February is already here and 'we' are still kicking! Woot! Woot! 2024 arrived with some heavy packages dragging from that insane plague that disrupted the world and stopped everything and everyone.
Meanwhile, from about May 2022 until October 2023... my girl in Pine Ridge, Miss N., disappeared. She ran away with other teens. She was in big trouble, being a teenager, with no mom or dad around It would have been an unexpected surprise if she had stayed in school like any other teenager. Drugs are rampant in the reservation and without a dedicated responsible adult guiding her steps, it was almost predictable that she was going to get into this dark aisle.
Since the day I visited her in Pine Ridge in 2017 based on her life experiences, environment, and statistics, I put this option on my brain shelf: this scenario, (or worse) was a possible outcome. Even though I was "prepared", this deeply upset me.
She was nowhere to be found, for weeks, wandering the streets of Pine Ridge with another bunch of teens in a similar situation. Thankfully, she still remembered my phone number, so she would call me when she was hungry, crying, upset, or high... She would share that she was hungry and cold...that she was living in an abandoned trailer (without running water or electricity) with four or five other kids, doing drugs. I would try without success to convince her to turn herself into CPS.
Through that long period, I was calling and writing everyone, from the Organization that connected me to her 12 years ago, One Spirit to her family members, to a few organizations involved in youth rehabilitation, to Naomi Schaefer Riley the author of 'The new trail of tears', to people in Pine Ridge that seemed to know better than me, and of course her case worker, who never answered any of my text messages or phone calls...
What could be done for this girl? Any place she could go, anyone to find her on the streets and HELP...ANYONE? This is the answer that I got the most: "That's the way it is here at the rez"... (Shrug and silence).
Are there no other options? Nothing we can do for these kids...? Apparently, that is the way it is...
It took Miss.N to get into serious trouble with the police, in October 2023, for her to get the help that she needed. She was arrested and sent to youth jail. From there, to a detox facility in another state far from South Dakota. In a way I was relieved, she would be eating, sleeping in a safe place, and getting rehabilitation, education, and care, all under an indigenous cultural environment. In a way, it was a miracle, a privilege that she ended up there.
She is going to spend a few more weeks in this facility before she returns "home". Yet that home is akin to tossing her back into a fire pit! I am exasperated by the systemic failures and the apparent blindness of those overseeing this situation.
If someone is aware of her predicament, why do they persist in allowing such demeaning treatment? How can we as a society, subject this young person, who has endured unthinkable life's challenges alone, to such scraps.
I'm not talking about the facility she is currently in. (I will not share this info for privacy reasons). They have taken her in with such love, care, and understanding. When I visited her last weekend, I saw it in her eyes, in her body, in her Spirit. Being there has been a lifesaver! Unfortunately, this is in place only for a few more weeks, when the plan is to return her back to the reservation.
We had a meeting with her counselor and another lady who manages all the information for culturally appropriate educational facilities that she could assist to when her time is up here. I really hope that we can find a place where she can have the constant support, structure, and education that she needs. There are only two years left before she turns 18, and by then, she will be on her own. No more government support. I worry a lot. But as we all know, worrying doesn't do anything. So I am actively looking for places that can support this person walk into new situations that will end up uplifting her into adulthood.
Why aren't there more facilities to assist indigenous kids in her situation? Where are the people that care? where's the assistance? Where are the helpers? Where's humanity? 😩 I get that not everyone has an altruistic personality, but a little empathy maybe?
As I struggle with my thoughts and how the world works, I will keep putting my feet on the line as much as I can.
I am open to any information that any of you reading this post could share with me regarding the next steps to go forward with this huge undertaking.
Gratitude 🩷✨
