Thanks for this episode Tommy it really hits home since I have alot of Native Americans in my family who have suffered with alcoholism, obesity, and other assorted things. A few years ago my dad ended up in the hospital because of I forget the term but I think it starts with K, luckily since hes not only got sober but has become healthy.

It's sad to see how they live like strangers in their own land ... It's heartbreaking. 😔 Slavery, Genocide, Colonialism and Colonization are all evil things done by evildoers. For honest truths, pls read the informative insightful, multi-pages comment by 'Lonely Alaskan' at, "Complete History Of Indigenous America Before Colonialism": kzfaq.info/get/bejne/sJ-DgLFmntzXd40.htmlsi=QZ4aX9jmUdrbRoYL , (which by the way, got pushed down below 100 other comments lately).

Pine Ridge is like this because it used to be the place Americans would place indigenous prisoners of war. It’s a brutal remnant of barbaric American colonialism

Tommy, please be safe out there while you tell these stories. Love from Whitewater.

Oh, boy! Education of Little Tree, Ishi, When the Legends Die, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven...

Lol me too. About 2 wks after I turned 18 I was out. My rez is actually quite beautiful. Still no jobs unless you want to work at the crap casino and all the nepotism. F that. Or work at the ECC with all those trash talking bishes. F that. So liberal. No backbone of responsibility. All this talk about respect, but no body respect each other at all. I'd rather be with others. Even if the culture is different and nothing is for free.

​@@beththomas2222 That's a good contrast. A real contrast. We are only strangers on the internet but it's good you are doing well. It makes me angry because the recovery of native nations is a serious issue but things are obviously screwed up. M3th is a problem everywhere. People who do m3th just don't have any respect intelligence or honor. I hope the native nations can come back. There needs to be investments in those nations that aren't just casinos though.

​@@theodorebear6714 Agree 100% Also for the tribal leaders to allow other businesses to come in besides Casinos. It will continue (especially Alcohol and drugs) unless some of the leaders do something about it.

​@@beththomas2222You express yourself so beautifully noone would be able to tell you were from this shot up Rez.F this.F that.Im classy.

The whole time I was watching this video I was thinking why don't these guys move to a real town. Maybe you can tell me what is stopping them from going to someplace where things are better?

I pray for you n your people. My great grandmother was Blackfeet N Creek Indian, Wish you n your family the best n May God be with you.

Why are almost all reservation’s like this? Do their community leaders not give a f**** cause it sure looks that way.

@@colewilson8508 the counsel would rather help they own families and embezzle money into there own pockets before they even think about the people

He's one of the few journalists who do true journalism. Glad he came here to shed some light on your area, the land is beautiful but the people need some help.

@@Phondo2x ah. So that’s why they wanna ban a governor from their communities

America is a fkn scam

We are not....the GOVERNMENT !!! 🤬. This is an insult to these People !! I was not aware of this 😢....I despise this Government , now your Governor !!! 🤬🤬🤬

Yup, billions of dollars towards other countries to help them, and absolutely dip shit for the American citizens.

It’s done on purpose. The govt doesn’t want the people here educated and wealthy. They would present a problem for the status quo

@@loni1932 SMH at the United States... We should be fixing our own land first!! Everyone be nice to each other out there. You never know whose suffering.

Our government is no friend to any race. They are for themselves and they are evil and I believe always will be. People who have the money and power should be making this right!

😢

Boo hoo, they did a ton of fucked up shit to us

I live in Nebraska and have friends that are Omaha tribe and even up their they live kinda bad and not only that the history here in Nebraska of natives is bleak. We had reformation schools across the state in the 1800s and 1900s for the indians. Lost all their culture

That's the race of people that should be the focus....no, I'm not native American, but they are literally Forgotten 😢

3000 a year average income there. I make that in two weeks and complain bills/groceries are too much etc etc.. I cannot imagine trying to make it on less than a few hundred a month..

I live on this exact reservation, it’s hard to live on even a few hundred a month. Tommy should’ve went into the grocery store and see how much the groceries are! Sometimes we have to travel to the city or the next town over to get more of our money worths.

