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Michael Little Boy
That's the eagle I was telling you about. That dream that my wife had - they said, "When your house comes, we'll fly. We'll be there. We'll be there for you. See that, that dream that you have and the things you do has come to reality." They said, "Always have faith in what you're doing."
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Michael Little Boy is a spiritual leader in his community, frequently holding ceremonies and helping people through Lakota prayer. He also travels to other tribes and communities off the reservation to lead ceremonies. In keeping with Lakota cultural beliefs, Michael, his wife Rita and their seven children have always felt that love and spirituality were more important than material things. But after 20 years, the reality of nine people living in a decrepit shack without running water became too much for them.
Frustrated with the government housing system and prompted by his wife's prophetic dream, Michael sought assistance from outside sources to change his family's living situation. In 1996, he looked to the Walking Shield American Indian Society for help. Through Walking Shield, the Little Boys became the first family to receive a relocated military home from Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. In HOMELAND, Michael went through the tension-filled yet gratifying journey of gaining a better house and seeing his family transformed by its arrival. Bolstered by his new home, in 1998 Michael was elected community chairman for his district.
After HOMELAND:
The Little Boy family is enjoying the home they acquired in 1998. Michael is running for office as community chairman to get homes, computers and better facilities for the people in his district. He is also running for a reservation-wide office with the Public Safety Review Board. Michael is part of a grassroots movement to clean up corruption in tribal politics and return the power to the people.
Rita is a studying at Oglala Lakota College to become a teacher. Their second oldest son is also a freshman there. In 2000, Michael and Rita became the proud grandparents of two grandchildren. As of October 2000, there are 13 people living in the Little Boy home. Due to the reservation housing shortage, the Little Boys who have started their own families have been unable to get their own homes.
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