PINE RIDGE, S.D. ? In tragedy sometimes comes hope and dreams can come true.
On Feb. 9, 1992, a young leader, athlete and incurable optimist came to a tragic death, the result of traffic accident on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
SuAnne Big Crow graduated from high school the year before, leading her school in athletic prowess. But most of all in her short life she became a symbol of equality and hope for the future. With a spirit that lives on in many young people on the Pine Ridge Reservation, her memory and energy continue.
A little more than 10 years after her death, the world’s largest Boys and Girls club officially opened in the building that bears her name, the SuAnne Big Crow Boys and Girls Club.
Her mother Leatice “Chick” Big Crow formed the Visions of SuAnne, Inc. non-profit foundation shortly after her daughter’s death. Big Crow is the executive director of the foundation, the umbrella organization for the club and facility.
SuAnne’s dream was always in mind when the foundation was organized. It helped people cope with their loss, but also benefited the children of Pine Ridge. The new facility exemplifies SuAnne’s dream. She always told people that she wanted to go to college and return so that she could help create a community where children could be safe and healthy and not encounter racism; she called it Happytown.
Happytown is the name of the restaurant built in the first facility in order to raise funds. The restaurant will be located in the new facility.
On June 1 Chick Big Crow, with the help of U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle, D ? S.D., cut the ribbon that opened the door on the largest Boys and Girls Club facility in the world. The building cost $6.1 million for its 30,000 square feet.
This is not a first for the club. When it started 10 years ago in an old plastics factory at Pine Ridge, it was the first Boys and Girls Club on any American Indian reservation. With $32 in her pocket Chick Big Crow and supporters entered the old building that needed massive renovation. Private donations and the spirit of SuAnne kept the people working and dreaming.
Over the past 10 years from that humble beginning, the people realized their dream of someday having a facility for a technology center, classrooms and even a swimming pool.
The final phase of the project began after President Bill Clinton’s visit to the reservation in July 1999. At the opening ceremony on a warm, windy Saturday, Dallas Tonsager, former state director for the Department of Agriculture, told the crowd that Clinton ordered his staff to do something for the children of Pine Ridge. He said the Boys and Girls Club was the most obvious choice.
Tonsager said the new facility would be a symbol of what people can do when they work together.
“You have built much more than a physical structure. You have built the foundation for a better tomorrow,” Clinton wrote in a letter.
Sen. Daschle told the gathering that even though SuAnne had a short life her leadership was still present. He said that he could only guess what she might have accomplished if she had been given more years. He added that leaders like SuAnne never really leave; their spirits live on.
Ryan Wilson, treasurer of the National Indian Education Association, said that SuAnne’s vision spread all across Indian country. He said that many Boys and Girls clubs he had seen kept a picture of SuAnne present as a reminder of what good can happen.
On and near the Pine Ridge Reservation, Boys and Girls clubs are open near Wanblee and Martin, on the edge of the reservation. There are plans to open clubs in Manderson and Kyle, both on the reservation.
Roxanne Spillett, Boys and Girls Club president, said more than 200 clubs are planned for reservations across the country.
The club has what the first organizers dreamed for, a technical lab with computers, classrooms, recreational facilities, a large multi-use gymnasium and what may have seemed to be out of reach 10 years before, an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
The facility will serve more than 500 children under the age of 18. Almost 50 percent of the reservation’s population falls in that age group.
Four ideals that SuAnne lived by are brought to reality within the facility.
An Incentive room will contain trophies, awards and basketball jackets earned by SuAnne as an example of what people can accomplish with a positive attitude.
Power Hour and Special Tutoring will take place to help with homework for children ages 6 ? 12 to encourage young people to a better education.
Kid swaps with other Boys and Girls Clubs will be organized in order to learn about other cultures and work toward an end to racism.
The Boys and Girls Club will encourage volunteerism in their communities in order to help make them better places to live. A career curriculum for teens aged 16-18 will teach job-hunting skills and help develop habits necessary to be successful employees.
Happytown is now open.
