Today is Super Bowl Sunday. Many of us will spend the evening on the couch in front of the TV in a warm house, with plenty of food and water, and our biggest worry will be whether "our" team will win.
UPDATE: Kimberley's diary is up, here; please tip and rec!
NOTE: This is the first of today's diaries dealing with the weather emergency on several South Dakota reservations. Later today, Kimberley will post another. Tomorrow morning, navajo will post a new one. Please help us keep all of these diaries on the rec list so that we can keep them in front of people's eyes. And please take 5 minutes today, and again tomorrow, to perform just one of the action items listed. You could help save a life.
Now, come with me for a moment. There's something I want you to see.
Look around you. You're indoors - but it's pitch black. You can hear the wind moaning outside, and an icy draft slips from the sills of the door and windows to trace frigid fingers down your neck. You look down; you're wearing layers of clothing and a winter coat, and you're wrapped in a blanket. And still, you can't get warm. You wonder what it used to feel like to be warm; after seventeen days, you can't remember.
You would turn on the lights, but there's no power. You would turn on a space heater, but there's no propane. You'd take a hot shower, but there's no water - and there won't be any for some time, because the pipes burst in the freezing temperatures. Coffee or tea might warm you up - but there's no electricity or gas for the stove. Your stomach growls, and you try to think when you last fixed yourself a hot meal. What little food remains in the refrigerator has long since gone bad because there's no power; most of what's in the cabinets requires cooking, and without propane, you can't even use a little camp stove.
You hear a cry; your daughter has awakened from a fitful sleep. You pick her up and hold her close to try to keep her warm. She's fretful, and you hope her sniffles are only a result of the cold, and not something worse. From the next room, you hear a dry cough. Your father's not well, and the cold is making him worse. And while the snow swirls outside the windows and drifts across the roads, you wonder how you're going to dig out and get him to the clinic for his next round of dialysis. He's 75, and diabetic, and his circulation's poor at the best of times. He won't tell you, but you know that this cold makes his feet feel numb all the time. And what if his kidneys decide to shut down? So you remove your blanket from your shoulders, and wrap it around his feet. Balancing your infant daughter on one knee, you sit down next to him, and try to sing them both to sleep.
And you wonder if the wind will ever stop howling, and the snow will ever stop drifting, and if you'll ever be warm again.
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Not exactly what you wanted to think about today, huh?
Well, if you lived on the Cheyenne River reservation, this might be you tonight. And last night. And the night before that. And tomorrow night, too.
This woman is our sister. Her father is our father. Her child is our child. And they need us now.
Immediately below are several categories of action items. Financial contributions. Food. Warm clothing. Medical supplies. Propane. Calls, e-mails, and letters to state and federal agencies, and to local, state, and federal officials, demanding that they act. Calls, e-mails, and letters to the media, demanding that they bear witness.
Each category includes, where available, names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and Web sites. For agencies, officials, and media, it includes links to previous diaries with detailed contact information. Most action items can be performed either online or over the phone. Some groups take contributions as small as $5. One will match your contribution, dollar for dollar. And most can be done in as little as five minutes.
So please, on this Super Bowl Sunday, take five minutes out of your day. Pick an action item, and then follow through with it. If you can do two, so much the better. And then tomorrow, pick another. Do it for your sister, your brother; do it for your father, your mother; do it for your child. Do it because it's right.
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Click here for a summary of the catastrophic effects of these storms, as well as the cost in human suffering.
TRIBAL ENTITIES, UTILITIES, AND AID GROUPS BY RESERVATION
PINE RIDGE
Utilities:
Lakota Plains Propane Company
Pine Ridge, S.D 57770
1.605.867.5199
Takes major credit cards and debit
Minimum ordering $120 for one weeks worth of propane
Ask for Jeri; tell her to apply your donation to the next person on Autumn Two Bulls's list. She will tell you which customer receives it.
Lacreek Electric Company
800.655.9324 or 605.658.6581.
