Porcupine Community, Pine Ridge Reservation, SD – The crisis of elder abuse on the Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation has hit a shocking new low as revelations are emerging about a series of abuses and illegal activities uncovered at the Porcupine Elder Center and the Elderly Meals Program.
Cante Tenza Okolakiciye - Strong Heart Warrior Society
Free & Independent Lakota Nation
Box 512, Hill City, South Dakota 57745 | 605-454-0449 or 605-517-1547 | lakotaoyate.net
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Feb 13, 2011
Contact: Duane Martin Sr. 605-517-1547 or 605-454-0449
ELDERS UNDER THREAT: SERIES OF ABUSES, ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES UNCOVERED IN LAKOTA RESERVATION ELDERLY MEALS PROGRAM
Conspiracy of Threats, Physical Intimidation, Tribal Council Corruption Stops Investigations
Elders Fear Retaliation After Coming Forward with Revelations
Porcupine Community, Pine Ridge Reservation, SD – The crisis of elder abuse on the Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation has hit a shocking new low as revelations are emerging about a series of abuses and illegal activities uncovered at the Porcupine Elder Center and the Elderly Meals Program.
On Tuesday February 7th, a group of elders contacted the Lakota Strong Heart Warrior Society with concerns for their safety after being threatened by self-appointed Elder Center leader Winifred Janis. Janis, and several family members including daughter Geneva Quiver, appear to hold an iron fisted grip over the Elder Center and have threatened elders with violence and assaulted at least one employee to conceal revelations about abuse and illegal activities being conducted out of the center.
Earlier this week, Janis directly threatened a group of Elders, including 91 year old Cecilia Martin, shouting, “If any of you elders talk about me or my daughter, I’m gonna’ hit you in the mouth!â€
When the elders asked whom she meant, Janis replied, “Any damn one of you!â€
Efforts to get relief from the abusive conditions of the center’s meal program have been obstructed by corrupt officials. Elder Lorraine White Face said that she had tried to address the lack of nutritional meals and strong arm tactics used by Janis. She has previously used the center along with her 88 year-old mother, Ester White Face, for meals.
After physically intervening to stop an elder from getting hit in the head by a center employee, White Face was slapped with a restraining order to keep her away from the center.
“She [Winifred Janis] uses her position to go against the real elderly, said White Face, who has been an outspoken advocate for traditional Lakota language and culture. “I mean elders who are 88, 89 and 91 years old – she made them worry every day. And I am elderly too.â€
The elders who use the Porcupine center now fear retaliation as details of the abuses and corruption emerge. Wilson Coleman Jr., an employee of the center, was physically beaten by three members of the Janis/Quiver family after he spoke out about illegal activities including alcohol bootlegging and the selling of drugs out of the back of the Elder Center.
“Elder abuse is against the law,†noted Duane Martin Sr., headsman of the Strong Heart Warrior Society. He emphasized that in addition to traditional Lakota Customary Law, the Oglala Law and Order Code, the 1948 Older Citizens Act and other laws make elder abuse a crime.
Martin also detailed how the Porcupine District Elderly bylaws are being violated to prevent Elders from speaking out. He emphasized, “Immediate action must be taken to remove Winifred Janis and her family or the Warrior Society will act to impose justice through customary law.â€
Both elders and activists say the corruption in the Elderly Meals Program is not just confined to Porcupine, but is present through the entire reservation-wide system. For four years Elders have appealed to the Oglala Tribal Court for investigations into Elder Center and Meals Program activities but have been stalled by responses that the investigation is “ongoing.â€
“This is going on in all the elderly buildings on the reservation,†said White Face. “Everyone thinks we are crazy, but we know what’s going on.â€
The quality and nutrition of the food being given to the Elders is also a concern. Elders at the Porcupine Center have been served undercooked meals that have made them sick and served meals that contain only carbohydrates, without protein. Pictures have been taken to document the poor quality of the food served there.
According to a 2009 Lakota Country Times article entitled Elder Meals in Porcupine, the tribe receives money for Elderly Meals through Federal Title VI grants, South Dakota Title III monies, and National Relief Charities AIRC Food service. The article noted that meals are cooked at “assembly line speedâ€.
Enoch Brings Plenty, 67, who was voted by a consensus of elders to be president at the Porcupine Center before Janis assumed control explained, “The elderly should be the number one priority of each reservation. They should be uplifted and treated like an angel.â€
Brings Plenty, who served 20 years as head cook for a Rosebud Reservation elementary school, voiced concern the problems at the Porcupine Elder Center have been “going on for some time†and that Winifred Janis has “caused a lot of chaos for the elderly there.â€
He added, “The elderly have an awful life here, I have to do something about this.â€
Brings Plenty also shared how is wife Della, who is 67 and handicapped by seizures, was denied meals by Janis while at the same time members of Janis’ family including her children and grand children were fed regularly.
Janis’ name also appears as a contact for the collection of clothes and other support in the name of the Porcupine Elder’s center but the elders have not seen this assistance. An October 18, 2010 entry for the “Ashley’s Closet†Facebook page reads, “We at Heart Bridge are glad to welcome Ms. Winifred Janis as contact for Ashley’s Closet. You may send items to her at… c/o Porcupine Senior Center 1 Main St. Porcupine, SD 57772.â€
Lorraine White Face explained she has twice appealed for help from the Oglala Tribal Council, contacted the Oglala Courts twice, and the Treaty Council three times without any resolution.
Virgil Bush, Porcupine District President, confided that the previous Oglala Tribal Council administration couldn’t deal with the abuses in the Elderly Meals Program because they were not fluent Lakota speakers like many of the elders. Bush’s admission highlights the large cultural divide between many members of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) tribal government and the traditional Lakota people.
Activists detail how a wall of corruption conspires between families to sideline investigations and create a culture of retaliation for people who try to fight for justice. For decades this corruption has marginalized native Lakota speakers, traditional people, and others who have tried to stand against those who are exploiting the BIA system of Lakota government for their own gain.
In December, Strong Heart headsman Duane Martin Sr.’s dog was poisoned and killed for his activism against bootleggers and drug dealers, many of whom are protected by members of the tribal council and tribal law enforcement. In January, a group of Lakota Elders were pushed and threatened with a gun by Oglala District representative Deborah Rooks- Cook outside of a secret council meeting. Rooks-Cook has gone unpunished.
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Cante Tenza Okolakiciye also known as the Strong Heart Warrior Society of the Lakota Nation is an ancient Lakota warrior society as well as a broad-based civil rights movement that works to protect, enforce and restore treaty rights, civil rights, and sovereignty of Native people and their communities across Turtle Island. In addition to activist efforts to protect the land and people, each year Cante Tenza collects and freely distributes shoes, winter coats, school supplies, food, and other support to Oglala Lakota elders, children and families.
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