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There are very inspiring and exciting

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things happening at the Pine Ridge

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Reservation, which is home to the Oglala

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Sioux in South Dakota. This video is going

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to introduce you to what they are doing

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to restore resilience, economic

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independence, self-sufficiency and

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cultural revival among the Lakota people.

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Being in alliance is about being in

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service to each other, and when you are in

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service, it's about, attitude, being an

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ally also means that because I am

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committed I am going to explore further,

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dig deeper, and see where the growth

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opportunities are for me, and if I can

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actually add value.

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Everybody loves the cultural native,

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everybody loves the ceremonies we share.

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But when it comes to talking about the

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hardships and injustices and the reality

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of what native people deal with on a day

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to day basis, that native is not so

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popular. So being willing to stand next

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to that outspoken native who is not always

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talking about the most popular topics, I

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think that is what makes a good ally.

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I think showing up as an ally star starts

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with contextual understanding of not only

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what has happened, but also what is

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happening. I think it is important to

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remember that this is not past tense, and

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these injustices are happening everday,

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and we are actually seeing them unfold for

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people. We are seeing this healing

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happen for people within a camp, to this

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very day.

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People don't have clean water, they don't

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have running water, they don't have good

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food, they don't have housing, so they are

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just in this mode where they can't think

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about intergenerational trauma and

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epigenetics, and it is really hard to

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heal something when you get a wound

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and it scabs up and someone keeps coming,

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ripping it off. It is ongoing, It has not

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stopped yet, it has been going on for like

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500 years. Since then we have been in

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survival mode, trying to just survive, and

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it is hard to really focus on anything

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else, like building happy communities and

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having healthy relationships with your

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children.

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It's just the willingness to help,

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the willingness to ask questions when it

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is appropriate, showing respect for the

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culture, for the land, for the

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spirituality, for the people. If you treat

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the earth in a good way, the earth will

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treat you in a good way. It is just a

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mutual respect, is what it is, really.

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[Flute playing]

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Right now, we have got the second annual

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IWPS Convergence. We had one last year.

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The convergence is really our event to

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bring together folks who are working on

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these different projects, who have these

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skills in natural building, gardening, and

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to just come together in community to

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really show the power of community and

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what the interrelationships can create.

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We have people from all over the world.

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All nations converge on Pine Ridge, and

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then we have community-based projects

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that they help to implement on Pine Ridge.

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I would say that this year, we are really

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deepening our relationships, and we are

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also spreading to support these food

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distribution networks across the

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reservations, so this is not just one site

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anymore. This has now become the toolhub

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for the reservation, and we also have other

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places where they are creating gardens to

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heal emotional trauma.

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There are a lot of residents who come over,

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folks from other residences, and we make it

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very accessible. We will cover fuel costs,

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whatever it takes, it is free for all

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native folk, to really showcase what is

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happening, to use this energy to activate

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and mobilize our projects moving forward

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as well.

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We work on low cost, alternative, replicable

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models that any family can implement

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with a little bit of help across

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reservations. We build with tyres, and

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a lot of industrial cast off. Junk,

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basically. People will approach us and

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say, "We have a piece of land and we want

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to do this for a family", and then we go

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and take a look and if it is within our

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ability to help them to do their project,

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then we partner up on it and figure out a

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way to get the funds necessary to get

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things together. This is our experiential

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farm or place to build experiments and see

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if they are replicable, if they are

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economic enough to be used here on

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Pine Ridge, and we are all food producers.

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The hope being that we can put a dent in

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our food desert here.

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When I heard the term "permaculture",

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and that was many years ago, I said,

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"What the hell, it is nothing but white

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people, and they are going around the

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world and they are taking the best

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practices of all the indigenous nations,

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and they are putting it in packages and

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say, "Oh, look what we have invented,

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permaculture, look at this". But as my

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brothers here mentioned, it is something

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that the indigenous people have been doing

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for thousands of years!

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All this permaculture knowledge that we

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have, we are just trying to reiterate all

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of it, because like most of you know our

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ancestors have been doing it for thousands

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of years.

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My family, we used to cultivate, and we

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used to plant, and it was communal. It was

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huge! Practically the whole community came

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to plant these enormous fields. We

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practiced crop rotating, everything.

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We had more than four corn fields, and

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we would plant these fields in three days.

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Then of course during harvest that was

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distributed to everyone. When we plant

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corn, we plant seven seeds. One is for us,

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one is for family, one is for the animals,

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one is for the birds, one is for everyone,

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one is for the earth. That is how we plant.

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As we move from this egocentric,

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colonialist ideology back towards this

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indigenous ancestral knowledge that is

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ecocentric, as we move through that

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transition, we all recognize and forgive

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our part in the equation and then we

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actively work towards embracing our

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humanity, reaching out to each other and

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recognizing that we are all part of the

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same tribe humankind.

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I did not want anything to do with it

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until I came here and I saw how lovingly

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this permaculture crew touches the ground.

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But you know, the important thing among

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our people is to show up, and to show that

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you mean what you are saying, and that you

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are going to walk your talk.

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(Native American music playing)

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I am so thoroughly impressed and inspired

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by the incredible work of everyone at the

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Pine Ridge reservation, and I hope you are

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as well. I would love to see you support

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them in their mission. There are links in

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the description to learn more, to get

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involved and support them, so make sure

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that you do that. If you want people to

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see this and be inspired by it, make sure

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to like, comment and share this video, and

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if you have not already, make sure to

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subscribe to this channel, where there

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will be many more videos to come.

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I love you all very much, and I hope that

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you will go out there and make positive

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change and be a part of this movement

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for a better world.