The Native American Intertribal Counsel at EIU is collecting items to donate to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Students can donate items to help the people on the reservation who are living below the national poverty level.

Rebecca “Little Wolf” Franz, the president of N.I.C.E., said the reservation has about 15,500 people who have nothing.

“They have nothing, they live like a third world country on this reservation,” Franz said. “People die at the age of 45 there.”

She said the people on this reservation need help because there are no jobs available to them.

“They can’t get jobs in the nearest town because the business won’t hire them,” Franz said.

Franz said the reservation is about 3,500 square miles, but most of the land is inhabitable and the people on the reservation cannot build homes on it.

She said the many of the people at the reservation have nothing, which is why N.I.C.E. does not have a list of certain supplies needed for donations.

“We are trying to collect anything and everything,” Franz said. “Anything is better than nothing, it’s a sad state of affairs.”

Franz said N.I.C.E. is trying to help the Native Americans on this reservation first because it is the worst.

“There are other reservations that need help also, but we are focusing on this one first,” Franz said. “After we help this reservation, we’ll try to help the others.”

She said they are trying to challenge other universities and registered student organizations to help the reservations.

Franz said she wants to help provide them with a way to keep warm during the winter.

“It’s in South Dakota, it’s really cold up there right now,” Franz said. “I’d like to get it (the supplies) so that people can survive the winter up there.”

Franz said most of the people on the reservation do not have food to eat and she wants to help to find a way for them to feed themselves.

“We want to establish a buffalo heard on the reservation so they can have something to eat,” Franz said.

She said students can really help by donating different items.

“Students are going to go home and have Christmas, but these people are locked on the reservation with nothing,” Franz said.

Franz said they are asking for different items from clothes, blankets, food, to school books and shoes.

“Right now we have half of a 10 foot by 30 foot storage unit full of supplies,” Franz said. “There is still a lot more that’s needed, but we are happy for what we got.”

Franz said that students who join in the effort could get the chance to help take the supplies to the Pine Ridge Indian reservation.

“There is nothing like seeing a piece of living history first hand,” Franz said. “Many of them still live in the old ways.”

Franz said this is something that is not going to happen over night, but she thinks people could really help those on the reservation.

“We are going to be working on this one for a long time,” Franz said. “But we could really improve their lives.”

Samantha McDaniel can

be reached at 581-2812

or [email protected].