The Poverty of the Lakota People of South Dakota

For the Lakota people of South Dakota, modern day capitalism is a frustrating network of impersonal commerce, resource and profit. Since colonialism, the global arena has replaced the values and needs of the Lakota with presupposed economic definitions of need, and has “forced deterioration of the traditional political system” existing in Lakota society (115). In the absence of traditional political organization and subsidence economy, the Lakota are impoverished and have little choice but to adhere to the economic prospects offered to them by the federal government. In doing so, Lakota people struggle with “economic opportunities” that damage community identity and marginalize their status in society. Economics greatly influences their own ability to shape their modern Lakota culture.

As “economic opportunities” align to the mandates of the world economy and are determined by the culture and experience of the United States government, both Pine Ridge and Rosebud maintain distressing levels of poverty and unemployment. In direct response to demands of the world economy, Lakota industry exhibits a growing dependence on cash instead of land, and breaks down community identity (65). Wal-Mart and Safeway chains encumber the production of Lakota owned small business, and similar multinational business chains create limited market success. When a small business actually succeeds in surviving, competition immediately pops up and “neither [competing business] can make a living” on reservations (37). Attitudes towards successful Lakota entrepreneurs are often sour and unforgiving, as everyone else struggles to survive.

However, Lakota people must engage in the economic venues opened to them by the federal government as a federally dependent nation. Factory and wage work make up the bulk of Lakota employment, as well as handicrafts catering to tourist tastes. Naturally, making “arrows, arrows every day” is “really boring” (21) for many Lakota, but risks of developing asthma, blisters, broken bones and severe burns in wage work is high. Over the years, the business propositions open to South Dakota Indians have included a “fishhook factory, moccasin factory, arrow factory and electronic circuit factory in Pine Ridge,” and the destructive nature of factory work threatened the physical health and well being of every individual fortunate to gain employment (18). As the majority of Lakota men and women are forced to seek work outside of the reservation, many parents abandon their families in cramped, over crowded housing units. As dependence on cash instead of land increases, and average job spans for Lakota men consist of 3.