Hello, relatives and friends. My name is Chase Iron Eyes. It is an honor to introduce myself and announce my new role as South Dakota counsel for the Lakota People’s Law Project (LPLP). I’m energized to represent the cause of Indian child welfare (for it is a cause that belongs to us all), and I write today to urge you to consider the real human implications of this crisis, and to contribute. We are getting ready to leap forward in our work—but we can only do it with your help.
As you know, for years LPLP has stood on the frontlines of America’s plains, fighting to keep Native children in Native homes and to prevent bigoted bureaucrats and policies from obstructing our way of life, eradicating our traditions and crippling our future.
During my career, I have worked to end the marginalization of my brothers and sisters by fighting in courts, by co-founding LastRealIndians.com, and by serving on the board of HonorTheTreaties.org (HTT), an organization that amplifies the voices of Indigenous communities by funding collaborations between Indian artists and advocacy groups. I’m elated to announce that the Lakota People’s Law Project has expanded its outreach this year by sponsoring and partnering with HTT.
Together, our fight is creating real change!
In May, after LPLP pressured the Bureau of Indian Affairs, powerful officials from Washington D.C. met with tribal leaders and others at an Indian Child Welfare summit in Rapid City.
In June and July, we visited across the state to collect support for a resolution to secure government funding for tribes to administer their own child and family services agencies. Already the councils from Standing Rock, Rosebud, Crow Creek, Flandreau, Sisseton, Yankton, and Cheyenne River have passed this resolution.
Now we are ready to make history. Though we are pushed to fight to defend our children, our determination emanates from a place of love and healing. I write to you today with a song of battle in my heart. I hope you will sing with me.
Your generous contribution will support all the timely work being done by LPLP and the tribes and our continued mission to bring indigenous voices into the national dialogue, to gain government cooperation, and to rightly place Native children into Native homes.
Lila Wophila Ichichapelo (thank you all for your time),
Chase Iron Eyes, Esq.
South Dakota Counsel
Lakota People’s Law Project
