America's Poorest County... Huffington Post, AP

[Stuart G]

NOMAAN MERCHANT 02/13/11 08:54 PM

Huffington Post,AP
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/13/ziebach-south-dakota-poorest-county_n_822608.html

Originally here:
Newsvine:
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2011/02/13/6045883-a-look-inside-americas-poorest-county

Ziebach County, South Dakota: America's Poorest County


ZIEBACH COUNTY, S.D. — In the barren grasslands of Ziebach County, there's almost nothing harder to find in winter than a job. This is America's poorest county, where more than 60 percent of people live at or below the poverty line.

At a time when the weak economy is squeezing communities across the nation, recently released census figures show that nowhere are the numbers as bad as here – a county with 2,500 residents, most of them Cheyenne River Sioux Indians living on a reservation.

In the coldest months of the year, when seasonal construction work disappears and the South Dakota prairie freezes, unemployment among the Sioux can hit 90 percent.

Poverty has loomed over this land for generations. Repeated attempts to create jobs have run into stubborn obstacles: the isolated location, the area's crumbling infrastructure, a poorly trained population and a tribe that struggles to work with businesses or attract investors.

Now the tribe – joined by a few entrepreneurs, a development group and a nonprofit – is renewing efforts to create jobs and encourage a downtrodden population to start its own businesses.

"Many, many people make these grand generalizations about our communities and poverty and 'Why don't people just do something, and how come they can't?'" said Eileen Briggs, executive director of Tribal Ventures, a development group started by the tribe. "It's much more complicated than that."

[Lifelong Protester]

1. yes, it has always been way more complicated.

and devastating for them. should be shaming this country.

[Stuart G]

2. I am not sure what to say, this is so sad..

This kind of poverty in the USA. But this is not unusual. All over this country, right now, peple are starving, and there is high unemployment. Here among the Sioux, it is this way always. always

[prairierose]

3. Yes, the more things change; the more they stay the same....

I hope this group can make a difference but it seems unlikely.

[jwirr]

4. There were places where the New Deal did not touch and they

never got the help to start up - reservations are one of those places. Some reservations have been helped by the law allowing them to open casinos but others are too far off the beaten track to be able to use that method.

The lady speaks about how difficult it can be. I would like to tell a story about a reservation in Montana in the 70s. The local grocery store was owned by a white man and he was none to honest - did things like take all of grandma's food stamps for a small amount of food. Several persons in the tribe decided they wanted to open a tribal owned store. But they had to apply for permission from the BIA. The BIA sent researchers out to look into the problem. The research team cost $20,000. The grant request was for $5,000. The good old boys turned them down. This is what it is like trying to get something started on the res.

When one town wanted to build outhouses the government sent a team of surveyors to make sure the outhouses were in a straight row. The outhouses cost $300 each - can you imagine what the survey team cost?

I wish these people all the good in the world. They are survivors and they have what it takes even in the horrible poverty.

[Enthusiast]

5. Imagine having to ask the BIA

for permission to open a store. WTF? Is this the 19th century?

[Raster]

6. Yes, in some parts of the country it still is the 19th century.

[jwirr]

8. I agree with both of you but when your people are "wards" of the

state that is the way it is. It could be worse, instead of being over seen by the Interior Department (BIA) they could still be under the Defense Department. That was even worse.

[Bjorn Against]

7. I live in Minnesota and Republicans here always tell us that South Dakota is taking our jobs away...

South Dakota has a much lower tax rate than Minnesota, the Republicans like to tell us that lower taxes mean more jobs and they point to South Dakota as a state that we could lose jobs to. Tom Emmer who was the Republican nominee in the last Governor's election ran billboards all across the state with the message "Don't lose another job to South Dakota!". Of course the Republicans like the rhetoric that claims lower taxed states are costing Minnesotans jobs, but they never cite any type of statistics to prove their point. This is the reason why. As much as they would like us to believe that low-tax South Dakota is heaven for job seekers, the reality is far different. Cutting taxes for the rich does not create jobs, if it did then South Dakota, Mississippi, and Alabama would be among the wealthiest states in the nation. Instead we see that when you allow your infrastructure to crumble and you don't provide services to lift people out of poverty then the economy suffers. It is time to confront Republicans and make them explain to us why there is so much poverty in the low taxed states if lower taxes really do boost the economy, Democrats have allowed them to spew their talking points without confronting the facts for too long.

[Scruffy1]

9. In truth The Miniconjou are better of than Pine Ridge

The mother of my sons was Miniconjou Lakota and I have many friends there. They consider themselves lucky compared to
Rosebud and Pine Ridge, but the economy has hurt the poorest of the poor the hardest.