Presorted standard u. S. Postage paid ortonville, mn permit no. 3 Sota Per Copy

“Wo’okiye was’te qa wico zani o’wacin yuhapo”

S

ota 

I

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Y

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Y

api - www.earthskyweb.com/sota.htm - Anpetu Iyamni, Oct. 3, 2018

 

 

Page 13

people to get their input and their 

voice heard.”

“I have been going to the 

Sisseton School Board meetings. 

I know they’re talking about 

implementing Dakota language. I 

haven’t been there in the past few 

months. I don’t know the update on 

it.”

“As for the aquifer and filtering 

water, I’m in total agreement with 

it.”

“As we all know, water is the 

need for life in everything, and … 

we need to keep it clean. For our 

drinking. So you might as well filter 

it while you’re trying to keep it clean 

with our aquifer.”

“As for closing comments, 

I would … keep on, hopefully 

before this term is up, Medicaid 

will be implemented in our Tribal 

health programs to where it’ll help 

reimburse the programs to where 

we’re not using the Tribal dollar 

every time.”

“We’ll supplement that Tribal 

dollar.”

“Not only that, I’d like to try a 

Tribal health model with our Tribal 

programs. Because I know a lot of 

people don’t know where to go, the 

resources we have for healthcare, 

education, and stuff like that.”

“I’d like to get to where 

it’s pushed out there. To where 

everybody knows what’s going on, 

where to get their resources, and 

where they can get their help.”

“I’d also still be a proponent of 

compacting our IHS. I think we can 

do a better job. I know the issues 

with (not) wanting it to be political. 

I don’t want it to be political either, 

but I know our healthcare could 

be a lot better if it’s run by us 

ourselves.”

“I’ll keep pushing for Medicaid 

expansion at the national level. I 

know Dauggard didn’t address it. I 

wish he would’ve. It would’ve really 

helped our healthcare needs there.”

Myrna: “I am not for dis-

enrolling sexual predators from the 

Tribe, and I am not for dis-enrolling 

addicts from the Tribe. And this is 

why….”

“It’s a human rights violation, 

and you cannot exile your members 

without due process.”

“And the way it’s set up right 

now just for the addicts under the 

controlled substances act, we call it 

exclusion, but it’s dis-enrollment.”

“You cannot do that without 

due process, and there’s no 

administrative remedy in place for 

them to come forward and address 

their concerns with that.”

“Copyright to medicinal 

plants. It’s always been a secret, 

because people don’t like to tell 

where these medicinal plants are and 

what they’re used for.”

“So it’s Tribal knowledge. So I 

don’t believe unless it’s going to go 

public and we can patent it, I don’t 

believe there’s any copyrights to it. 

Because it’s a secret.”

“The water in the aquifers. 

We have 11 aquifers within our 

reservation boundaries. And what 

I would like to see is a Tribal water 

rights office.”

“Because right now the water 

rights report that we did when I was 

still in OEP, there were 236 water 

rights permits given to non-Indians 

within the reservation boundaries 

by the state of South Dakota’s water 

rights office.”

“OEP and water rights are 

two separate issues. And they get 

confused, but water rights are 

different. And we need our own 

water rights office to address our 

water rights issues.”

“The Dakota language. Sisseton 

public school gets impact aid 

money. They have plenty of money 

to hire a Dakota language teacher 

there. And way back, I don’t know 

how many years ago now, 11, 13 

years ago, but I filed a civil rights 

complaint against the Sisseton 

public school district for the 

treatment of our Native American 

students. At least three of them got 

mistreated there.”

“And at that time we asked 

for a Native American counselor, 

and there was something else, two 

things we asked for. Oh, and we did 

a cultural sensitivity training for the 

teachers that were supposed to go on 

every semester before school started 

and at semester break they were 

supposed to have a refresher course 

on cultural sensitivity training.”

“We basically organized it, Jake 

and I organized it.”

