{"id":36161,"date":"2023-04-14T02:50:08","date_gmt":"2023-04-14T07:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/ihs-breaks-word-to-tribes-over-sioux-san\/"},"modified":"2023-04-14T02:50:10","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T07:50:10","slug":"ihs-breaks-word-to-tribes-over-sioux-san","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/ihs-breaks-word-to-tribes-over-sioux-san\/","title":{"rendered":"IHS breaks word to tribes over Sioux San"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>RAPID CITY\u2014Looking down from the high ground that runs along the north side of Canyon Lake Drive, stands what remains of the Sioux San Indian Hospital, a three story, two wing building built back over a century ago as part of the Rapid City Indian Boarding School. The building has been repurposed several times since then, first as a facility for the Civilian Conservation Corps then as a sanitarium for Native patients with tuberculosis then in the 1970\u2019s as a hospital for the Rapid City Indian Community, the building held deep sentimental significance for thousands of community members, as well as thousands more relatives back on the home reservations. But on April 6, 2023, just after 7 am, on a crisp, sunny morning, on muddy ground covered by large swaths of melting snow, IHS Director Roselyn Tso gave the green light to demolish this building.<\/p>\n

The tribes had been told that demolition would not begin until 8:30 am, but by the time concerned tribal members began to arrive at the site, the destruction of the rear addition was well underway. The construction foreman was just getting off his cell phone to IHS when Oglala Sioux Tribal President (OST) Frank Star Comes Out arrived with his entourage, and the foreman announced there would be a 30-minute long work stoppage. Star Comes out was not only their representing OST, but was also present in his capacity as president of the Great Plains Tribal Chairman\u2019s Association. (GPTCA) When Star Comes Out tried to talk to the foreman, he was rebuffed with an obviously prepared statement, and when he identified himself as OST president, the foreman walked away, repeatedly saying, \u201cNo comment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twenty-two minutes later, both the East and West wings were directly attacked. As the bright orange support beams and the crumbling innards spilled onto the muddy ground, generations of history, both dark and wonderful, billowed out in dust clouds, lost to the ether. People who had first walked these halls as toddlers when Kennedy was president looked on helplessly, as window glass shattered, support beams buckled, brick splintered, and walls collapsed.<\/p>\n

OST Executive Secretary Donna Solomon was on site that morning to witness the opening destruction of the building. She had not been idle in the days leading up to the scheduled demolition. Solomon said every effort had been made to work with regional IHS Director Joe Amiotte. \u201cWe got ahold of Joe. He said, \u2018I\u2019ll be right there,\u2019 but he didn\u2019t even come down. So, Frank (Star Comes Out) left, said \u2018I gotta get back on the phone with the headquarters, and go back to Mario\u2019s (Mario Gonzalez, OST attorney). So, I tried to call Joe, and he said, \u2018Donna, I\u2019ll be there in 20 minutes,\u2019 and when I heard that, I said, well, you told the president of the tribe you were gonna be right here like ten minutes ago and you\u2019re still not here and now you\u2019re telling me you\u2019re gonna be here in 20 minutes?\u201d<\/p>\n

Solomon stops her recollection here, and adds, \u201cThey were stalling, they were misleading.\u201d By \u201cthey\u201d she means Amiotte and IHS Director Roselyn Tso.<\/p>\n

Solomon says of Tso: \u201cShe was waiting on documents; we were forwarding her some documents from Great Plains (GPTCA), plus I was waiting for Stacy Two Lance to send me the action of the committee (on March 30 the tribes let Tso know of their displeasure about the demolition of the building). (Tso) agreed to get those documents and she was going to review them and then she was going to call us back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gonzalez had been preparing legal action for the tribe to save the building.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had worked all that night to get the document ready,\u201d Solomon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we had until one (pm), that\u2019s what they (Tso) had told us,\u201d Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n

On site, Solomon was trying to buy time for Gonzalez to complete his task, trying to halt construction long enough to allow the tribes and the Rapid City community could respond, as they were unaware that the demolition had started over an hour earlier than slated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said who\u2019s your crew boss,\u201d Solomon told NSNT. \u201cThey said Mike and Dan, talk to them. I said, you need to stop because we are on phone with Roselyn Tso and she says she\u2019s gonna stop this\u2026I think it was all pretty much determined they were going to go with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had their mind made up,\u201d Gonzalez added.<\/p>\n

On March 30, Star Comes Out had told Tso, \u201cI feel like we been sitting on the back burner in everything we\u2019ve asked for when it comes to health care. Our people are crying for better health care, but nobody\u2019s been listening. It\u2019s time we changed that.\u201d<\/p>\n

At that time Tso claimed to have worked with Amiotte to be \u201cbetter responsive to tribes\u201d and yet all those involved with the Sioux San demolition came away thinking just the opposite was true.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunication is key, as all three chairman have discussed,\u201d Star Comes Out told Tso. \u201cBut we need to work on trust issues, too. So, I\u2019ll be looking forward to that conversation, and I\u2019ll be watching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tso has been director of IHS for six months. Despite the understanding ostensibly reached on March 30, IHS proceeded to conduct themselves in a diametric manner when it came to the Sioux San.<\/p>\n

When Solomon asked Tso who made the decision to proceed with the demolition after a 30-minute break, Solomon said Tso said, \u201cI made that decision.\u201d Star Comes Out then said, \u201cWithout us?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was supposed to get back on the line with the president,\u201d Solomon said, \u201cafter her review of the documents that were sent to her, but she instead gave the order to continue. That morning when they started tearing down the building, they weren\u2019t watering it down, and so the dust was all over, and my daughter said, Mom, get away from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prevailing wind carried dust, which had elements of asbestos toward a health clinic, a middle school and an elementary school.<\/p>\n

With the demolition almost completed, little can be done by any tribe or the Rapid City Indian Community. The only two questions remaining are, what will be done with the cleared land, and how can tribes trust IHS, the Interior Department, or the Biden Administration from here on out, given how badly they abused that trust over the Sioux San?<\/p>\n

(Contact James Giago Davies at skindiesel@msn.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n

The post IHS breaks word to tribes over Sioux San<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Visit Original Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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RAPID CITY\u2014Looking down from the high ground that runs along the north side of Canyon Lake Drive, stands what remains of the Sioux San Indian Hospital, a three story, two wing building built back over a century ago as part of the Rapid City Indian Boarding School. The building has <\/p>\n

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Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> April 14, 2023<\/p>\n

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