Intergenerational Trauma on the Pine Ridge Reservation

RAPID CITY, S.D. – From August 25^th through the 31^st the Monument Center hosted the 12^th Wilderness Congress which welcomed Indigenous people from more than 40 countries around the world.  A wide range of topics were covered in this extraordinary gathering. Indigenous wisdom and how it relates to the stewardship of our planet and in particular, the vast open spaces that remain unspoiled by humanity are only a few of the topics discussed, however, this theme ran through the Congress, tying it all together..  This interview will be the first of four conversations with speakers from the Wild12 Congress.

Mato White Plume and three of his friends who work with him as activists, spoke on “Intergenerational Trauma and what it is like to be a youth today.”  Their talk was received positively and Mato was asked to speak at the Wild13 Congress which will be held in four years in India.

The Native Sun News caught up with Mato on Saturday, September 7^th to talk about his experience and how he sees his future as an activist for his people.  He shared that most young people are unaware that they are being mistreated by their relatives and that this form of abuse is being passed down from generation to generation in dysfunctional Lakota families.  Many of their parents attended residential boarding schools where they were mistreated and abused and greatly impacted by trauma, both historic trauma such as the Wounded Knee Massacre and more recent trauma at home.  Attending the residential schools essentially broke the family system by taking young children out of their homes, refusing to let them speak their own language, and giving out harsh punishment for any infraction of the rules.

The youth group that Mato belongs to have taken on the leadership role of performing ceremony to promote healing and guiding other youth back to traditional Lakota ways.  One member of the extended group of young people shared that their grandmother would mistreat her when she was growing up.  She realized that hatred was inside her grandmother and was growing inside of herself as a result of their interactions.  This young woman felt guilty about learning the truth about her grandmother’s experience in the residential boarding schools yet her learning about her grandmother’s experiences opened up the emotions that had been bottled up for decades within herself and her grandmother.

Mato stressed the important of calling things back and taking action in one’s own back yard as a form of release and healing.  Demands have been made on the Jesuits at the Red Cloud School to drop the crusader mascot role and stop calling students crusaders and stop the assimilation policy.  For instance, it should be optional whether or not a student chooses to attend the Catholic Mass on Sundays and Holy  Days.  The Red Cloud School needs to fund more cultural programs for the youth.  They should be actively funding the teaching of the Lakota language to children and youth as well as promoting exposure to the Lakota culture.  In the 1970s and 80s the Red Cloud School was turned into a day school and students were allowed to live at home with their families.

The boys dormitory at the Red Cloud School has been torn down but the girls dormitory is still standing and used as part of the Heritage Center.  Mato described people seeing spirit activity not only at the Red Cloud School but also at the Sherman Indian School in California.  He told of the spirit of a little girl wearing old clothes appearing and being picked up by the motion detectors at the West Coast school.  He told of one story where a child trudging through the snow lost both of their legs in an effort to get back home.  The trauma on Pine Ridge is multilayered and cannot be healed easily.  Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland is working to contribute to that healing process with her efforts to rescind the medals of honor granted to the soldiers at the Wounded Knee Massacre and return the remains of the children buried at the Carlyle Residential School which OST 5^th Member Justin Pourier is in the process of doing this very week.

Lakota youth clearly see the parallels between what happened in Lakota country to the genocide in GAZA and understand that ethnic cleansing continues in their lifetime.  Mato White Plume and his fellow activists consistently take a stand on behalf of the Palestinian people and push to bring the community together.  Mato and his group have been asked to leave certain events because of their support of the Palestinians in GAZA.

They are also deeply concerned that their community has been “Christianized” instead of being true to their culture and traditions.  Several years ago on the Pine Ridge Reservation the churches were suspended for one month while the Oglala Sioux Tribe took the opportunity to check into how these churches were functioning and whether or not the OST was being take advantage of as a means to fund raise for themselves.  The local sheriff said that a few of these churches left the reservation permanently as a result.

Mato was asked where he sees himself in ten years time and what he will be doing.  He stated a decade from now, he sees himself in a role of being a mentor for the next generation of youth in his community.  He is fortunate to be the grandson of two extraordinary activists:  Alex and Debra White Plume.  Alex is recognized around the globe as a leader in the industrial hemp movement and human rights issues and has inspired many moccasins on the ground with his deceased wife, Debra who was a leader with Water Protectors, in banning uranium mining on native land and at the DAPL protests at Standing Rock against the pipeline.  In Mato’s case, it is in his DNA to make a stand and say “NO” when appropriate.

Mato shared that his youth group was formed protecting land and water.  Through the Wilderness Foundation his group has been given the opportunity to meet with like-minded people from all over the world to talk about the next steps needed to preserve the animal population, curb disease and infections all the while addressing the problems of climate change. 

In closing, Mato White Plume states, “I’m here for the culture, the oyate, the land, and, I am not going’ nowhere.”  His Lakota name is Surrounded Bear.  Mato says, “When a bear is surrounded, they get aggressive.”

(Contact Mia Feroleto at mia.feroleto@gmail.com)

The post Intergenerational Trauma on the Pine Ridge Reservation first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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