Shedding Light: On the End to Native Genocide

Author

• Dominic Blindert

Files

Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

https://hdl.handle.net/10365/29805

Publisher

North Dakota State University

Rights

NDSU Policy 190.6.2

URI

https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf

Abstract

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation has seen historical trauma. Located roughly 75 miles southeast of the Black Hills in South Dakota, Pine Ridge has received international attention for its incredible despair. Plagued for generations by a series of broken treaties with the U.S. Government, the Oglala Lakota have been left a mere fraction of their original sacred land and resources. Despair rips through the region as quality of life within Pine Ridge has been overshadowed by severe poverty and an endemic of drug and alcohol addiction. With each passing generation, spiritual and cultural values seemingly become lost as a never-ending battle of conformity to the modern world has left its mark on the indigenous people. This thesis research will expose a bitter truth of historical prejudice while providing a solution to end the ethnocide of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and to restore quality of life within its Native people. A proposed cultural center in the heart of Pine Ridge will seek education and shine light on Native American history. The center will focus on traditional Lakota practices and rituals, combining cultural influences and a safe-haven for those struggling with the long-term effects of addiction, depression and abuse. The center will provide a sense of hope and purpose, breathing life back to the Oglala Lakota.

Recommended Citation

Blindert, Dominic, "Shedding Light: On the End to Native Genocide" (2019). Architecture Theses. 250.
https://digitalcommons.ndsu.edu/architecture-theses/250