Im sorry to ask for your help again but we are trying to save lives.
If all you can do is spread the word we need help that is helping. We have 30 plus families asking for assistance.
We have families in need on the rez. This is an emergency call for funds. We have a 501 3c group to write the checks to. It is a tax deductible donation but we need money now. There are families very cold with children and elders Please contact us with any help. Please spread the word to corporations who might help in a big way.
This is very serious. Our personal funds are gone and the people need help.
100% of all monies goes to help the people to heat themselves.
In Peace keith _____________________________________________________________
Utility/Heating Assistance Program For The Lakota Sioux Elders of South Dakota
8 Siouxan Reservations in South Dakota Pine Ridge Reservation, Cheyenne River Reservation, Crow Creek Reservation, Lower Brule Reservation, Rosebud Reservation, Sisseton-Wahpeton Reservation, Yankton Reservation, Flandreau Santee Reservation
Among the poorest indigenous people in the United States
Over 60% of the homes are severely sub-standard
Average income on the Oglala Lakota Sioux Pine Ridge Reservation is only approximately $2600.00 per YEAR
Winter low temperatures in South Dakota average 9* F (November through February) Made worse with bitter wind-chill factors and Record Temperatures reaching -44* below 0*F (1996)
Elders have died from hypothermia due to inability to pay for heating
Help Us Help the Elders!
All applicants screened and documented Payments made directly to utility, propane, wood, or heat equipment companies
Donations carefully tracked and accountable
All donations tax-deductible
All administrative costs associated with this project are fully underwritten by Audrey Link (Director) and The Link Center Foundation
Therefore, All specified donations go 100% to help the Elders (Mark your check, "Elders Heating Fund")
Send donations to
Link Center Foundation P.O. Box 2253 – Longmont, CO 80502-2253 **************************************** Link Center Foundation Affiliate of the National Heritage Foundation 501(c)(3) Tax ID #58-2085326
To: Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) & Duluth Police Department
Stop the continual abuse, racism and violence against Native Americans from police departments and other authorities.
On October 12, 2005 David Croud a 29 year old Native American from the White Earth Reservation was beaten by officers from the Duluth Police Department in downtown Duluth, MN. According to reports, Croud was apparently intoxicated and had been harassing patrons at a local casino. Police were called to take Croud to the detox center.
Eye witness accounts state "Croud was passive, it was the police officers that were the aggressive ones" The officers in question slammed Croud into a stone wall a couple of times, then flung him to the pavement. His face was bloody and there was a pool of blood on the pavement. He was then shoved into the police car.
Croud was taken to the St. Mary's Medical Center emergency room, not the detox center. He was in critical condition upon arrival, placed on life support in intensive care and never regained consciousness after going into a coma.
Croud passed away on October 18, 2005.
The question is just because someone is intoxicated, does that mean they deserve to be beaten and die because of it? What right did these eight officers have to take his life?
The eight officers involved in this incident have been placed on administrative leave and the case is "under investigation."
The continual racism and violence against Native Americans within the police departments all over the country, must come to a end. These officers should be immediately and permanently removed from duty and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. These eight officers should not be receiving special treatment in this case. The eye witnesses have stated the events that took place, the facts are all against the officers in question. Any other individual that committed this crime would already be charged and imprisoned awaiting trail. Instead almost two weeks later, the case is still "under investigation."
Please support this petition and let the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) & Duluth Police Department know that this behavior and lack of immediate action will no longer be tolerated.
The people DEMAND action in this case and these eight officers be prosecuted in a criminal court for their crime. Justice must be served.
This happened to my daughter-in-law at a local grocery store here in Rapid City where she works. I won't identify the store because this probably could have happened (and does happen) at any store here in Rapid City.
My daughter-in-law is a cashier, a very good one, with several years of experience and a very professional attitude, though she is only 21. They love her at the store because she always has a big smile and can bag really quickly on her own. Customers are served, out of the store and on their way with little delay.
She is, however, the only American Indian cashier.
Two men, dressed in cowboy hats and Western clothing, deliberately chose her line to pay for their items. There were three other cashiers working, but these cashiers were about three or four checkstands away from her.
My daughter-in-law immediately smiled and asked them if they found everything they needed, as she always does. One (white) man remarked, "Look, they let wild Indians work here."
My daughter-in-law was upset but continued to smile and remain professional, scanning their items. She told them how much they owed, while the other white man remarked, "Look, she even knows how to count!"
The first cowboy threw down a $20 bill, which the moving rubber counter immediately swept under the counter. She found it and picked up the $20, rang up their purchases and proceeded to try to give them their change. The first white man refused to let her put the change in his hand, telling her he didn't want her to touch him. He told her to put it on the counter. She then put the money down on the counter, still smiling like a professional, and the two men grabbed their change and walked away, calling her names which I can't even type for you, but I am sure you can imagine.
The man behind these two @#$%@!! noted to my daughter-in-law how rude these men were. She agreed and still held her head high, smiled and served the rest of her customers before asking someone for some time to go to the break room, where she proceeded to cry her eyes out.
She called her mother, who of course (as I would say the same thing) told her to leave - no job is worth that kind of humiliation. But my daughter-in-law is a professional, she has integrity and she didn't want to leave her employer shorthanded or leave the job in such a bad way. She wanted to stay and finish her shift, so her mother told her to go tell the shift manager.
The shift manager was very surprised and I believe upset for her also. Not one of the other checkers or the manager were aware this had happened. They immediately instructed her she had the right to refuse service to those men at that time and refuse in the future if they came in again. They instructed her to turn off her light, refuse service and call the manager and/or security. They did allow her to go home early.
Still, my daughter-in-law is reconsidering whether a job at that grocery store is worth it.
When my daughter-in-law told me, we both cried. It still makes me cry to think that our children can still be treated like this in 2006, here in Rapid City!
I know there are other instances ... I have heard ... racism and prejudice are alive and well here in Rapid City.
We need to encourage and teach our children not only how to hold their heads up high with integrity and pride in heritage, but also how to utilize available process to address these situations immediately. My daughter-in-law and my boys are all pretty vocal and speak up when they see someone being treated wrong. But when this type of thing is perpetrated upon you, and in public, and at work, what do you do? What if you get fired because you did something about it?
We also need to encourage others to speak up when they see someone suffering racial slurs and recriminations. (Like the man standing behind these guys!) And if they are too afraid to speak up, at least go tell someone in charge!
Please pass this around to everyone you can. And send your suggestions or comments to me, especially encouraging ones - I would like to show them to my daughter-in-law!