Whats wild is when they say they many might not go to the hospital because im pretty sure a lot of natives dont pay for healthcare. I dont always trust our hospitals either. Some are dystopian orwellian nightmares but lets say a lump pops up on your forehead you should go and have them remove it and check if its cancer because if you just leave it on your forehead for 10 years then find out its cancer that sucks becsuse if you got it removed you mighta lived to 99 instead of 49

@@deeriggs3319my take home is $2500 every two weeks and I’m struggling to make ends meet. Such a fckd up situation in this country.

15 years ago in RC SD on a $70k salary I was paying 700$ flat for a 2 bdrm

im from oakland and i never knew that thats wildd

My grandma and them all lived in Compton in the 70s as apart of that relocation program lol kinda crazy

@@dj-dt1vv my grandma and my grandpa were in oakland then moved over the sf then back to the rez

Raider nation aye

Exactly bro, we have relatives in places like Denver and Oak which is why there is a lot of Broncos and Raider fans. Now, I didn’t know about the relocation so thanks for that information, but I have a lot of relatives in Denver. I live on the Lame Deer reservation and majority here are Denver fans

I didn't know there were Indigenous people in Canada outside of the Inuit at first. SMH! A large part of my own maternal family were Algonquin Indians (Algonquin Tribe) from Canada who were forced into Louisiana. My family's oral history was that they were French speakers from Louisiana. The tribe was French speakers, but from Canada. They moved off their lands as the English came in and in Louisiana they became Spanish, French, then U.S. citizens as the territory switched "Rulership". With each citizenship, their names changed. Example- Grandma NanYahee became Nancy. Floating Cloud became Cloud (last name). "Kill the Indian. Save the man" Crap

@@MsLhuntMartinez79 wow from Canada all way down south to Louisiana. Crazy

I didnt know this and I'm in Ontario​. I'm trying to back track with my family history as well, I'm part native and german on one side and english with scottish on the other side with my kids being part filipino. It's so confusing looking into my history 😅@MsLhuntMartinez79

@courtney6511 I used Ancestry to help me out. The percentages aren't real, but the documentation and the DNA matches are awesome. There are free dna sites that can help, too. We all have about 128 5th great grandparents each, so it's difficult for most of us. 😃 💪🏾 My fam is mostly American Indian (several tribes), French, German, Irish, Scottish, English, and Belgian - Dutch. Louisiana and Alabama Cajuns and most Creoles have ancestry from France and Canada. They come from the Acadian people (Cajun for short). The Acadians were French Catholics who married into French speaking Indian families such as my Algonquin family. Others married into Southern Indian tribes such as Muskogee or Seminole Indians. The Acadians also married Spanish, Italians, and "Free People of Color," thus creating the mix of cultures that Louisiana is known for today. Some also claim African heritage, but my research found people from Haiti and the Dominican Republic being shipped back and forth. We don't have anyone from the Caribbean in my family either. Take your time. It really is worth it, though.

Question, my brothers of the land: were blvck American Indians ever discussed from your elders? (I'm blvck Choctaw and Irish)

Congratulations on your sobriety 🙌🏾🙏🏾♥️

So very hard to believe ... all the best to You ❤

Congrats on your sobriety young sister, much love from plains Cree country. Stay strong in your recovery

omg 😞

Ya'at'eeh shik'is from Iyanbito Dinétah I pray for good health to my indigenous siblings. 🕊️

Haha i was like wtf 🤣

@@daffedavidsen6306Same I didn’t think dude looked like a former drunk

Buddy got me with that one 😂 I know Tommy was thinking “wait how old is this dude” at first lol. One second I thought he was the best looking 70 year old man I’ve ever seen

Firewater addiction bad

My mom's been in AA for some decades and they refer to it as a different day than their normal one. That may be obvious but I wasn't sure so just chiming in. It's the birth of their new sober self essentially. Who they choose to be. That's what my mom said, but everyone's a bit different.

God bless you and your family

Oh my God I'm so sorry

So sorry for your loss

im so sorry for your loss. im sorry this happened

That's heart wrenching, I'm sorry he was taken in such an unnecessary way, RIP.

