1-877-817-9829
Monday - Friday 8:00am to 4:00pm (CST)
The Power Hour
P.O. Box 85
Versailles, MO. 65084
December 15, 2009The IRS last week auctioned off a large swath of land owned by an impoverished Indian tribe to help pay off more than $3 million in back taxes, penalties and interest. The tribe says the sale is illegal under federal laws protecting American Indian land and sued to block the sale. A judge let it proceed but promised to schedule a trial to hear the tribe’s arguments.
CAN-DO urgently needs your help to address the crisis on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation, the nations poorest county. Just this week, Central Electric Cooperative cut power on residents with only a two days notice, directly violating South Dakota Law, the company's policies of not doing winter disconnects, and the General Managers document commitment to work with the community to reach a solution. Can you imagine trying to survive when you are unable to work, have no means to support your family, and then have to live in sub-zero conditions with no power? The kicker is, the power is produced their own land! The Deal, when they built the Big Ben Damn, was that the residents would receive free electricity...that never happened, instead the residents of Crow Creek pay a 1/3 higher than anywhere in the State with an average income of under 5k.
This is blatant abuse and the destruction of a community. What people need to understand is that when a person gets their power cut, they not only lose their heat and lights, but they also lose their food and often times water because of broken pipes, costing the residents thousands of dollars in repairs. With no job opportunities, close to 80% of these residents go without income and are often denied government funding. When most families are forced to live on $25 per person per week in food stamps. Losing power is not only an inconvenience, its life threatening. These are unacceptable conditions and need our immediate attention. News agencies and government officials have turned their backs on these American citizens allowing these conditions to persist. Please write to the media and your representative to address this now!
CAN-DO urgently needs your help to address the crisis on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation, the nations poorest county. Just this week, Central Electric Cooperative cut power on residents with only a two days notice, directly violating South Dakota Law, the company's policies of not doing winter disconnects, and the General Managers document commitment to work with the community to reach a solution. Can you imagine trying to survive when you are unable to work, have no means to support your family, and then have to live in sub-zero conditions with no power? The kicker is, the power is produced their own land! The Deal, when they built the Big Ben Damn, was that the residents would receive free electricity...that never happened, instead the residents of Crow Creek pay a 1/3 higher than anywhere in the State with an average income of under 5k.
This is blatant abuse and the destruction of a community. What people need to understand is that when a person gets their power cut, they not only lose their heat and lights, but they also lose their food and often times water because of broken pipes, costing the residents thousands of dollars in repairs. With no job opportunities, close to 80% of these residents go without income and are often denied government funding. When most families are forced to live on $25 per person per week in food stamps. Losing power is not only an inconvenience, its life threatening. These are unacceptable conditions and need our immediate attention. News agencies and government officials have turned their backs on these American citizens allowing these conditions to persist. Please write to the media and your representative to address this now!
The Crow Creek Sioux Reservation is located in the central portion of South Dakota, 26 miles northwest of Chamberlain, South Dakota, which is on Interstate 90. The reservation boundaries on the west and south include lakes Sharpe and Francis Case, the large reservoirs formed by mainstem dams, Fort Randall and Big Bend dams, on the Missouri River. The reservation covers an area of about 400 square miles within Hughes, Hyde, and Buffalo counties. Of this area about 35 square miles are covered by major reservoirs and about 201 square miles are owned by the Tribe and Tribal members. The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe maintains the right and responsibility to provide environmental authority in compliance with Tribal and Federal law for protection of the land and resources within the exterior boundaries of the reservation through code development and regulatory mechanisms. The maintenance and protection of the land is very important to the Crow Creek people and our future generations.
