02/15/2007 Heat Assistance Runs Out On Reservations
Federal money for low-income heating aid is running out on several South Dakota American Indian reservations as the mercury plummets well below zero.
On the Rosebud reservation, some electricity customers have had their service shut off, and others are running out of propane and wood.
A tribal official says one person in a remote area was reduced to burning clothes for heat.
The Oglala Sioux Tribe's $664,000 in federal low-income energy aid for this year already has run out. The tribal energy coordinator says he is working with congressional delegation officials to find other funding. The tribe, on the Pine Ridge reservation, has a list of members waiting for help.