It’s crazy… I hate how Native American culture was forcefully taken away from you all. As a black lacrosse player from Maryland, lacrosse and native culture has shaped my life for the better and has inspired me to make positive change in the world. I love native culture so deeply and I’m grateful for all that Lacrosse aka The Creators Game has taught me

Ehhh. I played played some stickball in my youth. I appreciate you’re sentiment and heart brother. It’s a good game. It challenges you. Much love.

Feel for ya all!! Much love

@@Kobiejohnson12 nobody took their culture. They still have their language, their dances, their sacred sites, artwork, craftsmanship, singing, drumming, beadwork, flint napping, mining for copper and turquoise, totem making, hunting, trapping, weaponry, pretty much everything is completely intact culturally for American Indians. Whites and blacks are actually the ones who don’t know their culture because they were from another land. That’s why blacks and rednecks are so similar. I look at it like this, as bad as the Indians got it AT LEAST they got their culture. Go to a powwow you’ll see. I don’t know if you were referencing the Carlyle school or what but indigenous have their culture almost fully intact.

I'm Austrian German and my 💔 for decades for the American Indians and it got even worse! Now drug cartels, too? 😡😡😡

I’m from upstate ny rez on the boarder and it seems like pin ridge is 100 years behind us because they are. Look at all the wars, expansion of the USA. My people help them off the boats. Fought them, fought with them. My rez is white washed and struggles to keep the culture. I see pin ridge has a strong future.

I grew up in Pine Ridge, and now live just north of Salem, OH (Warren). I went to school with several Standing Soldier's, so I probably know your family out there. Small world.

That’s dope

God Bless 🙏🏾😢….i get it man. It’s like survivor’s guilt!

I remember always hearing that these types of reservations had long had by far the worst poverty, substance abuse, joblessness, etc., in the USA but this business about serious, urban style youth gang violence is relatively new by comparison. To the point where they used to say the gangs there were to some extent imitating or acting real urban gang culture.

always

That makes sense money's always bigger then culture

There’s a lot of young folks that need guidance. Be a shame for someone to come in and educate them of the corruption and how to take back what’s theirs. “Let them eat cake”

Pay the bribes get the business running. Put good people from the community to run that business. Then turnaround and expose the corruption. So, it would be the business , the good people from the community and you exposing the corruption in the tribe. This is what my community akwesasne reservation dose. (Not exactly but close) yes we fight each other a lot but it’s out of love

A business is better than no business. Please invest in pin ridge. From a Native American I know we never forget someone who helps us. That investment will be paid back 10x as much plus the bribe money

Chief and counsel might steal it lol

Yup its unbelievable that over $175 billion to Ukraine to fund wars when our own people suffer its so ridiculous

Yeah, those bootleggers would really appreciate it. Do you really think money is the solution? Do you think they will put it in a savings account? Invest it? Use it to get a job?

@@Damian-cd2tjexactly if they do that our tribe is just gonna keep it to themselves so they can please themselves smh its how it is here

The government dumps millions into these places every year and this is the result. People reliant on it.

@@misguidedangel6550You think that money would go to Pine Ridge? GOP would blockade that. Anyways Russia won’t stop at Ukraine.

You two were meant to cross paths, believe that! ❤

Heck yeah. Super dope dude. Humanity prevails.

Dam yall gonna f... lol

@@erenjaeger1738LOL😂. Dude gonna clap up them native cheeks

W friend

That’s what I thought

She is like me, no push over...lmao!

Mama Julz is awesome!

Opposite for me and some of my friends, grew up poor got into skating got sponsored locally did comps but my body started falling apart by 18 I had multiple autoimmune diseases I never knew I had, started partying and drugs to relieve the pain then came county, then meeting worse people then prison and gangs etc. The deeper in the life you go the worse it gets.

Congratulations!

Yessir🙏🏼

foreman for what

@@Bob1332shis job dingus lol

Yy

Weird you don't see this type of violence in other extremely impoverished places in America like Appalachia? What's different about the people? Ohhh riiight. By the way, the KZfaqr here isn't being honest. The per capita "income" stats he's using, don't include all the tax free welfare/money and aid that Natives receive. Claiming their per capita "income" is only $7K because the government doesn't consider it all income is disingenuous at best.

