TIM GIAGO

Opinion: Indian teen suicide, infant mortality rates on the rise

The British statesman, Benjamin Disraeli, purportedly said, “There are three kinds of lies: Lies, damned lies and statistics.” Native Americans have been the guinea pigs of statistics since the politicians in Washington began to use arithmetic to figure out their landholdings and numbers before embarking on God’s mission of conquest and divestiture in the name of Manifest Destiny.

March 15, 2010

Opinion: Indians, Aborigines traveled a similar path

There is a colonization connection the indigenous people of Australia and America share.
Both were driven to the brink of annihilation by invaders. Both had their children ripped from their arms and placed into institutional boarding schools intent upon acculturation by whatever means (See the movie “Rabbit Proof Fence”).

March 08, 2010

Opinion: A song can take you back, open mind’s vault

There is a lot of power in a song. When all of your memories have nearly faded, it is surprising how a song can take you back in time and open the vaults of your mind. It happened to me on Saturday.
I had worked most of the morning editing articles for my weekly newspaper and when I felt I had caught up I headed home for lunch and a nap. I always check Turner Classic Movies to see if there are any old films playing and I was happy to note that 2010: Odyssey Two was on; a sequel of sorts to 2001: A Space Odyssey, a movie that left me and many others in 1968 with a lot of questions. The movie was made in 1984 and I was in the middle of so many things back then that I never saw it until Saturday.

March 01, 2010

Opinion: Erase Medals of Honor from Pine Ridge conflict

The United States Army has a flag with battle streamers that it breaks out for important parades and celebrations. One streamer is inscribed, “Pine Ridge 1890 — 1891.”
The battle streamer refers to the campaign that occurred on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota from November 1890 to January 1891.

January 25, 2010

Opinion: Theresa Two Bulls: A lady of distinction

There are those who choose to take jobs that almost immediately make them unpopular, at least unpopular to those factions that are always on the opposing side.
Theresa “Huck” Two Bulls chose to run for the presidency of the Oglala Sioux Tribe knowing full well that it would probably be the most difficult job she has ever undertaken. Politics on the Pine Ridge Reservation can be vicious. There are no opposing political parties because Democrats or Republicans do not figure into the political spectrum. The politicians are homegrown and they come with all of the passion and ferocity that was a part of their personal trials.

January 18, 2010

Opinion: Yes, Virginia, Native Americans do pay taxes

It is always something special to start a new column in a new year. Many of us just assume that the New Year will be better than the old year. It is that hope eternal that has sustained mankind since the beginning of time.
It is probably that feeling of tossing out the old and bringing in the new that stimulates our mood in this transition. We resolve to change things in our lives that will make us healthier, better persons and optimists. If we are smokers, we vow to quit. If we are more than social drinkers, we vow to stop. But above all, we vow to change the things that held us back and diminished our capabilities.

January 11, 2010

Opinion: Movie reminds us that Mandela was man of poetry

One of the poems that gave me strength over these many years has become the title of a movie by Clint Eastwood. Starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, the movie is out this week.
The poem that inspired Mandela was, “Invictus,” by the English poet William Ernest Henley, and it was in a book of poetry I read while preparing for an elocution contest at the Holy Rosary Indian Mission on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

By Tim Giago , December 28, 2009

Opinion: Brown’s book, ‘Bury My Heart,’ celebrates 40th

When Dee Brown wrote his book “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” he could not have known that it would become a classic.
This year an illustrated 40th anniversary edition was published in hardback. It is a beautiful book and the photos add so much to the stories that made the book great. There are photos of a young Black Elk, Sitting Bull, Hollow Horn Bear, Short Bull and Kicking Bear.

By Tim Giago , December 21, 2009

Opinion: Is there still a place for Indian time in busy world?

When we are young it seems that time is either too short or too long. Summer vacations are much too fast and it seems like the school year is forever.
But something happens to time as we age. The older we get the faster it flies. Remember the old saying; “Time is like a roll of toilet paper: the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.

By Tim Giago , December 14, 2009

Opinion: Learning to ignore all the hate mongers

In the more than 30 years I have been writing I have found that there are those who will launch vicious attacks upon me and most of the attacks are from people with a personal, political ax to grind.
If I responded every time someone wrote or said something about me, I would be spending all of my productive time wallowing in the mud with the attacker. But not all attacks are irresponsible and some are actually constructive criticisms. From these I learn.

By Tim Giago , December 07, 2009

Opinion: Open the dialogue on America’s dirty secret

There seems to be a consensus among several tribal elders that there is trauma impacting Native Americans as the residue of the boarding school era. They believe that anyone speaking publicly about the sexual abuse of Indian children at Indian mission and Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding schools better have thick skins because they will be publicly chastised for expressing those views.

By Tim Giago , November 30, 2009

Opinion: ‘Culturecide’ a word coined in Indian Country

On this sunny November morning I find myself thinking about that tough, old Lakota chief from Standing Rock because his life exemplifies the clash of cultures.
On a day like today, Tatanka Iyotanka (Sitting Bull) was sitting on a bench outside of his log home on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation conversing with his two wives when a Christian minister rode up to the house in his buckboard.

By Tim Giago , November 23, 2009

Opinion: No coverage of deaths: Indian crime goes unreported by the media

Who are Ohetica Win Elyxis Gardner, 13, Alexandria White Plume, 14, and Winter Rose Thomas, 15? If you don’t know you are not alone. Millions of people may never know about these three young ladies because for all intents and purposes, the national media has seen fit not to cover their unsolved deaths on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming.

By Tim Giago , November 16, 2009

Opinion: Spectrums overlap in tribal governments

If one takes a deep look into tribal politics one would find a broad spectrum of inter-relationships that overlap. This would include not only tribal government, but also health care, housing, education, and the Indian casinos. Upon closer scrutiny, one might surmise that the pendulum has swung from left of center to right of center in the past 25 years.

By Tim Giago , November 09, 2009

Opinion: Allegations of corruption within tribes are aired

Casinos have proven to be a tremendous asset to the Indian nations, but it seems they have also served as one of the greatest sources of temptation to tribal leaders and members.
Recently, I received letters of complaint by members of several tribes questioning the honesty of their leaders. The old saying, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” may appropriately be applied in some of these cases.

By Tim Giago , November 02, 2009