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Promoting the Awareness and Celebration of Indigenous Cultures and People and Creating a Sustainable Future
Newsletter
Fall 2007
Keeping the Doors Open at the Porcupine Clinic – Please Help
Redbird is undertaking a campaign to raise $6,000.00 for the Porcupine Clinic on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Its doors closed for lack of heat as fires rage through Southern California and devastate local reservations, and its plight as the only independent American Indian Clinic in the United States has been swallowed in the smoke of our own local tragedies.
In the following article you will find information on how to send money directly to the propane company which services the clinic. You can also make a Paypal donation to Redbird and we will forward your contribution to the propane company, and provide a contribution letter to you for your tax records. You can make a contribution through our website at REDBIRDS VISION/interface or directly through Paypal using this email address:
[email protected]
Porcupine Clinic Out of Heat
By Stephanie M. Schwartz, Freelance Writer
Member, Native American Journalists Association
October 26, 2007 Firestone, Colorado
Porcupine Clinic, located in the small community of Porcupine, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota [Sioux] Reservation is out of heat. According to Stella White Eyes, Administrative Assistant for the Clinic, the Clinic has closed its doors until it can find resources to fund their heating costs.
Porcupine Clinic is the only independent Indian community-controlled health clinic in the United States. It is not connected with the Federal Indian Health Services (IHS) program and is funded primarily by grants and donations. Unfortunately, those resources have become exceptionally rare this year.
Porcupine Clinic opened its doors in 1992 and serves the entire Reservation as well as the Porcupine District in which it is located. Patients are billed according to their ability to pay and many patients, including low-income Elders and children, receive free health care there.
In 2004, the Porcupine Clinic opened its dialysis unit, saving countless lives of those diabetic patients who could not journey 120 miles away to Rapid City for needed dialysis treatment several times a week. The only other dialysis treatment available on the 11,000 square mile (2.7 million acres) Reservation is located in the small IHS Hospital in the community of Pine Ridge. But that facility hosts only a handful of dialysis beds, is up to 100 miles away from the more remote areas of the Reservation, and is completely unable to treat the vast need of the entire Reservation.
Recent statistics state that the diabetes rate on Pine Ridge is 800% that of the National average and the life expectancy rate is 52 to 58 years old. It is said that 55% of the adults on Pine Ridge over the age of 40 have diabetes.
Ms. White Eyes states that the Clinic has been unable to pay their annual propane tank rental fees of $245 (for both the Clinic and dialysis unit tanks) or for the propane to fill them. They have three tanks: a thousand gallon tank which services the main clinic and two five hundred gallon tanks servicing the dialysis unit. The minimum propane delivery from their provider, Western Cooperative (WESTCO) out of Chadron and Hay Springs, Nebraska, is $360.
If all the tanks were filled, at $1.69 per gallon, it would cost well over $3,000. Further, that will need to happen more than once this winter. While the dialysis unit helps to fund at least part of its own propane use, the Clinic is out of funding now, just as winter is approaching fast.
Harvey Iron Boy, Porcupine District Vice President and Head Man, spoke of the vital role that the Clinic plays in the local district as well as the Reservation as a whole. Not only are the health care services, bi-lingual assistance, diabetic education, and dialysis treatments all meeting critical needs on the Reservation but there are more basic needs met by the Clinic as well. He pointed out that locals often come into the Clinic simply to get warm on days when they have no heat in their own homes.
Ms. White Eyes has contacted various non-profits and assistance organizations but has largely gone unanswered. Link Center Foundation, a small all-volunteer non-profit organization out of Longmont, Colorado, was contacted this week and was also unable to help. With their own heating assistance program for the elders and disabled on the Reservation struggling due to lack of donations, there simply was no funding available to help the Clinic.
However, Audrey Link, Founder/President of the Link Center Foundation (Link Center Foundation), personally paid the $245 out of her own pocket for the annual tank rental fees for the Porcupine Clinic and dialysis unit on Friday. Largely retired and on limited income herself, Link stated that she couldn’t go to sleep tonight if she thought the dialysis patients and Clinic were going to lose their propane tanks.” At least now, if they can raise any money at all elsewhere, they can use the money for propane to fill them.
