ROSEBUD, S.D. (KELO) — A KELOLAND News Investigation is shedding light on what the FBI calls “the silent crisis in Indian Country.”
Even if a small number of people are taking part in gang activity on the reservation, it can have a big impact on drugs and crime.
KELOLAND’s Angela Kennecke has the second part of her investigation from the Rosebud Sioux Reservation.
Tribal law enforcement says gangs have been a problem for some time in Indian Country, but now meth has really taken over almost every area of tribal life and that includes gang activity involving the drug.
“The cycle of addiction and poverty can drive young people to gangs, who are just looking for belonging. Parents around here, aren’t really parents, so they go looking for their own family I guess,” Brooklyn Iron Heart said.
“That’s all they would see, people going into gangs, drug use,” Devon Spotted War Bonnet said.
We talk with tribal leaders, law enforcement and a National Native American gang expert about the issue and what can be done to combat it on Gangs vs. Native American Culture, Wednesday at 10 p.m.