“And he was one of the 

speakers, actually.”

“But … the Sisseton public 

school district fell down on that, on 

what they had planned to do.”

“They were never held 

accountable.”

“Steven Schulte was the 

superintendent at the time.”

“But the US Commission on 

Civil Rights came from Denver 

and they tried to do a mediation 

between the Sisseton community 

and the Tribe, because it was clear to 

them that racism existed here. And 

they were never held accountable.”

“But they do get plenty of 

impact aid money, and I think they 

need to be approached.”

“The school board has a 

different chairman now. Hellwig is 

no longer there. He pretty much 

ruled that school board.”

“So I think maybe now is the 

time to go and approach them to 

hire that Dakota language teacher. 

And they can pay for that impact 

aid money. Because the students 

really don’t benefit from that.”

“As far as the districts … must 

approve everything before it goes to 

Council.”

“We have a political process 

in place where issues are brought to 

the district and we make motions. 

And it’s to be taken back through 

the District Chairman’s Association, 

back to Council.”

“But I know they have 

emergent situations.”

“I guess without leaving the 

voice of the people out, maybe 

call an emergency general council 

meeting or something to that effect. 

Because if there’s information, it 

shouldn’t be an emergency. There 

should be time.”

“But all the districts meet 

differently, but maybe all districts 

could call emergency meetings or 

something like that.”

“Just so their voices are heard 

and the districts have input. Because 

it’s very important to get that voice 

of the people. And to heed what 

they say. And that can have input. 

Let us have input.”

Lisa: “… As far as it goes 

for intellectual copyright and the 

aquifer water, I feel like we need 

to protect our water. And we need 

these rights. And I feel like at certain 

times we’re going to need specialized 

counsel, legal counsel, to give us 

good direction.”

“So I’m open to that fact 

that we do at times need to bring 

in special counsel to give us good 

direction on important issues and 

how to protect and preserve our 

aquifers and our waters.”

“The Dakota language … I 

do believe that we can continue to 

build rapport. We do have a couple 

Tribal members that do sit on the 

board. We do have Sherry. So we do 

have resources within that we can 

re-evaluate, look at, and make it an 

initiative on how we can build this 

rapport with the school systems and 

how we can tap into the impact aid 

dollars and allocate some of that to 

Dakota language and culture.”

“I can’t answer for Gilbert 

Robinson. I think Chairman did 

that for us.”

“District approval. District 

approval I can see, it’s difficult for 

us to come together in unity on an 

issue.”

“And we see that, it was 

brought up tonight with the 

administrative policy. How the 

people really did want change, but 

we can’t come together on the same 

page.”

“We need to figure out how we 

can communicate the district with 

each district and get on the same 

page.”

“One of the things that I 

thought about is, each of our 

casinos, we do do general assemblies, 

and at those times we introduce a 

training or we give out our bonuses 

at that time.”

“That could be an avenue we 

use at that time where we allow our 

government to come in and spend 

a half an hour and talk about an 

initiative that’s on the table.”

“And reserve the next two 

months out for this issue to be 

talked about at the districts. And 

we do the same here at the Tribal 

programs.”

“We’re making a mandatory 

employee meeting, and we’ll do the 

normal employee functions, which 

is training and updating them with 

the information that’s happening at 

properties.”

“But also give the government 

some time to introduce an issue 

that’s on the table. And give our 

people notice that for the next two 

months this issue should be talked 

about within our districts.”

“It’s just getting the word out 

there. We can do a lot of this stuff 

within.”

“We just got to think outside 

the box and be a little bit more 

creative.”

“That’s one of the things. If 

we make mandatory employee time 

for our government we’re reaching 

almost 1,000 of our membership 

right there. And just letting them 

know what the agenda is. And then 

allocating the next two months 

for that issue to be on the table in 

each district, and a third month 

coming back, with the results of the 

discussions.”

“There’s ways we can do this. 

We’ve got resources to do it is what 

I’m saying.”