The principal has a great story. I believe, too many times young people drop out of school over boredom with regular school activities. If they can get a GED, job and degree, let them go, why make them suffer out something they are not interested in, high school? That goes for all of our American children. We already know the Education System is holding us back with what they tell us to do, not what we know may be the right thing to do for the young people.

That's the founding principle of America/New world. Worked out great for some people.

Ya great words for sure.

Thats a double edged sword bro... be careful with that advice

​@@kaibotski4939white* people

What's stopping those young guys from getting out of town. And trying to make it in a real town with real jobs?

It's worth noting that while you are correct it was the same regement, it was not the same people in the battle of little bighorn. They all died. Only a translator survived. Same regiment, different people. Just wanted to point that out

Doubt it but keep striving

You'd drop five million on a place like this and chiefs, as corrupt as they are, would piss it away

This comment is exactly why you ain't rich 😂. Rarely are stupid ppl rich.....and you sir are clearly stupid. This would be a waste of time and money on your end.

I live not far from here. Many of the natives just shit on whites and drink. I've found needles behind my garage. It's sad.

get Mr Beast to do it or Trump.

250 billion 4 ukraine tho right

@@TheAnnoyingBossand 95 billion more to Israel and Taiwan

Let's not forget about the immigrants getting free housing, debit cards, checks, DL,s , food stamps, elany and everything else for free just cuz they came here illegal cuz Biden promised them they'd be taken care of n now it's flooded i DON'T MIND IMMIGRANTS JUST PLEASE COME LEGALLY

Yeah man I'm from Fort Belknap it was crazy hearing about that! Sorry about your loss. Rocky Boy has a serious fentanyl problem too. Same with my Rez. Prayers to everyone on all Reservations and surrounding communities 🙏 Aho

are you a standingrock? knew a guy from the rocky boy rez

🇺🇸 don’t care about the Reservation. Sad

There is someone with a lot of money who tell social media to remove our comments in that sense He is removing our freedom of speech which is connected to our freedom of vote.

I swear!! 😢

This place has existed long before that jackass got into office.

It's not just Biden,it's everybodys fault for letting them spend THEIR tax dollars on weapons. The war pigs have too much power over our so called "leaders". You are the ones to let them know you won't pay for war!

Type shit

Everyone knows

A lot of people outside America dont really know much about these areas though. ​@@ballinv2452

@@ballinv2452 I didn’t know about this specific place. I’m sure a lot of others didn’t either.

@@LorenXLX it's a well documented genocide. US and Canada

I know what you meant, but you worded it very poorly. "Tommy doing a fantastic job showing a glimpse of places in America that people never knew existed." That being said, it's a shame how badly the majority of Native Americans have it. Seems like the majority of them live in modern-day concentration camps.

I agree with this 100%

Check out more of Tommy’s content he’s a damn good guy

Definitely sensationalized

Tommy a goat in the making fr

came here to say the same thing as a south dakotan

i'm 5 mins into the video and he still hasn't mentioned which state this is, he should have just said South Dakota I had to google where is Pine Ridge reservation lol

Yeah, about an hour from Rapid City; west river SD, hugging the southern border between SD n Nebraska

Is South Dakota living good or on the up rise. I’m sure I seen somewhere it has the cheapest cost to live there?

How can we help?

​@@Bill-xx2yh educate them on how to leave the rez and find purpose and work.

Really cool rez. Drugs and alcohol are always a problem for every rez. That’s a lot of land to take care of hope the food forest goes well - from akwesasne

@@user-zu2bw7ig5v no, the answer is not to leave. Lakota need to rise up above the violence and work from within to find purpose. Don't abandon this amazing culture. I don't have the answers, but I have a nonprofit that helps girls stay in school. It is a small start, but at least it is something. But if many more can do something, perhaps there is a chance

HEY YOU, I KNOW YOU

same 👍

Wish I could say it will go to the right place.

​@@southside1975 he's a sober guy building a community center basically, his motives seem pretty pure

Guess you like pissing money away huh? 😅🤣😶‍🌫️

How do I donate? I want to help them too

I also went to an alternative school in Colorado, best of luck to you my dude

Wow! That is awesome! Did that change you for the better?

its called,,,,,,,,,NORMAL....

