Tour of Pine Ridge Village

A little bit of geographical background... Pine Ridge Reservation is located in the Southwestern part of South Dakota, one of several Indian reservations in the state. Here's a map (Pine Ridge is in pink):

 And here's a map of Pine Ridge itself, bordering the Badlands National Park in the North, Nebraska in the South, Rosebud Reservation to the East, and part of the Black Hills in the West:

 

Pine Ridge village is located in the South, where Routes 407 and 18 intersect. The SuAnne Big Crow Boys and Girls Club, where I'm currently staying, is just a bit East of the village along Route 18.

Pine Ridge is by no means representative of the rest of the reservation, being the largest town out of around a dozen others on the rez (Oglala, Kyle, Allen, Wanblee, and Manderson being some of the other fairly large towns - i.e., having a gas station, convenience store, sometimes a clinic, post office, or school) and being one of the few towns in what is largely very rural country. However, it's the most important town, the center of both tribal and U.S. BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) governance, the location for several schools and stores, as well as the hospital (where I work). Today I walked into town and took some photos, so here they are.

 Sadly, Subway is indeed the freshest meal in town.

Cool building. And the presence of AT&T is a major feat and blessing -- Pine Ridge signed a contract with it just this spring, whereas before that, cell phone use and reception was a big problem. 

See, Subway is a little healthier.

Street view going into town. This is pretty much it.

 A lovely, unexpected cafe, affiliated with the church next door.

Not sure if this is actually an oil company owned by Pine Ridge and where the oil comes from...

In the back you can make out the Sioux Nation grocery store, the red and white building. It's owned by the tribe, but it stocks a whole lot of junk-food and is pretty overpriced.

Taco John's -- the third restaurant/take-out place in town.

 The Thorpes are the Pine Ridge High School's girls basketball team -- at times legendary, especially in this part of the country, where girls basketball is almost as big of a deal as football. Football, basketball, volleyball, and track tend to be the most popular sports (or maybe the only ones offered, I'm not sure). The Thorpes, like most things on Pine Ridge Reservation, also carry tragedy in their history. The SuAnne Big Crow Boys & Girls Club, where I'm staying, is named for a phenomenally talented basketball player, a leader in the community and outspoken against alcohol and for a positive and safe environment for kids. In her senior year of high school, she died in a car accident. The boys and girls club was built by her mom to honor her daughter's dream of a positive place for kids. 

Ah, the BIA. More on that later.

And the tribal administration, also not without its problems, as far as I understand.

The group that oversees the casino, I think.

 This is Big Bat's, a big modern-looking convenience store and take-out food place that has existed here for several generations. Since cars appeared, it's been accompanied by Conoco, Texaco, and now Shell.

 Cool mural next to the Sioux Nation grocery store.

And some landscapes -- beautiful as well as tragic, as usual -- on the way to and from town: