believes the root of the mental health issues in Pine Ride are much uglier: racism.

In a blog post on the recent suicides, Fenton cited numerous firsthand accounts of incidents of hostility or overt harassment by area law officials or non-Native Americans in recent months. In one incident in January, students and teachers from Pine Ridge were doused with beer, subjected to racial slurs, and asked to leave for their own protection while attending a hockey game off the reservation.

Twelve-year-old Santana Janis, the youngest of the nine teens who recently took their own lives, was the victim of such racialized harassment shortly before her death. As reported in the Times, “on an overnight trip to Rapid City over the New Year, a group of girls including Santana overheard aFull text of President Noynoy Aquino SONA 2010 | State of the Nation Address 2010 Benigno Aquino full text

Here’s the full text of the SONA 2010 speech of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, which he delivered today, July 26, 2010 at the Batasang Pambansa (House of Representatives). President Noynoy Aquino cited several alleged anomalies involving the previous administration and the Aquino administration’s plans and projects. President Aquino SONA 2010 full text also cited the Mindanao peace process and sent out a challenge to the CPP NPA NDF. Read the Noynoy Aquino SONA 2010 full text below: (thank you to Manolo Quezon III)

State of the Nation Address of His Excellency Benigno S. Aquino III President of the Philippines to the Congress of the Philippines Session Hall of the House