the three-bedroom house, which has seen better days.
In the decades following President John F. Kennedy’s pledge to fund public housing projects on American Indian reservations, a construction boom began in Pine Ridge. Today, most of these units built in the 1970s and 1980s are in varying degrees of disrepair – a result, critics say, of steep cuts to the Housing and Urban Development budget made by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. Public housing dollars today are largely spent battling black mold in reservation housing rather than constructing new homes.
Amid the despair, there are youth across the reservation — like Tashina — who are breaking through the hopelessness with huge dreams and powerful stories.
So that she can be a competitive dancer at the pow wows, Tashina sports beautifully hand-crafted outfits made by her Uncle Matthew. Matthew is a senior in high school who lovingly hand-sews and beads Tashina’s pow wow regalia: shawls, moccasins, hair pieces, and dresses. At the pow wows, Matthew is constantly at Tashina’s side: practicing with her and helping her get into costume.
Learn more about Tashina and the challenges she and other Pine Ridge children face Friday at 10 p.m. ET on “Hidden America: Children of the Plains,” a 20/20 special. Check out a sneak peek — Tashina teaches Diane Sawyer some of her moves — below.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/10/tashina-the-kindergarten-dancer-breaking-through-hopelessness-on-native-american-reservation/
Comments (4)
Watching this and taping it. It's just like the Rez I grew up on. So sad those stories were typical. It made me weep!!
Shame on America for cutting programs to help precious children Tashina, and all people who are forced to live in such poverty while we, the USA, supports over seas projects.
Brings tears to my eyes.
@Ikwa - @Grannys_Place -
This show didn’t depress me, as much as it made me angry! To live without having any opportunity for a better life is so wrong. Children need dreams that they can follow through on. The part that really got me angry was about the town outside of the res. How can 14 people live with themselves knowing what they are doing to the Native Community, is beyond my thinking. Greed is the only factor that comes to mind! Corporate America needs to wake up and start doing something for this children and their families. They need jobs that will make them feel productive and part of this country. I understand that moving off the res. is not the answer, It is Their Land! But if only Corporate America would do something to help improve the quality of life in and around the reservations, their lives would be so much better. I as an individual can’t do much to help them, but we (Corporate America) as a group might be able to. I hope and pray that they find their Bill Gates, Oprah, Buffet, etc. that will do something to enrich their lives.
@Traveler_In_Time - I hope and pray my kids would go back and help their reserve. I feel i did while I lived there on Leech Lake Indian Reservation. I used to collect hats and mitts for the children there. So many when without through freezing snow and ice. I am disappointed she didn't show the community centers they have on reservations. They have great community centers. Plus many Natives rather live in poverty than leave bc it defines who they are to the world. I am one without living on my reserve right now and at times I feel lost.
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