Crazy journalists don’t do journalism anymore think any msm channel would benefit from doing what Tommy does clearly look at his views.. shinning a light on situations people are living threw day to day in America, in places most people wouldn’t dare to go near from Ireland but yeah enjoy his channel A+

Every person on MSM is a multi-millionaire. Their interest is in dividing people.

It's because he's not feeding us fabricated lies and propaganda

Amazing how yall drool over utubers these days😂. Let me guess...."Tommy is a true journalists" huh? 😂😂😂

Can you tell some stories

@@nelsoninman3678 a kid 11 years old with his pants sagging and a rough attitude was sitting on a bench by himself and my first instinct was to judge him and disregard his loneliness and obvious negative attitude as trying to act “hood” or “gangsta” .. then I remembered what my purpose was on the mission so I decided to talk to him. When I got closer to him I realized he wasn’t acting hard, he was actually in tears. I asked him what’s wrong and he said “the other kids are mean to me, no one wants to play, and they always call me retarded and mudblood (a reference to Harry Potter, but because he’s half white and half native he was looked at as lesser). I told him that I’d be his friend and asked what he wanted to do.. he was silent. I said “do you wanna play catch? Do you wanna kick a soccer ball around, or do you want to play on the jungle gym” and he replied with a quiet and disappointed demeanor “I want to learn how to read”. I said “okay man that’s awesome! Let’s go get a book”. He grabbed a children’s book, maybe for a toddler, and started to read the book to me and asked me “what’s that word” on 90% of the words. This specific experience made me realize I was living in a bubble, and that my preconceived notion of the issues on the rez was unfounded and that there’s a true need for immediate help.. worse than the conditions in Somalia.. I was truly humbled by this experience, and after we were done reading I ventured off so I was alone and broke down more than I ever have before. Truly a moment where I believed God brought me to this situation to show me the truth and show him grace.

They don’t need your religion and never did

@@efolinskyI know right

A mission. That's what got indigenous people here in the first place. No one needs your religion. The creator is all that matters.

Keep up the forward fight..live on !

hell yeah dawg

Stay strong dont give up! Ur truly an inspiration to others even if u dont see it! Ur comment alone truly touched me! 💖💪🏽🙏🏽

Congrats on your sobriety! Thats amazing! You’re amazing! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

👊🏻

Thats real truetho

I’m sorry it’s sad. Canada really is the worst. When it comes to MMIW you see the USA doing a lot more.

Shakopee tribe gives loans to tribes but many of the SD reservations are poor as well this is just the worst. Rosebud is right by there and it's damn near the same

LMFAOOO I noticed ts too was like jeez bro didn’t even take the chase 😂😂😂

15:17

@@delylahstar1089 lowkey felt bad for bro 😂

That’s really bad when he didn’t even want to try the alcohol . He only took a little sip

@@YourGraceMyLady I dont blame him for not wanting to try it. Could very well be laced.

My moms uncles would drink that hair spray and hand sanitizer as well. We’re Navajo. Addiction is an EVIL disease.

Do you have scientific evidence to support this statement?

So sorry about your family tragedy:(

That is how it is with many sports; the facilities and their people there become your community.

@@BlameItOnYourFriend what part of our good ol home ya from my friend??? If you don't mind me asking...!!??!!...🤔💭🖤💌💫🖤🧿🔮🧸🎴🌙🌌🌃✌🌈🧘‍♀️

wishing you all the best, you're a fucking badass. keep fighting 🖤

Yea man I’m Mohawk from akwesasne and it’s though. I can’t imagine the fights you Lakota had. It wasn’t as bad for us because they just got off the boats but yous they had footing on the land. Definitely deserved that lacrosse head named after the Lakota

I use to fight fire with a guy an his last name was janis pretty good guy

Ay that's love fr fr. I've always experienced Rosebud vs Ridge beef in mid to late 00s, but that was just meeting Rosebud folks in Northeastern Nebraska, they always had an issue with us from Pine Ridge for whatever reason. I never understood the Sicangu and Oglala beef. I'm 35 and still dont understand it. Maybe it's just the dudes I grew up around.

Clint and Cliff Janis and their pops. Good dudes.

