by Margi Bettelyoun

Created on: August 19, 2009   Last Updated: August 20, 2009

The advantages of living on a South Dakota Indian Reservation

I just figured it out on a calculator. I lived my first 21 years off the reservation and to date I have lived 37 years on the reservation. Does that give me the right to judge the reservation? Definitely not! All I can do is give my perspective on the advantages of living here. We all know the disadvantages - they have been harped on since the reservation began. I try not to be a negative person and I really do see advantages to living here!

Two quotes come to mind while thinking of the rez: "Bloom where you are planted" and "It's not the destination that is important, it's the journey." I was "planted" here 37 years ago when we decided to move here after college. My husband grew up here and all of his family was here. I was a "transplant". I was young, nave, and rather stupid but, my children were born and raised here, and my grandchildren were born and raised here. I have learned how to live a good life here. I am no longer young, nave, nor stupid. I have "bloomed." I realize that most of the people here are descendants of those who were imprisoned here - I am so sorry for the past. But, that brings to mind another quote, "Two men looked through prison bars, one saw weeds, the other saw stars.

The reservation is still on its journey, where the destination will be is Tunkasila's (God) secret. The rez has changed so much since I first came here. There was no Taco John's, no Subway, and no Big Bat's. There weren't any stoplights. There wasn't even a parking lot in front of the hospital, people just parked all over the hill. The front addition to the hospital hadn't even been built yet. (This is the old hospital!) I very seldom saw another white face so when people looked at me they seemed to look right through me. Some still do. But there are changes in the wind though. There are more and more people who are tired of being imprisoned, and want to bloom. This is their home, they don't want to leave, and they want to make their reservation a better place to live and raise their family.

The sense of community is so much greater here - not just in Pine Ridge village but the rez as a whole. That is something to be proud of for each resident. The sense of enduring humor is another thing to be proud of - where else in the country would they joke about Indian cars and commod phones? And whoever you meet here you can trace back to someone you already know. That tracing of friends and relatives is part of everyday conversation. Mitakuaye Oaysin (We are all related). Another advantage of living on the reservation is the uniqueness. If you go anywhere in the entire world and someone asks you where you are from, you will be remembered. If you say you are from Bodunk, USA, no one will pay any attention to you unless they, too, are from Bodunk, USA. But if you state proudly that you are from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, people will say "WOW!" or the equivalent. Now is your chance to help stomp out prejudice. Whoever you are impressing with your homeland will want to know what life is like on the rez. Tell them and be proud. Prejudice is just ignorance in disguise. They might think we still live in tepees and scalp white people. Tell them about the beautiful, humble, humorous people who live here. The bottom line is that the advantage of living on the reservation is that we can all help change the world by stomping out ignorance (prejudice) one person at a time, simply by being good ambassadors of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation! Can someone from Bodunk, USA say that?

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