Record winter storms have left households vulnerable and in dire need on South Dakota Indian reservations. Heat, food and water have been in short supply and volunteers from as far away as the San Francisco Bay Area are sending help.

The Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota is one of the hardest hit. “People are still without power in many parts of the reservation,” said Douglas Conrad, a member of the off-reservation team working to help storm-battered residents. “We heard power was back on at Eagle Butte, and Red Scalp, but is still off in other places.

“The power company estimated about a week and a half ago that it would take five weeks to get power back up throughout the area, and we know they are working hard,” he added.

Groups are working to get home propane tanks filled for heat and bring basic food and water supplies up to the reservation from Omaha, according to Bay Area organizer Honey Lee Cottrell.

“While we have heard much about the earthquake in Haiti and the unusual snow storm that hit Washington, D.C. this winter, little national news has covered the crisis building in reservation territory of the Midwest centered in South Dakota and home of the Lakota Sioux nation,” Cottrell said.

“In some areas homes have been without power since last November, facing record snowfalls and the collapsing infrastructure of America’s Midwestern water and power lines and disaster response systems.

“Power outages began with a storm in December knocking down around 5,000 power poles, and has been accelerated by an ice storm Jan. 22 knocking down another 3,000 power lines on the reservation.

“Frustration at the insufficient response of the Red Cross and governor’s office is mounting,” she added. “All of this while people sit without power, water and face food shortage.”

Many furnaces on the reservation are propane, but electrically ignited, Conrad said. “Folks are going back and forth between their gas stoves and wood burning stoves if they have one and can find the wood.

“The tribe this past weekend opened up an emergency fuel fund,” Conrad said. “And people are going around checking on elderly and families with small children. We are working with Dreams of Eagles, a Native American non-profit in Omaha to get supplies up from Omaha this week. Batteries are needed, candles, non-perishable foods, toilet paper, diapers, infant formula and water. Our reports are that the supplies that are getting to the reservation are dispersed rapidly, and some aren’t able to get any.”

Dialysis patients have been evacuated to motels and remain there.

Cheyenne River is in a flat plain area with few trees to protect against the winds. That seems to be part of what made situations there so bad, Conrad added.

“We are working with the Costco warehouse in Omaha to try to get them to match our donation,” Conrad said. “We’ve collected about $400 in Omaha and gas is about $95 each way. We have gotten about a quarter of the van filled with food donations from individuals in Omaha and will see how much the Costco plan brings us, I am going to try and find a water company with an outlet in Omaha as we have another truck willing to go up and see if we can fill it.

“What we have heard is that supplies are low in the local stores. Unfortunately most of us are just hearing of this after over a month of people being in disaster conditions, so the more support we can get there now the better and hopefully it will get them out through the end of it.”

Among the tribes of South Dakota said to be suffering from the multiple storms are Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, Flandreau-Santee Sioux Tribe, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, Cheyenne River Oglala Sioux Tribe, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

The assistance effort is calling for donations that can be added to a Costco card to be used for supplies. Conrad suggests online donations to the tribal council.