Anyone wishing to donate towards propane fuel for the Porcupine Clinic may do so directly to the propane company. Please contact:
Loretta at Western Cooperative (WESTCO)
170 Bordeaux St, Chadron, NE 69337-2342
Call Toll Free 800-762-9906
Credit Card and Bank Card donations by phone will be accepted. Small donations are also welcome and will accumulate until the minimum delivery has been reached and then the company will make a delivery of propane to the Clinic. Please clearly mark any donation “For Porcupine Clinic.”
Donations may also be sent directly to the Clinic. For more information, please contact:
Porcupine Clinic
Stella White Eyes, Administrative Assistant
P.O. Box 99, Porcupine, SD 57772
Internet Information: Porcupine Health Clinic, Pine Ridge Reservation
Phone: 605-867-5655
Note: Due to lack of heat, there may or may not be anyone available to answer the phone at the Clinic at this time. Please leave a message.
Stephanie M. Schwartz may be reached at [email protected]
Visit other writings of Stephanie M. Schwartz at Index and Homepage, The Written Works of Stephanie M. Schwartz
(On October 28 Corina Roberts joined Robin Carneen and Tamra Brennan on First Peoples’ Radio to discuss the California wildfires, the Porcupine Clinic, and ways for people to help fellow natives in need. First People’s Radio can be reached via the internet at
KSVR 91.7 FM in Mt Vernon )
Toy, Blanket and School Supplies Drive scheduled for December 1
Our annual toy and school supplies drive is scheduled for December 1 at the Chumash Interpretive Center in Thousand Oaks, California (same location as last year). This year, we would like to include a special request for new, lightweight blankets and new warm clothing, socks and gloves.
The gathering will start at 10 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. Parking is free; pets are not allowed within the park.
Admission is a new toy, or school supplies, or blankets/clothing items.
(We suggest looking for warm but light throw blankets; these are sometimes sold in multiple packs for around $10.00, and can be used to wrap an infant or child or provide personal warmth for an adult or elder. Because they are light-weight, they are easier to ship than heavy blankets; however if you would like to donate Pendletons, we won’t refuse them.)
Because of both the fires and the continued lack of funding for basic necessities on reservations such as Pine Ridge, the locations to which these items will be sent will be determined by need.
All drums and flute players are welcome to participate in the toy drive, and all people are welcome. We would like to have a native dance exhibition, and welcome the presence of other non profit groups.
We will once again serve food, and welcome potluck contributions as well. There will not be a rain date, so we are working to secure use of the indoor museum area in the event of inclement weather.
We also need volunteers to help welcome people and assist with set-up and tear-down. Everyone is welcome to lend a hand.
Hummingbird Creek – Environment versus Development
On October 12, Pascaline Derrick from the Trust for Public Land met with Jim Keppler and Tom Evans of the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District, and Corina Roberts of Redbird, to discuss the potential feasibility of preserving the area collectively known as Hummingbird Creek in Simi Valley.
Hummingbird Creek was once a beautiful region, with year-round water and an oak-studded meadow. It was home to the longest enduring Chumash village in Ventura County, and to a thriving population of wildlife who depended on the perennial source of water to survive.
Today the property looks very different. It has been scraped bare of its vegetation, and subdivided into parcels for single family homes.
The creek remains and the wildlife still rely upon it for their survival, particularly in these harsh times of hot weather and little rain. Their ability to utilize the creek and the adjacent wildlife corridor beneath the 118 freeway will be permanently jeopardized if development commences in the once-pristine oak meadow that acts as a buffer between the wild world and the urbanized one.
Whether or not the resources and energy needed to preserve this piece of land can be generated remains unknown, but the dialogue has begun, and we will continue to work towards a mutual understanding of the value of the natural environment and the need to preserve a place for wildlife in our increasingly urban lives.
Bank of American Contributes to Redbird
Bank of America’s Local Heroes Awards 2007 has been announced, and Redbird will be the recipient of a gift of $5,000.00 from Bank of America.
This money will help us continue with the Children of Many Colors Powwow, allow us to support worthy causes such as the Porcupine Clinic, and host events like the 2007 Toy Drive.
An awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 5 at the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum in Los Angeles. A very limited number of invitations were provided for the event; if you would like more information please contact Suzie Ortiz at (213) 621-7406, or by email at [email protected]
Elder Housing Project and Community Services
We would like to acknowledge and say thank you to Shannon Nash of the City of Simi Valley, and Jenny Chadwell, two women who have taken the time to help us gather valuable information resources as we move slowly forward with the Redbird Ranch Elder Housing Project.
This is an effort which will require not only financial commitment, but professional knowledge as well. With so many causes competing for our time and attention, it is very encouraging to know that this project has not been forgotten, and that the resources we will need do exist. As Redbird continues to gain recognition as a valuable asset to the southern California community, those resources will become increasingly available to us.
The City of Simi Valley has a database of organizations which serve those in need, including minority communities, and we will be adding Redbird to that list and networking with other organizations to insure that we are able to reach the largest population possible; whether it be providing clothing donations or conducting educational and cultural workshops and presentations.
There is always a demand for Native American people to share about their culture, and often, too few people available to do so. We would like to improve our networking base in the Ventura and Los Angeles County areas so that when we are called upon to give a presentation, we can respond to that request with people who are well versed in their culture and capable of communicating that culture to others.
eScrip Update
For those of you already enrolled in the eScrip program, thank you so much for your support. If you haven’t joined eScrip yet, please consider doing so.
The eScrip program is free. When you shop or dine out, and swipe your registered store loyalty, ATM or credit cards, the merchant you’ve spent money with makes a donation to the eScrip program for Redbird. The list of stores and restaurants that participate in this program is constantly growing, and it never costs you anything. To register securely, simply go to Welcome to eScrip!
Wishing you a safe and peaceful season,
Corina Roberts, Founder
Redbird
P.O. Box 702
Simi Valley, CA 93062
Website: REDBIRDS VISION/interface
Email: [email protected]
MySpace: MySpace.com - corina - 43 - Female - SIMI VALLEY, CALIFORNIA - www.myspace.com/redbirdsvision
Promoting the Awareness and Celebration of Indigenous Cultures and People and Creating a Sustainable Future
Newsletter
Fall 2007
Keeping the Doors Open at the Porcupine Clinic – Please Help
Redbird is undertaking a campaign to raise $6,000.00 for the Porcupine Clinic on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Its doors closed for lack of heat as fires rage through Southern California and devastate local reservations, and its plight as the only independent American Indian Clinic in the United States has been swallowed in the smoke of our own local tragedies.
In the following article you will find information on how to send money directly to the propane company which services the clinic. You can also make a Paypal donation to Redbird and we will forward your contribution to the propane company, and provide a contribution letter to you for your tax records. You can make a contribution through our website at REDBIRDS VISION/interface or directly through Paypal using this email address:
[email protected]
Porcupine Clinic Out of Heat
By Stephanie M. Schwartz, Freelance Writer
Member, Native American Journalists Association
October 26, 2007 Firestone, Colorado
Porcupine Clinic, located in the small community of Porcupine, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota [Sioux] Reservation is out of heat. According to Stella White Eyes, Administrative Assistant for the Clinic, the Clinic has closed its doors until it can find resources to fund their heating costs.
Porcupine Clinic is the only independent Indian community-controlled health clinic in the United States. It is not connected with the Federal Indian Health Services (IHS) program and is funded primarily by grants and donations. Unfortunately, those resources have become exceptionally rare this year.
Porcupine Clinic opened its doors in 1992 and serves the entire Reservation as well as the Porcupine District in which it is located. Patients are billed according to their ability to pay and many patients, including low-income Elders and children, receive free health care there.
In 2004, the Porcupine Clinic opened its dialysis unit, saving countless lives of those diabetic patients who could not journey 120 miles away to Rapid City for needed dialysis treatment several times a week. The only other dialysis treatment available on the 11,000 square mile (2.7 million acres) Reservation is located in the small IHS Hospital in the community of Pine Ridge. But that facility hosts only a handful of dialysis beds, is up to 100 miles away from the more remote areas of the Reservation, and is completely unable to treat the vast need of the entire Reservation.
