Guest Post | A Native American Student Responds to a Times Article About His Home

A rambling stretch of scrub in central Wyoming the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined, Wind River has a crime rate five to seven times the national average and a long history of homicides.
By Katherine Schulten: February 20, 2012


The original article was by a man named, Timothy Williams called "Brutal Crimes Grip an Indian Reservation" when a Native American Student caught a glimpse at it, Willow Pingree.

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Willow Pingree, a student at Fort Washakie Charter High School on the Wind River Indian Reservation

Willow frowned upon the article and commented,

"I have lived on the reservation since I was born. I will be only twenty in July, but as far as I’m concerned, I’ve seen my share of good and bad things on this reservation. Not EVERTHING about this reservation is bad. Sure there is a huge problem with domestic violence and alcoholism, but we try to work together as a community to fight it. We have not given up. … What many people who are not from this reservation, or perhaps any in particular, don’t understand is that there is a strong spiritual bond that we have with our culture and our homeland. Alcoholism has spread like the Black Plague of the European countries, but we do what we can to fight it. … It is a sad thing that people are quick to judge about a place where they have not lived."

This actions caused the principle of the school to invite the reporter and Willow Pingree to sit down and talk about the issues. Willow wrote an amazing essay as a result. He defended his community against the attack the reporter had originally represented. He spoke about the issues that are facing the community and how his people are trying to better themselves. The article attacked his community acting as if there was no chance that the people would ever be able to govern or help themselves. Willow did not ignore the problems that his community are facing, but he instead addressed the way his community is trying to help solve these issues that are plaguing the community to put them in a negative light.

Below is a link to his essay. It is extremely well thought out and interpretive of the situations that are happening around his community.

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/guest-post-a-native-american-student-responds-to-a-times-article-about-his-home/