Originally published on July 26th, 2010.
The other night I was watching one of those BIO channels on the tube, maybe it was The BIO channel or The History Channel, it doesn’t really matter.
Anyway, the show was about extreme poverty at the Pine Ridge Reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. The program also focused on gangs and gangsters on the reservation.
I got to thinking (sorry ’bout that “got to”) and some thoughts came into being. I might be late to the table and if this has already happened, so be it. I’d like to, at least, plant a seed and see if it blossoms.
Here’s the deal: I don’t really have anything against customer support East Indians or customer support people from other foreign countries, but I probably have a bias for our Native American Indians. Long story short: Why aren’t we utilizing Native Americans on the Reservations for outsourced Customer Support for American companies?
In other words, why doesn’t Microsoft, Bill Gates etal step up to the plate and outsource Customer Support work to the Native American Reservation peoples. I’m not aiming an arrow at Bill Gates and Microsoft, just using that example for obvious reasons.
The computer companies etc. could pay for the training, the government could kick in a few bucks and the Native Casinos could provide a few grants. The loop stays within the USA. How could this not be a WIN-WIN .
I’m not so naive as to think that I have come up with a totally new idea, but regardless of who thought of it first, I think it’s an idea that has to get some Etime. Please pass it on if you agree.
New York times article from December 13, 2009
Gang Violence Grows on an Indian Reservation
PINE RIDGE, S.D. — Richard Wilson has been a pallbearer for at least five of his “homeboys” in the North Side Tre Tre Gangster Crips, a Sioux imitation of a notorious Denver gang.
One 15-year-old member was mauled by rivals. A 17-year-old shot himself; another, on a cocaine binge and firing wildly, was shot by the police. One died in a drunken car wreck, and another, a founder of the gang named Gaylord, was stabbed to death at 27. read more from the Times
The photo of Chief Red Cloud was used to honor the past in general.
Make a donation to The Pine Ridge Reservation thru the Friends of Pine Ridge website.
Pine Ridge Chamber of Commerce Official Website.