Amana Church plans next trip to Lakota reservation

MIDDLE AMANA — Kristie Yoder has been taking teenagers from The Amana Church on service trips for years.

Their destination for the last 10 years has become Yoder’s “happy place.”

Anyone over the age of 13 can go on the annual trip to Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. This year’s trip is set for Aug. 2-8 and is limited to eight people from the church and the Amana community.

The $800 fee pays for travel, housing and meals for the week. The church’s youth fund pays for the teenagers, and they raise funds all year long to pay for the trip.

“We used to do mission trips to the Heifer Ranch down in Arkansas,” said Yoder, one of the leaders of The Amana Church youth group. But some changes in Heifer International led the church to look for a different service opportunity.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit, so the teenagers went to the Gulf Coast a couple of years to help rebuild.

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Then they started working with Habitat for Humanity, said Yoder. When Habitat changed its rules so that no one under 18 could use power tools, Yoder asked if Habitat could recommend another place the Amana Church teens could serve.

Yoder was referred to Re-Member, an independent, nonprofit organization working with the Oglala Lakota Nation on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

“They were reasonable as far as price goes,” said Yoder. “So we started going there. And this will be my tenth year out.

“And honestly, it’s my happy place.”

Founded in 1998, Re-Member is the longest working nonprofit on the reservation. “The Lakota have learned to trust them,” said Yoder.

Each year, from March through October, Re-Member sends hundreds of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds from all over the world to Pine Ridge Reservation for a week to work on projects and learn about the Lakota people.

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Pine Ridge is about the size of the state of Connecticut, said Yoder. Only half the people on the reservation have electricity or running water.

The total land area of the reservation is 2.1 million acres, according to Re-Member. It’s one of the largest reservations in the U.S.

The population of Pine Ridge is about 18,800. Life expectancy for men of just 47 years. Women average 55 years.

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Two of the five poorest communities in the United States are on the Pine Ridge Reservation, according to Re-Member. The median household income is $26,721, well below the U.S. average of $53,482.

The poverty rate for Pine Ridge is 53.75%, three times the U.S. average of 15.6%, according to Re-Member. The school dropout rate is over 70%.

“The poverty is always something that strikes us as difficult to see,” said Yoder.

A week on the Res

The church group arrives at the reservation on a Saturday. “It’s like a 12-hour trip out there,” said Yoder.

They join other groups from across the country who volunteer at the reservation.

That first evening, they eat buffalo stew for dinner and attend a powwow.

The church tries to go the first week of August when the national Sioux powwow is taking place, said Yoder.

On Sunday they go to Wounded Knee where Dakota High Hawk tells the story of the Wounded Knee massacre.

The volunteers travel to the north side of the Badlands and hike to The Sanctuary, a big bowl-like area, where they meditate about what they plan to get out of the week, Yoder said.

On Monday, the visitors start work. They travel to different towns to work on projects. Some build bunk beds. Others build outhouses.

They might work at the Feather II gardens or build hoop houses, which are greenhouses constructed with arched frames.

Volunteers work on projects through Thursday, said Yoder. Then some go out and set up the outhouses they built, digging six-foot holes over which they place the wooden structures.

Some deliver bunk beds with donated mattresses, pillows and bedding.

Three shop foremen — two native and one adopted into the tribe — guide volunteers through the projects, said Yoder.

Everyone works 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. “They put us in vans,” said Yoder, and drive the volunteers all over the reservation to work. They provide lunch at midday.

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After a work day, the volunteers shower and have dinner before gathering for non-work activities.

Native American speakers, elders of the tribe, tell the story of man’s creation or talk about political or spiritual issues, Yoder said.

Some Natives teach the visitors Lakota hand games. A teacher from the school, Will Peters, talks about the “Red Road,” the Native way of life.

“Each of the speakers that we have has lost a child to suicide,” said Yoder. According to Re-Member, the suicide rate for teenagers at Pine Ridge is 150% higher than that of the U.S. as a whole.

The cemetery is difficult to see because of all the children’s graves, said Yoder.

Every day before work, volunteers hear the wisdom of the elders. “The kids get motivated by it. It’s pretty remarkable,” said Yoder.

“My favorite night is Wednesday night,” said Yoder. Between 15 and 30 artists show up, and everyone eats a potluck meal.

“We eat fry bread like there’s no tomorrow,” said Yoder. They serve it with chokecherry sauce.

The Lakota are very patriotic, said Yoder, which she finds remarkable given the way the country has treated them throughout history.

“It’s so different culturally from what we’re used to,” said Yoder of the Lakota way of life. “The land is incredibly beautiful.”

The Amana Church take library books and school supplies to the reservation when they go. Sometimes the church has a sheet or pillow drive to get bedding for the reservation

“This year if we have sweet corn in time we’re going to take sweet corn with us,” said Yoder.

Anyone who would like to donate for the trip should contact the Amana Church.