Lakota+Today

Outstanding Lakota People
Oscar Howe--Lakota artist Mitchell Zephier--Lakota Jeweler Joanne BirdLakota-- artist and singer George Bettelyoun--Lakota Mask maker and performing artist.

Life on the Reservation in 2011
Pine Ridge is the eighth-largest reservation in the United States and it is the poorest. The population of Pine Ridge suffer health conditions commonly found in [|Third World] countries, including high [|mortality rates], [|depression], [|alcoholism], [|drug abuse], [|malnutrition] and [|diabetes], among others. Reservation access to health care is limited compared to urban areas, and it is not sufficient. Unemployment on the reservation hovers between 80% and 85%, and 49% of the population live below the [|federal poverty level].[|[][|61][|]] Many of the families have no electricity, telephone, running water, or sewage systems; and many use [|wood stoves] to heat their homes, depleting limited wood resources.