shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com October 1, 2019 • Page 13 Historical Trauma and Cultural Healing By Richard P. Holm, MD Starting in 1805 through 1858 the Dakota Indian people living in Minnesota were, by U.S. government treaties, gradually cut out of their traditional hunting areas. In 1861, crops failed, winter was severe, meager federal payments were late and Dakota children were starving. By August of 1862, desperation moved some of the Dakota Indians to attack white homestead farmers and families and the state militia responded. War was on. After six weeks of fighting the Dakota warriors surrendered and 303 men were sentenced to death by hanging. President Abraham Lincoln commuted many but left 38 Dakota men to hang in Mankato, Minnesota just after Christmas 1862. Those commuted were shipped to prison in Iowa where more than a third died as conditions were so poor. Although many Indian people did not go to war, white hatred of all Indians grew like a prairie fire. Within a year, a $25 bounty was paid for the scalp of any Dakota Indian found free within the state. Lives were lost on both sides of that war, but the Dakota Oyate (Oyate means people) lost their lands and their culture. Pride and family traditions were severely compromised affecting many generations to come. First introduced by mental health expert Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart, Historical Trauma Response is a societal diagnosis now used by psychologists and historians. It refers to the cumulative, transgenerational, traumatic experience which causes long-lasting injury to communities, cultures and descendants, like that of the American Indian. Another example of HTR is the African American slave experience. Experts state that HTR may cause smoldering animosity between groups as well as poverty, alcohol abuse, violence, depression and suicide behaviors. How can this be treated without compromising a culture’s traditions? Do ancestors of immigrant Europeans have a societal responsibility to right a wrong? Does smoldering animosity block the path to healing? I believe prejudice hurts all of us. Hate poisons the well, even if it is “inherited hate” that came from more than 200 years of conflict and violence. It is time for European descendants to free ourselves from the bonds of historical bigotry and better understand the perspective of the Indian people. It is time for people of all races to stop hating and find ways for cultural healing through spiritual kindness to each other. Lakota leader and mystic Black Elk said, “The bison were the gift of a good spirit . . . and from the same good spirit we must find another strength.” Richard P. Holm, MD is author of “Life’s Final Season, A Guide for Aging and Dying with Grace” available on Amazon. For free and easy access to the entire Prairie Doc® library, visit www.prairiedoc.org and follow Prairie Doc® on Facebook featuring On Call with the Prairie Doc® a medical Q&A show streaming on Facebook and broadcast on SDPTV most Thursdays at 7 p.m. central. DPS Urges Yankton Sioux Tribe To Use Immediate Options Available For Flood Response PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Department of Public Safety has recommended that the Yankton Sioux Tribe’s request to use the South Dakota National Guard for flood response be declined because other options are immediately available to the tribe. Tribal Chairman Robert Flying Hawk sent a Sept. 20 letter to Governor Kristi Noem asking for assistance for the White Swan community in Lake Andes. Specifically, the chairman requested any or all use of the National Guard. DPS Cabinet Secretary Craig Price, in a letter sent Monday to Chairman Flying Hawk, said that last Friday, staff from the Department of Public Safety’s Office of Emergency Management met with tribal and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials to discuss the building of a berm. Secretary Price stated the Corps provided instructions and technical advice on how to build the berm and tribal officials said they had the money, materials, personnel and equipment to build the berm themselves. “While it is our assumption you want the National Guard to construct the berm, it is our recommendation that, in this situation, the National Guard is not a last resort, because the tribe still has other resources available that can quickly be implemented,” Secretary Price wrote. State agencies, according to Secretary Price, have tried to stay in contact with the tribe since flooding began this spring. He said the state’s assistance is still available to the tribe. “We provided the pumps you requested to lower water levels. We also raised roads to re-establish access to Lake Andes for tribal members. We’ve worked with FEMA and your tribal housing officials to identify possible housing solutions.” Secretary Price wrote. “We are still ready to assist the Yankton Sioux Tribe to keep your tribal members safe and rebuild after flood waters recede.” Secretary Price said both the state and tribe understand that cooperation is needed to help the area deal with the lingering flood issues. “The state has worked together with many communities to deal with their flooding issues and I know we can continue to do the same thing here,” he wrote. Notes From Washington: ‘For Show’ or ‘For Real’ By Rep. Dusty Johnson Washington is a town where investigations can last for years and cost millions of taxpayer dollars. Some investigations happen in order to check a box before moving onto the next task. We all know in D.C. there are two types of investigations. Investigations that are “for show” and investigations that are “for real.” In cattle country we need an investigation “for real.” Times have been tough for cattle producers, especially throughout the last couple of years. South Dakotans have faced unprecedented hard weather – as recent as last week, folks are facing flooded fields and their cows are stranded on flooded plains. Despite tough times, the producers I know don’t ask for guarantees or handouts, all they want is a fair chance to earn a living. Unfortunately, cattle prices have been soft, and those producers’ tight margins don’t allow for huge swings for our feeders and to our ranchers. Following the Holcomb fire, the market experienced extreme volatility. The producers I know are smart and savvy professionals—they expressed that the immediate aftermath of the fire caused serious damage to the long-term viability of their business and to their way of life. USDA has taken notice—I’m grateful Secretary Perdue and USDA acted expediently and opened an investigation under the Packers and Stockyards Act into the cattle market. An investigation like this does not happen every day. Many folks in South Dakota are anxiously awaiting the results. I know that I am. It’s for these reasons that Congress gave USDA oversight authority. Every indication from USDA gives me a good feeling that they are conducting this investigation “for real.” I believe they are doing their best to gather and analyze the pertinent data. It’s imperative our agencies continue to pay attention as Congress intended. USDA wants to get to the bottom of this and rightly so. They want to determine if there has been unfair trade practices or market manipulation. Making that kind of a serious determination won’t be easy. It will require real effort, real persistence, and a real willingness to dig deep. As I said at the beginning, there are two types of investigations in this town, those that are “for show” and those that are “for real.” It looks like USDA is conducting this investigation “for real,” and thank goodness for that. Our cow-calf producers deserve it, our feedlots deserve it, and our country deserves it. 2008 Chevy Silverado LT Snow Plow Truck Z71-4x4, Ext. 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