Recent statistics state that the diabetes rate on Pine Ridge is 800% that of the National average and the life expectancy rate is 52 to 58 years old. It is said that 55% of the adults on Pine Ridge over the age of 40 have diabetes.
Ms. White Eyes states that the Clinic has been unable to pay their annual propane tank rental fees of $245 (for both the Clinic and dialysis unit tanks) or for the propane to fill them. They have three tanks: a thousand gallon tank which services the main clinic and two five hundred gallon tanks servicing the dialysis unit. The minimum propane delivery from their provider, Western Cooperative (WESTCO) out of Chadron and Hay Springs, Nebraska, is $360.
If all the tanks were filled, at $1.69 per gallon, it would cost well over $3,000. Further, that will need to happen more than once this winter. While the dialysis unit helps to fund at least part of its own propane use, the Clinic is out of funding now, just as winter is approaching fast.
Harvey Iron Boy, Porcupine District Vice President and Head Man, spoke of the vital role that the Clinic plays in the local district as well as the Reservation as a whole. Not only are the health care services, bi-lingual assistance, diabetic education, and dialysis treatments all meeting critical needs on the Reservation but there are more basic needs met by the Clinic as well. He pointed out that locals often come into the Clinic simply to get warm on days when they have no heat in their own homes.
Ms. White Eyes has contacted various non-profits and assistance organizations but has largely gone unanswered. Link Center Foundation, a small all-volunteer non-profit organization out of Longmont, Colorado, was contacted this week and was also unable to help. With their own heating assistance program for the elders and disabled on the Reservation struggling due to lack of donations, there simply was no funding available to help the Clinic.
However, Audrey Link, Founder/President of the Link Center Foundation (Link Center Foundation), personally paid the $245 out of her own pocket for the annual tank rental fees for the Porcupine Clinic and dialysis unit on Friday. Largely retired and on limited income herself, Link stated that she couldn’t go to sleep tonight if she thought the dialysis patients and Clinic were going to lose their propane tanks.” At least now, if they can raise any money at all elsewhere, they can use the money for propane to fill them.
Anyone wishing to donate towards propane fuel for the Porcupine Clinic may do so directly to the propane company. Please contact:
Loretta at Western Cooperative (WESTCO)
170 Bordeaux St, Chadron, NE 69337-2342
Call Toll Free 800-762-9906
Credit Card and Bank Card donations by phone will be accepted. Small donations are also welcome and will accumulate until the minimum delivery has been reached and then the company will make a delivery of propane to the Clinic. Please clearly mark any donation “For Porcupine Clinic.”
Donations may also be sent directly to the Clinic. For more information, please contact:
Porcupine Clinic
Stella White Eyes, Administrative Assistant
P.O. Box 99, Porcupine, SD 57772
Internet Information: Porcupine Health Clinic, Pine Ridge Reservation
Phone: 605-867-5655
Note: Due to lack of heat, there may or may not be anyone available to answer the phone at the Clinic at this time. Please leave a message.
Stephanie M. Schwartz may be reached at [email protected]
Visit other writings of Stephanie M. Schwartz at Index and Homepage, The Written Works of Stephanie M. Schwartz
(On October 28 Corina Roberts joined Robin Carneen and Tamra Brennan on First Peoples’ Radio to discuss the California wildfires, the Porcupine Clinic, and ways for people to help fellow natives in need. First People’s Radio can be reached via the internet at
KSVR 91.7 FM in Mt Vernon )
Toy, Blanket and School Supplies Drive scheduled for December 1
Our annual toy and school supplies drive is scheduled for December 1 at the Chumash Interpretive Center in Thousand Oaks, California (same location as last year). This year, we would like to include a special request for new, lightweight blankets and new warm clothing, socks and gloves.
The gathering will start at 10 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. Parking is free; pets are not allowed within the park.
Admission is a new toy, or school supplies, or blankets/clothing items.
(We suggest looking for warm but light throw blankets; these are sometimes sold in multiple packs for around $10.00, and can be used to wrap an infant or child or provide personal warmth for an adult or elder. Because they are light-weight, they are easier to ship than heavy blankets; however if you would like to donate Pendletons, we won’t refuse them.)
