PINE RIDGE RESERVATION – A group of business leaders, elected officials and media from Rapid City were invited to tour the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation recently. Rapid City Council Alderman Laura Armstrong (Ward 5) said physically being on the Reservation was an eye-opening experience.
“Just one day is not going to be a crash course in everything Lakota,” said Armstrong. “There is a lot more to learn. It helped me to get a perspective by being present, on the reservation.”
Armstrong is not from Rapid City originally, but has lived in the Black Hills since the 1990’s. She said it was her first trip to Pine Ridge adding that it was an experience she’ll take back to the Rapid City Council with her.
“It’s not what would I say, it’s what will I say to them,” she shares. “We have 10 members of council in Rapid City. I just got off the phones asking who will be the next three council members to visit the Pine Ridge communities.” Armstrong said she has begun advocating for a stronger relationship between the Oglala Tribal Council and the Rapid City Council.
While it’s easy to forget, not everyone living on reservations are indigenous. PRaymond Nadolny is the president of Red Cloud Indian School. A white man originally from Seattle, Wash., Nadolny highlighted the experience of living on the reservation.
“It’s rural, remote,” he said. “Living on the reservation is quite different from life in Rapid City or Sioux Falls. It’s a level of circumstances that most people don’t understand.”
Areas visited by the Rapid City group included the Red Cloud Indian School, the communities of Pine Ridge, Kyle, and Thunder Valley, and the Wounded Knee massacre site.
