Friends,
On July 3rd as I watched the gathering at Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota (sacred to the Great Sioux Nation), my soul and spirit wrestled with an agitation in my body, a feeling of restless roaming fear. It was the same feeling I had witnessing the Juneteenth gathering in Tulsa. It is these days, a familiar feeling.
For many years now, I have had the great privilege and honor of calling the people of the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota my friends. I have learned many things from my friends about the sacred, about poverty, about Sovereignty, about dignity, about justice, and about a profound natural connection to the land.
As COVID-19 rages through the United States, we witnessed thousands of people converge in South Dakota on Friday unmasked and uncaring of the potential ramifications of their personal choices. The personal is the political. My heart and soul were filled with fear for the vulnerability of the Lakota people in that region.
Last month we launched this memorial site in honor of my Lakota friend Kathy Boyd who passed away in May, 2020. This memorial is a fundraiser for the Rosebud Reservation during the onslaught of COVID-19. This is urgent. The reservations in this country lack the resources and medical facilities required to truly battle this disease. Indeed some family homes on reservations throughout this country lack even running water. They need our joining with them now before it is too late.
Please take action here now and help us fortify our cherished First Peoples lives against COVID-19.
Pilamaya
Thank You in advance,
Mary
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On May 12th, 2020 my dear friend Kathy Boyd ~ Tasina Luta Win, “Woman who wears red dress” ~ Lakota Sioux, began her journey.
Kathy was many things – joyous wife to her devoted husband Wayne, mother to nine, grandmother to sixty plus. Kathy was also a proud Sundancer and a major force in the Sinte Gleska University Foundation Office on The Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. She was beloved and relied upon by all who knew her. Kathy was a radiant example of Earth Mother Protector. She will be missed terribly, but there is no doubt that all who knew her, carry her spark, and our lives are better for it. This Memorial page and funding source is in honor of all Kathy gave, as a way to give back, spread the love, and feel her power. READ MORE
Our commitment is to create a sustained support flowing from those who can, whenever they can, towards The Rosebud during COVID. It is a way to give back. It is also a way to align ourselves with our Indigenous brothers and sisters as we all, together, make great effort towards the arrest and eventual control of this deadly virus.
Our hope is also to bring more awareness to The Lakota Sioux people, their strength, their tenacity , their incredible families , their sense of humor , their traditions.
Our faith is in the oneness of all souls. It is in the knowledge that without the recognition of that oneness, we are at risk.
Our objective is health and strength and connection.
Pilamaya, Mary McDonnell Mina Sharpe
ROSEBUD SIOUX TRIBE COVID-19 RELIEF 