Sovereignty key topic at OST debate

By Heidi Bell Gease, Journal staff | Wednesday, October 29, 2008

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Oglala Sioux Tribe presidential candidates Russell Means and Theresa Two Bulls agree on a lot of things.

Both want to improve life for people on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Both believe the tribe needs to look for new solutions to ongoing problems. And both say it’s time for Oglala people to stand up for their sovereignty as a nation.

But the way they would approach those challenges are different, as are their leadership styles.

During a candidate debate Tuesday on the Piya Wiconi campus of Oglala Lakota College near Kyle, voters had a chance to hear both candidates’ views on issues facing the tribe, from housing and economic development to treaties and the potential loss of the Lakota language.

Means, an actor and activist with the American Indian Movement, expressed his anger at the miserable conditions, he said, colonialism has brought upon the Oglala. Tribal members have the lowest life expectancy in the world, he said – 43 years for men and 52 years for women – and national leaders don’t seem to care.

“That’s genocide,” he said.

But he said the tribe, as a sovereign nation, could take its concerns to the United Nations.

“As sovereigns we bring about the change that we need,” Means said. “That is our right.”

He said that, if tribal leaders work directly with the White House and demand the country live up to treaty responsibilities, the U.S. could be moved to negotiate -- “and that’s when we get the Black Hills back.”

Two Bulls, who is the tribal prosecutor, emphasized her experience and the need for tribal members to work together to bring about change. Two Bulls was tribal secretary for eight years and vice president for two years. She also has served as the District 27 state legislative senator and is running for re-election. Two Bulls said she would accept the tribal position if she were to win both elections.

“I want to work for the people,” she said, adding that her experience in the Legislature and her outside contacts would be helpful in developing partnerships that could benefit the tribe. “I believe that we can do anything if we work together as a people.”

Two Bulls said that, as a sovereign nation, the tribe needs to look beyond relying on government agencies to solve problems. As an example, she said the tribe could look into attracting private health care to the reservation.

Both candidates answered questions about education, health care, law enforcement, housing and economic development. Both noted the local hospital has high-tech equipment but no money to hire staff trained to operate it. And both agreed that, under no circumstances, should the tribe accept money for the Black Hills.

But for at least one voter, there is another important issue to consider: whether the candidates speak Lakota.

“If you can’t speak our language, you shouldn’t be in a leadership position,” said Daryl Mesteth. “The language is who we are.”

Means, who opened his introduction in Lakota, agreed. He said he prays in Lakota, has participated in more than 30 sun dances, and started a language immersion school.

“Our language is the most important part of our being,” he said. If the language dies, “we will not be anyone any longer. We are on the cusp, the very edge, of extinction.”

Two Bulls does not speak Lakota but was born and raised on the reservation and practices traditional spirituality. You don’t have to speak Lakota to help people, she said.

“Being a non-Lakota speaker has not ever, ever hindered me” in those efforts, she said. “It’s here in your heart. Whether you speak Lakota or not shouldn’t be held against you.”

Two Bulls also was slated to debate her Senate opponent, Jim Bradford of Pine Ridge, Tuesday night. Two Bulls defeated Bradford -- who served eight years in the State House -- in the June primary. Bradford then changed his party affiliation from Democratic to Republican and now faces her again on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Means has challenged whether Two Bulls is eligible to run for tribal president because of her Senate candidacy. That appeal is currently before the Oglala Sioux Tribe Supreme Court.

Contact Heidi Bell Gease at 394-8419 or heidi.bell@rapidcityjournal.com