Our trip is winding down now. Only three days to go. Today, however, we drive through Pine Ridge Reservation into Nebraska. It is a somewhat slow drive, but I am watching every house, every building, every dwelling to see if I can verify the documentaries and articles and hearsay behind the multi-generational poverty on Pine Ridge. Pine Ridge Reservation is the home of the Oglala Lakota Sioux Nation. We stopped at a visitor center, but there is no clear historical site for the Wounded Knee massacre. You can see the cemetery up on a hill, and there is a washed out sign that briefly describes the massacre, but I expected much more.
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| Pine Ridge Agency Visitor Center |
I kept looking and looking for doctor's offices, a hospital, a dentist, a school--finally, we arrived in Pine Ridge, SD, and there was a sign to a health center. The one intersection in town hosted a CONOCO gas station. We went inside to see if we could find some lunch, and there was hot food available. However, at least three lines of native people were checking out at registers. In their hands were sugary sodas, bags of chips, and other candy or snack food. High calorie, low quality food. Although the housing we could see from the highways looked okay for the most part, seeing the people purchasing basically junk food at the gas station was the closest sign of poverty. I kept looking, as we drove south toward Nebraska, for a dental clinic or doctor's clinic or a school. I don't know if they were hidden or missing.
We listened to the local radio station while we drove, and it seemed to me that there was quite a bit of active participation in council meetings, etc. But the CONOCO station and the health center seemed to be the primary amenity available.
We ended up eating in Chadron, NE.
The Quality Inn & Suites (Choice Hotels) was adequate. So maybe not all Quality Inn & Suites are poor! Since there was no exercise room, I got up fairly early and walked the sidewalk for about 20 minutes.
What was meaningful about today? Seeing Pine Ridge "in the flesh" so to speak was the fulfillment of a life-long dream for me. Even though we only drove through, I was alert for what I would see, and I was listening carefully to the local radio station.
What did I learn? You can't tell much from the highway!
What would I do differently if Mary and I travel together in the future? I'm not sure.
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| Bear with Mockingbird card |
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| back of Bear with Mockingbird card |
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| Ferrets are endemic to Montana, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Wyoming |
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| back of Ferret card |