The vast majority of what Ukraine has received is in old weapons that were decommissioned. So unless some old Bradley Tanks would help the Native Americans, I’m not sure what you’re getting at. And a lot of it is under the lend-lease program. BTW do you vote for people who are in favor of programs to help the poor? Because you sound like you’re probably part of the political party that constantly votes to strip away the social safety net every chance they get.

The government would never lol they’re the reason we’re in this place to begin with, but to be fair the tribe refuses to collect money in the treasury the government gave us for the land because the land was never for sale

They’re not fighting a war though. They’re just self destructing. Nothing is stopping them from going to school and getting a job but they just leech off the government because they’re Indians

Probably would have been the same. A small few would have embezzled all of it 😂😂

What are these reservation kids going to do with M1 Abrams tanks and missiles? The us isn't sending pallets of cash to Ukraine, they're sending military equipment that was already built

Majority of tribal workers received a hefty amount of a bonus back in December, starting at 2k and up! And some wasn't happy with that. So her comment is true.

What i find crazy is the fact that you americans don't even speak understandable english anymore, and it is only language you'r jew asses know. Like what the fuck are you even trying to say @magical8013 ?

embezzlement is huge in pretty much all the reservations in South Dakota.

exactly its so horrible

Why are they doing that to their own people?

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 it's so funny how badly yall swing on ppl like Tommy's nuts. He does surface level "journalism" and just let's the residents do all the talking. Which is fine...but I find it so comical yall crown him a "true journalists" when he does much to nothing 😂😂😂😂

@@packers12to80you must be a bot.

Are you serious ? Ofc he let them talk because they live it. But he does also alot of research and explain it to us​@@packers12to80

@@packers12to80I never said he was a journalist. He just really good on showing the world the depths of society that mainstream media doesn’t show you.

more than half million views in 16 hrs??

Pine Ridge is like this because it used to be the place Americans would place indigenous prisoners of war. It’s a brutal remnant of barbaric American colonialism

@@pulse3554 At some point you have to take responsibility for your own actions. You can't blame something that happened almost 100 years ago. Is there a choice to get drunk it's their choice to shoot each other it's their choice to do all of this. Saying that what the United States government did to the native Americans is beyond f***** up.

@@luke144 what?? That’s ridiculous, indigenous people have suffered at the hands of the US govt much more recently than 100 years ago. That’s a hyperbolized statement white culture tends to say to avoid responsibility. I’m not even Native American. You’ll never understand the effects of having your livelihood taken away, people slaughtered, having your culture systematically oppressed and spit on for centuries, having no opportunities, being racially discriminated against endlessly, etc. Could go on for hours but this is a waste of time if you aren’t willing to look into the history yourself It’s crazy the way you trivialize these people like they don’t KNOW that. of course they KNOW that, but when you’re dealing with such a brutal and systematic tear down of your culture, that’s fucking hard to get over - it shows up in every aspect of your life While people refuse to see the white supremacist values the country’s built on.

@@luke144 ofc my comment gets taken down because I call out yt supremacist values

@@luke144 the way you trivialize these people as if they don’t KNOW their choices. They KNOW, but when you live in a place that constantly shits on you, spits on your face, has destroyed your culture systematically, intentionally broke down your heritage to provide you with no cultural strength in an evil, sinister Machiavellian manner, pretends your race is inferior through subconscious societal ideals, and has done this NOT just 100 years ago but to this day, it’s difficult not to spiral. I’m not even Native American but my heart breaks for what European colonizers have done and still do today in the americas. Could go on for hours about the history and recent history of Us subjugation of Native American upwards mobility but it’s pointless if you aren’t willing to do the work to learn yourself. Y t people hate accountability when it comes to this, and yet decry others’ accountability

The MSM doesn’t want story tellers anymore. They just have actors; script readers.

That’s cool..

The America portrayed by the media is such a small percentage of the population. Poverty/debt is rampant across our country.

if youre an immigrant to america it IS the land of gold and milk and honey. if your people were already here when europe invaded.. youre screwed. if you are lower class regardless of color.. youre screwed.

Thsts next level

Makes sense to me.

What? I can picture this but that’s crazy lol

😂

I was there as a teen to help someone move and I saw that trailer.

I saw him at the court house and all I could think was damn how bad is rapid/sd getting:/

Someone’s gotta do it 😂