This weeks readings and talks resonated with experiences I had last summer volunteering with a nonprofit called Simply Smiles. I worked on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota, in a community of around 200 Lakota people. Much of my work was building and preparing raised bed for the growing season. From what I understand about food deserts, this small community on the reservation was the epitome of one. The land is hard as a rock in the sun and becomes clay when wet so growing in the native soil is out of the question. The nearest place to buy food is Walmart, at least an hour and a half’s drive. With no means of growing food and no resources to buy healthy or local, these people who’s traditions are rooted in the earth have lost all connection to their food. They have no choice but to eat the only food they have access to, cheap, greasy, American food.

Before arriving on the reservation I was completely naive, unaware of the realities and the stories of the Lakota people living on the reservation. My experience in Louisville so far has similarly exposed yet another untold story of a population of colored people living in deep poverty in a food dessert.

The “culture grief” that LaDuke spoke of was very evident on the reservation. Before being relocated by the US government, the Lakota people lived in the Black Hills, an abundant sacred area with rich soil and beautiful earth. Their ties and relationships with their ancestors, culture and religion were deeply rooted in the Black Hills. As Michelle, one of our speakers 2 Friday’s ago suggested, it’s important to approach these stories with grief rather than guilt. LaDuke mentioned that her tribe believes that food “comes from our relatives, whether they have wings or fins or roots.” It makes me grieve to imagine a group of people ripped from their homeland, a land that is so woven into their culture and religion.

In many ways the Lakota people were the epitome of “local food,” “back to the land,” and “environmental appreciation” all movements in the headlines today. The government stripped these people of their dignity, culture and self-reliance when they took away what was most important to their livelihood, their land. The Lakota people agree with Shiva that “nature is not out there, we are part of it.” Instead of approaching these people and cultures with an us and them mentality we should be learning from them and aspiring to become stewards of this earth, as their tribes always have been. In order to move forward as a nation we have to accept the stories of our past that include racism and greed. We must open our hearts and let ourselves grieve over our nations mistakes and history. When we are done grieving we must all understand that in order to move forward, we must move forward together.