You need to have a name of a needy family when you call. Please email KentuckyKat (kentuckykatonkos AT gmail DOT com); she has the list of names from Autumn and you can be matched with a family.
Food:
There are three different food stores that will accept credit cards by phone. To help a family in need of food, call Autumn (Two Bulls - tribal liaison) directly at 605.407.8487, and she will match you with a family and let you know which food store to call to put money on account in their name.
Clean winter clothing:
Lakota Oyate Wakanyeja Owicakiyape
East Highway 18
IHS Compound, Box 604
Pine Ridge, SD 57770.
See changingwinds.org for addresses of other agencies participating in the Winter Warmth Drive for the people of Pine Ridge.
ROSEBUD
Utilities:
Rosebud LIHEAP program (by check, payable to Rosebud Sioux Tribe LIHEAP):
LIHEAP
ATTN: Eileen
P.O. Box 430
Rosebud, SD 57570
St. Francis Energy Co. (per KentuckyKat, will accept donations of $5 or more)
605.747.2542
Cherry Todd Electric (serving LIHEAP customers; will take any donation over $10, per KentuckyKat)
605.856.4416
Financial contributions:
Rosebud Sioux Tribe President's Office
P.O. Box 430
Rosebud, SD 57570 (by check)
Winter clothing contributions:
White Buffalo Calf Woman Society, Inc.
291 N. Main
P.O. Box 227
Mission, SD 57555
605-856-2317
PayPal link at our outdated website: www.wbcws.org
CHEYENNE RIVER
Financial Contributions:
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe at https://secure.piryx.com/...
CONTRIBUTIONS (Cash for medical supplies):
Wells Fargo
Cheyenne Dialysis Patients (c/o Dew Bad Warrior)
Acct. #: 5815904338
1615 N 7th St.
Rapid City, SD 55701
WIRE DONATIONS TO:
Cheyenne River Sioux 2010 Disaster Account
Direct to: United Bkrs Bloomington ABA # 091 001 322
Beneficiary Bank: Account Number 250 3373
State Bank of Eagle Butte
Eagle Butte, SD 57625
Final Credit: Account Holder @ UBB Customers Bank
Account Holder: CRST 2010 Disaster, Account Number 103173
MAIL CHECK DONATIONS TO:
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe/2010 Disaster Account
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chairman's Office
Attn: Ice Storm Emergency Fund
PO Box 590
2001 Main Street (Tribal Offices)
Eagle Butte, SD 57625
Tribal Contacts:
CHEYENNNE RIVER SIOUX CONTACTS:
Robin Le Beau, Chairman's Assistant c (610) 568-2101
Joe Brings Plenty, Tribal Chairman c (605) 365-6548
CRST Emergency Coordination Center (605) 964-7711 (7712)
FEDERAL AGENCIES AND OFFICIALS
Click here for a list, with contact information, of officials at the White House; members of South Dakota's Congressional delegation; members of the Senate and House Committees on Indian Affairs; and Native American philanthropic organizations (scroll down toward end of diary).
Click here for a list, with contact information, of federal agencies and officials responsible for aspects of this situation.
STATE AND LOCAL AGENCIES AND OFFICIALS
Click here for a list, with contact information, of state agencies and officials responsible for aspects of this situation, plus names and contact information for South Dakota State Senators and Representatives for the affected legislative district.
NATIONAL MEDIA
Click here for a list of newspapers with national circulation and national media groups (with word-count limits and other information), as well as a template for a quick and dirty letter to the editor.
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Now for some good news: Per KentuckyKat, as of 7:00 PM yesterday evening, including matching funds, Kossacks had raised $10,404 for the reservations. This is actually lower than the true amount raised; not all donors identified themselves, and so their contributions are not included in that figure.
Also good news, from my perspective, is seeing the generosity from our fellow Kossacks, both here and in the diaries raising funds for Haiti. Please tip and rec the latest in the Haiti series, too, and help if you can.
Chi miigwech, and love to you all.