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Fourteen semi-trailer loads were delivered to Crow Creek and Santee Reservations in 2006.

Three additional semi-loads were delivered to 11 Dakota/Lakota reservations in the U.S. and Canada over the 2006 holiday season.

Diversity Foundation, Inc., with the help of community members in Winona, Rochester, Rushford, Peterson, Wabasha and other Southern Minnesota communities are now collecting donations to be sent to the Crow Creek, Santee, Spirit Lake and other Indian reservations.

Many of these Dakota Native American ancestors once lived and called southern Minnesota their pre-European homeland, however today continue to live in extreme poverty.

In an effort to heal the past and help native people and whites connect, the Diversity Foundation, with representatives from Winona and Rochester organizations and their local governments, have begun a number of "outreach programs," bringing aid,
understanding and knowledge to all involved.

The Honorable Barack Obama
President, United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20240

RE: Crow Creek Sioux Reservation

Dear Mr. President:

As the oldest member of said Tribe, I’ve been urged to contact you with regard to a vital matter that faces the future of its Tribal members. Historically, the said Tribe did not accept the Wheeler Howard Act of 1934, so they are a Treaty Tribe; and in this light Presidents in history with their authority performed an important role in Indian Affairs/welfare; that authority or power is vested in Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution.

The Tribal Members who reside in the Crow Creek District of the reservation are descendents of the Band of Dakota who faced despotic acts of the U.S. Government in 1863, impounded in 1862 in Fort Snelling in Minnesota then the U.S. Army transported them by barges to the Crow Creek location in 1863. This writer is a descendent of that group. They became accustomed to living along the Missouri River for decades, but the despotic act was the Picks/Sloan Act to harness the Missouri River by creating large earthen dams which inundated choice lands along the River displacing a large number of families who lived in the flood zone. The Congressional Acts for settlement to the Tribe stated these losses would be replaced, but they were never fully carried out. The Crow Creek Reservation was affected by the Fort Randall and Big Bend Dams. The Book “Dammed Indians” describes the efforts of the affected Tribes to struggle for just settlement. The lands lost were Trust Lands, the U.S. Government being protector, but they were taken by the project by authority of eminent domain and condemned.

Mr. President, these despotic acts continue in this present day. The Internal Revenue Service is taking 7100 acres out of the heart of the reservation in payment for funds due the Internal Revenue Service. This tract of land is a choice location for harnessing the wind, and it would be a boom to the Crow Creek Tribal members. Tribal members pay a premium price for power used. This project would create jobs for Tribal members where the unemployment rate is at 90%. The Tribe needs your attention because the Public Auction Sale is scheduled for December 3, 2009. It appears that the Internal Revenue Service is determined to destroy the Crow Creek Reservation.

The writer of this request is a World War II veteran, and throughout his life has worked in the interest of the welfare of Indian people of South Dakota; worked for three Governors, so in his waning years concentrates on his home reservation. Mr. President, this urgent request is asking you to intervene for the poorest reservation in the nation. Thank you for any assistance you can render for said Tribe.

Sincerely,

Vernon Ashley

Fourteen semi-trailer loads were delivered to Crow Creek and Santee Reservations in 2006.

Three additional semi-loads were delivered to 11 Dakota/Lakota reservations in the U.S. and Canada over the 2006 holiday season.

Diversity Foundation, Inc., with the help of community members in Winona, Rochester, Rushford, Peterson, Wabasha and other Southern Minnesota communities are now collecting donations to be sent to the Crow Creek, Santee, Spirit Lake and other Indian reservations.

Many of these Dakota Native American ancestors once lived and called southern Minnesota their pre-European homeland, however today continue to live in extreme poverty.

In an effort to heal the past and help native people and whites connect, the Diversity Foundation, with representatives from Winona and Rochester organizations and their local governments, have begun a number of "outreach programs," bringing aid,
understanding and knowledge to all involved.