“As far as committed to this 

position, I’d like to say that I would 

continue to support the initiatives 

that are on the table, to report to the 

people. I feel like moving up in the 

ranks from supervisor to manager 

postition that, you don’t ever come 

in and just start unraveling what 

someone else has done. You come 

in, you evaluate. And you address 

issues as they arise. And you make 

corrections to those issues as they 

present themselves.”

“I feel like we come in support 

Executives, Council, the initiatives 

that are on the table. And get to 

know the programs, how they’re 

working. What’s working for them. 

And help resolve issues as they 

arise.”

Final words from Martha: 

“How about a round of applause 

for all of our candidates? You know 

when you become a candidate you’re 

really a servant of the people, and 

with that you put yourself in a glass 

house, and so we should give a lot 

of credit to these people to trying 

to meet that challenge. The election 

is in six days. Don’t forget to vote. 

Remember to vote with your mind 

and not your heart. And thank 

you all for being here … We’ll 

have another forum on the 23rd of 

October.”

(Editor’s note: We apologize for 

errors in this transcript. There were 

multiple times of crosstalk, with 

conversations going on at the tables 

where the audience was seated, 

which interrupted what candidates 

were saying [although some of that 

chatter was interesting]. We hope to 

have a clear video recording of the 

next Executive candidates forum, 

scheduled for Tuesday, October 23. 

We also hope that KXSW finds a 

way to record the forum, either live 

or for retrieval afterwards by Oyate 

unable to attend or to watch a live-

stream broadcast.)

Washington, DC – Sept. 26, 

2018 – U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds 

(R-S.D.) announced that his 

legislation, S. 465, the Independent 

Outside Audit of the Indian Health 

Service Act, passed out of the Senate 

Indian Affairs Committee today 

with broad bipartisan support.

“South Dakota’s tribal 

members have been in the midst 

of a government-induced health 

care crisis for decades due to poor 

leadership and mismanagement at 

the Indian Health Service (IHS),” 

said Rounds. “Tribal members are 

suffering and even dying due to 

inadequate and disgraceful care. 

There is no excuse for hospitals 

not to reach basic benchmarks for 

providing proper care. Instead of 

threatening deadlines, requesting 

extensions, changing administrators 

and pointing fingers, the IHS, 

HHS and the Centers for Medicare 

and Medicaid Services (CMS) need 

to work together – in close, real 

consultation with the tribes - to 

immediately resolve these problems 

and improve care for our Native 

American communities.”

“The IHS will continue to 

fail unless we take a close look 

into the operations, funding, 

quality of care and management 

at the agency. That is why I 

introduced legislation calling for a 

comprehensive assessment of the 

IHS. I’m pleased that the Senate 

Indian Affairs Committee voted 

to pass this legislation today, and 

I look forward to considering it 

on the Senate floor. This bill is a 

necessary first step toward making 

real changes so the IHS can truly 

deliver the timely, adequate care the 

federal government has a trust and 

treaty obligation to provide to tribal 

members.”

Rounds’ legislation would 

require the Secretary of the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS) to contract an 

assessment of IHS’s health care 

delivery systems and financial 

management processes only at 

direct-care facilities. The Secretary 

of HHS shall use existing funds 

to enter into contracts with a 

reputable private entity to conduct 

an independent assessment in 

coordination with the U.S. 

Government Accountability Office 

and the Office of the Inspector 

General.

Rounds’ request for a 

comprehensive assessment of 

the IHS is supported by the 

Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s 

Association, which passed a 

resolution in 2016 calling upon 

Congress to demand an audit of 

IHS. In 2017, the South Dakota 

State Legislature passed a resolution 

urging Congress to audit the IHS.

