With support from
Four Directions and
South Dakota NDN PAC, three rallies are being held this weekend to encourage all Lakota to vote by this coming Tuesday. This Saturday two rallies will be held, one on the Rosebud reservation at 4 PM in the town of Mission and later that evening on the Pine Ridge reservation in Kyle at 8 PM. A noon rally will be held Sunday at the United Tribes Technical College in Rapid City where there are several suburbs with large Indian populations. Featured Native performers will be the
1491s comedy troupe and
Frank Waln, a hip-hop artist.
Here is Waln performing at Youth Convergence for the People's Climate March this past September. Notable is the combination of modern rapping and ancient hoop dancing performances.
Waln says, "...we are not protesters, we are protectors, we protect the land, we've been doing it for thousands and thousands of years and we're still doing it today." He ends with, "these borders can't hold me back, they said I'm a red man, you a dead man, better off on the rez what they said man, we ain't a mascot, we ain't a ghost now, we're human beings with a soul you know now."
The message will likely be very similar for the get-out-the-vote rallies. Natives need to vote to protect the land. Rick Weiland is against the Keystone XL pipeline, which threatens reservations in South Dakota. It's a compelling issue that will help bring out the Lakota and Dakota nations to vote.
Your contributions have made it possible to provide much-needed transportation to the polls. In Rapid City a free taxi service has been set up for this purpose.
Transportation is also being provided on several reservations where one in four adults don't own cars. State Rep. Kevin Killer told Daily Kos that transportation is definitely set-up for the Crow Creek reservation because the nearest polling place is 50 miles away and absentee ballots have still not shown up. You can read more about this regrettable situation in Meteor Blades's
diary.
You've raised more than $160,000 of the $200,000 goal. You all completely ROCK!
You can still contribute to the work of the South Dakota NDN Election Efforts. There's still more fuel to buy for buses and food to buy for volunteers. Contribute so American Indian voices can be heard!