CLICK HERE TO SEE LATEST VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE

Located in the southern part of South Dakota, the Rosebud Reservation is in great need of support.

We have started a concerted effort to supply basic survival items such as blankets, clothes, kitchen items, tools and educational materials. We are asking for donations of any of these items that can be mailed to the reservation. Our present contacts for this effort within the TOS are Karen McCormick for children's Christmas toys and Miles Standish for basic survival items and other help.

In May of this year we have worked to support the publishing of the tribal newspaper Sicangu Suntimes. As of May 24th the publisher has received an updated computer (Apple PowerMac G5) for the work of graphics design and page layout.  We consider the newspaper to be a major player in spreading ideas and encouragement for building businesses and farming projects to improve the quality of life.

Monetary donations are also urgently needed and are tax deductible. Checks should be sent to: 

Theosophical Order of Service
P.O. Box 660
Warrenville, IL 60555

Write "Rosebud Project" in the memo line.

Since there is a very high unemployment rate, it is vitally important to help develop the economic base and generate ways for the Indians to help themselves. If you have any ideas for help in this regard, we want to hear from you. One means already begun is to provide a small number of computers to be given to young people and to help them become computer software technicians. The hope and plan is to get them started with Linux as the operating system of the future where the opportunity and demand are already great. This is a small start in a long term project.

To learn more and to participate in this work, please contact Miles: contact.

The Rapid City Journal of September 12, 2006 published an article by Chet Brokaw, Associated Press Writer. The following is an excerpt from his article.

PIERRE - A study that found American Indians living in southwestern South Dakota have the nation's lowest life expectancy shows the need to continue efforts to improve health care on reservations, health officials said Monday. The national research study, led by Dr. Christopher Murray of the Harvard School of Public Health, reported that six counties that include Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and Rosebud Indian Reservation have the lowest life expectancy in the nation.

People in that area can expect to live 66.6 years, well short of the 79 years for low-income rural white people in the Northern Plains.

Jacqueline Left Hand Bull, administrative officer of the Aberdeen Area Tribal Chairmen's Health Board, said she is not surprised by the study's findings. American Indians in South Dakota have high rates of infant mortality, cancer, diabetes and heart disease, and many live far from hospitals and clinics, she said. "The American Indian population has long had the lowest life-expectancy rate in the country, and to find out the lowest of the low is right here in South Dakota is not a surprise," Left Hand Bull said.

The counties listed as having the lowest life expectancy also consistently rank among the nation's poorest counties, with low annual incomes.

Read the full newspaper story Read the story.

Miles Standish comment: You think that's bad? From what I've read, the World Health Organization ranks the United States #37 in over-all health among nations in the world.