Since taking office in 2015, 

Rounds and his staff have analyzed 

the IHS and its shortcomings, 

concluding there are three primary 

areas of concern: there is no 

funding allocation strategy for 

the 12 IHS regions, there is no 

standard of quality measurement 

and there is high turnover of staff 

resulting in low accountability 

amongst management. Rounds’ 

assessment legislation is the first 

step toward addressing the agency’s 

longstanding failures.

Rounds sent a letter to the 

Inspector General of HHS in 2016, 

requesting an audit of the financial 

aspects of hospital and health 

care, medical services and overall 

financial management at the IHS. 

The HHS was only able to fulfill a 

portion of the audit request.

The Sisseton Area POD and 

the South Dakota Department of 

Health are offering free influenza 

vaccine on Oct. 10, 2018 from 

4PM to 6:30PM at the Sisseton 

High School in Sisseton. This 

flu shot clinic is a test/exercise of 

the Sisseton Area POD Plan. Flu 

vaccines will be for infants and 

children 6 months through 18 years 

of age (parent consent required for 

those under 18) and college students 

with a student ID.

To move quickly through 

the flu clinic, consent forms may 

be obtained and completed prior 

to arriving. Consent forms can be 

picked up at all Sisseton School 

District Administration Office or 

printed from the Sisseton School 

District website.

A POD (Point of Dispensing) 

Plan is a coordinated effort among 

several agencies and community 

members to dispense and distribute 

medication or vaccine to a regional 

population in the event of a large 

infectious disease outbreak or other 

public health emergency, including 

bioterrorism and pandemic 

influenza. The Sisseton Area POD 

receives funding from the South 

Dakota Department of Health 

through its federal preparedness 

grants.

Vaccinating children helps 

protect them from serious influenza 

illness and complications, and 

decreases the spread of influenza in 

the community as children are often 

the biggest spreaders of influenza to 

adults and other children.

If you have questions about 

the vaccine, please contact Robert 

County Community Health 

Services at 698-4183. For questions 

regarding the scheduled clinic, 

please contact Roberts County 

Emergency Management at 698-

3800.

By Richard P. Holm, MD

South Dakota has the 14th 

highest suicide rate in the U.S., and, 

during this last year, suicide as a 

cause of death has grown faster here 

in South Dakota than most places. 

Two SD counties rank in 

the top one percent in the 

nation. I have heard that, 

in general, the highest risk 

individual for suicide is the 

widower, the elderly male 

who recently lost his wife. 

But the South Dakota public 

health department tells us 

that suicide rates are higher 

here in younger people than in most 

other states. For example, men aged 

19 to 21-years-old, are at the highest 

suicide risk. In addition, American 

Indians are at 1.8 times higher risk 

than other South Dakotans.

Risk factors for suicide 

include: a family history of suicide; 

a history of abuse-be it the abused 

or the abuser; previous suicide 

attempts or a history of mental 

disorders (particularly depression) 

and especially if the individual 

has difficulty accessing mental 

health treatment when needed; a 

history of alcohol and substance 

abuse; feelings of hopelessness and 

loneliness especially with isolation; 

recent loss (whether it be the death 

of a family member, a friend that 

moves, a divorce, or a large financial 

loss); any new and significant 

physical illness; and access to lethal 

methods. There is also a higher risk 

is for anyone present during local 

epidemics of suicide, especially 

where cultural beliefs suggest 

that suicide is noble. All this 

multiplies when the person is 

reluctant to seek help because 

of the stigma attached to 

mental health disorders.

The challenging concern 

is that suicide remains 

extremely hard to predict. 

Even when we’ve identified 

who is at risk, suicide can be 

difficult to prevent. We know that 

“talking about it” is probably our 

most important means of helping 

someone who is suicidal. Although 

we should all try to guide these at 

risk individuals to talk about their 

feelings with a professional, the 

most important preventer of suicide 

in many cases is not the doctor or 

the care provider, but the kindly 

neighbor who can give that person 

an ear, offer true friendship, and call 

for help when red flags are flying.

You may never know it, but 

you might save a life by listening 

and just being a friend.

*****

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