Across the UCC: At South Dakota Reservation, volunteers learn to live, love Lakota culture

The Pine Ridge Reservation in Pine Ridge, S.D., is home to a proud nation of Oglala Lakota Indians. But throughout Pine Ridge's sprawling 2 million acres, the estimated 30,000 inhabitants live in conditions akin to third world countries [see below].

The Rev. Keith Titus, formerly the pastor of Lakeshore Community UCC of West Olive, Mich., first came to the reservation in 1997. Titus is the executive director of RE-MEMBER, a nonprofit, UCC-supported organization located on the reservation devoted to recalling the treatment of the Indian people by the U.S. government and repairing that relationship.

Titus and his wife, Ginny, spend most of their time living on the reservation in a pole barn that has been remodeled tohouse them and some 1,000 volunteers who come to the reservation, one week at a time, each year.

RE-MEMBER coordinates visitors from adult mission groups, youth groups, corporations and schools who come to Pine Ridge for "work vacations," with an emphasis on cultural exchange. Through this relationship-building effort, volunteers become advocates in solidarity with the Lakota people.

Titus said that from his very first trip to Pine Ridge, he knew that housing renovation and construction was most needed.

"Often there are 20 to 30 people living in homes that are 400-800 square feet," says Titus.

But RE-MEMBER was just getting off the ground in 1997, and Titus and his team of volunteers realized that they did not have the expertise or the cash flow to take on building houses.

Instead, they focused on