Because of both the fires and the continued lack of funding for basic necessities on reservations such as Pine Ridge, the locations to which these items will be sent will be determined by need.
All drums and flute players are welcome to participate in the toy drive, and all people are welcome. We would like to have a native dance exhibition, and welcome the presence of other non profit groups.
We will once again serve food, and welcome potluck contributions as well. There will not be a rain date, so we are working to secure use of the indoor museum area in the event of inclement weather.
We also need volunteers to help welcome people and assist with set-up and tear-down. Everyone is welcome to lend a hand.
Hummingbird Creek – Environment versus Development
On October 12, Pascaline Derrick from the Trust for Public Land met with Jim Keppler and Tom Evans of the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District, and Corina Roberts of Redbird, to discuss the potential feasibility of preserving the area collectively known as Hummingbird Creek in Simi Valley.
Hummingbird Creek was once a beautiful region, with year-round water and an oak-studded meadow. It was home to the longest enduring Chumash village in Ventura County, and to a thriving population of wildlife who depended on the perennial source of water to survive.
Today the property looks very different. It has been scraped bare of its vegetation, and subdivided into parcels for single family homes.
The creek remains and the wildlife still rely upon it for their survival, particularly in these harsh times of hot weather and little rain. Their ability to utilize the creek and the adjacent wildlife corridor beneath the 118 freeway will be permanently jeopardized if development commences in the once-pristine oak meadow that acts as a buffer between the wild world and the urbanized one.
Whether or not the resources and energy needed to preserve this piece of land can be generated remains unknown, but the dialogue has begun, and we will continue to work towards a mutual understanding of the value of the natural environment and the need to preserve a place for wildlife in our increasingly urban lives.
Bank of American Contributes to Redbird
Bank of America’s Local Heroes Awards 2007 has been announced, and Redbird will be the recipient of a gift of $5,000.00 from Bank of America.
This money will help us continue with the Children of Many Colors Powwow, allow us to support worthy causes such as the Porcupine Clinic, and host events like the 2007 Toy Drive.
An awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 5 at the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum in Los Angeles. A very limited number of invitations were provided for the event; if you would like more information please contact Suzie Ortiz at (213) 621-7406, or by email at [email protected]
Elder Housing Project and Community Services
We would like to acknowledge and say thank you to Shannon Nash of the City of Simi Valley, and Jenny Chadwell, two women who have taken the time to help us gather valuable information resources as we move slowly forward with the Redbird Ranch Elder Housing Project.
This is an effort which will require not only financial commitment, but professional knowledge as well. With so many causes competing for our time and attention, it is very encouraging to know that this project has not been forgotten, and that the resources we will need do exist. As Redbird continues to gain recognition as a valuable asset to the southern California community, those resources will become increasingly available to us.
The City of Simi Valley has a database of organizations which serve those in need, including minority communities, and we will be adding Redbird to that list and networking with other organizations to insure that we are able to reach the largest population possible; whether it be providing clothing donations or conducting educational and cultural workshops and presentations.
There is always a demand for Native American people to share about their culture, and often, too few people available to do so. We would like to improve our networking base in the Ventura and Los Angeles County areas so that when we are called upon to give a presentation, we can respond to that request with people who are well versed in their culture and capable of communicating that culture to others.
eScrip Update
For those of you already enrolled in the eScrip program, thank you so much for your support. If you haven’t joined eScrip yet, please consider doing so.
The eScrip program is free. When you shop or dine out, and swipe your registered store loyalty, ATM or credit cards, the merchant you’ve spent money with makes a donation to the eScrip program for Redbird. The list of stores and restaurants that participate in this program is constantly growing, and it never costs you anything. To register securely, simply go to Welcome to eScrip!
Wishing you a safe and peaceful season,
Corina Roberts, Founder
Redbird
P.O. Box 702
Simi Valley, CA 93062
Website: REDBIRDS VISION/interface
Email: [email protected]
MySpace: MySpace.com - corina - 43 - Female - SIMI VALLEY, CALIFORNIA - www.myspace.com/redbirdsvision
